Canadian Re-applicant-need advice

[Steven1991]

Hey Everyone,

I am a Canadian who applied last summer to MD schools and received 3 interviews with 2 current waitlists. Unfortunately that means I'll be reapplying for the following cycle in case I don't ultimately get off the waitlists.

I graduated with a degree in physiology last year at a top Canadian university with a cGPA=3.85 and an sGPA=3.89. My MCAT score is a 35 (13P/8V/14B) but this is my 3rd attempt. Since graduating, I began pursuing a Master's of Science in physiology and will graduate with a 4.0. Will graduate early (July) if I get off the waitlists or continue for the full 2 years if I have to reapply.

The rest of my application in brief:
- 200hrs of clinical experience including volunteering in a hospital and shadowing physicians
- week long medical mission trip to South America
- 2 years/~600 hours as a student council member
- editor of a university research journal
- organized mentorship program
- 1 year TA
- 2 years of research (led my own projects) including >25K in research grants and numerous presentations at scientific conferences
- will be submitting 2 non-first author publications in the next couple of months to high impact journals. Will potentially be submitting 1 more first author publication to a lower impact journal
- all my references have known me for multiple years and I have no reason to doubt that there are any issues with the letters
-some other volunteering and extracurriculars activities

Possible issues with my application:
- I applied late. Submitted in July, verified end of August, and was complete at most schools by end of September/early October. All 3 of my interviews were in February which is also relatively late
- I'm Canadian so that lowers my chances at some schools. Many schools that accept Canadians are top tier where chances are low for everyone.
- low MCAT verbal score and my overall score of 35 required 3 attempts
- perhaps bad interviews? They all seemed to go well with one of my interviewers even hinting that we'd see each other soon. Maybe interviewing is something that I have to work on (I will regardless) or maybe I was always just interviewing for a waitlist (since they were so late in the cycle).

We don't have any pre-med advisors in Canada but this time around I'll be getting more med students and a past-ADCOM member to read over my personal statement and get that in check.

Does anyone have any insight into what I am missing? Could my MCAT scores be really holding me back? Could it perhaps just be due to a late application? I'll definitely be applying the day AMCAS opens for submission this cycle so hopefully that helps. Lastly, I've included my school list below and would greatly appreciate any recommendations.

Thank you!

Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Boston University School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Columbia University College of P & S
Duke University School of Medicine
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
George Washington University Sch of Med & Hlth Sci
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Keck Sch. of Med.University of Southern California
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
New York Medical College
New York University
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science
SUNY Upstate Medical University
Stanford University School of Medicine
Stony Brook University School of Medicine
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Yale University School of Medicine

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[advair250]

You applied late, that was your low spot.

Why haven't' you added Wayne State? They take Canadians, quite a few.

Add Hawaii , University of Kentucky, and University of Wisconsin too.

Your stats are way higher than mine, but you applied late.

 

[advair250]

Even though your interviews were great, they were very late - likely for waitlist spot. Other interviewees in your pool probably got flat rejected.

 

[Plecopotamus]

You applied late, that was your low spot.

Why haven't' you added Wayne State? They take Canadians, quite a few.

Add Hawaii , University of Kentucky, and University of Wisconsin too.

Your stats are way higher than mine, but you applied late.

Do you actually know for a fact that Hawaii has ever accepted any Canadians? I was under the impression that they are deeply committed to their mission to serve Hawaii & the Pacific. I would expect any successful international applicants to come from the pacific islands.

OP, Keck USC is probably not worth keeping on your list. They don't historically admit a significant number of international students even though they accept applications from them.

 

[advair250]

Do you actually know for a fact that Hawaii has ever accepted any Canadians? I was under the impression that they are deeply committed to their mission to serve Hawaii & the Pacific. I would expect any successful international applicants to come from the pacific islands.

OP, Keck USC is probably not worth keeping on your list. They don't historically admit a significant number of international students even though they accept applications from them.

I know personally 2 people who interviewed at Hawaii from my undergraduate school, both had strong community service in underserved populations - nothing related to hawaii specifically. (Canadian First Nations involvements).

Meharry is worth an application fee if you have similiar community service.