I Need To Vent!!!!!!!

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JDAD

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Alright, this is my appempt at venting. I have spent all day attmpting to determine which schools I need to apply to. I have called admissions people in both Canada and the US and I still have lots of unanswered questions.

Here is my story. I am currently a junior attending school in Texas and playing varsity baseball (Div1) for my school. I have decided that baseball ins't for me and I am going to focus totally on academics and medicine for my final senior year. That is all fine.

I am applying to medical schools this summer, but I was forced to push back the MCAT until August due to lack of preperation. I will be taking a course and I am expecting a very solid score. I am a biochemistry major with a stellar GPA. I have decent volunteer and clinical experience. Athletics took up the majority of my time. I have won several academic awards and I have a solid lineup of teachers that are willing to write me my rec letters. Everything about my application seems to be falling into place except........................................ I have no place of residence and therefore I have in trouble when determining what schools I should apply to.

I was born in Canada, and I moved to Texas in the middle of my senior year in high school. I attended high school in Texas, but I graduated from my school in british columbia. I lived in Texas with my parents for about two years and I started university in Texas. But, then they decided they needed to move to Arizona. They moved and I remained in Texas to finish my education.

I am still in Texas and I will be in Texas for the next year, until i graduate. When I am asked to list my permanent residence, I don't know what to put. AND BOTH THE AMCAS AND THE TMDSAS HAVE NO CLUE EITHER!!. I am currently on a F1 visa, that means I am an international student, and I have no permanent residence in the US. I am not a Texas resident because I am claimed by my parents on their taxes, but when I call the arizona people, they say I can't be an arizona resident because I am over 18 and my residence is determined by my visa status, which is international. They tell me my residence is in Canada, but I have not lived in Canada for four years and I do not own any property there.

I have determined that for the application procedure that I am going to be an international student, which makes it impossible for me to gain admittance to a lot of schools or to receive financial aid. But when i fill out my application, I don't know what to put for residence.

This has been the most frusterating experience ever.

Sorry for the length, props if you read the whole thing.

Questions or comments?

Wow, this was a lame post.
 
Well, schools are gonna use the address to send you stuff, so put the place where you can receive mail. That'll at least fulfill the practical reason for the address, if not the legal/residential one. I would use the one that's listed on your driver's license or other government ID. Just because you're from Canada doesn't mean you can't live in the U.S., right? I'm sure it'll be fine. Good luck.
 
As a funny, note, I don't live at the address on my drivers license and I don't have any other government id. I don't even have an address. Right now I am in az with my parent's, but i will be leaving in two weeks to go to dallas for a month and then back to school, and I don't know my address at school because i don't ahve my apartment yet.

I am a mixed up fool.

I can live in the US, but only while I am going to school. I can't work because I don't have a SS#, but I have been out of Canada for so long, I don't even know if my old SI# is valid.
 
Sorry to hear the story.

I had similiar case when I applied for college. I had F-1 Visa when I applied for college, I didn't get into any good colleges. Two years later when I got my green card, I was accepted as a transfer to a couple of Ivy League schools.

Also, if you are not Texas resident, it is going to impossible to make to UT schools.

Maybe you should concertrated on other state schools like Michigan St, Ohio St, Kansas. They accept a large number of out-of-stater.
 
Don't say that!

My heart is set on UTSW and that is where I am going to go. (Please don't pop my bubble) My GPA is way higher and I am banking on a solid mid thities mcat. If I don't get the scores, then I will look into other schools, but I spoke with UTSW and they told me that being international doesn't hurt me any more than if I was just a non-resident.

I am going to try and volunteer at Parkland or shadow some UTSW docs this summer to gelp my cause. I need this school.

Thanks for the empathy.
 
JXU66, how did you get your green card?
 
My father got it for me. Best luck on mid 30 MCAT. I am only hoping for 30.
 
Thanks, and good luck to you too. I need all the help I can get.

How did your father just "get" you a green card?
 
hey jdad -

i have no clue how to answer any of your questions since my residency status has remained the same since i was born. i do, however, want to make sure that you don't let someone tell you automatically where you will and won't get accepted. i know several people going to utsw from out of state. if you have the grades you say you do, you get the mcat score you're hoping for, your ec's are solid and you nail your interviews, there's nothing preventing you from going anywhere you want. good luck! :luck:
 
JDAD - One thing you might consider is emailing, rather than calling, the various admissions offices. Now's a really busy time for all of them, as the holders of multiple acceptances are dropping the ones they don't want and waitlist activity is starting to gear up. They may answer your questions with the detail you want if you give them time to respond. Even when they're not busy, admissions offices, for the MOST part, have a tendency to want to get rid of applicants on the phone as quickly as possible.

My best advice is to apply to a broad range of schools. Truth be told, you MAY stand a better chance of getting into the private schools and the public schools that don't have as much of an in-state preference (i.e. Duke, Baylor, UMich, Wash U, etc), counter-intuitive as it may look just glancing at the average stats of these schools' applicants. This is not to say that you will not get into UT Southwestern - and I think you're on the right track looking for volunteer opportunities and doctors to shadow at Southwestern and Parkland. Southwestern also has other hospitals, including Children's Medical Center of Dallas, Zale-Lipshy, St. Paul's, a VA... a lot of Southwestern docs also practice at Baylor University Medical Center (not to be confused with BCM), so those might be things to look into as well.

I don't know what your stats are, and I'm not an admissions officer or a premed advisor or anything like that, so take my advice with a grain of salt. But since you're taking the MCAT so late, you might consider taking the next year off. That way, you could work in Texas (maybe do research in a lab at Southwestern) and gain in-state residency if UT Southwestern really is your dream. This can be good in that you may find a faculty member with whom you want to continue doing research (Southwestern is a big research mecca); it gives you state residency throughout the process; it shows your commitment to Southwestern; you save up a little more money for the next 10 years or so of your life that you're going to be poor... again, just a thought. You may feel confident enough in your GPA, EC's, and your ability to score highly on the MCAT to go through the process now. But be cautious - remember that a 30 is the 80th percentile on the MCAT, and that the majority of testtakers are extremely capable individuals, most of whom are graduating in the upper portions of their respective classes, and most are aiming to score in the mid-30s, if not higher.

I don't mean to preach to you, and I apologize if I have. I don't think jxu66 meant that it would be impossible to be accepted to Texas schools. Obviously not - Southwestern accepts 10% out-of-state every year. But the bar will be raised much, MUCH higher for you than it will be for in-state applicants, because there'll be more competition for far fewer spots.
 
Yes, I didn't mean it is impossible to get into UTSW as an outstater. However, if you can get into UTSW as an outstater, you probably can get into many top schools. Why not diversify your choice. Just want to clarify that. Best wish.
 
Yeah, that's the other thing - definitely look at HMS, Hopkins, Duke, Penn, Wash U, Baylor, Stanford, Yale, Michigan, P&S, Chicago, Northwestern... the list goes on. There's a lot of great schools out there - you may find that, after applying to those schools, you still prefer UTSW. But definitely give yourself options. Good luck.
 
Playing baseball at Texas? That is a pretty high caliber D-1 team.

Scrap the whole idea of medicine and try out for the Rangers.

Need motivation?

Two words: A-Rod's Contract: 256 Million

There are small hospitals that do not gross that.
 
Thanks for everyones help. (BaylorLion your post was great)

I have decided I am going to apply this year, but I am attempting to decide what appraoch I should take when applying. I know that my august MCAT is delaying the process and the fact that I am international isn't helping. My decision is whether to apply to a lot o schools(~14) hoping to get into one of them, or to be conservative knowing that my app is going to be late and only apply to a couple of schools (~6) and decide that i will be willing to wait a year.

I have thought that I might take a year off to work, and therefore gaining in-state residency, but it isn't that simple. I can't work in the United States because I don't have a green card. As soon as I am finished with school, I have 90 days to leave the country. For me to work in the Southwestern lab, they would have to sponser me for a H or J visa. (I doubt this would happen as there are lots of people they could hire without the bureacracy)

So, I went through the MSAR last night and I did pick up on the trend that private schools are much more receptive to international or out-of-state applications. That being said, they are also much more difficult to get into, (there are a few exceptions) and they are very expensive. On top of the added expense, almost all of them offer no financial aid to international students. Some even require a escrow account be setup prior to matriculation with funding for the entire eucation (Hopkins requires 200K)

So here is where I am at right now. Do I apply to the texas schools, and then to a variety of private schools across the country? Or do I pick UTSW, Baylor, 2more top schoools, 2 safety schools, and 2 canadian schools? (Hoping to get UTSW or Baylor and if not take a year off)

Sorry so long, but keep the info coming!
 
If we knew a little bit more about your resume (stats, ECs, etc.), we could probably help more. With that disclaimer, here goes:

You should definitely apply to Baylor (and I'm not just saying that because it's my medical school and I think it's the best). The school seems to be really receptive to international students, even in their top-notch residency programs, and they have a pretty strong international track. Same applies for UCLA, Wash U and Columbia, which are pretty famous for having strong international health care programs. I would also apply to more than 14 schools if I were you. That sucks about Hopkins requiring 200K in escrow before you start. They have a large enough endowment, they can absorb whatever financial risk there might be. I figure, you don't graduate until you pay. That's enough incentive. So here are my recommendations for your "top schools" to which to apply:

WashU
Columbia
Michigan(?)
Baylor
UCLA
Chicago
Northwestern
Mayo Clinic (?)

You might look at Cornell, Duke, Yale and Stanford as well. I don't know too much about the out-of-state schools not ranked in the top 25 with regard to international applicants. Others may have a better opinion on that. Definitely apply to all of the Texas schools - if you're applying through one school through TMDSAS (Southwestern), it's $10 more per school to apply to the others. Dirt cheap.

Good luck.
 
Also, I COMPLETELY understand how difficult it is to score mid-thirties on the MCAT. It isn't easy and I don't plan on just walking in there and "poping" out a 35. I am just praying!
 
You list is pretty close to the list i came up with last night. I will be applying to all TMSAS schools because of the price.

The list that I came up with last night included:
Baylor, Harvard, Oklahoma, Duke, Conneticut, Hopkins(I actually have a cousin that works there), Maryland, Columbia, Wakeforest, UCLA, Ohio State, Penn State, U Penn, Brown, Vanderbilt, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsisn.

These schools are not all "international friendly" but most are. The ones that aren't ususally don't have many international applicants, but they have a large number of non-residents.

The reason I am not sure whether I should apply to a lot of schools is because of my August MCAT.

But I will bite the bullet and post some stats in order to better serve my readers.
GPA: 3.95 - (and a 4.0 spring semester has yet to be added)
Biochem Major with a Minor in Biology
Last practice test was 28(12, 8, 8) - I knew that PS was my weakest, so I focused on it for a solid two weeks. I went from averaging a 7 or 8 to a twelve. Bio was lowest ever, I have been averaging about 10 and with some studying, I am confident that I can get a 13 because I don't know any of the phys and I am weak on my genetics. I have scored as high as 12 after I looked at the bio stuff for about a week. My verbal is the question mark. I have lots of time to practice and I have scored a 10 before. So, I am predicting, and my goal is 13,10,13. (I will be very happy with >34 but you have to shoot high.) I will be taking a review course this summer to help.

EC's and Awards: I have won various awards and scholarships.
Top Freshman Chem and CRC award
Top Soph Cehm
Top Junior Biochem, SW $500 for dept of Chem/Bio, JA $500 for college of science, Presidential Upperlevel Scholarship Nominee from Dept of Chem/Biochem (I didn't win this award, but I was the top student from the Chemistry/Biochemistry dept) and the big one, Good Neighbor Scholarship (full Tuition for next year) With all of these awards, I will be making money to go to school next year!

Dean's list every semster

Athletically, I was on full tuition and books scholarship for the past three years and a Pitcher. I have won various all conference athletic/acadmeic awards. Two years of "Cream of the Crop" awards for 4.0 GPA. Baseball is my major EC. Between 20 and 45 hours a week for three years.

Healthcare and Volunteer Stuff:
Shadowing two different doctors, (one a Ortho, and one a Anest/Ob) for a full week each, all day every day for a week. (~45hours each)

Volenteered in a Arizona pain clinic last summer for about 20 hours a week for 10 weeks. Worked in a dental office for 20hours a week for 10 weeks. Tutor students 2 hours a weeks all semester and read to children at local elementary schools, 1 hour every two weeks.

I have coached baseball and participated in various 1 day events.

I am sure there are some more small ones that I am forgetting, but that is it.

Does this change things. (And please don'e flame me about the MCAT prediction, it is only that, a guess. I am not trying to be obnoxious, because of my situation, I need that score to be competitive)
 
I think you'll do fine. The august MCAT is still a couple months away. Taking the MCAT in August is a disadvantage, but I think it's only a slight one. I actually prefer it because you have the entire summer to prepare. I think it's more important to have a high score but slightly late appl, than a crappy one that's early. I took the MCAT in August, and had everything in by September, so that when my MCAt results came out (mid October), my appl was complete. I had interviews by November, and my first acceptance by December. Good luck.
Oh, and I think you should still apply to a lot of schools (15+).
 
I am leaning that way, but I can't apply to that many because i am too poor.

Any other advice?
 
I think that you should apply to UBC, since you should qualify as an in-province with your HS diploma (most canadian schools consider time in province for HS to be sufficient for residency). Also, depending on your MCAT, you should apply out of province to some other Canadian schools, like Alberta, Ontario schools, and McGill. You should have a good shot with your marks as long as you pull a 34+ as an out-of-province. Keep in mind that if you take Step 1 and Step 2, you can enter the US residency match on par with US graduates, should you decide that you want to practice in the states.

If I were you, I would trade or add 4-5 Canadian schools to your list, for sure.

Cheers,

Treg
 
I will be applying to a couple of canadian schools. I don't like UBC's program, so I won't be applying there. I will be applying to a couple ontario schools, Western (my dad went there), Queens, and maybe Toronto or McGill. Not sure about the last two though.

I have decided to give it my all this cycle and see what happens. I will be applying to all the texas schools, about 8 AMCAS schools, and then 2 or 3 canadian schools. That is all I can afford at this point.
 
My .02, I think since you stayed in Texas and played for a D1 college, you might have a chance at the Texas schools. I would apply to all of them because it shouldn't cost you more than ~$250. Now, AMCAS is a whole other story. It is really expensive to apply to all those schools. I would pick a third top tier, a third mid tier, and a third bottom tier. MAKE SURE THE ONES YOU PICK ACCEPT A LOT OF OUT OF STATERS. Now I know international students from my school get accepted to Yale and Duke, etc., but you might also might see about applying to DO schools, because I know that they are more willing to accept international students. Also, before applying, make sure that the school would consider your application. If you don't get either this next year, I would decide to either go back to Canada and try to go to school there, or get a Texas residency. If you have a 3.6+ and a 30+ in Texas, you should be able to get accepted somewhere.
 
JDAD said:
I was born in Canada, and I moved to Texas in the middle of my senior year in high school. I attended high school in Texas, but I graduated from my school in british columbia. I lived in Texas with my parents for about two years and I started university in Texas. But, then they decided they needed to move to Arizona. They moved and I remained in Texas to finish my education.
Click to expand...

You need to clarify the above statement. How did you graduate from highschool in BC when you claimed to go to highschool in Texas? The reason is that if you graduate from a highschool in BC, the Univ. of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine will consider you to be an in-province resident/applicant. Please clarify that statement for me and then talk to UBC directly.

Other random stuff.....

You need some real world experience. Canadian Social Insurance Number stays with you for life. you only left Canada in the middle of senior year so how can it expire for you? Also, it is absolutely not acceptable not to have applied for SSN in the United States. When you land in the US with your F1 visa, you should have applied for SSN within a month or so. I personally waited until sophomore year in college to get around to it. But you should get on with that TOMORROW. It is almost impossible to function without an SSN in the US.

If you don't have permanent residency in the US, you did not need to explain all the moves done by your parents and yourself because you simply will not have an state residency regardless of what your parents or you have moved and settled at.

On the AMCAS, just circle Foreign as your state residency. At least that's what I did it a few years ago.

A lot of schools mean 25+, not a mere 14.

That escrow account is correct. Not only Hopkins but Penn, Wash U in St. Louis and Cornell require that 200-250k upfront in a bank account as well. Not sure about other schools. It appears that Vanderbilt is not as anal. It is worth while for you to call up schools ahead of time. If you can get that much money upfront, then don't bother calling them of course.

Baylor has the same type of tuition structures as UT's (i.e. charge less for in-state than out-of-state students). Therefore, you should treat Baylor as an UT school in terms of in-state preference. I would not recommend Baylor for you. Of several good international applicants I know, none got interviewed by UCSF and three got waitlisted by UCLA but NONE GOT IN. So I would cross those two schools off your list. I also do not recommend Cornell and Mayo. Cornell has not interviewed any internationals that I know of except one who went to Cornell for undergrad.

However, Vandy is very popular for Canadians and have several attending there right now. It seems that several internationals are also at Wash U in St. Louis.

Some other schools (Penn, Columbia, Duke, Stanford, Hopkins, Harvard, Yale, Mt. Sinai, Albert Einstein, USC, Northwestern, Chicago Medical, Boston Univ., Case Western, UCONN, Michigan State, etc.) also accept internationals but I have only known one or two getting into each one so Vandy and Wash U in St. Louis are still your better bet if you really want to cut down the number of schools you want to apply to.

I would also add some Canadian schools on your list if you are really "poor." It does not make sense when you cry poor and yet not apply to UBC med because you can potentially pay in-province tuition there. It also does not make sense when you cry poor and not apply to any Canadian med school because it is a LOT cheaper than many of the schools on your list. Please guys, let's get real here.
 
Thewonderer, First of all, your post is condesending and rude. You decided to pick apart everything you could, without reading all of the posts. Secondly, your post is insightful and helpful, if I decide to look past the tone. Here's a tip, learn how to relate and speak to people, it will help you in the future.

Now, I will attempt to clear up some issues.

1. My high school experience is exactly as stated. (Remember, I am in a weird situation) I attened high school in texas for the spring semester of my senior year, but since transfering courses down was too much of a problem, and I would have to spend another year just to graduate from a Texas high school, I transfered the two credits up to Canada that I needed and i graduated in BC. Bottom line: I graduated in BC and I hav BC residency. But as I stated earlier, I don't like the UBC program and I will NOT apply.

2.) I understand that my SSI# is mine for life. That was a typo.

3.) I cannot get a SSN#, end of story. The only way I could get one, was to file a I-485 but due to my situation I am unable to do so. I would be rejected. We have talked with laywers and the BCIS many times. I cannot work down here in the states, and when I finish school, I must return to Canada. Contrary to what you belive, one cannot just go down to the INS and pick of a SSN#. If you have a secret plan, let me know, because I have been trying to get one for 4 years know. My parents are only here on a E2 temporary visa. I am now 21 years old, and that required me to change to an F1. Unless I marry an american girl, I cannot get a SSN#.

4.) The whole post was about my residency problems. Different schools in different states have different views on how to determine residency. In Texas, if you are claimed as a dependant on your parent's taxes, which I am, that the state of your parents residency if your state of residence for application purposes. In Arizona, it doesn't matter, I will be a Canadian resident, even though I don't live there and I don't have a house or any "domicile" in Canada. Bottom Line: I am an F1 and that means I will be regarded as an international student for each and every schoool.

5.) There is not place to circle foreign on the AMCAS.

6.) "A lot of schools" is a subjective number. I personally thing 14 is a lot. My father applied to 3, he thinks more than 3 is a lot. He will only pay for 6. Since I can't work because I don't have a SSN#, I am "poor" and I don't have enough money to pay for more than a dozen or so schools.

7.) You are mistaken regarding the tuition of the Texas Schools. UTSW does not charge out-of-state tution to anyone. If youare admitted, you automatically get in-state tuition. Hence the appeal. Baylor ued to offer this, but due to cuts in funding, this is up in the air. How do you have the right to say Baylor isn't right for me?

8.) This is regarding your opinions regarding schools and thier acceptances of international/out-of-staters. Your opinoins are based on your knowledge of very few applicatants. You diminutive sample size is crazy. You can't attempt to characterize a school based on your experience with 3 applicants.

9.) The whole Canadian school thing was talked about in another post. Yes, I plan to apply to Canadian schools. Read the whole thread before you jump to conclusions.

Now, that is how it this board would operate if each and every thing said was ripped apart. I appreciate you advice, but you must learn to do some background checking before you open your mouth.

Thank you for your advice regarding some of the schools, and you made a few vaild points. I will be attempting to narrow down my choices today. I will let you know how it goes.

Smile
 
JDAD - Your stats are great. You get that MCAT up in the mid-30s, you should do fine. No guarantees, but assuming your essays and interviews are done well, you'll be fine.

A lot of the schools you've listed are state schools. This was a trap I originally fell into when I was first formulating my last - I assumed low-ranked state schools would be easier to get into than higher-ranked private schools. Not so. Some schools have really stringent resident requirements. Someone with a 4.0 from Princeton and a 45T on his MCATs, who founded a clinic in Ghana and has published multiple articles in Science, Nature and the New England Journal of Medicine, stands a very good shot of getting into Johns Hopkins but will not get into Arizona if he's not a resident. They don't accept ANY non-residents. I don't know much about the schools on your list, but I have heard Vermont is very difficult for out-of-staters. You might take a look at Virginia Commonwealth University's Medical College of Virginia (MCV). I've heard from pissed off (and rightfully so) Virginia residents that they prefer out-of-state students. Don't automatically cross public schools off of your list. But investigate - some hate non-residents (Arizona) while others show no residency preference (UCLA).

Drexel and Temple seemed to be mentioned here with regularity, though I'm not sure if they're actually that much easier to get into or not. Don't know much about the schools.

You cannot apply to Brown, I believe, unless you are in the PLME program, a Rhode Island resident, or a Columbia post-bacc. I've heard, though, that they are planning on opening up the medical school to all applicants - don't know when this is planned. You can apply to the Dartmouth-Brown program.

Does your cousin work at Hopkins or is s/he a student there? The former doesn't really help, unfortuantely, unless he or she is faculty or very high up in the administration. The latter will help somewhat, especially if she is a student at the medical school and is one of their better students. Legacies are nice, but they really don't come into play until the legacy-creator has graduated and donated plenty of money to the school.

Wake Forest was a good pick on your part. I would investigate the publics if I were you (you may have done this already), and I would consider Northwestern, Chicago, Wash U, and Stanford again. Wash U will likely seize upon you if you score above a 37-38 on your MCATs. I would also look at schools like Georgetown, BU and Tufts.
 
No flaming on the score - just want you to realize the challenge before you. And you're right - you do need that score to be competitive for the schools you're considering. Your EC's are great - you look like a well-balanced person who has shown a commitment to medicine. A strong showing on the MCAT and good school selection are all you need to round out the package, and I'd say you stand a fair chance of getting it.

One thing you can do is to wait until June and start making contact with the admissions offices at the schools you're interested in. Get yourself on their radar early, and make sure they see how much you're interested in their school and why. And apply early!!! I cannot stress this enough. Schools may interview you on the strength of your GPA and ECs alone - or at least set it up so that you immediately get the interview invite when they get your scores if your MCAT is above a certain threshhold.
 
Thanks for the info
 
I was in a similar position when I applied to medical schools last June. I was born in Canada, but moved to the U.S. when I was 8 years old. I still have an E-2 Visa through my dad's job. I had lived in California for 12 years, went to UCLA for my undergrad but I was confused what to put as my residency on the AMCAS application. I ended up putting down California residence, but I was still considered international because I dont have a green card... I applied to all the California schools (UCLA, UCD, UCI, UCSF, UCSD, Stanford, LLU, Charles Drew, USC), NYMC, Baylor, Chicago Pritzker, Georgetown and GWU. I got secondaries everywhere but UCSD and UCI (state schools that DONT under any conditions accept international students - it says so on MSAR, but I stupidly didn't look at that...). So your chances are still good! Don't lose hope! By the way, I have a 31 MCAT and 3.83 GPA from UCLA, with good community service and clinical experience and outside activities. I've also heard of quite a few Canadian students getting accepted to Michigan and New york schools. Canadian med schools are apparently harder to get accepted to than American med schools so you should definitely apply but be wary. Also - if you want to get a green card you may have to apply with your parents... I've heard that if you have a good educational background and good prospects they look at your application favorably (you're not going to be riff-raff or anything). I just recently got my greencard too, but it took 3 years for the application to get processed (We applied in September 2001 - right after 9-11!)
So, overall - don't freak out and wait too long to apply - your chances are still pretty good, even for state schools (I'm proof!) If you want more help check out the Canadian/international forums on this site...
 
Michigan is definitely something to investigate further. And they're a GREAT school.
 
JDAD said:
Thewonderer, First of all, your post is condesending and rude. You decided to pick apart everything you could, without reading all of the posts.

3.) I cannot get a SSN#, end of story.

5.) There is not place to circle foreign on the AMCAS.

7.) You are mistaken regarding the tuition of the Texas Schools. UTSW does not charge out-of-state tution to anyone. If youare admitted, you automatically get in-state tuition. Hence the appeal. Baylor ued to offer this, but due to cuts in funding, this is up in the air. How do you have the right to say Baylor isn't right for me?

8.) This is regarding your opinions regarding schools and thier acceptances of international/out-of-staters. Your opinoins are based on your knowledge of very few applicatants. You diminutive sample size is crazy. You can't attempt to characterize a school based on your experience with 3 applicants.

9.) The whole Canadian school thing was talked about in another post. Yes, I plan to apply to Canadian schools. Read the whole thread before you jump to conclusions.

Now, that is how it this board would operate if each and every thing said was ripped apart. I appreciate you advice, but you must learn to do some background checking before you open your mouth.

Thank you for your advice regarding some of the schools, and you made a few vaild points. I will be attempting to narrow down my choices today. I will let you know how it goes.

Smile
Click to expand...

yes, I know that my post sounded condescending.... I like doing that once in a while to piss people off especially when they say that they are poor and yet refuse to apply to their state schools (i.e. UBC or SUNY or UC-Davis/Irvine) but instead are focusing on big-name, prestigious medical schools 😀

You said that you have been on F1. I do not understand how you cannot apply for a SSN. You walk into any college or university's international student office in this country, and they gladly tell you how to obtain your SSN. I am confused..... 😕

Please call AMCAS up. My application a few years ago had "FR" under the space of state residency.

I have known more than 3 internationals (some did not even get interviewed by UCLA and none by UCSF) who have applied to US med schools all over. Their GPA range from 3.65-3.96 and MCAT of 35-40. They did their undergrad at Columbia, Cornell, Stanford, UBC, Queen's and, Univ. of Toronto. So if you don't believe my advice on Baylor, UCSF, UCLA, etc. then that's fine with me.

Lastly, I have pretty much stopped posting on the preallopathic part of this forum already. It is only because you are Canadian that I decided to respond. The reason is that I find too many advices offered here to be so ill-adviced that they are laughable (for ex, people splitting hair between the quality of Mt. Sinai v.s. Case Western, or premeds complaining how much they love California and want to save money and yet choose Columbia over UCSD....). And when I or some of the other more advanced people (4th year med students or residents who have gone through match) offer our opinions, some piss poor premeds who have not even graduated from college tried to correct us in a condescending manner. Of course, this part of the forum is overrun by obssessive prestige-grabbing gunner premeds so our voices are drone out by them very quickly (some gunner premed would inevitably pull out match list from one single year showing that Mt Sinai is indeed better than Case Western or talking about how you will work with world-famous physicians at Columbia so you can become a complete physician. Give me a break. Most of those physicians don't even talk to medical students on the team. Most premeds are too self-centered to see that of course because they feel that the hospital revolves around them and THEIR education.... yeah sure....) . Honestly, at my stage in career, I don't really care about arguing with them anymore.
 
I am not trying to start a fight, it isn't worth, it. I like what you have to say, you were just a little mean for my fragile ego.

I would be interested in learning about your experience with the transition.

It seems like your major beef is the fact that I am not applying to UBC. If you looked at their program lately, the program is is bad shape. Due to funding issues, they have decided to split the program into three different locations. They have decided to split it between victoria, vancouver and prince george. I do not want to be moving all around the province whenever they tell me to. That is my reason for not applying to that school.

If you know of less prestigous schools that are friendly to international students please let me know. Most of the state schools, do not accept foreign applicants. It seems like the private schools are the most international friendly, but they are also more expensive and difficult to get into.

I am not looking for prestige, I just want to get into UTSW and be done with it. If I knew I could get into any other school in the country, I would still pick UTSW. (And I never said I planned on applying to UCSF, they don't like international students, and UCLA says their open to international applicants, but their stats don't agree, I tried to talk to them on the phone and the lady had no idea)
 
JDAD said:
I am not trying to start a fight, it isn't worth, it. I like what you have to say, you were just a little mean for my fragile ego.

I would be interested in learning about your experience with the transition.

It seems like your major beef is the fact that I am not applying to UBC.

If you know of less prestigous schools that are friendly to international students please let me know. Most of the state schools, do not accept foreign applicants. It seems like the private schools are the most international friendly, but they are also more expensive and difficult to get into.

I am not looking for prestige, I just want to get into UTSW and be done with it. If I knew I could get into any other school in the country, I would still pick UTSW.
Click to expand...

You have got great GPA and EC's so hope that I have not insulted your ego too much 😀

I am confused as to what aspects of the transition experience you are interested in knowing? 😕

I don't like UBC. I actually picked a fight with Ian Wong a couple years ago on his Canadian Premed Discussion forum. That's a pretty good website if you are applying to Canadian schools. Just type in "Canadian Premed Discussion" on google.

Uhm....other than Vandy and Wash U in St. Louis, I don't have too much recommendation. Those two have multiple Canadians there that I know for sure. Other schools have 1 or 2 Canadians I know who are either attending or have gotten accepted. As for cheaper state school, someone seemed to got accepted to UCONN last year and said something similar to the effect that at UCONN, he could be considered as in-state starting second year of med school even though he is Canadian (his posts were on Ian Wong's website). So you might want to call UCONN up. A Canadian or two also seemed to have been interviewed by UNC-Chapel Hill which is relatively cheap.

Honestly, if you have 3.95 GPA coupled with mid-30 MCAT, you should apply to a bunch of mid-range schools as safeties such as Mt. Sinai, Albert Einstein, USC, Northwestern, etc. Couple those schools along with a few top tier schools will ensure you an acceptance. Applying to lower tier schools such as Chicago Medical and Drexel won't help you at all.

In terms of contacting schools, a lot of times whoever answers the phone is the secretary. He or she often is not the best person to talk to. Don't be shy, just go straight talking to the admission director or dean if you want the real answer. BUT just be careful, they will always tell you a politically correct answer, "For international students, since we are a private school, we do not discriminate." Sure..... So the best way is to pin them down and ask specific questions.... "how many internationals applied and interviewed and accepted in the last two years?"
 
Thanks, I tried to do this at UCLA/Baylor today. Both secretaries were useless. I tried to speak with someone higher on the food chain, but because it is getting real close to the May 15th deadline, I wasn't able to. Many schools decided not to pick up the phone.

I will look into it more and I will check out that site.

Thanks man.
 
JDAD said:
3.) I cannot get a SSN#, end of story. The only way I could get one, was to file a I-485 but due to my situation I am unable to do so. I would be rejected. We have talked with laywers and the BCIS many times. I cannot work down here in the states, and when I finish school, I must return to Canada. Contrary to what you belive, one cannot just go down to the INS and pick of a SSN#. If you have a secret plan, let me know, because I have been trying to get one for 4 years know. My parents are only here on a E2 temporary visa. I am now 21 years old, and that required me to change to an F1. Unless I marry an american girl, I cannot get a SSN#.
Click to expand...


Thewonderer said:
You said that you have been on F1. I do not understand how you cannot apply for a SSN. You walk into any college or university's international student office in this country, and they gladly tell you how to obtain your SSN. I am confused..... 😕
Click to expand...


I am an international student, and I've obtained my SSN# the first year I was here (This is my 4th year). So, I am confused too why can't you get your SSN# as well. Maybe you are referring SSN# to greencard???????

And from what I can observed, JDAD, you CAN only accept what u perceived as 'good' advice, and not even acceptable to some 'good' critics (maybe because of your GOOD grades and EC u are having now, I am not sure) If I were Thewonderer, I won't be that 'cool' explaining the goods and the bads one... U were the one starting this thread, and u should be glad that there's someone out there willing to help you out.

-end-
 
Well, I have narrowed things down. After many phone calls and two days having my nose stuck in the MSAR, I have decided on this. This list may be helpful to all Canadian/International Students.

Canadian Schools: Western, Queens, Toronto, UBC

Texas Schools: UTSW (PLEEEEEEEASE LET ME IN!!!!) UTSA, UT-Houston, A&M.

AMCAS Schools: Baylor, Hopkins, UVA, Vanderbilt, UPenn, Vermont, Penn State, USC-Keck, Stanford, UCLA, UCONN, Wakeforest, Columbia, Maryland, Duke, Harvard, WashU, Dartmouth, MT. Siani.


(Keep in mind this is just a list. I will narrow it down to between 6 and 12 schools. All of these schools are open to Canadian Applicants. There are also some others, but I have already eliminated them due to other factors, location mainly, the next elimination will be price, and that will get rid of USC, Vermont, Columbia, WashU, Stanford, Penn State, and maybe UPenn(But I really like this school and I will probably keep it)

Yes, I know that list consists of some pretty stellar schools. I wish I was able to apply to the state schools, but very few accept canadian students, my only option was to apply to private schools.

Does anyone else know of other schools that are canadian friendly, but under 30K a year?
 
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