Immigrant Student; sGPA & Overall 3.9; 32 MCAT

[brightfuture89]

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[HoltMD]

Just go ahead and apply. Your MCAT and stats are fine. Good luck

 

[Catalystik]

Hi Everyone ,

I moved to US in 2007 from Asia with my family and currently have a green card. Currently, I am a junior (second year at the college but graduating one year early). I could not speak English at the beginning when arrived here. I took MCATs in January and scored 32O : 12 BS, 13 PS, 7 VR. Studied only for a month of January and then took MCAT at the end of the month. Currently my academic records are: cGPA 3.9 and sGPA 3.97. I go to a state college in west US. I have good amount of EC: 1 year of orgo study group leader experience, 1 years of volunteering experience, 3 years worked and still working with senior citizens. Part of several clubs at the school. Currently I am also doing research on some interesting topics. I wanted to ask you guys:

Should I retake the MCAT again in July get the scores back in August? Currently I am planning to apply early in June with current MCAT scores.

How much of a problem is my VR score after considering that I have learned English in 4 years? Can my BS and PS scores play part in taking some attention away from low VR score?


What would you guys recommend that I apply to? Currently NJMS, Temple, Jefferson, and Drexel are my top choices.

Should I also apply to DO schools just in case?

Your honest (and may be harsh honest) opinion will help me out alot .

What is your legal state of residence?
What VS did you get on practice tests?

 

[brightfuture89]

At HoltMD: thank you for replying. I hope I am fine for med schools with this score.

At Catalystik:

Thank you for replying.

I am a permanent resident with a green card. Applying for citizenship this year.

Um..., in practice my scores ranged from 7 to 10 with 8 and 9 most frequent ones.

 

[Catalystik]

Your state of residence helps determine your odds of an acceptance as some public med schools are less fussy about the VS. Where does your family pay state taxes?

The VS of 7 may have been a fluke, or because you studied for a short time. If you could get it over a 7, your odds would improve for getting into an MD school. Still, there are institutions that will be more lenient due to your recent ESL status and some that don't look at subscores. You could either hope for that leniency, or you can be more proactive and try for a higher subscore. It's your choice.

 

[brightfuture89]

At Catalystik:

My parents pay taxes of NJ and I go to Rutgers.

Catalystik, do you know any schools that don't look at the sub scores?

 

[Catalystik]

Catalystik, do you know any schools that don't look at the sub scores?

Commonwealth in Pa and EVMS. SIU, but they take no OOS.

Some schools that don't state minimums: FIU, Oakland, Colorado, UKMC.

Schools with a 7 as their bottom tenth percentile that take OOS applications: UIC and Rosalind Franklin. Utah also, but they have some rigid EC requirements. Maybe Arizona too. Not sure about Cooper; look into it.

 

[brightfuture89]

Catalystik,

Would you advise me to apply EDP for any school at all or not? I am really confused about EDP and whether I should apply.

 

[Catalystik]

In my opinion, EDP should only be used if you are geographically constrained to stay in a limited area and if your stats are above average for those accepted to the target school. Otherwise, it will put you at a distinct disadvantage, as being rejected means you would enter the regular applicant pool in October, when odds of any acceptance are far less to to the lateness of the cycle.

 

[brightfuture89]

Thank you very Catalystik. You have been very helpful.

Irony is that cGPA and sGPA are higher at least by 0.3. For BS 1 point higher, for PS 2 points up. for VR 3 points low!

 

[Catalystik]

Why not try calling your in-state schools and discussing your application. Maybe they will tell you if your ESL will have an effect on how they consider your application.

I think that if you applied early and broadly, there's a good chance you would get consideration resulting in an MD acceptance (if you have strong LORs, comprehensive ECs, interview well, and have fluid English). But I am only one opinion. If you don't want to retake the MCAT, then add some DO schools (where your VS will be fine), too, to make an acceptance more likely within one cycle.

 

[Priti Dave]

You must get in. Let me know what is update?

 

[brightfuture89]

Hi Priti,

Thank you for for replying. Are you also an immigrant student like me?