International student applying from home

[lemontree52]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi,

I am an international student now studying at a top-tier US university, graduating in May. I have a 4.0 GPA, some research experience (with publications coming out probably after I graduate), but no volunteering experience (time issue). I'll be taking the old MCAT in Jan, but I'm not very confident in it because I haven't had a lot of time studying for it. Side note: I was pre-pharm before and took the PCAT. 99th percentile composite, but ~30th in reading and verbal (99th in everything else). Extremely worried about the verbal section in MCAT. I can't read.

My plan now is to go back to my home country after I graduate, find a research job (it's easier to find such a job there than here as an intl student) and volunteer alongside. If my MCAT doesn't turn out ok this coming Jan, I will also be (re)taking the new MCAT. So basically it's like taking a gap year. Does this sound like a good plan (to apply from outside of the US)? What kind of MCAT scores should I be getting? Assuming I end up with a mediocre MCAT score, like 30, with 4.0 GPA + research + volunteering, what is my chance of getting in? I feel like I don't stand a very good chance, partly because I don't have anything that makes me stand out from all other traditional applicants (like a great life-transforming story that makes up for not having volunteering experience during college)...But I would appreciate any help for me to improve!

Thanks!

 

[Law2Doc]

Don't wing the MCAT. If you aren't scoring in a range you are happy with on multiple full length practice tests, you shouldn't sit for it yet. Really bad plan to take the MCAT to see how you do -- you want to get your ducks in a row and take it once. While some places give credit to the highest MCAT, your scores are visible to all, and frankly a bad MCAT score followed by a decent one always looks worse than that of the other applicant who just took it once end got the second score, so you are making yourself less competitive if you wing it. Bad plan. Bad, bad, bad.

As for "what are your chances", there is another board for that, but I suggest there's no point asking that yet because it's pointless to "assume" you'll get a certain MCAT score. To me that's just a big waste of everybody's time. On SDN, approximately 95% of people over the years who posted threads saying "assume I get X on the MCAT" have come up short. So any advice they received was a waste of everyone's breath.

I sense a bad theme here -- you want to wing it on the MCAT before you are ready, and want to know what your chances are before you have useful data points to evaluate. You have to take things slow and steady on this path. Get all your ducks in a Row and THEN pull the trigger, not before. Meaning if you aren't ready for an MCAT in January, you shouldn't be taking it. And you shouldn't be asking what are my chances before you've gotten an MCAT score and actually done some health ECs. And so on. It's not a race.

 

[Goro]

100% agree with my learned colleague, but disagree on that is IS a race...it's a marathon, not a sprint!

We ding poor choice making in AdCom meetings. Why would you take a career-deciding, high-stakes exam when you're not ready????

I'll be taking the old MCAT in Jan, but I'm not very confident in it because I haven't had a lot of time studying for it. Side note: I was pre-pharm before and took the PCAT. 99th percentile composite, but ~30th in reading and verbal (99th in everything else). Extremely worried about the verbal section in MCAT. I can't read.

 

[kraskadva]

Also, since you are international...

-If you do not have permanent residency in the US, it will be very difficult for you to get into US medical schools, and impossible to get federal loans for it. At many schools, even if you got in, you would have to put down most or all of the 4 years tuition up front. If that's not feasible for you, then perhaps you should take a break to work on getting the green card, and study more for the MCAT while you're doing that process, as well as volunteering and getting clinical experience.

-Just as a minor point, how would you expect to travel to interviews if you are living in your home country during the application process? Sometimes interview invites come with less than a week's notice and booking an international flight (and potentially arranging a visa depending on where you're from) may not work in that time frame.

-Also, speaking as a former EFL English teacher- if you have a 4.0 from a US university and have pubs in the works and wrote the OP by yourself without taking a hour+ to edit it, then your English is fine and you can read. You're just lacking confidence and perhaps an understanding of test strategy. Take the time to study properly and you should get a respectable VR score.