International Student & State school (undergrad) - MCAT 524; cGPA 3.90

[GrumioDaCoquus]

Hi everyone, I feel like I should clarify my two main concerns about applying to medical school before getting into my stats.
1. I am an international student (non-Canadian) but have studied in the U.S. since I was 8 (currently on a visa). I have gotten mixed responses from the internet about my situation some saying that having studied here for so long disqualifies me from being a "truly international" student and therefore I should not worry about having to face the added scrutiny that most international students face, while others think I will still be put through the wringer.
2. My second concern is that my GPAs both science and cumulative are too low to be competitive at the schools that accept international students, most of which are top-ranking schools. Especially considering that I went to a small state school, and feel like I already am at a disadvantage to people from higher-ranking universities.

STATS
1. cGPA - 3.90; sGPA - 3.92
2. MCAT [524] - 130, 131, 132, 131
3. State of residence - Illinois
4. Ethnicity - Asian Indian
5. volunteering
Clinical - 350 hours as a hospital volunteer, and 150 hours as a volunteer at a hospice.
non-clinical - 200 hours at the soup kitchen, 80 hours at an assisted living center.
6. Undergrad university - University of Illinois Chicago
7. Shadowing ~ 80 hours (peds, oncology, neurosurgery, cardiology, vascular surgery)
8. Research experience ~ (Neuroscience - Huntingoton's) 500 hours, 1 publication, 3 presentations.
9. EC's
- tutoring chemistry and statistics
- TA for Org Chem, Bio Chm, and a Bio Psych course.
10. No immediate family in medicine

current speculative school list
- Georgetown
- Duke
- Dartmouth
- Albert Einstein
- Pittsburgh
- Case Western
- Boston University
- West Virginia
- Wash U
- St. Louis
- John Burns (University of Hawaii)
- Weill Cornell
- University of Virginia
- Stony Brook

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[907914]

My second concern is that my GPAs both science and cumulative are too low to be competitive at the schools that accept international students,

Who told you this? You have a 3.9 and a 3.92 paired with a 524, good Volunteering, and a publication. You need to aim higher, even as an international applicant.

Get rid of Georgetown, West Virginia, Saint Louis, Hawaii, and Stony Brook.

 

[D.rock]

You've done your due diligence. You've put in the work to position yourself for a shot at medicine. Don't limit yourself. Go ahead and apply to all the schools you can that accept internationals. You'll surprise yourself how far you'll go. Keep your head high and trust the process. A lot of people have set the precedent for you to be confident that it is possible. Don't pay heed to the naysayers. Good luck.

 

[Faha]

You could apply to all these schools, which matriculated 4 or more internationals last year:
Boston University
Columbia
Emory
Dartmouth
Georgetown
Harvard
Mount Sinai
Jefferson
Johns Hopkins
Loma Linda
Loyola
Mayo
Medical College Wisconsin
New York Medical College
Rosalind Franklin
Saint Louis
Stanford
Stony Brook
Tulane
Vanderbilt
Virginia Commonwealth
Washington University
Wayne State

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

3.90 is not "low" by the standards of any school in the country.

 

[candbgirl]

Why do you consider University of Illinois Chicago,a “ small state school”? 30k is hardly small. No matter how long you’ve been in the US, unless you have a green card or citizenship I think you'll be considered International. Are you working on getting a green card?

 

[GrumioDaCoquus]

Why do you consider University of Illinois Chicago,a “ small state school”? 30k is hardly small. No matter how long you’ve been in the US, unless you have a green card or citizenship I think you'll be considered International. Are you working on getting a green card?

Yes, my family and I have been in the process since 2012, but the line for Indian immigrants is extremely long and none of the bills that would help fix the inefficient process of getting legal immigrants green cards have been passing.

 

[deleted981412]

Rosalind Franklin doesn't take internationals anymore and Wayne State is pretty much for Canadian. Make sure to do your research before you spend hundreds of $ on schools