Late application 36S 3.75

[rmitch8]

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Hey guys. I submitted my application TODAY, and until I read some posts on these forums, I had no idea that this was considered a late application. I have a 36S on the MCAT (10V, 13B, 13P), a 3.75 GPA (near 4.0 in my last two years). I have lots of research experience, volunteer work and clinical experience both in North America and abroad. But I'm wondering if the application being "late" will affect my chances at the schools that I'm applying to (Dartmouth, Hopkins, Northwestern, Tufts, Chicago, U of Penn, Wash U, Yale). I should also mention that I'm a Canadian citizen and went to school at McGill University. Any response would be appreciated, this is worrying me bigtime.

 

[stixx]

Don't be too hard on yourself. I'm pretty much the only one out of my friends who knew about the importance of earliness in US admissions, and that's only because of this forum.

You're lucky because quite a few of the schools on your list are non-rolling. It may still be difficult for you get an interview at these places however. If you submitted today, you may not be verified until late October, and then complete throughout November. Even if you do get an invite at that point, the interview would probably be in the new year, in which case the classes may already be full at the rolling schools. It's doable, but tough. Are you an "underrepresented minority"?

The only suggestion I can make since you've already decided to apply is to write your secondary essays in ADVANCE. So when you're verified you can send off your secondary applications immediately.

Do a search for "late" here and you'll see there's a lot of threads about this topic.

 

[aznb0y129]

While your stats look great, I'm inclined to agree with the previous poster. Completing your primary at the end of September definitely puts you towards the "late" spectrum, as many people on this forum have already started interviewing at those schools. If you are committed to this cycle, I would start researching secondary questions (plenty of info can be found here) and get to work ASAP on those essays.

Also, being an international student puts you into a distinct category that I'm not too familiar with, but here is the data from last year's application class for the schools you mentioned.

-Dartmouth: 443 applied, N/A interviewed, 12 matriculated
-Hopkins: 359 applied, 35 interviewed, 5 matriculated
-Northwestern: 418 applied, 40 interviewed, 10 matriculated
-Tufts: 368 applied, 4 interviewed, 3 matriculated
-Chicago: 447 applied, 72 interviewed, 4 matriculated
-UPenn: 292 applied, 14 interviewed, 5 matriculated
-WashU: 265 applied, 65 interviewed, 4 matriculated
-Yale: 382 applied, 78 interviewed, 14 matriculated

Hope this info helps. It looks like it will be an uphill battle, but don't lose faith 🙂

 

[daniellema13]

Your stats are great, but so are most peoples applying to those schools. IMO, you should add a few mid-tier schools as those that you applied to are extremely competitive even as a US citizen with an early application.

 

[rmitch8]

Wow thanks for the responses. I chose these schools based on the fact that they don't have English pre-req requirements, and they seem to accept at least a small number of international students (many American schools take none!). I took many humanities and social science courses but sadly no English ones. If you guys know of mid-tier schools that don't have English requirements please recommend some to me and I'll add them to my list.

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

Hey guys. I submitted my application TODAY, and until I read some posts on these forums, I had no idea that this was considered a late application. I have a 36S on the MCAT (10V, 13B, 13P), a 3.75 GPA (near 4.0 in my last two years). I have lots of research experience, volunteer work and clinical experience both in North America and abroad. But I'm wondering if the application being "late" will affect my chances at the schools that I'm applying to (Dartmouth, Hopkins, Northwestern, Tufts, Chicago, U of Penn, Wash U, Yale). I should also mention that I'm a Canadian citizen and went to school at McGill University. Any response would be appreciated, this is worrying me bigtime.

the MSAR book (can be purchased at aamc.org for $25 or so) has data on international applicants, it'd be tough for most of us US Citizens to comment on your path given the requirements are far different. Presuming this somewhat analogous to me applying to an out of state public school, I'd think that some US schools would be looking for far higher mcats and gpas than they require to consider a US citizen, whereas others may have similar academic thresholds and may be more interested in adding to their school's diversity & read your extracurricular activities closely. I'd read that for non-citizens there may be requirements to prove funds are available for a sizeable portion of the full cost of med school; I'm unsure of specifics, just trying to point out something to consider.

I would strongly suggest you consider expanding your pool of schools after reading which US schools will consider non-US applicants. My GPA last year was similar to yours (although your MCAT blew mine away), and I thought it was pretty darn good; not so much, it's just a bit higher than average. My sibling who was accepted to med school years ago had 2 Bs in her entire college career -- that's the person Hopkins or WashU is looking for (actually, Hopkins turned my sibling down); average accepted person has GPA over 3.9 at both schools and has an MCAT similar to yours. I've been surprised at how good the majority of US schools seem given my research; highly ranked schools (per a current student at a highly ranked school) are partially ranked well due to funding received by their hardcore PhD researchers; per the student, this really didn't impact med students.

 

[stixx]

The school's you've chosen are some of the most international-friendly in the conutry. Unfortunately, they often tend to be the most competitive. (i.e., private and research heavy. they're looking for the best applicants period, and don't have an obligation to/preference for Americans or in-staters) Nevertheless, even if you're on the same playing field, you still have to prove yourself to be better than everyone else that applied. Not only that, but because you're late, you have to prove yourself against everyone who applied before you. But you're taking the right approach.

You should go to http://premed101.com/forums they're all Canadian there and can give you better advice of which mid-tiers to add. (There's a "Canadians applying to US schools" section) Note, however, that they tend to dismiss anyone who didn't submit by June 15th as doomed. 😳

 

[Vihsadas]

Hey, fellow McGillites. 🙂 There are a lot of us in here it seems.

I will say from personal experience that an application submitting secondaries in Novemeber is definitely going to hinder you. Now, to be fair I had a very bad GPA and a rushed personal statement so it was combination of things that shut me out last year (zero interviews, but mostly research heavy schools). I'm a bit different from you guys because I consider both Canada and the US my home and have the PR status to prove it (I've literally lived in both places for half of my life), so you can't really use my app as a benchmark. Good luck this cycle, your numbers make you competitive, and a lot of the schools you've chosen are non-rolling. Are you applying to any Canadian Schools?

 

[bozz]

The lateness factor will be an issue, but your international status really shouldn't affect anything with those numbers. Don't let that bother you at all. Your stats are great! Good luck! I have very similar numbers, I'm international, and I have interviews at over 1/4th of the schools I applied to at this point. Then again, the "best/highest ranked schools" I received interviews at were Albert Einstein and Georgetown so far. They are fine schools but no Yale or Harvard.

So definitely don't raise your hopes too high for those schools, especially since people are already interviewing there.

You definitely want to add many more mid-tier schools and some "safeties."