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need advice on my chances
- Thread starter neuro1986
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Damn man, I'd need to take an Adderall to get through all that.
I'm a recent grad of Bryn Mawr's program and a linkage student myself. I should start out with the really bad news: By far the most popular and postbac-friendly of the linkage medical schools that don't require the MCAT does not consider Canadians for admission unless they went to this school for undergrad. One of the others only considers students over 25 years of age. That leaves you with only one medical school out of the three at which to attempt a link, and it's not an easy one. If you want more details, feel free to PM me.
I would advise you not to go into any postbac program expecting to avoid the MCAT. While it's possible, a great many factors can confound you, such as you liking a different medical school, you not gaining admission to one of the non-MCAT schools, or schools changing their policies. The last one is particularly important -- the linkage schools often change their policies every few years, so you never know when one might start requiring the MCAT when previously they did not.
Those concerns are too far in the future for you, though. So let's talk chances. Your GPA is excellent, obviously. Your extracurriculars also need no bolstering. My concerns:
1) Why did you take 5 years to complete undergrad? If it's because you took less-than-full courseloads throughout college, that will look very bad. Your impressive GPA becomes less impressive if not achieved through full-time coursework.
2) Your SAT scores. Bryn Mawr likes to see evidence of standardized testing acumen, in the nebulous hope that it's predictive of your MCAT score. If you believe you really are a good standardized test taker and simply ignored the SAT due to your scholarship, prove it by taking the GREs. If you get an excellent score, your chances of admission to Bryn Mawr will jump dramatically. You can submit your GRE scores in place of your SATs.
Outside of that, the general advice applies. Write personal statements that don't suck, get strong LORs and don't be a tool during your interview.
If you've got to do the pre-med thing, Bryn Mawr is a great place to do it. I was very happy there. Good luck to you.
I'm a recent grad of Bryn Mawr's program and a linkage student myself. I should start out with the really bad news: By far the most popular and postbac-friendly of the linkage medical schools that don't require the MCAT does not consider Canadians for admission unless they went to this school for undergrad. One of the others only considers students over 25 years of age. That leaves you with only one medical school out of the three at which to attempt a link, and it's not an easy one. If you want more details, feel free to PM me.
I would advise you not to go into any postbac program expecting to avoid the MCAT. While it's possible, a great many factors can confound you, such as you liking a different medical school, you not gaining admission to one of the non-MCAT schools, or schools changing their policies. The last one is particularly important -- the linkage schools often change their policies every few years, so you never know when one might start requiring the MCAT when previously they did not.
Those concerns are too far in the future for you, though. So let's talk chances. Your GPA is excellent, obviously. Your extracurriculars also need no bolstering. My concerns:
1) Why did you take 5 years to complete undergrad? If it's because you took less-than-full courseloads throughout college, that will look very bad. Your impressive GPA becomes less impressive if not achieved through full-time coursework.
2) Your SAT scores. Bryn Mawr likes to see evidence of standardized testing acumen, in the nebulous hope that it's predictive of your MCAT score. If you believe you really are a good standardized test taker and simply ignored the SAT due to your scholarship, prove it by taking the GREs. If you get an excellent score, your chances of admission to Bryn Mawr will jump dramatically. You can submit your GRE scores in place of your SATs.
Outside of that, the general advice applies. Write personal statements that don't suck, get strong LORs and don't be a tool during your interview.
If you've got to do the pre-med thing, Bryn Mawr is a great place to do it. I was very happy there. Good luck to you.
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With regards to number one, perhaps I wasn't entirely clear. I meant the medical school in question will only consider Canadian students if the student did his/her undergraduate work at THAT school's undergraduate college. Not Bryn Mawr. And yes, I did understand you go to an American school. Doesn't matter.
And the 25 year thing had nothing to do with Canada. You just have to be a human being over 25 years of age to apply. This particular school is looking for extensive life experience. You need to be at least 25 by the time you apply, which is the winter of your postbac year -- not when you finish the program. It's subjective, ultimately, but I wanted you to be aware there is a strong bias against young applicants with this particular school.
As I stated in my first post, if you want to know the details (aka - names) of the linkage schools I'm referring to, please PM me. I will under no circumstances reveal such information on a public forum, as policies change regularly and I don't want to have a post out in the ether that is misleading to future students.
It is definitely a shame that you don't feel you have time to take the GRE; your SAT scores will really hurt you. You have a pretty impressive application otherwise, so maybe it'll be enough to compensate. I certainly wouldn't characterize your chances as hopeless, but I wouldn't deem you a shoo-in either.
And the 25 year thing had nothing to do with Canada. You just have to be a human being over 25 years of age to apply. This particular school is looking for extensive life experience. You need to be at least 25 by the time you apply, which is the winter of your postbac year -- not when you finish the program. It's subjective, ultimately, but I wanted you to be aware there is a strong bias against young applicants with this particular school.
As I stated in my first post, if you want to know the details (aka - names) of the linkage schools I'm referring to, please PM me. I will under no circumstances reveal such information on a public forum, as policies change regularly and I don't want to have a post out in the ether that is misleading to future students.
It is definitely a shame that you don't feel you have time to take the GRE; your SAT scores will really hurt you. You have a pretty impressive application otherwise, so maybe it'll be enough to compensate. I certainly wouldn't characterize your chances as hopeless, but I wouldn't deem you a shoo-in either.
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