Reapplicant in need of advice!

[nonamesleft]

I posted this in the "what are my chances" forum, but because I'm also looking for advice on next steps, I'm posting here too, hoping that I can get some feedback from people who've been in a similar situation before.

I'm wondering a few things at this point:
1) What should I do this coming year?
2) Is it worth it to reapply this cycle with the updated marks and a (most likely) better MCAT? If so, which schools? I understand lower tier schools, but which ones? (For example, although GWU takes relatively low marks, the school also receives so many applications that it's very difficult to be competitive)
3) What options are available to me for this year? (I've applied to a few SMP programs, but because I didn't find out about two of the waitlists until this week, I was very late in submitting those SMP applications)

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[runawayclock]

You already have a 32Q on your MCAT... would it really be worth it to re-try? I was also scoring 35-40s on my practice MCATS, but the first time I got a 30 and the second time I got a 36. Your MCAT score can fluctuate to really no fault of your own.. it would suck to get lower than your already pretty good score. Your ECs look great, it just seems like your overall GPA isn't as high as it could be. (1 year masters? extra courses? I'm not sure) But still, 3.5 is pretty good - especially if you bump up the MCAT.

Also, I'm a Canadian citizen as well applying for US schools. Private schools do not care about your residency, so they would be the place to look. On Princeton Review's website, you can look up a medical school and roughly figure out whether it is a safety/match/reach based on your stats.

http://www.princetonreview.com/medical-school.aspx

Good luck!!

 

[Jay Leno]

I think you should apply this year. You're MCAT is good and your GPA is up to a 3.5 now. I'm not sure if retaking the MCAT is really worth it, but if you're confident that you will score in the high 30s or 40, go for it. As for applying to American MD schools as a canadian, I would look at the lower tier private schools. I may be wrong about this, but most of the state schools do not seem to accept international or canadian applicants very often.

 

[runawayclock]

I think you should apply this year. You're MCAT is good and your GPA is up to a 3.5 now. I'm not sure if retaking the MCAT is really worth it, but if you're confident that you will score in the high 30s or 40, go for it. As for applying to American MD schools as a canadian, I would look at the lower tier private schools. I may be wrong about this, but most of the state schools do not seem to accept international or canadian applicants very often.

Even some privates do not accept internationals (including canadians... but rarer). Tufts will apparently only consider non-US residents if they have a "compelling" reason to attend.

 

[nonamesleft]

Thanks for the link runawayclock! I agree with you..the tough part is figuring out which of the "yes we take canadians" schools actually take canadians..lol

@Jay Leno: you're right about the public school/Canadian acceptances thing. But applying MD/PhD seems to have slightly better chance than the MD pool, and of all my ECs, my research is definitely my strongest point.