The 2012-2013 Underdog Thread

Getting into Med School is Hard? Not with BeMo.
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littlegreen88 said:
Got accepted to NYCOM and not even an ii from touro-NY. Also OOS. I'm biased but I don't think touro is that easy to get into. :)
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¯\_(ツ)_/¯ oh well - still stand by KCUMB and NOVA being good schools that are pretty accepting. Nobody can dispute those
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backsideattack1 said:
¯\_()_/¯ oh well - still stand by KCUMB and NOVA being good schools that are pretty accepting. Nobody can dispute those
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I got pre-interview rejected at kcumb. :mad:

Btw - interesting name...

.. and I like the shrug you did there.
 
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I get the reference, but do forgive: my maturity regressed 10 years for a moment there. Truth though, not the first time someone made a dumb joke about it, huh?
 
backsideattack1 said:
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ oh well - still stand by KCUMB and NOVA being good schools that are pretty accepting. Nobody can dispute those
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A very tangent question, but what does that symbol mean? I've seen it many times on this board, but I've never known what it stands for.
 
medsc1 said:
Hey guys, good luck to all curent and future applicants! im rooting for all you guys! I am actually a little confused about the application process myself. I plan to apply in the 2013-2014 cycle. I will be graduating in early May and by then, I should have my volunteering, shadowing (DO), PS, LOR's, and research all completed. I want to apply as early as possible, but I need to re-take Gen Chem1, Gen Chem 2, and Calc 1, which I plan to take this summer (Early June to Late July), and most importantly, I have to take the MCAT (sometime in August).. When do you guys think I should apply? Im confused about the primary and secondary applications, etc. as well. Can someone please explain how this works, and what would be the best for me? If I get A's in all three retakes, my cGPA should be about 3.34, and my sGPA should be about 3.2.. and hopefully an MCAT of 27+. Any advice would help. Thank You so much in advance!!
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I would wait til you complete the retakes to apply. And at the same time, wait til you see how the MCAT goes. Maybe you are good at verbal and you do well, otherwise, wait a bit to see because by the time you send your score in, it will be october and that is somewhat late, especially for someone with a lower gpa/mcat score (hopefully you dont have low stats by then)
 
medsc1 said:
Thanks for your response. I am very confident I will get A's in all three classes, and I am estimating my MCAT score based off my current practice MCAT scores.. When do you think I should send my promary applications and what does it include? Also, if I take the MCAT in August, would it take upto October to get my scores? Thank You
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I retook my MCAT in September and it took until the middle of October to get my score and finally be fully complete at schools. It is a benefit to submit early, but ONLY if you have all of your things together. If you don't mind potentially not getting in this coming cycle, then go ahead and apply early without the MCAT score. If you can though, take the MCAT before June or even in June. July and beyond is going to make you somewhat late. I know people that get in when submitting in october but they have above average statistics so thats on you if you wish to risk it
 
backsideattack1 said:
I retook my MCAT in September and it took until the middle of October to get my score and finally be fully complete at schools. It is a benefit to submit early, but ONLY if you have all of your things together. If you don't mind potentially not getting in this coming cycle, then go ahead and apply early without the MCAT score. If you can though, take the MCAT before June or even in June. July and beyond is going to make you somewhat late. I know people that get in when submitting in october but they have above average statistics so thats on you if you wish to risk it
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I was complete some time in September with average or lower metrics. Worked okay for me. Not a safe bet though!
 
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backsideattack1 said:
Which is not competitive at all
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Well certainly not competitive in respect to MD standards, but for DO its mid tier in terms of requirements. I mean Nova the school you said you want to attend is just a mcat point higher at 3.4/27.
 
serenade said:
Well certainly not competitive in respect to MD standards, but for DO its mid tier in terms of requirements. I mean Nova the school you said you want to attend is just a mcat point higher at 3.4/27.
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After seeing pictures of NOVA, I am kind of sad that I did not get that interview first. It looked good and my uncle was telling me stories about the school when he visited his friend in the law school there. Between the schools that I will attend, I believe the averages come out to be around 3.6/28 and 3.6/29, since they are both Canadian friendly and put a minimum of a 30 mcat on those students.

Granted, I also retook my MCAT after initially beginning as an underdog during the early parts of this cycle. I wish I could have waited a whole cycle to reapply and retake the MCAT, but timeline with my SO would be off and I like the that I will become a doctor no matter what
 
backsideattack1 said:
After seeing pictures of NOVA, I am kind of sad that I did not get that interview first. It looked good and my uncle was telling me stories about the school when he visited his friend in the law school there. Between the schools that I will attend, I believe the averages come out to be around 3.6/28 and 3.6/29, since they are both Canadian friendly and put a minimum of a 30 mcat on those students.

Granted, I also retook my MCAT after initially beginning as an underdog during the early parts of this cycle. I wish I could have waited a whole cycle to reapply and retake the MCAT, but timeline with my SO would be off and I like the that I will become a doctor no matter what
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I'm guessing those stats are acceptance stats and not matriculate stats.
 
Is that true that Canadians have to have a minimum of 30?



backsideattack1 said:
After seeing pictures of NOVA, I am kind of sad that I did not get that interview first. It looked good and my uncle was telling me stories about the school when he visited his friend in the law school there. Between the schools that I will attend, I believe the averages come out to be around 3.6/28 and 3.6/29, since they are both Canadian friendly and put a minimum of a 30 mcat on those students.

Granted, I also retook my MCAT after initially beginning as an underdog during the early parts of this cycle. I wish I could have waited a whole cycle to reapply and retake the MCAT, but timeline with my SO would be off and I like the that I will become a doctor no matter what
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yeah this is true. there are limited spots for Canadians and a higher MCAT standard for them
 
darklabel said:
Man, Canadians really get shafted for medical school, eh?
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We haven't even mentioned the whole private loans or loc yet. That's where we get really shafted...

Sent from my Galaxy S2
 
Are there no medical schools in Canada for Canadians to attend...
 
rbolt25 said:
Are there no medical schools in Canada for Canadians to attend...
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coolingglasses said:
Sure. But it's like me trying to get into Yale.
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I found this interesting. Let's compare Canada and California, since they have similar populations

Canada has a pop. of ~34 million
California has a pop. of ~38 million

Canada has 17 med. schools
California has 11 med. schools (or 9 if you only count MD schools)

Bottom line? Both places are ridiculously competitive for med. school admissions.

Lastly, I hope no one takes this the wrong way, but I think Canadian students (and maybe CA students, to an extent) play a big role in keeping the Caribbean schools running. Considering the ultra competitive nature of being in Canada, I think the students who were smart but not cream-of-the-crop, head out to the island schools, do fairly well on the Steps and end up successful. This was what I gained from attending some Ross conventions and meeting students back when I was considering Caribbeans, anyway.
 
Syialb said:
I found this interesting. Let's compare Canada and California, since they have similar populations

Canada has a pop. of ~34 million
California has a pop. of ~38 million

Canada has 17 med. schools
California has 11 med. schools (or 9 if you only count MD schools)

Bottom line? Both places are ridiculously competitive for med. school admissions.

Lastly, I hope no one takes this the wrong way, but I think Canadian students (and maybe CA students, to an extent) play a big role in keeping the Caribbean schools running. Considering the ultra competitive nature of being in Canada, I think the students who were smart but not cream-of-the-crop, head out to the island schools, do fairly well on the Steps and end up successful. This was what I gained from attending some Ross conventions and meeting students back when I was considering Caribbeans, anyway.
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Makes sense. I feel for the Canadians especially because Cali residents get picked up quite easily around the country, while the Canadians get nothing since there are greater standards for internationals. I know most of the average MCATs for the Canadian schools sit around a 33-34
 
Syialb said:
I found this interesting. Let's compare Canada and California, since they have similar populations

Canada has a pop. of ~34 million
California has a pop. of ~38 million

Canada has 17 med. schools
California has 11 med. schools (or 9 if you only count MD schools)

Bottom line? Both places are ridiculously competitive for med. school admissions.

Lastly, I hope no one takes this the wrong way, but I think Canadian students (and maybe CA students, to an extent) play a big role in keeping the Caribbean schools running. Considering the ultra competitive nature of being in Canada, I think the students who were smart but not cream-of-the-crop, head out to the island schools, do fairly well on the Steps and end up successful. This was what I gained from attending some Ross conventions and meeting students back when I was considering Caribbeans, anyway.
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Another thing you have to consider is that out of the 17 medical schools, 3 of them are French-based, leaving pretty much everyone outside of the province of Quebec with only 14 options to choose from. And within those 14 options, only 7 of them are located in the province of Ontario and BC, where the vast majority of the applicant pool comes from. If you are resident in those two provinces and don't have a 3.8 or above GPA & 30 or above MCAT good luck getting into medical school in Canada.

I agree with you on the idea that Canadian students are keeping Caribbean Med Schools alive.
 
Last edited:
Looks like I am joining the underdog for the next cycle got my mcat scores back and don't feel like retaking.
Stats are in my signature.
 
maybemed2013 said:
Looks like I am joining the underdog for the next cycle got my mcat scores back and don't feel like retaking.
Stats are in my signature.
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You are an underdog, but don't lose hope. I have the same stats except I have a slightly lower GPA, and I have been accepted to two schools so far this cycle. I even applied late in January, but I wouldn't recommend that. Apply early and broadly, you should get multiple interviews if you do.
 
maybemed2013 said:
Looks like I am joining the underdog for the next cycle got my mcat scores back and don't feel like retaking.
Stats are in my signature.
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as a URM you have great chances for MD as well.
 
MedPR said:
Sample size?

Edit: nevermind. 250/308

https://www.aamc.org/download/321514/data/2012factstable25-2.pdf
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And she is from Florida lol.

Maybemed2013 you should have no problem getting into at the very least one of your state schools.

EDIT: Although the range on that table is 24-26 which is a considerable difference. So obviously a good percentage of those 250 people probably had a 25 or 26 as opposed to a 24.
 
SixStringPsych said:
And she is from Florida lol.

Maybemed2013 you should have no problem getting into at the very least one of your state schools.

EDIT: Although the range on that table is 24-26 which is a considerable difference. So obviously a good percentage of those 250 people probably had a 25 or 26 as opposed to a 24.
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It helps her given that she has 8s all around, so none of her individual scores are particularly low. She could be just above the individual test cutoffs, which should help her.
 
I'm a major uGPA underdog and I have acceptances! :eek: It can happen! All you have to do is wear a nice suit :cool: LOL!
 
Tadaaa said:
I'm a major uGPA underdog and I have acceptances! :eek: It can happen! All you have to do is wear a nice suit :cool: LOL!
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No, no you're not. Being a URM, having a 30 mcat, and having completed an SMP you were extraordinarily competitive.
 
Tadaaa said:
I'm a major uGPA underdog and I have acceptances! :eek: It can happen! All you have to do is wear a nice suit :cool: LOL!
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And, in your case, be a URM.
 
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