Hello, I am an Asian Canadian premed. I have a 3.88 cGPA (sGPA is around the same) and a 521 MCAT (131/128/131/131) 8/29 with no retakes, currently in my junior year. I have two concerns:
1. my ECs are bad, I had stuff lined up this year but covid happened and I'm kicking myself for not starting these in my first year. On the plus side, I have a lot of teaching and leadership experience with some memorable stories that I can talk about and I know my stuff when it comes to them.
2. what are the REAL chances of International/Canadian students? people see my stats and say "you'll get in" but for international students, the standards are much higher and the acceptance rate for international students is just 10%. If I was a US citizen I wouldn't be this afraid.
ECs by the time of application 2021 May:
400~ hours hospital-affiliated research about surgical education and safety, started February 2020
150~ hours MCAT tutor
600~ hours volunteer taekwondo instructor and coach, over the last 6 years
200 hours paid swimming instructor and lifeguard ended mid-2019
0 hours of shadowing*
0 hours of hospital volunteering*
*if lockdowns continue until the application start date.
Honestly, I hate myself. I had this really cool OR observership (for an OR tech assistant volunteer position) and some shadowing lined up for this year and just when I was about to start Covid forced the hospital to suspend everything. I know Adcoms don't give an f about my excuses since I should have just started these things early and be ok. If covid restricts are lifted here I could get these hours pretty easily (the OR volunteer demands 12-18 hours a week so it should add up quickly), but that doesn't seem likely until a vaccine is here... Any suggestions on where to get this shadowing nowadays?
So what are my chances at a US MD school? I would like to go into a surgical specialty (due to the research I'm doing being about surgery) so I'm really only considering MD. Should I look to DOs? maybe MSUCOM?
I do have a school list but it's essentially just every school that accepts a decent amount of internationals (Wayne state looking nice) minus top IVY schools and historically black schools. So I want to see what SDN suggests.
Thanks in advance!!
1. my ECs are bad, I had stuff lined up this year but covid happened and I'm kicking myself for not starting these in my first year. On the plus side, I have a lot of teaching and leadership experience with some memorable stories that I can talk about and I know my stuff when it comes to them.
2. what are the REAL chances of International/Canadian students? people see my stats and say "you'll get in" but for international students, the standards are much higher and the acceptance rate for international students is just 10%. If I was a US citizen I wouldn't be this afraid.
ECs by the time of application 2021 May:
400~ hours hospital-affiliated research about surgical education and safety, started February 2020
150~ hours MCAT tutor
600~ hours volunteer taekwondo instructor and coach, over the last 6 years
200 hours paid swimming instructor and lifeguard ended mid-2019
0 hours of shadowing*
0 hours of hospital volunteering*
*if lockdowns continue until the application start date.
Honestly, I hate myself. I had this really cool OR observership (for an OR tech assistant volunteer position) and some shadowing lined up for this year and just when I was about to start Covid forced the hospital to suspend everything. I know Adcoms don't give an f about my excuses since I should have just started these things early and be ok. If covid restricts are lifted here I could get these hours pretty easily (the OR volunteer demands 12-18 hours a week so it should add up quickly), but that doesn't seem likely until a vaccine is here... Any suggestions on where to get this shadowing nowadays?
So what are my chances at a US MD school? I would like to go into a surgical specialty (due to the research I'm doing being about surgery) so I'm really only considering MD. Should I look to DOs? maybe MSUCOM?
I do have a school list but it's essentially just every school that accepts a decent amount of internationals (Wayne state looking nice) minus top IVY schools and historically black schools. So I want to see what SDN suggests.
Thanks in advance!!
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