MD WAMC/List: Canadian, Low 1st year GPA, High 2-4th year + MSc GPA, 522 MCAT

[hersheythebar]

Hi everyone,

I am a Canadian MSc student looking to apply to American medical schools this cycle. I plan to apply to Canadian MD schools in the upcoming cycle (my first time applying to MD in general), but I thought I’d give US MD schools a try as well to have more options. As I am new to this, I would tremendously appreciate some feedback on my application and some suggestions for Canadian-friendly US MD schools – thank you for your time!

cGPA and sGPA as calculated by AMCAS or AACOMAS
I’m going to provide some extra detail here as I can’t help but worry/stress about this and would really appreciate some feedback!

cGPA (Year/GPA): 1st/2.9, 2nd/3.97, 3rd/4.0, 4th/4.0, MSc/4.0 – Cumulative: 3.74

sGPA (Year/GPA): 1st/2.91, 2nd/3.96, 3rd/4.0, 4th/4.0, MSc/4.0 – Cumulative: 3.75

Due to personal circumstances and a rough transition to undergrad, my 1st year GPA was relatively poor. But then, I maintained a strong GPA throughout my undergrad and into my MSc. Will my cumulative GPA be a significant impairment, or will admission committees give me some leeway for the poor 1st year, given my later performance?

MCAT score(s) and breakdown
522 (130/130/130/132)

State of residence or country of citizenship (if non-US)
Ontario, Canada

Ethnicity and/or race
South Asian

Undergraduate institution or category
University of Toronto, Canada

Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer)
Non-volunteer: provided virtual assistance with COVID-19 testing (300 hours), pharmacy assistant (600 hours – does this count as clinical?)
Volunteer: physical therapy assistant in rehabilitation medicine gym (400 hours)

Research experience and productivity
Research assistant in psychiatry clinic (200 hours), cardiology lab (clinical and experimental work, now my MSc lab) (3000 hours+), led a research-based design team (1200 hours)

3 manuscripts in preparation & soon to be submitted (one 1st author, 2 middle author)
Abstracts and posters at national conferences
Design team: 15 online resources (genetic biological parts/DNA sequences)

Shadowing experience and specialties represented
Admittedly, this is a poor section (very difficult to get shadowing in Canada). 15 hours split between nephrology, cardiology, and rheumatology

Non-clinical volunteering
Soup kitchen (200 hours)
Youth room supervisor (150 hours)
Assistant at local mosque (1000 hours)
University orientation week coordinator (200 hours)

Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)
TA and tutor (~600 hours total), founder of a student-advocacy club (400 hours), Undergrad and graduate student council year representative (100 hours), Varsity E-sport team (450 hours)

Hobbies: soccer, piano, powerlifting (thousands of hours total)

Relevant honors or awards
Design team: won international awards and nominations
Entrance uni scholarship, graduate entrance uni scholarship, national MSc award (CGS-M CIHR)

Extra:
Will have very strong letters of rec

Thanks for reading, everyone!

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[Mr.Smile12]

Just wondering: have you ever lived in the United States for any significant period of time? In what area is your master's degree? Is it affiliated with a medical school? Have you tried talking with any admissions representatives at the Canadian schools closest to you?

 

[hersheythebar]

Just wondering: have you ever lived in the United States for any significant period of time? In what area is your master's degree? Is it affiliated with a medical school? Have you tried talking with any admissions representatives at the Canadian schools closest to you?

Thanks for the reply. I haven't lived in the US for any significant period of time, but I've spent a month every summer visiting family in NYC. My master's degree is in cardiovascular toxicology, and yes, it is affiliated with a medical school. I haven't spoken with any admissions representatives - would you suggest I do this?