What are my chances of getting into a Canadian or American medical school?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Hey everyone! I've been reading the forums of a couple of weeks now but I was hoping to see if I could get a tailored response to my situation. </p>

<p>So a little about myself.</p>

<p>I'm currently a fourth year engineering student enrolled in chemical engineering - biomedical option at the University of Alberta.</p>

<p>Academics
These are my GPA break-downs up until now.</p>

<p>1st Year: 2.0
2nd Year: 2.8
3rd Year: 3.0 (2.0 in my Fall semester/4.0 in my Winter semester)
4th Year (Fall only): 4.0</p>

<p>The reason for this is that during my first two years and the fall semester of my second year, I was uninterested in school. I regularly skipped classes,and was generally uninterested in anything academic related; however, lately, due to a couple of personal experiences, I am motivated to become a physician, which have reflected in my grades since the winter semester of third year. Luckily, the biomedical side of my degree allows for pre-requisites to be met. I have purposely extended my degree by a year so I can boost my GPA a bit (I'll be taking a lot of extra engineering courses).</p>

<p>These are my grades for pre-reqs (as I have read on these forums).</p>

<p>General Chemistry = B, C+ (First Year)
Organic Chemistry = A+, A+ (Third Year/Fourth Year)
Biochemistry = A+, A (Third Year/Fourth Year)
English = B+, A (Second Year/Third Year)
Biology = B-, A+ (Second Year)
Physics = C, B+ (First Year, Second Year)
Statistics = A+ (Fourth Year)</p>

<p>As for MCAT scores, I took it in the summer and scored **35R<a href="12PS,%2012VR,%2011BS">/b</a>. I was going to re-take it again this summer, but I was told this is an acceptable score from some of my friends who have taken the MCAT.</p>

<p>Extra-curriculars</p>

<p>Research Experience
I did research for a professor from the Department of Pediatrics during my senior year of high school, which resulted in a poster presentation but no publications.</p>

<p>Volunteerism and Leadership
Despite being in engineering, I've always felt that volunteering has been essential in who I am today. There are three core volunteer things that I do.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>I'm an executive for the chemical engineering students' society since third year, and am considering running for presidency for my fifth year.</p></li>
<li><p>I'm an executive for a mental health awareness group since my first year (that was something that was always close to my heart) and have been an executive since third year, again hoping to run for presidency for my fifth year.</p></li>
<li><p>I've been coaching my high school volleyball team since my first year as an assistant coach (I was captain in my senior year). As of third year, I was appointed head coach following the retirement of the former head coach by the athletics coordinate. I plan on doing this in my fifth year.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Aside from that, I do volunteer at a couple of places, but they are less time committed volunteerisms.</p>

<p>Letters of Recommendations</p>

<p>I think I would get a LOR from one of my biomedical engineering professors, my high school's athletics coordinator and some former executives from the two student groups.</p>

<p>Future Courses of Action
I'm hoping to get a research position this summer or a clinical placement; however, I am not sure how well either will go as of yet.</p>

<p>As for schools I've considered, I'm aiming for U of Alberta and U of Calgary at the moment, but should I consider any other schools? I am a dual citizen of both Canada and the US, so should I also consider US Medical Schools?</p>

<p>Nevertheless, thank you for taking the time and consideration to read through this! Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, as well as any personal experiences you may have.</p>

<p>Jason M.</p>

2

<p>

  1. Your performance in the first five semesters of college will reduce your options. With a 35 MCAT score, it shows you can do it, but getting lots of Cs tells another story. Med school isn’t easy and schools need to see proof that you’re mature enough and committed to succeed.
  2. High school activities won’t count unless you have continued them through college.
  3. You’ll need LoR from college professors, and at least one from a science course.
  4. You need clinical experience/shadowing and college-level research experience to be competitive.</p>
3

<p>you sound like someone who would benefit a lot from doing a special masters program. Your MCAT score is great but that GPA is no good. A few more semesters in the 3.5+ range though could convince them you have your act together. In addition, as stated above, it would give you more time to improve your ECs.</p>

4

<p>As all above pointed, MCAT is decent, GPA is not. You make conclusion. Also, keep in mind that MCAT is good only for certain number of years.
No HS ECs count. Mnay did multi-year research while in HS, but they do not mention it. So, drop “I did research for a professor from the Department of Pediatrics during my senior year of high school, which resulted in a poster presentation but no publications”, “I’ve been coaching my high school volleyball team since my first year as an assistant coach " and also these 2 do not sound like on-going time demanding commitment: 1. I’m an executive for the chemical engineering students’ society since third year, and am considering running for presidency for my fifth year.
2. I’m an executive for a mental health awareness group since my first year (that was something” These should be mentioned only if you have space after you mentioned everything else, which is WHAT? Definitely, job, Med. Research shadowing, volunteering, all during COLLEGE years, even if it is in a summer, significant involvemnt in college life…foreign languages (that is where D. has ran out of space, so she did not mention her couple of foreign languages, one of which she had used successfully at her Med. School on her trip abroad)</p>

5

<p>Obviously your grades will be an issue.</p>

<p>another consideration if you get into a US MD school… We all know about the difficulties of getting into a US med school if you’re an int’l. Now, I recently read that getting matched into a residency is another huge problem if you’re not an American (something about obtaining the needed visas and residencies don’t want to bother with all of that). Others can comment, but if this would be another huge hurdle, then maybe your focus should be on Canadian SOMs.</p>

6

<p>Your GPA will get you screened out of consideration at most American med schools, despite your excellent MCAT score.</p>

<p>A grade enhancing masters or SMP seems your best option right now.</p>

<p>Most US med schools want 3 LORs from professors, typically 2 science (BCMP only, engineering professors aren’t considered science profs) and 1 non-science. (Some schools specify humanities/social sciences.) A very few schools ask for a LOR from a clinical volunteer site supervisor.</p>

<p>Your other letters would come under the heading of “character reference” letters–these probably won’t be considered. Adcomms generally will not read LORs written by students, even if they are executive officers in organizations.</p>

<p>Your ECs are missing 2 key activities required for all applicants to US med schools: clinical experience (working directly with patients) and physician shadowing.</p>

<p>~~~</p>

<p>P.S. @ mom2 the OP holds dual US-Canadian citizenship. So s/he wouldn’t be considered an international.</p>

7

<p>^^</p>

<p>ahh…missed the dual citizenship. thanks</p>

<p>The GPA is still an issue. It doesn’t sound like he’s a resident of any US state which could help with an instate med school.</p>

8

<p>Thanks everyone for your responses! I was considering doing a M.Eng/MBA dual degree, which would only be an additional calendar year to increase my GPA. If biomedical engineering professors do not count, then I could ask some other science professors but my relationship with them is not on the same level as my engineering ones.</p>

<p>I will take all the other suggestions into account (especially physician shadowing and clinical volunteering). I do have some opportunities for each.</p>

<p>Is there any other pieces of information I can provide to be further assessed? I do notice that GPA has a detrimental effect on my application, but if I increased other aspects of my application, would I have at least a shot for an interview?</p>

9

<p>I also have relatives living in Miami, if I moved in with them, would I be considered an intl student or could I qualify for state schools?</p>

10

<p>I also have relatives living in Miami, if I moved in with them, would I be considered an intl student or could I qualify for state schools?</p>

<p>Since you’re a citizen, you’re not an int’l. </p>

<p>If you move in with your Florida relatives, you’ll have to see if/when Florida publics would consider you a resident. Florida may require you to live there for 12 months before applying. And, you’d only be instate for Florida public. You’d still be OOS for the rest of the publics. </p>

<p>go to Florida public SOM websites to see how they determine residency.</p>

11

<p>Check the FL schools, USUALLY to be considered a resident for admissions, you need to be a resident for 12 months before applying. If you are applying summer of 2015 to matriculate fall 2016, you need to move to FL in summer 2014.</p>

<p>So, find the residency forms on the FL med school websites. Your instate school is the best option. ON the other hand, are you a resident of Alberta? Are there two med schools there? You might give that a try. You will need to choose your best option, your best state/province of which to be a resident and make sure you qualify.</p>

12

<p>A dual engineering/MBA program might not be especially useful for raising your GPA if your science GPA (sGPA) is as low as your regular GPA.</p>

<p>What is your GPA when only counting courses labeled Biology, Chemistry, Math, Physics?</p>

<p>This needs to be in 3.5+ range.</p>

<p>If your sGPA is below 3.4, you will likely need to enroll in a science-based Master’s program, not an engineering or business program.</p>

<p>~~~</p>

<p>And strengthening other aspects of your profile will only help somewhat.</p>

<p>Many medical schools use a computer program to do an automated screening of applicants, generally using just GPA, sGPA and MCAT score (plus a few other tweeks like state residency for state schools).</p>

<p>Even if your ECs are strong or you raise your MCAT score, you still won’t make it past the first round of computer screening due your GPA.</p>

13

<p>OP,</p>

<p>unless you’re planning on taking several years off, I don’t think there is anything you could do to offset your GPA. Your best bet is definitely to simply get it higher by doing some sort of masters so that you can get more classes on your transcript. The first step of the admissions process involves an automatic screen of GPA/MCAT such that if your numbers aren’t at a certain point human eyes will never see your application. Your GPA is currently 2.95 and while no one knows the actual screening cutoffs, I would imagine it has to be at least 3.0 for most schools if not much higher given the GPAs at most medical schools: <a href=“http://www.washington.edu/uaa/advising/downloads/gpamcat.pdf[/url]”>http://www.washington.edu/uaa/advising/downloads/gpamcat.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;