Undergraduate College: a canadian university
Undergraduate Area of Study: Biological/Life Sciences
MCAT: BS 13, PS 14, VR 13, S
Overall GPA: 3.98
Science GPA: 4.00
Brief Profile:
AMCAS submitted: 10/6/2011
Application Complete, Rejected
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: No
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
I guess CASPER didn't go well for me.
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: No
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
They have a >93% GPA cut-off for OOP applicants. Didn't have that.
Dalhousie University - "First rejection hurt, but I knew my personal essay for this school was a very crappy one... so this ..."
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: No
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
First rejection hurt, but I knew my personal essay for this school was a very crappy one... so this was expected.
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: No
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
I don't know why I even applied to an UC school as an international applicant.
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: 11/15/2011
- Interview Invite: No
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
Didn't have a full-year of English course.
Johns Hopkins University - "File was marked as complete on January 18th, I guess that was probably too late in the cycle. Should..."
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: 11/27/2011
- Interview Invite: No
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
File was marked as complete on January 18th, I guess that was probably too late in the cycle. Should've applied earlier. Luckily I've already had acceptances from schools that I absolutely love, so I'm not feeling bad about this rejection at all.
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: 11/30/2011
- Interview Invite: No
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
Oh well, Chicago and I were not meant to be.
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: 1/3/2012
- Interview Invite: No
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
Application completed in late January. Probably too late?
University of Chicago - "Left the secondary application open for almost a month before submission, definitely not a good idea..."
Combined PhD/MSTP: Yes
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: 11/30/2011
- Interview Invite: No
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
Left the secondary application open for almost a month before submission, definitely not a good idea. At least this was a quick rejection.
Emory University - "MSTP rejection, declined to be considered for MD-only program."
Combined PhD/MSTP: Yes
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: 12/6/2011
- Interview Invite: No
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
MSTP rejection, declined to be considered for MD-only program.
Invited for Interview, Withdrew
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: Yes
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: Yes
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: Yes
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: Yes
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: 2/1/2012
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: 12/1/2011
- Interview Invite: 1/31/2012
- Interview Attended: No
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Attended Interview, Rejected
Harvard University - "I've heard of a lot negative comments for HMS interview, especially how unstructured it is. On the p..."
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: 10/27/2011
- Interview Invite: 1/16/2012
- Interview Attended: Yes
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
I've heard of a lot negative comments for HMS interview, especially how unstructured it is. On the plus side though, the interviews were super conversational and relaxing. I had a student and a faculty interviewer, and my faculty interviewer was one of the most inspiring physicians I've met. He was very encouraging throughout the entire interview and the works he does are mind-blowing. I'd love to become a physician/scientist like him someday!
As for the school itself, HMS has a great reputation, superb faculties and good curriculum. The student host I stayed with and the students I met on the interview day were all very friendly.
See you further down the road, HMS!
Attended Interview, Waitlisted, Withdrew
McGill University - "OOP applicant, was surprised and honoured that I made it to the OOP interview!
McGill's MMI was v..."
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: 1/26/2012
- Interview Attended: 2/20/2012
- Waitlisted: 3/9/2012
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
OOP applicant, was surprised and honoured that I made it to the OOP interview!
McGill's MMI was very creative... don't think I did a good job though :(
Waitlisted - as expected. No hard feelings, I probably won't choose McGill over Stanford or Wash U at this point :)
Yale University - "Yale's interview day was not stressful at all. I have one student and one faculty interviews that la..."
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: 10/31/2011
- Interview Invite: Yes
- Interview Attended: Yes
- Waitlisted: Yes
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
Yale's interview day was not stressful at all. I have one student and one faculty interviews that lasted about 50 minutes, both were open-file and conversational.
I really like the flexible curriculum at Yale and the international-student-friendly financial aid package they offers. Considering how expensive medical education is in the US, a school that is willing to chip in is definitely more desirable. Oh, and have I mentioned that you can do a tuition-free fifth year at Yale? This would be awesome for getting a second degree or doing more research. Yale also uses no-grade/ranking P/F system. The students I met during my stay were all very friendly, and they seemed super enthusiastic about their school. Please Yale, love me back!
Waitlisted in March, withdrew at this point. Bye to the northeast!
Dartmouth College - "Lovely campus, very happy students, cool third year rotation options, great outdoors. Joan, the lady..."
Combined PhD/MSTP: Yes
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: Yes
- Interview Attended: Yes
- Waitlisted: Yes
- Accepted: No
Summary of Experience:
Lovely campus, very happy students, cool third year rotation options, great outdoors. Joan, the lady at the MD adminission office, is super friendly and warm. The interview days were pretty well organized. Of note, expect a rather big panel PhD interview (I had a 7-on-1). The MD interviews were very conservational. I have a feeling that Dartmouth is looking for people who are committed to primary care, which is expected given its rural location and the fact that it is a primary hospital serving NH. They really emphasize and are looking for prior shadowing experience (which was harder to get in Canada than in the US), or interaction with patients through other types of medical-related volunteer work.
The hospital complex is built to create a more soothing atmosphere for the patients and their families, and it was designed with a mall concept in mind. There is a grand piano situated at the centre of the complex (beside the information desk), and everytime I walked by there was someone playing it - it was just lovely.
Interview invit mid-January.
Interview attended early February.
Waitlisted for MD/PhD in late March.
Accepted
University of Toronto - "I enjoyed my UofT interview a lot. You could tell that the interviewers have really read your files ..."
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: Yes
- Interview Invite: Yes
- Interview Attended: Yes
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: Yes
Summary of Experience:
I enjoyed my UofT interview a lot. You could tell that the interviewers have really read your files and were genuinely interested in getting to know you better. The interview was conversational and pretty relaxing.
I didn't know I would like UofT this much since I've lived in Toronto and worked in the hospitals here for a while now, but the number of UofT-affiliated hospitals is very, very impressive! UofT has a bit of something for everyone. You want community medicine? Check, they have DOCH. Research? Check, they have Crems. You want social life? Big checkkkk.... T.O. is pretty darn good for that. The students didn't seem to be very enthusiastic about their PBL though, but I guess it's not the best method of learning for everyone.
Stanford University - "Love Stanford's curriculum, the facilities and its location. Can totally see myself at this school! ..."
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: 11/14/2011
- Interview Invite: Yes
- Interview Attended: 1/11/2012
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: 2/3/2012
Summary of Experience:
Love Stanford's curriculum, the facilities and its location. Can totally see myself at this school! Too bad they don't offer financial aid for international students, that would've been really nice. I like the framwork of scholarly concentration, Stanford really strives to train its students to be future medical scientists.
Accepted in early February!!
Combined PhD/MSTP: No
- Submitted: Yes
- Secondary Completed: 12/3/2011
- Interview Invite: 12/14/2011
- Interview Attended: 1/27/2012
- Waitlisted: No
- Accepted: 2/25/2012
Summary of Experience:
Great facility, I like how almost the entire hospital complex is connected by in-door walkways. The students are happy and very friendly. I appreciate that as applicants we got to meet with students from all four years (pizza party and breakfast with 1&2 yrs, lunch with 3rd yr and tour with 4th yr students).
Wash U has a great reputation in the medical field, awesome research opportunities, gives merit-based scholarships (applies to international students too), and their match list is pretty decent. The travel from Lambert airport to the medical school is very convenient with MetroLink, and the med students can take MetroBus/MetroLink for free! Olin Hall was not bad, and the staffs at the reception desk were very, very friendly and were willing to help.
Accepted! I'm so very honoured :)))
Summary of Application Experience
AMCAS primary application verified late October (applied as Canadian)
Secondary applications for most schools submitted in November, one in early December
