Application Cycle One: 2008

• Undergraduate college: Harvard College
• Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences

• Total MCAT SCORE: 524
• MCAT Section Scores: B/B 130, C/P 132, CARS 132   Detailed Breakdown
• Overall GPA: 3.94
• Science GPA: 3.96

Summary of Application Experience

Apply early!! I can't emphasize enough the importance of this. I procrastinated some of my secondary applications, and fortunately got away with it... but I considered myself lucky.

Receiving my first acceptance at Northwestern, to a great program at a great location, was a huge relief and led to a lot of withdrawals at other schools.

Canadian citizens: applying to schools in the US is quite difficult. Many great schools will consider you, but very few will offer any institutional aid. Even worse, many will ask for four years of tuition in escrow. This cut down my top choices to Yale and Harvard, or crossing my fingers and hoping for a merit scholarship.

Also, the interview season was VERY long as a result of having interviews in 2 countries with different admissions cycles. My first interview as in October and my last one in March.

It's very important to apply widely. I thought I had a relatively strong application, but was waitlisted at several schools. I had my Canadian schools to fall back on, but they do not send decisions until May 15. Getting the Harvard letter in mid-March was an immense relief! On the other hand being waitlisted is not the end of the world, as I found out when eventually offered a spot at Yale off the waitlist.

Of course I'd heard all the above advice before, but it's important to hear it and also take it seriously! Applying late or to not enough schools is VERY easy to do and it hurts to have it bite you later.