Brief Profile:
I'm a South Korean international student applying without US residency or US citizenship. I hope that my application can give other international students some kind of reassurance that applying as an international student is doable, very difficult but still doable.
I graduated high school in Seoul (Kangseo High School) and came to the States for college. I left school for two years after my freshmen year to complete my mandatory military service in S. Korea. After graduating in Dec. 2013, I've been working as a research technician at Duke.
I initially applied to 27 schools in my primary but only completed 13 secondaries because I was accepted to a med school(Seoul Nat'l University) back home. I applied MD/PhD to most school except for Duke, Stanford and Cleveland Clinic(at Case).
MCAT VR 11 PS 14 BS 12 T37 Freshmen GPA 3.4. Sophomore 3.9 Junior 3.9 Senior 3.9 (Graduation with Distinction in Biology, cum laude) BCPM and cGPA had an upward trend.
Experience - Research: 3 years in one lab - Publications: 1 published (2nd author) 4 submitted at time of primary application. 4 published (two 2nd author, two 5-6 author) 2 submitted by February (made good update letters). - Clinical: EMT at Duke EMS (leadership position: Finance Officer, Crew Chief) Shadowing - 18hrs - Volunteer: Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Center - 3hrs/wk one year Summer Camp for Ethical Minority Children in S. Korea (called DUET) - Others: IM Basketball, Military Service (Republic of Korea Army), Certified Derivatives Investment Advisor, Tutor(Paid), one minor research awards from College of Arts and Science
I didn't fill in all 15 slots on the AMCAS primary application. Rather, I focused on activities that I've spent a lot of time on.
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 07/10/2013
Undergraduate college: Duke University
Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences