Application Cycle One: 2007

• Undergraduate college: Portland State University
• Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences

• Total MCAT SCORE: 507
• MCAT Section Scores: B/B 129, C/P 127, CARS 124   Detailed Breakdown
• Overall GPA: 3.80
• Science GPA: 3.82

Summary of Application Experience

First, my MCAT ( I took it on June 15th) score was not the best one, specially in VR and writing... English is my second language..I only did 1 year of High School in the US. I have always struggle more in my social science classes than in my science classes. I applied to too many school because I thought I will have a hard time getting interviews...but it turned out the effort I put in my personal statement and all my volunteer experiences with under served communities help me to get the interviews.
Now, looking back I should have been more selective in my AMCAS application selecting the schools I was going to apply..because financially I could not afford to send all the secondaries.

Even though I did not sent my secondaries early on during the admission cycle (I sent my AMCAS 8/18 and work on my secondaries in September and October)...I was lucky to have 8 invites to interview... McGill was my third interview and my top choice and when I heard from them that I had been accepted a couple of weeks after the interview I canceled all my other interviews out of state.

Interviews Experiences:
Wake forest Interview: very relaxed..only questions from my personal statement. 15 min with 3 different faculty members. It was my first interview and I was a little nervous... I did not do as well as I wished.

University of Washington Interview: Lots of ethical scenario questions. they challenge my answers and argue against all my ideas... I feel they tried to push me to see how I would respond to stressful situations. Good learning experience. Very impressed with the school academic program... lots of opportunities to get involved in the community early on.

McGill: Morning: 10X 10 min scenarios ( like when they evaluate you with standardized patients in med school). This is a pilot project to evaluate students in different daily situations..Lots of role playing.I enjoy this part of the interview.
Afternoon: regular 30 min interview with 2 faculty members.
Accepted on 2/1/08. They only take 9 applicant out of Canada...and I am one of those!!! I am very excited to go to McGill!!.In addition, I will pay less for my tuition as an international students in Canada that as a resident in Oregon

OHSU: Inerview on Feb 26. 2 interviews with faculty memebers. Interviews were half and hour and very relaxed. They just want to know you as a person. Accepted sometime in April.

McGill Vs OHSU: McGill still my first choice, but I had a hard time saying no to OHSU since I have been 4 years there working and I know my way around , also I wanted to make sure everything was fine with my immigration papers to Canada before declining OHSU offer. In August, after withdrawing my application at OHSU I was contacted by OHSU to reconsider my decision because I had been selected for a $20,000 per year scholarship during all 4 years!! I could not believe it!! However, for personal reasons, I decided to stay at McGill. My husband is in Canada and he cannot immigrate to the US anytime soon plus if I become a quebec resident tuition will be better that what I get with the OHSU scholarship. This is one of the hardest decisions I have taken in my life. I hope it is the right decision.

I cancelled Invites to Interview at New York medical College, U of Vermont, Toledo University and Michigan Medical College.

Finances: About $3000 in applications and travel expenses.