Hello everyone, this is my story. Please tell me what your thoughts are and if you had any experience with this issue.
I was undocumented from my junior year in HS to the beginning of my junior year in college. I was finally able to fix my situation last year, and I have been on the green card process for almost a year now. My process is almost done. I have already obtained an EAD card, SSN, did my fingerprints, just waiting on the interview, which I should get before matriculation starts in med schools start.
Despite this, I decided to take a chance and apply to medical school this cycle. I only applied to med schools that take international/DACA students, or to the ones that didn’t, I emailed them beforehand to make sure I would be considered. Now, I am just wondering, what are my chances of getting in? I am scared because some schools I applied to will consider see my pending status as an international student, and I have read that it is really hard to get into med school as an international student and that the standards are high. I applied to some other schools which assured me that immigration status does not matter in their process, however these med schools also happen to be the top ones (cornell, harvard, columbia, duke, stanford, etc). I ended applying to 23 schools in total.
I am a biomedical sciences major, went to state college for my first two years, then transferred to a 4 yr univ. My GPA is a 4.0. I took the MCAT during covid this year and despite being cancelled twice (one time less than 24 hrs), I got a 518 (129/127/132/130). I have had over a year of research experience in three different labs, working on the effects of prenatal exposure to THC on the brain. Throughout the process, I completed an honors project on my research. I also volunteered for three years in a hospital at the ER and the laboratory. On top of that, I am a honors student, was a TA for organic chem, and held a year position as SGA leader in my school. I am also currently shadowing a physician now. In nutshell, throughout these past years, I have tried everything the most competitive applicant that I can.
Do you guys think I have a shot even if I am considered an international applicant? Or should I prepare to reapply next year? Do any of you guys ever applied in this situation? Should I be prepared to address this issue in interviews?
Also note: I did talk about my previous undocumented status during personal statement/ autobiographies. I know it was a risk, but I hope schools won’t look at that as just an “illegal.” I had to talk about it because it was an important part of my journey, and I had to face so many obstacles. It just felt incomplete to talk about my story without mentioning it. I also came into the country legally when I was 15 and my parents tried to change my visa status but it was denied two years later.