I am assuming that you are going to apply to both
Canadian, and American medical schools. I cannot give
you reliable information regarding American medical
schools, as I didn't apply to any. However, the
"standard" number of schools that I hear about through
other websites and web-forums seems to be between
10-25. This is assuming an average applicant. I
don't really think that there is such a thing, but I'd
assume that student should minimally have a GPA in the
B+ to A- range, with at least an undergraduate degree,
an MCAT of 27 or higher, some clinical volunteer
experience, solid letters of recommendation, and a
good command of English. Some research experience
also helps, particularly if you managed to get your name published.
In Canada, I think you should apply to every medical
school that will let you apply, and that you believe
you would attend if it was the only school that
accepted you. I don't believe that there is a great
deal of disparity in the quality of education among the Canadian medical schools.
All of the Canadian schools are heavily subsidized by
the Canadian government, with the purpose of producing
doctors who will remain in Canada to serve the public.
As a result, I believe that all the schools receive
decent (even in these times) funding, and have the
capability to hire first-rate professors and
clinicians. As an example, I've found very few "bad"
lecturers at UBC. Most seem very dedicated to their
work, and have a sincere interest in your learning.
Applying to medical schools isn't cheap. Not getting
in on your first attempt because you applied to too
few schools is even more expensive, since that's the
equivalent of losing a year of a doctor's salary. If
you believe that medicine is what you want to do, and
you have a realistic chance of being accepted, I'd
apply to every school that I thought I would potentially attend.
To answer your final question, UBC selects a majority
of its entering class from people who are classed as
BC residents. In fact, in my class, there are no
people who are out-of-province. I have more statistics on UBC in my website.
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