Any international students there??

[kayo]

I'm currently a senior college student in TOkyo, Japan, international relations major, and after graduation, I'm gonna take classes in University of Hawaii next spring to fulfill prerequisites.
I've heard lots of med schools accept only US citizens or have certain limits for international applicants.
Plus, I will have the undergraduate degree outside of States so I guess I am pretty disadvanged.
Please share your insights on international applicants.
btw, my GPA is 3.41 now.

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[bioviol]

Hi, I'm originally from Tokyo, Japan, too. If you do not mind, which college do you go to? Have you lived in US before? Just wondered because your English seemed pretty good compared to typical Japanese students (like me back then).

I am neither UC citizen nor have permanent residency in the U.S. also, but I think I am qualified to apply to most of the med schools since I will have attended US 4-year institution for more than one year at the time of admission, and I plan to earn a degree from the institution.

I did not know about Unviersity of Hawaii before, so I just looked up on Yahoo education page. It says it is a "state-supported university," so I think this university's credits are acceptable. But, yes, I think you already know but it seems that the degrees earned outside of US are rarely accepted. Therefore, if you really want to go to US medical school I think you should think of earning another bachelor's degree from a US university, possibly the university you mentioned.

Btw, here is the info from HMS



Academic Work Outside North America

- Academic work in universities outside the US or Canada must be supplemented with at least one year of college or university training in the US or Canada.
- Foreign students who do not have a baccalaureate or advanced degree from an institution in the United States are rarely accepted for admission.



However, I am not sure if my assumption was correct.

 

[oli84]

Hey,

I am also an international student, but I'm doing my undergrad in the US. It is true that many med schools have only slots for US citizens or permanent residents and the reasons for these is because of the money. Medical schools are wary of granting slots to students who might just suddenly decide to not push through with going to med school because of financial reasons.

One place you could check for stats on international applicants is by getting a paid account at USNews.com, for $15 you will have extremely important information all laid out for you.

By the way, have you planned or have you taken the MCAT? If you're planning to take the august MCAT you should be registered by now.

 

[dr.z]

I'm currently a senior college student in TOkyo, Japan, international relations major, and after graduation, I'm gonna take classes in University of Hawaii next spring to fulfill prerequisites.
I've heard lots of med schools accept only US citizens or have certain limits for international applicants.
Plus, I will have the undergraduate degree outside of States so I guess I am pretty disadvanged.
Please share your insights on international applicants.
btw, my GPA is 3.41 now.

Hello, I'm from Japan too except I've been here since highschool (I am not a greencard holder nor citizen). I've finished my undergrad here, and I am currently finishing up my Ph.D in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology. I've decided to apply to medical school this year.

It is true that most schools don't take foreign students, especially state schools although there are some. Some schools require one year of study at U.S. university or full degree. You have to find them on their web or MSAR book. Another problem you have to consider is tuition. Most schools will not give you financial aid, and they request to deposit about $200,000 in their account before you are fully accepted (Untill then your acceptance is conditional).

Don't worry about your GPA, you can always raise that when you study here. Study hard for MCAT. I am also considering Doctor of Osteopathy as well as their admissions seems much more friendlier. To me a doctor is a doctor since M.D.'s and D.O.'s have same practice rights here.

You can PM me if you have more questions.

Good Luck!

 

[bioviol]

Hello, I'm from Japan too except I've been here since highschool (I am not a greencard holder nor citizen). I've finished my undergrad here, and I am currently finishing up my Ph.D in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology. I've decided to apply to medical school this year.

Hi, actually I've been here since high school also. I'm glad to hear that you were in the same boat. Now I am worryin about the MCAT; I think I will probably have only about two years to study for it. Do you think there is a possiblity to get above 35 in two years, given that I do not know any material now?

 

[Kazema]

Hi, actually I've been here since high school also. I'm glad to hear that you were in the same boat. Now I am worryin about the MCAT; I think I will probably have only about two years to study for it. Do you think there is a possiblity to get above 35 in two years, given that I do not know any material now?

I'm not an international student, but I would recommend that you start reading a lot; verbal reasoning is the section that most ESL students seem to have problems with. Since you have 2 years to prepare, I'd recommend practicing by reading stuff like the NY Times and academic journals. And anything else you can.

As far as the sciences, if you're taking the prereqs during these two years you should be fine. Generally students take the MCAT in the April of their junior year and apply during their senior year, but some take it in the summer after their sophomore year. You're not far behind at all.

 

[oli84]

Hi, actually I've been here since high school also. I'm glad to hear that you were in the same boat. Now I am worryin about the MCAT; I think I will probably have only about two years to study for it. Do you think there is a possiblity to get above 35 in two years, given that I do not know any material now?

Don't worry it shouldn't be too difficult. Now, I didn't reach a 35, but I know that its definitely attainable. As long as you have the preparation to see through every MCAT question thrown at you its not an impossible task. Two years is still a lot of time, start reviewing bit by bit.

The MCAT isn't a test that tries to make sure you fail; its what the definition of a test is: to see if you've learned the material. Questions will mostly be straightforward and the answers unambiguous.

What matters too is practice. Go and enroll in a review course (don't make money a reason not to, the application process as i'm finding out now is much more expensive; if you're not prepared to spend, its going to be tough) and practice, practice, practice! This will make you a lot less stressed and apprehensive come the real test.

 

[acl3623]

im from guatemala, non-resident/citizen too. one thing that i have learned from the application process is to defenitely do your research. this goes double for international students. make sure you contact each school you are interested in and ask if they consider non-residents and then double check. and beware, even if schools say they will consider you, many want you to be in the process of obtaining a green card by the time you're admitted. not to mention you will then have to find a way to finance all 4 yrs of school with no financial aid. it's tough but i heard it's been done.. good luck!

 

[CalBeE]

I don't get on SDN that much anymore...but I'm willing to answer SPECIFIC questions about int'l students. I went through the process this past year myself, and I'm heading to UCLA this coming August.

Here are some of the schools that I think are especially receptive to international students:

Columbia
Vanderbilt
Northwestern

I would consider NOT applying to these schools unless you were somehow affiliated with the school:

All the UC's (I was a UCLA undergrad)
NYU (They refused to review my app and gave me refund)
U Penn (Hard to get in and not very receptive to int'l students)
U Michigan
U Washington
All the U of Texas'

Finally, George Washington University has a 5-year program specially for international students who don't intend to practice in the US after graduation. However, you need sponsorship from embassy (or a hospital??) from your home country

 

[oli84]

I don't get on SDN that much anymore...but I'm willing to answer SPECIFIC questions about int'l students. I went through the process this past year myself, and I'm heading to UCLA this coming August.

Here are some of the schools that I think are especially receptive to international students:

Columbia
Vanderbilt
Northwestern

I would consider NOT applying to these schools unless you were somehow affiliated with the school:

All the UC's (I was a UCLA undergrad)
NYU (They refused to review my app and gave me refund)
U Penn (Hard to get in and not very receptive to int'l students)
U Michigan
U Washington
All the U of Texas'

Finally, George Washington University has a 5-year program specially for international students who don't intend to practice in the US after graduation. However, you need sponsorship from embassy (or a hospital??) from your home country

Hey Calbee,

I have a question about how competitive those three schools you mentioned are, when it comes to intl students. Do they now have equal footing compared to regular US citizen applicants?

I'm actually applying to George Washington University, and that program seems like a really good option for me. Do you have links or anything to where on the GWU website it is?

Thanks!

 

[CalBeE]

Hey Calbee,

I have a question about how competitive those three schools you mentioned are, when it comes to intl students. Do they now have equal footing compared to regular US citizen applicants?

I'm actually applying to George Washington University, and that program seems like a really good option for me. Do you have links or anything to where on the GWU website it is?

Thanks!

I lost the link to G Washington's program -- I didn't end up applying.
I don't think Int'l students are at big disadvantage at the 3 schools I mentioned. However, there are all pretty competitive, so you just have to try to build up a strong app.

 

[CalBeE]

Is this true??????????

Sorta...Some schools (Very few) do give financial package to international students, but that's not common practice. Usually you have to pre-pay tuition or show proof of financial support (Parents, etc.)

 

[bioviol]

Hi Kayo,

There is a very good website in Japanese where you can ask those kind of questions. I've just found one that you might be interested in, so I'll just leave the url here:

http://www.dodecapod.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=854&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

 

[Budder]

If you are interested in certain medical schools, go directly to their website, and they will usually tell you what their policy is on accepting international students.

For example, go to
http://www.gwumc.edu/smhs/
Click on search, enter international student. GWU will tell you all about their international students MD program.

 

[kayo]

Hi Kayo,

There is a very good website in Japanese where you can ask those kind of questions. I've just found one that you might be interested in, so I'll just leave the url here:

http://www.dodecapod.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=854&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

Thank you for sending me useful links.
It should be a looooong way to go but I will try my best.
Since I have not taken any science related classes in states, first
I should take prerequisite courses....

 

[jlee9531]

i didnt read too much the posts here, but you should get yourself an MSAR book and see which schools are receptive to international students. there are schools, regardless of stats, have historically not interviewed/accepted international students. and for the schools that do take international students, you need superstar scores to be competitive.

if you do a search on SDN you should be able to find a list of schools.