INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS Applicant Thread!!!!

[hopefulMD12]

just curious, why do y'all want to study medicine in the US instead of your country of origin? do you plan on returning to that country or staying here?

I answered your question in the first page. Well, its from a Canadian's perspective.

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[TalinAagam]

Thanks guys I think your suggestions make sense about not detailing why we are applying to American schools.
Im curious, will the PS readers know that we are international students? Do they have access to the rest of our application when they read it?
I guess this is perhaps a difficult question o answer because it might vary from school to school demanding on their protocols

 

[zippyziggy]

I answered your question in the first page. Well, its from a Canadian's perspective.

Yea sorry I should've been more specific - I meant for non-Canadians. I mean the US and Canada are so close socially, economically, and even sports-wise, I pretty much consider us one country anyway (jk...).

But that got me thinking - why would Canadians apply to the US, unless they wanted to immigrate here or do research that you couldn't do at UT or McGill? Those seem to be the only good reasons for studing here. I read your rationale, but given the cost of US med schools and perceived difficulty in getting in as an international student, is it worth it? I mean if you want to stay and work in Canada, it's much easier applying to your province school, even if you do have to explain why you went to the US for undergrad. International students really only have chances at top tier schools in the US, but those are difficult to get into for anyone, much less an international student. Am I wrong?

 

[TalinAagam]

Yea sorry I should've been more specific - I meant for non-Canadians. I mean the US and Canada are so close socially, economically, and even sports-wise, I pretty much consider us one country anyway (jk...).

But that got me thinking - why would Canadians apply to the US, unless they wanted to immigrate here or do research that you couldn't do at UT or McGill? Those seem to be the only good reasons for studing here. I read your rationale, but given the cost of US med schools and perceived difficulty in getting in as an international student, is it worth it? I mean if you want to stay and work in Canada, it's much easier applying to your province school, even if you do have to explain why you went to the US for undergrad. International students really only have chances at top tier schools in the US, but those are difficult to get into for anyone, much less an international student. Am I wrong?

I sometimes wish we were one country

 

[hopefulMD12]

So how's the application season going for everyone?

Not bad. I have my first interview at Pitt in 3 weeks, then U Chicago interview in 4 weeks and then U. Virginia in 5 weeks. Went yesterday with a friend of mine and bought formal attire for the interviews.

 

[Amygdarya]

Not bad. I have my first interview at Pitt in 3 weeks, then U Chicago interview in 4 weeks and then U. Virginia in 5 weeks. Went yesterday with a friend of mine and bought formal attire for the interviews.

Way to go! Good luck at the interviews!
I'm hoping for some love from U Chicago and U Pittsburgh myself.

 

[mynameistoolong]

How's it going guys. Just got another rejection this morning Applied to 30 schools (20 MSTPs/MDPhDs, 10 MD); got 1 MSTP rejection, 1 MD rejection, 1 MD interview waitlist (essentially a dragged on rejection) so far. Still no secondary from UCSF MD, so that probably went bust as well.

Seeing how I have 3.75/39, covered all my bases in ECs (research, shadowing, clinical volunteering, leadership), and the fact that you guys all got multiple IIs already makes me start to worry someone wrote something bad in my LOR

Well, that's my pity party of the day

 

[274631]

How's it going guys. Just got another rejection this morning Applied to 30 schools (20 MSTPs/MDPhDs, 10 MD); got 1 MSTP rejection, 1 MD rejection, 1 MD interview waitlist (essentially a dragged on rejection) so far. Still no secondary from UCSF MD, so that probably went bust as well.

Seeing how I have 3.75/39, covered all my bases in ECs (research, shadowing, clinical volunteering, leadership), and the fact that you guys all got multiple IIs already makes me start to worry someone wrote something bad in my LOR

Well, that's my pity party of the day

Hang in there...it's still early in the game. Your stats seem great, I would be surprised if you didn't have a successful cycle.

If it makes you feel any better I also only have one II and I still have a couple secondaries to turn in.

As an Aside: What is an Interview waitlist? Didn't know they did that.

 

[mynameistoolong]

Hang in there...it's still early in the game. Your stats seem great, I would be surprised if you didn't have a successful cycle.

If it makes you feel any better I also only have one II and I still have a couple secondaries to turn in.

As an Aside: What is an Interview waitlist? Didn't know they did that.

Thanks The interview waitlist is a UC-Davis thing where they put you on hold until January at which time they may or may not (more likely not) invite you for interview. Not putting in much hope, especially considering how they regularly matriculate 99 IS/1 OOS...

 

[star349]

im really glad this thread exists, and it is good to hear that fellow internationals are getting II

I don't come on SDN too often because it makes me more neurotic than I have to be, but I'll be checking in from time to time!

 

[Amygdarya]

You can subscribe to the threads you're interested in, so you don't have to read through many others

 

[Laureatebarrel]

Love this thread!

 

[hopefulMD12]

Had my first interview already. Have 6 or 7 more in the next one month! Still waiting to hear back from some schools though. School starts really soon. How is everyone planning to juggle classes and interviews?

 

[MamiMD]

Are you guys submitting your foreign transcripts to schools directly?
I have all my pre reqs at US schools (I have american citizenship) and I've been toying with paying for WES conversion.

According to them a distinction is an A? Sweet!

 

[Amygdarya]

Had my first interview already. Have 6 or 7 more in the next one month! Still waiting to hear back from some schools though. School starts really soon. How is everyone planning to juggle classes and interviews?

Wow, that's productive!
I wouldn't be able to go to this many interviews in one month though because of my job. I'm spacing my interviews something like one in every 1-2 weeks.

 

[Amygdarya]

Are you guys submitting your foreign transcripts to schools directly?
I have all my pre reqs at US schools (I have american citizenship) and I've been toying with paying for WES conversion.

This depends on the school, so you may want to ask schools directly. What I've heard some accepted international students did, basically, they told each school that they could provide the school with an official evaluation of their foreign diploma if requested - but none of the schools requested evaluations.
Now, this may vary. I already had my diploma evaluated (for an unrelated reason) and I think that it's good to have an official evaluation of your foreign diploma just in case.

 

[MamiMD]

This depends on the school, so you may want to ask schools directly. What I've heard some accepted international students did, basically, they told each school that they could provide the school with an official evaluation of their foreign diploma if requested - but none of the schools requested evaluations.
Now, this may vary. I already had my diploma evaluated (for an unrelated reason) and I think that it's good to have an official evaluation of your foreign diploma just in case.

THis is great advice, thank you!

I bit the bullet on the evaluation, just because it said it will take a week, and I guess they need a copy of your diploma snailmailed to them before they'll look at what the school has to say

hopefully I'll be verified tomorrow and really get the ball rolling...

 

[PeruvianMD]

Hey all! International student here also! although I am just starting freshman year next week. I really like to hear about some us getting into american med schools, it really keeps me motivated, so good luck with your interviews!

 

[Toph]

I'm glad to have found this thread. I'm an international planning to apply during the next application cycle in 2014. What scares me the most is hearing about those internationals who apply and end up getting ZERO ADMISSIONS in the end. I hope all you people get in and give me some hope

 

[MamiMD]

Bumping this thread to say what a horrible experience I've had with WES.
They had a problem understanding the wording of my transcript and held me up two weeks (even after corresponding with my university).
The worst part was they started counting the "week" from the time they decided they understood my transcripts, so the whole ordeal took THREE weeks.

Plus, there are days that they just have a message saying "no ones here to answer your phone," even during business hours.

My advice is:
Give them at least a month, because they wont request additional information until the day before they said they would complete your transcript, and then it's like resetting the wait time.

SUNY: Downstate specifically requested WES transcripts.

 

[Nakazima]

Bump! Any internationals receiving II's? If so, when were you complete?

 

[274631]

I have 8 MD IIs so far. I was complete at schools starting end of July to middle/end of August. It's been pretty random the amount of time between being complete and getting an II for me.

 

[Nakazima]

Thanks for the response! Did the schools mention anything specific to being international on the interview day?

 

[ZtetNb]

Yea sorry I should've been more specific - I meant for non-Canadians. I mean the US and Canada are so close socially, economically, and even sports-wise, I pretty much consider us one country anyway (jk...).

But that got me thinking - why would Canadians apply to the US, unless they wanted to immigrate here or do research that you couldn't do at UT or McGill? Those seem to be the only good reasons for studing here. I read your rationale, but given the cost of US med schools and perceived difficulty in getting in as an international student, is it worth it? I mean if you want to stay and work in Canada, it's much easier applying to your province school, even if you do have to explain why you went to the US for undergrad. International students really only have chances at top tier schools in the US, but those are difficult to get into for anyone, much less an international student. Am I wrong?

Canadian med school admissions can be a toss up, no matter how good of an applicant you seem to be. Basically every non-french Canadian med school has high average accepted GPAs (3.8 or 3.9+, which is actually understating because AMCAS converts grades more generously). MCAT doesn't count for much, but some schools have strict MCAT cutoffs (even for writing before it got taken out).

So, getting into med school anywhere in Canada is very competitive. People from the Toronto region have it even harder, since they have no "home school" (UofT gives no geographic origin preferences). Getting into McGill if you're not from Quebec requires a lot of luck, no matter how good your application. Getting more than a few acceptances in Canada is also extremely rare, even among the best applicants, so you tend to just go where you get accepted, regardless of whether the school fits you or not.

The result is that, like someone else mentioned, if you don't happen to meet the criteria Canadian schools have, getting accepted in the US, even highly ranked schools, might still be easier than getting accepted in Canada. This is particularly true if you're from Toronto, which is basically the Canadian equivalent of California. And especially if you want to do research, UofT and McGill may be good, but with say, a 3.75 and 40+ MCAT with strong ECs, your chances at either of those two are still weak.

 

[MamiMD]

Pretty quiet on my front, but I was complete late August, so still hopeful!

 

[Nakazima]

Bump

 

[274631]

Thanks for the response! Did the schools mention anything specific to being international on the interview day?

I haven't gone on any of my interviews as yet due to being abroad right now.

 

[R35]

Ontario resident here. If Canadian admissions fall through, I'll try applying to US schools, preferably in Michigan or Colorado. (I don't know why those states, but I guess it's because they seem to be more "Canadian" )

 

[Medicalhopeful]

Daca status here. I was born in Mexico but was raised in the United States since the age of 5. California resident. Most schools don't recognize my status and I'm labeled as an international student.

I wanted to add schools that won't send you a secondary if you're not a citizen or permanent resident.

University of Washington
Michigan state
Rush
Wake forest.

I wasted money on these schools so please don't do the same!

Please add schools that you have received a secondary from or not!

 

[TalinAagam]

ThanksThanksThanksThanks

 

[TalinAagam]

ThanksThanksThanksThanks

 

[Medicalhopeful]

The other one.

I checked msar and they had accepted international students. I don't know why they stopped. Check their website after the msar. Don't trust msar 100%!!

 

[TalinAagam]

ThanksThanksThanksThanks

 

[Medicalhopeful]

Can people post a list?

These are the secondaries I have received so far:

UCLA
UCLA Drew
UCI
UC Davis
USC
Loma Linda
Einstein
NYU
NYMC
Loyola
Stanford
Johns Hopkins
Boston
Geisel
george washington
jefferson
UC riverside
uni of colorado

Still waiting on UCSF and UCLA PRIME. Thinking about adding Harvard, Brown, vanderbilt, and maybe emory. Heard vanderbilt loved international students. Not sure tho.

Any other ideas about schools that won't automatically reject us?

 

[274631]

Can people post a list?

These are the secondaries I have received so far:

UCLA
UCLA Drew
UCI
UC Davis
USC
Loma Linda
Einstein
NYU
NYMC
Loyola
Stanford
Johns Hopkins
Boston
Geisel
george washington
jefferson
UC riverside
uni of colorado

Still waiting on UCSF and UCLA PRIME. Thinking about adding Harvard, Brown, vanderbilt, and maybe emory. Heard vanderbilt loved international students. Not sure tho.

Any other ideas about schools that won't automatically reject us?

I think I posted a list of schools I looked at earlier in this thread. If not the way I narrowed down schools was by first looking at the msar then double checking with the individual school's website. Its tedious but that way you don't throw your money away. You can look at my school list also since I only applied to schools that accepted non Canadian internationals.

Also for whoever asked about wash u (not in st Louis) I'm pretty sure they say on their website and the msar that they don't accept internationals. I may be mistaken though.

 

[kimicurtis]

Can people post a list?

These are the secondaries I have received so far:

UCLA
UCLA Drew
UCI
UC Davis
USC
Loma Linda
Einstein
NYU
NYMC
Loyola
Stanford
Johns Hopkins
Boston
Geisel
george washington
jefferson
UC riverside
uni of colorado

Still waiting on UCSF and UCLA PRIME. Thinking about adding Harvard, Brown, vanderbilt, and maybe emory. Heard vanderbilt loved international students. Not sure tho.

Any other ideas about schools that won't automatically reject us?

Are you Canadian, because some of those schools only accept Canadians e.g NYU

 

[MamiMD]

BU is not international friendly (not sure about canada)

They make you put all your classes in a grid according to their institutional standards, which is non-community college domestic universities.

Their pre-reqs include a year of humanities and a year of english, which have to be taken at their preferred institutions.

 

[kimicurtis]

BU is not international friendly (not sure about canada)

They make you put all your classes in a grid according to their institutional standards, which is non-community college domestic universities.

Their pre-reqs include a year of humanities and a year of english, which have to be taken at their preferred institutions.

When you say this do you mean that they want classes taken in the US?

 

[MamiMD]

When you say this do you mean that they want classes taken in the US?

Yes. I probably wouldn't have applied to BU if I had known this (this stuff is expensive!). The grid showed me that I was missing four semesters worth of requirements according to their standards (all science classes completed in the US).

I will let you guys know how BU pans out, but BU is weird with admissions so who knows how much my international status will officially affect it

 

[kimicurtis]

Yes. I probably wouldn't have applied to BU if I had known this (this stuff is expensive!). The grid showed me that I was missing four semesters worth of requirements according to their standards (all science classes completed in the US).

I will let you guys know how BU pans out, but BU is weird with admissions so who knows how much my international status will officially affect it

Ok, well I am applying here too. Good luck!

 

[Amygdarya]

Not only that, but BU actually only accepts people with US bachelor's degrees even if you completed all their prereqs in the US. Pay attention to this kind of schools: Boston, Mayo, George Washington, Tufts (Tufts doesn't actually say it doesn't accept people without US bachelor's, but it says it strongly prefers them, which to me is pretty much the same thing). Most schools require all or most prereqs to be taken in the US, and only a handful require a US undergrad degree, but you should be aware of those.

 

[MamiMD]

Not only that, but BU actually only accepts people with US bachelor's degrees even if you completed all their prereqs in the US. Pay attention to this kind of schools: Boston, Mayo, George Washington, Tufts (Tufts doesn't actually say it doesn't accept people without US bachelor's, but it says it strongly prefers them, which to me is pretty much the same thing). Most schools require all or most prereqs to be taken in the US, and only a handful require a US undergrad degree, but you should be aware of those.

Yes, this is frustrating because my adviser encouraged me to apply to BU/Tufts, but I guess it's important to realize that a lot of people simply do not have experience with international bachelor's degrees applications.


I half wish I hadn't wasted the money, but I'm hoping my citizenship helps me out a little.

Good luck, kimicurtis!

 

[Amygdarya]

Yes, this is frustrating because my adviser encouraged me to apply to BU/Tufts, but I guess it's important to realize that a lot of people simply do not have experience with international bachelor's degrees applications.


I half wish I hadn't wasted the money, but I'm hoping my citizenship helps me out a little.

Yes, unfortunately, most advisers are unfamiliar with international and non-trad applications. We, non-standard applicants, just have to pave our own way.

It seems like our situations maybe somewhat similar: I'm a US permanent resident (which for the purpose of med school application is the same as citizen) and I have a foreign undergrad degree. I have a US grad degree though, which helps at times, but not always: there are schools that require US undergrad degree and won't accept a grad degree, and there are schools that require prereqs to be taken at undergrad level and won't accept grad level classes. I ended up taking almost 100 US undergrad credits to cover the requirements of most US med schools, but I still don't have a US undergrad degree (that would be prohibitively expensive for me, and really not worth the chance of applying to just a handful of schools that require US undergrad degree).
With 7 IIs from top 25 schools I can't complain though

 

[Amygdarya]

Another thing: as was pointed out earlier, MSAR has errors. It's best to check the school's web site before submitting an application there - and, if the web site doesn't have the information you need, you should contact the school directly.

 

[kimicurtis]

Yes, this is frustrating because my adviser encouraged me to apply to BU/Tufts, but I guess it's important to realize that a lot of people simply do not have experience with international bachelor's degrees applications.


I half wish I hadn't wasted the money, but I'm hoping my citizenship helps me out a little.

Good luck, kimicurtis!

Thanks! good luck to you too.

 

[kimicurtis]

This question may come of as silly...but can a loan be taken out for a 4 year escrow?

 

[mynameistoolong]

This question may come of as silly...but can a loan be taken out for a 4 year escrow?

You just gotta show the money, I don't think they care where it comes from. The problem is coming up with >$200k worth of loans...

 

[kimicurtis]

You just gotta show the money, I don't think they care where it comes from. The problem is coming up with >$200k worth of loans...

Yeah, you are right. Has anyone tried this or know anyone who has done this?

 

[pietachok]

Can people post a list?

These are the secondaries I have received so far:

UCLA
UCLA Drew
UCI
UC Davis
USC
Loma Linda
Einstein
NYU
NYMC
Loyola
Stanford
Johns Hopkins
Boston
Geisel
george washington
jefferson
UC riverside
uni of colorado

Still waiting on UCSF and UCLA PRIME. Thinking about adding Harvard, Brown, vanderbilt, and maybe emory. Heard vanderbilt loved international students. Not sure tho.

Any other ideas about schools that won't automatically reject us?

USC is not international friendly, although they will happily accept your application, there are no international students here except for an occasional one, typically on a path to citizenship prior to admission.

 

[hopefulMD12]

Note to future applicants: Brown, USC and Mayo are NOT international friendly even though they say they accept international students. I've interviewed/ will interview at Harvard, Yale, U Chicago, Duke, Wash U etc. but have gotten flat out rejected pre-interview from Brown, USC and Mayo. I then looked at the MSAR stats for these schools and they rarely, if ever, actually take international students.