U.S citizen with Foreign degrees currently enrolled in a Post-Bac program

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Sethz

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I am a U.S citizen but my Bachelors, Masters as well as my PhD. are from top tier schools abroad. Further, I have been working as a post doctoral fellow for the past 4 years in Cancer research at a U.S school. I decided to shift tracks from research to Med school about 9 months back. I also got accepted to a Post-Bac Pre-med program and I've been pursuing this program part-time while continuing full time in my research position @ the University. Here's the question I have and I've written to AMCAS but haven't gotten a clear answer from them. I am hoping that folks on this forum will be able to shine some light on my situation.

I am planning to apply for the 2016 cycle but I will have completed only 29 credit hours by the end of the summer semester when my AMCAS application is due ( application deadline for AMCAS for 2016 cycle is Nov-1st, 2015). I read on the AMCAS site that you need to have completed at least 30 credit hours from a U.S accredited program at the time of submitting the AMCAS application. I will have more than 30 hours at the time of matriculation but not at the time of application. Will that be a problem ? In other words will AMCAS reject my application because I don't have 30 credit hours worth of course work completed at the time of submitting my AMCAS application ?

I have spoken to the admissions directors at two of the Univs I'll be applying to and given that I have a PhD in Life Science research, I've been told that they require me to complete 24 credit hours of course work at the time of matriculation which I've already completed. However, if AMCAS rejects my application I won't even get to go to the secondary application stage. I am just about losing my sanity over this !

Kindly pitch in with your thoughts and suggestions. I don't want to defer things for yet another year if there is an alterante way.

Here's the section on the AMCAS website that speaks to this issue. However these instructions appear under the "International applicants" section but I am not an International candidate. I am a U.S citizen with foreign education.

https://www.aamc.org/students/aspiring/303912/applyasaninternationalapplicant.html

(Around the middle of the page they quote the Admissions Director @ UNC -

Randee Reid, admissions and residency officer at University of North Carolina School of Medicine adds, “Curriculum systems are different from overseas schools, and it is very helpful to medical schools to evaluate your progress in a program in a U.S. accredited four-year institution. If taking the prerequisite course work as a non-degree seeking student, the prospective applicant will need 30 credit hours or more in order to evaluate progress. The course work should be completed before applying to medical schools.

Just wanted to reiterate my situation as under :

(i) I am a U.S citizen
(ii) Foreign degrees - B.Sc & M.Sc. in Molecular Bio & Genetics and PhD. in Immunology

(iii) Current Position- Post Doctoral fellow working @ U.S school's Cancer Research Institute.
(iv) Also enrolled (part-time ) in the school's Post-Bac Pre-Med program- completed 24 credit hours already towards Pre-Med pre-reqs and will have completed 29 credit hours at the time of AMCAS application.


Q: Will AMCAS accept my primary application ?


Any advice and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

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AMCAS acceptance of your number of credits isn't the problem here, in terms of priorities.

The problem is that you got the idea that there's an AMCAS deadline and that you'll be okay if you submit before it.

The other problem is that you're viewing AMCAS as a decision maker. AMCAS is an application service. Med schools are the decision makers.

And med schools start getting huge numbers of completed AMCAS submissions on the day AMCAS opens. Usually June 1. With MCAT score in hand. July is usually okay. August gets worrisome. September is bad. Med schools might not get to your app until after the holidays. You might get an interview, but it's likely to be for a spot on the waitlist.

You'd be throwing away a great deal of money and effort to apply in October or November.

So instead of counting credits and looking at deadlines, plan things out so that you are well-prepared to take your MCAT exam by late spring, and submit your complete, compelling app with well-reviewed essays and solid clinical experiences and strong recommendation letters in early summer to a well-researched list of schools. Just like the kiddoes have to do.

You might have some luck applying in the fall to DO schools, if you're in a hurry.

Best of luck to you.
 
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DrMidlife, thanks for your response. While you've have rightly pointed out that AMCAS is just a service - AAMC stipulations do apply in conjunction with individual schools' requirements. For example, one admissions officer told me that the one year of coursework requirement from a U.S accredited school is an AAMC /AMCAS stipulation, not theirs and they have no option but to comply. The school in question would be happy with WES translation of my foreign degree transcripts but cannot be used on my AMCAS primary application. So, we are back to where we started. Some schools are over zealous in that they require 60-90 hours of under-grad course work from a U.S accredited program. Thankfully there are many schools that are okay with 1 yr/30 hrs.

That said, I am taking the MCAT in June. Application will be in as soon as I have my scores ~ mid July. Working on my AMCAS application in parallel as well. Expecting solid recos from my research advisor , pre-med committee and physician I have shadowed over the past year.
 
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DrMidlife, thanks for your response. While you've have rightly pointed out that AMCAS is just a service - AAMC stipulations do apply in conjunction with individual schools' requirements. For example, one admissions officer told me that the one year of coursework requirement from a U.S accredited school is an AAMC /AMCAS stipulation, not theirs and they have no option but to comply. The school in question would be happy with WES translation of my foreign degree transcripts but cannot be used on my AMCAS primary application. So, we are back to where we started. Some schools are over zealous in that they require 60-90 hours of under-grad course work from a U.S accredited program. Thankfully there are many schools that are okay with 1 yr/30 hrs.

That said, I am taking the MCAT in June. Application will be in as soon as I have my scores ~ mid July. Working on my AMCAS application in parallel as well. Expecting solid recos from my research advisor , pre-med committee and physician I have shadowed over the past year.

AMCAS is the gatekeeper. If you can't get past them, you can't apply. If they can't answer the question for you, then clearly you're not talking to the right people. My guess is they will say that is their requirement, and if you can't meet it, you can't apply. You can try and apply anyway and see if they reject the primary due to not having enough coursework. You'll be out some funds, but you won't count as a reapplicant because no school will have seen your application. Other than that, I'm not sure what you expect SDN to do for you.

I believe DO is not as strict with foreign coursework so that's an option to apply this year and probably have success, but you should really only apply if you actually want to attend, otherwise in a couple months we'll see a "Accepted DO, can I defer for MD thread?"
 
"overzealous" in describing the foreign transcript rules says you have no idea why you're being required to do 60-90 credits. And it says that you don't see US coursework as vital to your candidacy. Which is a problem.

I would hope that the desire to be taken seriously and to avoid multiple app cycles is your priority. It may be useful for you to review the AAMC data tables that show well over half of applicants are not successful. It's a mistake to assume that rejected applicants are poorly qualified or unimpressive.
 
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"overzealous" in describing the foreign transcript rules says you have no idea why you're being required to do 60-90 credits. And it says that you don't see US coursework as vital to your candidacy. Which is a problem.

I would hope that the desire to be taken seriously and to avoid multiple app cycles is your priority. It may be useful for you to review the AAMC data tables that show well over half of applicants are not successful. It's a mistake to assume that rejected applicants are poorly qualified or unimpressive.

No, I don't think U.S course work should be vital to a candidate's application. We don;t live in the 70s any more. Most countries have moved far beyond the academic standards of the United States when in comes to rigor and competitiveness for under graduate studies. Post Graduate education is a different matter altogether. The good thing is most top-notch Universities and their admissions committees recognize that and have instituted the same in their admission/ scholarship processes for scooping up top notch talent from all around the world in their Scientific Research and Engineering fields. Not so when it comes to their Medical education program. My feeling is they are being held back by the "gatekeepers" who live in a parallel universe disconnected from the realities of the world around them.
 
AMCAS is the gatekeeper. If you can't get past them, you can't apply. If they can't answer the question for you, then clearly you're not talking to the right people. My guess is they will say that is their requirement, and if you can't meet it, you can't apply. You can try and apply anyway and see if they reject the primary due to not having enough coursework. You'll be out some funds, but you won't count as a reapplicant because no school will have seen your application. Other than that, I'm not sure what you expect SDN to do for you.

I believe DO is not as strict with foreign coursework so that's an option to apply this year and probably have success, but you should really only apply if you actually want to attend, otherwise in a couple months we'll see a "Accepted DO, can I defer for MD thread?"

Thanks xffan624. I have been conversing via email and the responses I've gotten have been vaguely worded. I plan to call them this week and speak to them directly to clear this up and I will post the results of my conversations on this forum once I find out.
 
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