Unusual Situation

[shuzee]

hello guys,
i have an unusual situation. I wa in a foreign medical school (im from a country where a Bachelors degree is NOT needed to enter medicine) four years ago when my parents decided to move to the U.S. Due to unavoidable circumstances, i had to move with them too. Now, Im graduating from a leading California School with my B.S and will be applying for next year. My question is, will my leaving med school four years ago count against me? Even though i had no control over the situation?.....I have an average gpa and im still awaiting my Mcat score. Is anyone in the same boat or knows someone in the same boat? I would like some feedback....thanks

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[sommerschnupfen]

First thing, you gotta answer that question on AMCAS: "Have you ever matriculated in a medical school?" If you did so, you have space for an explanation - all med schools you're gonna apply to will read that section, so make sure you clearly explain what happened.
Second thing, you will not need to send foreign transcripts to AMCAS, just your US ones. But you will have to put down the course work you hace accomplished at that foreign med school. It won't be verified by AMCAS, though.
Third, it will be a good idea to call up the Admission office of each school you intend to apply to, and find out what their opinion on having attended a foreign med school is. Most will tell you that as long as you have not been kicked out due to academic problems, your enrollment in a foreign med school is not a problem hindering your application. In fact, it might be used to your advantage if you can show what you have learnt in there.
However, some schools will tell you straight up front that if you have ever matriculated ANYWHERE, no matter why, how, etc, your application won't be considered.
My advice would be to email and call all the schools you wanna apply to, and be honest and find out what they think about it. That way, you can just drop the schools wthat are all negative about it.
Good luck!

 

[shuzee]

First thing, you gotta answer that question on AMCAS: "Have you ever matriculated in a medical school?" If you did so, you have space for an explanation - all med schools you're gonna apply to will read that section, so make sure you clearly explain what happened.
Second thing, you will not need to send foreign transcripts to AMCAS, just your US ones. But you will have to put down the course work you hace accomplished at that foreign med school. It won't be verified by AMCAS, though.
Third, it will be a good idea to call up the Admission office of each school you intend to apply to, and find out what their opinion on having attended a foreign med school is. Most will tell you that as long as you have not been kicked out due to academic problems, your enrollment in a foreign med school is not a problem hindering your application. In fact, it might be used to your advantage if you can show what you have learnt in there.
However, some schools will tell you straight up front that if you have ever matriculated ANYWHERE, no matter why, how, etc, your application won't be considered.
My advice would be to email and call all the schools you wanna apply to, and be honest and find out what they think about it. That way, you can just drop the schools wthat are all negative about it.
Good luck!

do you know of any schools that DO NOT at any cost are welcoming for students like me?> This is kind of freaky....i didnt know this existed!

 

[Tristy]

However, some schools will tell you straight up front that if you have ever matriculated ANYWHERE, no matter why, how, etc, your application won't be considered.

Like Harvard

 

[Homer Doughnuts]

First thing, you gotta answer that question on AMCAS: "Have you ever matriculated in a medical school?" If you did so, you have space for an explanation - all med schools you're gonna apply to will read that section, so make sure you clearly explain what happened.
Second thing, you will not need to send foreign transcripts to AMCAS, just your US ones. But you will have to put down the course work you hace accomplished at that foreign med school. It won't be verified by AMCAS, though.

This seems to be the case, check out page 45 (pg 49 on a pdf reader
) of the AAMC instruction booklet

 

[Changaroo]

hello guys,
i have an unusual situation. I wa in a foreign medical school (im from a country where a Bachelors degree is NOT needed to enter medicine) four years ago when my parents decided to move to the U.S. Due to unavoidable circumstances, i had to move with them too. Now, Im graduating from a leading California School with my B.S and will be applying for next year. My question is, will my leaving med school four years ago count against me? Even though i had no control over the situation?.....I have an average gpa and im still awaiting my Mcat score. Is anyone in the same boat or knows someone in the same boat? I would like some feedback....thanks

hey shuzee,

which country did you come from? i started my MBBS in sydney before voluntarily withdrawing to come to the usa for my undergrad. be wary of who you get your advice from, for example, contrary to what some other posters have implied, i'll be a first year at harvard med in the fall. don't count yourself out from any school unless the admissions office explicitly tells you that you are ineligible. (fyi, i never had this problem. i encountered more problems with my foreign citizenship than i did with the issue of prior matriculation).

i found my previous experience in med school to be a big positive during the application process, but everyone's situation is going to be different and you will have to think about how all your prior experiences have contributed to the applicant you are today. all the best with everything... i know it's a big gamble leaving a bird in the hand and trying to get back into medical school... but it can be done, so hang in there and give it your best shot =)

 

[masterMood]

changaroo what are the differences between the md degree in america, and the various md degrees in europe.

MBBS is higher than MD? There are different levels of the MD degree in europe i believe.

 

[shuzee]

hey shuzee,

which country did you come from? i started my MBBS in sydney before voluntarily withdrawing to come to the usa for my undergrad. be wary of who you get your advice from, for example, contrary to what some other posters have implied, i'll be a first year at harvard med in the fall. don't count yourself out from any school unless the admissions office explicitly tells you that you are ineligible. (fyi, i never had this problem. i encountered more problems with my foreign citizenship than i did with the issue of prior matriculation).

i found my previous experience in med school to be a big positive during the application process, but everyone's situation is going to be different and you will have to think about how all your prior experiences have contributed to the applicant you are today. all the best with everything... i know it's a big gamble leaving a bird in the hand and trying to get back into medical school... but it can be done, so hang in there and give it your best shot =)

Thanks for the encouragement ! I really appreciate it...even though i really dont think i stand a chance at Harvard, the above post did surprise me!

 

[Tristy]

Thanks for the encouragement ! I really appreciate it...even though i really dont think i stand a chance at Harvard, the above post did surprise me!

I'm sorry if I was incorrect about Harvard, but the truth is, I didn't apply there because I had been matriculated in med school in another country. Their webpage (unless I misread) said basically don't apply if you've ever matriculated in a medschool regardless of the country. If this is wrong, then I guess in case I have to reapply one of the schools will be HMS

Other than that, it can be done, best of luck

 

[pakidoc]

hello guys,
i have an unusual situation. I wa in a foreign medical school (im from a country where a Bachelors degree is NOT needed to enter medicine) four years ago when my parents decided to move to the U.S. Due to unavoidable circumstances, i had to move with them too. Now, Im graduating from a leading California School with my B.S and will be applying for next year. My question is, will my leaving med school four years ago count against me? Even though i had no control over the situation?.....I have an average gpa and im still awaiting my Mcat score. Is anyone in the same boat or knows someone in the same boat? I would like some feedback....thanks

shuzee,
as long as you explain the above in your AMCAS personal statement you should be fine. depending on the way you put it, this could actually be an advantage for you. the fact that you were in medical school right after high school shows that you are decided and firm on medicine as your career.
hope tumhara mcat acha gaya

 

[shuzee]

Bump!

 

[Med01]

Hi,
I saw your post about and you said you had problems with your foreign citizenship - just wondering if you could share. I used to live in Sydney too (Aust. citizenship too) and also went to the US for my undergrad. Just curious - why did you leave when you had a bird in the hand, and came to the US?

Appreciate any insight.

hey shuzee,

which country did you come from? i started my MBBS in sydney before voluntarily withdrawing to come to the usa for my undergrad. be wary of who you get your advice from, for example, contrary to what some other posters have implied, i'll be a first year at harvard med in the fall. don't count yourself out from any school unless the admissions office explicitly tells you that you are ineligible. (fyi, i never had this problem. i encountered more problems with my foreign citizenship than i did with the issue of prior matriculation).

i found my previous experience in med school to be a big positive during the application process, but everyone's situation is going to be different and you will have to think about how all your prior experiences have contributed to the applicant you are today. all the best with everything... i know it's a big gamble leaving a bird in the hand and trying to get back into medical school... but it can be done, so hang in there and give it your best shot =)

 

[gbiz]

Bump!

I know of schools that will take this as something positive... MSU CHM at least. I know of someone who had a definatly below average MCAT (24), who was accepted there. She had completed 2 years of medical school in her native country, which they took sort of as a tremendously positive EC.