Your advice appreciated.

[malika]

Hi guys,
I would appreciate your advice in my situation.
First of all, I am an international student. Now in the middle of my Nursing Degree. One more year left to graduate and get my A.S degree in Nursing. I hate Nursing. I realized now, I should not have gone for it just to get a job in the future. But after graduation, I would work and have enough money(international students gotta pay all from there own pocket) to go to good schools (around NY area) like Columbia, NYU, Rutgers... just to get my Bachelor's degree in Bio . Now, I found this small private school in NY, St. Joseph's College. they are giving out good scholarship for me , so I can finish my Bio there, get bachelor's degree. But it's very small school, not that many good Bio classes offered. What should I do: finish Nursing and go to good school for my Bio major or not finish Nursing , and now go to this small private shcool, as I can afford it and begin my Bio right now. How badly is this small school that I would attend will affect my application to med school?
BTW, I already have A.S degree from Biology and wanna go to med school in future.

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[malika]

sdy gotta advice me....

 

[missiondoc]

hey Mallika,
i just saw the blog n i m also an international student. What i think would be better, is that , as u already started ur nursing course, it is good to proceed n finish the course so that it might help u pay for the future college tuition fee to get admission in a better college. If u are lucky then u might get admission in a well-reputed med-school b'coz u already have experience in a medical field. From my point of view,u can get 2 benefits if u complete ur nursing. one thing is that u can be able to pay for the college n the other thing is that it might help u get admission in a med-school easily which is ur future goal. And as far about the scholarship, u can surf through the internet and get a number of scholarships offered to international students.

n best of luck for ur bright future.

Happy Life is a healthy Life,

missiondoc

 

[MahSpoon]

What aspect of nursing do you "hate"? A potential problem would be trying to explain that when trying to get into medical school...what guarantees a school that you won't hate becoming a doctor and want to drop out?

 

[146233]

What aspect of nursing do you "hate"? A potential problem would be trying to explain that when trying to get into medical school...what guarantees a school that you won't hate becoming a doctor and want to drop out?

This a very important point. Just because you "hate" nursing doesn't mean you'll "love" doctoring. That's a tough call, though. Does your new school have a pre-med office? You should consider speaking with an advisor about whether or not you should drop nursing before you finish. In the end, I think you should do what your gut tells you - but either way, you're going to need to be prepared to answer "Why did you quit nursing school?" question. Good luck.

 

[Mr hawkings]

This a very important point. Just because you "hate" nursing doesn't mean you'll "love" doctoring. That's a tough call, though. Does your new school have a pre-med office? You should consider speaking with an advisor about whether or not you should drop nursing before you finish. In the end, I think you should do what your gut tells you - but either way, you're going to need to be prepared to answer "Why did you quit nursing school?" question. Good luck.

All great points.
May i also suggest start taking steps to get off F1 status if thats what you are. Life is much easier as an applicant with permanent residency than in it with F1.

 

[viciouz]

All great points.
May i also suggest start taking steps to get off F1 status if thats what you are. Life is much easier as an applicant with permanent residency than in it with F1.

How would you go about doing that? I have 2 friends, really good friends of mine, who want to go to medical school but because they are on student visas, their chances look very slim.

 

[Mr hawkings]

How would you go about doing that? I have 2 friends, really good friends of mine, who want to go to medical school but because they are on student visas, their chances look very slim.

Meet someone, Fall in love and get married (not necessarily in that order, if you catch my drift ) then apply for your permanent residency.
Even with that, we are talking about a 2-3 year turnaround for your status to change so its something you need to start thinking about now.

Any other way of getting your status changed takes much too long cos theres such a backlog over at INS/homeland security.

 

[malika]

hey Mallika,
i just saw the blog n i m also an international student. What i think would be better, is that , as u already started ur nursing course, it is good to proceed n finish the course so that it might help u pay for the future college tuition fee to get admission in a better college. If u are lucky then u might get admission in a well-reputed med-school b'coz u already have experience in a medical field. From my point of view,u can get 2 benefits if u complete ur nursing. one thing is that u can be able to pay for the college n the other thing is that it might help u get admission in a med-school easily which is ur future goal. And as far about the scholarship, u can surf through the internet and get a number of scholarships offered to international students.

n best of luck for ur bright future.

Happy Life is a healthy Life,

missiondoc

Hi,
I can get expereience in medical field through other ways not just being a nurse. My question is more like should I wait till I graduate , become nurse and go to good schools or should I not graduate and now go to get my bachelor's degree in a small college. How badly is it gonnna effect my med school application going to small college 4 my undergradaute degree?

 

[malika]

This a very important point. Just because you "hate" nursing doesn't mean you'll "love" doctoring. That's a tough call, though. Does your new school have a pre-med office? You should consider speaking with an advisor about whether or not you should drop nursing before you finish. In the end, I think you should do what your gut tells you - but either way, you're going to need to be prepared to answer "Why did you quit nursing school?" question. Good luck.

Unless you in nursing it's hard to explain why I hate nursing. I hate when things are not explained and just taught. It's all the info I will learn anywyas in med shcool, all these diseases, all these medications which will be taught in med school anyways. I just memorize diseases and treatments for them. Not many why questions are covered in Nursing. I'd rather have studied some Bio classes. My question as mentioned above, should I finish nursing and go to good school (as I have money working as a nurse?) or should I go right now to small private school because I can afford it. yeah this school does have pre-med office.

 

[CS77479]

Meet someone, Fall in love and get married (not necessarily in that order, if you catch my drift ) then apply for your permanent residency.
Even with that, we are talking about a 2-3 year turnaround for your status to change so its something you need to start thinking about now.

Any other way of getting your status changed takes much too long cos theres such a backlog over at INS/homeland security.

It would be much easier for the OP to finish his nursing degree, find a job at a hospital, and have his employer sponsor him for his permanent residency application (Although depending on the country the OP is from, there may be a backlog, and therefore a wait). Also, if the OP simply marries someone to gain permanent resident status, this may become an issue later on in the marriage, as the American may feel used/taken advantage of, and since the OP will be completely dependent on the American for his permanent resident status, the marriage must be as secure as possible.

 

[Karen12345]

Meet someone, Fall in love and get married (not necessarily in that order, if you catch my drift ) then apply for your permanent residency.
Even with that, we are talking about a 2-3 year turnaround for your status to change so its something you need to start thinking about now.

Any other way of getting your status changed takes much too long cos theres such a backlog over at INS/homeland security.

I was going to suggest the same thing. I have been thinking about something with regard to immigration issues through "marriage." Now, several states are allowing same sex couples to "enter civil unions" or "get married" or whatever terminology they use. If one enters a same sex marriage or same sex union with a US citizen, can that person proceed applying for immigration benefits as a someone who formed a union with a US citizen of opposite sex? I have never encountered anyone doing it, but it seems that if it is not yet done, it is only a matter of time before things change. Anyone know of any stories where gays or lesbians were granted immigration benefits in context of "marriage," "civil union," or something of the sort?

 

[Mr hawkings]

It would be much easier for the OP to finish his nursing degree, find a job at a hospital, and have his employer sponsor him for his permanent residency application (Although depending on the country the OP is from, there may be a backlog, and therefore a wait). Also, if the OP simply marries someone to gain permanent resident status, this may become an issue later on in the marriage, as the American may feel used/taken advantage of, and since the OP will be completely dependent on the American for his permanent resident status, the marriage must be as secure as possible.

I dont know if any hospital will want to go through the hassle of applying for an H working visa for a nurse. Its such a hassle and they have to jump through so many hoops to prove that this person is more qualified than all the American applicants for that same position. Even the physicians have a hard time convincing hopsitals to do this for them and even then, their board scores have to be pretty high so i can imaging it will be harder for a nurse to get that favor. Especially since they can easily hire another nurse without the baggage.

As to the marriage issue, the marriage does not have to be real. It just has to look real to the people that matter. Of course this means you will be getting divorced a few years later. This is illegal, but hey.......

 

[Mr hawkings]

I was going to suggest the same thing. I have been thinking about something with regard to immigration issues through "marriage." Now, several states are allowing same sex couples to "enter civil unions" or "get married" or whatever terminology they use. If one enters a same sex marriage or same sex union with a US citizen, can that person proceed applying for immigration benefits as a someone who formed a union with a US citizen of opposite sex? I have never encountered anyone doing it, but it seems that if it is not yet done, it is only a matter of time before things change. Anyone know of any stories where gays or lesbians were granted immigration benefits in context of "marriage," "civil union," or something of the sort?

Same sex marriage is not recognized by the federal gvt. Immigration is handled at the federal level so it doesnt matter what your state recognizes.

 

[MahSpoon]

Unless you in nursing it's hard to explain why I hate nursing. I hate when things are not explained and just taught. It's all the info I will learn anywyas in med shcool, all these diseases, all these medications which will be taught in med school anyways. I just memorize diseases and treatments for them. Not many why questions are covered in Nursing. I'd rather have studied some Bio classes. My question as mentioned above, should I finish nursing and go to good school (as I have money working as a nurse?) or should I go right now to small private school because I can afford it. yeah this school does have pre-med office.

If you look at this thread regarding what students learned after 1st year in med school:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=425134

Often repeated is that "memorization is more important than understanding." It seems like you have this idea that medical school will be different, but will you hate it if it turns out to be the same?

As for your original question, I don't think anyone can answer definitively for you. It won't really matter either way which school you go to as long as you do well. Only thing that might matter is the availability of research opportunities at each school. What is important is the mark on your application if you drop out of nursing and what that's what I'm trying to get you to think about.

 

[Karen12345]

Same sex marriage is not recognized by the federal gvt. Immigration is handled at the federal level so it doesnt matter what your state recognizes.

I never thought about it this way. I am not surprised at the answer because if opposite were true, things would simply be too easy. Thank you for your reply.

 

[CS77479]

I dont know if any hospital will want to go through the hassle of applying for an H working visa for a nurse.

I wasn't talking about an H1B working visa, since those have caps on how many people from which country can obtain the visa, and depending on the country you are from and the cap on your country, you may or may not be placed on a waiting list. However the OP could get one since nursing is considered one of the specialties for which the visa is issued. If you are going to be on a waiting list, it is better to be on a waiting list for a permanent residency (green card). In either case, the OP will have to prove that he/she is more qualified than an American citizen and that there is no American citizen available with the OP's level of qualifications.

For permanent residency, you can get it through relatives, employment, investment, lottery, or as others mentioned marriage. Marriage, I think, would just open up a whole new set of problems. Why would an American citizen agree to such a marriage? Of what benefit is it to the American citizen? Can such a marriage survive long enough for the OP to get citizenship? There will be a 2 year conditional residency requirement, will the OP be able to handle that? The OP will not be able to leave the country for a longer period of time, can he/she be sure that his/her family in his/her home country will not need him/her? Also, such marriages are being increasingly targeted by immigration services and are being highly scrutinized, will the OP be able to have a convincing marriage, and is the OP prepared for the penalties if the marriage is exposed as a scam?

 

[Mr hawkings]

I wasn't talking about an H1B working visa, since those have caps on how many people from which country can obtain the visa, and depending on the country you are from and the cap on your country, you may or may not be placed on a waiting list. However the OP could get one since nursing is considered one of the specialties for which the visa is issued. If you are going to be on a waiting list, it is better to be on a waiting list for a permanent residency (green card). In either case, the OP will have to prove that he/she is more qualified than an American citizen and that there is no American citizen available with the OP's level of qualifications.

For permanent residency, you can get it through relatives, employment, investment, lottery, or as others mentioned marriage. Marriage, I think, would just open up a whole new set of problems. Why would an American citizen agree to such a marriage? Of what benefit is it to the American citizen? Can such a marriage survive long enough for the OP to get citizenship? There will be a 2 year conditional residency requirement, will the OP be able to handle that? The OP will not be able to leave the country for a longer period of time, can he/she be sure that his/her family in his/her home country will not need him/her? Also, such marriages are being increasingly targeted by immigration services and are being highly scrutinized, will the OP be able to have a convincing marriage, and is the OP prepared for the penalties if the marriage is exposed as a scam?

You make very good points in theory. practically though, those of us who have been put through the INS/HSA wringer a few times on only just got permanent residency after 8 years of trying know that the process is not as straight-forward as it is on paper.
At some point, you have to decide what you are willing to risk to give yourself a shot. Some people take bigger risks than others and end up sacrificing more (like not being able to go back to family etc).
All i can tell you is that looking back, i would probably have an MD by now if i had taking a couple of those risks.

P.S. Thousands of Americans have and continue to agree to such marriages even though they dont benefit from it. Its mostly people trying to give a friend a chance at a better life. Illegal?
The people who have recently been targeted have been the "contractors" who get paid thousands of dollars to arange such marriages. Immigration service does not have the resources to make house call to make sure every single marriage between an immigrant and an american is solid.