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If there is any international nontraditional med school applicant, who's got a degree in a different country, can you tell me what you had to do to prepare for an admission? Thanks very much in advance.
PM ScottishChap. He should be able to help you.If there is any international nontraditional med school applicant, who's got a degree in a different country, can you tell me what you had to do to prepare for an admission? Thanks very much in advance.
I am one such student. It's a broad subject. Do you have a list of specific questions?If there is any international nontraditional med school applicant, who's got a degree in a different country, can you tell me what you had to do to prepare for an admission? Thanks very much in advance.
You'll basically find the following types of medical school:I am a graduate student about to complete my PhD. I am planning to apply to medical school next year. I had a question regarding the prerequisites. I had done my undergrad/masters in sciences foreign school (India). I have taken all the prerequisites required by medical school in India. Do I qualify for applying to medical school since I have PhD in molecular biology from US school. I tried contacting 2-3 school, but most of them told me that they aren't sure if I can. All responses will be appreciated.
my case) then you can take other stuff to fulfill the 60-90 credit requirement? And then, could someone please tell me in a nutshell how does the credit system work in US colleges? How many classes would you have to take to get 60-90 credits? Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post!
The credit hours you got for your PhD will count toward the 60-90 credits most school requires.
Yes, you have the right idea. This is how the majority of U.S. allopathic medical schools work.A lot of schools mean undergrad credits only for the 60 - 90 credits. Texas schools, I know for sure need 90 Undergrad credits. There are some others. Only a handful of schools will consider grad / PhD credits.
I believe that is for AP credits.
Can you do a favor and list those "don't waste your time" schools?I agree the process is not very clear and very school specific. This is why I went though the web-sites of about 50 schools that interested me and extracted any relevant information, and where it was not clear (which was for several schools) I emailed (sometimes called) them with my questions and details of how my app will look like when I applied and what they thought of it. I did hear back from several schools which is when I put certain schools on my "to apply" list and certain schools on my "don't waste time applying" list.
Most Cali schools said that 1 year of classes (30 credits) would be good enough for a foreign graduate, but I am sure that they would like to see more than the bare minumim based upon the scores of great applications they get. For schools that have a smaller applicant pool, 1 year might be sufficient (if they say so). But this is my interpretation. There were also some schools with some weird requirment - Hopkins needs 24 sems hours of humanities - didn't say from which school though it says that "Preparation in foreign universities, in most cases, must be supplemented by a year or more of course work at an approved university in the United States.". Similarly, Keck has 30 hours of humanities - which is something, I for sure don't have even if I count all post high school classes taken ever or classes that I want to take between now and if/when I matriculate - that school is out for me even though its in-state.
You have to do your own reseach and cut out a plan for yourself based upon school requirments and where you can/want to relocate.
But, in general, it is preferably 60-90 credits (some have 90, some have 30) in the US.
Sharmi is smart, and investigates thoroughly. This is how you get accepted.I agree the process is not very clear and very school specific. This is why I went though the web-sites of about 50 schools that interested me and extracted any relevant information, and where it was not clear (which was for several schools) I emailed (sometimes called) them with my questions and details of how my app will look like when I applied and what they thought of it. I did hear back from several schools which is when I put certain schools on my "to apply" list and certain schools on my "don't waste time applying" list.
Most Cali schools said that 1 year of classes (30 credits) would be good enough for a foreign graduate, but I am sure that they would like to see more than the bare minumim based upon the scores of great applications they get. For schools that have a smaller applicant pool, 1 year might be sufficient (if they say so). But this is my interpretation. There were also some schools with some weird requirment - Hopkins needs 24 sems hours of humanities - didn't say from which school though it says that "Preparation in foreign universities, in most cases, must be supplemented by a year or more of course work at an approved university in the United States.". Similarly, Keck has 30 hours of humanities - which is something, I for sure don't have even if I count all post high school classes taken ever or classes that I want to take between now and if/when I matriculate - that school is out for me even though its in-state.
You have to do your own reseach and cut out a plan for yourself based upon school requirments and where you can/want to relocate.
But, in general, it is preferably 60-90 credits (some have 90, some have 30) in the US.
For me, it would be: SUNY Downstate, Temple, Mayo Clinic, University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Medical University of South Carolina, McMaster University (Ontario), and University of Maryland.Can you do a favor and list those "don't waste your time" schools?
Sharmi,
Good luck applying this summer! Would you mind posting updates about your application progress this year? If you can post on this subforum or PM me towards the end of the app cycle, I will be very appreciative. I'll definitely follow your story because two of my premed mentees have backgrounds similar to yours - they too have foreign degrees and have taken prereqs within their foreign BAs. They're still a long way from applying, and it will really help us to hear your experience.
I try to help them out though my experience was quite different. My foreign degree is not Science so I never took prereqs outside the US.
Thanks!
I agree the process is not very clear and very school specific.
AMCAS does not accept foreign transcripts.How do you submit the transcript(s) of your international degree(s) to AMCAS?
Do you list any of the BCPM courses you took during your international degree(s) under BCPM at your AMCAS application?
WES - world education services is what I used.Last, does anyone know the list of transcript evaluation companies which AMCAS recognizes?
Thank you ! And good luck to you too!Thanks everyone for their comments and good luck sharmi on your application!
Then, what's the point using WES (or others evaluator companies?)AMCAS does not accept foreign transcripts.
You may list the courses - but their grades won't be counted in the AMCAS GPA.
WES - world education services is what I used.
When I applied, I did the following: sent an official undergraduate foreign transcript to AMCAS and an official WES evaluation to AMCAS. The AMCAS grades showed up on the AMCAS form, but they were not verified and not used in any GPA calculation. I also sent both to each medical school I applied to. It's hard to tell what helped, but I certainly did everything, and I was accepted quickly on my first application cycle.Then, what's the point using WES (or others evaluator companies?)
I've seen this work two ways. For American students doing a 'semester overseas', the grades given overseas often show up on the American transcript and so are verified by AMCAS (this can be scary as an A in the U.S. is not necessarily the same as an A in another country). I've also seen foreign graduates able to transfer all of their foreign credits as 'pass' (no grades) into a U.S. undergraduate degree, and then complete the U.S. undergraduate degree in 1.5-2 years. The latter is more common, but I'm sure there are various permutations out there.What if the courses were transferred to my American bachelors degree course-by-course basis as equivalents, and if they appear as normal courses?
The AMCAS grades showed up on the AMCAS form, but they were not verified and not used in any GPA calculation.
The honest answer is I don't know.I know that we as foreign grads are at a disadvantage, but from your point of view, what is more important for us - the GPA for the 60-90 US credits we earned here or the MCAT score?
My GPA in the US is/will be in the 3.9x range but my MCAT score is/will be in low 3x range (due to a low VR score - and English is not my first language). How would that be looked at by ADCOMs?
The craziest course load will be aroundThank you for the very informative thread but I don't think that my Bachelor's will be accredited anywhere in the western world let alone the US .
By the way : how long does it take to get like 90+ US credits ? One year ? Two years ?
The craziest course load will be around
18*2 (spring and fall) +14 (summer) +7 (winter) = 57 credits per year
So two years.