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- May 22, 2008
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I am 39 and have completed 2 years of med school. I did very well in my classes, and passed step 1. I cannot go on to clinicals because I cannot afford the tuition. My school has no fin aid (carib school), and private lenders are drying up left and right as a result of the current economy. The one lender that has worked with me raised its FICO criteria by 30 points a couple months ago and loans are now out of my reach for approval. Many of the homes in my neighborhood have foreclosed, bringing down my home value, so when I looked into an equity line of credit, there was nothing.
I was advised to transfer, and have an app outstanding at another carib school that has fin aid, that will allow transfer into third year, but they are having clinicals placement issues, and was told that even if accepted, I may not get to start until mid-late '09.
I looked into transferring stateside. One school looked hopeful, was impressed with my grades and step 1 score, but wants me to retake a few courses in their postbacc program before allowing me to rotate, at my expense. Sounds great, except that school is an 8-hour roundtrip commute, whereas their hospitals their students rotate through are only 10 minutes away from my home.
My state school told me that none of my basic science coursework nor my step scores will be considered, as foreign transcripts are not accepted for transfer. I would have to retake the MCAT, since my scores are 2 years shy from their cut-off time limit. Even if I retook it, there is no guarantee of acceptance. My last MCAT scores were in the low 20's (10,7,6,Q--hence going carib) and was told that I needed a 30 to be considered for acceptance. I don't feel confident that I can pull that off. I don't have the $$$ for a review course, but still have my old materials (TPR, EK and AAMC tests). And the thought of repeating the MCAT plus the first two years of med school just makes my eye twitch. What should I do?
I was advised to transfer, and have an app outstanding at another carib school that has fin aid, that will allow transfer into third year, but they are having clinicals placement issues, and was told that even if accepted, I may not get to start until mid-late '09.
I looked into transferring stateside. One school looked hopeful, was impressed with my grades and step 1 score, but wants me to retake a few courses in their postbacc program before allowing me to rotate, at my expense. Sounds great, except that school is an 8-hour roundtrip commute, whereas their hospitals their students rotate through are only 10 minutes away from my home.
My state school told me that none of my basic science coursework nor my step scores will be considered, as foreign transcripts are not accepted for transfer. I would have to retake the MCAT, since my scores are 2 years shy from their cut-off time limit. Even if I retook it, there is no guarantee of acceptance. My last MCAT scores were in the low 20's (10,7,6,Q--hence going carib) and was told that I needed a 30 to be considered for acceptance. I don't feel confident that I can pull that off. I don't have the $$$ for a review course, but still have my old materials (TPR, EK and AAMC tests). And the thought of repeating the MCAT plus the first two years of med school just makes my eye twitch. What should I do?
I wish you and your family the best of luck - if this is still what you want, you will find a way.
