AMCAS: Previous matriculation question

[Bbutterfly]

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I apologize for posting this in different threads; I really need some insights!


I am trying to get some insight here and I hope someone can help me

10 years ago I completed 2 years in a medical school in my home country and was in my third when the school was closed. Accrediatation was denied, so no record of transcripts anywhere.
When AMCAS ask about previous matriculation into a medical school what do I put there?

Is it the type of things that AMCAS would answer to if I call them?

Thank you

 

[Lya]

This is a tough call.

I would e-mail/call AMCAS first and see what they think. Since the accreditation was denied and the school was closed, I don't think it will be a large issue if you have to mention this in AMCAS.

Just because once upon a time you walked into med school classes for a few years without any transcript to show, let alone the school got closed after that, not being able to become a doctor here sounds absurd to me. I highly doubt it will be a disadvantage at all.

If AMCAS gives you no response, I would be honest and straightforward, explaining your situation.

 

[music2doc]

I apologize for posting this in different threads; I really need some insights!


I am trying to get some insight here and I hope someone can help me

10 years ago I completed 2 years in a medical school in my home country and was in my third when the school was closed. Accrediatation was denied, so no record of transcripts anywhere.
When AMCAS ask about previous matriculation into a medical school what do I put there?

Is it the type of things that AMCAS would answer to if I call them?

Thank you

Call them and ask. Since the school was closed down while you were a student, it would be only fair for you to be considered; however, most medical schools refuse all previous medical students (I believe including international students if they find out about it) who failed to complete a program elsewhere (unless granted a transfer by the current and receiving schools under special circumstances). Your case should be the rare exception but you are going to have to make it clear what happened and it had better be as simple and straightforward as you've made it out to be (i.e., if you've left out some detail like they transferred you to another institution in your home country where you failed out, that's probably going to be the end of it).

 

[Bbutterfly]

Call them and ask. Since the school was closed down while you were a student, it would be only fair for you to be considered; however, most medical schools refuse all previous medical students (I believe including international students if they find out about it) who failed to complete a program elsewhere (unless granted a transfer by the current and receiving schools under special circumstances). Your case should be the rare exception but you are going to have to make it clear what happened and it had better be as simple and straightforward as you've made it out to be (i.e., if you've left out some detail like they transferred you to another institution in your home country where you failed out, that's probably going to be the end of it).

Thank you guys for your answers

I am planning on calling them today or latest Monday because I need to finish my application

I wasn't aware of the statement in bold and it is making me think, that I might have to go with not mentioning it and here is why: I have lived long enough in this country to know that when people are unfamiliar with a situation it can get messy, because there it is sometimes left to interpretation. ( I had to fight to get financial aid because of such technicalities).
One worker at AMCAS can tell me it is ok, but because it is not a common situation, it is left to individuals that come across my application to decide if they will take me as a previous medical student that did not complete their program ( regardless of the reason), or not. I am afraid this alone can kill my chances at some schools.
Sadly, this part of my life is a huge part of my personal statement, because I have used that to show a personal characteristic of mine that I believe is valuable: tenacity, resilience, perseverance ( after all, I didn't give up after that big blow and still keeping at it 10 years later). So if I don't mention it, it means that I need to rework my personal statement!

 

[Catalystik]

Quoted from an inappropriately placed post in another thread:

1) No, there are no way to request a transcript. I know for a fact that it was a scam, I was in the Student Government Association, and when we realized what was going on, we petition to the government for help, but it was too late and a lot of politics involved.

I called AMCAS and they first told me, it is up to me to mention it or not, because transcript will not be required and then she put me on hold for a few minutes and came back and said that I have to mention it, and try to remember courses that I took and my grades, because it can't stay blank.

2) Now my fear is a replly that I got from someone here, informing me that most medical schools will not take a candidate that was a medical student somewhere unless the student was transferred to another institution because the candiddate might have failed. Since I basically have no proof that the school was closed, to obtain one, I will have to request some paperwork to the Higher Education administration and I know that will not happen, I know how my country works.
If I don't mention it, I have to change my personal statement, If I do mention it I fel like I have to come up with some kind of proof!

Can someone clarify fr me this rule about not accepting former medical students?

1) If it was indeed a "scam" then it was not a school, no matter what it was called, and there would be no reason to list the grades. However, if you want to list the grades so you can keep your PS and account for 2+ years of your life, perhaps you could find an on-line newspaper article, or government report, or somesuch, that reports the closing of the school (you could provide the link), which is a perfectly reasonable reason not to complete a curriculum, and it doesn't reflect poorly on you.

2)

most medical schools refuse all previous medical students (I believe including international students if they find out about it) who failed to complete a program elsewhere

Here is an example of a foreign med student (and past SDN member) who got accepted to a US MD school, so it's not impossible:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=8730875&postcount=1