An International Student with a B. Sc. from Outside the US Needs Help...

[Kaycee]

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I have a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry/Microbiology from the university of Nigeria, with a CGPA of 3.99 over a 5.00 Grading system. I'm working towards coming to the US for my masters degree after which pursue Medicine, what are my Chances of getting into medical school in the US, how do I maximize these chances? Your ideas, contributions and wealth of knowledge willl be highly appreciated. Thank You.

 

[zzxxzz]

I have a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry/Microbiology from the university of Nigeria, with a CGPA of 3.99 over a 5.00 Grading system. I'm working towards coming to the US for my masters degree after which pursue Medicine, what are my Chances of getting into medical school in the US, how do I maximize these chances? Your ideas, contributions and wealth of knowledge willl be highly appreciated. Thank You.

The average international matriculant to a US MD program would have a 4.72 on a 5.00 scale and has 33 on the MCAT. Standards are significantly higher for international applicants.

 

[Kaycee]

The average international matriculant to a US MD program would have a 4.72 on a 5.00 scale and has 33 on the MCAT. Standards are significantly higher for international applicants.

If I had a master's degree from a US University does this increase my Chances in any way?

 

[Catalystik]

I have a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry/Microbiology from the university of Nigeria, with a CGPA of 3.99 over a 5.00 Grading system. I'm working towards coming to the US for my masters degree after which pursue Medicine, what are my Chances of getting into medical school in the US, how do I maximize these chances? Your ideas, contributions and wealth of knowledge willl be highly appreciated. Thank You.

If you plan to earn an MD degree, the primary application service, AMCAS, does not accept foreign coursework. You would be obliged to earn 60-90 semester credit hours (2-3 full time college years), including all the prerequisites, to get consideration by the vast majority of med schools, though a few only require 30 credits and at least one requires a full bachelors degree. These credits could be a mix of masters and undergrad coursework.

If you include DO medical schools, their application service, AACOMAS, does accept foreign credits. Your stated (converted) GPA is on the low side for DO schools, too, but a strong performance in a hard-science masters will positively influence many admissions officers.

 

[Kaycee]

If you plan to earn an MD degree, the primary application service, AMCAS, does not accept foreign coursework. You would be obliged to earn 60-90 semester credit hours (2-3 full time college years), including all the prerequisites, to get consideration by the vast majority of med schools, though a few only require 30 credits and at least one requires a full bachelors degree. These credits could be a mix of masters and undergrad coursework.

If you include DO medical schools, their application service, AACOMAS, does accept foreign credits. Your stated (converted) GPA is on the low side for DO schools, too, but a strong performance in a hard-science masters will positively influence many admissions officers.

If you plan to earn an MD degree, the primary application service, AMCAS, does not accept foreign coursework. You would be obliged to earn 60-90 semester credit hours (2-3 full time college years), including all the prerequisites, to get consideration by the vast majority of med schools, though a few only require 30 credits and at least one requires a full bachelors degree. These credits could be a mix of masters and undergrad coursework.

If you include DO medical schools, their application service, AACOMAS, does accept foreign credits. Your stated (converted) GPA is on the low side for DO schools, too, but a strong performance in a hard-science masters will positively influence many admissions officers.

So does it mean I stand no chance of getting into a US medical school even IF I did the necessary, and earned a master's say in medical Microbiology from a US university?

 

[zzxxzz]

So does it mean I stand no chance of getting into a US medical school even IF I did the necessary, and earned a master's say in medical Microbiology from a US university?

Your only real chance would be re-taking all of the requirements at a US university. Since you didn't go to school in the US or Canada, your prior coursework is very unlikely to be accepted.

 

[Catalystik]

So does it mean I stand no chance of getting into a US medical school even IF I did the necessary, and earned a master's say in medical Microbiology from a US university?

Nobody here said that you have zero chances of getting into a US medical school.

If you are willing to earn the necessary academic credits from an accredited US school with a high GPA (see post #2), are able to get a competitive score on the MCAT, and have accumulated the usual and customary extracurriculars (active clinical experience, physician shadowing, research, nonmedical community service, and maybe teaching and leadership, too), as well as supportive letters of recommendation, then you have a chance.

Keep in mind, though, that US citizens and green card holders applying to allopathic (MD) med schools have about a 40% chance of acceptance. Chances of success for international applicants are far lower. Your odds of an acceptance at a DO (osteopathic) med school are greater and (from my understanding) you wouldn't need to repeat credit hours you already have. (zzxxzz's comments in post #6 refer to MD schools only.)

 

[Kaycee]

I'm a little confused... It implys I have to earn another Bachelor's degree in the USA? This is so unfair...

But are ththere any universities in the US that will be willing to give me a chance if I did outstandingly well in the required areas and still applied with my Nigeriam certificate.

 

[Kaycee]

Plus a strong MSc from a US university

 

[Catalystik]

But are ththere any universities in the US that will be willing to give me a chance if I did outstandingly well in the required areas and still applied with my Nigeriam certificate.

Plus a strong MSc from a US university

As I mentioned in post #4 above, DO (osteopathic) medical schools would accept your foreign coursework and bachelors degree. I believe you would have to have your transcripts evaluated by a transcript translation service for US equivalency in order to submit them. The scope of practice for DO graduates, like for MD graduates, is unlimited in the United States (and in Nigeria, last I read).

There is a forum here on SDN called Pre-Medical Osteopathic where you can look for or ask for more information.

 

[zzxxzz]

Even if you can find a school to accept your transcript, re-taking at least some coursework in the US is probably necessary. Your GPA is fairly low even for DO.