Applicants who have Studied Abroad...

[stifler]

I have a couple of questions for you guys:

I know you don't report grades from foreign schools if your home institution does not require them, but do med schools ask for them? do they like to have them? is it bad if you dont submit them?

If you study abroad for a year, you have 1 year less of grades. If I apply summer of my junior year, they only see my sophomore and freshmen year grades. How much of a disadvantage is that?

Do they care where you study abroad? I qualify for Oxford, but my department will not give me credit for my science courses there, because of their one on one teaching curriculum. As for other top schools, I can't go because the course I need to take abroad is offered as a year round course and im starting in the spring semester. So, I'm going to a not so well known school. Hows that look?

Thanks for your time. Good luck.

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[markss22411]

At my school, my grades from England were reported. They didn't factor into my school's GPA at all, but the grades I got while studying abroad were converted (different grading system) into a normal 4.0 scale. What I didn't know was that these grades WOULD be factored into your GPA when applying to med school (which sucks, since I didn't do as well......which is kind of expected since you're taking in all that "culture"). I really don't think that med school really cares where you go to study abroad. Overall, I think they view it as a very good thing....since it takes maturity and all of that stuff. Plus it's a great topic to bring up during med school essays and interviews. Hope this helps and enjoy sunny England.

 

[barcelona-bound]

i studied abroad for a year--australia and spain--and my grades were also converted to letters and posted on my college transcript. my school factored in the credits but did not incorporate foreign grades into my total GPA. when i typed thosed grades into the amcas app, amcas took them out and just put pass. med schools can see all info about my classes except for grades.

so before you leave, double-check to see if your school takes into account grades AND/OR credit. amcas said they will incorporate grades AND/OR credit according to how your school processes study abroad classes.

i don't think med schools care about where you study abroad...make the most of your time and really experience the culture--don't just study!

 

[Gentle]

I studied abroad (Africa) during my freshman year. My home institution incorporated the credits, but not the grades, into my official transcripts. So AMCAS acknowledges that I've completed those courses and they were applied to my total # of courses without grades. However, I know Geortown requires foreign transcripts to be mailed directly from the institution to them. That's the only school, to the best of my knowledge, that does that.

Good luck studying and enjoy!

 

[stifler]

well if i study abroad on my transcript it would only say Credit/Pass as long as I get C's.

i just dont want to apply and have med schools see all C's if if get C's.

is that the case for any of you guys? like med schools knowing what grade you got while studying abroad?

 

[riceman04]

I have a couple of questions for you guys:

I know you don't report grades from foreign schools if your home institution does not require them, but do med schools ask for them? do they like to have them? is it bad if you dont submit them?

If you study abroad for a year, you have 1 year less of grades. If I apply summer of my junior year, they only see my sophomore and freshmen year grades. How much of a disadvantage is that?

Do they care where you study abroad? I qualify for Oxford, but my department will not give me credit for my science courses there, because of their one on one teaching curriculum. As for other top schools, I can't go because the course I need to take abroad is offered as a year round course and im starting in the spring semester. So, I'm going to a not so well known school. Hows that look?

Thanks for your time. Good luck.

I think it also depends if the program was organized by university here in the state. I studied in England also through Arcadia University (located in PA). What Rice does is organized their study abroad programs through them (or Butler). Then when your grades from the Uni in your study abroad country are available, Aracida receives them and converts them to grades used under the US system. Then Rice got the transcript from Arcadia.

Did you have to get a letter from your study abroad advisor that states the details of the program?

 

[stifler]

i know the recommended us grade conversion from the foreign school's web site. but my school is not going to give me grades for them. and looking at amcas they dont require grades for foreign med schools and they arent converted to my gpa.

i just want to know if any schools that i might apply to might REQUIRE that i send those transcripts in. i dont want to get a C abroad at a foreign school and while i can get a B or A at home.

 

[stifler]

bump...

 

[lexy10]

Are you transfering credits? My school required that I pass all of the courses I wished to get credit for. My school in Ireland sent my transcript along with a grade conversion sheet of what they believed to be an accurate conversion from their system to ours. Although my school did NOT calculate these scores into my GPA, they did present these conversions on my transcript, and the AMCAS GPA used these grades to calculate my GPA. My advice, play it safe and just assume the grades count!