applying from a different country

[dokteloolah]

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Hello,

I was offered an incredible, year-long internship in a different country, and I've accepted the position. Does anyone have experience applying to medical school while abroad? Some advisors have been very encouraging, while others are more discouraging... I would really appreciate any personal stories and thoughts.

I'm most concerned about fitting any interviews I'm offered into a single trip back; I can only afford to fly back once (maaayybe twice if I'm really excited about a school).

I will leave for the internship in late June. I plan to turn in AMCAS in the first week in June, although my MCAT won't be back until later in the month. Since I'll have fairly regular computer/internet access, my plan is to complete secondaries as quickly as possible.

Thanks a billion for your input!

 

[235009]

Hello,

I was offered an incredible, year-long internship in a different country, and I've accepted the position. Does anyone have experience applying to medical school while abroad? Some advisors have been very encouraging, while others are more discouraging... I would really appreciate any personal stories and thoughts.

I'm most concerned about fitting any interviews I'm offered into a single trip back; I can only afford to fly back once (maaayybe twice if I'm really excited about a school).

I will leave for the internship in late June. I plan to turn in AMCAS in the first week in June, although my MCAT won't be back until later in the month. Since I'll have fairly regular computer/internet access, my plan is to complete secondaries as quickly as possible.

Thanks a billion for your input!

sounds like it might be a disastrous waste of money....you usually have very little control over when your interview and if you do get the option of choosing your interview date (which is VERY rare), you would usually want it to be the closest date possible to maximize your chance of getting in. If your experience is anything like mine...i had five interviews, one each month from september to january...then you'd be completely screwed. Schools may be somewhat forgiving when it comes to scheduling an interview for you if you are abroad but the invites trickle in from August to February so there'll be only so much you can do to try and schedule them all together.

your best bet is probably to take another year off and apply when you are in the US

 

[Mobius1985]

I agree with the above. My interviews ranged over five months. You might get a two week window to choose a date, you might get no choice at all, some programs only interview one day a week. Rescheduling once you have a date can be difficult to impossible. If you could only come back twice, maybe only apply to two schools you have a very good chance at, but just waiting until the following year is a better idea.

 

[irishmedstudent]

Hello,

I was offered an incredible, year-long internship in a different country, and I've accepted the position. Does anyone have experience applying to medical school while abroad? Some advisors have been very encouraging, while others are more discouraging... I would really appreciate any personal stories and thoughts.

I'm most concerned about fitting any interviews I'm offered into a single trip back; I can only afford to fly back once (maaayybe twice if I'm really excited about a school).

I will leave for the internship in late June. I plan to turn in AMCAS in the first week in June, although my MCAT won't be back until later in the month. Since I'll have fairly regular computer/internet access, my plan is to complete secondaries as quickly as possible.

Thanks a billion for your input!

I would go ahead an apply. Many schools are flexible in their interviewing. You should also let your internship administration know that you may have to fly out for interview so it gives them time to adjust. If you have to chose b/w interviews once you get them then pick criteria and only go to those interviews to save money.

Can someone answer my question: My first year freind is in ireland medschool. She wants to apply back to the states fresh while finishing up her first year. There is no point to put her ireland status on application as US medschools would then be reluctant to give an interview. What should she do?

 

[T15]

Hello,

I was offered an incredible, year-long internship in a different country, and I've accepted the position. Does anyone have experience applying to medical school while abroad? Some advisors have been very encouraging, while others are more discouraging... I would really appreciate any personal stories and thoughts.

I'm most concerned about fitting any interviews I'm offered into a single trip back; I can only afford to fly back once (maaayybe twice if I'm really excited about a school).

I will leave for the internship in late June. I plan to turn in AMCAS in the first week in June, although my MCAT won't be back until later in the month. Since I'll have fairly regular computer/internet access, my plan is to complete secondaries as quickly as possible.

Thanks a billion for your input!

Most of the schools I interviewed at sent me a calendar with all the possible dates available and let me pick the date. The two that said I had a two week period in which to interview let me change the date when I called and explained why I wanted a certain date a month later, due to wanting to combine interviews so as to minimize travel expenses. I was able to put all my interviews in 3 trips, and that was without much planing. You will be at a disadvantage at schools with rolling admissions because you wont be able to do the really early interviews, but it is worth a try.

 

[dokteloolah]

Thanks for your advice, everyone!

It seems there is no right answer to this one. Would it be presumptuous of me to email or call the schools I'm applying to and ask what their interview scheduling policy is?

I can't imagine I'm the only person who has wanted to do this. I would love to hear more thoughts and experiences.

 

[veaselhaufen]

I was abroad when I was applying (Until August I think) but I was home during interview season. If you have phone and computer access its not a problem. Skype is a huge lifesaver. It would be much more complicated to try to fly back to do interviews though.

 

[witness23]

interview scheduling is tough as is (and I lived in driving distance to all the schools I interviewed at). Personally, I would hold off applying to med schools for a year.

 

[witness23]

it doesn't seem like a big deal now but during the season, you will be constantly checking your emails, looking at sdn, etc and if you decided to cluster your interviews, you probably won't have an Oct 15 acceptance and your application season will take much longer than if you stayed home w/ resources to tackle it

 

[235009]

Thanks for your advice, everyone!

It seems there is no right answer to this one. Would it be presumptuous of me to email or call the schools I'm applying to and ask what their interview scheduling policy is?

I can't imagine I'm the only person who has wanted to do this. I would love to hear more thoughts and experiences.

i think the biggest problem here is your limited resources since you said you can only fly back once or twice. if you weren't too far away and could fly back as many times as you needed to i'd say go for it

 

[sindadel]

Definitely call schools that you are most interested in and ask what they recommend. Picking up the phone is an under-utilized tool, IMO.