Email from deans - please help

[mdognotcat]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I am a new poster so please don't be angry with me for asking this question. I was born and raised in the United States but when my single mother was posted to Hong Kong by her company, I went with her because she was all alone and lonely. I ended up graduating from a good university in Hong Kong with a very good grade. After I returned back to America, I worked for a few years to pay off family debts. Later I finished my pre-med courses at a community college and a local state school.

Now deans of the two universities in my state e-mailed me that I don't have 90 credits in America, so I am not eligible to their medical school. There are no other medical schools in my state.

What can I do now? What are my options other than spending more time accumulating the 90 credits?

Can I relocate to some other state where the state medical schools don't have hangups about 90 credits? What states would these be?

Thank you all,
Veronica G.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

Perhaps investigate DO schools? I don't know if they have similar requirements

 

[TAWS]

Do you need 90 credits at the time of application or do you simply need 90 credits before matriculation? If you just need them by matriculation, you can simply take summer courses at a local college.

 

[apumic]

Take the 90 units you need and earn a US degree. That's your best bet. Of course, you may be able to get into a US med school as an internat' student but that is generally very difficult at most schools. You could also try for a med school back where your mom is.

 

[MexicanDr]

Depending on the current units you have and if those 90 units are required by matriculation then you might be able to complete them.

I believe most MD/DO and graduate programs require at least 90 units from an accredited university, so in this case your best bet would be to complete the remaining units and earn a BA/BS degree from here.

Best of lucks,

Eddie

 

[nabeel76]

I seem to recall reading about the 90 credits in a US or Candian University requirement by the majority of medical schools that I applied to as well. I think your going to have trouble getting around this requirement so here are your best options/alternatives:

1) Check with DO schools and see if they have similiar requirements, if not you can apply there.

2) Go to a Caribbean Medical School - but if you want to practice in the US make sure you thoroughly research the school and their US residency placement rates. Some of them have options for you to do rotations at US hospitals, stick with these schools.

3) Transfer out of the community college and into a local 4 years university here in the US and either finish a 2nd bachelors degree or just take enough coursework to meet the 90 credit requirement. Keep in mind that admissions committees use these 90 credits to determine how will you will be able to handle /compete in a US medical school. Therefore you'll want to take some science coursework and take them at a 4 year school as opposed to a community college to better your chances.

Good Luck.

 

[Sammich117]

Do you need 90 credits at the time of application or do you simply need 90 credits before matriculation? If you just need them by matriculation, you can simply take summer courses at a local college.

90 credits over the summer? I'm not sure that's possible.

 

[Latuza]

I think you have no choice but to complete that 90 unit requirement. From what I've read, I think almost all med school have that requirement. Also you might be frowned upon without having a US bachelor's degree.

It's better to take classes at a 4-yr university than a community college.
Best of luck.

 

[mdognotcat]

Unfortunately the osteopathic schools I checked also seem to want a "regionally accredited" university. Pretty sure they mean an American degree.

Based on my bachelor's degree from overseas (and the pre-med courses from within the U.S.), do you think I could get a bachelor's degree in the United States with very minimal coursework? How quickly do you think I could get a B.S. degree? Please help because my MCAT score is getting older every day.

 

[nabeel76]

Unfortunately the osteopathic schools I checked also seem to want a "regionally accredited" university. Pretty sure they mean an American degree.

Based on my bachelor's degree from overseas (and the pre-med courses from within the U.S.), do you think I could get a bachelor's degree in the United States with very minimal coursework? How quickly do you think I could get a B.S. degree? Please help because my MCAT score is getting older every day.

Well I am not sure in your case. I got a 2nd bachelors degree from a different university than the one that awarded me my first one. The second school's policy for those seeking 2nd bachelors degree's was that if you went to an accredited US university, than all of your general education requirements will be waived. Therefore the only courses I needed were the courses that satified the major requirements for what I decided to major in. This is usually about 30-40 credits at the most, although most schools will have an additional requirement that you complete a minimum number of credits at their university prior to them awarding you a degree, regardless of whether you've meet the major or college requirements. It was 30 credits at my school, but I have seen some in which there is a 60 credit minimum requirement.

In your case however, you did not go to a US university, so I wouldn't assume that your major requirements would get waived. If you've taken courses in the social sciences, humanities, history, and English, than these should transfer over to help meet your general education requirements, but there will always be some unique or specific courses that each specific school wants you to take to fullfill their specific gen ed requirements, and these you will NOT be able to transfer in. So you can probably expect, assuming you've taken above mentioned areas, approximately another 15-20 credits of these types of courses.

So although it is going to vary extremely from school to school, I can say that you should probably expect 2 years worth of courses, roughly 60 credits or so at a minimum - which should not be a problem for you since you are in need of 90.

Also, keep in mind that if the requirements to meet a 2nd bachelors degree prove to be too exhaustive depending on the universities in your area etc. You don't need the 2nd degree. Just enroll as a non-degree seeking student and take courses of your choosing - mainly sciences, until you meet the 90 credit requirement.