Foreign Med School Admissions

[TrojanFan]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi everyone,

This is my first post, so forgive me if I posted in the wrong section. Anyway, I'm really looking for some advice. First a little about me.. I graduated a few years ago with a BS Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Studies from Univ. of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. I'll admit I was unfocused in college and I was not a model student. I think my overall GPA was around a 2.7. For sciences I took 2 semesters of biology and two of general chemistry, one calculus-I pretty much had Cs in all of them. After I graduated, I've been working in tech sales for the last few years, and while it's gone well, recently I've decided that my heart really lies in medicine and I want to go back to school. I realize that US schools are probably out, but I know there are some good options in the Caribbean (SGU, Saba, Ross, etc.). I know there are some classes I still have to take (inorganic chemistry, physics) and I'll have to do really well if I hope to be accepted. My question is do you know if foreign medical schools will frown upon me taking these at a community college? Should I also retake the the bios/chems? Also, if I can do well, and then do well on the MCAT, will this hold some weight and hopefully make up for some of the shortcomings on my undergrad GPA? Thanks so much for any help!

 

[Boges]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post, so forgive me if I posted in the wrong section. Anyway, I'm really looking for some advice. First a little about me.. I graduated a few years ago with a BS Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Studies from Univ. of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. I'll admit I was unfocused in college and I was not a model student. I think my overall GPA was around a 2.7. For sciences I took 2 semesters of biology and two of general chemistry, one calculus-I pretty much had Cs in all of them. After I graduated, I've been working in tech sales for the last few years, and while it's gone well, recently I've decided that my heart really lies in medicine and I want to go back to school. I realize that US schools are probably out, but I know there are some good options in the Caribbean (SGU, Saba, Ross, etc.). I know there are some classes I still have to take (inorganic chemistry, physics) and I'll have to do really well if I hope to be accepted. My question is do you know if foreign medical schools will frown upon me taking these at a community college? Should I also retake the the bios/chems? Also, if I can do well, and then do well on the MCAT, will this hold some weight and hopefully make up for some of the shortcomings on my undergrad GPA? Thanks so much for any help!

I'm assuming you're from California and want to return there to practice medicine... in that case, there are only 4 Caribbean schools with CA approval. You listed three of them the other is AUC.

Regarding community college prerequisites... that's fine especially if they're from a California CC--other state CCs may be equally fine as well.

Your MCATs will need to be decent to make up for your GPA... if you think you're borderline, then you might want to consider applying to a January or May class as they are typically less competitive than Fall classes. Of course that could be different for any given class but they are usually a little easier to get in to.

And, you may want to retake those classes just to brush up for the MCAT... pulling a C can pretty much be done half asleep. If you think your foundation is strong enough then you could probably get away with not retaking but you'll have to get As in your remaining courses.

Good luck!

 

[Buzz Me]

You graduated from USC and have your BS degree from their med school?

Might want to clarify that a bit (for your app). I think I know what you're trying to say, though...

 

[Buzz Me]

You graduated from USC and have your BS degree from their med school?

Might want to clarify that a bit (for your app). I think I know what you're trying to say, though...

 

[TrojanFan]

Thanks for your responses, I appreciate it. And to clarify my degree, yes, my BS degree is from USC in HP/DP at the Keck School of Medicine (much like how an engineering degree would be from the Viterbi School or a business degree from the Marshall school, etc.). That's what it says on my diploma. If I'm not mistaken, it is the only undergraduate degree offered through Keck.