Foreign Undergrad Coursework, List them all or just the relevant ones?

[JL12345]

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Quick question.

I did my undergrad in a non-Canadian foreign school. Since the AMCAS won't even verify for courses taken there, should I list only science relevant courses and their respective grades or for all the courses (including acting, or French)? I definitely don't wanna leave the list of courses at the foreign institution blank (yes, I also took courses in the US during my PhD).

thanks!

 

[appletree321]

I don't know why you would want to leave them blank. There's no reason to only include science courses...

 

[SpicyFalafel]

OP, there is no harm from listing all your courses work on AMCAS, if you had a bachelor degree. Any MD/DO school would be able to see it, but your final calculated GPA would be based in your US course work only.

Edit: your PhD will boost your application for consideration but won't fulfill the pre-reqs requirement. You probably will end up doing 32-40 of pre-reqs anyway.

 

[chewy2008]

Quick question.

I did my undergrad in a non-Canadian foreign school. Since the AMCAS won't even verify for courses taken there, should I list only science relevant courses and their respective grades or for all the courses (including acting, or French)? I definitely don't wanna leave the list of courses at the foreign institution blank (yes, I also took courses in the US during my PhD).

thanks!

I also graduated from a non-Canadian college. I put all the courses I took there on my AMCAS but did not put my credit hours nor grades. I sent in my evaluated foreign transcript (WES) to any schools that accepted it so that they could see how well I did there.
US MD schools will definitely emphasize on the performance in US courses and prerequisites in consideration for admission.

 

[JL12345]

Thanks everyone! Really helpful. when do you send them your foreign transcript then? When you send your secondaries?

 

[chewy2008]

Thanks everyone! Really helpful. when do you send them your foreign transcript then? When you send your secondaries?

If the school says they accept evaluated transcripts ie. World Education Services, you can send one to each school once it has been evaluated. None of the MD schools accept the original foreign transcript. Some schools like USC Keck only want the evaluation if they request it from you.
You send in your completed secondaries once you receive an invitation from the school to write one. If you have any more questions, you can always pm me.

 

[JL12345]

Ohhhh nice. Thank you very much @chewy2008 !! 🙂

 

[SpicyFalafel]

The new AACOMAS application will not calculate GPA of foreign course work anymore, but they will forward your evaluated transcript to the designated schools.

 

[JL12345]

Wait really? They'll send the evaluated transcript? Cause when I called they said they wouldn't take it.

 

[SpicyFalafel]

Wait really? They'll send the evaluated transcript? Cause when I called they said they wouldn't take it.

Yes, they will forward it. I have a attended non- US university, and I called them to check on something regards calculation of transfer foreign course work.
I brought up that I finished my bachelor, they said we will not calculate foreign course work, but we will forward your evaluated transcripts/WES reports to the schools.
check the 2016 aacomas manual instructions, I believe it is listed there under course work.

Edit: Please note, this is only for AACOMAS, not AMCAS.

 

[Traumweber]

I wish I could have thought about this better. I decided to not enter any of the foreign coursework from my bachelor's degree on the AMCAS and instead sent it as additional documents because my grade was not calculated out of 4.00. I hope this does not work against me!

 

[SpicyFalafel]

I wish I could have thought about this better. I decided to not enter any of the foreign coursework from my bachelor's degree on the AMCAS and instead sent it as additional documents because my grade was not calculated out of 4.00. I hope this does not work against me!

did you take any courses in the US?. if not, then your AMCAS's GPA is zero. Schools are not familiar with different foreign grading scale, an evaluated course by course through WES should be sent to designated schools.

 

[Traumweber]

did you take any courses in the US?. if not, then your AMCAS's GPA is zero. Schools are not familiar with different foreign grading scale, an evaluated course by course through WES should be sent to designated schools.

Yes... I had 20 credit hours of Post Bacc and about 45 credits of Graduate school all from the U.S when I submitted the AMCAS. Will be > 90 credit hours before matriculation in 2016 if that happens.
Also, the WES evaluation seems weird. I tried out their GPA calculator, and I ended up with a 4.00 for every course I took overseas over 4 years for my engineering bachelors!

 

[SpicyFalafel]

Yes... I had 20 credit hours of Post Bacc and about 45 credits of Graduate school when I submitted the AMCAS

Ok, then your final calculated GPA is based on those 20 credit hours. hopefully, your pre-reqs.

Edit: I personally met with one of the admission director at one of my MD state school, and I was told that no matter what my GPA is in that foreign course work/bachelor, we still look at your pre-reqs/ US course work. Actually, he brought up an app of one of accepted students who has PT degree from brazil. she had only 48 credit hours of post bacc. mainly pre-reqs. I do not know if it would be same case for me because I have huge amount of transferred credit hours.

 

[Traumweber]

Ok, then your final calculated GPA is based on those 20 credit hours. hopefully, your pre-reqs.

Edit: I personally met with one of the admission director at one of my MD state school, and I was told that no matter what my GPA is in that foreign course work/bachelor, we still look at your pre-reqs/ US course work. Actually, he brought up an app of one of accepted students who has PT degree from brazil. she had only 48 credit hours of post bacc. mainly pre-reqs. I do not know if it would be same case for me because I have huge amount of transferred credit hours.

Yes those 20 are the pre-reqs. Do you know how they treat Graduate U.S coursework?

 

[SpicyFalafel]

Also, the WES evaluation seems weird. I tried out their GPA calculator, and I ended up with a 4.00 for every course I took overseas over 4 years for my engineering bachelors!

is the grading scale numerical or narrative

 

[SpicyFalafel]

Yes those 20 are the pre-reqs. Do you know how they treat Graduate U.S coursework?

schools will see undergrad's GPA separately from graduate course work, do have SMP or PhD?

 

[Traumweber]

is the grading scale numerical or narrative

The foreign transcript lists all values out of 100. WES converted it into a 4.00 somehow.

schools will see undergrad's GPA separately from graduate course work, do have SMP or PhD?

Yes I have a masters and a PhD in engineering from a u.s school. All my post bacc credits for prereqs are DIY.

 

[SpicyFalafel]

Yes... I had 20 credit hours of Post Bacc and about 45 credits of Graduate school all from the U.S when I submitted the AMCAS. Will be > 90 credit hours before matriculation in 2016 if that happens.

how are you going to finish 70 credit hours over 3 semesters, I have double the credit hours you have so far, and I can not finish 90 by next june? I am assuming you're non trad like me are not you?. you may pm me. I do not want to hijack the OP's thread.

 

[Traumweber]

how are you going to finish 70 credit hours over 3 semesters, I have double the credit hours you have so far, and I can not finish 90 by next june? I am assuming you're non trad like me are not you?. you may pm me. I do not want to hijack the OP's thread.

All schools I applied to, specify 90 credit hours/3 academic years in an U.S university. Not 90 undergraduate(college) hours. I confirmed this with a few. But taking a risk with the others to see what will happen this cycle.

 

[SpicyFalafel]

All schools specify 90 credit hours in an U.S university. Not 90 undergraduate hours. I confirmed this with a few. But taking a risk with the others to see what will happen this cycle.

90 credit hours TOWARDS a bachelor degree not mix between undergrad/grad course work.

 

[Traumweber]

90 credit hours TOWARDS a bachelor degree not mix between undergrad/grad course work.

It depends on the school! For example, Chicago says "90 credit hours prior to matriculation from an accredited four-year U.S or Canadian university or college". Columbia say 3 full academic years at U.S university or college. Not necessary for it to be towards a bachelors degree (they dont even require a bachelors degree).
The grad credits just dont count towards GPA calculation. But in some schools they satisfy the 90 credit hour requirement.
See this thread, especially the post by ScottishChap at the end: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...its-towards-90-95-credit-requirement.1003797/

I found this resource useful also: https://www.cc-seas.columbia.edu/sites/dsa/files/handbooks/Medical School Requirements FINAL.pdf but it is not completely up to date...