Foreign Undergraduate Student Advice for Applying

[dr.worldwide]

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Hi everyone, I am currently an undergraduate student majoring in biology in the Philippines. Having grown up in the US, my goal is to go back for med school there. I understand that there are challenges in applying to a US med school after attending a foreign institution.

My questions:
- Am I still considered a foreign student even though I am a US citizen?
- I plan on going back during summers to do things like programs, internships, classes, etc. in order to build my transcript and application because I want to show that I'm also experienced and knowledgeable on medicine and hospital life in the US (that I know what I'm getting myself into even though I haven't studied there for college). So, what would you recommend I spend my summers doing in order to show that? Should I take summer classes, do internships, or focus on shadowing and volunteering?

And if anyone has any insight on what applying and acceptances are like for foreign undergrads, let me know please!

Any replies are greatly appreciated! Thank you!

 

[rx001]

If you are a US citizen you are not considered foreign per books. But during the interview and evaluation process your foreign experiances will be taken into consideration.

per my understanding you need to complete prereqs In US university whose gpa will be taken into consideration for AMCAS gpa calculation.

 

[LizzyM]

Your foreign transcript will be worthless when applying to MD schools in the US. Buy access to the MSAR and take a look at the requirements for admission to medical school. If you are a US citizen, you should be attending college in the US. I have seen applicants who were foreign nationals and who did a PhD in the US before applying to medical school but a US citizen attending college abroad is inexplicable.

 

[dr.worldwide]

Your foreign transcript will be worthless when applying to MD schools in the US. Buy access to the MSAR and take a look at the requirements for admission to medical school. If you are a US citizen, you should be attending college in the US. I have seen applicants who were foreign nationals and who did a PhD in the US before applying to medical school but a US citizen attending college abroad is inexplicable.

I do have access to MSAR and there are a number of schools that accept converted transcripts. And in case you were unfamiliar with it, or anyone else for that matter, there are a multitude of reasons students who are US citizens choose to study outside of the US for college and plan on returning for medical school. I have met many from different countries. For medical schools that advertise diversity and inclusivity in their student body, it should already be understood that undergrad is not a one size fits all.

 

[dr.worldwide]

May I just clarify this. The majority of US schools state the standard "90" credits needed to attend. A few say 60, a few more have 30. However, many of these schools have buried in their policies exceptions for foreign students and/or foreign degrees. This is usually for the superstar international applicants who are looking at Harvard level. However, the issue with being a "regular" applicant such as the OP who is a US citizen but has a degree from overseas is the centralized AMCAS application will not utilized overseas degrees and therefore will not calculate a GPA, which is a top factor that medical schools use to judge applicants. This means the applicant would have to contact each and every school to see how to go about applying with such a degree. Being atypical and out of the normal process will immediately put you at a disadvantage. Some schools will simply not look at you, some will require some amount of US credits, some may have specific issues with prereqs.

What I have suggest to some off shore degree holders is get enroll for classes at a US college that will evaluate your degree and assign credits with grades. This will make your off shore degree "americanized" as it were.

https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fast...-2020-amcas-applicant-guide041119.pdf#page=11
Factored Into AMCAS GPA Calculations: Grades and credit hours are factored into the AMCAS GPA calculations as they were assigned by the school where you took the given course(s). The only exceptions pertain to foreign coursework transferred to a U.S. or Canadian institution and coursework taken through an official study abroad program

Thank you for clarifying. My follow-up question would be, is it paramount that I try and make my degree and extracurriculars as "americanized" as possible?