Green Card for Medical School in USA???

[imdamian]

I'm really confused about one thing. First, I'll tell about my case. So, in this thread, it'll be about my case. But I hope everybody who has such case could get something from here.

Here, I am not a US citizen, I'm just a high school student in Indonesia, and I have a plan to take Medical School in USA. What I know so far is just I must have at least 90 units of undergraduate (university) education before attending the medschool. I've applied Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi to take Health Science or Pre-Medical. And I really hope I could continue to Medical School at New York University.

But I was just told that some of universities in USA need a medical school student who has a green card. He said NYU is one of them.
1) Anybody knows about NYU? Does NYU actually require a student who has a green card?
2) If NYU does, so, in my case, how can I apply to Medical School at NYU? Does anybody have any idea about how I can get the green card?

Thanks a lot

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[dragonfly99]

NYU will not take you without 4 years of college and probably you would need to be a permanent resident or US citizen. Technically, they can take someone with only 3 years of college (90 credits) but most medical schools do not...we had 1 person in my class who only went to college for 3 years, but he was pretty much a genius.

Also, probably about 5-10% of all students who try to get into NYU will be able to get in. This includes US students with good grades who will be trying also. For a non US citizen the acceptance rate would be a lot lower.

It is a bad idea to come to the US with the idea that you are going to be able to get into a particular medical school, or the idea that you will likely be able to get into ANY US medical school. Most of them take almost all US students. In my class we had 1 or 2 who were not US citizens, and they were ethnic minorities who are considered disadvantaged (African origin or hispanic students) which the medical schools really are looking to recruit.

If you want to go straight to medical school, the US system is not like that. It might be better to try another country.

If you just want to go to a US university, that might be a great experience, but don't count on being able to get into a US medical school. Even less than 50% or so of US students who try to get in will be able to get in.

 

[McGillGrad]

It is more an issue with state funding than anything else.

Some medical schools will not accept anyone outside of the state, etc.

Most private schools accept anyone who is qualified and will pay the higher tuition.

Easiest way to get a greencard is to marry and American. Second easiest way is to become an investment immigrant.

Other than that, it is a LONG hard road.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

If you come to the US for an undergraduate degree, you would do so on a visa. Usually a B, F, or J visa. Don't worry about the letter codes -- if you get into a US university they will help get your visa for you, and the exact type isn't so important (unless you are bringing a spouse, as on some of these visas your spouse can work and on some they can't, but that's a story for another thread).

Now, assuming you do very well in your US school, and do very well on the MCAT, you apply to US medical schools. As mentioned above, due to funding issues, you may not be able to apply to every medical school but there will be a large number that you can apply to.

If you get into medical school, you'll complete medical school on an F visa.

When you graduate medical school, you'd apply for a residency. Because you're on an F visa (student visa), you'll have a good chance of getting a residency program to accept you and offer you an H visa (a work visa).

The magic is that once on an H visa, you can theoretically get a green card via your employer.

All of this is very complicated, and very expensive. And, you have to succeed at each step -- getting into a good US school (which will likely involve taking the SAT or something similar), excelling, rocking the MCAT, getting into med school, etc.

And, it's fantastically expensive and you may not qualify for any tuition assistance nor loans.

This is not for the faint of heart.

 

[Liviera]

Nobody says it cannot be done, because it certainly can be, but you have to have excellent academic results and a compelling story and you have to fulfill certain requirements as others here have already discussed. I have an old friend, who is a non-citizen, but went to an American medical school, completed a very competitive residency and is now practising in the US. My friend completed an undergraduate degree in the US, which was probably one decisive factor. I've seen indications of this on school websites, where some medical schools say that science and other pre-requisites must be completed in accredited American institutions.

Long ago I saw a list of US medical schools that accepted foreign applicants, and if memory serves (I wish I could be more specific) the number was unfortunately fairly low. For the schools that do not "ban" foreign applicants, one of the remaining hurdles is financial aid: if a given school does accept foreign applicants, those applicants must pay for their education out of pocket and may not be eligible for financial aid.

These statistics on accepted applicants, though somewhat dated, ought to help you put your situation into context.
In 2001, for example, out of 17,456 accepted applicants to US medical schools, 230 were foreign applicants.
http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/archive/famg52001a.htm

That year exactly one thousand foreign students applied to US medical schools.
http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/archive/famg42001a.htm

This might prove helpful as well, because it details some of the general issues that people have raised here in response to your question (you might have to play with the URL a little bit, for some reason it doesn't copy properly):
www.dai-heidelberg.de/content/e3/e4/e375/e395/MedicalStudyintheUS_ger.pdf

Hope this helps. Best of luck to you.

 

[mezmerized7]

Funding is the biggest barrier for international students for medical school. Saying you get into a medical school (I am not sure NYU accepts international students), if you are very rich or get into a school which will give you a free ride or have a US co-signer to take out biiig loans, then you'll be fine!