How to get into Med School

[khatarnak]

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Hi - Please advise.

I studied in India with Science as Major. I am 32 yrs old and working as Software Professional in California. My education detials....

Intermediate, Bi.P.C ( 2 Yrs )-> Biology ( Botony and Zoology), Physics, Chemistry
Degree, B.Sc. B.Z.C. ( 3 Yrs ) -> Botony, Zoology and Chmistry ( Organic and Inorganic )
Masters, M.Sc, Envi. Science ( 2Yrs )-> Environmental Science. ( Biology and Basic Mathemtics )

What do i need todo to enroll into Medical college ( to do Medicine ) in USA. Also, how much will it co$t ( approx. ) .

Really appreciate your response.

 

[zed350]

Hi - Please advise.

I studied in India with Science as Major. I am 32 yrs old and working as Software Professional in California. My education detials....

Intermediate, Bi.P.C ( 2 Yrs )-> Biology ( Botony and Zoology), Physics, Chemistry
Degree, B.Sc. B.Z.C. ( 3 Yrs ) -> Botony, Zoology and Chmistry ( Organic and Inorganic )
Masters, M.Sc, Envi. Science ( 2Yrs )-> Environmental Science. ( Biology and Basic Mathemtics )

What do i need todo to enroll into Medical college ( to do Medicine ) in USA. Also, how much will it co$t ( approx. ) .

Really appreciate your response.

Hi, Welcome to the club !!

You should start by going through the admission websites of the schools you are interested in.

Also, search for posts by " Scottish Chap " He is our resident EXPERT on all the issues faced by people like us who have foreign undergraduate coursework.

I can give you few insights to start off :

- MOST of the medical schools would not consider any foreign coursework for the admission process, especially pre-reqs.If you have finished your graduate degree in US , roughly about 30 out of 125 Med Schools would consider those graduate units towards fulfilling the 90 undergrdauate unit requirement that they have.Still there are few Med Schools leftover who REQUIRE a Bachelors from US, so unless you plan on finishing a second Bachelors in US you can count them out.

- You would definately need to finish at least all the pre-reqs ( 1yr-Bio,Chem, O-Chem, Physics all of these classes with labs + 1 yr Math & English) in a US undergraduate institution (preferabely a 4 yr Degree granting institution) .To increase your chances you would need to have 90 undergraduate units (roughly 3 yr coursework) by the time you plan to matriculate. To have the best possible chance, you would need to have a US Bachelors Degree

- Cost??..i actually did not understand that part..But I can try to explain what I know, it depends..if you plan to finish your undergraduate units at a Community College (not looked upon too favorably by the Med School adcoms)..it should roughly cost you $1800 (90 units X $ 20/unit). If you plan to go to a 4-yr institution it can cost anywhere between $ 15000 to $ 40000. Then the Med school itself is about 25000-30000 (tution alone).

- 1 advice I have for you is that you should get your undergraduate degree from India Evaluated from WES and start volunteering (clinical, community) as soon as possible

So for right now you should read more about the requirements of the Med schools, browse all the forums here and try to find what route works the best for you as getting into Med school would take a lot of commitment as it is an extremely competitive process and you have to try to avoid giving the Adcoms any reason to weed you out out of thousands of applications they receive.

Best of and keep us posted !!

 

[DrMidlife]

Hopefully more knowledgeable people will pipe up, but here's what I think.

You need to take the MCAT.

You probably need to apply to schools that take international students, because of where you did your undergraduate work. In 2006, 54 schools out of 125 took at least one international applicant. Hopefully you have your green card.

You probably need to have your coursework evaluated by one of the standard services.

You probably need to look at osteopathic schools. This one has some pretty good info on international applications: http://www.westernu.edu/comp.html

And then you need to be in the <50% of applicants who get accepted.

The international forums might be more helpful.

Best of luck to you.

 

[zed350]

Hopefully more knowledgeable people will pipe up, but here's what I think.

You need to take the MCAT.

You probably need to apply to schools that take international students, because of where you did your undergraduate work. In 2006, 54 schools out of 125 took at least one international applicant. Hopefully you have your green card.

You probably need to have your coursework evaluated by one of the standard services.

You probably need to look at osteopathic schools. This one has some pretty good info on international applications: http://www.westernu.edu/comp.html

And then you need to be in the <50% of applicants who get accepted.

The international forums might be more helpful.

Best of luck to you.

Good Point DrMidlife brings up.

The International students mentioned by DrMidlife are mostly the people in US on student visa (or some other temporary visa) who have an undergraduate coursework/degree completed in US. So the med schools who accept International students do not necessarily accept students (even if they are US citizens, like myself) with international coursework.

So Hopefully you are atleast a green card holder as it would really help your chances.

 

[khatarnak]

Thanks for your input. Yes, I have GC. I will start looking at info as suggested above.

Cheers.

 

[Law2Doc]

Then the Med school itself is about 25000-30000 (tution alone).

I believe this poster means PER YEAR.

 

[Scottish Chap]

Hi - Please advise.

I studied in India with Science as Major. I am 32 yrs old and working as Software Professional in California. My education detials....

Intermediate, Bi.P.C ( 2 Yrs )-> Biology ( Botony and Zoology), Physics, Chemistry
Degree, B.Sc. B.Z.C. ( 3 Yrs ) -> Botony, Zoology and Chmistry ( Organic and Inorganic )
Masters, M.Sc, Envi. Science ( 2Yrs )-> Environmental Science. ( Biology and Basic Mathemtics )

What do i need todo to enroll into Medical college ( to do Medicine ) in USA. Also, how much will it co$t ( approx. ) .

Really appreciate your response.

Welcome. Zed350 is spot-on. Most allopathic medical schools are pretty specific about their requirements and that includes an undergraduate degree earned in either Canada or the U.S. It's not that they innately distrust other educational systems (I hope!); it's just another tool to trim the massive applicant pool.

Osteopathic medical schools are a little more liberal about foreign-educated applicants and a few will allow for a professional, stateside evaluation of your foreign credentials, as well as the MCAT and the usual diet of prerequisite courses, outlined above.

I applied to around ten allopathic medical schools, and I received just three interviews. I was lucky enough to have a choice and I ultimately went against the grain by choosing a "lower-ranked" school according to some people, but it was the very best place for my personal aspirations and also for my family's happiness, so I didn't care what people said. 🙂

I had 90 credits earned in partial fulfillment of an American graduate degree. I got out of the English prerequisite courses, and I got away with just completing two missing prerequisite courses. Based on what I see posted on SDN, I think that's pretty rare. I also had what I consider to be a mediocre MCAT score at that time. I'm now past Step 1, and into my third-year of medical school. The best advice I can give you is to say that what works for one foreign-educated applicant does not always work for the next. I VERY carefully screened the schools that I applied to. It's best to talk with the Director of Admissions. I found that several (hopefully well-intentioned) people who answer the telephone or e-mails didn't have the background to provide specific information to such a non-standard applicant....not to make you paranoid, but keep that in mind.

The bottom line is that you have to ask yourself what exactly you want (D.O., M.D. etc), and then ask yourself what you're willing to do to get there. If you have your heart set on a specific school, you pretty much have to do what they tell you to be admitted. Canada is also pretty good about recognizing foreign grades. I received an interview at the University of Toronto School of Medicine. A fine MCAT score and post-bacc grades are sometimes a good equalizer. Hang in there. This advice comes from an average student. 😉

 

[Scottish Chap]

Good Point DrMidlife brings up.

The International students mentioned by DrMidlife are mostly the people in US on student visa (or some other temporary visa) who have an undergraduate coursework/degree completed in US. So the med schools who accept International students do not necessarily accept students (even if they are US citizens, like myself) with international coursework.

So Hopefully you are atleast a green card holder as it would really help your chances.

Yes, you are in a much better position to at least gain entry to a U.S. medical school if you have an American degree, and international status. The converse is not true, and being an international with a foreign degree is the worst situation imaginable.