I need advise

[Jasminegab]

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I'm a Junior At West Chester University of Penn in West Chester Pa. I've been accepted to an International Medical School as you can see from my signature and avatar. Here's my situation:

During my early years of life, I went to many trade schools and like 4 colleges taking out loans after loans. I have not defaulted on any of my loans, so I'm in good standing. However, I do have like $40K worth of student loans. Now, I only have like $10K before the government says that I have run out of money and I need will not recieve additional funds until I am a graduate student. Since my current school is a state school, I recieve tons of grants to go to my school-no loans.

Now, I've been accepted unto SLSOM pre-med to MD program which I will complete my undergrad degree at SLSOM in 32 weeks since I will have 90 credits come Fall 04. Tuition is very affordable and room and board are included in my tuition at SLSOM.

The problem, SLSOM has recieved approval for Federal Aid, but due to the war, mail has been held up to and from Liberia. SLSOM has informed me that Federal Aid should be available by Sept 04 and if it's not, that I can complete my undergrad degree online and then by the time I finish my undergrad work, Federal Aid should be available.

Ok, So, what do you think I should do? Should I just not take the chance and finish my degree at West Chester or should I plan to attend SLSOM? I have to make a decision because If I'm going to graduate from WCU, I will need to take my major requirement which don't leave room for pre-med studies. If I graduate from WCU I will have to do a post-Bac program because I don't have pre-med courses in my major although we do have to have some sciences.

Thanks for the adivce in advance,

Jasmine

 

[Amy B]

Hi,
I would strongly urge you to talk to someone at the school and someone in the finacial aid office. I really don't think you would be able to get the help you need with this question from SDN.

 

[exmike]

perhaps at www.valuemd.com

 

[phenolphthalein]

A while ago the whole foreign medical school thing piqued my curiosity. Having inordinate amounts of free time, I actually did a fair amount of reading up on this: how ECFMG works, the state licensing board requirements, how the Caribbean medical schools came into being, their founders (who have made a lot of money), the troubles the schools have run into, and out of, and into again, and what their graduates are doing, and where they have ended up. It is so interesting. It?s given me a much more complete picture of how medicine works in America, and who?s practicing it.

So let me preface this by saying that there are certainly many schools outside the US where you can get a quality medical education and schools like those often give chances to people who might not otherwise get the chance to become an MD. However, from what I can tell, for a lot of reasons, this particular school ? St. Luke School of Medicine ? falls into the category of ?super-sketchy?. Now, I know you have vigorously and vociferously defended this school in the past and far be it for me to dissuade you from your choice. You seem to have your heart set on this school, and hey, life is all about making choices. I will bring up two points though:
1. It may not be the best idea to attend a school where they need to make large promises, such as this financial aid issue. They are a brand new, untested school without a track record to back up their promises. It?s a large gamble to take.
2. From what I can tell, taking any part of your medical education in a purely online format will likely jeopardize your licensure in the US. There is another school in Antigua that offers online courses for the basic science portion of med school, and to my knowledge not a single person has successfully been licensed from there. For a definitive answer, call your state medical board. From my understanding, PA is hard on foreign medical graduates in general, and I can?t imagine them going easy on online classes.

All the best. Hope it works out.