I'm a US citizen with a foreign college degree. Am I an international applicant?

[Raigon]

I'm a US citizen with a foreign degree from one of Asia's top schools, National Taiwan University, which is different from the traditional international applicant who have studied in America, but has no citizenship. I've also lived all my life in America and completed my education except college, which I completed in NTU.

Am I considered an international applicant? If not, are my acceptance rates above or below an international applicant (under the conditions that our GPA/MCAT are the same)?

Well, it's too late to change my application, as I already submitted. And only a handful of colleges like U Pittsburgh will accept foreign credits.

In case I don't get accepted because I'm from a foreign institution, how do you apply for a post-bacc? Is there a system like the AMCAS or do you apply individually? Also, what's the acceptance rate for a post-bacc?

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[ThaliaNox]

Most schools require that you have completed at least your pre-reqs in the US. I think that alone really hurts your chances. Your case is kind of unique, so it would be difficult for anyone to tell you acceptance rates. My gut says your chances are slimmer than the normal applicant, though.

 

[Stratego]

You are not an international applicant, since you are a US citizen, but I believe you'll generally be held to the expectation that you acquired a certain minimum of college credits from accredited US institutions. I'll requote an earlier post that covers the situation:

You'll basically find the following types of medical school:

1. Those that want 60-90 credits completed in the U.S. with those credits to include chemistry, biology, physics, organic chemistry, and sometimes English. These schools are most common. Sometimes completion of the prerequisite courses alone with satisfy the Admissions Committee and they'll let you slide if you have a M.S. or a Ph.D. (with a decent GPA) from the U.S.
2. Those that want an entire U.S. undergraduate degree earned from scratch (Mayo Clinic springs to mind). These schools are uncommon.
3. Those that want 60-90 credits completed in the U.S., and the credits can be a mix of graduate school credits and one or two scattered prerequisites. If you look hard enough, you'll find a handful of these schools. This is the route that I took, but keep in mind that no two applicants look the same and so conditions will vary.
4. Those that want 60-90 credits completed in the U.S. and they won't make you do the prerequisites over. These medical schools are VERY hard to find, and usually a political connection at the school makes this possible.

If you want to bypass studying for a U.S. undergraduate degree, some colleges will allow you to roll several years of foreign undergraduate credits on a 'pass' basis into a an accelerated U.S. undergraduate degree, and you may only get away with taking the prerequisites over 18 months. Find BlueMirage on SDN. This is what he did, and he successfully gained admission, too.

In all of the above cases, a professional evaluated transcript of the foreign credits will generally be expected. AMCAS will not verify those grades, but several medical schools will add them to your file.

All of the above information also assumes that the applicant has a green card or U.S. citizenship; without that, the level of difficulty in securing admission for each of the above cases should be multiplied several fold.

A U.S. Ph.D. - even with a nice GPA - does not carry a whole lot of clout with U.S. medical schools. This is from first-hand experience. Neither do prerequisite courses earned overseas - even if it's from a 'prestigious' school. This is also from first-hand experience. Publications do help for some of the private, research-oriented medical schools but, again, you really have to look as close to a U.S. applicant as possible. PM me if you have any other worries. I've posted a lot on this subject and I don't want to start sounding like a broken record. Good luck!

 

[Raigon]

Hmm... but I only have a foreign degree... eh... will any schools accept that or allow that to be bypassed for a US institution, considering that this school's world ranking is well into the world top 100?

If not... how do I apply for a post-bacc? =="

 

[Mobius1985]

From my understanding of the system, you have no chance of an acceptance at a US MD granting school right now, regardless of the fact that you went to a great school in Taiwan (unless it is affiliated with an accredited US school). I'm not sure about the DO schools' rules. Rather than starting over and finding a school that will accept some of your foreign transferred credits, and then completing at least 60-plus more credit hours toward a US undergrad degree, is it possible for you to get accepted to a med school in Taiwan? If so, you could apply for a residency program in the US and get licensed to practice in the states that way. Of course, this route would be as chancey as going to Caribbean med schools if you aren't a high performer on the required Step (USMLE) tests.

 

[Raigon]

Is it possible for you to get accepted to a med school in Taiwan?

That's just the point ==". I'm not eligible for medical school in Taiwan because I did not complete my education there.

And now you're telling me I can't go to medical school in my own country BECAUSE I didn't complete my undergraduate studies in America? If I'm not eligible both ways, how am I supposed to become a doctor?

I'm going to try anyway. There are a few schools that accept foreign credits if you're an exceptional case, which I'm not sure if I qualify, but I'm going to try. I mean, anything is possible, even if you say no chance, there have been cases. I mean, no one thought I'd make it to National Taiwan University with only 3 years of Chinese, but I did.

But then again, you may also be right. If I don't make it, I'll take a post-bac and reapply.

Whatever the case, I'm not going to give up.

*EDIT - a few of my schools I've applied to this year have accepted partnership programs with National Taiwan University (Ex: U Pittsburgh. Does that count as "affiliation"?)

 

[Catalystik]

*EDIT - a few of my schools I've applied to this year have accepted partnership programs with National Taiwan University (Ex: U Pittsburgh. Does that count as "affiliation"?)

Yes.

 

[Raigon]

Yes.

Oh phew, my chances increased from 0% ~ 1%. ^^"

 

[Catalystik]

What are your AMCAS GPA and MCAT score?

 

[Raigon]

They don't give me an AMCAS GPA. They just wrote "not intended to be verified by AMCAS".

30Q for my MCAT - I broke down on verbal reasoning (8 on verbal, 11 everything else), though how I got a Q on my writing I have no idea. =="

So compared to other international applicants, it's probably not so strong. I know. Well, I already applied, too late to cry over spilled milk, but who knows? Maybe some schools with lower MCAT admission scores may accept me. Or maybe not.

If I don't make it, I'm taking my MCAT score and going to Australia. LOL

I'm serious though.

 

[Stratego]

Is there an attached (translated, if necessary) transcript by which UPitt and others can compare you to more traditional applicants? If, so, what GPA would you consider to be your application GPA?

 

[Raigon]

Well, our school has professors who deflates grades like mad because they want the students at NTU to not be so arrogant and know they're not perfect, but when it comes to helping students apply to schools abroad, then they help us out a lot in recommendation letters, explaining that our school is extremely competitive (though they won't explain that they deflate grades ==").

I mean, when I was still studying high school back in the US, and I hear "Wow, Asian schools are extremely competitive, much more competitive any anyone here can imagine," I didn't really think much of it. So when I moved to Taiwan, I was like... Oh GOD. They learned TRIGONOMETRY IN MIDDLE SCHOOL. And it was ADVANCED trigonometry, too. I finally knew what competition meant.

So far, as far as I'm concerned, my GPA is a 4.0, both science and total. On our transcript (though not AMCAS verified), they say that a numerical score of an 80 will be an A. (And that's because they deflate grades. I remember I got a 92% on my exams in microbiology, and I got an 83 average on my final score ==")

*But our transcript is completely in English, yes