I’m new here. Would any medical students/non premeds be willing to read a DACA illegal’s personal statement.

[deleted933629]

Hi. I’ve had an account on sdn. I haven’t, however, posted on here. This is pretty controversial but I’m an illegal immigrant who has been shielded by DACA. Therefore, I know there is a near zero chance that I’ll be able to go to medical school. Nevertheless, I wanna try my best to get in somewhere. I have a draft of my AMCAS personal statement and I would greatly appreciate it if someone was willing to read it. I’m not sure if people pay for this but if so, I can’t. I wish I could. Let me know if I’m barking up the wrong tree. I apologize in advance if I’ve exceeded my rights on here.

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[ThatSerb]

Lol you don't have to be an American citizen to use this website. and I'm sure someone will read it, lots of people offer to do it for free on here

 

[differentiating]

I know my medical school graduated at least one Dreamer, so it's definitely not an impossibility. I personally don't have the time to read through a personal statement, but I'm sure there will be some people on here who'll be able to help.

Best of luck!

 

[KnightDoc]

To avoid having your heart broken, my advice would be to reach out to EVERY school you want to apply to, not only to verify that they would accept a DACA, but also that they would either consider you for institutional financial aid or at least be willing to certify a private loan application.

At least one person this past cycle was accepted to a school, and then told that they would be considered to be a foreign student, and would have to pay all tuition and fees up front OR pay some lesser amount AND have an American citizen guarantee payment of the balance. The school would not even consider allowing the student to apply for loans.

JMHO, but nothing worse than going through all this, actually being accepted, and then learning you will not even be allowed to borrow the money necessary to make your dream come true. If you are unaware, you are not eligible for federal loans, so, unless you have access to around $400K or are allowed to borrow privately or will be considered for institutional aid, there is honestly no reason to apply to any particular school.

 

[Moko]

Welcome to SDN! There's a list of free volunteer personal statement readers that you can find [here]. Just message someone who is listed as "active" to get started.

You can find a list of DACA-friendly schools [here], though please note that this list is from 2018, so check with schools to make sure their policies have not changed. It will also be important to find out what each school's policies are with regards to financial aid and paying for medical school. There was recently a post of an undocumented student who was accepted, but could not attend unless they were able to meet the institution's financial demands (I believe it was paying all 4 years of tuition up front without certifying a private loan).. That school was essentially "DACA-friendly" in name only. Best of luck.

Edit: That post can be found [here], and the school in question is NYMC. I would avoid applying to them unless you can meet their demand.

 

[OchemOficionado]

The chances aren't zero. I know several DACA students so it's possible although difficult. Best of luck!