International "Alien" students and Medical School.

Started by bachi
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ClearDay said:
Thanks.

I got tired of Thailand... Why US? I guess it was because my parents got their master's here. hmm...maybe this is too much personal info for the public eyes. 🙂

Are you applying to TX schools?


Yes, but only b/c I did my undergrad in Texas and b/c my sister got her MD from UTHouston.

I own land out there in Texas, but that does not make me a resident. And I definitely do not want to give up my california resident status.
 
baylormed said:
Are you on a student visa or on a permanent residence visa?

I am a permanent resident and I've been told I have the same priority as US citizens. Plus I do qualify for financial assistance. If you're a PR I wouldn't worry too much about it.

I'm a permanent resident, too. GO GREEN CARDS (which are actually more of a peach color, really) :laugh: .

Despite having to fill out extra paperwork, I haven't had any problems or seen any biases.
 
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Folks,

Here's a list of schools, based on my interests, that I found (either from their website or by calling the school) which accept international students without a greencard. Of course, even these schools require that you complete at least a year or two (depends on the school) of course work in the United States if you obtained your degree in a foreign country. All prereqs etc still apply. Please free to add to this list if you know of a school that I have missed or delete from the list any school you know for sure that does not accept internationals. Also, I do not know the stats of incoming students or the percentage of international students accepted. I shall work on those and post later.

Baylor
Case Western
Duke
Emory
Northwestern University
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Pennsylvania
UT- Southwestern
UT- San Antonio
Washington University (St. Louis)
Vanderbilt
Wake Forest
UCSF
Stanford
UCSD
University of Chicago, Pritzker
Yale

I have seen international students being accepted to University of Kentucky and UT Houston, but I do not know their PR status.
 
Here's a list of schools, based on my interests, that I found (either from their website or by calling the school) which accept international students without a greencard. Of course, even these schools require that you complete at least a year or two (depends on the school) of course work in the United States if you obtained your degree in a foreign country. All prereqs etc still apply. Please free to add to this list if you know of a school that I have missed or delete from the list any school you know for sure that does not accept internationals. Also, I do not know the stats of incoming students or the percentage of international students accepted. I shall work on those and post later.

Are you 100% sure about that list?

- I would've applied to U of Michigan if that were true. I clearly saw it with my eyes on their website that they don't take applications from foreigners.


You can add:

- Brown, U of Connecticut, U of Chicago (Pritzker)
 
shinenjk said:
Are you 100% sure about that list?

- I would've applied to U of Michigan if that were true. I clearly saw it with my eyes on their website that they don't take applications from foreigners.


You can add:

- Brown, U of Connecticut, U of Chicago (Pritzker)

I agree about UMich and stand corrected. I had called and asked and they said they do accept. They may have misunderstood my question and answered in the affirmative thinking I had asked about students with a foreign undergrad and not necesarily re: the applicant's PR status.
To reiterate what I said in my earlier post, if you have more accurate information, please feel free to add or delete. I did include Pritzker in my list.
 
travelbug73 said:
I agree about UMich and stand corrected. I had called and asked and they said they do accept. They may have misunderstood my question and answered in the affirmative thinking I had asked about students with a foreign undergrad and not necesarily re: the applicant's PR status.
To reiterate what I said in my earlier post, if you have more accurate information, please feel free to add or delete. I did include Pritzker in my list.

You can also add Indiana University and SUNY Upstate.
 
Gavanshir said:
I guess I expected international students to have poor language skills.


:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

actually most international students have superb language skills. It's communicating that's a problem....:meanie:
 
(bump)

anybody here? I'm getting ready to apply for this application cycle and this process is already giving me a headache.....it sucks being an intl student 👎
 
Soo, where is everyone getting their loans from? I found this one Sallie Mae loan, but the fin aid folks at school told me that I'm to early and that I have to wait till June. I"m afraid that if I wait that long, if something happens and I can't get the loan and then it'll be too late to apply for one somewhere else. ANy ideas?
 
I have been accepted to Northwestern,Indiana,NYMC and Howard. Northwestern has the best financial aid package so far.They give you institutional aid for most of your expenses including tuition.Indiana only requires you to get a loan for one year up front but ' THEY DON'T GIVE SCHOLARSHIPS TO FOREIGNORS '( directly from the dean's cute lips).Howard is similar to indiana but offers scholarship on merit and need starting the second year( terrible facilities and matchlist) .NYMC requires 4 years up front( They can kiss my a**, by the way, expensive and secluded ).Hence I am definitely going to Northwestern. I got offers for full rides from Cearribean schools but I want to go into a very competitve field so they are out of the question.

SECOND LOOK WEEKEND HERE I COME!!!!!
 
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Add BU to the list--its super expensive though, but if your stats are good you'll be on the same playing field as the PR and US citizens...

good luck
 
Could the international students who have been accepted to US medical Schools without PR (no greencard) PLEASE list some NUMBERS with the hopes of helping out future aliens applying for 2007 cycle.


Undergrad institution:
GPA and MCAT (with breakdown):
Schools Accepted To:
Listed, "complete" by schools applied to (month):


Thanks in Advance! This would be SOOO HELPFUL you have no idea!

👍 and CONGRATS ON MAKING IT !!!
 
wait a sec..in TX u can be considered a resident after certain amount of years, even though u dont hold a green card?..now thats news for me..i graduated from LSU with a 4.o and have been trying to get into MD/PHD(im pure alien too) and have solid MCAT scores, very high in biology and physics, low in verbal but thats reasonable, and have gotten one interview so far out of 6 schools i applied to ( of course most were ivy schools, UTSW included, cause those are the only u might get in as an alien), and have been waitlisted at the above mentioned school i got interview at(UTH)..well, if i dont get in, ill apply again next year but this time to MD only..so u are saying TX schools were frindly towards u? i thought UTSW is a little not cause they are public after all, dont u agree? have they ever accepted internationals before do u know?
thx
 
My stats are not spectacular, but I have a pretty unique application.
USF graduate 3.83 over all GPA. Don't remember my Sci GPA, but it's between 3.7 - 3.9.
MCAT 33 (9, 12, 12)
Applied to TX schools only, interviewed at 5 (I think?). Matched to UTSW. Still waiting on Baylor.

As for TX residency, I don't want to give out too much info, because other TX residents who are citizens/PR might hate me for bringing more competition to TX. 😛 Look at residency requirements on TMDSAS and go from there. You should be able to figure it out. If you have questions, PM me.

Good luck,
CD
 
Undergrad: UPenn
GPA: 3.77
BCPM GPA: 3.5
MCAT: 40S
Accepted to Wash U (St. Louis) MD, waitlisted at Columbia MD
Applied MSTP to 5 schools, unequivocally rejected from the joint programs. Interviewed at 2 (should be obvious which 2) for MD programs.

Good luck to all....
 
for the future applicants, my compiled list thus far of schools that consider international applicants:

Darthmouth
Creighton
Tufts
Boston
Meharry
Johns Hopkins - wants $250,000upfront
Tulane
Brown
Northwestern
Morehouse
Thomas Jefferson
Emory
Howard
Georgetown
George Washington - can only apply to special 5yr program for internationals, must have a govt sponsorship
Wake Forest
Albert Einstein
UCLA
USC
U. of Virginia
U. of Vermont
U. of Maryland
U. of Tennesee
Stonybrook
Albany Medical College
NYMC
Vanderbilt
UNC
Stanford
SUNY Upstate
U. Penn
Yale
U. of Minnesota
Medical College of Georgia
U. South Alabama
Wash U. St.Louis - 4 years tuition upfront
Cornell- 4 years upfront
Columbia
U. Chicago
UCSD
UCSF
 
stherling said:
Undergrad: UPenn
GPA: 3.77
BCPM GPA: 3.5
MCAT: 40S
Accepted to Wash U (St. Louis) MD, waitlisted at Columbia MD
Applied MSTP to 5 schools, unequivocally rejected from the joint programs. Interviewed at 2 (should be obvious which 2) for MD programs.

Good luck to all....

Undergrad: Umich (BioElectrical Engineering)
GPA: 3.95
BCPM: 3.96
MCAT: 32 T
Accepted: CMS (with guarenteed research second yr), EVMS (with a job offer in engineering lab working on modeling/simulation) 😉 , SLU. Waitlisted at: UTH 😡 , UTMB, A&M, TT

good luck.
 
InternationlDoc said:
Undergrad: Umich (BioElectrical Engineering)
GPA: 3.95
BCPM: 3.96
MCAT: 32 T
Accepted: CMS (with guarenteed research second yr), EVMS (with a job offer in engineering lab working on modeling/simulation) 😉 , SLU. Waitlisted at: UTH 😡 , UTMB, A&M, TT

good luck.

Hey dude,

Congrats!
 
oh well, ill reveal mine, even though im not accepted anywheres, just waitlisted.🙁..4.0 GPA in biochem degree, 30R MCAT(13 bio) , 3 yrs of research in genomics and 3 papes co-author...waitlisted at UTH MD/PhD, nothing else..oh well, i might have to retake the MCAt to increase my verbal score, but i was hoping my good essay score will help me out...u guys think i need to retake it if i plan to apply to MD only next year?
 
No adcom member here, just speaking from experience if VR >8 u don't need to. But if 8 or lower should consider taking it again. and Apply early. Just my two cents!
 
Also wanted to say Thank you for all those who have filled ou thier stats !

Who said "aliens" weren't smart ? I am truly impressed!

With your numbers and my personality i'm sure i would have got an acceptance somewhere ! 🙂

Thanks again, and the more stats we have to go by the better !

👍
 
KAM said:
Could the international students who have been accepted to US medical Schools without PR (no greencard) PLEASE list some NUMBERS with the hopes of helping out future aliens applying for 2007 cycle.


Undergrad institution:
GPA and MCAT (with breakdown):
Schools Accepted To:
Listed, "complete" by schools applied to (month):


Thanks in Advance! This would be SOOO HELPFUL you have no idea!

👍 and CONGRATS ON MAKING IT !!!

Hi guys and girl,

I'm an international student, no green card (unfortunately), and here's my info.

Undergad: Lamar University, Beaumont, TX
GPA: 4.0
MCAT August 05: P11 V11 B13, total 35Q
Accepted 😍 : Yale, Mt Sinai, Northwestern
Waitlisted 😕 : Columbia, Wash U
Rejected 😡 : NYU, AECOM, Harvard, UCSF, USC, Baylor, Cornell

Feel free to PM me with any questions - I'd be happy to share my experince if that can help anyone 🙂

Good luck!
 
KAM said:
Could the international students who have been accepted to US medical Schools without PR (no greencard) PLEASE list some NUMBERS with the hopes of helping out future aliens applying for 2007 cycle.


Undergrad institution:
GPA and MCAT (with breakdown):
Schools Accepted To:
Listed, "complete" by schools applied to (month):


Thanks in Advance! This would be SOOO HELPFUL you have no idea!

👍 and CONGRATS ON MAKING IT !!!

In addition, anyone without US degree, please complete ... aliens with international (non-US) degrees are in a totally different boat!

Thanks!
 
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ok KAM, so my verbal is 7...and i know thats the reason i havent been accepted , since i know my personality and the number of obstacles ive had to overcome by muself to be where i am at.and how hard ive been striving to get into medical school..i should have been accepted, but see i applied to md/phd only, and we are talking about competeing with students with much higher mcats...well, if i do retake the august mcat, (too late for april🙁that will make me an applicant in the late procees, and if i dont retake it, i might get at least some acceptances...imean, from interviewers, i have been told that i am a very outstanding applicant, a lot of them admired my achievements and they said even though my verbal is low, they do consider the fact that i am not american....so i dont know, early application with low verbal, vs late with possible higher?????oh, can it be more complicted 😕 😱
 
so guys,
i just spoke with an MD here at UTSW about the whole application process( he has an MD form IRAN but is a fellow here) and he was sooo discouraging about the fact that we might not have trouble of getting in, but more like as to how are we gonna find funds to pay for it???this is an issue that i dont think we really clearly resolved..i mean someone mentioned about a website, but do they really give out loans to internationals whose parents are not here...is a cosigner required???do medical schools really require u to have the money in the bank already so that u can put them in an escrow account or they can help u find a loan???this guy just kinda made me feel little discouraged, but im still not losing hopes..theres gotta be some solution..so foreigner, since u have been accepted to i believe thre schools so far, have they discussed with u the ways u can go about paying, and have u tried to get a loan??or u might not need, i dont know, but i believe yale is an expensive school...
thx
 
hey i had no idea they were so many international students applying to get into us medical schools. good luck to you all - i know its a long and frustrating process at times.

p.s. just from my experience funding options for international students are extremely limited but there are some that have done it. Ways that i know of are scholarships, md/PhD (tuition and stipend given), loans using US citizen or permanent resident as a cosigner, some loans where you do not need a cosigner but have to have an established credit history (3years+).
 
Purple&Gold said:
In addition, anyone without US degree, please complete ... aliens with international (non-US) degrees are in a totally different boat!

Thanks!

I don't have a green card or any visa whatsoever.
Ugrad: University of Victoria, Canada
Accepted: Columbia P&S
Waitlisted: Stanford, Harvard HST
Rejected: Penn, Hopkins, UCSF, Duke
GPA: 3.7, MCAT: 36Q
Complete Sept-Oct
 
nadica31 said:
ok KAM, so my verbal is 7...and i know thats the reason i havent been accepted , since i know my personality and the number of obstacles ive had to overcome by muself to be where i am at.and how hard ive been striving to get into medical school..i should have been accepted, but see i applied to md/phd only, and we are talking about competeing with students with much higher mcats...well, if i do retake the august mcat, (too late for april🙁that will make me an applicant in the late procees, and if i dont retake it, i might get at least some acceptances...imean, from interviewers, i have been told that i am a very outstanding applicant, a lot of them admired my achievements and they said even though my verbal is low, they do consider the fact that i am not american....so i dont know, early application with low verbal, vs late with possible higher?????oh, can it be more complicted 😕 😱

Hey Nadica, once again no adcom memeber here. A guess the biggest factor would be to see if u CAN bring up your Verbal Score. In other words, if you are going to sacrifice an early application with a VR of 7 u need to get at least a 10 or higher on the Aug MCAT as well as not let ur sciences slide. If you feel u can accomplish this, i would SUGGEST having everything else complete prior to MCAT results in Aug.

If u feel u are not getting 10's or higher on the VR i would not recommend wasting time/money/energy into taking the MCAT again. But do two things:

1. Check the box on AMCAS stating english is not your first language.

2. CAll the schools u wish to apply to and ask, "for a foreign student whose first language isn't english do u impose any min cutoffs for a min VR score or any other section on the MCAT for that matter.

If u feel u want to take it again, i would suggest two things to improve ur VR score.

1. Examcracker VR 101 passages ( the only passages, in my opinion that mimic the actual VR section, Kaplan passages are crappy and TPR i have no experience with.

2. Seriosuly attack the passages! in other words be extremely attentive, sit straight, don't slouch, etc. REAd critically and look for errors in the writers argument.

Best of luck !

P.S anyone reading my post please feel free to contribute/contradict what i've said.
 
Any international student with a US bachelors get into a US medical school with a 26 on the MCAT ? please post.
 
Hey everyone

I am an example of a not-so-stellar applicant (in terms of GPA):

Ugrad: Harvard
GPA: 3.38 BCPM GPA: 3.31
MCAT: 37S (12B/11V/14P)
2 papers (1 first author, 1 4th author), varsity athlete, volunteer experience abroad
Accepted: Wash U, Cleveland CLinic, Case Western, BU, Northwestern
Waitlisted: Columbia, Vanderbilt
Rejected: Many others

feel free to PM me with questions as well.
 
For any future and current intl med students:

1. Did you all have US$200,000 in your bank account to get your visa for med school
2. How long did you need to maintain that US$200,000 in your bank account? (at immigration before starting M1, did you need to show again proof that this amount still exists in your bank account). Do they check this amount later on?

Based on the visa proof of funding for entire 4 years requirements, I thought about getting a short-term loan from an acquaintance or relative. However, I’d like to actually use money from Citibank etc. for med school (you need to apply each year for a new loan)

Appreciate thoughts on what you did.
 
stherling said:
Undergrad: UPenn
GPA: 3.77
BCPM GPA: 3.5
MCAT: 40S
Accepted to Wash U (St. Louis) MD, waitlisted at Columbia MD
Applied MSTP to 5 schools, unequivocally rejected from the joint programs. Interviewed at 2 (should be obvious which 2) for MD programs.

Good luck to all....

HOLY ****** 😱 😱 ... and of what country are u a current citizen of again????
 
Med01 said:
For any future and current intl med students:

1. Did you all have US$200,000 in your bank account to get your visa for med school
2. How long did you need to maintain that US$200,000 in your bank account? (at immigration before starting M1, did you need to show again proof that this amount still exists in your bank account). Do they check this amount later on?

Based on the visa proof of funding for entire 4 years requirements, I thought about getting a short-term loan from an acquaintance or relative. However, I’d like to actually use money from Citibank etc. for med school (you need to apply each year for a new loan)

Appreciate thoughts on what you did.

It varies a lot from school to school. Wash U requires you to have proof of $245k in the bank, either by depositing it into an Escrow account or by producing a letter of credit (aka letter of guarantee) from your bank. This has to be updated every year to make sure you still have enough $$ to pay for subsequent years (obviously the amount required goes down). Columbia only requires you to demonstrate that you have enough for the first year (around $60k I think). So I would check with each school. Usually they have a set policy for international students, so it shouldnt' be hard to find out. As long as you fulfill the school's requirements, they will write the appropriate letter so that you can get your Visa. I don't think the immigration folk bother with it at all, as long as your school vouches for you.
 
Congratulations to those that were accepted. Although I am a citizen, I come from an "international" background and have relatives that are currently applying or applied in the past. I know it is tough but certainly doable.


nadica31, I think you should hang on. It certainly isn't too late. Try to talk to those school, show them that you are really interested and just hope for luck. Studying and taking the mcat is not a fun experience and if I were you, I would wait and see what happens.
 
[wait a sec..stherling, u are asking for the visa issue..of course we all can find a "temporary" way to have money in the bank and get the visa..as u said, u can ask somebody to borrow for just that period of getting the visa or whatever...but now the main q is: how are u actually going to pay for the school?? i mean, unless you have a scholarship and other means of income, how did u think to pay for the school other than getting a bank loan??im just soo confused..i guess its cause ive always been on some kind of scholarships, i never really knew how the whole student loan thing works and also havin money in the bank in order to get a visa??...ive heard of it but never really had to deal with it...
 
thx infiniti, im still holding my fingers crosse for UTH, they say waitist movement occurs around may, so who knows..i send them love letters and now i have to wait...i will definitely shoot this year (if i have to, hopefully not pls GOD🙂)to apply as early as possible, and to as many schools as possible, i know its gonna eat all my savings but oh well...its what i wanna do...maybe study for the mcat, but i dont know, i hate studying for it..so we'll see
thx again
Nadia
 
nadica, it really does depend on the school. Some schools only require you to prove that you have the money in an account somewhere (this is what I did for undergrad), and then after that you can do whatever you like with that money as long as you find some way to pay your tuition on time (using loans, or scholarship money or whatever). Some schools (like Wash U) require that you actually have continual proof that you have that money. (and they check. every year.)

I know very little about loans. I'm pulling the money together from various personal resources, mostly family and savings. I think your best bet is to contact the school you're interested in and speak to their financial officers. They know best what their requirements are and how you can fulfill them.
 
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Thanks for your advice, I will call the schools and see how their past students navigated the visa issue as well.

BTW, there is Access Group, http://www.accessgroup.org/ which does loan to intl students without a co-signer, if you have 3+ years of established US credit history.

Their rates are not as good as Citibank etc. with a US citizen co-signer. However, it's an option if you don't want to dent someone else's credit (it remains on their history until you have paid off the entire loan).


stherling said:
nadica, it really does depend on the school. Some schools only require you to prove that you have the money in an account somewhere (this is what I did for undergrad), and then after that you can do whatever you like with that money as long as you find some way to pay your tuition on time (using loans, or scholarship money or whatever). Some schools (like Wash U) require that you actually have continual proof that you have that money. (and they check. every year.)

I know very little about loans. I'm pulling the money together from various personal resources, mostly family and savings. I think your best bet is to contact the school you're interested in and speak to their financial officers. They know best what their requirements are and how you can fulfill them.
 
so we need I-20 from the school to get an F1 visa. my question is that... I got accepted to wake forest, so i'll be getting my I 20 from them. and i'll probably get my F1 with that. but i'm also waiting on dartmouth, and now, if i decide to switch school, i'll be getting a new I 20 from them... is the visa still valid? do i have to do something??
😕
 
I believe there's a way to transfer F-1s between schools. I know when I got accepted to Wash U they sent me a form to transfer my F-1 from my undergrad. Of course, I'm not on an F-1 anymore, so that didn't help me much, but apparently it's possible!
 
bachi said:
so we need I-20 from the school to get an F1 visa. my question is that... I got accepted to wake forest, so i'll be getting my I 20 from them. and i'll probably get my F1 with that. but i'm also waiting on dartmouth, and now, if i decide to switch school, i'll be getting a new I 20 from them... is the visa still valid? do i have to do something??
😕

the school will arrange the transfer, because a new I-20 form will have to be assigned; its a simple procedure.....good luck with Dartmouth! :luck:
 
stherling said:
I believe there's a way to transfer F-1s between schools. I know when I got accepted to Wash U they sent me a form to transfer my F-1 from my undergrad. Of course, I'm not on an F-1 anymore, so that didn't help me much, but apparently it's possible!


as a med student whats the best visa to have? F1? other? what do you have? and why?