International Applicants

[SC888]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Any international applicants out there want to share your experiences/successes in applying, getting interviews, and getting accepted to US med schools?

I have lived here for 10 years, received my BA in at a liberal arts college and have been working for 2 years now in research. I have ample leadership and service activities. I applied to 17 schools, all of which are private and range between mid and extremely selective. My scores are decent : 3.5 GPA, 35 MCAT. Got all my secondaries in by early September and so far I have received 2 interviews and one rejection. I feel like this process is moving in slow-mo and I'm not sure if it's because of my status.
Some schools claim that international applicants receive the same consideration as domestic applicants but i'm not really sure now..

Please share your thoughts!

 

[Econia]

Hi,

Being international student is so Stressful...I am a sophomer and international student from Ethiopia. I choose a DO school and I will have my interview on may 5 I guess. The main issue for me was the money ... which is still stressing me out. But i figured I will have one more year to think it through!! But guess what, You can do it! All of the people who say your status matters, don't pay them any attention. Let me know how it went for you!!...

 

[yearn4ivy]

Goodluck. I hope you get accepted.

I completed secondaries in September as well (might be considered late).

I interveiwed at a State School in November 2009, but I have not heard from them and I doubt I will hear good news. Two professors are I know actually want to send in letters on my behalf...

I interviewed at another school (private) in December 2009 and was accepted soon afterwards.

I have one hold, two pre-interview rejections, and have heard nothing from five schools, two of which have not indicated that my application is complete😱

However, I did send in update letters in January to the State school and three others schools, so you may want to try that.

In all, I am grateful for my one acceptance.

 

[longhorn09]

Mind you, a 3.5 GPA is not considered decent for medsch app.

 

[yearn4ivy]

Any international applicants out there want to share your experiences/successes in applying, getting interviews, and getting accepted to US med schools?

I have lived here for 10 years, received my BA in at a liberal arts college and have been working for 2 years now in research. I have ample leadership and service activities. I applied to 17 schools, all of which are private and range between mid and extremely selective. My scores are decent : 3.5 GPA, 35 MCAT. Got all my secondaries in by early September and so far I have received 2 interviews and one rejection. I feel like this process is moving in slow-mo and I'm not sure if it's because of my status.
Some schools claim that international applicants receive the same consideration as domestic applicants but i'm not really sure now..

Please share your thoughts!

Are you a resident then? Because if you are a permanent resident, your application is treated the same as that of a citizen

 

[rockymhs]

I think your GPA may be too low based on the assumption that your EC's are great.

I personally think that you have similar chance as domestic students in terms of getting into medical school since you will have no problme communicating in English, which is the most important criteria that med schools are concerned about for international students.

The biggest problem for you and school will be how you will pay for your medical school education. If you are financially not concerned ($200,000 in bank), this problem won't obstruct your way in getting into med school.

Also, being MD/PhD will automatically take care of the issue as well.

 

[yearn4ivy]

Mind you, a 3.5 GPA is not considered decent for medsch app.

I think your GPA may be too low based on the assumption that your EC's are great.

I personally think that you have similar chance as domestic students in terms of getting into medical school since you will have no problme communicating in English, which is the most important criteria that med schools are concerned about for international students.

The biggest problem for you and school will be how you will pay for your medical school education. If you are financially not concerned ($200,000 in bank), this problem won't obstruct your way in getting into med school.

Also, being MD/PhD will automatically take care of the issue as well.

Seriously? I doubt the original poster came in here looking for a lecture from anyone about his/her chances. OP was inviting other international students to share how this application cycle is going for them. You are certainly welcome to share experiences of any applicant you know who is an international student.

Since the OP is an international student, I am confident that are thoroughly aware of requirements for U.S. medical schools and uphill battle for international students.

Last cycle, an applicant (not international) was accepted with a 3.4 GPA, 33MCAT

 

[rockymhs]

Seriously? I doubt the original poster came in here looking for a lecture from anyone about his/her chances. OP was inviting other international students to share how this application cycle is going for them. You are certainly welcome to share experiences of any applicant you know who is an international student.

Since the OP is an international student, I am confident that are thoroughly aware of requirements for U.S. medical schools and uphill battle for international students.

Last cycle, an applicant (not international) was accepted with a 3.4 GPA, 33MCAT

I wanted to share my thought because I was an international student 3 years ago. Now that I have green card, I had easier time getting accepted to my state school. So I want to help out international students as much as possible because I know how helpless you feel as an internation student.

As OP posted, he applied to many top private medical programs of which most state that they will no discriminate against international students. Since he did not apply to any public schools, which most often do not favor international students, I think he will have same chance as domestic counterparts in terms of getting accepted to a medical program. Also, he won't have any problem with English since he lived in the US for 10 years.

With that said, he's biggest problem is his GPA, which is quite low for any US med schools, even for domestic students. If he's an URM, he may have a good chance with the GPA. Also, financial problem is the biggest where most international applicants that I know have faced and got discouraged from.

 

[bannie22]

2006 ....

ban search function. i rather they just ask rather than bring up a 3.5 from 2006 and havce really smart people respond to OP from the past -.-

 

[longhorn09]

2006 ....

ban search function. i rather they just ask rather than bring up a 3.5 from 2006 and havce really smart people respond to OP from the past -.-

Oooops, I didnt noticed the thread was posted back in 2006. If I did, I wounldn't leave any comment but would let it sink...

 

[yearn4ivy]

I wanted to share my thought because I was an international student 3 years ago. Now that I have green card, I had easier time getting accepted to my state school. So I want to help out international students as much as possible because I know how helpless you feel as an internation student.

As OP posted, he applied to many top private medical programs of which most state that they will no discriminate against international students. Since he did not apply to any public schools, which most often do not favor international students, I think he will have same chance as domestic counterparts in terms of getting accepted to a medical program. Also, he won't have any problem with English since he lived in the US for 10 years.

With that said, he's biggest problem is his GPA, which is quite low for any US med schools, even for domestic students. If he's an URM, he may have a good chance with the GPA. Also, financial problem is the biggest where most international applicants that I know have faced and got discouraged from.

OP is an international student, not a citizen and therefore has nothing to do with URM

Your experience is not really applicable to OP then, since you are no longer considered an international student in the admissions process and you did not really share anything about your med school application experience.

Your presumption that international students do not speak English is wrong....Many European, African countries, Asian and Caribbean countries can be considered Anglophone countries. I, for one, have spoken English all my life.

 

[yearn4ivy]

😡
This thread was resurrected from 2006

Disregard comments...arrghhh

And there I was, excited to meet other international students applying this 2009-2010 cycle

 

[yearn4ivy]

2006 ....

ban search function. i rather they just ask rather than bring up a 3.5 from 2006 and havce really smart people respond to OP from the past -.-

You are the smartest of the bunch. Good catch

 

[rockymhs]

Why the hell did a post from 2006 get here....

Why did the Ethiopian girl bring this post up....

I feel freakin' dumb.

I wonder if the original OP got into a med school though.

 

[tennisball80]

I have seen some ladies married an American guy down here in the U.S.

 

[Catalystik]

Looks like the OP got accepted to at least two med schools for class of 2011, despite international applicant status and a GPA of 3.5.

 

[rockymhs]

Looks like the OP got accepted to at least two med schools for class of 2011, despite international applicant status and a GPA of 3.5.

You are on top of things!

Cool to know that an international with 3.5 got in 3 years ago.... that is impressive.

 

[Catalystik]

I was surprised to see it too. I guess a 35 MCAT trumped it, along with good ECs.

 

[bannie22]

SLU and Penn State. Huh. I know SLU is receptive but Penn State surprises me.

Good job OP from the past 😛

Good job to the smart people who responded to OP earlier too 😉

 

[bannie22]

You are the smartest of the bunch. Good catch

Of course.🙄

😛

 

[vid0606]

I wanted to share my thought because I was an international student 3 years ago. Now that I have green card, I had easier time getting accepted to my state school. So I want to help out international students as much as possible because I know how helpless you feel as an internation student.

As OP posted, he applied to many top private medical programs of which most state that they will no discriminate against international students. Since he did not apply to any public schools, which most often do not favor international students, I think he will have same chance as domestic counterparts in terms of getting accepted to a medical program. Also, he won't have any problem with English since he lived in the US for 10 years.

With that said, he's biggest problem is his GPA, which is quite low for any US med schools, even for domestic students. If he's an URM, he may have a good chance with the GPA. Also, financial problem is the biggest where most international applicants that I know have faced and got discouraged from.

.

Hello,
I'm really helpless here. My wife completed her BDS and Housie in India. She wants to study DDS here in USA. I searched in the internet some information. But, I'm not able to understnad all the information that I gathered. If possible, can you please tell the complete procedure to get an admission here in USA for an international student?
Any help will be really appreciated. Please help by posting the information that you have.

Thanks in advance.
Vid