international student asking for help

[kelpy]

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[dl2dp2]

"Are there any international students who went through this hard process like me? "

There were. I believe "surge" was an intl. He also has a list of schools which accepts intl students. Do a search

"For example when and where did you apply, what was your GPA and major, which college did you attend, what was your MCAT score, how were your ECs, volunteering and research experiences? "

Ugh...there is a website that posts all the stat. Can someone post the link? Do a search at pre-allo.


Rather than asking people here, I suggest you contact Mr. David Owen or Ms. Casandra Flamboruas at the pre-medical advising office at University of Chicago. During orientation, you'll attend one of the sessions given to the students who are considering pre-health careers. I went to Univ of Chicago, and the advising staff was more than helpful. Don't worry about it too much, enjoy your summer for the moment, and ask all your questions when you set up your appointment with your advisor.

Sean

 

[dyang]

You can find the stat at http://www.mdapplicants.com/

 

[nothingman]

kelpy -

I'm a non-US citizen/non-permres and went through the MD/PhD application process last year... I'll be starting at a US program (UPenn) this fall. I hope that UChicago premed advising will serve you a bit better than the one at my undergrad alma mater, where I was essentially sent out to explore options on my own with a wish of good luck. That being said, surge's thread on this forum is an excellent resource as far as what schools to apply to when the time comes (and I wish it was there when I was applying).

I'm Canadian and can tell you a bit about the system there as well, having applied in both countries. It seems to me that gaining admission to an MD/PhD in the US may actually be a bit easier for foreign applicants, because ALL of the Canadian medical schools are state-funded and state-run (gotta love our socialism), and most discriminate quite heavily against non-Canadians (some even against Canadian out-of-province-ers). Furthermore, the funding packages offered there for the most part do NOT cover medical school tuition and only offer a fellowship during grad school. The US, by contrast, has more private programs with various funding sources, some of which are available to international applicants.

At this point, unless you're forced to declare a major straight away (which I would hope is not the case), I worry less about which one will impress adcoms more, and more about which one you like and will stand doing a fair amount of research in during your undergrad. Just "shop around" freshman year and see where your heart takes you. Either option should work out fine given good effort on your part.

Feel free to PM me for more info/questions, and good luck with starting college!

 

[Nuel]

Originally posted by kelpy
Hi! I'm an international student from Turkey (student visa, no green card) and I'm going to be a freshman at University of Chicago next year. I also desperately want to go to a medical school in the U.S. or get an MD/PHD but I don't know if I'll be able to get into one and pay for one. Are there any international students who went through this hard process like me? Could those students answer these questions for me? For example when and where did you apply, what was your GPA and major, which college did you attend, what was your MCAT score, how were your ECs, volunteering and research experiences? Also, how were you able to pay for a medical education? Did you take any loans or were you offered partial grants? Also would it be wiser to get a master's degree or phd before applying to medical schools? (it would also help me make some money) Is it possible to work while attending medical school? What about schools in Australia and Ireland or Canada? (I was accepted for McGill undergrad but chose to go to Uchicago instead) Would they be cheaper and easier to get into? I heard that some Australian schools actually offer some half-tuition scholarships for intl students. I know that it is too early to be thinking about med schools now but it never hurts to star early. I also have a question about choosing majors, would a double major in computer science and biology look better than a singe major in biology when applying to med schools? I'm also thinking of diving straight into the ecs, volunteering and jobs as soon as I start college. Does anyone have any insight to which activities I can do to look impressive for med school. Basically any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you...

Hello
there are ways to pay for medical school, although u will need someone to cosign for you in relation to loans. If u have a willing relative here, then it is all well and good with respect to taking out loans for medical school. Go MD/PhD only if u strongly intend to devote most of your time to biomedical research, otherwise I would discourage going that path. If u haven't found yourself yet, you still have time to do that.
Good luck,
Nuel

 

[calebho501]

I'm also non-green card foreign applicant, but I'm applying for the regular MD or MD/MPH programs in the U.S. The competition is generally tougher, because most schools reserve very few spots for foreign students, but I'd suggest looking at the prestiguous schools too. These are usually schools that do not use a student's citizenship as an admission factor.

For example, the Assistant Dean at Yale told my counsellor that Yale doesn't use citizenship as an admission factor. Stanford posted on their website that citizenship will not affect your chance of admssion.

On the other hand, I'll try to stay away from the UC system. As far as I know, only UCSF and UCLA accept foreign students. UCSF stated on the website that they accepted 1 student in the past 6 years. UCLA seems to accept 0-2 students per year. Out of all the UC schools, I'm only applying UCLA.

As for funding for tuition, if you're interested in going back to work in your home country, you can try to see if you can get gov't funding from there. Some countries like the fact that they have physicians that are educated in the U.S.

George Washington University in particular has a 5-years international student medicine program, but it requires sponsorship from your home country or an institution from that country.

 

[Thewonderer]

I know two friends who got into MD/PhD at U of Toronto and UWO but did not get their MD/PhD program of choice in the US (they figured that if the school is not top 10 in the US, then they would stay in Canada).

So applying to MD/PhD on both sides of the border is a crap-shoot.