International Students in US Medical Schools.

[xftl]

Hi everybody. I am an international student from Tajikistan, studying biochemistry (pre-medical track) in US college. I am a freshmen. I want to go to medical school here, in the US. I heard that in order to get accepted into medical school as an international you have to do some big stuff... Can people that made it there write where are they from, their GPA, MCAT score, ex-cu, where did they find funds, and where did they apply? Thank you for sharing

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[Winterbourne]

Not sure what you mean by "big stuff". Your application shouldn't be viewed differently because you are an international students. Plenty of my friends who recently graduated medical school came to the US as international students and had no problems getting into medical school (Stony Brook, NYU, Columbia).

Just remember, you will still need a student visa. I would talk to your pre-med advisor. Good luck!

 

[Winterbourne]

I am under the strong impression that most medical schools in the US require green card (legal residency) or citizenship as from examples below

NYU

http://school.med.nyu.edu/md-admissions/how-apply/admissions-requirements-selection-criteria

International Applicants

In view of the large number of applications to the School and the difficulties involved in the application procedure for students abroad, foreign candidates are not encouraged to apply if they are not permanent residents of the United States

YALE

http://admissions.yale.edu/applying-yale-international-student

Special Note to International Students Intending to Study Medicine

It is extremely difficult for international applicants who are not citizens or permanent residents of the United States to gain admission to U.S. medical schools. State-supported medical schools rarely consider international applicants for admission, and those private schools that do accept applications generally require that international students place in escrow an amount ranging from one to four years’ tuition and fees (USD 40,000–200,000). There are very few scholarships available for medical schools in the U.S., and to qualify for U.S. government-sponsored loans, the applicant must be a citizen or permanent resident. International applicants who are considering a career as a medical doctor and hope to receive their education at an American medical school should think carefully before applying for admission to an undergraduate program in the United States.


However, Harvard does report some success from link below
http://www.ocs.fas.harvard.edu/students/careers/medicine/international.htm

I purchased the AAMC Official Guide to the MCAT Exam, which states that being international shouldn't be a problem. Also, I have several friends who have graduated from US med-schools who were not US permanent residents, but did their undergraduate education in the US. However, based on what you posted it is probably a good idea for "original poster" to contact individual schools.

*I would post the direct quote from the AAMC book, but unfortunately this is not allowed.

 

[gyngyn]

I purchased the AAMC Official Guide to the MCAT Exam, which states that being international shouldn't be a problem. Also, I have several friends who have graduated from US med-schools who were not US permanent residents, but did their undergraduate education in the US. However, based on what you posted it is probably a good idea for "original poster" to contact individual schools.

*I would post the direct quote from the AAMC book, but unfortunately this is not allowed.

There are only 74 MD schools that entertain applications from international students. Many of them matricualte only 1, 2 or 3. Many have extremely high academic and experiential standards.

 

[Winterbourne]

To gyngyn's point while about 1/2 the med schools allow applications, virtually all the websites I have seen from these schools seem to do their best to discourage.

yes it is possible, but very difficult.

Sorry, last post. Do you know how foreign degrees are viewed them? I am a US-citizen, but have an MSc from a European university. Do they view this degree differently? I hope this doesn't seem too off topic.

 

[Winterbourne]

If you have a US bachelors and a MSc then it will make little difference. If you have only foreign course work, then I suggest you take a good long drink before you search for the threads on SDN about it. It is mostly negative

Thank goodness I have an American bachelors. !