International Students

[doughgirl]

Hi there,

I am an international student (Korean). I came to the states to study when i was 13 years old but am a korean citizen. I go to Brown University (senior, pre-med student) and heard from other people that it is practically impossible for an international student to go to U.S med school and it is not worth trying to apply. Is this true?

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[Pinkertinkle]

It is much more difficult, what kind of visa do you have?

 

[dmk724]

I am an international student (Korean). I came to the states to study when i was 13 years old but am a korean citizen. I go to Brown University (senior, pre-med student) and heard from other people that it is practically impossible for an international student to go to U.S med school and it is not worth trying to apply. Is this true?

It is supposed to be much more difficult, but I don't know why that is - if the school is afraid that you'll have to go back to your "native country" for whatever reason, or that you won't have enough money to finish, or that your English isn't good enough to follow the lectures.

Working in your favor is:
1) You will have a degree from an (extremely well known and competitive) American university.

2) You've been in the US for almost 10 years so your English should be fine.

3) It seems like you plan on staying and practicing medicine in the US (as opposed to going to Korea). This can be important for some state schools.

I don't think that you'll have a problem at all. There are a couple of people from other countries in my 1st year med school class, and I think that they were in fairly similar situations as yours - they had been in the US for a number of years, and they have degrees from US universities.

Good luck!

 

[b-real]

I think each school has a different policy on this issue. The application form of many schools straight up ask whether or not you are a US citizen, and a lot of those state explicitly that non-US/Canada students are ineligible to apply.

 

[JDAD]

It varies from school to school. And it varies depending on your current or projected visa status. If you are an "international student" then you will be on an F-1 visa. If you are on a different visa, such as J or H or E, there will a few different loops to jump through. If you are not a US citizen, but you have permanent residency in the US, (you have established the US as your domicile, or are currently in the process of filing for an I-485) you will be able to apply anywhere in the states because you are not "classified" as an international student, but as a permanent resident. There is a lot of info to sift through, and it makes the application process much more difficult.

At most private institutions, they don't really care where your from. You will have to look this up in the MSAR and then I had to call each school specifically just to make sure my information was correct. Many of the private schools have one, and only one, pile of applications. It doesn't matter where your from.

Like b-real says, you will be ineligible to apply to many schools. They don't accept international students. So make sure you are aware before you apply.

It can be done, in fact I am doing it right now. It just takes a little more effort.

Goodluck

 

[Scottish Chap]

If you are not a US citizen, but you have permanent residency in the US, (you have established the US as your domicile, or are currently in the process of filing for an I-485) you will be able to apply anywhere in the states because you are not "classified" as an international student, but as a permanent resident.

You are not classified a lawful permanent resident until you have the passport stamp. This occurs several weeks-to-months after you have been interviewed by your local BCIS office and had your petition for permanent residency approved, and several months-to-years-after you have filed your I-485 form to ask for approval. In addition, with the passport stamp, every U.S. medical school continues to classify you as an international - until you have the green card in hand to show them.

 

[NYCDesi]

Hi there,

I am an international student (Korean). I came to the states to study when i was 13 years old but am a korean citizen. I go to Brown University (senior, pre-med student) and heard from other people that it is practically impossible for an international student to go to U.S med school and it is not worth trying to apply. Is this true?

Med schools prefer citizens/perm residents, but you can definitely get in if you have the numbers.

Maintain a stellar GPA (above 3.7) and beat the crap out of the MCAT (above 32) and you should be fine. I have had 3 interviews so far and there were intnl students at EVERY one of them.
The reason I say stellar GPA and MCAT is because schools give preferance to citizens/perm residents, but if your numbers are higher than avg for the school, you have a shot.
First, buy the MSAR and make a list of all schools that accept intnl students (there r about 30 or so). Then, call each school to talk to the admissions councillors to gauge your chances. Then work your ass off to be able to afford to apply to atleast 20 schools (the more schools you apply to, the better your odds). Last but definitely not the least, ace your interviews.

Good Luck

P.S. Don't worry about the whole BCIS/I-485 crap. If you are nowhere near getting your greencard, there's no point beating yourself up about it. Just work on the 4.0/34.

 

[doughgirl]

It is much more difficult, what kind of visa do you have?

I have F1 student visa

 

[doughgirl]

Thank you very much for all of your answers! They are extremely helpful and supportive

 

[JDAD]

You are not classified a lawful permanent resident until you have the passport stamp. This occurs several weeks-to-months after you have been interviewed by your local BCIS office and had your petition for permanent residency approved, and several months-to-years-after you have filed your I-485 form to ask for approval. In addition, with the passport stamp, every U.S. medical school continues to classify you as an international - until you have the green card in hand to show them.

I know of many schools that will allow you to be considered a resident if you are in the process of filling your I-485. There might not be very many of them, but I know the texas ones do it.

 

[qinnu]

I am an international student too. I received my undergraduate education in China and graduate education in US. I am applying this year. My experience is just as someone put it, it varies from school to school. For example Davis, they sent me a second round invitation, yet they refused to acknowledge my premed courses taken in China(though my MCAT is 39, not the best but reasonable, at least I think). I decided to withdraw from Davis. By the way, why the hell they sent me a second invitation in the first place?Yet, UCSF is ver open minded. However all the school I have applied to, emphasize that you have to be either a citizen or a green card holder. That I believe you probably don't have much room.

 

[drguy22]

I am an international student too. I received my undergraduate education in China and graduate education in US. I am applying this year. My experience is just as someone put it, it varies from school to school. For example Davis, they sent me a second round invitation, yet they refused to acknowledge my premed courses taken in China(though my MCAT is 39, not the best but reasonable, at least I think). I decided to withdraw from Davis. By the way, why the hell they sent me a second invitation in the first place?Yet, UCSF is ver open minded. However all the school I have applied to, emphasize that you have to be either a citizen or a green card holder. That I believe you probably don't have much room.

wat...do u know wat ur talkin anout...a 39 MCAT score is da bomb!!!!!! its a million times more reasonable....a 28 is reasonable....o man ur a wierdo!!!