Medical school with a foreign degree

[amby_1986]

Hi All,

I had raised a query about 4 years, now i am back again.

My profile :
I have engineering degree in electrical and electronics pass out 2003-2007 from india.
Worked in IT for a while about 10 years.
Now active duty army as a 68W medic will be finishing contract in another couple of years
Do you folks think i should be doing post bacc pre med?
Or else i can go to community college and finish the pre requisites?
Wanted to know thoughts and comments?
PS : i am a US citizen.

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[paradoxic_toxic]

Do a formal post-bacc and complete the pre-reqs. Adcoms prefer pre-reqs done in a four year college.

 

[amby_1986]

Do a formal post-bacc and complete the pre-reqs. Adcoms prefer pre-reqs done in a four year college.

Thanks a ton for the response.
So there is no way around post bacc, by taking courses at community college? Has anyone tried it ?
One basic question, i dont care about the location. Which post bacc would be a good option ?

 

[paradoxic_toxic]

The pre-reqs can be done at a CC, and other students have certainly done it. The only caveat is that adcoms will view these courses as less rigorous (search SDN for relevant threads).

If you're asking about major, then no it doesn't matter. They only care if you do well.

 

[amby_1986]

The pre-reqs can be done at a CC, and other students have certainly done it. The only caveat is that adcoms will view these courses as less rigorous (search SDN for relevant threads).

If you're asking about major, then no it doesn't matter. They only care if you do well.

Thanks a ton again for responding back.
Understood, CC compared to a 4 year college will definitely looked down upon.
I have also seen the posts where people have mentioned about CC, but i dont know the rest of the story whether they have got into the med schools or not. Can you please throw some light on that if you know its been done before.

Thats why i was targetting to get the courses finished and give me best shot in MCAT.
What would be a realistic score to get into any of the schools? Which schools should i be specifically targetting? I dont care about the location in the US anywhere is fine with me.

 

[paradoxic_toxic]

Thanks a ton again for responding back.
Understood, CC compared to a 4 year college will definitely looked down upon.
I have also seen the posts where people have mentioned about CC, but i dont know the rest of the story whether they have got into the med schools or not. Can you please throw some light on that if you know its been done before.

You're welcome! It's hard to find accurate numbers on this matter. Personally I haven't seen any examples on SDN yet (I've only become active on SDN quite recently).

However, since the applicant pool is so large and diverse, we can assume there is a small percentage that have been accepted despite taking prereqs at a CC. Perhaps @gonnif can shed some light or kindly offer some wise words.

Thats why i was targetting to get the courses finished and give me best shot in MCAT.
What would be a realistic score to get into any of the schools? Which schools should i be specifically targetting? I dont care about the location in the US anywhere is fine with me.

SDN's rule of thumb is:

• MD (in your state of residence), score 510 or higher.
• MD (out-of-state), score 513 or higher.
• DO, score 505 or higher.

 

[deleted859689]

Goro's advice for pre-meds who need reinvention

So you want to be a doctor, but your GPA is terrible. Is that the end? Rule #1: Take a deep breath, and stop fussing. The sky is not falling. But you are going to need to reinvent yourself. This will take both time and money. And always remember that you’re in a marathon now, not a sprint...

forums.studentdoctor.net

 

[amby_1986]

You're welcome! It's hard to find accurate numbers on this matter. Personally I haven't seen any examples on SDN yet (I've only become active on SDN quite recently).

However, since the applicant pool is so large and diverse, we can assume there is a small percentage that have been accepted despite taking prereqs at a CC. Perhaps @gonnif can shed some light or kindly offer some wise words.



SDN's rule of thumb is:

• MD (in your state of residence), score 510 or higher.
• MD (out-of-state), score 513 or higher.
• DO, score 505 or higher.

Thanks a ton for the response.
Probably thats true because i see lots of folks doing that, i am pretty sure some of them would have been accepted.

Thats a good formula, are schools in texas very particular about the 4 year degree from USA or else they accept CC as well.

MCAT 513 is pretty high, you just have one shot which is the MCAT and score high chances of getting an interview call are high.

 

[paradoxic_toxic]

Thanks a ton for the response.
Probably thats true because i see lots of folks doing that, i am pretty sure some of them would have been accepted.

Thats a good formula, are schools in texas very particular about the 4 year degree from USA or else they accept CC as well.

MCAT 513 is pretty high, you just have one shot which is the MCAT and score high chances of getting an interview call are high.

Are you residing in Texas?

Here's a good thread about Texan (TMDSAS) med schools:

Question about pre-requisite courses for Texas medical schools

.

forums.studentdoctor.net

If you're serving in the US military, I suspect you can get away with a slightly lower MCAT but don't quote me on this.

 

[amby_1986]

No sir, I just asked texas since I saw the highest number of seats from that state.
Right now I am not on mainland.
So once I am done here I will come to mainland. That's why I was asking about any medical and any state is fine for me.

Sent from my SM-G950U using SDN mobile

 

[amby_1986]

Which state should we be looking at sir?
I was looking at the stats, if you take out the top 20 medical schools the rest all are pretty heavy on in state applications. This process will be hell for me looks like.

Are you residing in Texas?

Here's a good thread about Texan (TMDSAS) med schools:

Question about pre-requisite courses for Texas medical schools

.

forums.studentdoctor.net

If you're serving in the US military, I suspect you can get away with a slightly lower MCAT but don't quote me on this.

Sent from my SM-G950U using SDN mobile

 

[paradoxic_toxic]

No sir, I just asked texas since I saw the highest number of seats from that state.
Right now I am not on mainland.
So once I am done here I will come to mainland. That's why I was asking about any medical and any state is fine for me.

Sent from my SM-G950U using SDN mobile

I apologize, I forgot you were on active duty for a split second.

Which state should we be looking at sir?
I was looking at the stats, if you take out the top 20 medical schools the rest all are pretty heavy on in state applications. This process will be hell for me looks like.

Sent from my SM-G950U using SDN mobile

Many MD schools are part of public universities thus they are expected to fill their seats with a certain number of state residents. Texan and Californian, as well as schools in the Pacific Northwest region are known for their strong in-state bias. However there are certainly schools that are out-of-state friendly.

I highly recommend taking a look at this:
Some thoughts on schools as you build and finalize your school lists (Reddit)

Without your post-bac stats and MCAT, we can't form a good list of schools for you at the moment. Once you figure out which state you'll reside, a good starting point would be to apply to your state's schools. From there you should branch out to the regional schools.

I also highly recommend taking a look at this:
Crafting your "high-yield" school list (Reddit)

Once you get a GPA and MCAT, you should post your stats in the "What Are My Chances (WAMC)" section of SDN. There are many people there who can help formulate a school list (such as Faha who has kindly helped me and hundreds of others form a school list).

 

[amby_1986]

Thats some great points, i need to finish my pre requisites and start preparing for MCAT. I have only a single shot thats a good MCAT.
You dont have to apologize sir, you are trying to help me.
Everything else is secondary right now, so just focus on getting the college credits and get a good MCAT score and see where it goes from there.

What would you recommend for a good MCAT preparation?

 

[paradoxic_toxic]

Thats some great points, i need to finish my pre requisites and start preparing for MCAT. I have only a single shot thats a good MCAT.
You dont have to apologize sir, you are trying to help me.
Everything else is secondary right now, so just focus on getting the college credits and get a good MCAT score and see where it goes from there.

What would you recommend for a good MCAT preparation?

I believe it will be beneficial to focus on MCAT prep after you complete the prereqs. Those classes will provide a solid foundation.

Afterwards there are many ways to go about preparation. Start by buying the Official Guide to the MCAT. This clearly outlines every possible subject and topic that can be tested on the MCAT. It also includes some sample questions to help you understand the exam format.

Get a set of MCAT prep books. Some good options (in no particular order) are: Kaplan, Examkrackers (EK), The Princeton Review (TPR), The Berkeley Review (TBR). Personally I used Kaplan and supplemented with EK and various online resources (Khan Academy, UWorld, Jack Westin, etc). For prep books, it seems that TPR and TBR are rising in popularity.

Most students dedicate 3-4 months to studying/practicing for the MCAT. The time it takes to master the material varies greatly between students. Some may finish in 2 months and score highly, others may study for a year and score poorly. My advice for anyone is to take all the time you need--do not rush it. The MCAT is a beast of an exam and studying for it is like running a marathon. It is essential that you pace yourself during studying and on exam day. The difficulty lies in the broad range of topics, however the questions that are presented on those topics are not impossibly complex. They're not testing you on ability to memorize (although memorization does greatly help), instead they're really testing you on your ability to analyze large amounts of data. "The MCAT is a mile wide, but an inch deep."

I highly recommend browsing through the MCAT forum on SDN. There are hundreds of well-written high quality guides on studying, practicing, and test-taking strategies. After browsing a few of these threads, you will quickly learn what will work for you.

Another good resource to learn about the MCAT is www.reddit.com/r/MCAT

 

[amby_1986]

I believe it will be beneficial to focus on MCAT prep after you complete the prereqs. Those classes will provide a solid foundation.

Afterwards there are many ways to go about preparation. Start by buying the Official Guide to the MCAT. This clearly outlines every possible subject and topic that can be tested on the MCAT. It also includes some sample questions to help you understand the exam format.

Get a set of MCAT prep books. Some good options (in no particular order) are: Kaplan, Examkrackers (EK), The Princeton Review (TPR), The Berkeley Review (TBR). Personally I used Kaplan and supplemented with EK and various online resources (Khan Academy, UWorld, Jack Westin, etc). For prep books, it seems that TPR and TBR are rising in popularity.

Most students dedicate 3-4 months to studying/practicing for the MCAT. The time it takes to master the material varies greatly between students. Some may finish in 2 months and score highly, others may study for a year and score poorly. My advice for anyone is to take all the time you need--do not rush it. The MCAT is a beast of an exam and studying for it is like running a marathon. It is essential that you pace yourself during studying and on exam day. The difficulty lies in the broad range of topics, however the questions that are presented on those topics are not impossibly complex. They're not testing you on ability to memorize (although memorization does greatly help), instead they're really testing you on your ability to analyze large amounts of data. "The MCAT is a mile wide, but an inch deep."

I highly recommend browsing through the MCAT forum on SDN. There are hundreds of well-written high quality guides on studying, practicing, and test-taking strategies. After browsing a few of these threads, you will quickly learn what will work for you.

Another good resource to learn about the MCAT is www.reddit.com/r/MCAT

Awesome sir, you have been so helpful to me.
Thanks again for helping me out. I will focus on getting things done.