PLEASE HELP ME! I am in desperate need for your help!!

[lilaznangel134]

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**** ALTHOUGH, my case is unique... some of the questions I have are general (at the bottom of the page...). I have tried looking for the answers to these but I was unsuccessful in finding out, so I was wondering if there are anyone out there who would be willing to answer some of my questions (even though you may not be able to answer my questions about being an international student).

Hello everyone!

I am quite new to SDN but I have looked at blogs for days trying to figure out what I should do. I have a dilemma. I am an international student but I have grown up in the U.S. all my life. I went to high school in Northern California and I will be graduating this May with a BA in Liberal Arts at Soka University of America (it's an accredited relatively new private liberal arts university, located in Aliso Veijo, CA). My current GPA is 3.887 (hopefully, I can bring it up to a 3.9).

I have attempted unsuccessfully to look for post-bacc pre-med programs that would accept international students. I am currently applying to Columbia and American University's Post bacc programs. But I am also in a financial dilemma ... I need to attend a place that is somewhat affordable and not too expensive. I still do want to remain in CA or go to NY (but still thinking about other post bacc schools). I don't currently have much of a science background (which I am hoping to enhance through the post bacc program). Ultimately, for medical school - I want to come back to CA. I am worried that if i moved out of CA and went to a different state (for like two years) and returned back to CA, I won't be qualified for being an "in-state" resident. Does anyone know about the qualifications for being an in-state resident?

I was wondering if anyone can give me any advice/inputs/feedbacks about really great post bacc programs that are affordable and accepts international students. I was also wondering if there is anyone that can give some comments about some of the postbacc in CA (Scripps, USC, all the UC's - and whether they would accept international students into the program). If it clearly says on the website that they only accept permanent residents or U.S. residents, does that necessarily mean that international students don't get accepted or even considered? I was thinking of calling some of the schools regarding this matter...but I wasn't sure.

I had a few questions as well (if there is anyone that could help answer them for me, I would greatly appreciate it).

* Does it look bad to medical schools if one attends a state college instead of a more well-known university/college?
* What is the Scripps' Post-bacc tuition? Is it the same as the undergraduate tuition ($35,000 ish)?
* How is USC? What is the post bac program like and tuition for a full time student?
* I asked this question above but: What does in-state residence mean for medical schools? Does anyone know any of the qualifications for in-state residencies (like would you have had to stay at least one year in the state that you are applying to medical schools in order to be considered an "in-state" resident)?

I would really appreciate your inputs, advices, and feedbacks!!

Thanks!

 

[drizzt3117]

I have attempted unsuccessfully to look for post-bacc pre-med programs that would accept international students. I am currently applying to Columbia and American University's Post bacc programs. But I am also in a financial dilemma ... I need to attend a place that is somewhat affordable and not too expensive. I still do want to remain in CA or go to NY (but still thinking about other post bacc schools). I don't currently have much of a science background (which I am hoping to enhance through the post bacc program). Ultimately, for medical school - I want to come back to CA. I am worried that if i moved out of CA and went to a different state (for like two years) and returned back to CA, I won't be qualified for being an "in-state" resident. Does anyone know about the qualifications for being an in-state resident?

First of all, are you a permanent resident in the US? It's going to be hard to get into a medical school in the US unless you have a green card or are a citizen of a North American country. You are going to have to probably guarantee four years of tuition, so formal post-bac programs may not want to accept you for this reason. Are you going to have permanent residency at the time of applying to medical school?

I was wondering if anyone can give me any advice/inputs/feedbacks about really great post bacc programs that are affordable and accepts international students. I was also wondering if there is anyone that can give some comments about some of the postbacc in CA (Scripps, USC, all the UC's - and whether they would accept international students into the program). If it clearly says on the website that they only accept permanent residents or U.S. residents, does that necessarily mean that international students don't get accepted or even considered? I was thinking of calling some of the schools regarding this matter...but I wasn't sure.

According to Jodi @ Scripps, they considered an international student during the last application cycle but ended up not taking them, it will be necessary, as I said above, for you to guarantee all of the tuition, which is something like $26k or so for the postbac program for one year, IIRC. I have no info about USC and I think the UCs are only for underrepresented minorities that have already finished the prereqs.

I had a few questions as well (if there is anyone that could help answer them for me, I would greatly appreciate it).

* Does it look bad to medical schools if one attends a state college instead of a more well-known university/college?

Not so much, it might make a little difference but it's not huge, by any means. The committee letter is much more important but if you have good stats, etc, you'll be OK. The much bigger issue for you at this time is the issue of PR.

* What is the Scripps' Post-bacc tuition? Is it the same as the undergraduate tuition ($35,000 ish)?

Answered above.

* How is USC? What is the post bac program like and tuition for a full time student?

Expensive, decent, especially if you want to go to SC, although a lot of Scripps postbacs end up there as well, and two years.

* I asked this question above but: What does in-state residence mean for medical schools? Does anyone know any of the qualifications for in-state residencies (like would you have had to stay at least one year in the state that you are applying to medical schools in order to be considered an "in-state" resident)?

You need to have permanent residency in the US to qualify for in-state tuition anywhere. There are other criteria but this is the most immediately relevant one for you.

 

[joycers]

* How is USC? What is the post bac program like and tuition for a full time student?

USC in general is a very good school. I don't know about the post-bacc program firsthand, but I was in the honors pre-med program my freshman year (very briefly), and it's a very competitive, cutthroat type of program. For the classes I took, they graded on a curve, so you really have to focus on your competition, which was something I hated. USC's post-baccs take classes with undergrads, which would normally be a good thing, except that USC's incoming freshman class gets continuously more competitive every year. My year, the pre-meds were some of the most intense, crazy people I'd ever met, which was part of the reason I quit. If you think you can handle that, I would suggest USC, since the courses can be very, very good (depending, of course, on the instructor).

Tuition for a full-time student right now is around $35,000 a year for 12-18 units/semester, so it's definitely not cheap...but I think you would only take 8 units per semester as a post-bacc. Each unit is about $1200, last time I checked, and each class is 4 units. That means you'd be spending about $10,000 a semester. You can find more info on the website: http://chem.usc.edu/postbacc/index.html

As for the school, it's really a great place. We have great instructors, and a lot of opportunities come from being a USC student. The downsides are: the area (which can get quite dangerous at night, esp. if you're stupid), the student body (which is sometimes vapid and irritatingly like a bad TV show), and the cost of tuition.

 

[lilaznangel134]

Sorry... I couldn't delete the comment I wanted to make (please disregard this one).

 

[lilaznangel134]

First of all, are you a permanent resident in the US? It's going to be hard to get into a medical school in the US unless you have a green card or are a citizen of a North American country. You are going to have to probably guarantee four years of tuition, so formal post-bac programs may not want to accept you for this reason. Are you going to have permanent residency at the time of applying to medical school?

Hey drizzt3117! Thanks so much for your response. I am actually not a permanent resident of the U.S. but I plan to become a permanent resident (not sure if it would be in time for medical school .. it might be a year into it). I have lived in the U.S. for like 22 years (except 6 months old when I was a baby) and I still haven't found a way to directly get a green card. I do have couple of options though like having my sister (who is an American citizen to sponsor me) or get married to my boyfriend for 4 years. But eventually, I hope to be a permanent resident. Everything is sooo expensive (especially when you aren't a resident of the U.S.). I am really thankful for your comments though! They were soooo helpful 🙂. I have a few more questions though (if that's okay).

According to Jodi @ Scripps, they considered an international student during the last application cycle but ended up not taking them, it will be necessary, as I said above, for you to guarantee all of the tuition, which is something like $26k or so for the postbac program for one year, IIRC. I have no info about USC and I think the UCs are only for underrepresented minorities that have already finished the prereqs.

I see.... thanks though for your info.

Not so much, it might make a little difference but it's not huge, by any means. The committee letter is much more important but if you have good stats, etc, you'll be OK. The much bigger issue for you at this time is the issue of PR.

What would the PR be? What is it exactly?

Expensive, decent, especially if you want to go to SC, although a lot of Scripps postbacs end up there as well, and two years.

Is the Scripps postbacc program not so good if they end up transferring to USC?

You need to have permanent residency in the US to qualify for in-state tuition anywhere. There are other criteria but this is the most immediately relevant one for you.

Would you happen to be able to tell me the other qualifications for in-state tuition? I would like to know just in case my circumstances change and who knows maybe i could be a permanent resident.

 

[drizzt3117]

What would the PR be? What is it exactly?

PR = Permanent Residency i.e. green card.

Is the Scripps postbacc program not so good if they end up transferring to USC?

I meant they end up at USC (Keck) med school, not the postbac program.

Would you happen to be able to tell me the other qualifications for in-state tuition? I would like to know just in case my circumstances change and who knows maybe i could be a permanent resident.

I believe in CA you have to have a driver's license, register to vote, have a bank account, own a vehicle, pay taxes for one year, etc... although there are other ways to have residency, like going to high school here if your parents live here and pay taxes, but I am not sure if that applies if you weren't a PR when you attended HS. The best way to find out is to contact the CA department of residency and discuss it, I don't know their contact info but I'm sure you can find it online.

 

[lilaznangel134]

USC in general is a very good school. I don't know about the post-bacc program firsthand, but I was in the honors pre-med program my freshman year (very briefly), and it's a very competitive, cutthroat type of program. For the classes I took, they graded on a curve, so you really have to focus on your competition, which was something I hated. USC's post-baccs take classes with undergrads, which would normally be a good thing, except that USC's incoming freshman class gets continuously more competitive every year. My year, the pre-meds were some of the most intense, crazy people I'd ever met, which was part of the reason I quit. If you think you can handle that, I would suggest USC, since the courses can be very, very good (depending, of course, on the instructor).

Tuition for a full-time student right now is around $35,000 a year for 12-18 units/semester, so it's definitely not cheap...but I think you would only take 8 units per semester as a post-bacc. Each unit is about $1200, last time I checked, and each class is 4 units. That means you'd be spending about $10,000 a semester. You can find more info on the website: http://chem.usc.edu/postbacc/index.html

As for the school, it's really a great place. We have great instructors, and a lot of opportunities come from being a USC student. The downsides are: the area (which can get quite dangerous at night, esp. if you're stupid), the student body (which is sometimes vapid and irritatingly like a bad TV show), and the cost of tuition.

Thanks so much for your feedbacks regarding USC. The info. was really helpful. 🙂 I am still debating whether I want to apply there.... 😛