Please post everything you know about Transferring during med school

[chef]

I read on Stanford's brochure that the only time they'll consider a transfer applicant is when he/she is married to a student/faculty/staff at Stanford and is currently enrolled in a med school. The following are my questions, please answer as much as you can and enlighten me!!

1. Do all med schools have this policy? Or do some schools never accept transfer students even though their spouses are students there?

2. How often do these transfers occur?

3. Let's say you meet the criteria(married and all). Is it easy/hard to transfer? I'm sure you'll need Dean's letter from your old school. What about grades? What if you are coming from a P/F school?

4. When is the best time to transfer? After 1st or 2nd year?

5. Is it easier to transfer from a high ranked to lower ranked school, or does it not matter what schools are involved?

Any other insightful thoughts on transfer issue would be most welcome!!

chef

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[Trek]

. --Trek

 

[lilycat]

Transferring during med school is really, really, really difficult. Definitely do not count on being able to transfer.

First off, A LOT of schools don't accept transfers ever. Period. No matter if they have room in the class or not. No matter if you are married to a student or faculty member.

Second, the schools that do accept transfers typically don't accept them until after the second year (once you have finished basic sciences). A couple of schools will consider transfers after the first year (Columbia comes to mind), but that is very rare.

Third, you have to have a very good reason to transfer. "I don't like my school," typically isn't good enough. Having a spouse who is currently a student, resident or faculty member at the school you are trying to transfer to is usually considered a good reason. Having a serious family issue come up near that school (dying or sick immediate family member) is a "good" reason.

Fourth, you will have to communicate your intentions to transfer with your current school. I think you typically need a couple of letters of rec from professors in your basic science years, and also a letter from your Dean of Student Affairs. This letter from the Dean of Students will be somewhat similar to the one you get when you apply for residency -- it will detail your academic progress up until that point. Even if you go to a P/F school, odds are that the school keeps track of your general ranking in the class, and that ranking will be mentioned in the letter. To successfully transfer, obviously it's in your best interest to have done well through your first two years. Schools that don't accept transfers until after the second year probably require Step 1 scores as well, but I'm not positive about that. Again, you should probably aim to do very well to have a successful shot at transferring.

The general rank of the schools involved is probably not a huge issue -- your individual academic performance and your reason for transferring is much more important.

Anyways, I would strongly advise against a plan of choosing to attend a school with the hopes of transferring midway through. In all honesty, you are probably better off reapplying if there is one school in particular that you feel like you really *need* to go to.

 

[oldman]

the only person who I know transfered went from vanderbilt to stanford. The reason his wife got into a residency program there (she was a little older). Other than having a strong reason like that, you are going to have a tough battle trying to transfer.

 

[Whisker Barrel Cortex]

Although I can't generalize, my ex-roomate transferred after his second year in at a mid tier med school to Washington University in St. Louis (a top school) because his fiance was a student there. He had somewhat above average grades in the pre-clinical years, but not stellar. I think the main factor is the connection.