Postbac DIY for an international student with US PhD

[Hopeisunderrated]

Hello. I am an aspiring medical student with a PhD in Microbiology in the US. I recently got married to my gf who is a US citizen, and we are working on my green card application. I have couple questions about the prerequisites to US med school. How do i apply for a DIY post bac?! Do I apply directly as a degree seeking student and opt out after I get the prerequisites or I need to enter into a formal program. We are trying to cut down on cost. Also since I already have a US degree(PhD) do I need the 90 credits or just the post-bac is enough? Finally, it will take a short while before my green card application goes through, in the meantime can I apply as an F1 student, will they grant me admission without the green card yet? Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thank you.

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[gyngyn]

Hello. I am an aspiring medical student with a PhD in Microbiology in the US. I recently got married to my gf who is a US citizen, and we are working on my green card application. I have couple questions about the prerequisites to US med school. How do i apply for a DIY post bac?! Do I apply directly as a degree seeking student and opt out after I get the prerequisites or I need to enter into a formal program. We are trying to cut down on cost. Also since I already have a US degree(PhD) do I need the 90 credits or just the post-bac is enough? Finally, it will take a short while before my green card application goes through, in the meantime can I apply as an F1 student, will they grant me admission without the green card yet? Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thank you.

The requirements will vary by school. You can check their websites or the MSAR for that information.
If you apply without a green card, your school choices will be quite limited (and odds of acceptance much lower). AMCAS will not update your primary application with PR status after it has been submitted, though you can try contacting all of your schools when your green card has been issued.

 

[CitrusPeel]

I may be able to help with your postbacc questions. DIY means you're not doing through a formal post-baccalaureate program, but taking the prerequites á la carte, as it were. You can either do this as a degree-seeking student or a non-degree student. A lot will depend on what 4-year colleges are in your area.

I did mine as a non-degree student as I felt it wold be dishonest to claim I was seeking a degree... but I kind of regret that now lol because it was harder to register for classes. When corresponding with colleges, you should check:

1. Whether you qualify for resident tuition, loans, and/or financial aid.
2. What your class standing will be, and whether students with your standing have historically been able to get seats in premed classes.
3. Whether they will exempt you from the usual requirements (e.g. basic math and English classes). Since you have a US PhD, I can't imagine this would be an issue. However, you often need to get permission to enroll from the department or the individual professor, and it's good to get the ball rolling early.

 

[Stuaccount]

Hello. I am an aspiring medical student with a PhD in Microbiology in the US. I recently got married to my gf who is a US citizen, and we are working on my green card application. I have couple questions about the prerequisites to US med school. How do i apply for a DIY post bac?! Do I apply directly as a degree seeking student and opt out after I get the prerequisites or I need to enter into a formal program. We are trying to cut down on cost. Also since I already have a US degree(PhD) do I need the 90 credits or just the post-bac is enough? Finally, it will take a short while before my green card application goes through, in the meantime can I apply as an F1 student, will they grant me admission without the green card yet? Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thank you.

Where do you live and what schools are you looking at for DIY courses? A lot will depend on which state you are in because the policies of the schools that you can do diy courses in might depend on the politics of the state, especially when it comes to state schools.