Pre-requisites and Studying Abroad

[MexicanDr]

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Guys-

I might go for a semester abroad [either to South America or Europe] in the next year and was wondering if its possible to take any of the pre-requisite courses while abroad?

Has any of you done it? Anyone you know?

It would be a very time consuming thing to contact each med school to ask them this particular question, so I thought you guys might know about this.

Thanks,

Eddie

 

[MexicanDr]

Bump...Anyone? 🙂

 

[mdeast]

Guys-

I might go for a semester abroad [either to South America or Europe] in the next year and was wondering if its possible to take any of the pre-requisite courses while abroad?

Has any of you done it? Anyone you know?

It would be a very time consuming thing to contact each med school to ask them this particular question, so I thought you guys might know about this.

Thanks,

Eddie

Pre-Reqs can't be completed at foreign universities. If you do a specific program in a foreign country that is run by an American college.... then those courses can be considered. Otherwise, none of your pre-reqs can be fulfilled abroad.

Your study abroad grades can count towards your overall GPA, science GPA, etc. though. Considering that most foreign institutions tend to grade way higher than US schools....I can personally say that my study abroad grades gave my GPA a nice, somewhat unexpected boost. This isn't the case for all programs and will depend on how your home institution counts study abroad credits and the grading scheme at your foreign university.

I wouldn't let that deter you from going abroad though. It's a wonderful experience that you will regret not doing later in life. You will never again have the chance to be a college age student living in a foreign country for an extended period of time with little financial, social, or life worries. Go for it, even if it means delaying your app a year. To be honest, I was happy to finish my last pre-req (Physics) as a senior in college. Most of my class was filled with anxious freshman who hadn't adjusted to college course rigor and to be honest, it made the course pretty easy to score well in.

Just my two cents.

 

[MexicanDr]

I was just wondering because my University has I guess you can call a junction between us and a University in Colombia where students from Colombia in that university can come to my university and vice-versa.

Do you know if that would be possible then?

 

[Janieve]

I was just wondering because my University has I guess you can call a junction between us and a University in Colombia where students from Colombia in that university can come to my university and vice-versa.

Do you know if that would be possible then?

I know of certain programs where the credit transfers back and is indistinguishable from your own school's credits. So theoretically, you could do it. However, I don't recommend it. I think a big reason that people study abroad is to explore something new. It's a different world from the one you left behind - you study languages, culture, history, literature, political science, and round yourself out.

An Adcom isn't going to be impressed that you kept up your premed coursework while in another country. They'll wonder why you weren't learning more about the location itself or what classes you didn't take to fit it into your schedule. At worst, they might assume that the foreign university might not have taught you what you needed to know. There's a lot of danger to this, and not a lot of gain.

My recommendation is to study abroad and learn other things there. Maybe self-study if you're that nervous. Having studied abroad myself, I can tell you that it is the single most significant thing I have ever done, and I wish everyone could experience it.

TL;DR: No. Not going to work and not worth it. Don't do prereqs while studying abroad.