Transferring from one US med school to another

[Tailbone]

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I'm new to this forum, although I've watched it from a distance. I was just wondering what the chances of transferring from one med school to another within the US is? What kind of reasoning does one need to achieve this?

Is it possible to do after the first year? OR must you wait until the conclusion of the 2nd year and Step 1? what types of 'excuses' are valid? I'm just doing this because the med school I am attending isnt my dream school and I would like to attend my dream school, GW or georetown. Or some other east coast med school. However, anything is sufficient I suppose. I've heard finch takes a lot of transfers?

Thanks in advance for the help

 

[none]

No, it is not possible at any time with any school for the reasons you mentioned. Do not attempt it. You will inevitably make people you do not want angry at you, very angry at you. This is not undergrad.

 

[Tailbone]

Who would get angry at me? Are you saying the people at my school would get angry at me? I suppose that is a possibility. Hmm...

And I'm assuming you need LORs from profs at the med school you are at right?

 

[none]

I guess I wasn't direct enough. ugh.

 

[imtiaz]

if you say that your wife (who is an alien) lives in the town where the med school that you want to transfer to is, and that she is HIV+ and you need to spend as much time with her as you can before she dies, they will let you transfer for sure! 🙄

the point is there is not a "sure fire" thing you can tell them to get transferred. these things are done on a case-by-case basis and only if there is space available at the school you want to transfer to.

 

[Winged Scapula]

While the above responses were perhaps not clear or a bit on the rough side, the underlying message is true.

Transferring between US medical schools is very difficult. There is no hard and fast rule, schools will have individual policies but the following is generally true:

1) most transfers occur between 2nd and 3rd years, and are only final after passing Step 1

2) some transfers will occur after the first or second year, but often require you to repeat a year (ie, transferring after first year often requires you to start as an MS-1)

3) you must supply a COMPELLING reason why you wish to transfer. Simply wanting to attend another medical school is usually not good enough. Typical COMPELLING reasons are: spouse at another medical school; spouse job transfer to area of another medical school; spouse on faculty at another medical school, etc. Some schools ONLY accept transfers from those who have a spouse in that school or on faculty (ie, Stanford).

4) you must have the approval of your Dean; LORs are not often required, but may be in certain instances

5) you must be in good academic standing at your school (ie, you can't try and transfer because you did poorly at your current school and want a fresh start)

6) space must be open at the school to which you desire transfer. Because the attrition rate in medical school is so low, this is often a limiting factor - most spaces open up because a student dies, transfers out, quits or doesn't pass. Obviously this doesn't happen very often.

While it may be worth your while to pursue transferring or at least obtain information about specific school policies, it doesn't sound as if you have a compelling reason to do so unless you can hook-up with someone at GW or Georgetown and get married to them in the meantime.

Hope this helps.