Unconventional reasons for UPenn's Special Science Program

[wearethefuture]

---

Members do not see this ad.

----

 

[SixStringPsych]

You only got 1 acceptance with those stats? That's crazy. Well Penn's program is great but you certainly dont need more GPA enhancing. I'm waiting for a decision there myself.

Maybe other SDNers will have a better answer for you. Good luck and congrats on the acceptance!

 

[wearethefuture]

Hi,

Yes my stats are great and my ECs are also not too shabby. I attribute my failure to get acceptances to several factors.

1. I am an international
2. I applied to a top-heavy list of schools (waitlisted at most of them) with two low-tier back ups (one of which I am currently accepted into) in the U.S
3. I am not exactly great at interviews....


Please everyone I am not trying to show off here in any way. I really need some help as I know how ridiculous it would be to throw away a medical school acceptance for an SMP. 🙁

 

[SixStringPsych]

Well at least you are realistic. Great job trying to look into other options.

You still have time to apply to some programs (especially Penn) should this be the right path for you. You may want to consider working in research for a year or 2 also to build up your app.

 

[physcigirl27]

how is that the school will result in you not being able to practice after ? Your country has restrictions on what american MD schools ppl practicing can graduate from?

 

[Soco9087]

Hi,

Yes my stats are great and my ECs are also not too shabby. I attribute my failure to get acceptances to several factors.

1. I am an international
2. I applied to a top-heavy list of schools (waitlisted at most of them) with two low-tier back ups (one of which I am currently accepted into) in the U.S
3. I am not exactly great at interviews....


Please everyone I am not trying to show off here in any way. I really need some help as I know how ridiculous it would be to throw away a medical school acceptance for an SMP. 🙁

I would probably attribute ~99.9% of your failure to get acceptances to being an international student. I'm assuming that you are not a citizen or a permanent resident. I have a friend I met through my volunteering who is in the exact same position, she ended up deciding to go back to her home country to pursue med school. Public universities get a lot of public funding and prefer citizens or some even only prefer residents only with hopes they will practice in the state. You might have a tiny tiny bit more luck with a private university. Also another problem is that since you are not a citizen you don't qualify for a lot of loans, which is how most people pay for med school. So not only do you have to demonstrate extreme dedication, but also that you are wealthy or have the ability to pay for school. I'm not trying to set you dream on fire, but these are the big reason my international friend found that US med school weren't even willing to look at her. I've heard that DO school are a little less stringent with international students.

*I forgot to congratulate you on the acceptances and interviews you did get as an international student. Seems like you have persevered very hard to get to where you are today, and I hope you hear from those wait listed schools.

 

[deleted248403]

My troll senses are going off on this one but we'll play for a while...

Take the acceptance, UPenn SSP is not going to push you over the hump into Hopkins. As an SSP alumni, I am pretty familiar with the program and its limitations - it is not going to help you.

how is that the school will result in you not being able to practice after ? Your country has restrictions on what american MD schools ppl practicing can graduate from?

I don't get this either, seems ridic to me

I would probably attribute ~99.9% of your failure to get acceptances to being an international student.

Bingo. Most schools take at most 3 or 4 international students, with a lot, flat out taking none. So even if you got a 4.0 at Penn SSP, its not going to help over come that component of the OP's stats

I've heard that DO school are a little less stringent with international students.

You can't work in most international countries as a DO, its a position that only really exists in the US - so this isnt a viable option for the OP unless his/her country recognizes DO which seems unlike as apparently "low-tier" allopathics aren't accepted

 

[wearethefuture]

First of all, I want to clarify some things. I am NOT a troll. I don't have the time to "troll" in the midst of my thesis and exam season.

Secondly, I never said that I wouldn't be able to return home to practice (home being the country north of the border). I just said that it would be difficult for me to match as a U.S medical school graduate in where I want to go + the specialty I want to do (foreign graduates in Canada match after Canadian graduates have matched....so basically you are taking the "leftovers.") Of course, if I decide to stay in the States for eventual practice this problem will disappear. However, getting a H1-B visa can be quite a logistical nightmare. Nevertheless, I have been actually considering staying in the States for a while now.

Third, I am NOT considering a DO. I already have an M.D acceptance, so no I am not thinking that route.



Robflanker, could you give me a bit more on the program in terms of what it can do for me and cannot do for me from the perspective of a graduate?

 

[deleted248403]

Secondly, I never said that I wouldn't be able to return home to practice (home being the country north of the border). I just said that it would be difficult for me to match as a U.S medical school graduate (foreign graduates in Canada match after Canadian graduates have matched....so basically you are taking the "leftovers")

Name of school matters little in the US, USMLE Step 1 matters a whole lot more as does clinical rotation grades and class ranking (to a degree). I find it difficult to believe that the Canadian system would overlook these to look at school name. If you rock Step 1 then all else kinda falls by the way side

Robflanker, could you give me a bit more on the program in terms of what it can do for me and cannot do for me from the perspective of a graduate?

It won't do anything more than you have already achieved. It gets people into medical school... which you already have achieved.

 

[wearethefuture]

Thank you everyone for your feedbacks. I have decided against doing the program or any SMP/Postbacc and just head straight to the school I am accepted to if all else should fail. After some thought, I think that Post-bacc is the wrong thing for me to pursue. Plus, I don't think that I can ask my parents to help with me the 20-30K necessary for the program and living in Phily.

If there is any regret I have, it is not attending my undergrad in the States (my family really cannot afford undergrad + med in the States for me and loans are not possible since I am an international). I applied to a top heavy list of schools because I thought that I would be fine with my stats and ECs. I did get some amazing interview invites from the Top 10s, but thinking back, I have a feeling that I never really had a chance to begin with and the interviews were only for show.

It was only later that I found out that schools that "accept internationals" generally mean "internationals which have attend undergrad here in the States."




I wish you all the best of luck in your applications! You guys are so fortunate to be U.S citizens with access to some of the best hospitals and research institutions in the world. 🙂 I was fortunate enough during my undergrad to get a international research fellowship to work at an Ivy-League school so I know the immense amount of opportunities available here personally.


If you guys ever need help with MCAT, please feel free to PM me as I am pretty good at that stuff (in case you are wondering, 15PS, 9VR, 14BS, R)



P.S Robflanker, thank you for your response! I wish you all the best on your USMLE coming up next year.