WAMC: foreign bachelors, prereqs in the US. 4.0 gpa, 512 mcat

[crw]

Female , ORM

I spent my childhood both in the U.S. and abroad.

I did my bachelors abroad, but I am working on finishing all the prerequisites at a U.S. college, I am a US citizen. Most schools I am looking into require either a full year done at a US school/all the prerequisites done at a US school. I took off schools that require either a US bachelors/60/90 credits done a US school.

If anyone has a similar background and got into medical school, would love to hear from them!

• Year in school: post-bac. studied Biology and International Relations during my undergrad.
• Country/state of residence: New York
• Cumulative GPA: 4.0 (post-bac GPA , international courses aren't evaluated by AAMC at all)
• Science GPA: 4.0
• MCAT Scores: 512 (128,125,129,130) yes i suck at CARS despite spending hours trying to get better
• Research – include any abstracts/posters/publications and how you were credited (eg. First author, senior author, etc): one recent publication, around 4000 hours working in a genetics/neuro lab here in the US
• Volunteering (clinical) – include hours/sites: volunteered as an EMT while living abroad around 800 hours. (I'm worried I don't have enough clinical experience in the US, not sure if that matters)
• Physician shadowing – include hours/specialties: 35 hours with an oncology doctor in the US (cut short due to covid)
• Non-clinical volunteering: 250 hours volunteering with children from disadvantaged backgrounds, including tutoring them ect. (about 5/week for a year)
• Extracurricular activities: women flag football captain for 3 years, love baking
• Employment history:

1. worked as a lab tech for the past year and a half (in the US, at well-known ivy league school)
2. Before college, I did 2 years of military service (abroad, so not sure how much that helps).

• Immediate family members in medicine? (y/n): No
• Specialty of interest: not sure , maybe OBGYN
• Interest in rural health (y/n): not against it

Schools I'm looking into (I vetted, they all say they accept foreign degrees if prerequisites/one year done at U.S. college):

Reach: Columbia, Einstein, Mount Sinai, Hofstra, UCSD, Tufts

Target: Downstate, NYMC, Seton Hall, Rutgers, Rutgers Robert Wood, Drexel, Temple, Quinnipiac, NYU long island, University of Colorado, Rosalind Franklin, Georgetown, Loyola, Geisel, Loma Linda, University of Maryland, University of Connecticut,

DO: PCOM, NYIT, Touro NY, Touro cali, rocky vista, Rowan.

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[Mr.Smile12]

Tell us more about your journey. You have an international bachelor's and obviously have to take US courses postbac.

 

[crw]

Yes, I finished my bachelors abroad. I am planning on taking 30+ post bac credits here in the US, including the prerequisite courses needed at most schools.

Anything else you want to know?

 

[tessellations]

When I interviewed at Wake Forest, I stayed with a student host who had gotten her degree abroad (in Australia). She said she applied to pretty much all MD and DO schools that would accept her degree. Not sure if their policy has changed at all but it might be worth looking into Wake considering she got in there.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Upstate or downstate NY? I would reach out to some of the admissions recruiters at the schools within the state to get some ideas about friendliness of schools to your situation.

 

[dr.worldwide]

Upstate or downstate NY? I would reach out to some of the admissions recruiters at the schools within the state to get some ideas about friendliness of schools to your situation.

I'm assuming you probably know about the disadvantages/stigma with med schools considering foreign grads and was wondering if you could give some insight on this? Are the majority "unfriendly"?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I'm assuming you probably know about the disadvantages/stigma with med schools considering foreign grads and was wondering if you could give some insight on this? Are the majority "unfriendly"?

It mostly deals with the profession itself and its protection of jobs in academic medicine to those who have gained US citizenship or green card status. Financial aid also tends to be extended to domestic applicants only (with rare exceptions).

 

[crw]

Hello - Thanks for your post. Would you be able to share the list of schools that require "either a US bachelors/60/90 credits done a US school" -- that you say in your post that you eliminated? I am in a different situation from you but with a foreign undergrad, and this info will be very useful for me. Please can you DM me or post in your thread, the list of schools with these pre-reqs that you eliminated? Thank you so much for your help!

I started off using the list from A Guide to Applying US Med School with a Foreign Bachelor Degree
Then I emailed schools directly if their school website didn't state their international degree policy.