WES vs. FIS

[Deepa100]

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Hi,
I am trying to get my undergraduate degree evaluated by one of the outfits here in the US. Since have some downtime this summer, preparing for the application process seems to a good thing to do.

I posted before asking about the names of such organizations and I got two names WES and FIS. Well, WES was already a pain in the butt deal with because they wouldn't answer my phone or emails. I have had better luck with FIS. I was actually able to talk to someone that helped me right away.

My question is does anyone know if the med schools favor one over the other?
Thanks for any help.
Deepa

 

[DrMidlife]

I have nothing to offer, other than the MSAR data from last year's cycle on which schools matriculated the most international students:

Harvard 17 out of 165
Howard 14 out of 118
Rosalind Franklin 14 out of 185
SUNY Upstate 14 out of 152
Loma Linda 12 out of 176
Yale 11 out of 99
Wayne State U 11 out of 288
Boston U 10 out of 179
Dartmouth 10 out of 82
Mt. Sinai 10 out of 124
Case Western 10 out of 170

A total of 54 schools matriculated at least one intl student, totalling 276 matriculants. (Elsewhere in the MSAR it says 297, but either way it's under 300.)

There is really no data available that breaks this down by who came from where, or US residency status.

Maybe one of these schools would offer a useful opinion.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Scottish Chap]

I was told by several places that WES is better-known. I don't know about the other company. You can always get both and see which provides an evaluation that better meets your specific needs. In the grand scale of obtaining a medical education, this phase is really the most inexpensive....

 

[Scottish Chap]

I have nothing to offer, other than the MSAR data from last year's cycle on which schools matriculated the most international students:

Harvard 17 out of 165
Howard 14 out of 118
Rosalind Franklin 14 out of 185
SUNY Upstate 14 out of 152
Loma Linda 12 out of 176
Yale 11 out of 99
Wayne State U 11 out of 288
Boston U 10 out of 179
Dartmouth 10 out of 82
Mt. Sinai 10 out of 124
Case Western 10 out of 170

A total of 54 schools matriculated at least one intl student, totalling 276 matriculants. (Elsewhere in the MSAR it says 297, but either way it's under 300.)

There is really no data available that breaks this down by who came from where, or US residency status.

Maybe one of these schools would offer a useful opinion.

Best of luck to you.

Those numbers are internationals with U.S. degrees. It would be much more helpful if they included a list that also shows internationals +/- foreign degrees.

 

[Deepa100]

Thanks for your replies. FIS accepts originals to evaluate the grades ans sends them back to you. WES requires that your college (whereever you got your undergrad from) send the transcripts directly. I think I will do what Scottish chap is suggesting and try them both.

Also, I have seen the info from MSAR regarding international students. For lack of better info, I have written those same numbers down. I figured if the school is receptive to international students, they might atleast look at my case (foreign undergrad+US degrees). I have also applied and got into a B.A degree program at a good school as a fallback. The course requirements are pretty much the same as pre-reqs (plus 4 extra science classes that will help once I am in med school) and they waived all liberal arts+second language requirements due to my previous degrees. So, if I don't get accepted because of my foreign undergrad, I will complete that B.A degree and try again.

 

[Scottish Chap]

You are right on track for success. Your attitude is spot-on. Persistence really does overcome a lot in this game, though some folks become obsessive and mean. Always treat people well along the way and you'll be a winner.

 

[Deepa100]

Scottish chap,
Thank you for those kind and encouraging words.

 

[zed350]

Hi,
I am trying to get my undergraduate degree evaluated by one of the outfits here in the US. Since have some downtime this summer, preparing for the application process seems to a good thing to do.

I posted before asking about the names of such organizations and I got two names WES and FIS. Well, WES was already a pain in the butt deal with because they wouldn't answer my phone or emails. I have had better luck with FIS. I was actually able to talk to someone that helped me right away.

My question is does anyone know if the med schools favor one over the other?
Thanks for any help.
Deepa

Well I used IERF, they are big on West Coast. Pretty Fast and Accurate, also they accept copies of all your stuff. Not a big Fan of their customer service but IMHO they are far better than most. Anyway, you do not need to go with Big names, anyone that is a member of National Association of Credential Evaluation Services is qualified to evaluate your credentials and Med Schools (any Grad school for that matter) will accept them (if you still have doubts, check with Med Schools you are interested in.

You can find the list of members here .. http://www.naces.org/members.htm

Hope it Helps !🙂

 

[Deepa100]

zed350,
Thanks much! I found all 3 in the list.

 

[Tribeca]

I would suggest that you email the schools that you're interested in. I emailed about 28+ schools to ask about evaluating my foreign transcripts and most of them said that they required evaluations done by WES. I already had my transcripts evaluated by a different company but went ahead and did it again through WES.

 

[Deepa100]

I would suggest that you email the schools that you're interested in. I emailed about 28+ schools to ask about evaluating my foreign transcripts and most of them said that they required evaluations done by WES. I already had my transcripts evaluated by a different company but went ahead and did it again through WES.

Hi Tribeca,
Thanks for you response. Does WES send out the reports to various schools once you pay for the $160 for the initial evaluation (I understand that there will be some additional charge)? I will not be applying till April/May 2008. So, my plan is to get it evaluated now and send in a request again with a list of schools when I am ready to apply.

 

[zed350]

I would suggest that you email the schools that you're interested in. I emailed about 28+ schools to ask about evaluating my foreign transcripts and most of them said that they required evaluations done by WES. I already had my transcripts evaluated by a different company but went ahead and did it again through WES.

As far as I know most of the Med Schools DO NOT accept any foreign coursework (even if it is evaluated here). Could you please let me know the names of 28+ schools, that you mentioned in your post , who specifically ask for the WES evaluation ?? It would help people like myself (with a foreign coursework) so that we can make sure to apply there and use our foreign coursework to atleast some advantage. I know a couple of schools out of about 75-80 i contacted who were willing to look at the evaluated Foreign credentials (but even they did not mention anything about having a specific preference for WES).

 

[zed350]

Hi Tribeca,
Thanks for you response. Does WES send out the reports to various schools once you pay for the $160 for the initial evaluation (I understand that there will be some additional charge)? I will not be applying till April/May 2008. So, my plan is to get it evaluated now and send in a request again with a list of schools when I am ready to apply.

Yes, It is $40 for 1st copy and $20 for each subsequent one.

 

[Tribeca]

Hi Tribeca,
Thanks for you response. Does WES send out the reports to various schools once you pay for the $160 for the initial evaluation (I understand that there will be some additional charge)? I will not be applying till April/May 2008. So, my plan is to get it evaluated now and send in a request again with a list of schools when I am ready to apply.

WES gives you a free copy and sends another copy to an institution of your choice either for free or for $20 (I can't remember) at the time of your application. After that you can request WES to send copies for a fee.

As far as I know most of the Med Schools DO NOT accept any foreign coursework (even if it is evaluated here). Could you please let me know the names of 28+ schools, that you mentioned in your post , who specifically ask for the WES evaluation ?? It would help people like myself (with a foreign coursework) so that we can make sure to apply there and use our foreign coursework to atleast some advantage. I know a couple of schools out of about 75-80 i contacted who were willing to look at the evaluated Foreign credentials (but even they did not mention anything about having a specific preference for WES).

I'm sorry, I forgot to mention that I have a master's from the US and completed all the prereq's here as well, so I will have about 80+ credits (post bacc+ grad classes) from the US by the end of spring 2008. The schools that I could remember are RFU, Drexel, Georgetown, GWU, Harvard, SUNY Downstate...those who only need either WES or an official undergrad transcript from my university at matriculation are UIC, Cornell, MSSM, UCSF. The schools that have mentioned that they "preferred" WES were UIC, RFU, SUNY Downstate, Cornell, Drexel, Harvard, GWU, and MSSM so I just went with WES to be sure. One school (UIC) said WES or ECE. Tufts said they'll contact me if they need anything extra after I submit AMCAS. I only emailed schools that were in CA, IL, PA, MA, NY, and CT, so it's not a representative list of schools in th US.

If you look at MSAR, I'm guessing that those schools that are open to international applicants would be the ones open to foreign coursework; it just depends on the school. UMiami and Rush, for example, said I need a bachelor's or 90 credits of undergrad classes from the US before I could apply. They didn't care whether I took my master's and all the prereq's here. Some schools said that the fact that I have a graduate degree from the US means my undergrad degree is "valid" and didn't require anything as far as evaluations (Pritzker, UCSD, BU, Northwestern). My state school wanted all the prereq's (including behavioral sciences, which I took in undergrad) to be taken here in the US. So it really all depends on your situation and the preference of the schools you're interested in. Also, if you look at the comments in my mdapps profile, someone with foreign coursework indicated where they got acceptances from.


Good luck!

 

[Deepa100]

WES gives you a free copy and sends another copy to an institution of your choice either for free or for $20 (I can't remember) at the time of your application. After that you can request WES to send copies for a fee.



I'm sorry, I forgot to mention that I have a master's from the US and completed all the prereq's here as well, so I will have about 80+ credits (post bacc+ grad classes) from the US by the end of spring 2008. The schools that I could remember are RFU, Drexel, Georgetown, GWU, Harvard, SUNY Downstate...those who only need either WES or an official undergrad transcript from my university at matriculation are UIC, Cornell, MSSM, UCSF. The schools that have mentioned that they "preferred" WES were UIC, RFU, SUNY Downstate, Cornell, Drexel, Harvard, GWU, and MSSM so I just went with WES to be sure. One school (UIC) said WES or ECE. Tufts said they'll contact me if they need anything extra after I submit AMCAS. I only emailed schools that were in CA, IL, PA, MA, NY, and CT, so it's not a representative list of schools in th US.

If you look at MSAR, I'm guessing that those schools that are open to international applicants would be the ones open to foreign coursework; it just depends on the school. UMiami and Rush, for example, said I need a bachelor's or 90 credits of undergrad classes from the US before I could apply. They didn't care whether I took my master's and all the prereq's here. Some schools said that the fact that I have a graduate degree from the US means my undergrad degree is "valid" and didn't require anything as far as evaluations (Pritzker, UCSD, BU, Northwestern). My state school wanted all the prereq's (including behavioral sciences, which I took in undergrad) to be taken here in the US. So it really all depends on your situation and the preference of the schools you're interested in. Also, if you look at the comments in my mdapps profile, someone with foreign coursework indicated where they got acceptances from.


Good luck!

Yes, Tribeca is right. I am doing the same thing as him/her. I have 60 credits of graduate level work from the US. I am also repeating all preqs here in the US. I also plan to complete atleast 60 credits of undergrad work including the prereqs. I will most likely have a second undergrad by the end of it all. If you are from another country, you simply can't afford to ignore all these different angles. However, my current school (Univ of Minnesota) thinks what I had done so far is enough. It is not the same with all schools.

 

[Deepa100]

Tribeca,
Do you know if the transcripts from the foreign country have to be sent directly from the foriegn U to the medical schools? It seems redundant because I am already requesting them from the undergrad institution for WES. It's a bit of a work for me to arrange for it so I am wondering.
Thanks!

 

[Scottish Chap]

Tribeca,
Do you know if the transcripts from the foreign country have to be sent directly from the foriegn U to the medical schools? It seems redundant because I am already requesting them from the undergrad institution for WES. It's a bit of a work for me to arrange for it so I am wondering.
Thanks!

It does seem redundant, but all medical schools wanted my transcripts from overseas as well as the WES evaluation. The former would be very redundant IMHO if the institution's language of instruction is not English (not the case for me, though). You are putting in so much effort that you may as well err on the side of safety. Since both WES and my undergraduate school charge for every transcript, you can see how expensive it got on top of AMCAS - and I only applied to 11 schools.

On a practical note (this won't be practical for Deepa, I know), I always advise internationally-educated folks who want to get their M.D. here to consider the few Canadian medical schools that accept internationals. Canadian medical schools generally honor credits earned overseas and only ask for a WES evaluation; no further credits are required. I was invited to interview at the University of Toronto School of Medicine when I applied three years ago. Canadian medical schools are accredited by the LCME. That means you are not a 'FMG' upon graduation if you want to complete your residency in the U.S. and, if you have a green card, you can also use federal loans to study there.