What if Community College is my only option (financially)?

[nb808]

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First time poster, long time lurker!

Complicated situation here but I will do my best to explain:

I'm an international student. I have a Bachelors degree in Kinesiology (James Madison in VA) and a Masters in Sports Management (UT-Austin, TX). I was fortunate that I was on an athletic scholarship for undergrad and my dad's job had an education stipend that paid for grad school.

However, I am now hoping to complete the pre-req's for medical school, and I simply cannot afford the international/non-resident tuition. I can justify taking out a loan for medical school, but not for pre-reqs.

Would it be a waste of time/totally kill any chances of getting accepted if I were to do my pre-req's through a community college? Perhaps with the possibility of doing some of the tougher classes at a 4-year college in the same city? (Either Austin or Houston)

Please be 100% brutally honest!

 

[csmittyB]

Do you need to take all the pre-reqs or just a couple? If you have a strong GPA you may be able to get away with taking the pre-reqs at a CC (mention why in your personal statement). Can you get a part time job to pay for your classes?

 

[indianjatt]

How was your GPA in your undergraduate and Master years? If you already proved worthy in two Universities with a high GPA, the CC courses will be acceptable but still you want to make sure you make it apparent in your application on why you had to take them at CC's (financially).

 

[nb808]

Do you need to take all the pre-reqs or just a couple? If you have a strong GPA you may be able to get away with taking the pre-reqs at a CC (mention why in your personal statement). Can you get a part time job to pay for your classes?

I need to take them all, unfortunately. My major GPA at undergrad was a 3.7 but overall was a 3.1 (Business and French minors). I finished up grad school with a 3.69.

Unfortunately, with a student visa I am only allowed to work on campus during school, but luckily I can work full-time during summer and Christmas break. However, out-of-state/international tuition and fees tend to be in the $20k range and no part-time/summer job that I know of pays that much money!

 

[nb808]

How was your GPA in your undergraduate and Master years? If you already proved worthy in two Universities with a high GPA, the CC courses will be acceptable but still you want to make sure you make it apparent in your application on why you had to take them at CC's (financially).

I fully intend to explain my financial situation when I do apply in a couple of years' time. Unfortunately my parents cannot help me at all, hence why I need to try and make this work on my own.

I currently work with the UT Football team as a mentor/tutor, and live with a friend of mine who has severe Cerebral Palsy - I help him out in exchange for his spare room and my share of the utilities. I'm trying to save as much as I can, but I'd rather reserve the whole "tuition loan" debacle for med school as opposed to these pre-reqs!

 

[Catalystik]

From previous posts by people who called to ask, it seems that a good number of Texas schools are very accepting of CC credits. The problem lies in the fact that very few international students are accepted to Texas med schools.

Many schools that take internationals tend to be the more selective schools, which tend to discourage CC credits. The less-selective schools aren't going to care so much, so long as your other GPAs show you do well with rigorous coursework, and you score well on the MCAT.

Your journey to medicine would be much easier if you were a permanent resident or citizen; is that going to happen any time soon?

If you can't afford college classes, how are you planning to pay for med school? Some med schools expect the entire four year's tuition to be put into escrow before you even start.

 

[Catalystik]

A 3.1 cGPA for undergrad won't be greeted with much enthusiasm in an international applicant. (You wanted honesty.) Unfortunately your masters GPA won't be much regarded in the allopathic med school application process.

 

[Crupen]

A 3.1 cGPA for undergrad won't be greeted with much enthusiasm in an international applicant. (You wanted honesty.) Unfortunately your masters GPA won't be much regarded in the allopathic med school application process.

With good performance in pre-req courses, OP could potentially have a cGPA of ~3.3-3.4 by the time of application. If OP hasn't taken any BCPM courses, OP could potentially have a really high BCPM GPA also. I think that would make it in 'acceptable' range.

 

[nb808]

From previous posts by people who called to ask, it seems that a good number of Texas schools are very accepting of CC credits. The problem lies in the fact that very few international students are accepted to Texas med schools.

Many schools that take internationals tend to be the more selective schools, which tend to discourage CC credits. The less-selective schools aren't going to care so much, so long as your other GPAs show you do well with rigorous coursework, and you score well on the MCAT.

Your journey to medicine would be much easier if you were a permanent resident or citizen; is that going to happen any time soon?

If you can't afford college classes, how are you planning to pay for med school? Some med schools expect the entire four year's tuition to be put into escrow before you even start.

Planning to get hitched in a couple of years, but even then the processing time of my green card could be something ridiculous like 6-9 months.

Have a US co-signer for a tuition loan for med school! But I have to get accepted first..!

I have done more than 90 hours of US-based education, which tends to be the requirement to be considered for international applications in TX.

 

[nb808]

With good performance in pre-req courses, OP could potentially have a cGPA of ~3.3-3.4 by the time of application. If OP hasn't taken any BCPM courses, OP could potentially have a really high BCPM GPA also. I think that would make it in 'acceptable' range.

I know my cGPA sucks.

I did extremely well freshman, junior and senior year, but my sophomore year two people very close to me passed away and my parents split up, and I did not handle all of that combined into like 4 months very well. I did however bounce back, which I am hoping will salvage me a little bit. I was also a student-athlete at a division I university, and despite what the NCAA regulates (!) we spent way more than 20hrs a week at practice/lifting/meetings/traveling/game film etc.

 

[rrickett]

If you want a decent shot, go to a good post-bac program and rock it. You have ground to make up and it won't be done at a CC.

 

[teenmachinery1]

I'm agreein with catalystik's criticisms questions and advice.