what to do

[jon stewart]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I go to school on a h4 visa and i have been on that visa for my three years of undergrad. I cant work on my visa or volunteer for any positions that are paid. I couldn't even volunteer at a hospital because i didn't have a ssn.

anyhow my years of getting screwed are coming to an end. I may be able to work by the end of this year due to recent changes with immigration laws.

I did some small things during my earlier years such as being the treasurer of my hall and serving on the library committee. I was in a lab for about three months. So basically i have nothing that's worthwhile on my undergrad career.

I will be a senior this coming fall and this summer i will finally be able to get some clinical; experience through a shadowing program through my school.

There have been so many things that I have wanted to do ever since i started college but many of them have been paid. There is a summer long research program that runs every year, there is also the student introduction thing where you run campus tours and tell incoming freshmen about college. Also i wanted to TA one of my anatomy physio labs...i loved that whole series. There are other things too.

So should i stay another year (as in graduate in 5 years)? If i did this i could also take more classes and bring up my gpa some more, and i would need to take mcats. Is it okay to do these ec's while applying or should i have most of them done before applying. I would apply at the end of my fourth year, if i chose this path? Also, while i will be able to work i will still be an intl student, i am expecting to become a permanent resident in 1.5 years. But as experience tells me that number isn't very reliable.

Or should i graduate in 4 years and then look for a job in a hospital and start working while i wait for my gc (green card)? What are some good hosptial posistions for getting experience? So far i just know of becoming a EMT (i know thats not really hosptial oreinted).

This is short rundown on my situation i have left out a lot of minor details because if I were to include them this post would take a long time to read so if you need clarification on anything just let me know.

Thanks!

 

[jochi1543]

I cant work on my visa or volunteer for any positions that are paid. I couldn’t even volunteer at a hospital because i didn’t have a ssn.

First off, if you are getting paid, that's not volunteering.😛

Secondly, you can definitely do things like shadowing w/o a SSN.

Third, it actually isn't hard to get a SSN - I was on an F-1 visa and applied/received a SSN by November of my freshman year. Your SSN will explicitly state "not valid for paid work," but you can still use it for identification purposes, which is why a hospital would want it for a volunteer. Also, in my experience, organizations understand this situation, and for those 2 first months that I did NOT have a SSN, they'd just be like, "no problem, write 999-99-9999 in there." Also, many volunteering orgs that do not have major security concerns about the applicants don't even ask for your SSN - for example, the cat rescue and adoption center where I volunteer never asked. Though yes, hospitals and such will, b/c they need to run a criminal record check. If all else fails, you may also go to the local government Criminal Justice Center and ask them to do a police check on you by taking your fingerprints and the like - just tell the hospital about this first and make sure that it'd suffice.

Fourth - and let me preface it by saying that I know nothing about H-4 and will only speak from my experience as an F-1 - F-1 allowed me to work for pay IF I 1) worked on campus for a work-study financial award (which I had) 2) received academic credit for my work, e.g. did paid research or paid internship where I had to report to my school and eventually received credit for it. While it's late, I suggest you look into this if you haven't already.

I would STRONGLY suggest visiting the head of international student center at your school and describing your situation to them, and they should be able to clear things up for you.

 

[jon stewart]

First off, if you are getting paid, that's not volunteering.😛

What i meant by that is this.

Because i cant work here legally, i treid to volunteer for that SAME posistion. But it turns out that i CANNOT volunteer for that same posistion ( which is paid). So bascailly i cant get that posisiton. i hope that clears things up.

I have told the talked to my intl student office and they have told me the same things i already know. I basically need to transfer to a students visa F or J but it not as simple as that because our green card is in the process.

i kinda have to work with that i have now, and thats why i am kinda planning ahead for my future. I am doing a shodowing program this summer so i will get some expereirince there. Hopefully i can make some contacts and shadow other docs at a later time.

But i ultimately need advice on what to do in the next couple of years.

 

[jochi1543]

Oh, ok, makes sense. Yeah, I feel you when you say that you can't ever really "expect" anything from the whole process. The last update I remember getting from our intl student center before I graduated in May '06 was that it was expected that by the end of 2006, international students could hold summer jobs w/o having to register and pay for credit....yeah, has yet to happen.🙄

Since I'm not sure what H-4 is all about, I figured I'd refer you to this thread, http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=251693&highlight=international

It's supposed to be for all non-permanent residents/citizens applying to med, so maybe you'll find someone there who's more knowledgeable about H-4 and maybe can speak about their own experience.

 

[jochi1543]

i kinda have to work with that i have now, and thats why i am kinda planning ahead for my future. I am doing a shodowing program this summer so i will get some expereirince there. Hopefully i can make some contacts and shadow other docs at a later time.

But i ultimately need advice on what to do in the next couple of years.

So then what are you going to do - are you going to wait till you get your green card to apply or apply even if you don't get one as quickly as you plan? The former would definitely be best, as you would 1) have WAY more options in terms of school 2) can get Stafford loans, student loans from banks, etc, which would make med tuition that much more bearable. But I don't know what your financial situation is, whether you're here alone or with the rest of your family, etc, so it's hard to make sweeping suggestions.

 

[jon stewart]

there is a BIG differrence between international students on H4 visas and those on student visas(F,J). I wish that poeple would understand that not everyone who is an INTl student is on a stundet visa. Hopefully this broadens poeples ideas of intl students. Granted most of those who are intl students are on student visas.

 

[jon stewart]

So then what are you going to do - are you going to wait till you get your green card to apply or apply even if you don't get one as quickly as you plan? The former would definitely be best, as you would 1) have WAY more options in terms of school 2) can get Stafford loans, student loans from banks, etc, which would make med tuition that much more bearable. But I don't know what your financial situation is, whether you're here alone or with the rest of your family, etc, so it's hard to make sweeping suggestions.

thats the thing...i dont know which option is better for me. Both involve waiting for my gc, just in different ways. Also the finanacial aspect will be taken care of, especially once i get my green card, so thats not a problem.

 

[jon stewart]

So should i stay another year (as in graduate in 5 years)? If i did this i could also take more classes and bring up my gpa some more, and i would need to take mcats. Is it okay to do these ec's while applying or should i have most of them done before applying. I would apply at the end of my fourth year, if i chose this path? Also, while i will be able to work i will still be an intl student, i am expecting to become a permanent resident in 1.5 years. But as experience tells me that number isn’t very reliable.

can anyone answer my question (the bolded part)

 

[jon stewart]

Bump