imran

Hey all,
I went to this scholarship meeting the other day, and they were talking about all the various international scholarships, like Rhodes, Fulbright, etc. And while my full intention is to join the medical field, I just see being in one of those programs as an invaluable expereince, esp the Fulbright (which is a bit easier to get than Rhodes haha), since I could work in India for one year, which I think would be great. The question is, is it going ot affect me adversely if after completing one of these programs, I go back to apply to medical school? I know people have applied to med school later in their lives, but ti's just that up to this point in my life, my education has "flowed" from one stage to another, and it just seems awkward for me.

norcalguy

Yes. Rhodes Scholar=automatic rejection

bluedevilmike

It's one of the best things you could do for your application, but the timing might be a little tricky.

You cannot apply to medical school while being overseas. It's not going to work. So spending a year in India gives you two options:

Either you apply during undergrad while also applying for the Fulbright, you get admitted to medical school, and you defer for the year you're a Fulbright scholar. Medical schools will be perfectly happy to do this. The CON to this plan is that you will not be notified of your Fulbright status until medical school applications have been happening for a while, and you do not thus get to "max out" the admissions benefit of winning it. (1)

Alternatively, you can do the Fulbright, spend a year AFTERWARDS applying to medical school (2), and then go. The con is that it takes an extra year.

* * *

(1) I have a Rhodes Scholar friend who did this. She got into most of her top choices.
(2) Obviously you would be doing something else full-time during that year.

imran

I like plan 1 bluedevilmike, though I think it could be said that if I can win one of those scholarships in the first place, I"m probably a fairly competitive applicant for medical schools.