Ivy med schools aren’t free!
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Scotland and especially Ireland have a set of places just for non EU/non UK college graduates who want to do the post graduate program.
Poland’s and Romania’s med programs in English don’t have limited capacity AFAIK but limits are intrinsically related to how well you learn the language.
I referred to France - no limits there but there’s no graduate entry either. Everyone, regardless of background, goes through the Year 1 competition.
I suppose these would be your “exit hatch/es” if you wanted to become a doctor.
Bioengineering is relatively more uncommon and less easy to find internships in so you may want to think of other majors you may find equally interesting ?
I meant that they offer financial aid, so I’d be able to prove I have the amount to cover the rest. It was more of a joke since I probably won’t in a million years get into an ivy med school
What sorts of majors do you have in mind?
Ivy League colleges give some scholarships but not to all students. You shouldn’t count on this.
@WayOutWestMom do you know??
I’m not counting on it!! The rest of my message shows what I’m actually planning to do (apply to a GEMP in europe or the middle east)
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Depends what you enjoy and are good at.
Math/statistics, CS, informatics, Supply Chain Management, Finance, or a critical language flagship+major if one is affordable.
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OP, you are a fantastic person and a wonderful student. You should invest an hour in researching US immigration requirements to get a student visa before you get too far along in the process. You probably know people your parents age who emigrated to the US and it all worked out great but three major changes have happened over the last 23 years which have made their experiences less predictive for you.
1- 9/11. Check the DHS website if you don’t believe that it is harder now than it was in 2000.
2- The various hiring freezes and shutdowns of our federal government under the previous President and administration.
3- Covid. Still delays in parts of the world even getting appointments, let alone getting your paperwork approved.
Best case…you get accepted to a generous meets need college. Your family still has to prove they have the cash for your share of tuition, living expenses, travel, health insurance. This is not optional. Your ability to work here to pay your share of the bills is strictly limited by the terms of a student visa.
Make sure your efforts to apply to US universities falls under the “hey, you never know” category. Don’t invest a ton of money and time which could be spent finding more realistic options in other parts of the world.
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They tend to prioritize student visa appointments. I wouldn’t worry so much about this one. Current wait times for student visa appointments are 3 days in Riyadh (and 5 days in Cairo, if for some reason OP needs or wants to go back to Egypt to interview)
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As a general comment, biomedical engineering, as an undergraduate major, may be too broad to be usefully scientific, even for future biomedical engineers.
The ivy medical schools don’t offer merit based scholarships to medical students (domestic or international), only need based aid.
International students (like domestic US students) are expected to use family funds as their primary source for paying for their medical education. An expected family contribution will be assessed based upon the CSS Profile. Students up to age 30-33 are considered a financial dependents for medical school purposes.
All students who have need are expected to take out a base or unit loan first before any other aid is awarded. (The amount of the unit loans varies according to school policy, but around $ 30-40K/year is pretty typical since that is the amount US students can borrow thru the federal student loan program.) International students may be offer some loans that utilize the medical school’s own institutional funding (which is limited) and are expected to use private loans to fund the rest. A private loan may require a credit-worthy US citizen as co-signer.
Only after the student has taken out the base/unit loan will additional funding be offered. The additional funding may be grants, scholarships or additional loans.
Hii, thank you so much for your reply & concern!!
I do already visit the US yearly to visit my family (All are US citizens if that’s important in any way) & lived there for roughly 2ish years, a while back when my mom was doing her fellowship at Harvard University (around 2017-2019ish I believe). I also currently have a visitor visa. Anyways, in all the times I’ve had to apply for a visa, or visit the embassy, it has thankfully worked out!! I’m not a 100% sure how different the F-1 visa will be, but thousands of students here get theirs after committing to US universities every year. The embassy I’ll most likely be going to in the one in Jeddah, again, if that’s helpful in any way.
Please let me know if there’s anything else I should look into, I want to be 10000% prepared, I’ll definitely also look into F-1 visas just to be safe. Thank you again!!
What sort of majors do you think would be more fitting? Something a bit fail safe, where I could use it to either become an engineer or apply to graduate entry med schools outside the US
This may depend on your inherent interests. For example, if you could see yourself deeply studying the complex interactions of the components of organic molecules — principally carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur (CHNOPS) — then an undergraduate major in biochemistry / molecular biology may be suitable for premedicine or preparation for a graduate program in biomedical engineering. If your interests are perhaps more directly physical, rather than deeply biochemical, then an undergraduate major in, say, computer science or mechanical engineering may be appropriate for you.
One of the top options I’m actually considering is actually mechanical engineering, but would it be suitable for premed?
Mechanical engineering programs overlap with premed requirements/expectations to an extent, such as through physics, math and general education courses. If you are inclined in this direction, then mechanical engineering would represent a suitable premed major.
I’d just have to take extra courses to align with the premed prereqs such as biology & chemistry, right?
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You want a Plan B, but mechanical engineering as a premed major is a tough major. Premeds need to have HIGH undergrad GPAs and if you are a strong student in those engineering courses, then fine. Go for it.
I’m going to go back to your OP again. That list of colleges…in my opinion, are all reaches for an international student except Penn State and George Mason. But I’m not sure how you would be able to pay for either George Mason or Penn State. Neither meets full need for all accepted students.
So…as suggested…I think you need to rework this list. Sure, apply to some reach schools…but add some other realistic schools for affordability and acceptance…that you like.
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Do you have any realistic schools in mind, I am looking but I haven’t found much yet
Look at Rhodes College. @momsearcheng your thoughts?