International Pre Med student

mcat2
Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:27:29 +0000

I do not know much about this, but I heard that:

1. Most public medical schools in US may not admit international students.

2. Some private medical schools (likely the top ones) may have a very limited slots for extremely qualified international students. But the medical school may ask you to deposit huge amount of money in the bank (basically, all expenses for 4 years) before they even admit you. Because they think it is harder for you to get loans in US, they want to “play it safe.”

Unless your family has the financial resources, the second hurdle (the financial one) is a very serious one.

Look at the bright side though: If you (maybe with the help from your family?) manage to go to an undergraduate college for four years, you are likely better than most international students (even many young Americans from a not-so-well-off family) financially speaking, as most international students could not come to US for their undergraduate education – Most of them come here for PhD or MS programs mostly because they have a better chance to receive some form of financial aids (say, by working for the school/professors as a TA/RA.) By receiving 4-year college education here, you have a 4-year head-start as compared to most international students and will likely have better alternatives when you graduate from a college here. My advice is to keep all options open, especially at the beginning of your college career.

BTW, it is no coincidence that most international students pursue a “lower-investment”, shorter-term, career-oriented undergraduate (or graduate) degree like engineering or accounting, as the hurdle there is not so high. One professor at some school once joked that, at commencement, when the students with the same major walk across the platform at the same time, he can tell what major it is by looking at the composition of students in that major Well…recently, I heard that some private schools (esp. a few selective LACs) actively recruit international students as some of these schools know some of these students can afford it and it is a win-win situation for both the college and the student.