International Student looking for suggestions

College Search & Lists
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I am an International High School Student, applying for Undergraduate Admission for the Fall of 2014.</p>

<p>I am wanting to pursue a career in Medicine and become a Surgeon.</p>

<p>For my Undergraduate studies, I am in the process of applying to Universities / Colleges which provide 100% Financial Aid to International Students.</p>

<p>My SAT I total is 1930 and my Subject SAT total of 3 subjects (Maths 2, Physics and Biology is 2040. My predicted GPA is 4.0.</p>

<p>I have done extensive research and have been advised to apply to as any Colleges as possible, since I am an International Student looking for 100% Financial Aid.</p>

<p>I have shortlisted these Colleges, and am in the process of applying. This includes 20 colleges, which are on the Common App (20 being the max limit on Common App), besides 6 on Universal App, and 4 Colleges, which have their own Applications.</p>

<p>National Universities:</p>

<p>Harvard University
Princeton University (Universal App)
Yale University
Columbia University (Colleges own App)
University of Chicago
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Colleges own App)
Stanford University
Duke University (Universal App)
University of Pennsylvania
Dartmouth College
Northwestern University
Johns Hopkins University (Universal App)
Brown University
Cornell University (Universal App)
Vanderbilt University
University of Notre Dame
Emory University
Georgetown University (Colleges own App)
Tufts University (Universal App)
Brandeis University
Lehigh University</p>

<p>Liberal Arts Colleges:</p>

<p>Amherst College
Swarthmore College
Haverford College
Davidson College (Colleges own App)
Harvey Mudd College
Washington and Lee University
Bates College
University of Richmond
Trinity College (Universal App)</p>

<p>I have got application fee waiver from Common App and also got the NACAC Application Fee Waiver for other colleges, which are not on Common App.</p>

<p>My only concern now is, would I get into any one of these colleges, or not, or do I need to add some Safety Colleges, in which I need to remove some colleges from this List, since my Common App limit has reached. Also, I have already submitted by Application to half the list.</p>

<p>Looking from Advice from Experts on College Confidential.</p>

<p>Thanking you in anticipation.</p>

2

<p>Before you spend more time on applications, please look at the Common Data Set for each of these schools- the most recent year. Check Section C to compare your stats to those of the admitted students. If you are in the lowest 25% on more than one measure, you have little chance of being admitted. Your SATs are, frankly, very low for many of the schools on this list. It would be smarter to apply to fewer schools that are more realistic targets given your scores.</p>

<p>Second, you understand, I hope, that there is no undergraduate medical major or course of study. US medical schools are graduate level schools, not undergraduate. That means they do not admit ANY students out of high school - only those who have graduated at the top of their class from college or university. Also, most US medical schools do not admit foreign students. Those that do are looking for some very specific qualifications. Finally, there is little or no financial aid for medical school students - especially foreign ones.</p>

<p>I’m not trying to discourage you from applying to US schools - but if medicine is really your goal, you are better off pursuing your education elsewhere and applying here for residency, as most international medical students do.</p>

3

<p>If you are serious about pursuing a career in medicine, study that in your home country. Most US medical students do not admit any international students. Of the few private medical schools that do admit international students, most require that the student pay for all four years of med school in advance. You would need to have approximately USD 300,000 available for that deposit. Which you probably don’t have if your whole application list is made up of places that offer full aid for international students.</p>

<p>I don’t know where you have been getting your advice so far, but two new places to go to include the International Students Forum here at CC, and the closest office of EducationUSA. Follow the links here for their contact information: <a href=“https://www.educationusa.info/centers.php[/url]”>https://www.educationusa.info/centers.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>Thanks, M’s Mom, I am aware that there is no undergraduate medical major, and I have to do 4 years of undergrads before getting into a Medical School for my Grads.</p>

<p>However, I understand, if I complete my undergrads from my country, it would be difficult for me to get into a Medical School, vis-a-vis, if my do my undergrads from the US.</p>

<p>I would like to thank you for your frank and honest advice.</p>

5

<p>^^^</p>

<p>you don’t understand…even if you do your undergrad in the US, you’re not likely going to get into a US MD school here. Very few int’l students are accepted. most med schools don’t accept int’ls. The purpose of US MD schools is to educate American doctors…not int’ls.</p>

<p>You need to do undergrad and med school in your country…and then maybe later do your residency or practice here. But, to plan on going to med school here is like planning to win the lottery. The chances are too slim.</p>

6

<p>*or do I need to add some Safety Colleges, *</p>

<p>there are no safety colleges for int’ls who need lots of aid. IF there were any such schools, then a gazillion int’ls would apply to them and suddenly…guess what??? They would no longer be safeties because they’d get toooooo many apps.</p>

7

<p>For information about the steps to follow in order to pursue advanced medical training in the US after graduating from a medical school outside the US, read through the information at these websites:
[United</a> States Medical Licensing Examination ®](<a href=“http://www.usmle.org/]United”>http://www.usmle.org/)
[ECFMG®</a> | Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates](<a href=“http://www.ecfmg.org/]ECFMG®”>http://www.ecfmg.org/)</p>

<p>Truly, this is the best plan for you if you want to be a surgeon.</p>

<p>As for safeties, there are a very small number of colleges and universities that award full tuition or full ride scholarships solely on grades and exam scores. Some of those scholarships are open to international students. Check through the list here:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-20.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-20.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

8

<p>^^^</p>

<p>Even “full ride” scholarships aren’t 100% of aid for an int’l. Full ride scholarships are generally tuition, room, board, books. An int’l that needs 100% of aid, also needs personal expenses, insurance, and travel costs covered.</p>

<p>I don’t think there are any safety schools that provide for all of this for int’ls.</p>

9

<p>True. Even if it is labeled “full ride”, the student will still have expenses that aren’t covered.</p>

10

<p>+1 for everything that’s written above.</p>

<p>You don’t say what country you live in. If it’s a less developed nation, there might be funding such as a scholarship from your own government for training/education overseas as a medical student with the expectation you’d be returning home after graduation. </p>

<p>With the US’s recession aid for all students including Americans has been reduced a lot. You need to think seriously about why you want to study in the US. </p>

<ol>
<li>If you feel you wouldn’t get into a medical school in your how country- why is this? </li>
<li>If you want the US college experience, have you looked into any exchange schemes available from universities in your home country?</li>
<li>If funding is a problem even in your home country, are there any ways to get around this e.g. joining the military reserves and/or seeing if your military offers scholarships for med students (comes with a minimum time in service post graduation- heck of a way to get into surgery…)</li>
<li>If you want to visit the US free/cheaply you could see what internship schemes are run during summer vacations as an elective from your home institution.</li>
<li>If you want to emigrate- qualify in your home country then do your residency in the US- as advised above.</li>
</ol>

<p>There’s usually more than one way to skin a cat (if you’ll pardon the expression) but you usually need patience, a long term focus and a bit of imagination to get there.</p>

11

<p>Hi, highland_poppy,</p>

<p>I am from India, and Medical education is India is not really up to the world standards, which is why most Indians wanting to do Medicine, go to the US, for education. Besides this, whatever Medical education is available in India, admission is very tough, because % of the seats are reserved for people from lower class of society (which is quiet stupid in today’s world).</p>

<p>Getting into the Military is out of question, since I am Girl, and not build that way.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

12

<p>Besides this, whatever Medical education is available in India, admission is very tough</p>

<p>No matter how tough it is in India, getting into a US MD school as an int’l will be tougher.</p>

<p>And…where would you get the $300k that you would need to deposit at a US MD school to show that you have funds to pay for all 4 years???</p>

<p>Do you have any means to get a Green Card while a US undergrad?</p>

<p>How much will your parents pay each year?</p>

13

<p>In order to be admitted to these universities with financial aid, you need to be in the top 25% applicants.
Type “college data” followed by the name of each college, then click on the tab “Admissions”, and look where you stand compared to others. If you’re not in the top 25% your odds are very low and I wouldn’t include more than 5 of those on your list.
At this point, your odds are AT BEST 1:20 - so 19:20 not to get into any of the colleges on your list. If you don’t have an international-level distinction, they’re probably 1 or 2 in 100.</p>

<p>What is your native language? What country or area of the world are you from?
(Yes, there’s a difference if you come from China or India, or if you come from Malawi or Afghanistan).</p>

<p>If you had to overcome significant obstacles, that would matter and help you. Who has reviewed your essays? Have you read the examples posted online by several different colleges?</p>

<p>Have you, by any chance, won a national or international prize (in anything - sports, arts, an academic subject…)? That would really chance things if you’re an Olympian, for instance, whether it’s for fencing or math.</p>

<p>If not, you need to drastically change your list.
You MUST include other schools - schools that are generous to internationals they admit, such as Skidmore, Dickinson, Macalester, Grinnell, Earlham. Even those are NOT safeties for you, merely matches.
If you’re a girl, apply to Women’s Colleges such as Wellesley, Bryn Mawr, Barnard, Smith, Mount Holyoke, Scripps, Mills, Agnes Scott, Chatham, Trinity Washington…</p>

<p>Actually, I think that making sure all ranks/classes in a society have a fair shot at becoming doctors on their own relative merit is basic for democracy. It’s ESPECIALLY important for people of working class or poor background and it matters for society’s health as a whole. (Otherwise we’d have an autocracy/plutocracy/monarchy of reproducing elites.) Just so you know, that’s basically the premise for the American Dream. :)</p>

14

<p>Hi MYOS1634,</p>

<p>I am from India, and have been educated in English.</p>

<p>I have worked very hard on my essays, and I feel my essays are upto the mark, rest one does not know, what mood the reader is in, when he reads my essay. Yes, I have also read various examples posted online.</p>

<p>I have not won any Prize, but had a CGPA of 10, in my Grade 10, which is the highest marks possible, or 100%.</p>

<p>As for my List of Colleges, these are I believe, all the colleges, which offer 100% Financial Aid to International Students. I have left out a few Liberal Arts Colleges, which offer a BA in Biology, since I want to pursue a career in Medicine, I believe getting into a College, which offers a BS, would be better.</p>

<p>The Liberal Arts Colleges, which offer BA in Biology, and have been left out are:</p>

<p>Williams College
Middlebury College
Pomona College
Bowdoin College
Wellesley College
Carleton College
Claremont McKenna College
Hamilton College
Colby College
Colgate University
Grinnell College
Bryn Mawr College
Oberlin College
Barnard College
College of the Holy Cross
Franklin and Marshall College
St. Olaf College</p>

<p>I have also left out these Liberal Arts Colleges, which offer 100% Financial Aid to International Students, since I have not been able to find out whether they offer a BS or BA in Biology:</p>

<p>Connecticut College
Pitzer College
Skidmore College
Austin College
Berea College</p>

<p>I have left out this Liberal Arts College, since I have run short of slots on Common App, and this College, is the lowest in ranking on my list:</p>

<p>Hillsdale College</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

15

<p>This may be news to you, but there are many, many, many physicians now working in the US who received their initial medical training in India. Clearly, there is nothing wrong with the quality of your medical schools. Yes, med school admissions in India is difficult, but nowhere near as difficult as it would be for an international student with significant financial need in the US. The only funding that I have ever heard of for Med School students is for people in combined MD/PhD programs. The admission to those programs is even more selective than admission to medical school alone because the student must be accepted by the med school and by the PhD program.</p>

<p>I can understand your enthusiasm for a US education, but truly, if your goal is medicine, this is not the way to do it. If medicine is simply one option that you are considering, or something that you really don’t care that much about, then completing an undergrad degree here might work for you provided you do study something that will get you a job back home after you complete your education.</p>

16

<p>Right now, if you need financial aid, you will NOT be able to get into an American medical school. Public med schools only admit students from their State (and a handful of Americans from other states). Private med schools require you to have about $300,000 in escrow (in a bank, reserved to pay for your schooling).</p>

<p>Let us imagine you have $300,000 in escrow for med school: biology may not be your best bet.
BA vs. BS makes no difference by the way. It’s only different in that the BS includes more required classes but nothing prevents you from taking more classes as a BA student - You can prepare a BA and use your elective credits to take extra classes in your major.
From a strictly utilitarian point of view, you’d increase your odds if you majored in philosophy while maintaining a high GPA in all your pre-med science classes.
Right now there’s a glut of biology majors so it’s probably not a great choice of major anyway. Neuroscience might be interesting wrt the new MCAT.</p>

<p>A 10 in Grade 10 is very, very impressive indeed. However it’s unlikely to be sufficient for many schools on your list.</p>

<p>You can add: Skidmore, Austin, Grinnell, Franklin&Marshall, St Olaf, and definitely Bryn Mawr and Barnard. Berea if you qualify financially (not commonapp = you need to apply from their website and get everything in an envelope soon).
Since you’re a girl, add as many women’s colleges as you can.</p>

<p>To find out whether a college offers a biology major, click on “Academics”.
All colleges should, it’s a basic offering at American colleges.</p>

17

<p>@imusbound</p>

<p>Medicine is competitive around the world because the numbers of driven students looking for a prestigious very well paying job exceeds the money available to train them all. You need to put every fibre of your being into getting accepted in India. You also have to have a plan B. Maybe you can go and resit your exams and get a better grade? If you lack the courage to go the Indian route, I’d be questioning your commitment to medicine.</p>

<p>Woman can and do serve proudly both in the Indian Armed Forces and around the world. They come in all sizes from tiny to Olympic rower proportioned. Google about army/navy/af female doctors in India. Also google for female US Marines, and the US Service Academies- USNA, USAFA, USMA. You’ll see all shapes of young women. The mental challenge is said to be greater than the physical- for guys as well. If you are otherwise healthy, you can get fit enough. It’s fine and good to say you’re too scared of being blown up or shot at and its not for you. I would be too. But don’t use being female as an excuse. Too many women have fought for their right to join up. </p>

<p>There’s debate about positive discrimination around the world. It may well affect your chances at entry if you’re not a strong candidate. However, if you belong to a lower caste and your educational/life chances are lower from the moment of birth and get worse as the progress through no fault or lack of ability of your own, I can certainly sympathize with their situation, too. Women were barred from medicine until comparatively recently. Men weren’t exactly thrilled about their chances of med school being diminished by women taking their ‘rightful’ places…</p>

18

<p>Hello MYOS1634,</p>

<p>You said “You can add: Skidmore, Austin, Grinnell, Franklin&Marshall, St Olaf, and definitely Bryn Mawr and Barnard. Berea if you qualify financially (not commonapp = you need to apply from their website and get everything in an envelope soon).”</p>

<p>My issue is I have exhausted the 20 max limit on Common App, and if I have to add any more, I have to delete one of the apps, which I have not submitted i.e. </p>

<p>Amherst College
Haverford College
Davidson College
Harvey Mudd College
Washington and Lee University
Bates College</p>

<p>All my other Applications have been submitted and now cannot be deleted.</p>

<p>Yes, I can apply to these colleges, from your list, since they are not on Common App:</p>

<p>Austin College (using Texas App)
Berea College (using the Colleges own App)</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

19

<p>MYOS1634,</p>

<p>BTW, I did also leave out “Gettysburg College”, since I ran out of slots on Common App.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

20

<p>

</p>

<p>Delete all of those (with the possible exception of Bates) to make room for applications to less selective schools. You already have too many long reaches.</p>