Intl Pre-med = rejection?

jenoks
Sat, 22 Nov 2008 18:03:07 +0000

Hi Indiarubber.
I am an “international” who went to undergrad in the US then attended med school here as well. I think you can mention that you are interested in medicine, but I would not stress it as part of my application if I were you. The issue as I mentioned in another thread is that attending medical school in the US is difficult for internationals, not because standards are different for US vs. internationals coming from US colleges (they are the same high standards), but because there is no financial assistance available to internationals, and they are generally expected to deposit the whole amount of tuition for all four years of medical school (lots of dough) into an escrow account. In addition, colleges are looking for people who are well-rounded and open-minded, and if as a college applicant you’re saying you’re set on going to med school then they’ll wonder why you just don’t go in your home country, and what you can really contribute to the college while you are there. I’m not saying this to discourage you from coming to the US for college but if you are interested in med school you should be aware of the financial situation. If you can afford it then it shouldn’t be an issue, and I wasn’t the only international at my med school (there were maybe 2-3 per year, not including Canadians).
FYI, if you get a non-medical degree from abroad then it’s very difficult to get into a US med school at that point; most schools will require that you spend at least one year at a US university in order to apply and you have to be truly exceptional. If you get a medical degree from your home country, then you may be able to come to the US for post-graduate specialty training (residency) after taking the equivalency exams, but you will not be able to get into a competitive specialty and you will not be able to attend a top program in a non-competitive specialty unless you spend some time doing research in the field in the US before you apply.