Hello everyone,
I am currently a student at UCSD, but am looking to apply to MBBS programs abroad. Mainly in the UK, China, Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong. My only dilemma is that my first year at UCSD did not go well, I was advised to take courses at a community college for a year and as long as I get a B average I can come back. I didn’t do well my first year in school for a few reasons, I felt unmotivated in my classes, I didn’t have the correct foundation and instead of asking for help I thought I could do it on my own and I honestly didn’t realize how much I would have to study. I was studying 4x more than I was in high school but it still wasn’t enough, trying to balance a part time job to help out my mom and other extra curricular activities didn’t help much. Anyways this isn’t a sob story, I want to know do I have to disclose my grades from UCSD even though I only went there for a year? I know if they see my high school grades, graduated a year early, top 10% of my class, decent SAT score and very high GPA, I have a decent chance of getting in but if they see my grades from UCSD I will not. I learned from my mistakes, sadly just a bit too late and know I can do well in the program. Especially because I feel motivated and excited to do it, I am a very goal orientated person I just never realized by how much. If I do would it be better for me to do my year at community then go back to UCSD and raise my GPA for a year and then apply? Any advice would be nice, also if anyone has done the MBBS program and has advice on that as well it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
You are required to submit all transcripts.
Customs on this vary between countries. Read the application instructions carefully to figure out what records you do or do not need to submit.
American universities usually want transcripts from all post-secondary institutions you have ever attended. Withholding transcripts is considered cheating and cause to rescind your offer of admission if it gets discovered.
In contrast, German universities don’t (usually) care about your full academic history. They only want records that show that you qualify for admission to the program that you are currently seeking admission to. For example, to qualify for admission to a Bachelor’s degree program, you could apply with a US high school diploma plus a German university entrance exam, or with a US high school diploma plus 4-6 AP scores, or with an Associate’s degree. All other records are irrelevant.
I am not familiar enough with the admissions process in the countries you named to give you more specific advice.
What is your plan after finishing your MBBS? Will you remain in the country where you study, or will you return to the US to take the foreign medical exams and apply to residencies here?
I plan on coming back to the US to take the foreign medical exams and apply to residencies here, as I know it is easier to practice in other countries with a U.S. license. I eventually plan to do something like doctors without borders or outside of the U.S. once I get my license and finish residency.
While it might make sense to go to a foreign medical school to save both time and money, please be aware that the statistics are not in your favor.
Out of the about 22,000 graduates of foreign medical schools who seek ECFMG certification each year, only about 9,000 will get it. (That requires having your foreign medical diploma evaluated to be equivalent to a US medical degree and passing steps 1 and 2 of the US Meical Licensing Exam.) https://www.ecfmg.org/forms/factcard.pdf
The residency match rates of foreign-educated US applicants is about 59%, compared to 94% for seniors at US medical schools. https://mk0nrmp3oyqui6wqfm.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/NRMP-Results-and-Data-2019_04112019_final.pdf
If you multiply out the probabilities, your odds of being able to obtain a US residency after completing medical school abroad might only be about 25%. That’s a risky path to bet your future on.