Ummmm… that won’t work.
- None of the major US medical school application services (AMCAS, TMDSAS, AACOMAS) will accept or verify transcripts from foreign universities. This means there is a hard stop for your daughter’s plan to apply to US medical schools. No transcripts mean your D’s application simply will NOT be processed and will never get sent on to medical schools.
AMCAS handles all US MD med school applications
TMDSAS handles all TX MD, DO and dental school applications
AACOMAS handles all US DO med school applications
- Every US MD program requires a minimum number of credits (typically 90, but a few will accept 45-60) be earned at a US or Canadian college or university in order to considered for admission.
Out of all US MD programs, I believe that only Georgetown will review applicants with UK degrees without requiring additional US credits. And that is done only on a case by case basis. (BTW, Georgetown’s SOM admission rate is under 2%. Your D pinning all her hopes of a medical school admission on Georgetown is extremely foolish. They get over 13,000 applications for their 200 seats annually.)
There are, I think, 6 or so DO programs that will accept foreign transcripts, but that is only done on a case by case basis outside of the normal admission procedure.
Students with a foreign degree need to basically commit to re-taking all their pre-reqs classes (or acceptable UL substitutes) again in the US. The med school pre-reqs include not just science coursework, but also social sciences/humanities and English composition classes.
- Besides science coursework, all US med schools (MD and DO) require basic coursework in social sciences/humanities and 2 semester of writing skills/English composition. (While some med school may accept AP/IB credits for the social sciences, none accept AP credits for the writing requirement.)
Will your D’s course of study at St Andrew’s include those? My understanding is that UK degree do not allow for electives outside the major.
She will need coursework in psychology and sociology for the MCAT. Some medical schools have UL social science or humanities or medical ethics classes as a requirement for admission.
- There are other issues with doing UK undergrad degree then applying to US med schools. Medical school admission involves not just having the required pre-reqs. it al involves having the right ECs. Those ECs include having substantial US clinical medical exposure (hundreds of hours) through volunteering or working in US healthcare institutions. Getting that exposure in a non-US setting is not an acceptable alternative.
Expected pre-med ECs include: Community service (esp w/ disadvantaged populations), clinical exposure through paid employment or volunteer service in a medical setting, physician shadowing in a variety of medical specialties, including primary care, leadership positions in a students’ activities and laboratory or clinical research.
If your daughter want the experience of attending a foreign university but definitely plans to attend a US med school., she should consider Canadian universities. Since both US and Canadian college are accredited by the same accreditation bodies, Canadian degrees reconsidered "foreign" by med schools.