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US Medical Schools for International Students

Welcome to this blog.

I am an international student who came to the US for his undergraduate education back in 2003. Most of my friends went to England for medical school as you can get in straight after A-levels or IB or its high school equivalent. I wanted to be different. I wanted to get a good undergraduate experience and pursue my (many) other interests before I started medical school.

This complicates the path a little bit more. I knew I had to work hard in undergrad and do well. Getting into medical school in the US is hard enough for a US citizen. Getting into medical school for a foreigner is even harder. Less than half of the medical schools in the US accept international students. That is a fact that we have to live with.

Sounds scary right?

Well, it is a little. I wanted to lay the facts down as this is how I felt while I was applying to medical school. I think it is extremely important to be realistic about the difficulty of the process.

Yes, it is doable, but again not easy. I am one example of this. And know of several other students who have succeeded. My goal is not to discourage you, but to give you a perspective into what this process really entails and what you can do to have the best shot at getting into medical school in the US as an international student.

I did a LOT of research when I was applying. Trying to find out what medical schools even accepted international students was a painful process.

Currently a third year medical student, I came across some of the research I did back in 2006 (when I was applying) and thought it makes a whole lot of sense to share that with anyone that might be in similar shoes.

I will post the information (with up to date links) that I gathered. All this information is from the perspective of one student. Please talk to multiple people about this process.

Feel free to let me know if you want me to focus on any specific aspect of the process.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey there, just wanted to say thanks for sharing all this information. As an international premed student going to college in the US, I definitely haven't found that many resources with information on this topic (aside from the NAAHP site).
In your research, did you ever come across any type of average stats or GPA/MCAT cut off marks for international students? I've heard many times that there are high expectations, but never specifics.

Author said...

Hi Coffeefilbert,

Sorry I didn't see your comment until now. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) I haven't come across any GPA/MCAT cutoffs for international students. Believe it or not, most medical schools do look at your complete profile before offering you admission or interviews. It's not the answer you were looking at but shoot for the best numbers in addition to broadening your experiences to make yourself a competitive candidate.

I would look at overall average GPAs and MCATs to gauge what kind of applicants have been offered admission in the past. Again, averages are just that - an average.

Thomas Shiu said...

Thank you very much=] Can you elaborate more about how do you get in Med school? I mean can it be more specific? Ex, how many hours you work in research, volunteer, wt kind of research, volunteer etc=]=]

THanks Really like your work!!!

Unknown said...

Hi
I will be a pre-med student this fall!! and I read all those very discouraging statistics and also when I tried to get informed on the B.S/M.D. program I found out that only US citizens can apply.
so I would be fantastic if you could share with us more about your personal experience, for example how many research, volunteer or work and also any advices are very very appreciated!
By the way congratulations for your success!!
and thank a lot for this blog! it's the best thing ever for this topic in the web! you're very helpful

Anonymous said...

Hi thank you so much for taking the time to make and update this blog!
I was just wondering whether you have come across any students, or have any information for students who didn't receive their undergraduate degree in the US. I will be completing a bachelor of biomedical engineering in Australia (Australian citizen) and was just curious if I am still able to apply for some med schools?

Anonymous said...

Hi
Can someone help?
I am an Australian citizen who has completed a Bachelor of Science, a 3 year degree, majoring in Biomedical science from the University of Western Australia which is a reputed university in Australia . I would like to do the MD program in the US. As an international student, how do I get my qualifications assessed to be equivalent to the US bachelor's degree. Is there any extra course work needed to be eligible for the MD
course ?

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