Evening guys new to this section of College Confidential,
I wanted some insight on my situation currently have 2.8 gpa with 70 credits transferring to UC school this upcoming fall wanted to know how Med school looks at GPA from cc they are all not science courses i am a foreign student so coming straight to CC from abroad was tought i am planning to do well in UC and get straight A’s i guess my question is if i get straight A’s in UC and have 2.8 from Community college do i have a chance at med school, thanks in advance.
US medical schools rarely accept international applicants.
https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-medical-school/article/applying-international-applicant/
Some of the 49 schools only consider Canadians; many of the 350 students accepted were Canadian.
If you earn a 4.0 (all A and A+ grades) in 60 credits at a UC, that would be an overall college GPA of 3.35, which will be difficult to get past the initial automated screens by college GPA and MCAT score before your application gets seen by a human reader.
Medical schools also expect a substantial amount of science courses to be taken at a four year school (i.e. the UC) rather than only or mostly at CC.
@ucbalumnus i only took the courses that were required for transfer ie ochem biology and physics, what if i do post bacc would i have a chance along with a godd mcat score?
Your chances would be very, very small even with 520+ MCAT (above the 98th percentile)
Only about 85-100 non-Canadian international students are accepted into US med schools each year. Those students have impeccable records–high GPAs, high MCAT scores, exceptional extracurriculars.
Besides the difficulty in gaining an acceptance, there is the issue of finances.
Can you afford to pay for medical school?
US medical schools require international students to prove they are able finance 100% the cost of their medical education before they are allowed to enroll. This mean placing 2-4 years worth of tuition & fees ($120-$300K) and some schools also require that estimated living expenses also be placed in escrow. The only other option is to present a letter of guarantee from your home country government saying they will pay the full costs of your medical education.
Even the 5 medical schools that offer need base financial aid to international students require the student pay approx. $40K or more/year before any institutional financial aid will be offered. You cannot take out a loan in the US without a US citizen to co-sign the loan.
If you want to be physician in the US, your best chance is to study medicine in your home country, take the USMLE exams, and apply for a US medical residency through the ECFMG
Do you have permanent resident green card status?
@frazi78 I’m confused.
You said you arrived in the U.S. in 2013…and you graduated HS abroad.
Then you wrote this:
Did you start community college right after you moved her in 2013? Has it taken you 5-6 years to complete 2 years of community college courses?
Please clarify.
I only ask because you won’t be able to spread medical school classes out over years and years to lighten your course load.
I also have no idea how medical schools look at courses taken not as full time students.
@WayOutWestMom would this student be at a disadvantage additionally if he has take courses just a couple at a time?
Very seriously disadvantaged because adcomm member would question his/her ability to be successful while carrying a full time load of science courses. Med school is academically intensive–like 32 or more credits of nothing but science every term.
@WayOutWestMom @thumper1 sorry for the confusion i am a permanent resident here and i came in as a permanent resident @thumper1 yes i started hs when i first came here in 2013 but was advised to go straight to college during college i studied also worked and now i’m finally transferring i’ve finished ocehm, physics and mathematics along with general chem. my question is since i failed a class that will be counted in my science gpa and my science gpa would be around 3.3ish once after post bacc which is a rough guess could be a little above or little below do i have a chance?
I will not be a international student when i apply sorry for the confusion guys.I’ll be transferring to UC as a junior my question was do i have enough credits left to take at UC and including post bacc that whill bring my gpa upto around 3.4ish thank you for all of your responses.
A 3.3-3.4 sGPA is a non-starter for allopathic (MD) medical schools. You would need a SMP (Special Master’s Program) if you want a MD.
A SMP is different than a post-bacc. In an SMP you will take the equivalent of the first year of medical school classes, often side-by-sided with actual medical students. Student who finish in the top 15-25% of the class have a better than 50-50 chance of getting a med school acceptance. Students who don’t finish at the top of the class have permanently killed their chances for any med school acceptance (Including DO programs). High risk-high reward.
With sGPA 3.3-3.4, you may have a chance at osteopathic (DO) med schools --though being an applicant from CA will hurt your chances.
@WayOutWestMom whats the cutoff i have seen people with 3.3 getting accepted to MD schools?
@WayOutWestMom if i finish my undergrad with 3.3 science gpa how much would post bacc help me?
Where are you seeing lots of people being accepted w/sGPA in 3.3-3.4 range?
If you lookout the AAMC data,only about 2500 applicants (out of 95,000 applicants and 40,000 matriculants) with GPAs below 3.4 were accepted to med school in the last 2 years–and that includes everyone, including those with top 2 percentile MCAT score.
https://www.aamc.org/download/321508/data/factstablea23.pdf
Those who are successful with low GPAs/sGPAs usually fall into one or more of these categories
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non-traditional students who had a disasterous undergrad, left school, went did something else (like military service) for 5 years, then returned to college with new maturity. These students had excellent record after returning to school, but it wasn’t enough to raise their GPAs above 3.5.
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students who have completed a SMP (undergrad and grad science GPAs are calculated separately. AMCAS/AAMC does not report graduate GPAs, only undergrad)
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under-represented in medicine minority students who enter medical school through special programs or through medical schools devoted to serving URM communities
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Individuals with very high MCAT scores and other exceptional accomplishments that make adcomms want to take a chance on them. (Think professional or Olympic athlete. Metropolitan Opera soloist. Armed Service medal recipient/Army Ranger/Navy SEAL, or other similar national or world level recognitions.)
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Scions of major donors to the medical school. (Think donations in the $10M and above range.)
The only post-bacc that would help you enough to be competitive is a SMP, preferably one offered at a medical school.Just curious…why did you take Ochem at the community college.
Which course did you fail?
@thumper1 because i was originally trying to transfer to uc davis and it was one of the pre req to transfer, @WayOutWestMom how do you think my chances would be for PA school? you guys are so much help btw
@thumper1 i got waitlisted for davis and accepted to UCR. those were the only two i applied to
@thumper1 it was ochem that i failed 
thats why i wanted to do post bacc what do you think my chances are for PA school
@WayOutWestMom could you post the link for the health careers. These might be good for this poster to see…and read. So many ways to be involved in medical care…so many. And not all are doctor.
I have no idea if you’d be competitive for PA school. I simply don’t know enough about it.
PA school pre-reqs are different than med school pre-reqs and those pre-reqs vary from program to program.
PA schools require significant hands-on, PAID direct patient contact experience for admission–anywhere from 500 to 2000 hours.
Besides PA school, there are a variety of medical careers that don’t require medical school but are professional-level careers— cardiac perfusionist, anesthesiologist assistant, advance practice nurse/nurse practitioner, audiologist, medical dosimetrist, radiation therapist, podiatrist, optometrist, plus dozens more.
https://explorehealthcareers.org
If you’re interested in surgery, podiatry is an excellent option. Podiatrists treat all problems that deal w/ feet and ankles. Podiatry school Iis 4 years long, with the first 2 year having significant overlap with medical school. (At some med schools both DO and DPM students take all their classes together for the first 2 years.) After graduating fro podiatry school, pods are required to complete a 2 year surgical residency (rumored to be expanding to 3 years in the near future) before they are licensed.