Asking this because up until now, I thought as an international I had no chance of financing an education at Harvard Med in the future. I just came across a ton of stuff online, though, that suggests that if you have the grades for Harvard Med and are admitted, you can apply for Financial Aid and it’s usually comparable to the aid given to domestic applicants.
I know this is CC, but can anyone more familiar with Medical School admissions explain this to me? Also, is there a grad-school equivalent to CC that anyone recommends?
Oh, and is it possible to apply to multiple programs within one school? For instance, applying to both Harvard’s MD and MD/PhD programs (since I’ve heard it’s easier for internationals to fund a MD if they’re also doing their PhD)?
Medical school acceptance (at Harvard or anyplace else for that matter) isn’t simply a matter of having good grades. There are additional expectations for community service, research, medical/clinical experiences, demonstrated leadership and diverse life experiences.
Even domestic students are expected to contribute to the cost of their medical education at Harvard. Harvard requires all students with any financial need to take out a “unit loan” before grant aid will be given. (Unit loan = ~$35K/year) International students are expected to self-fund the same amount thru either a family contribution or a private loan.
Here’s a document listing all MD/PhD programs in the US, the funding level (not all MD/PhD programs fully funded students in the program), number of positions and whether or not the school will consider internationals.
He’s also looking to complete his BS and MS in 3 years; to earn a BA in public policy and MS in financial mathematics in 3 years; and, according to another thread plans to return to his home country after graduation.
He’s not serious about med school. Just looking for the best way to make $$.
A bit presumptuous of you, @WayOutWestMom… It’s not about money, I’m just interested in learning what my options are. My parents have been big on med school since I was about two, so I’m trying to take their feelings into account… and here’s a crazy thought… a student can be interested (and capable of performing) in more than one academic subject area!
If you’re not going to answer my questions and are instead reading my old posts and jumping to conclusions about who I am or what I want to do with my life, please don’t bother posting a response.
I understand that a student can be interested in multiple fields. (I have two daughters in med school, neither of whom were ‘pre-meds’ and majored in mathematics, physics. Both will likely to pursue academic medicine in non-typical areas. One is working on developing mathematical models for global-scale public health and disaster management. )
Parental pressure to attend med school is among the very worst reasons for going to med school. Those who go to med school because it’s their parents’ dream end up unhappy. If you want to go to med school–that’s wonderful, but choose medicine for the right reasons.
As for your posting history–it’s public record and a poster’s history is frequently used by respondents to better answer any questions posted here.
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My parents have been big on med school since I was about two, s
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so what? Parents selecting a profession for a 2 year old is silly and only considers THEIR wants/desires.
that said, if you and your parents want you to go to med school here in the US, particularly to H, then ask them if they’re prepared to pay at LEAST $35k per year for you to do so.
Most public med schools tend to be not willing to take international students. This is because the family of international students have not paid taxes and it is not politically correct to take such students.
So international students have a slightly better chance at a few private med schools.
Since the COA at a private med school could be higher than 80K a year, parents should indeed be prepared to pay at least $35K a year for a regular MD program, even if the med school gives you some break in the form of true financial aids.
The unit loans mentioned by WOWMom is quite universal. Actually, I think it is quite likely that only the “better” (better in terms of financial aid policy) med school has the unit loan policy, and many other med schools could ask their students and their parents pay a higher percentage of $80+ K per year.
The unit loans mentioned by WOWMom is quite universal. Actually, I think it is quite likely that only the "better" (better in terms of financial aid policy) med school has the unit loan policy, and many other med schools could ask their students and their parents pay a higher percentage of $80+ K per year.
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I imagine that this is likely VERY true. I wouldn’t be surprised if only about 5-8 med schools provide $25k+ per year to an int’l for med school. I imagine that most (of the rather few that accept int’ls) expect the int’l to pay full freight.
As @mcat2 mentions, the publics aren’t typically taking int’ls because of the tax issue, but really even the private SOMs are typically receiving fed funds, too…aren’t they?
@mom2collegekids, Not about SOM, it is about the university: At one time, I read an article in which it was said Stanford receives much more money from the public/tax money than California State University, Hayward (sp?) which is located not far from Stanford. Arguably speaking, Stanford serves the rich (or, it “sells” something called prestige that the rich may likely value. CSU serves the poor. Hey…the poor does not pay much into the tax system. Since the international does not pay into the tax system, they receive the short end of treatment and some institutions may want them to pay full freight! (Somewhat sarcastic here.)
I guess it is about right to say there are about 5-8 med schools (among about 130 med schools) which are “generous” in the sense that they still have some form of the need based financial aid for every not-rich students (i.e., students whose families are not rich because all med school students themselves are not rich.) But there is no such a thing called “meet the full need” (thus, the unit loans) at the professional school.
The “generous” med schools, it is about right if we use the numbers mentioned by momof2ck: for COA each year, 25k+ from the unit loans (student’s FUTURE income), 25k+ from the parents’ income and/or assets, and 25k+ from school’s need-based scholarship.
I remember seeing this number: At DS’s med school, the average debt (due to unit loans alone) for their students at the time of graduation is 126k - so it is 32 k a year for loans (his school is somewhat complicated though as 30-40% of students may take an additional year without paying a tuitions for that fifth year but “earned” a little bit money like a traditional grad school student does - it seems fewer international students are willing to take the fifth year because they may have some concerns about the number of years saving for more productive things to do in their precious few years after graduation: residency training - the research is just so “college-level/for-med-school-admission-only / premed” thing to do!). But I remember DS also said there are quite a many students whose parent is a physician (i.e., the medicine careers could run in family to some degree) whose income could be quite above average so these students may have zero loan.
OP, HMS is one of the generous med schools but it could be a school for which non-numeric merits (i.e., qualitative rather than quantitive qualifications) may be looked at more than other schools. Those students with the grades but nothing else which are significant (“find the cure for the cancer”, or “save lots of people from poverty”, LOL) may as well not apply. (Is it about the same for their undergraduate admission? The grades themselves are just not as valued as much (i.e., just one of many criteria) - this could be a surprise to some students who (and whose parents) come from some other country. But it seems those international students who have been educated at one of those prestigious international (high) schools for the rich in their countries are likely very familiar with this - maybe more familiar with the in-and-out or inner-working of all kinds of admissions.
It is worth noticing that the median and the mean being not that different. What may be the reason behind this? Even the offsprings from the more well-to-do families can not afford the full freight? Those from such families would rather choose other more moneyed career paths because of Obamacare and all that “trend”? (Anecdotal experiences: in DS’s freshman suite, the two from the most financially modest family background end up attending med school. Almost no one from a really wealthy family, say, the top 30% in SES among DS’s circle of friends in college) background seems to have chosen this career path. Granted, the composition of the students at DS’s college are very skewed in terms of their families’ financial background.)
