<p>I'm an 18 year old high school student from Switzerland. After high school graduation, it's my biggest dream to study in the US. So I'm preparing a lot, and I already took the SAT. However, I just got my SAT scores...and now I'm desperate. I only got an 1820 (590 Critical Reading, 610 Math and 620 Writing). That's really bad, isn't it? I am planning to apply to following schools: SUNY Stony Brook, SUNY Binghamton, Bowling Green State (Ohio), Millsaps College (Jackson, Mississippi) and University of Pittsburgh. Do I have any chances to get into one of these with these miserable test scores? And does anybody know some of these colleges? How are they?
After college, I would like to study medicine...for admission to med school, do they look at your SAT scores too?</p>
<p>These scores are good considering the colleges you are applying for. Btw, if I were you, I would consider to study medicine outside the US. Very few intl students are accepted by med schools.</p>
<p>and I think your SAT score is enough for those schools. You can just check the mid SAT score range of the admitted students of those schools and see if you fall into the range. If it does, then you are qualified (SAT-vise).</p>
<p>thank you very much for your rapid reply. concerning med-school, I am aware of the fact that it is relatively hard to get in as a foreigner, however I absolutely would like to do my residency in the US. And this is only possible if you have a US degree, I already checked this…so doing med school in the US is the only possibility for me to get into a US residency…</p>
<p>You can do a residency in the US after a foreign med school degree. Who told you that this was impossible? My colleague’s son has just finished doing this. He graduated from med school in Costa Rica, took the foreign medical boards, and completed his residency in the US. One place to start reading about the process is: </p>
<p>I don’t know who exactly told me, but I am sure I was told that you have much less chances to get into a good residency if you completed med school outside the US and then you just take the medical boards…but thank you very much for the link!</p>
<p>and btw: Costa Rica is awesome! I’ve been there two weeks for a volunteering project…amazing country!</p>
<p>“I am sure I was told that you have much less chances to get into a good residency if you completed med school outside the US and then you just take the medical boards.”</p>
<p>This may be true, but you have to consider the total odds resulting from the difficulty of getting into undergraduate college in the US, successfully completing a pre-med program here, successfully being admitted to med school here, and then applying for that residency. Overall, you will most likely be ahead just going to med school in your home country and then taking the foreign boards.</p>
<p>Not to mention saving serious money along the way. Four years of college/university in the US will be a minimum of $100,000. Four years of med school here (if you can get in) will be $250,000 and up.</p>
<p>happymomof1- you’re totally right of course. Its very hard to get in to a US medical school as an intl dominik91. On top of that, an extremely select few offer FA to intls.</p>
<p>I don’t have my heart set on med school yet (it is one of my options, as are other types of graduate schools), as of now, I just know I want to study in US as the liberal arts education there attracts me. But if you have $$$ and the determination and hard work, you can try your best. But know the facts, as I think less than half of US med schools admit intls.</p>
<p>happymomof1- Theres something to be said that less than half (If i’m not mistaken) of international applicants get into competitive residencies like general surgery.</p>
<p>International candidates interested in pursuing a medical degree and/or medical residence in the US do need to spend time researching their options. Some foreign medical schools are better at preparing candidates for competitive residencies than others. It is also important to remember that many US students who are not admitted to med school in the US elect to attend US-style medical schools overseas (particularly in the Caribbean). It is rumored that graduates of those programs often have more difficulty in finding admission to competitive residencies when compared to graduates of programs in the US - I do not know if this is more than just a rumor. Likewise, I do not know anything in particular about the track record of European medical schools. This could be a good question to ask at the Med School Forum: [Pre-Med</a> & Medical School - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-medical-school/]Pre-Med”>Pre-Med & Medical School - College Confidential Forums)</p>
<p>happymomof1 - Thank you. At one point, I really really wanted to do medicine, therefore I did do hours and hours of research. Here’s what I came up with (I’m writing this to help dominik91 as well).</p>
<p>1) It IS harder to get into competitive residencies like gen surgery if you graduate from any other medical school besides a US-based one. </p>
<p>2) The Carribean is a good option for intls who can’t get into US med schools as students studying in the Carribean do rotations in US hospitals. (Residencies recommend, some even require that you have clinical experience in US hospitals and letters of recommendations from US physicians) However, keep in mind that it’ll be harder for you compared to other US citizens to get into a residency program because you will need a visa, either the J-1 and H-1B, which will cause additional paperwork and money for hospitals, and therefore they’re more likely to choose a US citizen over you, if everything else is the same. Hence, you have to rock the USMLE. </p>
<p>dominik91, you can PM me for more details. Its nice to know that my hours of research won’t go to waste after all, if I don’t end up going to medical school.</p>
<p>I don’t know how visas work for residencies, but a word of warning since you mentioned H-1Bs: There is a cap on the yearly number of H-1B visas that are issued, and in recent years the demand has exceeded the cap in all categories. There is a good bit of luck involved in getting an H-1B.</p>
<p>I don’t know if this applies to you, nor do I know if visa caps will still be an issue 10 years from now. But the possibility of not getting a visa (even if you might be perfectly qualified and find a sponsor) should be included in your risk-benefit analysis. What would you do if you got a medical degree in the US and then did not get a visa for your residency?</p>
<p>The H1B visa cap only applies to for-profit organizations. Therefore, the cap does not affect residency or fellowship programs. The great majority of U.S. hospitals are also exempt from the H1B visa cap (since they are non-profit and affiliated with US medical schools/universities), which means that many FMG physicians who need sponsorship are able to find opportunities without being subject to the H-1B cap.</p>
<p>Extension, renewal or transferring of an existing H1B visa does not count towards the cap.</p>
<p>Therefore, the only time that H1B physicians who entered the U.S. as H1B residents or fellows will fall subject to the cap is while transferring from their training program (an exempt employer) to a non-exempt employer.</p>
<p>Each new allotment of 65,000 visas begins at the start of each new fiscal year, which begins October 1 st. Employers may begin filing for H1B visas six months before the actual start date of the visa. This means that since the beginning of the fiscal year is October 1 st, employers can begin applying as early as April 1 st in order to have the best chance for approval for that year. Timing is key, as the cap numbers are likely to run out quickly. Therefore, you should begin your job search as early as possible in the final year of your residency/fellowship program in order to have the best odds of finding a sponsoring employer prior to April 1 st.</p>
<p>(Me : FMG stands for foreign medical graduate, which you will be if you graduate from a Carribean medical school. However, even if you graduate from a US med school, the rest still applies, although your chances go up)</p>
<p>I did say that I have no idea whether the cap applies to you or not, but thanks for the clarification. </p>
<p>If you don’t mind me asking, how exactly did you pick the colleges you are applying to? I am impressed by the sheer diversity of your list: the University of Pittsburgh with 20,000 students alongside Millsaps College with 1,000; urban Pittsburgh and rural Bowling Green; Mississippi vs New York. And kudos for selecting colleges by some criteria other than their US News rank! Too many pre-med students with high ambitions are obsessed with getting into the most “prestigious” undergraduate college on the planet.</p>