<p>Hi, I've heard about how hard it is for international applicants to gain admission for med school. But, is the cost what really scares int's so they don't even attempt to apply? (Let's not include schools that don't accept int's) If an int' applies to a "need blind" med school, if he/she is competitive enough he/she will be considered in the same pool as US citizens, so here the only obstacle will be to be as good as the other accepted applicants, the international status wouldn't have any negative impact. So, if they are accepted, they will have to show that they will afford tuition fees and other expenses. My question is, if an int' applicant applies to a "need blind" med school, the only obstacle they will face is the ability to pay right? Sorry if I am not making myself very clear.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>There’s a basic fallacy to your reasoning. There is no such thing as a “need blind” med school.</p>
<p>Medical schools are very yield conscious. Internationals are likely be asked up front how they will pay for their education.</p>
<p>I think what you’re asking is: are international applicants expected to be “better” than domestic applicants in order to gain admission?</p>
<p>I’m not entirely sure. However, international students have a much lower acceptance rate than do domestic students. (12.5% vs. 43%) While some of the difference can be explained by the fact there are only 50 schools which will consider international for acceptances, I’m not sure it can explain all of the difference.</p>
<p>I suspect that since the bulk of the funding for medical education–even at private medical schools–comes from federal funds (medicare, I believe), there may be unofficial quotas on the number of internationals each school can accept. (The school must be able to privately fund from other sources the cost of educating international students. Tuition–even at $75K/year–doesn’t come close to the actual cost of educating a medical student for 1 year.)</p>
<p>This is from 2009, but it has some interesting information about Intl. applicant policies:</p>
<p>[Medical</a> School Admissions Policies Towards Non-US Citizens](<a href=“Home - NAAHP”>Home - NAAHP)</p>
<p>* If an int’ applies to a “need blind” med school, if he/she is competitive enough he/she will be considered in the same pool as US citizens, so here the only obstacle will be to be as good as the other accepted applicants, the international status wouldn’t have any negative impact*</p>
<p>Int’ls aren’t in the same pool as domestic students. US MD schools’ mission is to educate future American doctors. Int’ls aren’t in the same pool. Some SOMs will accept some int’ls, but those students were not chosen from the same pool as domestics. </p>
<p>Money is another issue. SOMs typically require int’ls to deposit 100% of the first year’s cost into an escrow acct. Some SOMs are now requiring int’ls to deposit 100% of all FOUR years cost because they have had int’l students “drop out” after year one because they don’t have funds for further years. That annoys SOMs because that student took a seat that is now empty. </p>
<p>There’s another problem…Residencies. There are many residency programs that will not bother with sponsoring a visa for an int’l.</p>
<p>Glad you mentioned the residency issue. It’s something I’ve been researching since D1 is approaching that point in her career.</p>
<p>It’s true that many hospitals (and not just community-based residency programs, but also some big name major med school hospitals) refuse to sponsor internationals for H-1b visas. (Too many legal paperwork hassles.) </p>
<p>Additionally internationals are not eligible for any residency sponsored by the NIH due to funding restrictions.</p>
<p>Lastly often residency programs require all incoming residents to have a state medical license or license eligbility as a condition of their acceptance. Not all states will grant medical licenses to internationals.</p>