<p>Hey guys, as you probably already know by now, I'm a freshman at Duke. Since i'm an international, I was wondering whether it is significantly harder for me to attend a US medical school. It would be awesome if someone familiar with the process could share their insight. Please note, that I will probably receive funding from my home country, so finances should not be a problem. As far as I know, only a few private med schools encourage internationals to apply, and they require some sort of guarantee that the applicant will be able to afford the cost of med school. Most people (myself included) would not be able to afford to pay so much money in lump sum. I imagine this would discourage most internationals from applying. However, if some one is able to conjure up that much money, does it significantly improve his/her odds of admission? After all, there are probably only a handful of internationals who can afford to comfortably part with that much money. Will the school be more likely to admit these full pay students because they contribute to diversity without imposing a financial burden on the university? Please do let me know your views on the issue, all your suggestions will be appreciated.</p>
<p>It is very difficult to gain admission to a US Medical School as a foreign national. Very difficult. I would begin to work with the pre med advisers at Duke as soon as possible to make sure your application is as strong as possible three years from now.</p>
<p>I would say that it is not more difficult to gain admission to a US medical school as an international student provided you have met some conditions (see below) and I say this from my experience going through the application process this past year for the fall entering class. </p>
<p>However a few things to be aware of:</p>
<p>1) Medical schools depend heavily on federally-backed student loans for financial aid (not merit scholarships) and only US citizens or permanent residents are eligible to receive those. So if you need financial aid, you may not be able to afford US medical school. </p>
<p>2) Some schools (such as Johns Hopkins) require all your tuition + living expenses for all 4 years to be put into an escrow/bank account and will need a letter from the bank for proof before you can matriculate or as part of your application. </p>
<p>3) This won’t be a problem for you, but US medical schools generally require at least 1 year of education at a US undergraduate institution or a postbac program at such a school.</p>
<p>4) Canadian applicants are viewed more favorably than other international students at most schools except when it comes to financial aid. </p>
<p>5) Public/state schools will be much harder for international students to get into because of residency requirements. Texas schools are required to fill 90% of their slots with TX residents, California schools are around 70-80% I believe, Michigan strongly prefers in-state, University of Washington is almost exclusively Washington/Montana/Idaho/Wyoming, etc etc. </p>
<p>But from the point of view of the admissions committee, disregarding the statutory residency requirements or financial requirements, international students who studied in the US are probably treated on par with US citizens/permanent residents. </p>
<p>I would ask on certain popular premed/prehealth forums/websites for a list of international-friendly schools (Vanderbilt, Emory, Penn, etc) and plan accordingly.</p>