<p>Hellw I am a UK student who will be be an undergrad in Sept of next year(2008). My cousins, all from my father's side of the family, live in either Cananda or the States. They know I am applying for Unis in the States and are v supportive. Although most of them agree on the point that although coming to a US Uni is good, they feel i'ts not worth the international fees unless I get in somewhere like Harvard.</p>
<p>This is where my problem comes in. I live in the UK and will depending on my AS results, which hopefully will be good, be definitely be applying to Cambridge or Oxford-one or the other since you can't apply to both if you're a UK resident. I feel that I may, god be willing, have a good chance of getting into medicine-which is what I am planning to do. However at the same time, the notion of going to Harvard is something that I have always thought about. In the UK I think I can finish my course earlier than at Harvard. </p>
<p>I cannot afford to go over to the States and visit the place(Harvard or any other US Unis for that matter)- I feel very uncomfortable with the fact I am going into this with a blindfold on. I know internationalk students for medicine find very hard to get places. So I was just wondering is it worth it for me to apply to Harvard or any States Unis at all? and also how does Harvard compare to Oxbridge? </p>
<p>international students have a MAJOR disadvantage in the med school application process. also, if you're deciding btwn cambridge/oxford and harvard, i think you should be asking yourself "where do I want to spend the rest of my life?" Most people who wanna do their schooling in the US usually want to establish residency and live in the US.
As to whether you should apply to harvard, it really depends on your grades. I'm not sure how the UK system works, but you're going to need the top scores. If you have the scores, then call the schools you're interested in and see if they have any additional requirements for international students.</p>
<p>Assuming you do not get a full scholarship, how are you going to pay the tuition, room and board and fees it takes to go to Harvard,if you can not afford airfare.</p>
<p>I can afford airfare, that is if I get into harvard Ill be able to afford a one way ticket but right now just to visit the place and come back to the UK I can't afford especially a peak period airfare- I am on a student budget and asking my parents is out of the question-since they also need to provide for my sisters.</p>
<p>Still back on topic, which is better Oxbridge or Harvard?</p>
<p>"If you want to practice medicine in the US, I feel comfortable advising you to attend a US medical school."</p>
<p>Securing a spot in a US residency, a virtual requirement for practice in the US, will become much more difficult in the next decade since US medical schools are increasing output while graduate medical education funding (= number of residency spots) is not increasing. In this zero sum game, training additional AMG's will likely come at the expense of IMG's.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Based on the fall 2006 survey of U.S. medical schools, the AAMC estimates that first-year U.S. M.D. enrollment will grow to nearly 19,300 in 2012 from 16,488 in 2002?an increase of 17 percent. This is a significant and encouraging step toward the AAMC-recommended increase of 30 percent by 2015. The expected increase primarily reflects enrollment growth at existing medical schools, with three quarters of existing schools indicating a likelihood of some increase compared to 2002 enrollment. While several new medical schools are expected to open in the coming decade, their enrollment by 2012 is expected to be limited.
<p>
[quote]
Perceiving a looming shortage of physicians, US allopathic medical schools have started ramping up enrollments. But unless an expansion in GME is planned for now and funded soon, in just a few years the growing numbers of US MDs will only compete with IMGs and DOs for the same number of residency slots.</p>
<p>The AMA believes the current caps on federally funded residency slots should be removed and all payers (not just Medicare and Medicaid) should contribute to the costs of GME--but for now, that message hasn't resonated in Congress.
<p>In addition, the Medicare indirect medical education payment (= GME) may be cut 1% to increase DRG payments for complex patients.</p>
<p>The good news, at least for AMG's, is that many residency spots still go unfilled.
[quote]
A few highlights from the recent 2007 National Resident Matching Program Match:</p>
<ul>
<li>An increase of nearly 200 US seniors over 2006 reflects recent increases in medical school enrollment
<ul>
<li>IMG participation also increased (by 9 percent) </li>
<li>The number of available residency positions was the highest in Match history, with 27,944 applicants competing for one of 21,845 first-year positions</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>
<p>The [number of positions,] overall fill rate and percentage of positions filled by US seniors provide clues on the relative competitiveness of specialties:</p>
<p>Specialty Positions Overall US Seniors
Family medicine 2,603 88.3% 42.1%
Internal medicine 4,798 98.4% 55.9%
Obstetrics/gyne 1,155 99.5% 72.5%
Surgery 1,057 99.8% 78.1%
<p>Anyways assuming that my uncles, aunts, parents, parents' friends etc.. are willing to fund my state education, does that mean I have a better chance to get into grad school for medicine?</p>
<p>No it doesnt give you a better chance. I personally would love to go to Oxford and think Harvard is overrated but that's just my opinion. And I also believe that you must have a permanent residency or citizenship to even be considered for med school.</p>
<p>And BDM, airfair is more than 700 dollars round trip, especially buying it on the spot instead of reserving it months before.</p>
<p>At GW, internationals must apply to the five year program.
[quote]
An applicant who is not a US Citizen, current US Permanent Resident or Canadian Citizen, may apply to GW's International Medicine Program. (Phone: 202-994-2796). This is a five year program that prepares non-US citizens for medical practice in their home countries. Applicants must be sponsored by their government or a medical institution in their home country. Please note that international students may not apply to the regular four year MD program.
<p>At UCSF, admission for internationals will be "very difficult" without permanent residency status.
[quote]
The UCSF School of Medicine accepts applications from foreign students who have completed a minimum of one year of college in an accredited U.S. college. It is very difficult to gain entry, however, without holding a permanent resident visa or US citizenship.
<p>I know that getting a green card in the US is a long and tedious process. However, my cousin went through her US education(she's canadian) on her dad's card, caus like her dad works in a big company in the US, and so her mum, her brother and herself are all on his passport or summin like that. Is it possible for me to do summin similar? But the problem with this is that she's not going to do her Masters, she's done Finance and Economics and already has her job. She doesn't want to do her master's. But even if she wanted to she probably couldn't because she's now a legal adult and needs her own green card.</p>
<p>lethargytm: I think Oxford is great too. I visited twice and it's amazing. Consider applying there. Oxbridge usually only wants students that are academically able, unlike the Ivies. I think being a US student, u'd have a gd chance.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Oxbridge usually only wants students that are academically able, unlike the Ivies.
[/quote]
So you think that HYP accept students that are not "academically able"?</p>
<p>My two cents to the Oxford vs Harvard debate: you can get your Oxford medical degree in 6 years but the Harvard degree (undergrad and grad) takes 8 years. In addition, when you get admitted to Oxford you know for sure that you are in a medical program but being accepted to Harvard college does by far not guarantee you a spot in HMS or other top medical schools that award aid to intls.</p>
<p>SOz b@r!um, soz I did not mean to make it look as if I said, HYP students are not academically able, but that Oxbridge only look for students that are academically able, they may say otherwise but they have practically told us that when we went to visit Oxford. HYP expect academically able student, but they also want the whole ****abang- like atheltic prowess, debating ability YKWIM? anyways, the reason why I am thinking about applying HYS is because, I know that if I want to get into an US Medical School, I have a better chance if I had a US undergrad qualification. I read that on a link, that someone sent me somewhere. Does that hold any truth?</p>
<p>I don't know about other med schools but HMS considers ONLY international applicants that did at least one year of their undergrad in the US.
In every other country you start med school right out of high school; only in the US you have to get a Bachelor's degree in another subject first (which is why you should get a Bachelor's degree in the States in order to apply to US med schools). Pre-med in college means nothing else but taking introductory organic chemistry, introductory biology and Calculus - pretty much the same stuff British students do in their A Levels.</p>
<p>I guess I just don't understand why you want to go to a US medical school so badly. Med school (incl undergrad) in the US takes 8 years vs 5-6 years in most other countries and it involves a HUGE amounf of debt (unless your family can pay 60K/year out of pocket for four years).</p>
<p>To b@r!um: to answer your question on why I want to do medicine in the US so badly, well actually me wanting to do medicine is somewhat something I decided rather recently, but like wanting to go to Harvard, like it's been since I first heard of it when I was like 7. </p>
<p>I guess now that I'm so close to applying and actually having a chance of getting in, I would just be ready to do anything, because to me that's my dream school. But then again, I don't want to just do my undergrad there. I want to Major at their University as well, which in the UK is pretty much a self-assured thing, but you need to take exams like the MCAT as well, like they have the GMAT, which a selection of top old university like Oxbridge and Exeter require students to take. So in that sense it's not that different. </p>
<ul>
<li>In the UK at the moment, young doctors are crying all over the UK, because the NHS cant find them jobs because of a new improved system. Frankly I never wanted to work in the UK, as a doctor even less. The system just sucks. That's why I wanted to go to the US, because I know that if need be I'll work at the same time and my parents and family I know will be willing to fund me.</li>
</ul>
<p>Also, working in the US has more advantages and opportunities than working in England. I always thought about doing research, and from what I've heard American Universities have better funding and so facilities for that. I could also start researching early whilst at many and I think all UK undergrad medical programs I could only do that after I've graduated. </p>
<p>So I dont know even though the UK seems to give an assured job in medicine, it's just soo hard like it is I guess in any country to get in. I guess applying to the US is widening my horizons</p>
<p>If Harvard/Yale/Princeton(I have not applied because they don't do medicine), I think i applied HYS and U Penn. But aside from 4 US colleges, I have not applied anywhere in the UK yet. That I will do once I have done and received my AS results this summer. But Im thinking about applying one of the Oxbridge, Imperial and Nottingham(you can only apply to 4 Unis if you're applying for Medicine) Everyone is allowed 6/7 choices can't rmb. Med Students only 4 for med, and then can have 2/3 depending on total number of choices allowed as extras, like you could apply for biochem, or similar and hope to be able to transfer into the medical class after three years. Of course that's the hardest route. But then again getting straight into Med Course esp the really gd worldwide approved ones, is not the easiest thing either. Hope that helps.</p>