It seems that there are more med schools accepting int’ls these days but some aspects still aren’t that clear. When SOM’s are reporting numbers, are they including Green Card residents?
As for those without Green Card status, it seems that more are demanding escrow accts or other proof that $300k+ school expenses can be paid.
I do have an old link about int’l admissions. Does anyone here have any more recent data?
Below was posted by an int’l applicant:
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[Tuiition escrow expectations] depends on the med school and where you are a citizen.
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Some med schools require that you show finances (escrow account or letter of credit) to cover all four years, others will require that you pay the first year up front (usually only if you are Canadian). This does not affect admissions decisions and you will be required to do it once you are accepted for your visa to be processed.
The exact amount varies. I received an e-mail from Wash U saying they require $315000 up front from international students. I would advise that you do your research on each school and contact them if necessary to avoid wasting time/money on the application and interview process if you won’t be able to pay once you are accepted.
It makes sense that a school would require an international applicant to show ability to pay for all four years. Otherwise the student would have to plead for assistance later or drop out.
Oh, I totally agree. I think that’s why the demand is there. I read somewhere that one of two med schools were having trouble with int’ls who could show funds for one year, and then would have to drop out. At one time, it seemed like only one year of funds was demanded, and some would cobble enough to enroll and (I guess) hope that the school would fund them later. ??
Green card holders (permanent US residents) are NOT counted as internationals when schools report acceptances/enrollments to AMCAS.
RE: escrow account requirements–
AAMC and LCME requires all US med schools to report their drop-out rates. LCME uses the drop out rate as a factor in accreditation. If the drop out rate gets too high (think >5%) for any reason, the school is placed on probation–which is something all med schools want to avoid like the plague.
I think most of the increase in the number of international applications/international matriculants you’re seeing is due to Canadian applicants. Admission to med school in Canada is extremely difficult (think California on steroids) and getting a residency slot in Canada as a IMG is also extremely difficult (tougher than in the US) so more Canadians are applying to US schools. Because both US and Canadian med schools are accredited by the same organization, Canadian grads of US med schools are not considered IMGs in Canada. (Also the Canadian government provides special loans for Canadian citizens attending med school in the US.)
Thanks WOWmom. The int’l numbers seem to be growing, but that fact may be misleading to non-Canadians who might now be thinking that they have an easier chance.
Looking at the data listed on the page – 115 internationals matriculated into US allopathic med schools (MD and MD/PhD) in 2014 and 52 of the internationals matriculating were at med schools that only consider Canadian applicants. So at a minimum, 45% of the internationals matriculating into US med schools were Canadian citizens.
Very interesting. There was a non-Canadian int’l student posting a few months ago and he was argueing with posters claiming that his chances were no different than domestics. There was no convincing him.
“The complete list of US and Canadian medical schools that accepted international students in 2013 can be found in the interactive table below. During this year, the total of 1,088 non-US citizens/residents applied, 115 of which (10.6%) matriculated (from the official AAMC table). To the best of my knowledge, a summarizing list for international students of similar extent has not been previously published.”
“Int’s Matriculated” = Percentage of international MD applicants (possibly including students with “Legal Residence Unknown”) who matriculated in 2013 [applied/interviewed/MD matriculated/MD-PhD matriculated]; where in brackets, figure was “0” in 2013, so the stated value is from 2012
(For example: Keck U SCali had 0 international students accepted in 2013 [=“0.00%”], but 1 student was accepted in 2012 [="(1)"])"
Med Schl St $Cost GPA MCAT Can? %Int'ls Matriculated Rank
Harvard MA 78,975 3.93 37 No 1.73% [463/54/8/(2)] 1
Keck USC CA 82,100 3.75 35 No 0.00% [286/0/(1)/0] 31
The reason I think that reported number is very low is simply because of the number of int’l premeds at schools like UCLA, Berkeley, Ivies, S, UChi, etc. Maybe many are advised to not apply? Maybe the rather new policy of showing 4 years of financials is lowering the more recent numbers, I don’t know. For some reason, I remember seeing a report a few years ago which had a number like 4000.
I’ve never seen reports anywhere close to 4000 international applying to med schools.
And if you look at the pre-med advising pages at places like JHU, Yale, Amherst, U Chicago, WashU etc, they all advise of the extremely difficulty of internationals getting accepted. The NAAHP has issued several white paper advisories to its members over the past decade about advising international students that their chances being able to enroll in a US med schools are poor.
The requirement for 4 years of tuition & fees in escrow isn’t new; at most places it’s been required for at least a decade.
Maybe…I remember seeing the req’t of one year financials, not too long ago, but I don’t know the ratio of 4 years to 1 years.
this is must be a mistake. UNH reports this:
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Matriculation of International Students to US Medical Schools
There were 20,071 international applicants to US medical schools in 2011. Out of these, 228 (1%) matriculated to the first-year class. Of the 54 medical schools that matriculated international students into the first year class, 35 (65%) were private schools and 19 (35%) were public schools.
The one international med student that I know of at the moment is married to a US citizen and is in the process of obtaining his US citizenship. I wonder how many of the international med students who were admitted to US med schools fall into this category.