hey, I’m planning to apply to the US colleges for a pre-med major (I know there is no such a thing, I just mean some sciences after which I can apply to med school), however, I’m an international student. is it possible for me to get some scholarships and if so at which colleges?
The only universities that offer need based aid to internationals are the topmost universities e.g. Harvard, Stanford etc. They are the most difficult to get into. Some lower ranked universities offer limited merit aid to top international applicants.
You are an international student who wants to be premed? Where do you plan to attend medical school? If you are thinking it will be in the United States, think again. The number of international students accepted to U.S. medical schools is extremely small…and the vast majority of that small number come from Canada.
In addition, if by chance you are in the teeny tiny %age of internationals who do get accepted to medical school here, be prepared to be a full pay medical school student for all four years. You won’t be able to get loans here unless you have a qualified U.S. citizen co-signer…and they would be on the hook for much more than $50,000 a year because you would need money for living expenses as well as tuition.
@WayOutWestMom did I miss anything about international students and Med school?
Now back to your undergrad question…are you a tippy tippy top student who has the potential to even get accepted at schools that meet full need? In addition, there are only 5 colleges that are need blind for admissions and also meet full need for all international students. The others that met full need are not need blind for admissions and will consider your ability to pay when you apply for admission.
I think you need to think your whole plan through a little better.
@thumper1 has it right about the obstacles in the way for international students who wish to attend a US med school. Last year only 124 internationals in total were accepted into all US med school combined; ~85% of those internationals are Canadians.
Additionally all internationals are full pay for their US medical education. Can your family afford the $250K-$450K cost of a US medical education?
If you want to practice medicine in the US, the surer and less expensive path is to attend medical school in your home country, then apply for US medical residency. About 4000 International medical graduates match into US residencies every year.
Just adding…even attending medical school in your country and applying here for residency is not a slam dunk. By the time you apply for residency (should you even get that far), the STEP one test will be pass/fail. This is one item that has (up to now) been used by residency programs as part of their application review for interview invites.
There is speculation that this step one pass/fail will not benefit international applicants. There really is no way to know until a couple of cycles happen. But it’s possible this will happen. Everyone applying for residency will have a Pass score (that is required) so the remainder if the residency application will carry more weight. @WayOutWestMom
Honestly, I would strongly suggest you apply to undergraduate college in your own EU country…or another EU country that is affordable for your family.
One thing that worries me: Getting accepted as an international undergraduate student in the US is vastly easier compared to getting accepted into medical school as an international student. If you attend a university in the US to get your bachelor’s degree, your chances as an international student of getting accepted to medical school in the US is still very, very low.
However, I do not know know whether medical schools in Europe will accept a bachelor’s degree from the US. I thought that you did not even need a bachelor’s degree prior to applying to medical schools in Europe, although I will admit that I do not understand the European medical system.
As such it is not clear to me that studying for a bachelor’s degree in the US is the path towards any medical school anywhere, and I do not think that you would know this for sure until after you have spent a full four years in very tough classes and also spent a lot of money here in the US.
I think that a lot could go wrong with this plan.
I agree - if you want to be a doctor, then go and study medicine in your home country. Once qualified you could apply to the US residency process as Way Out West Mom describes above.