Should I go overseas to study or stay in the US?

Parents Forum
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<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I'm currently a senior in high school. I've been admitted to a top university in Asia and some good liberal art colleges in the Midwest region studying PT. If I wanted to study overseas during my undergrad, how difficult would it be to be accepted into US grad school in medicine with a foreign degree? It's also a bit cheaper for me to study in Asia by a $5000 difference but overall what's the best action to take? I'd like to hear some parental feedback</p>

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<p>“If I wanted to study overseas during my undergrad, how difficult would it be to be accepted into US grad school in medicine with a foreign degree?”</p>

<p>It may be beneficial to study abroad. </p>

<ol>
<li><p>Medical schools count GPA in admission. Typically, Asian schools are more liberal with A grades than US schools. Thus, you may have a better GPA after an Asian school. </p></li>
<li><p>Recommendation Letters. Again, Asian Prof. may be more liberal with LOR</p></li>
<li><p>What is PT? I think that a top college in Asia may provide better education that Midwestern LAC.</p></li>
<li><p>On the other hand - you will master your English in USA. Helps a lot with MGAT (The Medical College Admission Test).</p></li>
</ol>

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<p>PT means Physical Therapy sorry for not addressing that. </p>

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<p>What about pre-med courses? Would you be able to take them at an Asian university?</p>

<p>To prevent duplicate discussions, the same thread was posted in the International Student forum: <a href=“Should I go overseas to study or stay in the US? - International Students - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/international-students/1644056-should-i-go-overseas-to-study-or-stay-in-the-us.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>If your concern is med school admissions, you might want to try posting this question in the med school forum.</p>

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<p>I agree ask this question in the med school forum. I am almost positive I heard that getting into an American med school with a foreign degree is very, very difficult. Mostly because med schools won’t recognize foreign coursework as equivalent to their US counterparts. It may be different for PT, however, since I don’t believe that requires a med school degree.</p>

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<p>I know that it’s famously difficult to get a US residency with a foreign med school degree. Not sure about getting into a US med school from a foreign college. Will PT contain enough science courses to meet the requirements of med schools?</p>

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<p>One can major in anything and take the required med school courses.</p>

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<p>Well, do you want to be a Physical Therapist or an MD?</p>

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<p>Are you a US citizen?</p>

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<p>Ditto on the what do you want- PT or MD? The two are different fields and you do not do the required years and curriculum in physical therapy to go to medical school. Becoming a PT will not help you in getting into medical school. It is also a waste of the extra years of school and taking the spot from someone who actually wants that field. They changed the degree for PT- instead of taking 5 years for a BS they added some years and award a doctorate in PT. </p>

<p>As above, you can major in anything for medical school as long as you do well (have a good gpa) and take the prerequisite courses. </p>

<p>What are your true reasons for studying in Asia? It could be a wonderful experience, especially if it includes cultural experiences related to your background. Do not do it because you think it will make admissions to American medical schools easier. Why are you interested in medicine? Is it parental influence? If you attend the Asian U what will you major in? Will it be a field you could use for grad school or a career if you do not get into medical school? If the Asian U is that good I would not count on getting a better gpa than at a US U.</p>

<p>Very important also if you are a US citizen going abroad or have resident status here (green card) when it comes time to applying to US medical schools. btw- currently there are more medical school graduates than places in residency programs so a foreign medical degree may make it harder to train in the US, necessary to obtain a US medical license. This is unlike past generations. </p>

<p>Sounds like you need to sort out what you want in life. Expect to change no matter where you go to college. You are still evolving as an adult and college will widen your views. What happens if you change your goals once you are in college? Could you change majors or transfer? The “top” U in Asia may not be as highly regarded in American circles as it is there. If you got into one of the Indian IITs I would be wowed, but that doesn’t sound like the school for a would be medical professional.</p>

<p>Another consideration. The curriculum. Would you get the same breadth education as in the US? Will the courses typically incorporate a lot of critical thinking? H came to the US with an eons ago Indian MBBS (like the US MD), his education was British based (and in English I believe- another issue) and much more memorization without discussion. Don’t know if the system has changed in subsequent decades. I took courses in a wide variety of fields despite my Chemistry major before medical school.</p>

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<p>Californiaa, it’s not right to give this young person guidance when you didn’t even know what PT was. You’re giving misinformation - getting into a US med school with a foreign degree is extraordinarily difficult. </p>

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<p>

</p></li>
</ol>

<p>ALL of this is very poor advice.</p>

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<p>@sorghum,</p>

<p>Thank you. I have a number of friends that went to US Medical Schools with foreign degree in Biology. They were all accepted to really good medical schools. </p>

<p>GPA, Recommendation letters, publication in a scientific journal, (somewhere in the middle, or in acknowledgements), good MCAT - Med schools love it.</p>

<p>MCAT is peanuts for any student, who mastered a respected Asian University. </p>

<p>Besides, physical therapy experience in Asia is a great plus for a doctor in US. </p>

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<p>"You’re giving misinformation - getting into a US med school with a foreign degree is extraordinarily difficult. "
Why do you think so? I have a number of friends who went to Med schools with foreign degrees - in fact, it was fairly easy.</p>

<p>I agree that it is difficult to find a good residence program with foreign medical degree. However, this is not the question.</p>

<p>Medical schools are looking for GPA / MCAT / recommendation letters / something holistic. All of this is much-much easier to get abroad, than in LAC in Midwest. </p>

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<p>Where in Asia do you think it is easy to get an A? Not India, Hong Kong, Singapore or China. Korea maybe, but that’s not gonna work out too well educationally.</p>

<p>Where in Asia do you think they are good at writing LOR? Writing over the top effusive letters, maybe, but convincing letters in the right cultural style, not so much.</p>

<p>You seriously think an Asian PT degree is going to take you into a US medical school? </p>

<p>You think someone who sounds like a native English speaker (the OP) needs to keep up with English for the sake of taking the MCAT?</p>

<p>Now you mention publication as being mentioned in the acknowledgements? This will gain zero credit.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>No.</p>

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<p>You may also consider physician assistant program. It is something between advanced nurse and doctor. Nice salary (100K+). It takes less years of study. The pre-reqs are bizarre, but schools offer plenty of flexibility to accommodate foreigners (personal experience of a relative). <a href=“http://www.aapa.org/”>http://www.aapa.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Do you think that LAC’s in the Midwest are just basically farms with cows or something? Do you not get that they provide rigorous educational experiences, too? Please don’t fall victim to the “I’ve never heard of it, so it can’t be any good” syndrome. It’s not the sign of good critical thinking. </p>

<p>I recognize that you’re new to this country, and have been fed a lot of misinformation - you even admitted your primary info sources are people who aren’t from here. It’s one thing not to know. It’s another thing to pass off your misinformation as fact. You are giving advice about something you know absolutely NOTHING about. Please, stop. It’s not fair to the OP who has a legitimate question. If you don’t know what PT is, don’t participate. If you are just relying on “hunches” as to what’s easiest to get where, please don’t. </p>

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<p>From WOWmom’s past posts:</p>

<p>"International students can be admitted to a approx 1/3 of US med schools (principally private med schools, but some state schools will consider international applicants if they meet certain residency criteria). International applicants need to have completed all their med school pre-reqs at an accredited US or Canadian college or university. Only a handful of US medical school offer financial aid to internationals.</p>

<p>Non-US/Canada degrees are more problematic. Except for UVA** and 3 or 4 osteopathic medical schools, all US med schools require a minimum number of academic credits (typically 90 credits, including all science pre-reqs, but the exact number varies by program) to be earned at a US or Canadian college or university. The reason for this is that AMCAS (the application clearinghouse for all US allopathic medical schools) will not verify foreign transcripts. They don’t have the time, personnel or expertise to do so. Without transcript verification, your application cannot be processed and forwarded to medical schools for consideration.</p>

<p>**UVA has not admitted a student who did not complete a minimum number of credits in the US for very long time."</p>

<p>Kat</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>Less than ~200 internationals get into US med schools each year. You must know some very exclusive people ;)</p>