Taking all my pre-med requirements as a non-degree student??

<p>What would you all do if you were in my situation? As in, which schools (given you were accepted to ANY university outside the US… in some ideal situation) would you go to? (to make your chances high for entering med school)</p>

<p>As wowmom pointed out, some schools out there will consider UK degree. It is upto you to figure them all out. It sounds like you can always to a masters in US to get your undergrad accredited before you apply.</p>

<p>Medical schools in US are not easy to get into. It is not just the choice of the school that is an issue but all the other pieces you need to make the cut. You go to UMD, you qualify for all schools, you go to Canadian schools you qualify, you go to school in UK, you will have to figure out which schools will even let you apply.</p>

<p>OP:
AMCAS does not accept foreign transcripts. None of my work at St. Andrews was considered by any of the AMCAS schools I applied to as they did not even see my transcript. This means that you cannot apply to most allopathic medical schools in the US if you graduate from St. Andrews without doing at least the basic requirements in the US. You do not want to be limited in which schools you can apply to by any means like having graduated from a foreign institution. </p>

<p>Also you need to understand that there is little to no flexibility in terms of courses you can take at St. Andrews. I highly doubt you could take all or even most of the medical school pre-requisities there in any specific degree program.</p>

<p>You could come home during the summers and take your pre-med requirements or at least the majority of them as a transient (non-degree seeking) student to knock out the majority of them before you graduate, but that would be a lot of work. One major disadvantage that would come with being a non-degree seeking student would be your low registration priority which would probably prevent you from taking courses in an order that made sense. Fortunately due to the short academic year at St. Andrews you’d still have about a month or two of summer even after a two summer semester session at a US institution. 3 summers would allow you to do the basic requirements with a rather packed schedule, but that translates to only about 40-45 credit hours. You could make up some of the rest of the 90 hours (if needed?) with winter mini-mesters or online courses.</p>

<p>My advice is do not attend St. Andrews or any other institution outside of the US if you intend to go to medical school in the US/practice in the US. Stay in the US, go to an affordable school (i.e. in-state public) unless money is truly not a concern–pedigree doesn’t matter that much for medical school admissions–excel at whichever school you have chosen, and spend the money saved to travel during summers or do a study abroad program through your school if you continue to be plagued by Fernweh. You can always take a gap year undergrad and medical school if you must too. </p>

<p>WayOutWestMom:

While I agree with your last statement, AMCAS schools will not see OP’s foreign transcript so this is less of a concern especially if he or she graduates with a degree other than biology or chemistry.</p>

<p>In any case, I had to repeat several classes due to rejected transfer equivalency petitions for US coursework. I had a very successful application cycle, and I was never asked at any point during the application process why I ended up re-taking (because I was forced to by my degree issuing institution). In fact, I was given a hard time for opting to take advanced courses in lieu of basic science courses to fulfill the requirements by a few top 20 allopathic schools.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Really? Would you please name them?</p>

<p>The schools that son interviewed that were the top MD schools that did NOT give him a hard time for taking more difficult courses were:</p>

<p>Harvard
Cornell
U of Michigan
UNC</p>

<p>all I can think of now…was 2 years ago</p>

<p>Kat</p>

<p>From Yale:

</p>

<p>I was also told virtually the same thing in person by representatives from Chicago, Johns Hopkins, WashU, and Penn.</p>

<p>[Pre-Medical</a> Requirements > Admissions | Medical Education | Yale School of Medicine](<a href=“http://medicine.yale.edu/education/admissions/apply/premed.aspx]Pre-Medical”>http://medicine.yale.edu/education/admissions/apply/premed.aspx)</p>

<p>BTW, also from the Yale link:

</p>

<p>I do mind naming the schools as specific interviewers are not necessarily representative of the institutions,and as such naming names doesn’t do anyone favors in this situation.</p>

<p>I mentioned it as more of something that struck me as odd on the interview trail NOT advice to go by; it may have just been a stress test. But perhaps it was that my biology requirement were filled by a very specific field; I had no lack of advanced coursework in any other required concentrations.</p>

<p>As far as the OP what US schools did you apply to besides JHU and U of Maryland? Any others?</p>

<p>Kat</p>

<p>Oh yes, I applied to loads of schools here in the US but I can only go to them based on whether I get financial aid. And although I have a spot at JHU, it’s 60,000 a year. I applied to Tulane, Brown, Wesleyan, Dartmouth, George Washington U., Carnegie Mellon, Northeastern (though they haven’t received my SAT scores as of today yikes… I need to call tomorrow!)… I applied to William and Mary but they will only consider my as a transfer student so I’ll find out May 1st, which is killing me (I am taking non degree classes at GWU)</p>

<p>If I get into any school here in the US that is relatively cheap (overall around 30,000 or less) I will probably go. But as of now I am trying to weigh the pros and cons of going to St. Andrews and come back and doing a post bacc. (which sounds soooo time consuming!) or going to U of Toronto if I get in.</p>

<p>Do you have to apply to 15 months in advance for Med schools? Because it doesn’t seem that bad to just to a post-bacc if I’m reviewing material in some subjects anyways. Wouldn’t I just be waiting for a decision during the 15 months that I do the PB? Or do I have to wait to complete it to apply?</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Yes, the process takes ~15 months from the first day applications open to matriculation. </p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Yes, you will have to have a transcript showing that you’ve completed all/most the pre-reqs at the time you submit your application. Even if you have a wonderful MCAT score, schools will not consider applicants who are missing grades for all or most of their pre-reqs. </p>

<p>I’m not even sure your application would get verified and forwarded to schools if you have no pre-reqs completed or are missing the majority of them. </p>

<p>Adcomms want to be able to specifically look at certain course grades. Reputedly OChem and physics grades are often closely scrutinized.</p>

<p>Then based on that info I would advise to wait until all the decisions regarding your acceptances have been completed along with financial aid info.</p>

<p>Your best option would be to attend a US medical school which is affordable to your family and which would be the best fit for you. Fit would be based on your academic goals and social needs.</p>

<p>I know you are antsy with the wait. Bu take it as a gift giving you more time to really research what it is you want…1) attend a US medical school and 2) practice in the US. Based on that you have time to research the various medical schools and their pre-reqs, not just academic classes but volunteer, community, shadowing, new MCAT test and ECs.</p>

<p>You are doing yourself a favor now by looking at what is really required for medical school apps and attendance. It is a long road and this is just the beginning of years and years of training. And if money is a concern for undergrad, take a look at the COA for medical schools. It might be surprising and it goes up EVERY year.</p>

<p>The median indebtedness for public med schools (in-state) is $160,000 and for private is $190,000, for LAST year. And it goes up every year.</p>

<p>Your best bet for med school acceptance is a super GPA, a nice MCAT, great ECs, at a school you will really enjoy, at a price your family can afford…while looking to med school COAs.</p>

<p>Kat</p>

<p>OP–</p>

<p>kat brings up an excellent point that hasn’t been mentioned so far: ECS. ECs are critical for medical school acceptance. As much as a good GPA and strong MCAT score. Attending college in Scotland, Australia, Canada or elsewhere will limit your opportunities to gain experience and exposure to medicine as a field and a career in the US. </p>

<p>While you could concievably shadow and volunteer in UK/Canada, your experience would be with how medicine is practiced in those countries, not in the US. US medical schoools want applicants who are familiar with the US healthcare system since that is where you will be practicing after graduation.</p>

<p>I realize you have concerns about the cost of your undergrad education–and you should have them. But you also need to consider the long term benefits/risks of saving some money by going out of the country for college. Will your UK degree get you where you want to be in 4 years? Will the money saved on your undergrad be more be consumed by the costs of post-bacc and your living expenses for 2-3 years? </p>

<p>Also ask: what is your time worth? If you spend 4 years getting a less expensive degree, then another 2-3 years waiting to start medical school (post-bacc plus application period), you’ve lost 3 potential years of a doctor’s income. Your income loss could very well offset the lower costs of a foreign degree.</p>

<p>So this is the time to step back, think, and do your research before you make any hasty decisions based on hopes and hearsay.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>