I am an American citizen, born and raised in the US.
Will attending a University in the UK for undergraduate/pre-med make me an international student?
Will it put me at a disadvantage in any way when applying to US med schools?
Will getting my Pre-Med degree outside the US put me at a disadvantage when applying US Med Schools?
? In your other threads you said you were a prospective Business/Economics/Finance Major.
Your best bet for premed is probably your in-state flagship, if you get accepted.
Yes! Business as my Pre-Med major. Since my GPA isn’t too strong a lot of people on CC are recommending I look into UK schools since they don’t base admissions off of GPA.
One more thing! I wanted to ask, do you think attending UW Seattle for pre-med and med school (in-state) will jeapordize my chances of matching into a competitive specialty? For example, Dermatology is a very competitive specialty. If I were to apply I’d be competing with students who attended higher ranked private institutes…Would attending a public state schools hurt me in the long run?
Well, that was dumb advice. With your ACT score, your GPA is fine for getting into all sorts of colleges in the US – but you asked about highly selective schools (<20% admit rate). But a 35 ACT would get you substantial merit aid at many schools.
You also didn’t mention that you were premed – everything you wrote suggested that you were more potentially focused on international business. Where a degree from a British U. might potentially be useful — though I think with your ACT you are highly likely to be accepted to NYU. You wrote that you liked Gallatin., which might not be the best choice for premed — but NYU has something of a back-door admission system where students who don’t get into their desired school will often be referred to the global liberal studies program, starting their first semester or year at one of the overseas campuses. Which would be fine for a student with an international focus whose parents can afford NYU’s tuition … and who would be planning on a transfer to Gallatin down the line - but horrible for premed, because you wouldn’t be able to enroll in the required courses early on.
I have a family member who is a doctor who attended UW both for undergrad and med school. UW is a highly regarded med school – and the match process is going to depend mostly on your med school grades, board scores, and the evaluations you have from rotations in your specialty. In any case, going to undergrad at UW doesn’t mean you have to go to med school at UW … I just posted the comment above because it makes no sense to go abroad for premed. The common wisdom is to save your money for med school— but it’s not clear if that’s a concern for you or not.
I think if you went abroad for undergrad you’d lose the benefit of premed advising, and you could be foregoing a lot of other opportunities to get experience that would help get into med school.
But you need to take advice you get on a chances thread on CC with a grain of salt, especially when you are giving incomplete or innacurate info about your goals. You might want to ask your parents if they will pay for a private college consultant to at least go over your transcript and discuss your goals - that would be a lot more meaningful, especially if you were working with someone local familiar with your high school. I don’t know how many times on CC I have seen students told they have no chance based on GPA or SATs and then later seen them admitted. A lot of people on CC are looking at things only through the lens of their own experience-- if their friends or their kids had a certain GPA or test scores and didn’t get accepted, they tend to extrapolate that into a belief that no one with weaker stats has a chance. But it just doesn’t quite work that way.
Doing your undergraduate work abroad might hurt you, depending on the way that the grades are translated to the grading system used by AMCAS (the medical school application service in the United States). Many U.S. schools have grade inflation, and I don’t know if that phenomenon has affected schools in the U.K. Your GPA will not be the only factor in selection, but a low GPA (and low MCAT scores) can keep you out of contention.
UW med school is one of the top schools in the country, and it’s extremely difficult to get admitted, even for in-state students. See: https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-medical-schools where it’s ranked #12 for research and #2 for primary care.
It might not have the prestige or breadth/depth of excellence of Harvard or Johns Hopkins, but it’s a top-rated school.
Perhaps to you need to find out more about medical schools. But not right now. It’s good that you’re planning ahead, but I suggest that you slow down a bit and explore the field of medicine and decide that it’s actually a good fit for you. Most high school students don’t know what medicine is like and can’t reasonably make a decision to enter the field. In addition, it’s way too early even to think about picking a specialty. You have at least eight years (likely more).
Choose a college where you will be happy and that is a good fit for you so you can do well academically, extracurricularly, and socially.
That makes sense. I’m trying my best to not let everybody on CC get to my head but it can get quite discouraging. My parent’s have told me to work hard and get in wherever I can and they’ll take care of the financial aspect of it. However, they don’t want me moving out-of-state for a schools that rank similar to UW. They’re really pushing for mw to get into a top 30 if not a top 20 so it’s worth moving out-of-state and paying tuition. I’m just trying to figure out where I’d have the best shot given my GPA.
Hi,
I am no pro at med school admissions. However, I personally know a few international undergrad students that were accepted into many med schools in the US. I don’t know how challenging it was for them to gain acceptance and how many schools they applied to vs were accepted to. But as long as you keep your GPA up, get a competitive score on the MCAT, make sure you have the required courses, shadow, volunteer, research, and complete all of the other requirements, I’m sure you’ll be fine. Are you admitted to a school in the UK already? Also, why are you going so far for undergrad? Is it for the cultural experience? I personally wanted to attend college in the UK, but because I had two years worth of college credits by the time I graduated high school, it made more sense to enroll in a local university and finish my bachelors degree in the US. :neutral:
I understand your parents’ point of view and would tend to agree with them. Partly because I think UW is a great school… so why pay $$$$$$$$$ for anywhere else unless it offers substantially more?
But ranking isn’t the whole story. Some schools are a lot better and more highly respected than their US news ranking would suggest. An example on the west coast would be Reed. And on the east coast almost all of the (former) 7 sisters women’s colleges are considered to be very strong academically. So a lot of good options beyond the Ivy League.
Why don’t you focus right now on which schools would be best for your combination of interests, rather than ranking?
Your college GPA and GMAT scores will largely drive what med schools you may get into. Then, your performance in med school will largely drive the residency options.
Ack- early morning pre-coffee typo— meant MCAT, not GMAT.
@WayOutWestMom could you please comment.
- UW (I’m assuming that means University of Washington) is an excellent college...and has an excellent medical school.
- You have NO WAY to predict your competitiveness for competitive specialties until you have your Step 1 and Step 2 scores.
- Many Med school students learn a lot about specialties during actual rotations...and some find out that what they thought they wanted to do, they don’t want to do.
- Dermatology is a highly competitive specialty....regardless of which medical school you attend.
- Attending medical school outside of the U.S. has the potential to affect residency matching here in the U.S.
- If you plan to practice medicine in the U.S., it would be wise to attend a U.S. medical school.
- @Beangoals the numbers of international students accepted to medical schools is TEENY...and most come from Canada.
My opinion.
If you reside out of this country…how will you be considered as an instate resident at University of Washington?
@thumper1 The OP says they are an American citizen born and raised in the US. My guess is Washington.
I agree with the others that the OP has excellent chances for admission to nice schools in the US (including UW). Matching is a long way off, but even so, UW’s med school is considered quite good from the little I know about it (mainly that it is out of reach for anyone here in my state due to state preference). Folks are curious about it because it’s considered a very good med school…
Eh, yes, google just confirmed even USNews likes them - #2 in Primary Care and #12 overall - hardly a slouch of a school! If one can’t match from there (given correct stats, etc), everyone is in trouble!
I’m trying, right now I’m really looking into NYU and Barnard
OP, you might be less stressed if you focus on researching undergrads in the US that are strong in your major. Possible med school (many change their minds- one of mine did after taking all prereqs with strong grades, but disliking an anatomy and physiology class and lab, so now he is an engineer) and possible residency matches. Take a very deep breath and let go of the Oxford idea if that was only with the goal of attending a US medical school). JMO.
Ah I see, thank you @Creekland
@alejaz NYU? Do you think that if you go to undergrad at NYU it will help you get accepted to NYU Med school (or any other for that matter)? It won’t. Your MCAT, GPA and sGPA, letters of reference, relevant ECs, and your interview will be the key elements for Med school acceptances. Not the name on your undergrad diploma.
Since you are an instate resident for Washington state, I hope you are applying to UW. Getting your undergrad degree there would be terrific. If you apply there for medical school…they do give very strong preference to instate applicants.
No.
Having an international undergrad degree will make your journey more difficult to get accepted to a US medical school. AMCAS, AACOMAS and TMDSAS all will not verify international transcripts. This means you must petition those organizations for a transcript exception–and there is no guarantee the exception will be granted. You must also have your transcript professionally evaluated by a bona fide credentials evaluator.
[2020 AMCAS® Applicant Guide
[/quote]
Even if you have completed your education abroad, it’s strongly recommended/required to complete additional science coursework in the US or Canada.
from Harvard SOM Admissions:
[quote]
One more thing! I wanted to ask, do you think attending UW Seattle for pre-med and med school (in-state) will jeapordize my chances of matching into a competitive specialty?
[/quote]
No. Your entry into a competitive specialty depends on you having a competitive application-- high clerkship grades, high USMLE scores, strong LORs from your specialty preceptors and the Dean of your medical school.
See: [url=<a href="https://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/NRMP-2018-Program-Director-Survey-for-WWW.pdf%5DResults">https://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/NRMP-2018-Program-Director-Survey-for-WWW.pdf]Results</a> of the 2018 NRMP Program Director Survey](<a href="https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fastly.net/production/media/filer_public/b2/23/b223c482-8ba3-44dd-bb1c-8835ac84f3e6/2020amcasapplicantguide-060419.pdf%5D2020">https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fastly.net/production/media/filer_public/b2/23/b223c482-8ba3-44dd-bb1c-8835ac84f3e6/2020amcasapplicantguide-060419.pdf)No actually! I just want the experience of a more competitive undergraduate institution.
I’ve given it a second though and I might not apply, I like the idea of having more pre-med advising in the US 