Med school in US almost impossible for international students.

[FreddyTaco]

I have wanted to study medicine in the US for a really long time, but I recently found out that gaining admission is borderline impossible for international students..

Questions:

1. Is it easier to gain admission in other countries (specifically Aus, UK, Can, Ger)? Or is it pretty much the same in every country when it comes to university admittance for international students?

 

2. Is it nearly impossible to gain admission to other programs in the US, or is it exclusively medicine? (like engineering)

 

3. I believe (not sure) gaining admission to a university in the UK is easier for people within the EU, (they are admitted with the same criteria as domestic applicants.), is this true? What about Norway? We are not in the EU, but in the EEA.

 

 

[Rahul]

I have wanted to study medicine in the US for a really long time, but I recently found out that gaining admission is borderline impossible for international students..

Questions:

1. Is it easier to gain admission in other countries (specifically Aus, UK, Can, Ger)? Or is it pretty much the same in every country when it comes to university admittance for international students?

 

2. Is it nearly impossible to gain admission to other programs in the US, or is it exclusively medicine? (like engineering)

 

3. I believe (not sure) gaining admission to a university in the UK is easier for people within the EU, (they are admitted with the same criteria as domestic applicants.), is this true? What about Norway? We are not in the EU, but in the EEA.

 

One thing you really should be aware of is that medical school in Canada and the US is a four-year program that takes places after undergraduate studies. This means that if you were aiming to go to medical school in North America, you would not be applying after IB but after undergrad. The MCAT (medical college admissions test) is also required.

 

Medical schools have varying requirements for what counts as an international applicant - for some programs, it may be possible to complete an undergraduate degree where you plan to go to med school, be qualified as a domestic applicant under the guidelines of the program, and then have the same chance as other domestic applicants.

 

Also, know that medical schools tend to also give preference to applicants that are residents of the state or province that they are in, and that medical schools in Canada are markedly more competitive than those in the US.

 

It is generally quite a bit more challenging to get in as an international student for all programs - the more competitive the university, the more competitive it is to get in, as well.

I can't speak to the third question, but I hope I was able to be of some help.

[khimberleigh]

In Australia, gaining admittance for medicine as an international student is the same as for a local student, in fact it's actually easier because the score requirement is lower for some reason, though the cost is higher. Like in Canada and the USA you need to complete a bachelor degree (usually in biomed) first. Australian Universities only care about your final IB grade for admission. And if English is not your first language you have to pass certain language requirements, but from your first post I would say that won't be an issue for you. To get into a bachelor of biomed at Melbourne university (No. 1 in Australia) you needed in 2014 an IB score of 37 and at least a 4 in English (SL or HL), Maths (SL or HL, not studies) and Chemistry (SL or HL). I don't know off the top of my head what the entry requirements for other Australian universities but they will most likely be the same or less than at Melbourne. You can check out their websites to find that information.

Also, keep in mind that Australian universities start in March and applications occur in August.

 

EDIT: I just remembered that you may also need to sit this test called the UMAT or ISAT to get into any undergraduate health sciences related course.

Edited September 8, 2014 by khimberleigh

[FreddyTaco]

Thank you both SO much for answering my questions, they were both really helpful   Hopefully I'll be enjoying life down under in a few years time!

Edited September 9, 2014 by FreddyTaco

[flinquinnster]

I'm only going to add a few things to what khimberleigh has already said. Although it's definitely true that some universities will only accept postgraduate medicine students (with a focus on science students, though some universities will take you with an arts degree and the right exams/interviews), in Australia (as with in the UK) it is possible to study medicine undergraduate. Off the top of my head, UNSW and UWS will accept undergraduate students - though I suspect that some states like New South Wales (applying through UAC) offer far more options for undergraduate medicine than Victoria (applying through VTAC). As mentioned, you will have to sit additional exam(s) - they make look out references/transcript, and an interview is also likely. Since I'm lazy, I'm just going to direct you to something I wrote here about undergraduate medicine in Australia, which is my best attempt as a non-med student to explain things. The only big thing I'd reiterate is that studying medicine is going to be quite expensive, and the practicalities of where you would be able to work may be difficult! But if you're willing to give it a go and try applying in Australia, best of luck.

[susanne]

Come to Australia, it's so good for International Student it's unfair

 

(by that I mean, as an Australian, applying for undergrad med is almost impossible because US and Canada does not offer undergrad med. Plus doing medicine in Canada is a residency thing only

 

also, if I want to save some money by going to study med in Germany or Sweden, it's impossible for me because I do not have a PR in either country

 

plus, Australia has way more international scholarship (with bigger sums of money than many other countries))