How difficult it actually is for a non-US citizen to get into medical school

Hello everyone.

Firstly, thank you for checking and giving your advice/comments/ thoughts.

I am an international student who wants to go to a US medical school. I just graduated from a small, private US college in upstate New York with a 3.9 GPA, and 517 MCAT. My LORs are really good and I have ton of research experience (I’ve worked on 4 projects and wrote 2 thesis in bio and psych). So academically my application is pretty strong I think. but there are few things I am worried about:

1: the only clinical experience I have in US is being a scribe for one year. however, I have ton of shadowing in eastern Europe and I also worked at a hair transplantation clinic for 4 years. I just don’t know how significant this is in the eyes of adcom.
2: I don’t have any clinical volunteering. however I was a philanthropy chair in my frat so we did ton of charity events and volunteering. I also have ton of volunteering hours in my home country.

So my question is, how much of a disadvantage it is to be a non-US citizen, and also how negatively will those 2 things affect my application. I am worried, so I partially decided to get a masters at Albany Medical College, which will provide me with more opportunities for clinical hours and volunteering. the program is free, and I much rather be in school and learn while strengthening my application. do you think this is necessary?

Thank you very much for the feedback!

Do You have a green card? or student visa?
if green card than it is no problem ( I had green card when attending med school and just recently did my citizenship ).
if You have student vise like F or work H visa this may be a problem , mostly with getting student loans but I do not think that adcoms care too much .

which Eastern European country are You from ? I originally come from Poland, came for summer vacation about 17 years ago ( actually exactly 17 years and one week ago :wink: .

Thank you for the reply!

I’m from Georgia, came here 4 years ago for college and now want to stay here indefinitely.

I am here with an F1 visa, but I won’t be taking student loan form an American banks. I have a scholarship and other funds from Georgia so the only thing thats worrying me is Adcoms opinions about the fact that I am from a different country.

I believe it’s quite difficult. My understanding is in their eyes they are putting all of this energy and money into training you and they don’t want you to take it somewhere else … and somehow this is more likely if you are not a citizen/resident ?!? … I’m not sure how much sense that makes but that’s the rational I’ve heard.

You, however, seem to have pretty good stats so I’d think you have a really good chance. Schools that are not state funded would be your best best I think. Here’s a list of schools that accept international students (below). I’m sure there are more so if there are schools you are particularly interested in I’d call and speak to them directly. Also look into DO schools, I’ve spoken to a few that will even accept international degrees (I have an international degree) so being on an F1 visa wouldn’t be a problem for them… The other thing I’d be concerned with in your situation is the F1 visa expiring ? Does it have a limit? What are the rules for after you graduate ?

list of schools :
https://www.medschoolcoach.com/medical-schools-that-accept-international-students/