Pursuing Non-degree post bacc with a foreign undergrad degree

Nontraditional Premed Discussion
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Hi…


I am currently pursuing a Post bacc program (non-degree) taking the pre-reqs for med school. I have an engineering degree in Computer science from a foreign university (India). So far…so good I have managed to maintain A and A+ in my fall and summer classes and my science GPA so far is 4.0, hopefully I maintain it the same way. I am also volunteering at a local hospital and hopefully shadow few surgeons in this coming fall/winter. My only question is, is a non-degree with all necessary re-reqs be good enough for med schools.


Thanks,


Jerry

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Unfortunately, American medical schools vary dramatically on how much American coursework they require of foreign degree holders. Some medical schools would be perfectly fine with what you have taken so far. Others would require more American coursework. Unless you want to cover all your bases by taking at least 90 semester hours of American undergraduate coursework, you’re going to have to call the medical schools you are interested in and find out their policies.

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Agreed. Many foreign degree holders end up doing a US undergrad degree in order to make themselves competitive candidates, since there is such a wide variation among schools acceptances of foreign degrees. You need to call/look at the websites of the various schools you are interested in and find out what they are going to require from you. Also, if you are not a citizen or permanent resident of the US, you may also find it difficult to get into medical school in the US. You will want to check policies on citizenship/immigration status at these schools as well.

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JD,


I don’t have concrete answers for you but wanted to point out the following older threads that you may find useful. Good luck.


http://www.oldpremeds.org/fusionbb/showtopic.php?t…


http://www.oldpremeds.org/fusionbb/showtopic.php?t…


http://www.oldpremeds.org/fusionbb/showtopic.php?t…

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Hello all,


First off…tnx for all the quick replies. Just to add some details on my earlier post…I am a Green card holder. I will become a citizen next year. I am planning on taking at least 40 credit hours in my post-bacc course which would cover pretty much most of the “regular” pre-reqs needed by Med schools. As many of you pointed, Med schools differ greatly in their requirements, and in the past many Med school admission offices I contacted had nothing to tell. They just plainly did not have many applicants like me. I am just curious to see if anyone in Oldpremeds went to med school with a foreign under grad combined with a non-degree pre reqs. In the mean time I will continue to contact Med schools regarding this matter.


-JD

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JD


to add to what was said, I am in a similar situation. My first choice school will luckily look at my stuff provided that I still meet the minimum requirements (sciences, math and english). My second choice, which by the way is a DO school won’t even look at my foreign coursework. I also know that both will accept CLEP/AP credits. As such you can already take many of those. For instance and for my part, I can CLEP biology, french, probably spanish, some maths etc. Note that this will hep reach the 90 Credit threshold. You can CLEP computer science stuff as well, psychology, government, history etc… But certain classes cannot (or shouldn’t be clepped). Like OChem and Physics (although you can get AP for physics). As for Biology, I will CLEP it, and in my case it is OK because I have a PhD in Biochem and I teach Biology so, it will not be odd in front of adcom for me to CLEP biol rather than to take the classes I teach. Yet it seems odd to me that some adcom requires me to take the very classes I teach. That shows how stupid the system can be. But a rule is a rule.


Right now I have taken GChem I and OChem I, my averages for both these classes are well over 100 (close to 110) (dah!). I am taking GChem II this fall and I am trying to take STATs and Phys I. Glancing at the stats stuff, I know this already and I have achievements, papers and patents to prove it. Yet I have to take the class…


There is no joking with the pre-reqs. My plan is to take about 30 Cred hours in class and clep another 30 at least. When I reach 60, then I can apply and finish off during the application year.


Hope this helps.

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Despite what a school’s official stance is, OUS undergrad degrees are looked unfavorably upon.

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Dazed


what is a OUS degree? I have no idea (Out of US???).



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  • redo-it-all Said:
Dazed

what is a OUS degree? I have no idea (Out of US?????).



Roger. Outside US or Out of US.
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AS others have pointed out, after I consulted with some Med schools here in MO and KS I decided to start undergraduate degree which am doing right now. So do your homework and hear what they have to say in your situation. Good luck!!

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This is a tough situation. Some schools will take you at a threshold of units (90 units? This would be about 3 years of undergrad courses), but how you stand politically with ADCOMs is a confusing crap-shoot at best. You are on shaky ground without a US bachelors.


-call all the schools you would want to apply to if you are going this route.


Your strongest move may be to stop the post-bacc. Transfer immediately to a university bachelor’s program. If you’re lucky the university may even recognize you as a 2nd bachelor’s student which would waive a lot of general education requirements.


Alternatively, you might be a candidate for a Caribbean Big 4 school with just post-bacc.

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hey i am in a similar situatuion…i have got a foreign undergrad degree in computers(software engineering) and i am planning to do post bacc. i have also heard tht the usa medical schools prefer students with a US Bachelors degree if u dont mind can u tell me from which state r u doing ur post bacc? i m from ny

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Jerry - I am in a similar situation. Well, I have 4 years to citizenship, but recently I had been thinking of going to medical school.


Please share what you find out.


I have a meeting next week with a pre-med advisor and will hopefully have more insight into the matter.



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Hello!
Do you have any updates on whether taking the prerequisites in the US alone is enough?!