Hi everyone, I'm currently a junior at a school in Southern California, and I am deciding on where to go to study medicine. I am a fairly good student, I got a 2280 on the sat but I have a 3.1 unweighted gpa and 3.7 weighted gpa. I know I won't get into a good undergrad because my school is competitive. So should I stay and going to an average undergrad and have a chance of getting into med school or go to India. I go to India very often so I have no culture adjustment issues, but in terms of education style how does it compare(teaching style,textbooks,labs). I am fairly happy in India so I wouldn't mind postgrad there. Also would you guys recommend manipal or Apollo which is located in Hyderabad near where I live but idk if it is nri friendly. Thx in advance
Bad undergrad and maybe medschool vs mbbs
- Thread starter RMR630
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Hey RMR630,
I'm from East Coast myself, went to undergrad in NJ, and now graduating this year from a Caribbean Medical school. My family is from Pakistan so I understand the whole going to India/Pak for medical school.
Are you in high school? Have you made up your mind that you want to do medicine? (Just asking). If so, where you go to undergrad doesn't matter much. As long as you do well in undergrad. You can go to a small university, not very well known, but as long as you do well in your classes, maybe do some research - that's what counts. It won't do you very good to an Ivy league school but do sub-par in your academics. Just for example, I met a US med school grad, now a resident, matched into ophthalmology (very competitive). She went to a small liberal arts university for undergrad that I never heard of until then, but went to a top medical school.
My advice: if you want to match in the US, go to school here. If it came down to it, I would personally pick Caribbean before India/Pak. However, the US is best option by far.
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Hi there.
To be honest, if you are having the opportunity to go to US college for undergrad + you have no financial issue; then you should pursue medicine in US only. Frankly speaking, people who has 'average' grades but has the option of staying at where they call home and has no money issue to deal with, should not be seeing any problem with this pathway. Going to india to study medicine itself is not the problem but what you are going to do after you're done with MBBS. If you're going to be staying in India for the rest of your life, then it shouldn't be an issue but if you wanna come back, then residency can become a real pain in the a$$. Moreover residency positions are not increasing compared to the number of new medical school seats.
Not only will you be at a huge disadvantage to a U.S. citizen that has gone to a U.S. school, but you'll be at a disadvantage even when compared to non-U.S. citizen Indians. In 2013, only 60 out of 199 U.S. citizens that went to medical school in India matched. That's just over 30%, not a good match rate at all.
If you hear my personal story, you'd probably faint lol. no seriously though. I finished my schooling in Dubai, I passed my IGCSE (year 10), then i had to do A levels (equivalent to year 11 & 12) but I failed it, so I had to repeat A level. I still failed it in the 2nd time as well. 3 years wasted. Then I went to an engineering university, my dad lost his job so I had to quit that university mid-way. 4 years wasted.Now I'm back in India doing my year 12 AGAIN and then sit for a competitive exam. I really have little to non-existent hope. So when you're looking at you're grade always think about the people that are at a much lower point in their life than you. You can't possibly hope to get into a Ivy-league school but you can certainly look around for a much mediocre school to study medicine.
Good luck
To be honest, if you are having the opportunity to go to US college for undergrad + you have no financial issue; then you should pursue medicine in US only. Frankly speaking, people who has 'average' grades but has the option of staying at where they call home and has no money issue to deal with, should not be seeing any problem with this pathway. Going to india to study medicine itself is not the problem but what you are going to do after you're done with MBBS. If you're going to be staying in India for the rest of your life, then it shouldn't be an issue but if you wanna come back, then residency can become a real pain in the a$$. Moreover residency positions are not increasing compared to the number of new medical school seats.
Not only will you be at a huge disadvantage to a U.S. citizen that has gone to a U.S. school, but you'll be at a disadvantage even when compared to non-U.S. citizen Indians. In 2013, only 60 out of 199 U.S. citizens that went to medical school in India matched. That's just over 30%, not a good match rate at all.
If you hear my personal story, you'd probably faint lol. no seriously though. I finished my schooling in Dubai, I passed my IGCSE (year 10), then i had to do A levels (equivalent to year 11 & 12) but I failed it, so I had to repeat A level. I still failed it in the 2nd time as well. 3 years wasted. Then I went to an engineering university, my dad lost his job so I had to quit that university mid-way. 4 years wasted.Now I'm back in India doing my year 12 AGAIN and then sit for a competitive exam. I really have little to non-existent hope. So when you're looking at you're grade always think about the people that are at a much lower point in their life than you. You can't possibly hope to get into a Ivy-league school but you can certainly look around for a much mediocre school to study medicine.
Good luck
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C
CharakaComplex
For what it's worth, the undergrad school you go to doesn't factor in at all when you apply for medicine in the US. You just need good grades, a good MCAT score, a stellar personal statement (writing is a skill that can be developed wherever you are) and of course the pre-med requirements, not to mention excellent rec letters.
Now, there are around 40/250 NRI people in my Indian MBBS class of whom 20-ish did apply to the US (one girl got into Johns Hopkins!!! but money became and issue which is why she ended up coming here). Most of them regret it, since Indian higher education is very unfriendly to those not used to the Indian education system. There is a massive amount of memorising going on, the professors literally walk all over you (especially if you're an NRI/OCI) and resources may not be that great even in good medical schools like mine, and it'll be very difficult to get involved in research. Pros are the Indian MBBS is equivalent to the US MD so you'll be done a lot earlier, it's ultimately cheaper (important consideration) and you'll see a tonne of patients (when the professors feel like explaining things to you).
I think your best option, if you want to practice in the US, is to:
Either way, whatever path you choose involves you working hard and again, setting your nose to the grindstone. It's entirely your prerogative. So good luck and I hope this helped.
Now, there are around 40/250 NRI people in my Indian MBBS class of whom 20-ish did apply to the US (one girl got into Johns Hopkins!!! but money became and issue which is why she ended up coming here). Most of them regret it, since Indian higher education is very unfriendly to those not used to the Indian education system. There is a massive amount of memorising going on, the professors literally walk all over you (especially if you're an NRI/OCI) and resources may not be that great even in good medical schools like mine, and it'll be very difficult to get involved in research. Pros are the Indian MBBS is equivalent to the US MD so you'll be done a lot earlier, it's ultimately cheaper (important consideration) and you'll see a tonne of patients (when the professors feel like explaining things to you).
I think your best option, if you want to practice in the US, is to:
- Go to US undergrad. Even though 3.1 is a difficult to work with unweighted GPA the SAT is nothing to laugh at - so it'll come down to you writing a superb statement and your extracurriculars and achievements if you want to go to a particularly esteemed school.
- Rock US undergrad (nose to the grindstone). Get As across the board, make good friends with the professors, take all the required classes, A+ MCAT prep, basically just work your ass off keeping in mind that it'll be worth it.
- Apply to US med schools.
Either way, whatever path you choose involves you working hard and again, setting your nose to the grindstone. It's entirely your prerogative. So good luck and I hope this helped.
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