International student scholarship chances

[frydlins]

Hi all,

I am currently an undergrad Biochemistry student at a pretty big private college. I just finished my freshman year with 4.0 GPA. I am from Europe and I always wanted to go to med school, but I am in the US for a full athletic scholarship. My plan was to finish undergrad here and do med school back at home. But when I talked to my advisor few weeks ago, he told me that thanks to my NCAA DI full scholarship and 4.0 GPA I could get an interview in any med school I'd want. Since we do not pay for college at home, the only chance I could do med school here would be with a full scholarship. Do you think it's possible for me to get one? Or there is just no chance? I know it's very rare

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[bluemamba7]

Hi all,

I am currently an undergrad Biochemistry student at a pretty big private college. I just finished my freshman year with 4.0 GPA. I am from Europe and I always wanted to go to med school, but I am in the US for a full athletic scholarship. My plan was to finish undergrad here and do med school back at home. But when I talked to my advisor few weeks ago, he told me that thanks to my NCAA DI full scholarship and 4.0 GPA I could get an interview in any med school I'd want. Since we do not pay for college at home, the only chance I could do med school here would be with a full scholarship. Do you think it's possible for me to get one? Or there is just no chance? I know it's very rare

You’re doing good right NOW as a freshmen, keep it up

 

[getdown]

Very unlikely but depends on how good your stats are coming out.

 

[gyngyn]

It is not impossible for an international to be successful in garnering an acceptance but most medical schools do not consider them. Only 49 MD schools considered them last year (and many of those matriculated none).
The ones that do consider internationals matriculate a very small number.
The odds of a full scholarship are quite small unless the school has a large unrestricted private endowment.
This article is from 2015. At that time there were 62 schools that accepted applications from those without permanent residency:
https://students-residents.aamc.org...ool/article/applying-international-applicant/

 

[Docdoc10]

Hi all,

I am currently an undergrad Biochemistry student at a pretty big private college. I just finished my freshman year with 4.0 GPA. I am from Europe and I always wanted to go to med school, but I am in the US for a full athletic scholarship. My plan was to finish undergrad here and do med school back at home. But when I talked to my advisor few weeks ago, he told me that thanks to my NCAA DI full scholarship and 4.0 GPA I could get an interview in any med school I'd want. Since we do not pay for college at home, the only chance I could do med school here would be with a full scholarship. Do you think it's possible for me to get one? Or there is just no chance? I know it's very rare

I know a couple of people who got free-tuition, one at Tulane and one at Cleveland clinic, so it is definitely possible but extremely rare.

 

[God'sOwn]

You could have a really good chance of getting one if you score above 95 percentile on your MCAT.

 

[differentiating]

You could have a really good chance of getting one if you score above 95 percentile on your MCAT.

Even then, there’s a small chance of a full scholarship, rather than a “really good” one. As @gyngyn noted above, full scholarships are rare, as are schools who take international students.

That being said, this thread is incredibly premature regardless, given that OP is only a freshman. Who knows whether she’ll be able to maintain that GPA, much less have everything else necessary for a successful application.

 

[God'sOwn]

Even then, there’s a small chance of a full scholarship, rather than a “really good” one. As @gyngyn noted above, full scholarships are rare, as are schools who take international students.

That being said, this thread is incredibly premature regardless, given that OP is only a freshman. Who knows whether she’ll be able to maintain that GPA, much less have everything else necessary for a successful application.

I know that, but the main point of my answer is that there is a chance. That is what the OP wants to know. She can work from a point of knowing what other people have done to attain scholarships to increase her chances even if it is not a definite. And, from what I have observed people above a certain percentile of MCAT, with great ECs (that interests schools), and GPA have a greater percentage of getting a scholarship than does who do not. I believe the word I meant to use was not really good, but better.

 

[differentiating]

I know that, but the main point of my answer is that there is a chance. That is what the OP wants to know. She can work from a point of knowing what other people have done to attain scholarships to increase her chances even if it is not a definite. And, from what I have observed people above a certain percentile of MCAT, with great ECs (that interests schools), and GPA have a greater percentage of getting a scholarship than does who do not. I believe the word I meant to use was not really good, but better.

I know of many students with high stats/good ECs/top 20 acceptances with no scholarship offers at any schools. I just wanted to make it clear to OP that the chance is very small and not to bank on it as a means of paying of medical school, so that she doesn’t have false hope.

 

[God'sOwn]

I know of many students with high stats/good ECs/top 20 acceptances with no scholarship offers at any schools. I just wanted to make it clear to OP that the chance is very small and not to bank on it as a means of paying of medical school, so that she doesn’t have false hope.

Exactly what I am saying, but it doesn't hurt to try.

 

[God'sOwn]

A very small chance is a chance. It's possible. I just don't want OP to be discouraged about trying because there is a very small chance. Don't bank on it, but give it a chance with all you got.

 

[differentiating]

Exactly what I am saying, but it doesn't hurt to try.

Well, applying does have costs, financial and otherwise. This is why I think it’s important for applicants to have a realistic expectation for things like scholarships.