Study Abroad for Pre Med?

[STUDYABROADDOCTOR]

I have wanted to eventually earn an MD PHD focusing in neuro-degenrative diseases for as long as I can remember. Also, I have always been a great student; I graduated in the top 2% of my high school completing my studies in 3 years and then spending a year on foreign exchange. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to continue my education here in the United States. I receive no federal or state help besides student loans and my parents are eligible for parent plus loans. However, my parents cannot afford to take out any more loans and I am by myself to try and find a way to pay for my education. Because of all this, I cannot afford to even go to a small state school.

For my undergraduate degree, I am really interested in studying language and cultures. It is my ideology that the ability to approach a problem from a different perspective and collaborate internationally is the way we can make new breakthroughs and discoveries. Because of this combined with my financial struggles, I pondered earning my bachelors degree abroad. The tuition is more affordable and it would correlate with my yearn to study culture and languages. Nonetheless, as I am researching how to do this and still be able to either enter US Med school or practice medicine in the USA later, I am finding it seems merely impossible. Nevertheless, I am confident there must be some way to accomplish this goal. Whether it be studying abroad and returning to earn a Masters degree or something else, I am open to exploring different paths to achieve my goal. I do not understand why a foreign degree would bar my entrance to US medical school if I have completed the prerequisites and scored well on my MCAT. They do not care about what you study in your undergrad anyway, so why does it matter if I study hard and excel in my classwork and score well in my MCAT? Can someone please explain this to me? Or does anyone have any advice or guidance to go this path

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[efle]

If you have a high SAT/ACT along with your strong high school performance, there should be many universities willing to waive your costs/give you a full ride.

Even without any merit aid, attending your in-state school using loans is not the end of the world. If you want to go to US MD school you need to stay here for college.

 

[STUDYABROADDOCTOR]

If you have a high SAT/ACT along with your strong high school performance, there should be many universities willing to waive your costs/give you a full ride.

Even without any merit aid, attending your in-state school using loans is not the end of the world. If you want to go to US MD school you need to stay here for college.

That is my issue. I am under 24 so am "financially dependent" on my parents, but they have nothing to give me and cannot afford to take out a loan. The max I can take out in loans is $6,500 per year and school costs about $30,000 at the state school. I am also not eligible for any of their merit based scholarships because I am not a minority or first generation student. Unless I get accepted into a school that can basically give me a full ride I cannot afford to go to school here. There is no way for me to even take out all the loans I would need.

 

[efle]

Since when are fed loans capped at 6,500? I took more than that from the gov every single year.

What state are you in? What is your SAT/ACT?

 

[STUDYABROADDOCTOR]

Dont be so sure.

It is extremely difficult to enter a US medical school based solely on a foreign degree. The AAMC/AMCAS cannot evaluate either the foreign schools or the accreditation organization that they use, and therefore do not validate or verify foreign transcripts nor will they include the in some of the GPA calculations which all the medical schools use for admissions criteria. Most medical schools require at least 90 credits of US/Canada undergraduate work, some only 60 or 30 credits. Some will not accept any prereqs from off shore schools. You may need to look at some of the international student threads to see some of the challenges you face.

I would also add, do not waste your time trying to understand or argue why this should be the case. The reality is that it is the case and you must work with this reality

I already have 40 hours completed for my undergraduate degree between dual credit classes and my first year of college. I will have to spend at least 1 year at home to even be able to figure a plan out. If I can take all my prerequisites this next year and finished a degree overseas should I have a chance? Or if I did that and took a 1 year masters level program would that help me? Or do those credits need to me at a undergraduate level?

 

[STUDYABROADDOCTOR]

Since when are fed loans capped at 6,500? I took more than that from the gov every single year.

What state are you in? What is your SAT/ACT?

Illinois. I had a 4.5 high school GPA and a 4.0 GPA in community college so far. I scored a 32 on my ACT ( The highest you can score is a 36)

 

[STUDYABROADDOCTOR]

Illinois. I had a 4.5 high school GPA and a 4.0 GPA in community college so far. I scored a 32 on my ACT ( The highest you can score is a 36)

As I am financially dependent on my parents that is the max I can take out next year (maybe it will go up $1,000 per year but nothing close to full tuition costs). Evene though my parents can not afford to take out another loan they are eligible which blocks me from the ability to take out more in loans.

 

[efle]

Illinois. I had a 4.5 high school GPA and a 4.0 GPA in community college so far. I scored a 32 on my ACT ( The highest you can score is a 36)

With these numbers you should be competitive for merit scholarships at many universities, I think. How were your grades during your first year of university?

You should go meet with the financial aid office of your current school to make sure on these numbers. I am pretty certain that being declared as dependent on your parent's taxes does not bar you from taking sizable federal loans (a lot more than 6k). I was a dependent on my parent's taxes still and was borrowing more than that every year.

 

[STUDYABROADDOCTOR]

With these numbers you should be competitive for merit scholarships at many universities, I think. How were your grades during your first year of university?

You should go meet with the financial aid office of your current school to make sure on these numbers. I am pretty certain that being declared as dependent on your parent's taxes does not bar you from taking sizable federal loans (a lot more than 6k). I was a dependent on my parent's taxes still and was borrowing more than that every year.[/QUOTE

My parents are eligible for the Parent Plus Loan. They will not take one out for me. But since they are eligible I cannot take out any more federal loans.

 

[efle]

Yup, that's stafford, I maxed that too. How about the other fed loan types?