Which Medical Schools Should I Apply To? International Student Edition

In honor of the AMCAS 2021 cycle application opening today (May 4), I decided that it is very timely to write about one of the questions I get asked frequently “Which medical schools should I apply to?” Congratulations on reaching this stage of your journey towards becoming a US-trained medical doctor! I too was in your shoes just a few years ago (hard to believe it’s been 3 years). I had successfully taken the MCAT, graduated with honors, dedicated my time to several clinical and community volunteering opportunities, secured promising letters of recommendation, started on my personal statement, and was even on my second year of full-time basic science research. I had done everything I could to prepare an excellent application and I was ready, yet what confused me the most was “Which schools do I add to my list?”

With over 200 allopathic medical schools in the United States, it is not a surprise that this is a difficult decision for most including myself. To help make this decision a little more straight forward for you, I will discuss some factors to consider when making your list. Before we begin, I must disclose that this is a very rough outline that worked for me. In retrospect, I missed some schools and even wasted my money applying to others. Please do your research thoroughly before submitting your application. It goes without saying that this specifically focuses on information for international students.

What do I need to consider?

• Objective data: MCAT and GPA matter! Be realistic but do NOT sell yourself short. Similar to applying to colleges in the US, make your Reach, Safety, and Match schools. For me, Reach meant schools I statistically fell below the 25th percentile of their current class. Safety meant I was well above the median, and Match meant schools that I was around the 50th percentile. Please be aware that there is no objective data behind this; I actually ended up receiving interview invites and acceptances from more Reach schools than Safety.

• Extracurriculars: Research vs. Clinical activities. I have found that this really makes a difference. Some schools focus very much on research; the majority of the top 20 do so you need a very strong research profile to apply successfully to these schools. Fear not, you do not necessarily need any publications but you need to be able to show a genuine commitment to research either through letters of recommendation, internships, conferences, etc. Personally, I was involved in a research internship every summer after my freshman year and took two gap years working full time in research. Some other schools focus mainly on clinical profiles: volunteering, shadowing, and the likes. I had fewer clinical hours than research hours and this disparity was very evident in the schools that offered me an interview invite and those that did not.

• Finances: Like many other international students, I had NO money to pay so I did NOT consider the dollar amount of tuition for any of the schools when making my list. The most important questions for me were 1) Do they give financial aid to international students? 2) If not, do they allow private loans? I avoided schools that required international students to setup upfront ESCROW accounts. If you can afford it out of pocket, this will look very different for you. I promise we will do a blog on finances soon.

• Location, Curriculum, Class style, Diversity: these are all very important things to consider, however, given the limitations we already have as international students, I urge you to think about this when choosing a school to matriculate in, not applying to. Realistically, you may not have the luxury to consider these factors when applying.

What will I need to make these considerations?

Essential Resources

• Medical School Admission Requirement (MSAR): This is a one-year ($28) or two-year ($36) online subscription through the AAMC that provides detailed profiles for each MD granting medical school in the U.S. and Canada. It gives you a comprehensive snapshot of MCAT exam scores, overall GPA, relevant extracurricular experiences for accepted applicants, required and recommended premedical coursework, tuition, and my favorite, the number of international medical students (Canadian separated from non-Canadian) in each class. I particularly found this tool useful because more schools accept international students than provide financial aid to us. A relatively high number of international students in each med school class tells you that 1) They actually do accept internationals and 2) It may be affordable (more on finances in another blog post). I also love that MSAR tells you whether or not a school separates applications from an international student when making interview offers.

• Individual School Websites: Once you make your list draft from MSAR, visit each school’s website. Many have a section that has information on what they expect from international students. Call the school if you need to.

• Platforms like ISM: This is not as objective as a resource as the MSAR but I found that talking to international students who had successfully applied and matriculated at a US medical school was quite helpful as I made my list.

General Rules (Fact-check for each school!)

1. PRIORITIZE schools that blind citizenship when reviewing applications.

2. PRIORITIZE schools that matriculate at least 1 international student per year.

3. AVOID state schools (often do not look at applications from international students).

4. AVOID schools that require 4 years upfront payment (unless of course, you can afford to).

You may be thinking, “Yeah, yeah all of this is great, but what schools did you apply to?”. Below is my list.

1. Yale School of Medicine

2. Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine (free tuition but 5-year program)

3. Harvard Medical School

4. Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons

5. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

6. 6. Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine

7. The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

8. David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

9. Sidney Kimmel Medical College – Thomas Jefferson University

10. Boston University School of Medicine

11. Tulane University School of Medicine

12. SUNY Upstate Medical University

13. Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

14. Georgetown University School of Medicine

15. Chicago Medical School

16. Howard University College of Medicine

17. Medical College of Wisconsin

Should have applied to (got lazy with secondary application)

1. Emory School of Medicine

2. Washington University School of Medicine

Again, retrospectively I made some mistakes so please do go through the process outlined above. Do your research. I know this was quite a lot but I hope it gives you some insight into how much thought process goes into making the list.

Are you feeling inspired to add some more schools to your AMCAS application? Let us know below. Please share with your colleagues and as always, we are here to answer any questions.

Yours in support,

Olamide O.