Question for anyone that can help

[ZELI]

Hi,

I am really interested in going to either UNIBE or INTEC. I will be graduating with a Bachelors in Health Sciences in Spring 2005. My concern is that I have not done to well in my science classes, some I have even taken twice. Will this be a big problem for me to get into any of these schools? Does anyone know if they take all that in consideration when accepting someone? I have not been the greatest student, but I am willing to put all my effort into Med school if accepted. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should do?


Zeli

[ojmdc]

Hi,

Let me assuage your fears of low GPA's and transcipts ridden with incompletes and repeated courses. In the case of INTEC you're pretty much guaranteed to get in provided you have above a 2.0 cummulative GPA. They don't really weigh your science GPA separately as they might in american medical schools, they simply look at the whole picture. Where the subtleties of you transcript come into play is in convalidation of completed classes. In your case at ITNEC you wuold skip the first two semesters of pre-med and likely have various other classes convalidated depending on which you completed. They will only transfer classes in which you have a C or higher regardless of how many times you might have withdrawn from the class or repeated it because of failure. So, provided the course content of the classes you've taken matches that of of the corresponding courses at INTEC and you have a C or better in the final take of that class, it should be transferred. Overall, if you have a 2.0 or higher you're almost certain to get in. INTEC is really trying to grow their foreign students program (as are all the other med schools in DR). As a result of this eagerness to bring foreign student in they are being pretty lenient in the admission of foreigners.

As for UNIBE, I can't say, I'm not familiar with their admission criteria in practice. I have heard in the posts that they now require a minimum of a 2.5 cum GPA. I'm not sure how stringently they adhere to that guideline, you'd have to wait for an UNIBE student to reply. It would be my guess that UNIBE might be a little more exacting in that sense because they can afford to be. They have a relatively large pool of applicants and for now, they have a monopoly in the Dominican market as they have the only viable english medical program. With that in mind, you need them more than they need you. At INTEC they WANT you and are activbely cooperating with existing foreign students seeking our input as to how they might bring more american students. You do the math.

Regardless, I wouldn't worry too much about your grades, one of the great things about med school down here is that, in large part, they ignore your past. Unless of course you have a .4 GPA or some such horrible track record they are willing to overlook it and give you the chance to make it. The rest is up to you. It's like being a born-again pre-med, save that down here you don't have the worry of MCATs or LORs or interviews or any of that nonsense. Hope this is of help. Take care and God Bless.

Ozzie.

[ZELI]

Wow Ozzie,

Thanks so much for clearing that up. Your post really helped me out. My GPA and my grades are not the worst but they are definetly not the best. Since I know how hard it is to get into medical schools in the US I thought that Foreign medical schools would try to copy that in some way or another. I was sort of giving up already and looking for another route and maybe another career but you have just given me hope again. Once again THANK YOU. God Bless.



Zeli