I was wondering if anyone has been accepted for transfer to a US school this year and if so what school? Thanks.

FutureDoc, since this forum is fairly new (only a couple semesters), we don't have any students who frequently follow this forum who are in a position to transfer yet (ie completed USMLE Step 1 recently).

I do, however, know of one person from my class who recently was accepted to one of the US military medical schools. Because she had just completed her first year, she agreed to start all over there.

MitchDC

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MitchDC/MD
RUSM 2006 Graduate

I am in that class, and I can tell you that no one that I know successfully transferred. U.S. schools have, for the most part, closed the doors on non-LCME transfers. If you are hedging your bets by starting at Ross (or elsewhere in the Caribbean) and transferring back to the U.S., know that the odds of success are almost non-existent.

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http://www.studentdoctor.net/

This "non-existent" chance that you're talking about....is that just for transferring while you're still in the basic sciences, or does that pretty much go for everything? I remember reading on this forum that there were a few people who transferred to US schools AFTER the basic sciences portion. If some people did transfer, does anyone know which schools they transferred to?

Thanks.

I think they used to be more open to this. Typically, the schools where some students have had success in the past are Finch in Chicago, some schools in the SUNY system, among others. Also, if you are a particular state resident, some instate schools may look at you where they wouldn't even consider an out-of-state transfer. But, you are not getting that much of an advantage, really, especially if they ask you to repeat a year.

Best bet is to come to the Caribbean planning on staying and graduating from a Carib school.

-Skip

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http://www.studentdoctor.net/

if the transfer door has been closed, this is a new policy started this year. my class had 2 transfer to US schools in year 1, and 1 to a canadian school. after step 1, 14 transfered, after year 3, 1 transfered. schools were Finch, penn st hahnemann, tulane, ohio med, SIU. cant remember the rest. step 1 scores were usually well over 245. US schools will say they take no transferes, but if you contact them around end of may, early june, usually thats when they know if anyone got held back, or took leave, or whatever. I know for a fact that at least half of my friends who transfered went to schools who said they would NOT take a transfer from a carib school. but when it comes down to losing the tuition of a spot in a class, they are perfectly willing to fill that spot if you have the scores.

I keep getting private messages asking for advice on how to transfer to the US so instead of answering each of you individually i figured i would post this for all to see.

First some background.
I started Ross in may of 2003. I left the island with a 4.0 took step 1 in december of 2004 and got my results back late january. I got a 260. I started my IM rotation in NJ in febuary and ended that in late may. I scheduled my next rotation for late july so i would have some time for all this. I was a TA for a few different classes, started a club, and was involved with some of the volunteer things at Ross. I sent out applications to 5 schools, SUNY upstate, Tulane, George Washington, Drexel, and NEOUCOM. The deadlines to get applications in were anywhere from april 1st to may 15th. I started receiving interview invites Mid-May. It seemed like schools sent out interview invites as they found out how many spots they were going to have. So the schools that ended up not having spots didn't send anything out till fairly late in the process. I received letters from SUNY upstate and Tulane saying they didn't have any spots open for transfer. I received a rejection letter from GW, but one of the other interviewees at NEOUCOM said that they had called GW and were told they didn't have any 3rd year spots. I ended up interview at Drexel and NEOUCOM. I was put on the waitlist for Drexel (4th on the list) and accepted to NEOUCOM. Drexel called me up the next week and told me I had been accepted. I ended up accepting a spot at Drexel but it was a hard choice between NEOUCOM and Drexel.

Ok, so now advice on how to go about the whole thing.

Starting at Ross in May will allow the most seamless transfer and will make getting all your information/applications to schools easy. If you start in september you will be quite rushed to take the Step in time and get them your scores. January will leave you with lots of time, so you might end up duplicating a lot of rotations.

Your Meidcal School GPA matters. From talking to people on the interview circuit everyone seemed to have a 3.8 or higher. If you are around a 3.8, i.e. 3.6, I would apply, it can't hurt.

Nobody mentioned my undergrad grads or mcat (3.03 and 27). I mentioned my grades in my interview (trying to point out that I had done progressively better)

USMLE scores ranged from 220 and up. You don't have to rock the usmle to be able to transfer.

Get good Letters of Recommendation (LORS). You will need LORS from your basic science professors and undergrad so be prepared to dredge up old contacts. Do your best to get quality LORS

If you get an interview don't bad talk your school or other students. Feel free to be honest why you want to transfer but do your best to not make your school look like shiat.

Both of my interviews talked about my activities and goals rather than my stats, so make sure you emphasize (in your application) that you are more than just good #s.

When you are looking for schools to transfer to make sure you call your instate schools because some of them will allow residents of that state to transfer into the school even if they are foreign grads.
Obviously you will want to check the following schools also
NEOUCOM
Drexel
SUNY upstate
Tulane
George Washington

When I transfered there were approximately 25 spots open to foreign med students (not included spots at schools that only take instate residents). I don't know how many people were able to transfer

I guess the basic message that i am trying to get across is some of the #s that are floating around on this website (i.e. >240 usmle, 4.0) are inflated. It seemed to me that all the schools were interested in what kind of physician you are going to be, not just how high you scored on the usmle.

If you have any questions please post them on this thread so other people can benefit from your question.

best of luck,
z

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Drexel (4th year)

just two more things that should be obvious but just in case if you forget or...

1) you are not eligible unless you have graduated from college

2) you are not eligible unless you have taken the MCAT

Zedpol,

Congrats on a job well done and thanks for thinking to come back and help others here. I'm really happy to hear you did so well in your studies and on Step 1. Its too bad (for us) that you won't graduate with a Ross diploma but you worked hard and earned this reward -- enjoy it!

I remember way back when you first started posting here and when I met you on the island. You've always been level-headed and that has been appreciated. Stop back every now and again to let us know how you are doing!

Rock the house at Drexel!

MitchDC

P.S. What year are you starting at Drexel?

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MitchDC/MD
RUSM 2006 Graduate

Thanks Mitch. I too remember you being my introduction to the island. It was much appreciated. I will be starting my 3rd year at drexel on july 5th. Orientation starts on monday the 27th

z

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Drexel (4th year)