FAQ: Can a non-US citizen apply to US Medical Schools

Though not impossible, it is VERY challenging for international students to gain admission to and attend medical school in the United States. These are the factors that come into play:

1. Many schools will not even accept an application from a student who is not a US citizen or permanent resident.

Only about 50% of US medical schools accept applications from international applicants. Of the 141 accredited medical schools about only 70 medical schools will accept your application. This is a slightly larger number for Canadian born citizens. It is also unclear at this point in time how recent anti-immigration restrictions will affect these numbers.

2. US Medical schools are very competitive.

According to the AAMC website, for the 2016-2017 application cycle, there were 53,042 applicants for 21,030 medical school seats. The average GPA of students entering a US medical school was 3.7 and the average MCAT score was a 508.7. Additionally, DO schools are becoming increasingly competitive with an average admission GPA of 3.6 and an average MCAT score of 499.32.

The numbers:

As an international student, you are competing for limited seats at about 70 schools. You must be either a VERY competitive candidate or have an extremely UNIQUE story to compete for this limited number of seats.

For the 2016-2017 application cycle, a total of 2,053 of the 53,029 applicants were non-U.S. Citizens or Non-Permanent Residents, of those only 269 matriculated in a US medical school (13% matriculation rate). For Osteopathic Medical Programs 383 applicants are non-U.S. permanent residents of which 1.3% are Canadian residents.

3. Many medical schools that accept international applicants still require that you complete your prerequisite course work in a US, UK, or Canadian school.

If you are currently at an undergraduate institution outside of the US, UK, or Canada, you will have to complete additional coursework in the US to qualify for admission.

4. As an international citizen you will likely not qualify for financial aid.

Under some conditions, you may be able to obtain scholarships, but those opportunities are more likely if you are pursuing an MD/Ph.D. Some schools require that you have the full four years of tuition in escrow at the time of enrollment. With the average cost of medical school for 4 years ranging between $165,000-240,000, this is a huge financial investment up front.

International applicants should take into account their long term goals after medical school. International applicants who train at an LCME accredited medical school may still find it more difficult to become licensed to practice medicine in the US after your residency depending on your visa status.

I would encourage international applicants to check out the AAMC’s Medical School Admission Requirements online resource. You can research schools that accept international applicants and their specific requirements. If you have additional questions you can reach out to the schools directly for questions specific to your application.