Gaining admission to US medical schools and obtaining funding to pursue that education can be difficult for individuals who are not citizens or permanent residents of the United States. Many medical schools will review the application of an international student without any bias, but others, particularly state schools, admit few if any international students. Therefore, international students are usually only eligible for the more selective private schools.
Students who are not citizens or permanent residents of the US are not eligible for the federal government-sponsored loans that are used by most US medical students to fund their medical educations. Some medical schools require that students prepay tuition or deposit money sufficient to cover one or more years of tuition and fees into escrow accounts. Private US medical schools are quite expensive with tuition ranging from $35,000 to $40,000 per year for most schools. NIH-sponsored Medical Scientist Training Program grants for MD/PhD positions are limited to US citizens or permanent residents.
However, there are some special circumstances that make the overall picture less bleak. A small number of medical schools have merit scholarships that are awarded without regard to US residency status. Some medical schools have independent funding for MD/PhD positions and this independent funding may be available to international students. Canadian students can often secure loans for medical school through the Canadian government. Some students may be able to secure loans or grants from their home countries, but this varies greatly from country to country.
Students or alumni who are not US citizens or permanent residents and who are considering studying medicine in the US should contact a
premedical advisor at OCS to discuss the issues involved.
Medical Schools that accepted Harvard international students (1995-2007)
- Albany Medical College: 5 accepted
- Albert Einstein College of Medicine: 7 accepted
- Baylor College of Medicine: 6 accepted
- Boston University School of Medicine: 6 accepted
- Brown Medical School: 1 accepted
- Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine: 5 accepted
- Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons: 16 accepted
- Dartmouth Medical School: 4 accepted
- Duke University School of Medicine: 10 accepted
- Emory University School of Medicine: 2 accepted
- Georgetown University School of Medicine: 6 accepted
- Harvard Medical School: 13 accepted
- Howard University College of Medicine: 2 accepted
- Indiana University School of medicine: 1 accepted
- Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: 12 accepted
- Jefferson Medical College: 1 accepted
- Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California: 6 accepted
- Mayo Medical School: 1 accepted
- Mt. Sinai School of Medicine: 7 accepted
- New York Medical College: 1 accepted
- New York University School of Medicine: 3 accepted*
- Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine: 6 accepted
- Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine: 1 accepted
- Stanford University School of Medicine: 7 accepted
- St. Louis University School of Medicine: 1 accepted
- State University of New York at Syracuse: 1 accepted
- Tufts University School of Medicine: 3 accepted
- University of California, Los Angeles: 5 accepted
- University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine: 14 accepted
- University of Connecticut School of Medicine: 3 accepted
- University of Illinois: 1 accepted*
- University of Michigan Medical School: 2 accepted*
- University of Minnesota Medical School: 1 accepted
- University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine: 3 accepted
- University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry: 2 accepted*
- University of Texas, Southwestern at Dallas: 3 accepted
- University of Texas at San Antonio: 1 accepted*
- University of Vermont College of Medicine: 4 accepted
- University of Virginia School of Medicine: 1 accepted
- Vanderbilt University School of Medicine: 10 accepted
- Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine: 1 accepted
- Wake Forest University School of Medicine: 1 accepted
- Washington University School of Medicine: 7 accepted
- Weill Medical College of Cornell University: 4 accepted
- Yale University School of Medicine: 13 accepted
*no longer accepts non-US residents
