Medical School Dreamers
 

Does anyone know any dreamers in med school and how they paid for it. I will be curious to know what schools or cities you know that accept dreamers for med school.

Re: Medical School Dreamers
 

I have known of few people who had the grades and intentions of going to med school but none of them could find a single way of paying med school tuition when undocumented.

Re: Medical School Dreamers
 

I am in the process of applying right now. I live in Texas, and they base everything on Texas residency. Luckily for me, Texas medical schools are the cheapest in the nation. It is about 9,000 per year for tuition. The total cost each year, comes up to about 15,000. Over 4 years it will be 60,000 max.

How will I pay for it? Loans? A scholarship would help. If not, then I will try to find a loan. If worst comes to worst, then I will get a job to pay it off. Making 15,000 each year shouldn't be that bad.

Do I know anyone undocumented in medical school? No. I looked up some stats about undocumented students in Texas medical schools, and there currently aren't any, but there have been a couple in the past.

What would be the easiest way to pay? Apply to a private medical school, and have nearly perfect stats. I know Harvard Medical School is very generous with scholarships. There is also that story about that undocumented guy who got into Harvard Medical School. I was going to try this route, but I didn't know how I would get Boston for the interview.

Re: Medical School Dreamers
 

Thanks for the information- I would hope that there would be a loan to qualify for that would help. Is it really that inexpensive to go to medical school in Texas. wow that is very cheap- It is $60, 000 each year on the east coast.

I pray that DA passes in the summer so that med school can happen and I will continue to check from loans or from family members.

Re: Medical School Dreamers
 

$60,000 per year is pretty insane. What about USC medical school? They are private, so wouldn't they be able to give hardship aid?

Yeah, the DA passing would help. If you are planning to apply this year, go for it. If something happens in regards to legislation by next August, then you can adjust your status with the medical school and be eligible for aid. But the best option is to apply to a private school.

Re: Medical School Dreamers
 

QuestionsIHave, how did the people you know handle their 3rd year of medical school which usually requires employment papers? The people I know had to wait until they got their PR status before attending or they're hoping they get their PR status before their 3rd year. Were they able to work something out?

Re: Medical School Dreamers
 

I didn't know those people personally. Texas releases information about where undocumented students are, and it showed that a small percentage where in medical school/dental school/etc in 2006. Currently, on UT medical school's website, they release stats for students who are currently attending by different classifications. In the HB 1403 section it showed zero. That is how I knew there weren't any currently attending, at least in the UT system.

About 3 year, I'm guessing you are talking about clerkship rotation. Do they go to a Texas medical school or a medical school in another state? I guessing there must be a way, since that Harvard student was able to graduate. Maybe the situation is different from state to state. I will ask about it.

Here is a good story of what you are talking about. His situation does prove one thing, you can get into medical school. Even in Arizona.

http://immigration.change.org/blog/v...m_undocumented

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My name is Michael and I am currently a first year medical student in Arizona. My family and I immigrated to the United States when I was 10 years old and I have been living as an illegal immigrant for the past 18 years.

I remember the first time that I felt the limitations of being an illegal immigrant. While my friends were getting ready for college or the military service during my senior year in high school, I was left trying to figure out what the available options were present for me. All the college applications required a statement of residency status. I was neither an American citizen, permanent resident, or had visa documentations. "What do I write in?" I asked myself. On most applications I just left that particular portion blank. Hoping that my residency status did not matter, but as expected I received numerous notifications stating that I needed to clarify exactly what my residency status was, or my application would not be considered complete.

I eventually chose to attend a local college, C.S.U. Stanislaus. As stated earlier, I really had no idea how to even apply for college given my immigration status, so initially I had a meeting with an admissions counselor. To my surprise, she turned out to be very supportive and helped me with the application process.

My professional aspirations initially was to become a lawyer, from my personal experiences of being an illegal immigrant, I knew first hand how laws directly affected people in society and I felt that I could really do some positive things for the minority community as a lawyer in the future.

How I came to be a medical student from a pre-law student is rather a lengthy story, but in short my mother was in a horrendous car accident during my first semester in college. My mother had severe laceration of the tongue, broken nose, and a major leg injury as well. Through going to the hospital and helping my mom go through the healing process, I got to see some of the positive aspects of being in a health care profession. I was inspired and from that point on to become a doctor and my current goal is to become a surgeon.

After attending California State University of Stanislaus for one year, due to financial constraint, I left school for two semesters, in hopes of returning with the tuition money to pay for the rest of the semesters. Thankfully AB 540 was passed in California just in time for my return, allowing me to pay instate tuition. The law definitely help lightened the financial load for my family, without it I don't think I would have been able to graduate.

While attending college, I took night courses and worked 40 hours a week at a local swap meet to earn the money for my tuition, although I was paying instate tuition, I was still unqualified for financial aid. In the winter of 2004 I graduated with a B.S. in Biology, but was for a second time faced with a daunting limited choices, due to my immigration status.

After graduation I worked in swap meets again for four years, until I gained the courage to try to get into medical school. I am now a first year student at a medical school in Arizona paying my tuition through a private loan. I still face the same daunting obstacles that were present when I graduated from college. The third year of my medical school will require that I rotate among various hospitals and doing so will require that I provide proper identifications, which I do not have at this time. And even if I were to graduate from medical school, I would still be faced with a limited opportunity that exists for many illegal immigrant students today. I would not be given the opportunity to apply for a medical license and would not be allowed to practice medicine in the U.S. I am hoping for the passing of the DREAM act, so that I may be able to become a great surgeon sometime in the near future.

I would like to thank the individuals who have volunteered much of their own time and resources to campaign for the passing of the DREAM act. For those students who are reading this, and even remotely thinking about giving up hope, GET INVOLVED !! We can make a difference!!

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Re: Medical School Dreamers
 

That is great news to hear about the success of a dreamer. Any indication of scholarships or private loans for medical school dreamers? I know there is always a way to finance education. I have heard about accessgroup, afford.com and salliemae but are they still viable today?

Re: Medical School Dreamers
 

ACCESSgroup no longer provides private loans we can apply for. i used it once 2 years ago but they stopped giving it out.

Re: Medical School Dreamers
 

Did you get into an out of state school?