Session 341 Noi is an international student who shares her journey with you. She has a 3.9 GPA, which is amazing, and a great MCAT score. Having great stats allowed her to get several interviews and ultimately, an acceptance to medical school. Meanwhile, please be sure to check out Meded Media for more resources to help you through your journey towards becoming a physician. [02:22] Interest in Medicine Noi was originally from Israel. After the second Lebanon war, she saw a lot of people losing their lives. This gave her the perspective of valuing life. She began appreciating what it means to be a physician at such difficult times. This motivated her to want to become a physician. "Being a physician and being in medicine was outside of politics. It doesn't matter who you are, where you're from, or outside of the border you live in." Back in high school, she was always very inquisitive. Her dad is a dentist so she went to her dad's clinic. However, she didn't want to become one. She didn't connect with the dental part, but it was caring for the people that she connected with. [05:22] The Decision to Study in the U.S. Noi believes that getting a degree in the United States will open so many doors for her to work internationally. She wants to get involved in research that can be implemented in so many countries. "Having a credential in the United States is something that will open doors for me to work in so many other countries." That being said, she credits all her extracurricular activities to have shaped her a lot. She did a ton of research and volunteering in her gap year – things she wouldn't have had experienced had she just went to medical school in Israel. As to why she chose the United States, she did her research on studying abroad. She looked at all the medical schools and systems. She looked at the pros and cons. Israel is a great place to study medicine. If she wasn't going to Israel, then she had to go somewhere better than it. Additionally, she loves the culture in the United States. She loves going out of her boundaries. She wants to put herself out of her comfort zone. Israel has a single-payer system. Moving to the United States, Noi didn't think about the system of care initially. But once she got her, she was simply in shock. [10:15] Looking at U.S. Schools and the Finances Noi is aware that federal loans are not accessible to international students. But a lot of schools have a lot of private loan programs as well as married scholarships. This was something she received during her undergraduate years. "If you're thinking about coming to the United States as an international student to study medicine, almost all the medical schools require you to have a U.S. bachelor's degree." So if you're in high school and you know you want to go to medical school in the United States, you have to work hard to get these grades. Get the scholarship and then be able to get to the states. You have to be organized and know exactly what you want to do. Noi basically researched everything. In fact, she attended an MCAT workshop even when she was still a Freshman. Since Day 1, she knew about the MCAT and that she had to do it and all the things that need to get done. They had a premedical advisor who guided them through it. [14:10] Dealing with Pressure and Learning English She felt so much pressure. And she didn't really realize it until she started the application process. She looked at the percentage of international students who got in. She found it very stressful not knowing what's next and what she had to do to get into medical school. If she didn't get in, she was looking at applying the following year or getting a research job. Coming from another country, Noi still continues to learn new words. However, they've learned English since they were in fifth grade. She credits the TV shows and the movies for her American accent. If there were words she didn't understand, she would learn them. She wasn't afraid to ask for help. So