Selection Criteria
KSMU selects international students in a typical manner according to minimum requirements of Admissions. (minimum requirements could change periodically)
In so doing, our goal is to accept as students those applicants it feels hold greatest promise of becoming outstanding physicians.
Of course, full consideration is given to prior academic performance and scores. The basic performance must include a history of academic excellence. Although the majority of our students have had outstanding scores, major in the science. We welcome applicants who have a broad education in the humanities and may have completed their premedical requirements.
We consider all the factors of intellect, character, and personality that point towards the applicant’s ability to become an informed and caring physician. In addition to purely academic factors, we look for students who show clear evidence through their activities of a strong motivation towards medicine and sense of dedication to the service on others. Personal qualities of character and personality are evaluated from letters of recommendation, from the personal statements, and from the interview. KSMU does not deny admission to any applicant on the basis of race, gender, religion, national origin, age, or handicap.
Premedical Coursework
Students who successfully complete Premedical course or secondary education are allowed to join undergraduate programs of KSMU. To join a major field on undergraduate studies the submitted date should include specified credits with reference to minimum requirements for Admission in chemistry, physics, biology (zoology) and English.
Each student’s credentials must include minimum of:
- Inorganic or general chemistry 2 semesters
- Organic chemistry 2 semesters
- Physics 2 semesters
- General biology 2 semesters
KSMU Admission Test
All candidates are required to take the Medical College Admissions Test ones they reach KSMU. This test is viewed by the dean’s office as evidence of minimal academic competence and as a standardized test, which allows appropriate comparisons.
Professional Development
We’d like to give you some advice here…
What do we mean by professional development and what does that got to do with you as a medical university applicant?
Applicants often ask what they should do before they apply to KSMU. Perhaps you have asked. Perhaps what you really meant was — what should you do to help you get into the medical university? Is volunteering in an emergency room a good thing to do? How about research? How much? What kind?
Those questions suggest a “recipe” approach — one semester of research plus a stint in an ER plus a visit to a soup kitchen equals a successful medical school applicant.
We disagree. There is no checklist of approved activities and there is no formula for getting into medical school.
So what do we want? We want you to be convinced — and then to convince us — that you have the aptitudes, interests, and motivation to be a good physician. We want you to be convinced — and then to convince us — that you’ve tested the waters and know that it’s right for you. To do that you need to actually have done some things — research, hospital volunteer, tutoring, shadowing, AIDS education, VISTA, Peace Corp, whatever — and that you have:
- Learned more about yourself
- Learned more about medicine
- Learned more about people
- Learned more about science
and had fun doing it. We want you to be convinced — and then to convince us — that your goal is your own professional development and not simply getting into medical school.