SHIFA COLLEGE OF MEDICINE in Islamabad, Pakistan

but then i wouldnt qualify because my high school grades were terrible...i didnt even have 3.0 overall...are u sure i cant send in my college? thats why i went to college and took biology chem physics and english over in college so i could qualify

In order for you to study medicine anywhere in Pakistan you are required to have an Equivalence Certificate from a government organization in Pakistan called the Inter-Board Committee Chairmen or IBCC for short.

What the Equivalence Certificate does is convert the grades you received at your American High School to a Pakistani grading system score. Your high school transcript must convert to at least 660 points out of 1100 in order for you to be eligible to study medicine in Pakistan. The score is based off of your grades in physics, chemistry, biology, English, and math classes in high school, however you may be able to submit your college coursework also for credit.

In terms of applying to Shifa, if you were to submit your college grades along with either SAT Subject Test scores or take the Shifa Entrance Exam, they may be able to accept those instead of your high school transcript.

However you will still need to submit your high school transcript to the IBCC office to get your equivalence certificate otherwise you won't be able to apply to any school in Pakistan.

Hope this helps.

Well im confuse about the application deadline for shifa cuz i think i rem Rehan saying that it was March(im not sure but i was to lazy to go back and read the prior post) but i was on Shifa website and it said that the accept applications till October??? When is the deadline?? Also dose shifa take the ACT?

Shifa's deadline for applications for the Class of 2011 is October 2nd, 2006.

And unfortunately, no Shifa does not accept the ACT. They don't ask for an SAT 1 score either, just FYI.

@ sadaf
you dont need to worry about the dead lines because these are for the students appyling for the session 2006-2007.but you will be applying for the next session ,so deadlines for this year session are of no use to you. am i right?

heyy doc ammara...yah ur right im applying next year but i just wanted to know so that i would have an idea for next YEAR...but ya im sooooo sorry about Sunday i had sumthing come up!!!! But yah i will send u an email....

I've been reading this forum for couple of hours and I am getting some very good information. I am from Stockton, California originally and came to Pakistan to go to med school, I live in Rawalpindi and I have applied to Rawalpindi Medical College(and other govt. med schools), Foundation Medical College, and Shifa becuase i want to stay close to my family in Rawalpindi. I was kind of disappointed when i got back my equivalence results, in which they gave me a 767 out of 1100, which is above the minimum score they require. Also I am planning on taking the entrance tests because i only took SAT II Biology and i needed an addition of chem or physics inorder to avoid the entrance test. I wanted to ask the Shifa Med Students what kind of results/marks/points do you think i would need on the entrance test to get admission to Shifa considering that i only got 767/1100.

Thank You

P.S. Also it would be appreciated if you think these marks are good enough for the government schools such as Rawalpindi Med.

Hi UltraSpy,

I'm not sure about whether or not your equivalence score is good enough for Rawalpindi Medical College. Please read the MEDICAL COLLEGES IN PAKISTAN thread to understand the way that students apply through one govt application and the govt decides where you go.

As far as entrance into Shifa College is concerned, your equivalence score means very little to them. Shifa bases its decisions off of 1) Your high school transcript and 2) your entrance test score (or SAT Subject Tests or AP Scores) and 3) your interview.

They believe the IBCC Equivalence Score carries very little meaning or proof of someone's ability to succeed at Shifa and therefore are more interested in your exact high school grades and how well you do in a written standardized test environment.

If you have a GPA over 3.5 unweighted, I'd say your chances are pretty good for Shifa as long as you do moderately well on the Shifa Entrance exam. Moderately well means getting around 50-60%. One piece of advice though, Shifa's entrance exam gives you negative points for every question you answer wrong rather than simply just not counting it towards your positive score.

From the Shifa Prospectus:
Hope this helps, and welcome to Med Studentz

Thank You very much Rehan for the information. I really appreciate it. As for my unweighted GPA is about 3.8. And i got pretty good grades on my transcript. Now i just need to practice/study for the entrance test.
Thank You once again.

Rehan I was wondering about the interview process of Shifa Medical College. It says in the prospectus, "Interviews are conducted by appointment after the entrance test." What does that mean, right after the entrance test or a couple of days later? Also any tips for the interview such as possible questions, formal clothes etc.

If you're a foreign applicant applying from overseas, your interview will most likely be conducted over the phone, and the interviews are held a few days to a few weeks later from the date of the entrance test. I'm pretty sure they weigh in your entrance test score before deciding who to interview, because they have hundreds of candidates taking the entrance test.

Possible interview questions include how to deal with contemporary ethical scenarios related to pregnancies/abortions, counseling/rape victims, patient/doctor confidentiality, and other clinical vignettes.

Always wear formal clothes to an interview, unless otherwise specified. A shirt and tie is the standard.

Hi- im currently bugging my brains out in tension over the entrance exam. Some people tell me its murder, others are like its really easy. Wats the real deal? How tough is this exam? And since i have 18days left, wat should i be studying?