IBCC Equivalence for Pakistan Medical Colleges

haha he just realized hes not a paki.. paki

Salam everyone!

I finally have a real concern. My brother applied to get his equivalence certificate @ the IBCC office in Lahore around the middle of February, and he submitted all the required docs. About a week later, he got this letter saying that his high school diploma was equal to FSc in Pakistan, but that they couldn't give him his equivalence marks yet because they needed to "verify" them. It's been about four or five months now and they still haven't completed the "verification." I have a cousin in Lahore who's been bugging the guys at the office to get the marks back but they keep telling him that they're still being verified and stuff like that. Any sugguestions on how to get those marks out? The deadline for the gov. self-finance and tech. assistance applications is the end of this August so he really needs that equivalence certificate asap.

N e help would be appreciated. Thx.

Smeer,

Did your brother submit his transcript in a completely sealed envelope to them straight from his high school? If he didn't, can you mail one (via FedEx or DHL) to your cousin in Lahore and have him take that to IBCC?

The only thing I can think of is that they have sent a letter to your brother's high school asking for the transcript to be verified as authentic (something they do in a lot of cases) and they are still waiting on a response.

Problem is, a lot of times high school staff don't respond to the IBCC (either due to a lack of staff able to handle it, or just because they don't care) and your brother's equivalence report will be delayed. So perhaps getting another transcript copy from your brother's high school, not opening it at all, having them stamp the envelope's flap and mailing it just like that to your cousin who can give it to IBCC is your best bet.

That and just bothering them every day about it.

Rehan is right, if there is any bit of doubt about the stuff not being sealed, they will send a letter to the school wherever it is asking for the transcripts to be sent directly to them. Your best off telling your school directly to send a copy of the transcripts official to the IBCC and give the address and everything.

If you need an equivalence so bad, they usually give you a provisional equivalence which is valid for about 6 months.

Salam all,

Thx for your guys' help Rehan and maik.

We sent a couple of transcripts (about 3-4) with the IBCC application just in case, so I don't think it's a seal problem (and we were really careful to tell our relatives not to open any of them as we were informed earlier that the IBCC folks are really strict about having it sealed).

My brother made a couple of trips over the passed few months to ask the school he graduated from if they recieved any notice or request or anything from the IBCC office(s), and they said that they hadn't, even though the IBCC informed us that they were in the process of verifying.

I'll have my brother go to the office of his former high school and have them send in a new, freshly sealed/stamped transcript and see if that helps any. Thx for the advice.

My dad made a few calls yesterday and he also heard about the provisional certificate. I think we might try to obtain one of those so that we have something to put on my brother's application while the IBCC people are still out verifying.

Thx again for everyone's help. Glad to know you guys are here to help .

Anytime. In a few day we'll try to put our bank account information here so thankful people can make generous contributions =) Gotta love the new smilies rehan hah

Salam all!

Another question about the equivalence process. I've heard that AP classes/tests are pretty much crap when it comes to getting your marks converted, that normal classes and AP classes are counted the same.

My dad recently contacted the IBCC and asked about the equivalence certificate progress, and they said that the only thing they're waiting on now is verification of my brother's AP results, so we had to call the AP services and have them send the IBCC a copy of his scores. Does that mean that the IBCC does factor in AP scores into the equivalence certificate (with a possibility of higher marks if you've done well on them)?

Its possible you will get better marks with an AP class then with a regular one but thats just up to them really. Theres no rule or perfect calculation that they have shown us really that makes any sense! And I think only an A on an AP will get you extra marks, otherwise a B in AP Chem or a B in regular Chem will prolly not make a difference to them, but who knows.

Yea, maik7upurz is dead on -- when I had my equivalence converted they didn't even seem to take my AP scores into account.

Also as a sidenote, remember that IBCC will take a certain percentage off of your total score because your grades are based on the American system and IBCC considers that method of grading more lenient than the Pakistani one (which in my opinion is open to debate).

damn.. do they think they british system is lenient in comparsion 2 the paki system 2??

Sadia,

You just went to Pakistan to apply right?? How was ur experience??

sadaf i did'nt go to apply i jus went to check out the "medicine scene" in pak..and from my analysis t'was rather dry...i joke i joke..on a serious note..i just went over for a break and do some research on the side...and found that i need either the FSc or Alevels in chem bio and physics which i do not have...so i shall start them this yr..which in turn will open my options of applying in the UK (which is highly competitve) or then returning to pakistan and goin private