Frequently Asked Questions

No. Since the AMCAS application system is not currently well suited to our overseas location, especially given the fact that a high proportion of our applicants are from outside the United States, applicants to WCM-Q are required to use our own Medical Program Application.

You may not substitute one form for the other. However, any applicant who has filed with AMCAS is strongly encouraged to supplement his/her WCM-Q application form with a complete copy of the AMCAS form.

Applicants must submit completed applications (with all required documents) by December 15, 2023 for Fall 2024 admissions.

No. We do not participate in the Early Decision Program.

No. It is a policy of the Committee on Admissions that one may not apply in the same year to both Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City and to Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar. Dual applicants will not be considered and will be procedurally withdrawn.

Upon receipt of your application, the Office of Admissions will inform you if any of the required supporting documents are missing. As soon as all materials are received, you will be notified that your application is complete and is being reviewed to determine whether an interview will be granted.

You may apply for admission in the next year.

No, we do not have a rolling admissions policy.

You can satisfy the letters of recommendation requirement by submitting one of the following options:

Option 1: 
One letter of reference from the Pre-Professional Advisory Committee of your college or university

OR

Option 2: 
At least two letters of reference from professors who can provide a detailed evaluation of your performance in appropriate university science courses, e.g. biology lecture/lab, chemistry lecture/lab, organic chemistry lecture/lab, biochemistry lecture/lab, etc. (Please note that a letter of reference from a research mentor or research supervisor cannot meet this requirement. However, it will serve as a supplement in your admissions application.)

Yes, you may submit letters from other people who know you and who can appraise your suitability for the practice of medicine, but they are not a substitute for the required letters of recommendation (outlined above). We prefer letters from people who know you well.

Transcripts should be either original-issue documents or officially notarized copies; these should be sent directly to Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar by the issuing or notarizing authority. Notarized true copies of transcripts must bear hand-written signatures and official stamps of appropriate educational or government authorities. All foreign language transcripts must be translated into English; the accuracy of those translations must be certified and notarized by an appropriate authority.

Yes. We will accept most materials that you send in support of your application. However, please limit the documents to those that will give the Committee on Admissions extra insight into you as an individual. Do not send us reprints of published articles, or copies of your senior thesis and/or research papers.

Please use the following address when mailing any documents:

Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar
Office of Admissions
Al Luqta Street
P.O. Box 24811
Doha, Qatar

Yes. MCAT scores can be up to three years old at the time of application. Your application will not be considered complete until we have received your official MCAT scores.

If your latest MCAT scores are over three years old, you will need to send a letter explaining why you waited to apply to medical school and why you have not taken this test recently.

You may find it useful to know that the average MCAT score of admitted students for Fall 2023 at WCM-Q was 516. However, you should be advised that our selection process involves a multiplicity of considerations (holistic approach).

No. We value diversity of undergraduate study. However, if your field of concentration was in a non-science area, we recommend that you now undertake additional coursework in the required basic sciences, and that you strive to develop your knowledge beyond the introductory level in these subjects, in order to prepare for the challenge of medical school. Many individuals pursue medical careers after receipt of a Bachelor's degree. Frequently, additional science courses and labs are required before they are prepared to apply to medical school. Therefore a number of schools now offer post-baccalaureate premedical programs. You may find a list of these schools at
https://students-residents.aamc.org/postbacc/

We require applicants to have completed rigorous courses at university in the sciences, including two semesters each of biology/zoology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics; and at least two semesters in English composition or literature. While there is no specific lab requirement, our highly selective process reflects our belief that a rigorous laboratory experience is essential to a thorough basic training in scientific concepts and methods.

It is not recommended.

It is not a prerequisite for filing an application. However, external applicants (i.e. those who have not completed the Pre-Medical curriculum of the Six-Year Medical Program) are generally expected to have earned at least the equivalent of an American bachelor's degree by the time they have enrolled in our Four-Year Medical Curriculum. An applicant's prior university career should reflect appropriate levels of mastery in the following subjects:

• Calculus
• Physics
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Organic Chemistry
• Biology/Zoology
• English

We apply the same high standards at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar as those applied at Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC). The mean science Grade Point Average (GPA) for Fall 2023 admitted students at WCM-Q for the Four-Year Medical Curriculum was 3.84 out of 4.0. However, our Committee on Admissions recognizes that, for a variety of reasons, grades alone are not reliable indicators of an applicant's capability to excel in the field of medicine. Our decisions are based on a holistic approach and take into account a wide range of other factors, such as personal qualities of applicants, evidence of their interest in the field of medicine, reports of multiple interviews, and of course, MCAT scores, before offering admission to WCM-Q.

Yes. The interview forms an essential part of the selection process. It follows that no candidate called for interview by the Committee on Admissions can be offered a place in the entering class unless he or she has completed that interview. Interviews are only held in Doha.

We do not make any travel or housing arrangements, nor do we cover the associated cost. Applicants who are selected for an on-campus interview are expected to make their own travel and accommodation arrangements.

All external candidates (applicants who have not gone through the Pre-Medical curriculum at WCM-Q) will be interviewed between January and March, and will be notified of their final decisions in April.

Yes, it does. However, deferral requests are granted only in exceptional circumstances and rarely approved by WCM-Q.

In order to request a deferral, an admitted student who has accepted the offer of admission must submit a formal letter of request addressed to the Executive Committee on Admissions explaining their exceptional circumstances for the deferral. The letter must be sent to the Office of Admissions by e-mail admissions@qatar-med.cornell.edu which in turn will present the request to the Executive Committee on Admissions for its consideration.

Admitted students for academic year 2024-2025 can submit a deferral request no later than Thursday, June 13, 2024 (12:00 noon Qatar time).

Due to the large number of applications we receive, and the complexity of the selection process, we are not able to provide individual information of this sort. However, if you would like to appeal the decision, you may submit a letter within seven business days of receiving your decision, addressed to the Executive Committee on Admissions explaining your reasons. The letter can be e-mailed to the Director of Admissions who in turn will present it to the Executive Committee on Admissions for deliberation and final decision.

The business week in Qatar is Sunday through Thursday.

WCM-Q students will do clinical training at the Hamad Medical Corporation, which manages a rapidly expanding healthcare system and includes the 900-bed Hamad General Hospital as well as a network of 24 modern primary care clinics. Moreover, as the Gulf region grows, we expect appropriate opportunities to become available in nearby locations as well.

Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) is an integral part of Weill Cornell Medical College (WCM) in New York and thus follows the same medical educational program; the two programs are educationally equivalent. Students that graduate from WCM-Q will, like their peers in New York city, receive a Cornell University MD degree.

Yes, it is listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools. (Link https://wdoms.org)

Students and graduates of Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar are eligible to take the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) through the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG). The USMLE is the sole examination system for students and graduates of both US and foreign medical colleges who seek medical licensure. International medical graduates (IMGs) are thus not required to undergo a separate licensing examination.

Anyone who graduates from a medical school whose location is outside of the geographic boundaries of the United States or Canada is considered an International Medical Graduate (IMG). Cornell is the first American university to step outside of these geographic limits by establishing a medical program and by awarding its MD degree. Thus WCM-Q students will be the only IMGs with US medical degrees.

Medical schools outside the United States and Canada vary in their educational standards and curricula. The purpose of ECFMG Certification is to assess the readiness of graduates of these schools to enter US residency and fellowship programs that are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Yes, to be eligible for certification by ECFMG, among other requirements, the medical school must be listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools. In addition, successful graduates must have successfully taken the USMLE Step 1, Step 2 CK, and Step 2 CS.

Yes. WCM-Q Medical Program graduates may enter ERAS and the National Residency Match Program (NRMP) as International Medical Graduates (IMGs). Our first graduates entered this process in 2008. Our graduates have been successful in matching at very competitive programs. Please click here to see the match results of graduates of 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Hamad Medical Corporation, our affiliate hospital in Doha, offers a residency program.

We do not currently offer the MD/PhD Program in Doha.

Cornell University is accredited by the Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges, with Doha, Qatar listed as an Additional Location. Weill Cornell Medicine , located in New York, is accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME).

Tuition fees will be the same as those in effect at Weill Cornell Medical College. For the academic year 2023-2024, the amount for the medical curriculum has been set at US $67,400. Tuition fees for future academic years may change and will be posted when available. Accepted students seeking aid may apply to the Qatar Foundation which has developed a need-based no-interest loan program that can cover up to 100% of a student's cost of attendance without regard for citizenship or national origin.

Yes. Qatar Foundation provides need-based loans of up to 100% of the fees to all international students who qualify for such assistance, without discrimination on the basis of race, religion, national or ethnic origin, age, or gender.

It is a four-year curriculum culminating in conferral of the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree.

Cornell University follows AAMC guidelines in regard to transfer applicants from other institutions. If a vacancy occurs in the third year of the medical curriculum of WCM-Q, transfer applicants from LCME-accredited medical schools may be considered. To be considered, applicants' qualifications must be comparable to those of WCM-Q students, and one must have compelling personal circumstances that favor transfer. Transfer between medical schools is not common.

There is no provision for full transfer between the two programs. Rather, it is expected that students will graduate from the specific program to which they have been admitted. Cornell's programs in New York and Doha offer equivalent training and equivalent MD degrees.

One should not expect a generalized cultural problem of this sort in Qatar. Doha is a culturally diverse and international environment. Just as in the United States, where patients may express preference for examinations conducted by someone of the same gender, in Qatar, one will encounter modest patients. However, among patients who adhere to traditional Islamic values, such modesty should be more accurately described as a cultural tenet or religious precept that a physician must always respect.

Yes. Cornell University is committed to administer all educational policies and activities, including admissions, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, age, handicap, or gender.