Note: For up-to-date information for undocumented immigrants/DACA status Wellesley students and alumnae, please visit the Slater International Center and speak with their staff.

Although it may be challenging to apply to health professions schools as an undocumented immigrant/DACA status student, there are schools that welcome applications as well as resources available to help you.

An undocumented immigrant is a foreign-born person who doesn’t have legal permission to be in the US.  In 2012, the Obama administration granted temporary relief from deportation for certain unauthorized immigrants who entered the US as children, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).  DACA status confers a lawful US presence, social security number, work authorization, and the allowance for participation in medical residency training. Some, but not all, health professions schools welcome applications from undocumented immigrants/DACA status applicants. For example, the Medical School Admissions Requirements (MSAR), an online resource offered by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), reports individual school policies regarding DACA applicant status in the "Application Policies" section within the "Admissions" section. Many schools and programs have more detailed information on their websites.

Undocumented immigrants/DACA status students have united to create resources for undocumented immigrants/DACA status students interested in pursuing careers in healthcare and in the sciences. Visit their website, Pre-Health Dreamers and read the information there including their FAQ Guide to learn more about applying, choosing schools, financing an education, scholarships, internships, residency programs and more. Other helpful resources include:

• Information from Harvard College: Act on a Dream
• Immigrants Rising
• AAMC Webinar: Supporting the Financial Success of DACA Medical Students
• Federal Student Aid, an Office of the US Department of Education: Financial Aid and Undocumented Student FAQs
• Pomona College: Undocumented and DACAmented Student Resources
• United We Dream
• My Undocumented Life

Below is a partial list of medical schools that have reported to the AAMC a willingness to consider DACA applicants (check individual school websites for updates):

• Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California
• Stanford University School of Medicine
• University of California, Davis, School of Medicine
• University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine
• University of California, Riverside, School of Medicine
• University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine
• University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine
• University of Connecticut School of Medicine
• Yale School of Medicine
• Georgetown University School of Medicine
• Emory University School of Medicine
• University of Hawaii, John A. Burns School of Medicine
• Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science
• Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
• Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Boston University School of Medicine
• Harvard Medical School
• University of Massachusetts Medical School
• University of Chicago Division of the Biological Sciences the Pritzker School of Medicine
• St. Louis University School of Medicine
• Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine
• Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
• Rutgers, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
• University of New Mexico School of Medicine
• Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
• Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
• Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
• State University of New York Downstate
• State University of New York Upstate
• Stony Brook University School of Medicine 
• Weill Cornell Medical College
• Duke University School of Medicine
• University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Medicine
• Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
• Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
• Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
• University of Utah School of Medicine
• University of Vermont College of Medicine
• University of Washington School of Medicine

Talk with your health professions advisor about your goals, plans, and concerns.