Welcome to SGU SVM

Hello, my name is Megan and I am a recent graduate from St. George's University School of Veterinary Medicine. If anyone has any questions about the program, I would be happy to help answer them. Best of luck to all those applying and congratulations for beginning the exciting journey to becoming a veterinarian.

Hi Megan,
I was actually a little curious about life on the island. Can you tell me if you lived on campus or off and what that was like. Also, what kinds of things were available to do during your "off" time? Some people really aren't fond of living on islands because of the limitations involved; did you find it was "too small".
Thanks much,
Zook

Hi Megan,
Thanks for starting this thread. Can you tell us how students pay for schooling? Are there loans in place that cover everything? And what kind of experiences will we be exposed to beginning in first semester? Do we get any hands on learning?

Thanks!

Hi Megan and everyone!
I've been accepted to both Ross and SGU and I had some questions before I make my decision.

1. Why did you decide to go to SGU and not Ross?
2. Did you feel safe on Grenada?
- I have read that on St. Kitts students are targets for robberies and thefts
- Did you encounter anything like this?
3. How did you feel about the professors and the support at the school? Were the professors helpful? Did you ever feel that you were left out to fend out on your own?
4. If you failed a class do you have to repeat the whole semester like at Ross?
5. It seems like its easy to get kicked out of Ross (fail a class and retake the semester and if you fail another you get kicked out) is it the same at SGU?

Okay thats it for now =) Thanks !

Hi Strawberriemilk,

I am also a veterinary student at SGU. I chose SGU over Ross because of the fact that they accept a lot of students and they also kick a lot of students out. I have been in Grenada for over 4 years now (I did some prevet there) and I have never felt unsafe, however, you shouldn't be walking around at 3 am after drinking by yourself. The professors are very helpful if you need extra help. There are also tutors and extra help from pretty much anyone (your classmates, footsteps buddy, etc.). If you fail one class, its ok, you will have to repeat that class but only that class, if you want to retake another one to increase your grade, they will let you. We have a 6 year policy, you need to graduate within 6 years of starting vet school. So you can't keep repeating classes every term. I hope this helps, if you have anymore questions, please message me back!

Thanks!
Jolene

Originally Posted by Birdvet2013

Hi Strawberriemilk,

I am also a veterinary student at SGU. I chose SGU over Ross because of the fact that they accept a lot of students and they also kick a lot of students out. I have been in Grenada for over 4 years now (I did some prevet there) and I have never felt unsafe, however, you shouldn't be walking around at 3 am after drinking by yourself. The professors are very helpful if you need extra help. There are also tutors and extra help from pretty much anyone (your classmates, footsteps buddy, etc.). If you fail one class, its ok, you will have to repeat that class but only that class, if you want to retake another one to increase your grade, they will let you. We have a 6 year policy, you need to graduate within 6 years of starting vet school. So you can't keep repeating classes every term. I hope this helps, if you have anymore questions, please message me back!

Thanks!
Jolene

This is going to sound silly and won't really factor into anything but I'm curious....what's the food like? Can you order a pizza and go to McDonalds? Or is it completely different?

There is plenty of places on the island that serve American style food. Ricks is a god example, they serve good pizza, burgers and fried foods. There is no McDonalds on the island. The only major fast food resturant is KFC. Other than that its mainly locally owned businesses. Which will serve everything from Chineese food to Burger and Ribs. Traditional local foods consist of fish dishes, stewed meats, rice and peas/beans..etc. You wont have a problem finding food from home though.

Originally Posted by Walsh1122

There is plenty of places on the island that serve American style food. Ricks is a god example, they serve good pizza, burgers and fried foods. There is no McDonalds on the island. The only major fast food resturant is KFC. Other than that its mainly locally owned businesses. Which will serve everything from Chineese food to Burger and Ribs. Traditional local foods consist of fish dishes, stewed meats, rice and peas/beans..etc. You wont have a problem finding food from home though.

sounds amazing to me!

hello,
I was curious about what type of stats did you have when you guys got accepted to SGU. Like your gpa, experience, etc.???

Hi Megan and Birdvet,
Thanks for starting this thread. Look forward to hearing more specifics about your decisions to attend SGU over Ross...can you tell us more about getting loans for school in the Caribbean, average GPA/GRE scores, and cost of living?? Thank you in advance!!

Hi guys, my name is Sarah and I went to SGU and recently completed my fourth year at Cornell. I can't remember my stats when I applied, but I can tell you that the last time averages were checked at SGU, the average GPA was a 3.1 and the average GRE score was an 1100. The cost of education is quite high and the lack of government loans makes paying for school quite a challenge. The cost of tuition is about $31,000 per year and the cost of living is between $18,000-$21,000 per year. Loans are available currently through Sallie Mae, but they are all private loans at this time. That means that the loans will begin accruing interest from the time the money is dispersed. Sallie Mae also is currently requiring that you make payments towards interest while you are in school. When the loans were originally available, they had an option where additional funds could be borrowed to help cover the monthly payments, but I am not sure if that option remains available. The interest payments are also kept around $25 per month, but every time you borrow additional funds, the extra $25 is added on. The fees also increase over time, but I am not sure how dramatically or quickly that happens. I hope all of this information helps and is clear, but if not, certainly let me know and I will try to help as much as possible. Let me know if there are other questions as well!

Did any of you St. George students or graduates know anyone who
brought their animals over from the US? If so do you know how that was
for them?

I was wondering if anyone knows if getting into a surgery residency is more difficult for an SGU graduate considering that it's an out of state school. Are there any stats on this?

Thanks

J

Hey,

I'd also like to know how hard is it to bring your pet with you to SGU? I have a cat.

And how hard is it to bring your husband?

Can you survive on loans alone during your time in school, or do you need either savings or income during your stay to live? And I imagine it would be hard for my husband to find a job?

Last question, do you know of anyone who had a baby while in school?

Thanks for any input

Cats should be easy they go in a carrier under your seat - you cannot fly thru barbados though. Might have trouble getting the husband in a carrier -jk a lot of students have SO's theres even a club on campus for them. The loans are plenty to live on, for just me, not sure about with an SO. I know students that have very small children here, dunno about actually having them here...

Anyone know what the likelihood of getting an interview but not getting accepted is? Have an upcoming interview just anxious

the stats on the SGU website say that 67% of thoes interviewed are accepted....Good luck with your interview!!!

Just pressed the submit button for August 2012!

Originally Posted by jemappellejane

Just pressed the submit button for August 2012!

Good luck

I just found out I have an interview for the DVM program starting in August 2012!! does anyone have any advice or could anyone let me know what the interview was like for them? I've read (from older forums) there is an essay to write during the interview as well. Does anyone know of this is accurate or have more details about this?

Now that I finally got and interview I am pretty nervous, don't wanna mess it up. Any info/advice is welcome. Thanks!!!

Originally Posted by Wildflower2012

I just found out I have an interview for the DVM program starting in August 2012!! does anyone have any advice or could anyone let me know what the interview was like for them? I've read (from older forums) there is an essay to write during the interview as well. Does anyone know of this is accurate or have more details about this?

Now that I finally got and interview I am pretty nervous, don't wanna mess it up. Any info/advice is welcome. Thanks!!!

Congrats!
Mine was laid back and easy, there was a paper with 3 topics for you to choose one and it wasn't long. Biggest thing i would say is having them feel like you can live and do well in a foreign country.

Originally Posted by deg5030

Congrats!
Mine was laid back and easy, there was a paper with 3 topics for you to choose one and it wasn't long. Biggest thing i would say is having them feel like you can live and do well in a foreign country.

I don't know your academic stats Deg, but did they ask anything about that at interview?
Is anyone willing to share stats? I'm pretty worried about my GPA (~3.1)

My GPA is 3.59 but with about a 3.0 from Cegep .. Just had my interview last weekend, waiting top get the final results... AAAAHHH

Originally Posted by Wildflower2012

My GPA is 3.59 but with about a 3.0 from Cegep .. Just had my interview last weekend, waiting top get the final results... AAAAHHH

I'm sure you did great but waiting sucks

Hi everyone,
I had a simple question about the semester outline. I'm confused as to how many semesters the vet program is. Do you have to attend summer semesters at SGU and Ross as part of the regular curriculum?
Thanx!

The only time I'm aware you stay for summer is if you are doing a dual degree program but if you are just in vet it is just 6 semesters in Grenada fall/spring then stateside for clinics.

Ross is different and on trimesters and you would have class in summer and shorter breaks between each

Originally Posted by Sherry Keller

Hi everyone,
I had a simple question about the semester outline. I'm confused as to how many semesters the vet program is. Do you have to attend summer semesters at SGU and Ross as part of the regular curriculum?
Thanx!

SGU's layout of semesters is pretty much identical to that of a US school. fall/spring semesters with a winter and summer break. (6 pre-clinical and a 4th year of clinical rotations)

Ross and St. Matthew's are on trimesters as mentioned above. I don't know much about SMUs program, but Ross has 3 semesters a year with 2 weeks in between each (winter gets you 3). There are7 pre-clinical semesters at Ross. This is something I always encourage people to consider, because even though the overall program time is a little bit less, your time in the classroom is more than at a US school or SGU. Might not seem like a big deal, but you will pay another semester's worth of tuition and living expenses, and once you get into the DVM program, you really just start counting down to when you're done with exams and school.

Thank you!
I have another question. So is Ross's DVM program 7 semesters at Ross (2 years + 1 extra semester) and then one year in the US. (total of 3 years + 1 semester?) and is SGU a total of 6 semesters (3 years) and then one year (2 semesters) in the US?
Thank you I was just wondering how the whole thing works out!
Sherry

Originally Posted by Sherry Keller

Thank you!
I have another question. So is Ross's DVM program 7 semesters at Ross (2 years + 1 extra semester) and then one year in the US. (total of 3 years + 1 semester?) and is SGU a total of 6 semesters (3 years) and then one year (2 semesters) in the US?
Thank you I was just wondering how the whole thing works out!
Sherry

Ross i'm pretty sure is essentially 2.5 years on the island and then a year (trimester 8-10) in the states so 7 trimesters with a 2 week break between each (besides xmas) for a total of 3.5 years

SGU is 6 semesters on the island (3 years) and then a year in the states for clinics for a total of 4 years. Difference is for sgu you have normal length summer and winter break like any other vet school or 4 year university

Thank you!
Another question about SGU is for the 4th year in the states is it just a regular 2 semester type of year, or a full year including summer? When do they graduate if you entered for the fall 2013?
Thank you!

you start your clinical year (4th year) somewhere between 2 days and 1 month after your done with your 3rd year. SO you will go to school the summer between your 3rd and 4th year. If you start in Aug 2013 you will graduate some time in June 2017.