As a current student at IAUPR, I hope I can address the OP's main purpose of the thread, which is to give others a little insight to the highly misunderstood OD school in the islands.
1) PR is a US territory, surprising how many people did not know this. So that means the dollar is used here, so your credit cards and cell phones will work here. We have everything you find on the mainland, from Sam's (in fact its walking distance), Japanese food, Pizza hut, to bowling alleys. Its not third world, i CAN assure you that...go visit some of the other islands and see for yourself.
2) The new school is only 4 years old (relocated from a crummy building). It looks almost brand new with clean and modern facilities. Pictures can be given upon request.
3) All your classes are in English (tests..etc, as the boards are in English). All the professors, librarians, and admin staff speak English! If your main concern is spanish, please please do not worry. We have people who did not know a LICK of spanish before coming to PR, but everyone gets on the same page as we practice, with the aid of our awesome spanish teacher. We aren't doing conjugations..etc over and over, but actually learning conversational spanish, in addition to a script for a full eye exam. Its off putting to people because they dont want to put the extra effort in learning a new language, which is a shame! For those who already speak spanish, they take a different class (will have to double check on exactly what). Again this should not be a deterrent, but a blessing in disguise. Once you graduate, you would be hot property as you have a leg up above those from the mainland as you can perform an exam bilingually. Your clinical training will also give you a leg up as you will be exposed to more disease and pathology (this is an island remember!)
4) Majority of students that go here are from the mainland/canada. Do not let anyone else say otherwise. In my class we only have 1 Puerto Rican student (not a bad or good thing, just the way it is). In other years, there are a few more, and they actually came out on top of their class during first year. So the trend shows itself that more and more American students are and will be coming here.
5) The school is currently in a "up swing" where things are changing for the better. Yes we did have a ACOE visit due to 3 years of below 70% board rates, but as arhanisarhan said, that includes the students who dont have to take it if they practice in PR. All the board material is presented throughout your lectures, so its on the student to put forth that effort. In response to this, the committee had some real positive feedback of our school, and losing accreditation is the last thing on our minds. We do have accreditation and our next visit is 2013 (according to
http://www.aoa.org/x12707.xml). Also the new incoming class of 2015 may benefit from a restructured curriculum, which will give them clinical experience from semester 1 and the classes are going to be extensively integrated. Frankly, I'm jealous.
6) The caliber of entering students is quite surprising, regardless of the lower GPAs and OATs. In our class of 48, we have some extremely talented individuals that are excelling in all classes/labs. Of course, like anywhere, you will have those that struggle. Majority are doing fine, so I am not worried about my classmates getting to graduation. Again, its what you put in is what you get out. If you study hard and don't expect to be babied, you will do just fine. Personally speaking, I didn't do as hot as i wanted to undergrad, but I made sure i wouldn't make that same mistake in OD school. My GPA is by far better here and it will continue to rise if I keep it up the hard work...Remember its what you put in!
7) We have plenty of entertainment and activities/clubs at our disposal. VOSH took students to Domican republic for a trip, there are monthly screenings that you can attend, plenty of student clubs that fit your niche...etc. We also are 25 mins from the awesome beaches of PR (go further and youll get to culebra...search it on google!) There is national rainforest, zipline tours, San Juan nightlife, clubs/bars, outlet malls, bat caves, Old san juan...amongst a million other things.
I think im done for now, but I am open to questions about PR and the school. Thanks for starting this thread with the purpose of informative discussion, and not bashing (like every other thread).
Gracias amigos.