US DO (am I even possible?) or Caribbean?

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medstrong

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I think you definitely have a chance at US DO especially if you have an upward trends and a good MCAT. Definitely don't settle for Caribbean before you take your MCATs!!!

Your stats are competitive for SGU and SABA but that does not mean you should go. Your GPA doesn't even exclude you from Queens and Western since they take your best 2 and last 2 years.
 
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I think you definitely have a chance at US DO especially if you have an upward trends and a good MCAT. Definitely don't settle for Caribbean before you take your MCATs!!!

Your stats are competitive for SGU and SABA but that does not mean you should go. Your GPA doesn't even exclude you from Queens and Western since they take your best 2 and last 2 years.

Definitely do not settle... you actually have a somewhat competitive file even in Canadian schools. Try to do the best you can on the MCAT and apply in NA at least a few times before seriously entertaining Caribbean options.

Good luck and best wishes,
Wow, thanks so much guys! Thanks for the kind words of encouragements, it really means alot to me. I will try my best at the MCAT and apply to Canadian and US schools.

Good luck to you guys in Medical school!
 
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Your GPAs are fine for any DO school that accepts internationals. MSUCOM should be #1 on your list. My school requires green card, alas.


Hi, I am new to this forum and was wondering if anyone can give me some guidance and advice
My stats:

-Canadian
-last semester at a top Canadian University.
-I have a CGPA of 3.55 but the last three years with consistent 3.8-4.0 GPA in life sciences major (but only 4 courses per semester instead of 5).
-Very strong Volunteer experience/physician shadowing/foreign work experience/internship/research/extraciricular leadership.
*Never shadowed a DO before
-5 LOR
-About to take MCAT next year.

I have done alot of research and know the pros and cons of Caribbean med. Do I even have a chace at US DO? Are my stats competitive for SGU or Saba?

I appreciate your help!
Thanks
 
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Your GPAs are fine for any DO school that accepts internationals. MSUCOM should be #1 on your list. My school requires green card, alas.
Hi Goro. Thank you so much for your advice. I was wondering if you could explain the reason that you placed MSU as the top choice over others?
 
I have been told that they allocate seats specifically for Canadians. You may want to ask in the school-specific thread to verify.


Hi Goro. Thank you so much for your advice. I was wondering if you could explain the reason that you placed MSU as the top choice over others?
 
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I have been told that they allocate seats specifically for Canadians. You may want to ask in the school-specific thread to verify.
Thanks so much again! I really appreciate your advice. Yea, I just sent out emails to the MSU admissions office :D
 
I have been told that they allocate seats specifically for Canadians. You may want to ask in the school-specific thread to verify.
Yes, we have ~25 seats allocated to Canadian students at MSUCOM (with a scholarship that brings the exorbitant OOS tuition down closer to IS-levels).

You would be competitive with a strong MCAT.
 
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NEVER go Caribbean. There are better options in Ireland, UK and Australia.
 
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Yes, we have ~25 seats allocated to Canadian students at MSUCOM (with a scholarship that brings the exorbitant OOS tuition down closer to IS-levels).

You would be competitive with a strong MCAT.
Thank you for your advice! I will try very hard on my MCAT next year :D
 
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My 2 cents:

You have a strong upward trend, and solid GPA. A USDO acceptance is for sure within reach, as is a USMD interviews if you do really well on the MCAT (Low 30s-mid 30s on the old scale). Canadian interviews would be dependent on how your weighted GPA's get calculated, and if you can apply to best 2 years schools, and if you make MCAT cut-offs at certain places...looks much harder in this regard, but not out of the realm of possibility.

For USDO schools, MSU is a great school - but they are also significantly more expensive than many other USDO schools that regularly take Canadians. I don't think many people would say the extra 20K+/year is worth it, just for reserved seats - especially when many of the other USDO schools takes dozens of Canadians also. MSU is particularly popular because it has a campus that is close to the border, so some Canadians stay in Windsor,ON etc. Or want to be close to home in Ontario etc.
 
My 2 cents:

You have a strong upward trend, and solid GPA. A USDO acceptance is for sure within reach, as is a USMD interviews if you do really well on the MCAT (Low 30s-mid 30s on the old scale). Canadian interviews would be dependent on how your weighted GPA's get calculated, and if you can apply to best 2 years schools, and if you make MCAT cut-offs at certain places...looks much harder in this regard, but not out of the realm of possibility.

For USDO schools, MSU is a great school - but they are also significantly more expensive than many other USDO schools that regularly take Canadians. I don't think many people would say the extra 20K+/year is worth it, just for reserved seats - especially when many of the other USDO schools takes dozens of Canadians also. MSU is particularly popular because it has a campus that is close to the border, so some Canadians stay in Windsor,ON etc. Or want to be close to home in Ontario etc.
Thanks so much for your detailed reply! Thanks for the encouragement
 
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Thanks so much for your detailed reply! Thanks for the encouragement, but since I only took 4 courses per semester, I won't be qualified for many Canadian schools, except for a few very competitive ones. MSU looks like a very good choice as they say their Canadian graduates do very well on the MCCEE. Yes, for sure I will apply to more DO schools as long as they take Canadian students. I haven't looked too deep into the tuitions, but I know SGU in the Caribbean costs apr. $250,000 US in total (very very expensive). I appreciate your advice!
Take a look at:

AZCOM
Ccom
Kcumb
Lecom
Lmu
Marian
Msucom
Pcom
Pcom ga
Nova
VCOM (x2)
Rowan
Touro
Unecom
Tcom
Western
Pikeville
 
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Take a look at:

AZCOM
Ccom
Kcumb
Lecom
Lmu
Marian
Msucom
Pcom
Pcom ga
Nova
VCOM (x2)
Rowan
Touro
Unecom
Tcom
Western
Pikeville
Thank you Doctor! greatly appreciate your help :D
 
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I think that MSUCOM is a great choice! My fiancé goes there she loves it! However, a piece of advice if you do decide, and thats pick the DMC campus. Apparently the administration is far more friendlier and the students more close knit than other satellite campuses. Thats just based on what she has told me.
 
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I think that MSUCOM is a great choice! My fiancé goes there she loves it! However, a piece of advice if you do decide, and thats pick the DMC campus. Apparently the administration is far more friendlier and the students more close knit than other satellite campuses. Thats just based on what she has told me.
Thanks for the advice @567WingsO'Heaven! Greatly Appreciated
 
NEVER go Caribbean. There are better options in Ireland, UK and Australia.

This is not true. By "better options" do you mean better chances for residency? Ross matches more students into residency then any other med school. Yes they have huge class sizes and alot of people don't make it (anecdotal 20%), however most people get where they are going. If you are going to go abroad for med school I think the Carib is a great option provided you go to the big four.
 
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This is not true. By "better options" do you mean better chances for residency? Ross matches more students into residency then any other med school. Yes they have huge class sizes and alot of people don't make it (anecdotal 20%), however most people get where they are going. If you are going to go abroad for med school I think the Carib is a great option provided you go to the big four.
none of what you say is true. please check their programs before you speak!
each ireland school only accepts less than 20 Americans a year into their program.
UK: getting into their schools is just as difficult as getting into US schools!
australian school (UQ-Ochsner) only expanded class size last year to 120.
ireland and australia do NOT dismiss students or hold them back from taking the USMLE like carib schools do. Even so, match rates for Australia have been >90% and Ireland >80%.
ireland and australia do give you a backup for residency in case you can't get one in the US.
 
This is not true. By "better options" do you mean better chances for residency? Ross matches more students into residency then any other med school. Yes they have huge class sizes and alot of people don't make it (anecdotal 20%), however most people get where they are going. If you are going to go abroad for med school I think the Carib is a great option provided you go to the big four.

We had matches at Duke, 2 Mayo and 2 Derm... We are by no means a bad school! Tell em!
 
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This is not true. By "better options" do you mean better chances for residency? Ross matches more students into residency then any other med school. Yes they have huge class sizes and alot of people don't make it (anecdotal 20%), however most people get where they are going. If you are going to go abroad for med school I think the Carib is a great option provided you go to the big four.

I disagree with the big 4 being good option. One could go to a DO school with average MCATs of 24-25, they would still have lower attrition (<8%) and a far better placement rate (98-100%). If one attends Ross, there will be a 20% loss during the first two years, then another loss in 3rd/4th years, then you have your placement rate at 88%. This means at most a 70% placement rate from start to finish attending Ross versus 90%+ start to finish from a DO school.

Also those matches into Mayo were 2 at the Florida hospital (not flagship) and 1 at Minnesota (flagship but surgery prelim). The only impressive matches were the 2 derm and 1 neurosurgery. This still doesn't change the whole safety issue of attending the caribbean.
 
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none of what you say is true. please check their programs before you speak!
each ireland school only accepts less than 20 Americans a year into their program.
UK: getting into their schools is just as difficult as getting into US schools!
australian school (UQ-Ochsner) only expanded class size last year to 120.
ireland and australia do NOT dismiss students or hold them back from taking the USMLE like carib schools do. Even so, match rates for Australia have been >90% and Ireland >80%.
ireland and australia do give you a backup for residency in case you can't get one in the US.

I personally know nothing about schools in the UK or in Australia/New Zealand
I have never come across graduates from those schools during rotations, residency or practice so I can't say anything regarding them based on fact or personal experience. And you might be right, they may be good schools there as well.
When you wrote "none of what you say is true" I checked the facts regarding matching with respect to Ross and SGU.
And you can check the facts too, Ross matched more then 830 grads in 2015. I haven't checked for 2016 but here is the list of matches
http://www.rossu.edu/medical-school/2016residencyappointments.cfm
No other school aside from SGU can come close to that number
https://postgrad.sgu.edu/ResidencyAppointmentDirectory.aspx?year=2016
Both of these schools are in the Caribbean
So yes what I am saying is true
I frankly don't understand the intense active dislike for all schools Caribbean. There are good schools and there are bad schools.


@IslandStyle808 - I agree with you on trying to get into a DO program first. Going abroad should be your last resort. What I am saying if you do go abroad then the big 4 in the Carib is a great option.

We had matches at Duke, 2 Mayo and 2 Derm... We are by no means a bad school! Tell em!

Not a bad school at all. I agree lol
 
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