A couple of questions

[SolNiger]

I'm seriously considering caribbean schools and i'd like some consensus on the following questions:

-I have a 2.48 GPA and a 30P MCAT score. I have good references from research experience. I have a little bit of volunteering in health care settings, and quiet in a bit in the social services setting. Plenty of extracurriculars as well. Does this make me competitive for the top caribbean schools? Should I try to get more volunteering experience?

- I have so far looked at St. George, Ross and Saba. I'm wondering why Saba is so much cheaper than the other two in terms of tuition?

- What are the deadlines for application to the january term for the above schools?

- I'm a canadian citizen. Will I be able to do residency in the states? And what if I decide to practise in canada after that, is it possible?
thanks in advance

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[McGillGrad]

-I have a 2.48 GPA and a 30P MCAT score. I have good references from research experience. I have a little bit of volunteering in health care settings, and quiet in a bit in the social services setting. Plenty of extracurriculars as well. Does this make me competitive for the top caribbean schools? Should I try to get more volunteering experience?

Not competitive, but also not out of the game, either. You should apply and see what happens.

- I have so far looked at St. George, Ross and Saba. I'm wondering why Saba is so much cheaper than the other two in terms of tuition?

Saba does not have access to federal funds, but that does not affect Canadians.

- What are the deadlines for application to the january term for the above schools?

Rolling admissions so apply as soon as you can. They prefer 3 months or more.

- I'm a canadian citizen. Will I be able to do residency in the states? And what if I decide to practise in canada after that, is it possible?
thanks in advance

Yes, and Yes but it is complicated. You can most reliably come back to Canada after residency if you jump through some hoops and plan ahead.

 

[SolNiger]

Not competitive, but also not out of the game, either. You should apply and see what happens.



Saba does not have access to federal funds, but that does not affect Canadians.

thanks McGillGrad, do you happen to know if OSAP covers medical school in the caribbean and if so how much of it does it cover?

 

[McGillGrad]

thanks McGillGrad, do you happen to know if OSAP covers medical school in the caribbean and if so how much of it does it cover?

I am not from Ontario, but those that have tried managed to get a max of about 13,000 total from OSAP, but you would have to check with them to make sure.

Our options are limited to CanHelp (http://www.iefc.com/us/us_med_list.cfm) and medical school line of credit accounts from Royal Bank and Bank of Montreal (although you can try at other banks such as Scotia). The bad news is that interest rates are a bit higher, but we can defer payment on the principal until after residency.

 

[oldpro]

I'm seriously considering caribbean schools and i'd like some consensus on the following questions:

-I have a 2.48 GPA and a 30P MCAT score. I have good references from research experience. I have a little bit of volunteering in health care settings, and quiet in a bit in the social services setting. Plenty of extracurriculars as well. Does this make me competitive for the top caribbean schools? Should I try to get more volunteering experience?

- I have so far looked at St. George, Ross and Saba. I'm wondering why Saba is so much cheaper than the other two in terms of tuition?

- What are the deadlines for application to the january term for the above schools?

- I'm a canadian citizen. Will I be able to do residency in the states? And what if I decide to practise in canada after that, is it possible?
thanks in advance

I think you have a decent shot, apply to the BIG 4, if you don't get in there are the others, the top 5 of them you would be fine mostly (they are lower tier due to not accepted in all 50 US states)

 

[SolNiger]

I think you have a decent shot, apply to the BIG 4, if you don't get in there are the others, the top 5 of them you would be fine mostly (they are lower tier due to not accepted in all 50 US states)

Thanks for the encouragement oldpro

what are some of the middle tier schools?

thanks

 

[oldpro]

Thanks for the encouragement oldpro

what are some of the middle tier schools?

thanks

AUA, MUA Nevis, St James, SMU, St Eustatious are the few that come to mind.
the catch here is not all 50 states, about 45 to 47 depending on where.
But I think it is an alternative with your GPA. One of those schools would def take you.

 

[bluenumber6]

I'm seriously considering caribbean schools and i'd like some consensus on the following questions:

-I have a 2.48 GPA and a 30P MCAT score. I have good references from research experience. I have a little bit of volunteering in health care settings, and quiet in a bit in the social services setting. Plenty of extracurriculars as well. Does this make me competitive for the top caribbean schools? Should I try to get more volunteering experience?

- I have so far looked at St. George, Ross and Saba. I'm wondering why Saba is so much cheaper than the other two in terms of tuition?

- What are the deadlines for application to the january term for the above schools?

- I'm a canadian citizen. Will I be able to do residency in the states? And what if I decide to practise in canada after that, is it possible?
thanks in advance

I know this doesn't answer your question but how on earth did you get such a low GPA and a high MCAT score?! Did you slack off in college and changed to the ideal student while taking the MCAT?

 

[SolNiger]

I know this doesn't answer your question but how on earth did you get such a low GPA and a high MCAT score?! Did you slack off in college and changed to the ideal student while taking the MCAT?

I went to a hard school and took hard courses (although my majors are psychology and human bio....theres still a lot you can do in here to mess up)

I've always been a strong science student, so the MCAT wasn't a big deal. Infact I took it after my second year. Had I taken a course or worked harder I probably could've done even better. Also, my experience has been, doing well in school takes a more sustained effort than doing well on the MCAT.

Now i've changed my ways and my GPA in the last year was a 3.38 (still nothing to brag about...but comparitively better). Yes i've been a slacker in the past, but I think i've learned how to motivate myself better.