- Joined
- Apr 19, 2015
- Messages
- 322
- Reaction score
- 48
Some backstory: My parents really, really want me to go to the Caribbean this summer for medical school. I took a gap year this cycle and still didn't get in, which makes them feel like I'm "wasting time." They probably have gotten in my head, as I'm here asking this question now. With DO schools axing grade replacement, I am stuck with my measly 3.2 GPA. I could retake the MCAT, but how good is a 3.2/508 really? Honestly, I don't think my MCAT could even improve by that much anyway. Even with an SMP, there is no guarantee that I could do well enough and improve my MCAT enough to go to a US school. More "time (and maybe money) wasted."
1. My parents boast about how Ross claims to have a 99% match rate on their website. I tried to tell them that the graduates don't get their first choice over there, about the merger, prelim spots, and the attrition rate. All they tell me is that no matter where I go to school, I'll have to work hard anyway. SDN says that US schools want their students to succeed, but schools like SGU just want your money. Don't they both have more or less the same dismissal policies though?
2. There is a NY Times article from 2014 that says: "...John R. Boulet, a co-author of both studies and a researcher at the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research, said that more than 90 percent of American graduates of foreign medical schools who have passed the requisite tests find a residency position. “Through persistence they eventually get in,” he said." Is this a bunch of BS or what?
3. From the same article: "Like St. George’s, Ross and American University have leveraged residencies by paying hospitals to accept their students for clinical clerkships in their third and fourth years of medical school. Those students get to know the residency directors, who may then favor them for residency positions." To what extent is this true?
4. In regards to the merger, many of the Adcoms here on SDN have admitted that they really don't know for sure how the merger will affect medical graduates yet. Then is it 100% sure that IMGs will get screwed over by the merger?
Final words: I have been shadowing a podiatrist since last week (secretly) in light of being pressured to go to the Caribbean. I had a cousin who did the same thing a few years back and he loves podiatry. I just want to be able to shut the door on my parent's obsession with the Caribbean before breaking the news to them.
1. My parents boast about how Ross claims to have a 99% match rate on their website. I tried to tell them that the graduates don't get their first choice over there, about the merger, prelim spots, and the attrition rate. All they tell me is that no matter where I go to school, I'll have to work hard anyway. SDN says that US schools want their students to succeed, but schools like SGU just want your money. Don't they both have more or less the same dismissal policies though?
2. There is a NY Times article from 2014 that says: "...John R. Boulet, a co-author of both studies and a researcher at the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research, said that more than 90 percent of American graduates of foreign medical schools who have passed the requisite tests find a residency position. “Through persistence they eventually get in,” he said." Is this a bunch of BS or what?
3. From the same article: "Like St. George’s, Ross and American University have leveraged residencies by paying hospitals to accept their students for clinical clerkships in their third and fourth years of medical school. Those students get to know the residency directors, who may then favor them for residency positions." To what extent is this true?
4. In regards to the merger, many of the Adcoms here on SDN have admitted that they really don't know for sure how the merger will affect medical graduates yet. Then is it 100% sure that IMGs will get screwed over by the merger?
Final words: I have been shadowing a podiatrist since last week (secretly) in light of being pressured to go to the Caribbean. I had a cousin who did the same thing a few years back and he loves podiatry. I just want to be able to shut the door on my parent's obsession with the Caribbean before breaking the news to them.