American University of Antigua (AUA), Ross, and SGU Current/Past Student thoughts

[TheProcess76]

I am considering applying to AUA for the Feb 2021 semester and SGU/Ross (fall 2021 semester and I want to hear about the experiences of current/past students only. Obviously I would like to go to a US medical school, but there is no harm in applying to a couple Caribbean schools as well. If you have been to any of these schools or know someone who has, can you tell me a little but about your experience? Outside of having to self study (which is all of medical school anyways) did the professors and clinical rotations benefit your development and help you match into a residency of your choice?

I understand that a Caribbean medical school is not ideal, but I am tired of seeing posts from people knocking them without having any experience in attending one so please do not waste your time replying if you have nothing constructive to say. Thanks in advance!

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[lacrossegirl420]

inb4 "don't go to caribbean", statistics about retention rate / sketchy practices, "did you give DO a try?" etc.

 

[KnightDoc]

I am considering applying to AUA for the Feb 2021 semester and SGU/Ross (fall 2021 semester and I want to hear about the experiences of current/past students only. Obviously I would like to go to a US medical school, but there is no harm in applying to a couple Caribbean schools as well. If you have been to any of these schools or know someone who has, can you tell me a little but about your experience? Outside of having to self study (which is all of medical school anyways) did the professors and clinical rotations benefit your development and help you match into a residency of your choice?

I understand that a Caribbean medical school is not ideal, but I am tired of seeing posts from people knocking them without having any experience in attending one so please do not waste your time replying if you have nothing constructive to say. Thanks in advance!

Since you seem to be very well aware of the general opinion on SDN, why post here, setting terms and conditions for responses? Your post walks like a troll and quacks like a troll. First post two years after account creation is yet another sign of credibility.

If you were REALLY interested in what you claim to seek, you'd reach out directly to the schools, who would each be more than happy to put you in touch with a few of their relatively few success stories, and you could then happily pursue this route with the justification you seek. You don't need anyone's permission here to do anything you want, but what's the point, other than to troll, of going to a place where you know that the opinion is very negative (with very good reason!), daring a true believer or two to come forward to support you, when there are other obvious places for you to obtain what you seek?

 

[TheProcess76]

Since you seem to be very well aware of the biases and general opinion on SDN, why post here, setting terms and conditions for responses? Your post walks like a troll and quacks like a troll.

If you were REALLY interested in what you claim to seek, you'd reach out directly to the schools, who would each be more than happy to put you in touch with a few of their relatively few success stories, and you could then happily pursue this route with the justification you seek.

Why would I waste my time posting if I wanted to troll? I have already reached directly to the schools and spoke with some students. The reason I am posting here is to get more opinions. If you were a medical school, you will only direct prospective students to talk with those who are/ were the top of their class and have nothing but good things to say. That's marketing and only gives me a one sided response. I want to hear from students in the middle of the pack. How am I supposed to know that the students hating on SDN are not just bad at studying and want to blame the school for their own problems?

 

[ciestar]

The match numbers speak for themselves. Anecdotal evidence won’t help you.

 

[KnightDoc]

Why would I waste my time posting if I wanted to troll? I have already reached directly to the schools and spoke with some students. The reason I am posting here is to get more opinions. If you were a medical school, you will only direct prospective students to talk with those who are/ were the top of their class and have nothing but good things to say. That's marketing and only gives me a one sided response. I want to hear from students in the middle of the pack. How am I supposed to know that the students hating on SDN are not just bad at studying and want to blame the school for their own problems?

Fair enough, but lots of people waste their time trolling because, for whatever reason, they enjoy it, so saying a post by definition cannot be a troll because someone spent time making the post doesn't make sense! That said, and assuming you are serious, you've obviously been reading long enough to know the responses you are going to get, assuming you get any responses at all.

The SDN community does not support the Caribbean school business model, and with good reason. You already know this. Lots of people at these schools are bad at studying, and the fact that the schools know this and still exploit their desire to become MDs for profit is the knock on them. It's a sleazy business model that financially destroys a ton a people, and you know this too.

Finally, you know that there are some success stories, so it's not impossible to do what you are thinking about, even though the odds going in are against it, so what more are you looking for, if not to stir it up here? Bottom line, no matter whether or not any "middle of the pack" students reply to you, is that lots of people go to the Caribbean, lots of people don't make it to graduation, lots of people who do graduate don't match, and some people actually end up as practicing MDs who wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity to do so. You know this, and don't need anyone's permission to buy this lottery ticket if that's what you want to do.

I'm not a current or past student, but I also have no interest in talking you out of doing something you want to do! I'm just questioning why you are coming to a place where you know the opinion is overwhelmingly negative setting preconditions on responses. Good luck!!!

 

[FutureSurgical]

Watch this video if you want an (almost) unbiased look from the outside in. Consistently there have been no good reasons to go there. Anecdotal evidence should be taken at face value.

 

[gonnif]

I would be cautious of AUA.
1) They have a reported total enrollment of over 2000, which would mean 500-600 per year. Yet, 2020 they reported placement of 258. Residency Placements - American University of Antigua (AUA)
2) They have been sued by numerous students for essentially breach of contract for inferior educations across both MD and RN programs for the past decade and have been one of the few schools NOT to get summary dismissals from the courts (ie the court found the cases had merit)
Jeffers v. American Univ. of Antigua, 2019 NY Slip Op 987 – CourtListener.com
3) They consistently have USMLE pass rates hovering about 50% for the past decade as well. A recent student gave their opinion The ugly truth about Caribbean medical schools | Pamela Wible MD

 

[KnightDoc]

I would be cautious of AUA.
1) They have a reported total enrollment of over 2000, which would mean 500-600 per year. Yet, 2020 they reported placement of 258. Residency Placements - American University of Antigua (AUA)
2) They have been sued by numerous students for essentially breach of contract for inferior educations across both MD and RN programs for the past decade and have been one of the few schools NOT to get summary dismissals from the courts (ie the court found the cases had merit)
Jeffers v. American Univ. of Antigua, 2019 NY Slip Op 987 – CourtListener.com
3) They consistently have USMLE pass rates hovering about 50% for the past decade as well. A recent student gave their opinion The ugly truth about Caribbean medical schools | Pamela Wible MD

Yeah, but you're not a current or former student, so you don't meet the eligibility requirements to respond!

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

I would be cautious of AUA.
1) They have a reported total enrollment of over 2000, which would mean 500-600 per year. Yet, 2020 they reported placement of 258. Residency Placements - American University of Antigua (AUA)
2) They have been sued by numerous students for essentially breach of contract for inferior educations across both MD and RN programs for the past decade and have been one of the few schools NOT to get summary dismissals from the courts (ie the court found the cases had merit)
Jeffers v. American Univ. of Antigua, 2019 NY Slip Op 987 – CourtListener.com
3) They consistently have USMLE pass rates hovering about 50% for the past decade as well. A recent student gave their opinion The ugly truth about Caribbean medical schools | Pamela Wible MD

Isn't #3 "anecdotal information" lol?

 

[shouldigomd]

I went to SGU. PM me if you have any specific questions.

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

I am considering applying to AUA for the Feb 2021 semester and SGU/Ross (fall 2021 semester and I want to hear about the experiences of current/past students only. Obviously I would like to go to a US medical school, but there is no harm in applying to a couple Caribbean schools as well. If you have been to any of these schools or know someone who has, can you tell me a little but about your experience? Outside of having to self study (which is all of medical school anyways) did the professors and clinical rotations benefit your development and help you match into a residency of your choice?

I understand that a Caribbean medical school is not ideal, but I am tired of seeing posts from people knocking them without having any experience in attending one so please do not waste your time replying if you have nothing constructive to say. Thanks in advance!

The only thing I would caution you about is you need to be extremely focused when attempting to study medicine at a Caribbean school. These programs are only for the most driven people. There might be some truth to the phrase "diploma mill" when referencing these schools in the sense that they are constantly bringing in lots of students and also churning out a lot of LEGITIMATE medical degrees. If you take the opportunity lightly and use your time there inefficiently, the likelihood of you getting tripped up and not succeeding increases immensely. I say that only because I see that your status is "pre-dental." Unfortunately, just because you gain an acceptance does not mean that you are guaranteed to make it through any of these programs. This comes back to being extremely focused on the task at hand. If that is you, then you could theoretically succeed at any of the accredited schools with SGU having the best success out of all of them.

It's true that this subforum appears to have extreme bias which is unfortunate but your best bet is to find out the few that post on here who have gone through the process and get your information from them through PM.

I'll be around here till June or July so if I can help you let me know.

 

[Goro]

The only thing I would caution you about is you need to be extremely focused when attempting to study medicine at a Caribbean school. These programs are only for the most driven people. There might be some truth to the phrase "diploma mill" when referencing these schools in the sense that they are constantly bringing in lots of students and also churning out a lot of LEGITIMATE medical degrees. If you take the opportunity lightly and use your time there inefficiently, the likelihood of you getting tripped up and not succeeding increases immensely. I say that only because I see that your status is "pre-dental." Unfortunately, just because you gain an acceptance does not mean that you are guaranteed to make it through any of these programs. This comes back to being extremely focused on the task at hand. If that is you, then you could theoretically succeed at any of the accredited schools with SGU having the best success out of all of them.

It's true that this subforum appears to have extreme bias which is unfortunate but your best bet is to find out the few that post on here who have gone through the process and get your information from them through PM.

I'll be around here till June or July so if I can help you let me know.

We're biased because of the predatory nature of these schools and the educational malpractice they commit. We bear no ill will to their students.

 

[TheProcess76]

The only thing I would caution you about is you need to be extremely focused when attempting to study medicine at a Caribbean school. These programs are only for the most driven people. There might be some truth to the phrase "diploma mill" when referencing these schools in the sense that they are constantly bringing in lots of students and also churning out a lot of LEGITIMATE medical degrees. If you take the opportunity lightly and use your time there inefficiently, the likelihood of you getting tripped up and not succeeding increases immensely. I say that only because I see that your status is "pre-dental." Unfortunately, just because you gain an acceptance does not mean that you are guaranteed to make it through any of these programs. This comes back to being extremely focused on the task at hand. If that is you, then you could theoretically succeed at any of the accredited schools with SGU having the best success out of all of them.

It's true that this subforum appears to have extreme bias which is unfortunate but your best bet is to find out the few that post on here who have gone through the process and get your information from them through PM.

I'll be around here till June or July so if I can help you let me know.

Thanks for your help, I will definitely try to PM people. Yeah I get what you mean. Actually, I was pre-dental during college and just logged in for the first time in over a year to pose this question after deciding to switch based on a ton of medical shadowing and volunteering I did.

 

[TheProcess76]

I went to SGU. PM me if you have any specific questions.

Thank you! I definitely will.