August 2014 SGU Class

[MedDreams1991]

Hi everyone,
Who else is in the Aug 2014 class? Getting amped to start this new phase of my life!

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[Heresthedoc]

I'll be there! 2018 can't come fast enough. ;-)

 

[TxResident]

Quick question, what time gap did you guys find out from your interview->decision ? I'm under final review but unsure as to whether or not I've been decided on. Did you guys check online or call them?

 

[Heresthedoc]

It was about a month for me. Not long at all.

 

[MedDreams1991]

mine was within a week

 

[DrHouseYangGrey]

Congrats to all who were accepted! I just applied and hopefully I'm not too late to get in for August. I'm a Caribbean student (Virgin Islands whoop!). I think my Science GPA and overall GPA are decent. How long did you guys wait for an interview invite?

 

[KyleV]

Hey guys I've been a long time lurker on the forums, and am still quite a while away from applying to med school but was wondering if SGU and all of the big 4 Caribbean schools had their clinical rotations back in the US? That is, are you guys that are going to the island going to be there for "only" 2 of the 4 years of medical school? Good luck!

 

[Heresthedoc]

SGU does, yes. I have a wife and kids so even being away for 2 years will feel like an eternity, but I don't think I could take any more than that!

You can choose to do your clinicals on the island, too if you want.

 

[fdoc93]

Hi everyone,
Who else is in the Aug 2014 class? Getting amped to start this new phase of my life!

Hi !
If you don't mind what were your GPA and MCAT scores ? I have applied already and want to see if I have some chances to get in

 

[fdoc93]

Hi everyone !
If you don't mind what were your GPA and MCAT scores ? I have applied already and want to see if I have some chances to get in

 

[whizplusdum]

SGU does, yes. I have a wife and kids so even being away for 2 years will feel like an eternity, but I don't think I could take any more than that!

You can choose to do your clinicals on the island, too if you want.

Hey Man,
Use your family as a motivation for you to succeed in life! I just submitted my transcripts and mcat scores today. Going to send in my application later this weekend and hopefully I can get my last letter in by next Friday. That being said, if I get in, I hope you see you there.

 

[whizplusdum]

Hi everyone !
If you don't mind what were your GPA and MCAT scores ? I have applied already and want to see if I have some chances to get in

I will be applying soon. Will have everything submitted within 2 weeks. My Sci and regular gpa is roughly a 3.45 to 3.5. I do not know the exact, just a rough range mainly because I went to 2 community college and UCD. I screwed up in my 2 community colleges scoring low 3.0 and at UC Davis my gpa was in the high 3.0
That being said, I took the mcat 3 times, but highest is 29.
Hopefully I can get in this cycle with 2 other friends. Go to SGU, study like a beast and secure a decent residency where I can be paid a good salary to pay off my loans and start my family =).

 

[fdoc93]

I will be applying soon. Will have everything submitted within 2 weeks. My Sci and regular gpa is roughly a 3.45 to 3.5. I do not know the exact, just a rough range mainly because I went to 2 community college and UCD. I screwed up in my 2 community colleges scoring low 3.0 and at UC Davis my gpa was in the high 3.0
That being said, I took the mcat 3 times, but highest is 29.
Hopefully I can get in this cycle with 2 other friends. Go to SGU, study like a beast and secure a decent residency where I can be paid a good salary to pay off my loans and start my family =).

Thank you for sharing info !
I think you have a good chance to get in with such a high GPA and MCAT. Why don'T you apply to US DO though too?
Hopefully we will all get in ...

 

[Razorblade]

Hello everyone !!

Anyone applying or going from new jersey ??

 

[Heresthedoc]

Hello everyone !!

Anyone applying or going from new jersey ??

I'm coming from down-state NY. I guess that's kinda close, haha.

 

[Razorblade]

Heresthedoc !!! Yahh actually pretty close .

 

[Heresthedoc]

@Razorblade I'm coming from Dutchess County. How about you?

 

[Razorblade]

Heresthedoc . Yah pretty close

 

[Razorblade]

I am from atlantic city new jersey .

 

[Heresthedoc]

I am from atlantic city new jersey .

Cool! I vacation there every summer!

Glad I won't be moving thousands of miles away without some semblance of familiarity! Lol

 

[Razorblade]

@Heresthedoc . Hahaha now i do feel the same way. Yes atlantic city is the best place for vacations because of all the casinos and beach

 

[ewax]

I will be applying soon. Will have everything submitted within 2 weeks. My Sci and regular gpa is roughly a 3.45 to 3.5. I do not know the exact, just a rough range mainly because I went to 2 community college and UCD. I screwed up in my 2 community colleges scoring low 3.0 and at UC Davis my gpa was in the high 3.0
That being said, I took the mcat 3 times, but highest is 29.
Hopefully I can get in this cycle with 2 other friends. Go to SGU, study like a beast and secure a decent residency where I can be paid a good salary to pay off my loans and start my family =).

Go DO. You'll be a shoo in.

 

[aaziz8]

Hey, I just got into the Charter Program. Thought I should post in here just in case I see any of you all around campus. Pleasure to read your posts.

 

[Dukie2005]

Hi all! Just found this thread. Good chance I will be going to SGU in August but waiting on waitlist news here. Had considered reapplying for next year but got a scholarship and free trip down to grenada which sold me more or less.

I have a fiance and two dogs who plan to follow me down to Grenada the second semester if I do go to SGU which is making me a little nervous. Anyone else going to just do the one semester of on-campus housing?

Also, SGU indicated there was a August 2014 incoming class Facebook group but for the life of me I cannot find it on FB. Anyone else had this issue?

Again, glad to see this thread!

 

[Heresthedoc]

Hi all! Just found this thread. Good chance I will be going to SGU in August but waiting on waitlist news here. Had considered reapplying for next year but got a scholarship and free trip down to grenada which sold me more or less.

I have a fiance and two dogs who plan to follow me down to Grenada the second semester if I do go to SGU which is making me a little nervous. Anyone else going to just do the one semester of on-campus housing?

Also, SGU indicated there was a August 2014 incoming class Facebook group but for the life of me I cannot find it on FB. Anyone else had this issue?

Again, glad to see this thread!

It's on Facebook. I'm part of it.

Its called SGUSOM August 2014 Entering Class. It's a closed group, just send a join request when you find it.

 

[Dukie2005]

Thanks! It's weird that if you search for deviations you can't find it but putting SGUSOM all one word (which I hadn't been doing) worked like a charm. Thanks again Heresthedoc!

 

[Heresthedoc]

Thanks! It's weird that if you search for deviations you can't find it but putting SGUSOM all one word (which I hadn't been doing) worked like a charm. Thanks again Heresthedoc!

No worries. Welcome!

 

[bedevilled ben]

Hi all! Just found this thread. Good chance I will be going to SGU in August but waiting on waitlist news here. Had considered reapplying for next year but got a scholarship and free trip down to grenada which sold me more or less.

I have a fiance and two dogs who plan to follow me down to Grenada the second semester if I do go to SGU which is making me a little nervous. Anyone else going to just do the one semester of on-campus housing?

Also, SGU indicated there was a August 2014 incoming class Facebook group but for the life of me I cannot find it on FB. Anyone else had this issue?

Again, glad to see this thread!

Congrats to everyone on getting in. Just finishing up my second year, you will be amazed how fast it goes. I just wanted to point out that you can email the housing department and request off-campus housing beginning in Term 1 if you don't want to live on campus. You just have to provide a reason for wanting to stay off campus and they will let you. If you do that, I would highly encourage you to check out the True Blue area, it is in my opinion the best bang for your buck. Lance aux Epines is also very nice. I personally would avoid Point Salines and Mont Toute. It's also worth it to rent a car, especially if you can find another person to split the cost with and share it or if you live in LAE. If you're going to live off-campus in T1, I would suggest getting here a few days earlier so you can get acclimated and learn how to use the buses and stuff.

Oh also -- email your admissions counselor and tell them you DO NOT want them to auto-order your Term 1 books, which will save you about $1,000. They are outrageous and completely useless, with the exception of Gray's Anatomy Review by Lucas. Starting in term 2 you can order your own books and pick and choose which ones you want, but for term 1 they are built into the tuition cost UNLESS you specify that you don't want them.

Good luck!

 

[Heresthedoc]

Congrats to everyone on getting in. Just finishing up my second year, you will be amazed how fast it goes. I just wanted to point out that you can email the housing department and request off-campus housing beginning in Term 1 if you don't want to live on campus. You just have to provide a reason for wanting to stay off campus and they will let you. If you do that, I would highly encourage you to check out the True Blue area, it is in my opinion the best bang for your buck. Lance aux Epines is also very nice. I personally would avoid Point Salines and Mont Toute. It's also worth it to rent a car, especially if you can find another person to split the cost with and share it or if you live in LAE. If you're going to live off-campus in T1, I would suggest getting here a few days earlier so you can get acclimated and learn how to use the buses and stuff.

Oh also -- email your admissions counselor and tell them you DO NOT want them to auto-order your Term 1 books, which will save you about $1,000. They are outrageous and completely useless, with the exception of Gray's Anatomy Review by Lucas. Starting in term 2 you can order your own books and pick and choose which ones you want, but for term 1 they are built into the tuition cost UNLESS you specify that you don't want them.

Good luck!

Wait, what? We were told it was mandatory to have the books preordered! We can really ask them not to (and more importantly, they'll listen when we ask)?

Because that would be awesome!

 

[bedevilled ben]

Wait, what? We were told it was mandatory to have the books preordered! We can really ask them not to (and more importantly, they'll listen when we ask)?

Because that would be awesome!

This is what I have heard. I would definitely investigate it, the books are outrageously overpriced. I think you have to sign a waiver form, just tell them you've already secured your books. In term 2 you will have to buy a PD (physical diagnosis) kit which is also about $1000. You can buy old kits from students for about $200-400. If you buy one off a student, get your own stethoscope while you're home between T1 & T2, though.

 

[whizplusdum]

Go DO. You'll be a shoo in.

I am applying everywhere. Including DO and USMD low rank schools. But that being said, I am debating on what to do about SGU if I get in. Although SGU and Ross have a huge drop out rate, I know that I will work my ass off to prevent that from happening. But Residency is what scares me. Like all USMD and USDO schools, I believe a lot of kids still drop out from those schools.

 

[whizplusdum]

Thank you for sharing info !
I think you have a good chance to get in with such a high GPA and MCAT. Why don'T you apply to US DO though too?
Hopefully we will all get in ...

I am applying to USMD schools and USDO schools. But it is because I know 2 other friends who are planning to attend with me. I need some support in med school, as it is a beast!

 

[Baller MD]

I am applying everywhere. Including DO and USMD low rank schools. But that being said, I am debating on what to do about SGU if I get in. Although SGU and Ross have a huge drop out rate, I know that I will work my ass off to prevent that from happening. But Residency is what scares me. Like all USMD and USDO schools, I believe a lot of kids still drop out from those schools.

Uhhh... I don't know where you get your info from but USMD and USDO has a dropout rate nowhere near Caribbean medical schools. USMD/USDO >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Caribbean.

Do yourself a favor and go to a USDO school before the Caribbean. Reserve it as a worst case scenario.

This is coming from a USMD student.

 

[ewax]

Yea, I don't know where you're getting your information from either. There is an incredibly low attrition rate at USMD/DO schools. Don't go to the Caribbean just because you think it'll save you some time. Honestly, unless you have several red flags in your app, do all that you can to stay stateside.

 

[whizplusdum]

Well I am basing it from my a few of my friends who went to US DO schools. One who is attending Tuoro has indicated that in his first year, he knows that 4 people dropped and his class size is relatively small. I also know one person who dropped from a DO school in Arizona. Assuming that the class size for Tuoro is 70 students, and 4 dropped out within the first year, that roughly puts it at a 5 .7 percent drop rate. However, it is small compared to a Carb school, but it is still a decent amount who drop out for the first year.

I also meant that in total, there are a lot of USMD and USDO that drop out. Not focusing on a specific school, just the total amount. Like the Carb.
I am planning to apply to everything, I am just keeping all of my options opened because I am at the border of USMD, USDO and Carb MD.

Please understand that I am only applying to SGU because from all of my research it looks to be the better of the big 4.

Thank you for your input. May I ask why you are on this forum for SGU even though you are a USMD?

 

[whizplusdum]

Uhhh... I don't know where you get your info from but USMD and USDO has a dropout rate nowhere near Caribbean medical schools. USMD/USDO >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Caribbean.

Do yourself a favor and go to a USDO school before the Caribbean. Reserve it as a worst case scenario.

This is coming from a USMD student.

Well I am basing it from my a few of my friends who went to US DO schools. One who is attending Tuoro has indicated that in his first year, he knows that 4 people dropped and his class size is relatively small. I also know one person who dropped from a DO school in Arizona. Assuming that the class size for Tuoro is 70 students, and 4 dropped out within the first year, that roughly puts it at a 5 .7 percent drop rate. However, it is small compared to a Carb school, but it is still a decent amount who drop out for the first year.
I also meant that in total, there are a lot of USMD and USDO that drop out. Not focusing on a specific school, just the total amount. Like the Carb.
I am planning to apply to everything, I am just keeping all of my options opened because I am at the border of USMD, USDO and Carb MD.

Please understand that I am only applying to SGU because from all of my research it looks to be the better of the big 4.

Thank you for your input. May I ask why you are on this forum for SGU even though you are a USMD?

 

[Baller MD]

Well I am basing it from my a few of my friends who went to US DO schools. One who is attending Tuoro has indicated that in his first year, he knows that 4 people dropped and his class size is relatively small. I also know one person who dropped from a DO school in Arizona. Assuming that the class size for Tuoro is 70 students, and 4 dropped out within the first year, that roughly puts it at a 5 .7 percent drop rate. However, it is small compared to a Carb school, but it is still a decent amount who drop out for the first year.
I also meant that in total, there are a lot of USMD and USDO that drop out. Not focusing on a specific school, just the total amount. Like the Carb.
I am planning to apply to everything, I am just keeping all of my options opened because I am at the border of USMD, USDO and Carb MD.

Please understand that I am only applying to SGU because from all of my research it looks to be the better of the big 4.

Thank you for your input. May I ask why you are on this forum for SGU even though you are a USMD?

Because I have friends who are in the same boat as you and I'm telling them to do whatever it takes to go to a US school. The total amount of students who drop out in the US is irrelevant. Look at the percentage compared to the Caribbean. I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure there is a high drop out rate even at Ross and SGU - something like 40%. Again, I may be wrong with the exact number but it is definitely MUCH higher than the US schools.

Also, US students get priority for residency. Keep that in mind. If you go to the Caribbean, you will LIKELY be fighting for peanuts i.e. spots that no one else wants. Yes, there are a few students that end up in Anesthesiology, Radiology, and General surgery but there aren't many (relatively). Plus, those fields aren't even competitive in the grand scheme of things for US students. If you want to do derm, optho, ortho, it will nearly be impossible.

Think long and hard before going to the Caribbean.

 

[Creedmoor]

Hey guys. I'll be there for August. I have to complete their msap program before knowing whether I'm charters or not. Queens NY representing

 

[whizplusdum]

Because I have friends who are in the same boat as you and I'm telling them to do whatever it takes to go to a US school. The total amount of students who drop out in the US is irrelevant. Look at the percentage compared to the Caribbean. I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure there is a high drop out rate even at Ross and SGU - something like 40%. Again, I may be wrong with the exact number but it is definitely MUCH higher than the US schools.

Also, US students get priority for residency. Keep that in mind. If you go to the Caribbean, you will LIKELY be fighting for peanuts i.e. spots that no one else wants. Yes, there are a few students that end up in Anesthesiology, Radiology, and General surgery but there aren't many (relatively). Plus, those fields aren't even competitive in the grand scheme of things for US students. If you want to do derm, optho, ortho, it will nearly be impossible.

Think long and hard before going to the Caribbean.

I think 40 percent is relatively high, I thought it was more like 20 percent. My friend was telling me that his sister friend just graduated from a USMD in the east coast and failed to match. While another of my high school buddies matched from SGU.

I think this career is just a huge gamble. Going to a US schools does not equal to a residency, while going into a Carb school you cannot get into a good residency, but there has been rare success stories.
Thank you Baller MD for your input and concerns. I will take it highly and apply everywhere =). Who knows what the future is for me, only time will tell.

 

[whizplusdum]

Hey guys. I'll be there for August. I have to complete their msap program before knowing whether I'm charters or not. Queens NY representing

what is the msap program?

 

[Baller MD]

I think 40 percent is relatively high, I thought it was more like 20 percent. My friend was telling me that his sister friend just graduated from a USMD in the east coast and failed to match. While another of my high school buddies matched from SGU.

I think this career is just a huge gamble. Going to a US schools does not equal to a residency, while going into a Carb school you cannot get into a good residency, but there has been rare success stories.
Thank you Baller MD for your input and concerns. I will take it highly and apply everywhere =). Who knows what the future is for me, only time will tell.

Please keep in context the field they were trying to get into...

Four-year graduation rate: 30.6 percent

http://www.tampabay.com/news/health...e-quality-of-offshore-medical-schools/1061189

 

[whizplusdum]

Please keep in context the field they were trying to get into...

Four-year graduation rate: 30.6 percent

http://www.tampabay.com/news/health...e-quality-of-offshore-medical-schools/1061189

Yes, I have read this article before. This article is specially aimed at Ross. Using Ross as an example is quite unfair since Ross and SGU have different approaches. Also Ross was recently bought our by Devry so who knows what will happen.

 

[Skip Intro]

Yes, I have read this article before. This article is specially aimed at Ross. Using Ross as an example is quite unfair since Ross and SGU have different approaches. Also Ross was recently bought our by Devry so who knows what will happen.

Yes, this was an article focusing on Ross and published in 2009. However, what Baller didn't report is that the within six-year graduation rate (which includes those students who took slightly longer than four years) is 66% at Ross. This means that many students have difficulty finishing the program in four years, and 1/3rd will not finish it in six (which presumably means that most of them won't finish it at all). Yet, the article also highlighted the successes of Dr. Robb Holley, who was the Interim Director of Newborn Medicine at Tampa General Hospital at the time of the publication of the article.

No one is arguing, not the least of whom is me, that many of the students who matriculate into these schools don't deserve to (and shouldn't) be there. They get weeded-out, in essence, on the tail end instead of the front end. The problem is the substantial cost to the taxpayer in the form of FFEL loans that may never get repaid... but I digress.

There can be a higher attrition rate at certain osteopathy schools than traditional MD-granting schools in the U.S., and not all are created equal. For example, in 2010-11 one of the presumably newer DO schools had a 14.3% first-year attrition rate ( school #25, page 8). And, just as it's unfair to lump all the Caribbean schools together, it would be unfair to weigh the large established schools like NYCOM and PCOM against some of the newer programs. Attrition anywhere it happens also costs taxpayers a lot of money, and the cost of osteopathic education is comparable to a Caribbean one.

Overall, the gamble is much higher moving away from traditional MD-granting programs in the U.S., of which even all of those programs are not equal (e.g., it's not fair to compare Mercer or Meharry against Johns Hopkins or Harvard, for example). The only legitimate argument against the Caribbean schools is a financial one, namely whether or not the taxpayers should fund students at these schools who only have, at least in the case of Ross University in 2009, demonstrated only a two-thirds chance of successful completion of the program and granting of the Doctor of Medicine degree.

Fortunately, in my case, they did. And, I'm one of the ones now paying it back... in multiple different ways.

-Skip

 

[whizplusdum]

The person who interviewed me for SGU asked me what my major concerns are and I told him about Carb grad unable to find residency, etc and I asked if it was true. His response was, "if it was true I would not be here today." He then continued to emphasized that it is all based on the individual. Best responses I have ever gotten from a Carb Grad. He also completed recently and opened his own practice. His office was balling to.

 

[Creedmoor]

what is the msap program?

It's a month long online course SGU puts you in if there's a flag in your numbers (ie, MCAT or GPA). It covers basic sciences with weekly quizzes and a final. Pass (I think with a 3.5, I have to look over my paperwork again) and you place right into 1st semester. Fail, and you're put into Charters.

 

[Razorblade]

Why in the world ticket to greneda from philly is around $1800? Anyone else palnning on flying from philadelphia on august 12th ?

 

[whizplusdum]

Why in the world ticket to greneda from philly is around $1800? Anyone else palnning on flying from philadelphia on august 12th ?

Hmm, I think you should try to fly from Philly to Floroda and try to purchase a cheap ticket from there.

 

[whizplusdum]

It's a month long online course SGU puts you in if there's a flag in your numbers (ie, MCAT or GPA). It covers basic sciences with weekly quizzes and a final. Pass (I think with a 3.5, I have to look over my paperwork again) and you place right into 1st semester. Fail, and you're put into Charters.

I have heard about it. I hear that it is a good review course, it prepares you well for the first year though. But it sucks to push back your plans/

 

[Creedmoor]

I have heard about it. I hear that it is a good review course, it prepares you well for the first year though. But it sucks to push back your plans/

Not really. My plans are pushed back only if I fail and get placed into charters, costing me an extra 11k. The MSAP course is free. And honestly, I don't mind the refresher.

 

[Skip Intro]

It's a month long online course SGU puts you in if there's a flag in your numbers (ie, MCAT or GPA). It covers basic sciences with weekly quizzes and a final. Pass (I think with a 3.5, I have to look over my paperwork again) and you place right into 1st semester. Fail, and you're put into Charters.

I believe that this is a way they are trying to reduce the failure rate/criticism about too many students being offered spots, and then failing out when they couldn't hack the material. It is perhaps a way to identify academic problems before they become financial ones. Hopefully this will allay some of the criticism about "all you need is a heartbeat and a checkbook" to enroll that you often hear from the (mostly pre-med) naysayers. But, for many it will prove to be a dead end street (perhaps critics will say those people shouldn't be doctors anyway).

However, and having said that, I think that if such a program had been mandated to me (in 2001), I probably would be doing something else with my life right now. Or, it actually might have motivated me to take the extra time and try harder to get into a U.S. school. Hard to say at this point; the die has been cast.

For what its worth, I took the MCAT a long time ago (early 1990's) and scored a 28. My science GPA was around a 3.2. I was a marginal applicant who'd been out of school for a while but who'd also matured a lot. I was faced with either returning to school in my early 30's and trying to get my grades up slightly and retaking the MCAT trying to get to the magic 30+, or going to the Caribbean. After a lot of research, it's obvious what I chose.

When I started looking into "alternative pathways" (remember the Internet was burgeoning at the time but the information available then is a far cry from what is available now), all of the schools I contacted, except for Ross, wanted me to re-take the MCAT. Ross was just beginning to require MCAT scores (something they hadn't done previously) and were willing to accept that score despite it being outside what they (and other schools) would normally consider an "acceptable" timeframe. Right or wrong and agree with me or not, that right there is essentially why I went to Ross instead of St. George's or one of the Mexican schools (along with the 5th pathway hassle I didn't want to deal with). In the end, it worked out for me.

Interestingly, Ross actually started the MERP program while I was there. Honestly, if Ross had MERP'd me, I'd probably be doing something else with my life right now...

That's the 100% truth. Hard to say whether or not I would've chosen this career had the situation or timing been different. Just glad that Ross took that old score. The rest is history, so to speak.

-Skip