Carribbean Medical Schools

[aquariusangel]

Hello. I am a current senior, anticipating graduation this December. My grades and GPA in University are not where I would like for them to be, because I simply goofed off in college, and I didnt really realize this until I entered my last semester. I have not yet took the MCAT, but plan on doing so in January, and entering Med School in May or latest by August. I know there are a lot of threads about the cons of going to a Carribbean med school, but I would like genuine advice from someone who has actually been there, done that, and it either worked out great/hadnt worked out at all, and not just stories of others experiences.

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[Moose A Moose]

I hear Ross has a nice cruise in store for their students. Neat!

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

Hello. I am a current senior, anticipating graduation this December. My grades and GPA in University are not where I would like for them to be, because I simply goofed off in college, and I didnt really realize this until I entered my last semester. I have not yet took the MCAT, but plan on doing so in January, and entering Med School in May or latest by August. I know there are a lot of threads about the cons of going to a Carribbean med school, but I would like genuine advice from someone who has actually been there, done that, and it either worked out great/hadnt worked out at all, and not just stories of others experiences.

May I ask what your GPA is?

 

[ewax]

I hear Ross has a nice cruise in store for their students. Neat!

too soon

 

[Goro]

Hello. I am a current senior, anticipating graduation this December. My grades and GPA in University are not where I would like for them to be, because I simply goofed off in college, and I didnt really realize this until I entered my last semester. I have not yet took the MCAT, but plan on doing so in January, and entering Med School in May or latest by August. I know there are a lot of threads about the cons of going to a Carribbean med school, but I would like genuine advice from someone who has actually been there, done that, and it either worked out great/hadnt worked out at all, and not just stories of others experiences.

Go into the Carib forum. It's eye-opening.

 

[aquariusangel]

May I ask what your GPA is?

Currently, it is a 2.92.

 

[aquariusangel]

The issue with off-shore schools isnt the medical education but rather the reality of opportunities for those who attend. Obviously, those who grades and MCAT prevent them from getting into a US MD or DO are also likely to have more difficulty with a medical school curriculum, so there is a higher attrition rate, though hard data on that is scarce. What do have data on is the residency placement rates, which run significantly lower US MD/DO (see my previous post with data https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/sgu-md-admission.1283457/#post-19357255 ). This means the "success" rate of starting medical school, earning a degree, and actually getting any residency placement, is significantly lower than US schools. While I am not a big fan of the off-shore schools, I certainly do not rule them out as they do produce many successful graduates but they also have as many unsuccessful ones who try and either fail out or do not get a residency.

Therefore, as I've said often, before considering any offshore school applicant must go through at least two application cycles for both MD and DO with at least a year break in between (ie skip a cycle) for application repair and/or enhancement. the break is necessary to analyze and understand the weaknesses in an application. Repair may be as simple as reorganizing rewriting application or it may require postbacc, SMP, MCAT, or additional extracurricular such as clinical volunteering and other items. I strongly advise that no student should consider off shore schools until the above has been done. This has the additional benefit that if an applicant has gone thru all this, they would seem to be as best prepared as possible for being successful in an off-shore school

I understand that the success rate is low, but the one thing that draws me to the Caribbeans honestly is the fact that everyone is at least given an opportunity to pursue their dreams, while being aware of the risks. Taking a year gap between applications is a long time. The time people wait for an application to be accepted in the states is the time that a caribbean student would make up while applying for residency i guess.

 

[Goro]

I understand that the success rate is low, but the one thing that draws me to the Caribbeans honestly is the fact that everyone is at least given an opportunity to pursue their dreams, while being aware of the risks. Taking a year gap between applications is a long time. The time people wait for an application to be accepted in the states is the time that a caribbean student would make up while applying for residency i guess.

With that type of mentality, you're better off simply buying Lotto tickets.

 

[Lannister]

I have not yet took the MCAT, but plan on doing so in January, and entering Med School in May or latest by August.

Currently, it is a 2.92.

You cannot take the MCAT in January and then begin medical school 4 months later. If you take the MCAT in January 2018, the soonest you will be able to begin medical school is August 2019. And with that GPA, it's probably going to take a couple of years to raise your grades enough to make applying worthwhile. Additionally, a 2.92 means that there's a high chance you're going to do poorly on the MCAT, because you likely didn't learn much from your pre-req, especially if you didn't take college seriously, as you mentioned.

 

[BurntFlower]

I understand that the success rate is low, but the one thing that draws me to the Caribbeans honestly is the fact that everyone is at least given an opportunity to pursue their dreams, while being aware of the risks. Taking a year gap between applications is a long time. The time people wait for an application to be accepted in the states is the time that a caribbean student would make up while applying for residency i guess.

Patience is a virtue that is necessary to be a physician.

 

[aquariusangel]

With that type of mentality, you're better off simply buying Lotto tickets.

You cannot take the MCAT in January and then begin medical school 4 months later. If you take the MCAT in January 2018, the soonest you will be able to begin medical school is August 2019. And with that GPA, it's probably going to take a couple of years to raise your grades enough to make applying worthwhile. Additionally, a 2.92 means that there's a high chance you're going to do poorly on the MCAT, because you likely didn't learn much from your pre-req, especially if you didn't take college seriously, as you mentioned.

For the US, correct. Caribbean schools match January, May and AUgust

 

[Lannister]

For the US, correct. Caribbean schools match January, May and AUgust

Correct. But as others have said, the Caribbean is generally not a good choice. I know waiting years to apply to a US MD/DO school doesn't sound very appealing, but it'll be worth it.

 

[aquariusangel]

Patience is a virtue that is necessary to be a physician.

In the work done. I need a starting point to prove that patience. And I feel that if there is an opportunity that will help me prove that quicker than taking post-bacc classes, why not take it?

 

[BurntFlower]

In the work done. I need a starting point to prove that patience. And I feel that if there is an opportunity that will help me prove that quicker than taking post-bacc classes, why not take it?

The "starting point" happens before you even apply to medical schools. You are not demonstrating patience at all if you aren't willing to put in the work to be competitive for medical school admission. Why are Caribbean medical schools a bad shortcut? Here: Official r/premed warning to NOT attend an offshore Caribbean medical school: making an informed decision • r/premed

 

[ihadahamsandwich]

In the work done. I need a starting point to prove that patience. And I feel that if there is an opportunity that will help me prove that quicker than taking post-bacc classes, why not take it?

The bolded above are contradictory.

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

Given how critical everyone has been of OP I'd like to break it down in a bit of a simpler term.

Your gpa is below a 3.0 which to me shows lack if preformance in classes. As you may be aware, Carribean medical schools have very low retention rates. This means that your chances of flunking out of Carrib are catastrophically high. If the above occurs it will be a pretty much game over in your medical career. Taking a post bacc or otherwise retaking classes would allow you to be a better learner in a much less risk prone environment. Taking the MCAT would also be unwise due to what I would imagine low grasp of the science materials that would be on the exam. Once again, that doesnt mean or say anything about you except for the fact that you need to demonstrate to adcoms that you are ready for the challanges that med school would present you.

 

[bananadonut]

I understand that the success rate is low, but the one thing that draws me to the Caribbeans honestly is the fact that everyone is at least given an opportunity to pursue their dreams, while being aware of the risks. Taking a year gap between applications is a long time. The time people wait for an application to be accepted in the states is the time that a caribbean student would make up while applying for residency i guess.

While that is sorta true, it's ridiculously expensive. People end up paying tens of thousands of dollars and end up having nothing (which is why in most cases it's not worth it).

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

You are not the kind of student that is successful in the Carib.

 

[chemdoctor]

Trust me, don't do the Carrib. Sure this advice is harsh, but it's for your own good. Wouldn't you rather get harsh advice than have people BS you and feed into your delusion? The chances are simply too low. Just do a post bacc. You won't do well on the MCAT because if your GPA is that low you most likely failed a lot of classes. Please...

 

[MD54321]

Hello. I am a current senior, anticipating graduation this December. My grades and GPA in University are not where I would like for them to be, because I simply goofed off in college, and I didnt really realize this until I entered my last semester. I have not yet took the MCAT, but plan on doing so in January, and entering Med School in May or latest by August. I know there are a lot of threads about the cons of going to a Carribbean med school, but I would like genuine advice from someone who has actually been there, done that, and it either worked out great/hadnt worked out at all, and not just stories of others experiences.

I am someone who went through a Caribbean medical school and was hesitant at first. I did a post bacc to raise my GPA and worked for two years, took the MCAT twice and still did not get into a U.S school. Going to the Caribbean is a risk however if you put in the work it will get you to where you need to go. During interviews no one has cared that I went to a Caribbean school and I am interviewing with U.S students. If you do well on your Step exams and throughout rotations you really should not have any problems. Of course from every school there are people who don't match and rarely is it someone who has no red flags. A lot of people who don't match have failed step exams, failed classes or did not have good LOR's. If you are confident in your abilities I would go for it. It also depends what you want to apply for. If you want Derm, plastic or ortho then those are going to be hard to get no matter where you go.