I was just given the option to withdraw from SGU before they dismissed me and I want to apply to Ross. I have gone through 4/5 terms successfully already but failed term 5 by decimal points. My questions is, will Ross take me and accept the credits that I already have from SGU? Has anyone been through this? Also how will it look when it comes time to apply for residency assuming I kill it during clinicals and score well on step 2? I was advised to withdraw because I was over their 3 year limit for pre-clinicals due to being sick and taking LOAs twice along with the failed term. Any help would be appreciated. Also please no slandering. I get it, I'm at a Caribbean school but I'm looking for advice.
Dismissal/Withdrawal Question.
- Thread starter DrMoe7
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I would say withdraw.
Its like the equivalent of given an option of "I quit my job" rather than "I got fired from a job," which does sound better on paper in a residency or an interview setting. I guess they are doing you a favor of giving that option.
Pretty much all Caribbean medical schools will accept your credits, but check with Ross. Make sure you paid all your finances with SGU or they won't give out transcript (because they care about money foremost). Theres plenty of transfers to Saint James at 5th semester.
Its like the equivalent of given an option of "I quit my job" rather than "I got fired from a job," which does sound better on paper in a residency or an interview setting. I guess they are doing you a favor of giving that option.
Pretty much all Caribbean medical schools will accept your credits, but check with Ross. Make sure you paid all your finances with SGU or they won't give out transcript (because they care about money foremost). Theres plenty of transfers to Saint James at 5th semester.
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Just take the L, bro. Withdraw and transition to another career path. You won't land a residency spot with your history of LOAs and academic failure at a Caribbean school. You gave it your best shot, and it didn't work out. It's time to move on. If you continue down this road, you will set yourself up for profound disappointment and regret.
Even though my LOAs were due to health reasons? I was physically incapable of taking exams at the time. Wouldn't they listen to my story especially if I have great letters of rec and do well on step?
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I don’t enjoy saying this while you’re already feeling down with everything happening, but you may not even get to tell your story if your app just get filtered out of almost all (if not all) residency you apply to. Residency programs get thousands of applicants with perfect applications who deserve a shot, PDs don’t have time to read through all of them, and that’s where filters come in. Literally any red flag will get you filtered out especially as a Caribbean IMG. Not worth piling up on more loans IMO unless you got other plans after graduating that does not involve residency.
Will it really be filtered out of all apps? Even the least competitive like family med or peds? If I do really well at the hospital I apply to during rotations, wouldn't that count for anything?
Highlander455
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There's some interesting perspectives in the answers you have received so far. Here's my two cents, for what its worth....
I guess you have to weigh how much you have invested against the risk and expense of either not finishing or not matching. It's a very personal decision, and there are very real risks in your situation. Matching as an IMG is tough enough without red flags. As DrStephenStrange says, its possible your residency application might be filtered out before you can tell your story. That's worth considering.
Still, I dont think there is a clear cut right or wrong. It's your choice, and you who has to live with the consequences, good or bad, of whatever decision you make.
How will you feel if you invest further in your education and don't match? How will you feel if you give up on your dream; will you always wonder if it could have worked out? Will you be bitter? Can you afford to invest more in pursuing this dream? Can you afford to loose this investment if you're not successful? What support do you have for continuing? What are your options if you don’t continue? You need to weigh these factors.
A withdrawal will look better than a dismissal if you decide to continue along this path. It will likely be obvious from your transcript that you have been struggling. You will need to make a case for why you struggled (health problems), and why they should believe you will be more successful at their school.
Same for residency applications, your application will need to address the challenges you faced, how you overcame them, and how all that will make you a better doctor.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing from your description of what has happened that you have already gone through SGU's Review Dismissal and Appeals process as outlined in their handbook and lost your appeal. If not, you should be appealing.
The SGU handbook states, "If a student’s appeal is unsuccessful, the letter to the student with a rejected appeal will provide the student with the option to withdraw from the MD program within a specified timeframe. If the student does not withdraw within the specified timeframe, the student will be dismissed." This sounds like what is happening with you.
Its possible those assessing your applications will read between the lines and wonder why SGU wasn't more accommodating.
RUSM's transfer policy is here: TRANSFER TO ROSS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE. I see some potential challenges for you in their requirements, but look for yourself.
Others may have personal experience, but I have heard that many of the "big three" are reluctant to accept transfers.
You loose nothing by applying, however, except the application fee, and you have a lot invested in your education right now. Application fees are pretty minimal compared to what you have invested so far. I dont think RUSM even charges an application fee right now.
If you are determined to continue, I would agree with Emmet2301, apply broadly, including to AUC and other Caribbean schools. You only loose the cost of the application fee, which is minimal next to what you have already invested (and will invest to finish).
If you decide you want to continue, don't let anyone on this forum tell you it's not possible to transfer. Apply and see if you can get into a new school.
TopNepNep says there are plenty of transfers to Saint James at fifth semester. Here's the webpage for SJSM transfers: Transfer to St. James School of Medicine - Transferring Medical School
AUC's requirements for transfer are here: Transfer To AUC School of Medicine. They do note, "individual course credits are not guaranteed to transfer." I'm guessing this will be the case for most schools and you may be required to repeat some curriculum.
Any school that cares about their Step 1 pass rate will want to make sure you are capable of passing Step before they let you write it, so expect to jump through some hoops to convince them. If the school isn't concerned about this, that should be a red flag, they probably just want yiur money and dont care about helping you succeed (some would argue all Caribbean schools are like this). I'm guessing you should expect to loose a semester in the transfer process.
This thread makes some observations about transfering that you may find relevant: transferring to sgu.
Good luck with whatever path you choose..
I guess you have to weigh how much you have invested against the risk and expense of either not finishing or not matching. It's a very personal decision, and there are very real risks in your situation. Matching as an IMG is tough enough without red flags. As DrStephenStrange says, its possible your residency application might be filtered out before you can tell your story. That's worth considering.
Still, I dont think there is a clear cut right or wrong. It's your choice, and you who has to live with the consequences, good or bad, of whatever decision you make.
How will you feel if you invest further in your education and don't match? How will you feel if you give up on your dream; will you always wonder if it could have worked out? Will you be bitter? Can you afford to invest more in pursuing this dream? Can you afford to loose this investment if you're not successful? What support do you have for continuing? What are your options if you don’t continue? You need to weigh these factors.
A withdrawal will look better than a dismissal if you decide to continue along this path. It will likely be obvious from your transcript that you have been struggling. You will need to make a case for why you struggled (health problems), and why they should believe you will be more successful at their school.
Same for residency applications, your application will need to address the challenges you faced, how you overcame them, and how all that will make you a better doctor.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing from your description of what has happened that you have already gone through SGU's Review Dismissal and Appeals process as outlined in their handbook and lost your appeal. If not, you should be appealing.
The SGU handbook states, "If a student’s appeal is unsuccessful, the letter to the student with a rejected appeal will provide the student with the option to withdraw from the MD program within a specified timeframe. If the student does not withdraw within the specified timeframe, the student will be dismissed." This sounds like what is happening with you.
Its possible those assessing your applications will read between the lines and wonder why SGU wasn't more accommodating.
RUSM's transfer policy is here: TRANSFER TO ROSS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE. I see some potential challenges for you in their requirements, but look for yourself.
Others may have personal experience, but I have heard that many of the "big three" are reluctant to accept transfers.
You loose nothing by applying, however, except the application fee, and you have a lot invested in your education right now. Application fees are pretty minimal compared to what you have invested so far. I dont think RUSM even charges an application fee right now.
If you are determined to continue, I would agree with Emmet2301, apply broadly, including to AUC and other Caribbean schools. You only loose the cost of the application fee, which is minimal next to what you have already invested (and will invest to finish).
If you decide you want to continue, don't let anyone on this forum tell you it's not possible to transfer. Apply and see if you can get into a new school.
TopNepNep says there are plenty of transfers to Saint James at fifth semester. Here's the webpage for SJSM transfers: Transfer to St. James School of Medicine - Transferring Medical School
AUC's requirements for transfer are here: Transfer To AUC School of Medicine. They do note, "individual course credits are not guaranteed to transfer." I'm guessing this will be the case for most schools and you may be required to repeat some curriculum.
Any school that cares about their Step 1 pass rate will want to make sure you are capable of passing Step before they let you write it, so expect to jump through some hoops to convince them. If the school isn't concerned about this, that should be a red flag, they probably just want yiur money and dont care about helping you succeed (some would argue all Caribbean schools are like this). I'm guessing you should expect to loose a semester in the transfer process.
This thread makes some observations about transfering that you may find relevant: transferring to sgu.
Good luck with whatever path you choose..
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In general, it looks better to withdraw than to be dismissed, all things being equal. Some places will ask you if you ever resigned / withdrew to avoid being dismissed to "catch" this exact issue. Schools offer you this option partially to be nice, but mainly because it ends any appeal / lawsuit you might bring.
Looking at your old posts, we can see that you had a poor UG GPA, a much improved post bacc GPA, and a sub 500 MCAT.
It's unfortunate that you're run into problems with LOA's, although the primary issue is your non-passing grades. I realize it's just by fractions of points, but most students do better than this minimum.
You're likely to find another carib school to enroll you. Prior threads suggest that Ross does not take those that have failed out of SGU. Chances are, you'll end up at a "worse" school. You haven't faced S1 yet, and it's anyone's guess whether you can really score well on S2. In general the best predictor of whether you'll do well on exams is whether you've been doing well on exams. I worry that another school may take more tuition from you, and you may stumble on one of the steps.
No easy answer.
Looking at your old posts, we can see that you had a poor UG GPA, a much improved post bacc GPA, and a sub 500 MCAT.
It's unfortunate that you're run into problems with LOA's, although the primary issue is your non-passing grades. I realize it's just by fractions of points, but most students do better than this minimum.
You're likely to find another carib school to enroll you. Prior threads suggest that Ross does not take those that have failed out of SGU. Chances are, you'll end up at a "worse" school. You haven't faced S1 yet, and it's anyone's guess whether you can really score well on S2. In general the best predictor of whether you'll do well on exams is whether you've been doing well on exams. I worry that another school may take more tuition from you, and you may stumble on one of the steps.
No easy answer.
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You could transfer to Washington (in Belize). They offer MD 5 from home so you can always say that that's why you transferred. a few students from my class transferred there, as did a colleague of mine who I'm starting residency with in the US this month. Your situation isn't ideal but could be salvaged if you play it right.
