Enough for Carribbean Med Schools?

[DK1]

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My friend (really my friend, not just pretending 😀 ) has decided she definitely wants to get an MD, is studying for the August MCAT, and just graduated from Ohio State with a 2.9 overall GPA. Her GPA trends were pretty gnarly, with semesters that she failed courses due to clinical depression and semesters that she made all As or near all As in tough courses. Anyway she asked my advice about what to do now because I'm in an American med school, but I'm not sure what to tell her. She's compassionate and intelligent, so I know she could make an excellent doctor and I want her to get in somewhere.

I think her MCAT will be at least a 27, if not higher. She's starting the Loyola post-bacc this fall, I think. She has great volunteerwork, reccs, and other experiences, like study abroad.

So my question: Could she even get into one of the top few Caribbean Med schools? How competitive are they? (Not the random ass ones that no one has heard of).

Thanks so much for your help.

 

[ForbiddenComma]

Wrong forum.

P.S. If her GPA is below 3.0, she better score 35 or better.

 

[mjl1717]

My friend (really my friend, not just pretending 😀 ) has decided she definitely wants to get an MD, is studying for the August MCAT, and just graduated from Ohio State with a 2.9 overall GPA. Her GPA trends were pretty gnarly, with semesters that she failed courses due to clinical depression and semesters that she made all As or near all As in tough courses. Anyway she asked my advice about what to do now because I'm in an American med school, but I'm not sure what to tell her. She's compassionate and intelligent, so I know she could make an excellent doctor and I want her to get in somewhere.

I think her MCAT will be at least a 27, if not higher. She's starting the Loyola post-bacc this fall, I think. She has great volunteerwork, reccs, and other experiences, like study abroad.

So my question: Could she even get into one of the top few Caribbean Med schools? How competitive are they? (Not the random ass ones that no one has heard of).

Thanks so much for your help.

Wrong forum:
Id say she has a 50/50chance of a top caribbean school taking her $250,000.

 

[USArmyDoc]

If she is starting Loyola's post-bacc program why not bust her a$$ this year and nail the post-bacc? Coupled with a good MCAT score and explanation of why her grades are the way they were in undergrad (depression) she will have a shot at a US MD. If not, try to convince her to go US DO.

 

[beefballs]

If she is starting Loyola's post-bacc program why not bust her a$$ this year and nail the post-bacc? Coupled with a good MCAT score and explanation of why her grades are the way they were in undergrad (depression) she will have a shot at a US MD. If not, try to convince her to go US DO.

I agree wholly with usarmydoc. That is what post baccs are for, to show that you are capable of doing the work

 

[triangles]

caribbean schools are a last resort, even the good ones. theyll take checks from anyone.
apply here first. i know it costs time and money, but its worth it to at least try. i got in with a marginally better undergrad gpa and an unofficial community college post bacc program

 

[spitfire5454]

i go to one of the big 3 carrib schools. with that low of a gpa one would probably need at least a 26 MCAT to have a shot. thats the big variable. heres some possible senarios: 1) she rocks the MCAT and gets into a US school. - problem solved 2) She does decent on the MCAT, decides she only wants an MD but is in no hurry to get there - do more research for a year to boost her application and she might have a shot upon reapplication year. 3) She does decent on the MCAT, decides shes open to the DO route, and is in no hurry to get there - do more research for a year to boost her application and she will have a better shot (than MD route) upon reapplication(b/c i still dont think a decent score with that gpa would get you into DO school alone) 4) she does decent on the MCAT, decides shes only MD and wants to get there as soon as possible - Tell her to start researching the caribbean schools. given the fact that she is already at a disadvantage with her gpa, i would suggest that she does the research and reapplies to the US, because unless she does good on the mcat, she probably wont get into to caribbean either (at least not the established ones). Not many people want to go to the caribbean, but NOBODY wants to get rejected by one 😉

 

[YouDontKnowJack]

when you have a crap gpa, especially from a state school that is not highly ranked...... where are you gonna find research? are you gonna go play with and feed the lab rats?

truth is, your hole is way too deep with those stats. she's lucky she got into a postbacc program. it's her second and final chance before she really does have to go caribbean.

 

[Shah_Patel_PT]

My friend (really my friend, not just pretending 😀 ) has decided she definitely wants to get an MD, is studying for the August MCAT, and just graduated from Ohio State with a 2.9 overall GPA. Her GPA trends were pretty gnarly, with semesters that she failed courses due to clinical depression and semesters that she made all As or near all As in tough courses. Anyway she asked my advice about what to do now because I'm in an American med school, but I'm not sure what to tell her. She's compassionate and intelligent, so I know she could make an excellent doctor and I want her to get in somewhere.

I think her MCAT will be at least a 27, if not higher. She's starting the Loyola post-bacc this fall, I think. She has great volunteerwork, reccs, and other experiences, like study abroad.

So my question: Could she even get into one of the top few Caribbean Med schools? How competitive are they? (Not the random ass ones that no one has heard of).

Thanks so much for your help.

She will not be admitted to Ross or st.georges...

If she does...they will place her into the premed to med program.....but for sure...not directly into the MD track....

 

[chintu]

If she is dead set on MD then she should apply to top caribbean. I think with a 27 or so MCAT she would have a great shot at sgu or ross...if not then somewhere like saba or auc could be good options. These other caribbean schools also have a decent match for the graduates who do pass. My bro attended saba and did fantastic on his boards (253 and 254 respectively) and is on his way to apply for residencies and has a great shot at a fairly competitive IM residency which he'd like to go into. Just realize that from this point on whereever she decides to go it'll be a non-stop ride and will need to work harder than ever to get an MD but its very possible. Good luck~

 

[OSUdoc08]

Wrong forum.

P.S. If her GPA is below 3.0, she better score 35 or better.

Um, not for Caribbean schools.

 

[OSUdoc08]

My friend (really my friend, not just pretending 😀 ) has decided she definitely wants to get an MD, is studying for the August MCAT, and just graduated from Ohio State with a 2.9 overall GPA. Her GPA trends were pretty gnarly, with semesters that she failed courses due to clinical depression and semesters that she made all As or near all As in tough courses. Anyway she asked my advice about what to do now because I'm in an American med school, but I'm not sure what to tell her. She's compassionate and intelligent, so I know she could make an excellent doctor and I want her to get in somewhere.

I think her MCAT will be at least a 27, if not higher. She's starting the Loyola post-bacc this fall, I think. She has great volunteerwork, reccs, and other experiences, like study abroad.

So my question: Could she even get into one of the top few Caribbean Med schools? How competitive are they? (Not the random ass ones that no one has heard of).

Thanks so much for your help.

She should apply to DO schools.

 

[NonTradMed]

You should go to the international med school forums to ask about your friend's chances of a carribean school. However, a post-bacc program is to help students get into an American med school, and if she does well in it, coupled with a good MCAT score, plus an explanation of her erratic grades (depression), she has a good chance. But that means doing well from now on. She needs to do something like a 3.5 on her post-bacc (probably higher to push her overall GPA up) and she probably wants to aim for a 30 MCAT. If she wants to do DO, a 27 is just fine. No need to retake.

 

[peppy]

One issue I would recommend considering in this situation is: Does she have her depression issues under control now? The huge adjustment of moving to the Carribean would be a major strain on anyone, and I could certainly imagine it would be especially hard for someone with a track record of depression.
Since the Carribean schools are generally "Survival of the fittest" (not generally as supportive of the students and making sure they don't drop out as the US schools are), it would be a real shame if she ended up not being able to finish because of another bout with depression.

 

[crys20]

has she looked into DO schools? really? really researched them? she might be surprised. i know i was. i loved the DO schools i interviewed at and literally AGONIZED over choosing them over MD schools.

 

[AmyO]

Does she have an MCAT score of 27 or is that what you think she will get??? Although taking a practice test gives you a range of where you will be, you certainly can't rely on getting a particular score. First thing is first, she needs to rock the MCAT to compensate for that GPA. Some schools have a cutoff of 3.0 GPA where they won't even look at anybody below it (DO schools are usually more willing to look beyond the numbers). Once she gets her MCAT score back, then she can worry about where she should apply. It's certainly not going to be a cake walk getting into a DO school either (not sure about carribbean) with a 2.9 GPA, but it is possible if she works her butt off and does very well on the MCAT.

 

[sentrosi]

Does she have an MCAT score of 27 or is that what you think she will get??? Although taking a practice test gives you a range of where you will be, you certainly can't rely on getting a particular score. First thing is first, she needs to rock the MCAT to compensate for that GPA. Some schools have a cutoff of 3.0 GPA where they won't even look at anybody below it (DO schools are usually more willing to look beyond the numbers). Once she gets her MCAT score back, then she can worry about where she should apply. It's certainly not going to be a cake walk getting into a DO school either (not sure about carribbean) with a 2.9 GPA, but it is possible if she works her butt off and does very well on the MCAT.

I agree. Waiting to see the results of the MCAT before making a guess as to what to do is probably the best path.

 

[njbmd]

Hi there,
Moving to Caribbean forum so you can get answers from people who are there.
njbmd 🙂

 

[McGillGrad]

She will not be admitted to Ross or st.georges...

If she does...they will place her into the premed to med program.....but for sure...not directly into the MD track....

That is a pretty big assumption when only 2 years ago Ross did not require the MCAT and was accepting people with lower GPA's than 2.9.

It seems that you have gotten caught up too much in the numbers and forgotten why you were accepted... because they felt that you would succeed in their program. There are DO schools that would probably accept her, so why wouldn't Ross or SGU?

Her personal statement and interview will make or break her...not some impersonal stats.

 

[awdc]

If she does go Caribbean, I think it's just going to be a lot tougher if she has to deal with clinical depression again on an island without her close network of friends and family from home. The good thing is that U.S. med schools are ramping up enrollment (http://www.aamc.org/newsroom/pressrel/2006/060619.htm).

 

[MSc44]

She will not be admitted to Ross or st.georges...

If she does...they will place her into the premed to med program.....but for sure...not directly into the MD track....

i personally know of people in worse shape that got into both of those schools

 

[oldpro]

She will not be admitted to Ross or st.georges...

If she does...they will place her into the premed to med program.....but for sure...not directly into the MD track....

HAHAHAHA tell it to the ones with a 25 mcat and 2.7 at ROSS and AUC! Come on I even know 1 with a 2.9 and no mcat in MD courses. They do admit these people just not everyone who applies.

 

[Shah_Patel_PT]

HAHAHAHA tell it to the ones with a 25 mcat and 2.7 at ROSS and AUC! Come on I even know 1 with a 2.9 and no mcat in MD courses. They do admit these people just not everyone who applies.

I dont know about AUC....but it is certainly not the norm for the September entering class at Ross....

 

[rahulazcom]

I' editing my statement. Tell your friend to apply for all 3 entering classes but I think her best chances would be during the winter and spring entering classes.These schools have become more competitive but they still accept a high volume per class so I think she will have a decent chance of being accepted to one of those 3 schools. From my conversations with friends at all three schools, they said it is a lot easier to be admitted to the winter and spring sessions. The demand for the fall session is the greatest. It makes sense if you think about it. Most of your pre-meds will graduate in May or June and enter in August of the same year. But during the winter quarter and spring, most students are still in school so you will competing with a smaller applicant pool.

I can empathize with a lot of the caribbean students on this forum. There are many qualified students studying at these schools. In some states like California, New York, Hawaii, Washington and Arizona, there are not enough medical schools to meet the demand. They don't want to attend a DO school so for them the caribbean is their only realistic option. In California, it's gotten so ridiculous that students with 30 MCAT's and 3.6 GPA's have to attend carribbean schools. It's not fair to assume that just anyone can get in. You do need respectable scores and I'm sure many have been rejected with a 2.9 GPA.

But I think these same caribbean students would acknowledge that their schools take chances on people that shouldn't be there otherwise. I don't think there is anything wrong with that and sometimes those students turn out to be the best ones in the class. Take a look at the avg GPA and MCAT for each school. If your scores hover around the mean, you have a good shot. We are not given the standard deviation so you can only guess what that is but I doubt the standard deviation is so tight because these schools have plenty of students with GPA exceeding 3.5 so if the average is a 3.1 then that means they are accepting students with GPAs well below a 3.1 as well.

 

[logik15]

I' editing my statement. Tell your friend to apply for all 3 entering classes but I think her best chances would be during the winter and spring entering classes.These schools have become more competitive but they still accept a high volume per class so I think she will have a decent chance of being accepted to one of those 3 schools. From my conversations with friends at all three schools, they said it is a lot easier to be admitted to the winter and spring sessions. The demand for the fall session is the greatest. It makes sense if you think about it. Most of your pre-meds will graduate in May or June and enter in August of the same year. But during the winter quarter and spring, most students are still in school so you will competing with a smaller applicant pool.

I can empathize with a lot of the caribbean students on this forum. There are many qualified students studying at these schools. In some states like California, New York, Hawaii, Washington and Arizona, there are not enough medical schools to meet the demand. They don't want to attend a DO school so for them the caribbean is their only realistic option. In California, it's gotten so ridiculous that students with 30 MCAT's and 3.6 GPA's have to attend carribbean schools. It's not fair to assume that just anyone can get in. You do need respectable scores and I'm sure many have been rejected with a 2.9 GPA.

But I think these same caribbean students would acknowledge that their schools take chances on people that shouldn't be there otherwise. I don't think there is anything wrong with that and sometimes those students turn out to be the best ones in the class. Take a look at the avg GPA and MCAT for each school. If your scores hover around the mean, you have a good shot. We are not given the standard deviation so you can only guess what that is but I doubt the standard deviation is so tight because these schools have plenty of students with GPA exceeding 3.5 so if the average is a 3.1 then that means they are accepting students with GPAs well below a 3.1 as well.

I know someone that got in with a 2.5 gpa and 31 mcat. I'm sure there are people above and below, and I don't know why you people are making cutoff marks like having to get at least a 3.0 or at least a 35 mcat to make up for it. If the average is 3.1, then I'm SURE there are people under 3.0. There are also many other things that the school's look at as well.

 

[Rossi1]

One issue I would recommend considering in this situation is: Does she have her depression issues under control now? The huge adjustment of moving to the Carribean would be a major strain on anyone, and I could certainly imagine it would be especially hard for someone with a track record of depression.
Since the Carribean schools are generally "Survival of the fittest" (not generally as supportive of the students and making sure they don't drop out as the US schools are), it would be a real shame if she ended up not being able to finish because of another bout with depression.

Totally agree, I saw alot of students with mental illness fall by the wayside on the island. In those cases it was not pretty.

 

[rahulazcom]

I know someone that got in with a 2.5 gpa and 31 mcat. I'm sure there are people above and below, and I don't know why you people are making cutoff marks like having to get at least a 3.0 or at least a 35 mcat to make up for it. If the average is 3.1, then I'm SURE there are people under 3.0. There are also many other things that the school's look at as well.

I don't really understand your response. I don't recall stating cutoff marks? I edited my statement and encouraged this person to apply to all 3 schools. However, I wanted to add that people should be respectful of the admissions process because there are many competitive applicants who also apply to these schools. Some people seem to think that caribbean schools will accept anyone and that's not exactly true either.