Help! SGU vs. RoSS???

[SPatelMD]

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I wanted to know which school is better SGU or ROSS? advantages/disadvantages from students already there. I am considering both, and I have been accepted to Ross however SGU i am waiting on. Please give me as much feedback as possible, thanks.

 

[McGillGrad]

Are you a student that can study well on your own, or do you like to go to tutorials and like 'personal attention'?

If you can answer that question I can recommend which school is better for you.

What are you stats?

 

[aks47]

Hi,

I'm actually in the same position as patel.

I like tutorials and group interaction.

Here are my stats:
GPA = AMCAS ... 3.66
MCATs = mid 20 R
going to graduate with 3yr BSc from Canadian university in May (I just want to graduate and go onto MED school)

btw...I'm a Canadian citizen...and damn proud of it!

Thanks in advance,
-- aks47

 

[MD Rapper]

x

 

[Bevo]

I'd prob go for SGU just because I think their clinical dept is far better than that of Ross.

But when I interviewed for SGU, the doc told me the biggest mistake he ever did was waiting around to go to a carib school. He said if I got into either SGU or Ross, take the acceptance and start.


the island life will be the same and I think the basic science education is about the same.

 

[mollywobbles]

Ross is a very under developed island. you will be roughing it. i believe SGU is nicer in terms of comforts.

SGU gets preference in rotations at Maimonides. But Ross students do get Maimonides rotations too, but it takes more work.

good luck

 

[lilzelda]

sgu all there clincial sites are recognized, ross has some that aren't

 

[dividedsky]

sgu all there clincial sites are recognized, ross has some that aren't

like what?

 

[McGillGrad]

like what?

Like the ones that are not ACGME certified.

 

[dividedsky]

Disclaimer: I am a 3rd year Ross student doing clinicals in NY...with that said, here is my $.02

Pro's of Ross:

- only 16 months on the island broken up into 4 consecutive semesters with 3 week breaks in between each.
- 5th semester in miami, FL
- Remaining 2 years of clinicals guaranteed in the U.S., most likely in NY, NJ, Conn, Maryland, Chicago, or California.
-Cheaper than SGU.

Con's of Ross:

- island life is harsher, less amenities, dealing with things like power outages, issues with water, food.
- some rotations are at D.O hospitals. If you get scheduled into one of these, you can either do it, or request an ACGME spot, and either wait, do electives during the wait, or work with your advisor until you're happy. (note: I have all cores at ACGME hospitals with the exception of Ob/gyn. You are allowed a certain number of D.O. rotations as long as it doesn't exceed a number of weeks, varies by state. Pennsylvania does not allow much, New York allows much more..etc. So far, no one has been denied residency based on this to my knowledge.

Pro's of SGU: again, I don't go there, but it sounds like all cores are ACMGE and the island life has to be better than Ross. it is more well known than Ross at least in the east coast, from my experience. Possibly more difficult to get into.

Con's of SGU:
-more time spent down on the island. (2yrs I believe)
-more expensive.

Bottom line from my experience: it is really personal preference. BOTH schools are wonderful opportunities that we should be grateful for their existence. Both schools place 100s of MDs into US residencies. What is MUCH more important is your own USMLE scores, letters of rec, grades. I can't stress that enough. Your average US doc won't know SGU vs Ross vs AUC vs other caribbean schools. We are (to some degree) all grouped into off-shore med schools according to them, with SGU, ROSS and AUC being the big 3 in terms of placement and representation in the US. There has been wayyy too much bickering between students from these schools on message boards, and it seems to be only during 1st and 2nd year of school. Once you do your first clinical rotation, you realize that none of it mattered. hope that helps. best advice? pick one, go down there and STUDY, pass step 1, and you're already cruising.

 

[erichaj]

I went to Ross. Now Board Certified physician. I have friends that went to sgu and auc.

All of them are now board certified physicians.

dominica is a semi-tropical island. It can be difficult to live there. If you are someone who can live anywhere, then you should be ok.

One major advantage for Ross is that there is not much to do on the island. That means you can focus on the medical work and study.

I have not attended SGU so I can't really comment on it. My friends who went there were comfortable with it.

My guess is that both islands have educators that may not be the best and also ones that are excellent. This is also true in the United states.

Once you get into your rotations you have to really focus on the clinical medicine.

Many of my friends as well as myself took a kaplin USMLE step I and step II course. I found it to be of great help to increase my score on the USMLE.

If I could do only on thing different before I went to Ross, I would maybe take a Kaplin USMLE I course. That way I could focus my studies a little bit more on the common step one topics. That does not mean that you should ignore what they are teaching you on the campus.

If you do go to Ross, make sure your study environment is nice. Get a room with air conditioning and maybe even a generator. It costs more but your going to medical school and want a comfortable place to live and study.

Good Luck.

 

[daelroy]

- Remaining 2 years of clinicals guaranteed in the U.S., most likely in NY, NJ, Conn, Maryland, Chicago, or California.

This is just a flat out lie! You need to be more responsible by offerring more details than slipping in this U.S. state to make Ross appear as if one could truly rotate in California during 3rd year. There is one hospital in California that allows ALL IMG's to rotate at in Bakersfield....(Read: not LA, San Diego or the Bay Area). Spots here are extremely limited! You will have a snowball's chance in heII of doing your 3rd year rotations in California. And your chances of rotating in Chicago are pretty limited as well. It's pretty easy to do 4th year electives in California but you are already at a disadvantage when compared to students who did their 3rd year cores such as acquiring LOR's. It's hard to get a great LOR when you just started at a hospital in the Fall of the application year.

And since we are on the topic, if you are from the west coast, I would highly discourage you from attending a foreign medical school. You would be better off attending one of the DO schools on the west coast instead. There are not many IMG's on the west coast thus the west coast is not very hospitable to IMG's the way the east coast is. You will likely not do any of your rotations on the west coast unless they are electives. And that right there will put you at a major disadvantage when applying to residencies on the west coast because most students network with hospitals during their clinical years which gives them an edge during the match.

 

[dividedsky]

The only flat out lie is yours.

There are 4 hospitals in California that are open to Ross students, and I have 5 friends who are rotating there as we speak.

Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, Colton
Kern Medical Center, Bakersfield
Metropolitan State Hospital, Norwalk
Riverside County Regional Medical Center, Moreno Valley

perhaps you can do some more research before posting.

 

[tkim]

The only flat out lie is yours.

There are 4 hospitals in California that are open to Ross students, and I have 5 friends who are rotating there as we speak.

Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, Colton
Kern Medical Center, Bakersfield
Metropolitan State Hospital, Norwalk
Riverside County Regional Medical Center, Moreno Valley

perhaps you can do some more research before posting.

I can certainly confirm that there were Ross students during my time at Arrowhead and Riverside, though I was under the impression that they were 4th years finishing up their requirements? I could be wrong about that.

I also heard Arrowhead surgery is now closed to Ross students - though I don't know why.

 

[Bevo]

I can certainly confirm that there were Ross students during my time at Arrowhead and Riverside, though I was under the impression that they were 4th years finishing up their requirements? I could be wrong about that.

I also heard Arrowhead surgery is now closed to Ross students - though I don't know why.

wasn't expecting a similar simely that says "I'm with stupid and up arrow"

anyways, I've heard similar about arrowhead.

Kern is prob the most competitive spot at Ross - I think they are 2-3 spots open twice a year. Must do all cores there.
JPH has openings 4 times a year with a max of 10-12 rossies per start. Must start and do IM there to do any other rotations here.

Can't comment about the other Cali sights.

Other news: Ross had a policy of allowing students to start certain rotations after having sat for Step 1. They no longer have that policy. Must pass step 1 before starting rotations now.
Policy change is due to a stated increase in step 1 passing rates and increased demand on the ross clincal offices to place students in rotations.

 

[SPatelMD]

I was wondering if i should go to SGU or Ross. I was accepted to the SGU MPH/MD program and I am accepted to Ross directly both startin Jan 06. I am not a great self motivator and I like getting help from others. Please help me, I don't have much time. Thanks.

 

[SPatelMD]

please stop fighting over facts lol.

 

[McGillGrad]

I was wondering if i should go to SGU or Ross. I was accepted to the SGU MPH/MD program and I am accepted to Ross directly both startin Jan 06. I am not a great self motivator and I like getting help from others. Please help me, I don't have much time. Thanks.

SGU MPH means 1 extra year of non-medical school related classes. If you do not mind that then go there.

If you prefer to take your chances with medical school right off the bat then go to Ross.

I would choose Ross directly.