Med school is med school indeed. I recommend that if you can, PLEASE go visit the campus in Dominica and determine if you handle living there. From what I understand, it's the most "natural" of the caribbean islands and is a difficult place to live for many Americans. Granted, many before you have made it through living there just fine. But, Dominica is not for everyone. You also should see the campus firsthand. From what I understand, they are making improvements, but they still base all of their basic sciences in those white trailer buildings. Did you apply to SGU or AUC? They have outstanding campuses with much better living conditions. One thing Ross reps don't tell you is how difficult it is to live there. They don't want to scare you away because they want your money. Bottom line.
The GPA they boast is also misleading. Sure, the average is 3.3 or whatever. But, as you know, you don't need a 3.3 to get in. I know one guy that graduated college with a 2.3 overall, went to Ross, and is now a resident. Ain't that some sh#t!! So, obviously, the school works, but the success of the students has little to do with the school and more to do with how hard they work. I think they inflate their GPA a little to make themselves more competitive, not with US schools, but with St. George's...their premier competition. We all know that MANY (not all) of the students that go to foreign schools are there because they couldn't get into school in the US. So, they obviously aren't fighting for students with US schools, but rather other caribbean establishments. The difficulty level of admissions to caribbean schools fluctuates with US admissions. If the applications are down at US school (like this year), applications will be down at Caribbean schools, and they'll be easier to get into. You see, admission at Ross, AUC, etc. are basically based on enrollment numbers, although Ross is trying to "toughen" their image by being more selective. I don't mean to make it sound like I'm harping on your school. You'll more than likely get into Ross and it'll get you where you want to go in life. I highly recommend that you visit the Dominica campus before you spend big bucks however. If I could offer you any additional advice, it would be to study hard down there, tolerate any BS thrown your way (there will be plenty of it), and ignore the rumors. Do that and you'll survive. Good luck.
