My school lost its accreditation

[isspam13]

Hey, so my caribbean medical school recently lost its ECFMG sponsor notes and has not been able to receive them. The owner of my school decided to start another medical school and is trying to get sponsor notes at that one (hopefully this March/April). Would it be a better option for me to go there or transfer to another school?

Note: any other school will not accept unaccredited transfer credits therefore I would have to start over. This school does. Also, I did not take MCAT.

Please no hate comments bc I know I'm in a horrible situation and it's probably a lose/lose situation. But I really need some actual advice.

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[Espressso]

Wait how are you in medical school without taking the MCAT?

 

[isspam13]

Wait how are you in medical school without taking the MCAT?

Its a caribbean medical school. It didn't require it

 

[Osteoth]

Jesus Christ. No idea what you should do but best of luck.

 

[WingedOx]

Cut your losses. Quit. Go home and take the MCAT.

 

[Robin-jay]

Sorry to hear that. I guess take the MCAT and apply to USA schools.

 

[libertyyne]

i wonder if you can sue the school.

 

[raiderette]

What year are you?

 

[Robin-jay]

i wonder if you can sue the school.

Depends on what OP signed upon matriculation maybe?

 

[libertyyne]

Depends on what OP signed upon matriculation maybe?

probably depends more on the local contract laws and court system . Signing a contract that deprives you of your ability to sue when negligence occurs doesnt really hold up in American courts at least.

OP, jump ship.

 

[GoCubsGo20]

Wait, there are really medical schools that don't require an mcat in the Caribbean?

 

[Smurfette]

Will this other school be viewed as legitimate by wherever you want to work once you graduate? Some schools are not viewed positively in the US. Transferring from an unaccredited school to another school that will accept unaccredited school credits sound like a situation where you may have difficulties getting licensed in the US if that's your ultimate goal (state-dependent, but still...). Might be better off avoiding going that route and accruing even more debt if you may not be employable once you're done.

 

[shisong]

Hey, so my caribbean medical school recently lost its ECFMG sponsor notes and has not been able to receive them. The owner of my school decided to start another medical school and is trying to get sponsor notes at that one (hopefully this March/April). Would it be a better option for me to go there or transfer to another school?

Note: any other school will not accept unaccredited transfer credits therefore I would have to start over. This school does. Also, I did not take MCAT.

Please no hate comments bc I know I'm in a horrible situation and it's probably a lose/lose situation. But I really need some actual advice.

there is no easy road in life, you put in work and you yield fruits/result. you should study for MCAT and apply to US MD/DO school if you wish to continue your medical education

 

[isspam13]

What year are you?

Im a MS2

 

[isspam13]

Wait, there are really medical schools that don't require an mcat in the Caribbean?

yes

 

[isspam13]

Will this other school be viewed as legitimate by wherever you want to work once you graduate? Some schools are not viewed positively in the US. Transferring from an unaccredited school to another school that will accept unaccredited school credits sound like a situation where you may have difficulties getting licensed in the US if that's your ultimate goal (state-dependent, but still...). Might be better off avoiding going that route and accruing even more debt if you may not be employable once you're done.

I think yes the school will be considered legitimate once accredited with the sponsor notes.

 

[GoCubsGo20]

yes

I know you said no hate comments, but what were you thinking? That just seems like a ginormous disaster waiting to happen.

 

[raiderette]

Im a MS2

I say come home, take MCAT, get a research job and start over. The only other option would be to try to get in a top 4 med school.

 

[isspam13]

What if the new school also loses accreditation? Do you want to take that risk?

yeah thats what im afraid of especially with the new ECFMG rules coming in 2023. But also I spent a lot of money at this school, idk if I can afford another one.

 

[raiderette]

yeah thats what im afraid of especially with the new ECFMG rules coming in 2023. But also I spent a lot of money at this school, idk if I can afford another one.

Can you afford not to be a doctor?

 

[NotAProgDirector]

So your current school is unaccredited, and the owner is opening a new school. What makes you think this new school will get accredited, since I assume the ECFMG would know about the prior school? Plus, coming from a brand new school in the Carib with no track record is unlikely to end well for you.

Unfortunately, going to this school was a mistake in the first place, and now you're left with no good options. As you mentioned, it's lose/lose.

 

[DrStephenStrange]

I'm not even sure you'll be able to matriculate in a US MD/DO if you come back to the US and take the MCAT since you already matriculated at a Caribbean school. My advice would be to try and contact Ross and SGU to see if they would accept you given if you take the MCAT. I don't know what you were thinking, but no one should consider the Caribbean route if it's not Ross or SGU. It's not that they are better, but at least they've been in the game for a long time and actually knows what they're doing, and you'll at least have a 40% chance of coming back to the US and practice.

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[Like]

I agree with lenspx. See if you can transfer or if anything, even start fresh at SGU or Ross. If you have good track record at your current school, either of these two may waive the MCAT requirement.

 

[NotYou20]

yeah thats what im afraid of especially with the new ECFMG rules coming in 2023. But also I spent a lot of money at this school, idk if I can afford another one.

You rolled the dice once and lost. Sunk cost fallacy. Cut your losses and figure out a plan that doesn't involve a Caribbean school

 

[QueenJames]

OP what school is this?

 

[libertyyne]

You rolled the dice once and lost. Sunk cost fallacy. Cut your losses and figure out a plan that doesn't involve a Caribbean school

meh, IBR is only 10% of total income it doesnt matter if it is 200k or 500 k .

 

[NotYou20]

meh, IBR is only 10% of total income it doesnt matter if it is 200k or 500 k .

True. You'd be completely crushed if the program was cut though. Not worth the risk to me

 

[Tenk]

This is like doubling down on five when your dealer is showing a king.

Run.

 

[Ismet]

I agree with others above...cut your losses, take the MCAT, and apply to US MD schools.

meh, IBR is only 10% of total income it doesnt matter if it is 200k or 500 k .

Except for the amount of time it would take to pay it off, and the massive tax hit you'd get if you don't pay it off in the 20-25 years of your repayment plan.

True. You'd be completely crushed if the program was cut though. Not worth the risk to me

IBR is not PSLF.

 

[libertyyne]

I agree with others above...cut your losses, take the MCAT, and apply to US MD schools.



Except for the amount of time it would take to pay it off, and the massive tax hit you'd get if you don't pay it off in the 20-25 years of your repayment plan.



IBR is not PSLF.

Yes and no . If you were making below 150k it doesn't matter because the 20 year plan duration is he same. And you wouldn't make enough to pay it off earlier.

Assuming 200k @6.5 %


The tax implications are a different aspect . However I do not know if it will be a big deal or not since there is some confusion on that matter in the npslf world.

 

[WingedOx]

Wait, there are really medical schools that don't require an mcat in the Caribbean?

Quite a few, actually. There are A LOT of them out there, and a lot of them make AUC, Ross, St. George, and Saba seem like credible institutions. There are 6 schools on St. Lucia, alone, and many of these schools will take whoever they can get to fill the class.

I personally know someone who went to one of these Carib schools sans MCAT then dropped out after a year when they had some serious personal health problems. They later got healthy again and did a personally-made Post-Bac and got the science GPA up and I believe is now still at the LCME school. Of course this is one of those one in a million stories I only know of because I went to high school with this person.

Most residencies aren't going to touch the OP's application with 2 Carib schools on the transcript regardless of the reason for transfer, and certainly not going to give her the time of day from a school with accreditation problems. Any $$ spent at this point is a sunk cost.

 

[Ismet]

Yes and no . If you were making below 150k it doesn't matter because the 20 year plan duration is he same. And you wouldn't make enough to pay it off earlier.

Assuming 200k @6.5 %


The tax implications are a different aspect . However I do not know if it will be a big deal or not since there is some confusion on that matter in the npslf world.

My opinion is that people should not be making decisions on how much debt they'll be in banking on PSLF being there. The amount forgiven by PSLF is not taxed, at least the way it is right now. If the program does stick around, I can see that changing. The amount forgiven in IBR programs like PAYE and REPAYE is taxed. So yeah it will make quite a big difference depending on how much you have left to forgive. Basically what I'm saying is that I wouldn't advise people that "200k or 500k it doesn't matter."

 

[Snoopy2006]

Sorry to hear about your situation. My advice is simple: when you've dug yourself into a deep hole, stop digging. You tried to backdoor your way into medicine without going through the proper channels or even taking the medical school entrance examination. Regardless of how young you may or may not be, that's a big gamble, and one that was always likely to fail. It's time to move on.

Transferring to this other school would just compound a mistake. Your best bet is to come back to the US, study for the MCAT, remediate yourself, do research, and hope in a few years an adcom somewhere has a weak spot for a young person that made a mistake. It will take time to remediate your application, though. Would SGU or Ross take your application with no MCAT? Personally I'd advise strongly against sinking any more money into the Caribbean. Two Caribbean schools on an application is a big red flag.

Cut your losses, friend. Best of luck.

 

[Goro]

Sorry to hear about your situation. My advice is simple: when you've dug yourself into a deep hole, stop digging. You tried to backdoor your way into medicine without going through the proper channels or even taking the medical school entrance examination. Regardless of how young you may or may not be, that's a big gamble, and one that was always likely to fail. It's time to move on.

Transferring to this other school would just compound a mistake. Your best bet is to come back to the US, study for the MCAT, remediate yourself, do research, and hope in a few years an adcom somewhere has a weak spot for a young person that made a mistake. It will take time to remediate your application, though. Would SGU or Ross take your application with no MCAT? Personally I'd advise strongly against sinking any more money into the Caribbean. Two Caribbean schools on an application is a big red flag.

Cut your losses, friend. Best of luck.

I think that OP is in more than a deep hole:

 

[TexasSurgeon]

Hey, so my caribbean medical school recently lost its ECFMG sponsor notes and has not been able to receive them. The owner of my school decided to start another medical school and is trying to get sponsor notes at that one (hopefully this March/April). Would it be a better option for me to go there or transfer to another school?

Note: any other school will not accept unaccredited transfer credits therefore I would have to start over. This school does. Also, I did not take MCAT.

Please no hate comments bc I know I'm in a horrible situation and it's probably a lose/lose situation. But I really need some actual advice.

OP, you might want to take a step back and think of what's going on right now. As crass as SDN can get, they've helped me a lot so please don't take it personally. I think the fact that the owner decided to start another medical school (you don't just go opening new schools like they're Arby's) shows he doesn't really care about the schools he currently owns. So there's his/her actions, which tells me that ^, and the added risk of you going to this new school which might not even be reaccredited.

We don't really know your numbers or anything but it might be better if you left the program and went back to the US, reevaluated your options, and went from there. People mentioned doing research and redoing some things like classes and taking the MCAT. That's actually a pretty good idea imo. Schools tend to look favorably on re-invention and increased trends in performance. Also, you can contact Ross/SGU/AUC as well and see what their thoughts are on your situation.

I'm not even sure you'll be able to matriculate in a US MD/DO if you come back to the US and take the MCAT since you already matriculated at a Caribbean school. My advice would be to try and contact Ross and SGU to see if they would accept you given if you take the MCAT. I don't know what you were thinking, but no one should consider the Caribbean route if it's not Ross or SGU. It's not that they are better, but at least they've been in the game for a long time and actually knows what they're doing, and you'll at least have a 40% chance of coming back to the US and practice.

Sent from my SM-G950U using SDN mobile

Would AUC be a part of the Ross/SGU club? OP could try that one too.

I think that OP is in more than a deep hole:

I don't think adding fuel to the fire will help...

 

[Goro]

OP, you

I don't think adding fuel to the fire will help...

Unfortunately, actions have consequences.

 

[DBV]

Unfortunately, actions have consequences.

This.

Also am I the only one with a "too good to be true" detector? No mcat studying or taking, live in tropical paradise, according to the schools everyone passes steps and matches to MGH... and people bite??

 

[Goro]

This.

Also am I the only one with a "too good to be true" detector? No mcat studying or taking, live in tropical paradise, according to the schools everyone passes steps and matches to MGH... and people bite??

Poor research skills and an inability to delay gratification are among several negative personality traits what drive the profits for these predatory institution.

 

[GoCubsGo20]

This.

Also am I the only one with a "too good to be true" detector? No mcat studying or taking, live in tropical paradise, according to the schools everyone passes steps and matches to MGH... and people bite??

I think it shows a major lapse in judgement and critical thinking. Quite frankly, the thought of someone who makes decisions such as the one OP made prescribing and treating patients is scary.

 

[Robin-jay]

I think it shows a major lapse in judgement and critical thinking. Quite frankly, the thought of someone who makes decisions such as the one OP made prescribing and treating patients is scary.

I've seen much sketchier life decisions from students attending top 20 MD schools.

 

[GoCubsGo20]

I've seen much sketchier life decisions from students attending top 20 MD schools.

I suppose it's seen everywhere. They had to have made some better decisions than most to make it there. Or at least not gotten caught.

 

[dpmd]

meh, IBR is only 10% of total income it doesnt matter if it is 200k or 500 k .

That is assuming it was federal loans. If they were and the school closes I would be looking to discharge the loans. But if not there may not be any discharge option and no income based repayment option. Either way I would not transfer to the new school with the same sketchy owner that had to close my school. I would not give up the option of loan discharge in the first circumstance,and I wouldn't compound my debt problem in the second because the odds of ending up a practicing doctor with the sketchy school is essentially zero.

 

[libertyyne]

That is assuming it was federal loans. If they were and the school closes I would be looking to discharge the loans. But if not there may not be any discharge option and no income based repayment option. Either way I would not transfer to the new school with the same sketchy owner that had to close my school. I would not give up the option of loan discharge in the first circumstance,and I wouldn't compound my debt problem in the second because the odds of ending up a practicing doctor with the sketchy school is essentially zero.

If they are not federally backed loans ,shouldnt they be able to get discharged through bankruptcy.

 

[dpmd]

If they are not federally backed loans ,shouldnt they be able to get discharged through bankruptcy.

Googling led me to an answer of maybe, maybe not. Cosigners being involved would certainly complicate things. But possible bankruptcy now with a smaller loan amount still seems better than bankruptcy with higher loan amounts several years from now when those years could have been spent advancing their life instead of wasting time (which med school that can't get you a residency would be)

 

[WingedOx]

I've seen much sketchier life decisions from students attending top 20 MD schools.

In the cases I personally know of a student bailing for a "where the hell is that?" carib school, parental pressure played a big role, and it was immigrant parents in two of the more egregious cases.

 

[Snoopy2006]

In the cases I personally know of a student bailing for a "where the hell is that?" carib school, parental pressure played a big role, and it was immigrant parents in two of the more egregious cases.

From my experience (n=100-150 range) a disproportionate number of Caribbean students are children of immigrants. Immigrant communities tend to be insular, and all it takes is one Uncle Patel down the street with a 3rd cousin who went to the Caribbean in 1989 to convince immigrant parents that it's a desirable/reasonable approach to medicine. And then generally from there it's a lot of seeking out like-minded people and it's far too easy to convince yourself of something you want to believe in. Unfortunately it's a pattern I've seen far too often.

 

[CherryRedDracul]

I suppose it's seen everywhere. They had to have made some better decisions than most to make it there. Or at least not gotten caught.

You wanna see sketchy decisions? Become a radiologist and see some of the crap that's ordered by physicians.

 

[sliceofbread136]

This.

Also am I the only one with a "too good to be true" detector? No mcat studying or taking, live in tropical paradise, according to the schools everyone passes steps and matches to MGH... and people bite??

I don’t think any carribean school advertises matching to mgh routinely..

 

[radiculating spines]

Wait, there are really medical schools that don't require an mcat in the Caribbean?

There are med schools in America that don't require the MCAT if you link from certain post-bac programs.

 

[libertyyne]

There are med schools in America that don't require the MCAT if you link from certain post-bac programs.

which med schools are these? I know there is one program at Sinai that does something like that, but that is from UG not post bac.