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My Name is Blakeeee

My Name is Blakeeee

Full Member
2+ Year Member
So I have been accepted to Ross, SGU and AUC along with some 1 & 2 year master programs with direct admission to their medical program upon achieving certain requirements. However I’ve been merp/pre medical school in all the Caribbean schools. Also I have already completed a master’s degree with a 3.94 about a year ago tho.

For each Caribbean school’s, I have been awarded about 90k in grant.

Yes I am already aware of the Caribbean school horror story so no need to bombard this thread with that.

My question is if you were in my shoes, what would you do?
 
The fact that you got MERPed at all 3 even with a nice post-grad GPA shows that you're likely very deficient in something because it isn't coincidence that they all decided to MERP you. If you're still sure of going than it is more so personal preference between the 3. Look at things such as the country you'd live in, overall cost, and clinical rotation sites and just choose the one you like the most.
 
I mean I believe it was mainly because of my poor Mcat score, coupled with my undergrad performance, which wasn’t great, hence why I did the master program.
 
LunaOri said:
I would suggest the 1-year master's program with direct admission to US medical school. Unless there is a reason you believe you will not be able to meet the requirements.
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I was actually leaning towards this decision, just wanted an outside perspective to see if this was a sound decision. Wasn’t fond of the new pass/fail system for Step 1, and didn’t want to be the first lab rats to it either.

As far as the requirements, I am fully aware of my abilities to achieve them. It just yet another hurdle to clear to the end goal.

But thank you for your input. 😊
 
My Name is Blakeeee said:
So I have been accepted to Ross, SGU and AUC along with some 1 & 2 year master programs with direct admission to their medical program upon achieving certain requirements. However I’ve been merp/pre medical school in all the Caribbean schools. Also I have already completed a master’s degree with a 3.94 about a year ago tho.

For each Caribbean school’s, I have been awarded about 90k in grant.

Yes I am already aware of the Caribbean school horror story so no need to bombard this thread with that.

My question is if you were in my shoes, what would you do?
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What was your master's degree in? What was your undergraduate GPA? What is your current MCAT score?
 
With your undergrad current gpa, it's not very convincing that you'll do well enough academically to pass each semester at the big 3 given your current/past academic history. A student with a low 3.0 cumulative and a 2.x gpa doesnt magically turn into a good academic student who can pass med school classes over night. It takes time and a lot of hard work to get to that point. It could be possible, but the odds are stacked against you. One thing for sure, whatever you did in college will most likely not work here and you have to be ready to make big drastic changes if you want to survive the weed out down here.

The only thing you got going is that your gpa of your master degree in the hard science is good. But the reality is that grade inflation is common in master degree and that's why not many med school take master degrees that seriously. Unless it's a SMP at a reputable and notorious institution, then I find it very hard to do so. I mean there's a reason why you got MERPed or placed in the charter program. If master degrees were standardized where those didnt do grade inflations, then you would have been directly accepted, but even the big 3 knows the reality of master degrees. But your master gpa probably was the reason why they gave you the 90k scholarship which is probably about only 25% of ross's total cost of attendance and even less for SGU. You said your mcat was the problem, but per their website, your mcat is above the big 3's averages too (sgu is like 497). I also feel like your interview wasn't convincing enough with your low gpa.

With that being said, why didn't you try a post bac instead of a master degree. The problem was your undergrad gpa not graduate gpa. Mcat is okay maybe if you got a few more points, i can see you getting IIs at DO schools. I would def try to get your science gpa above 3.0 and get the mcat to 505. You're not that far off from a 500+ mcat and going to a DO school will benefit you much better in the long run. 99%+ match rate with soap vs probably a 70-75% (at best) match rate at the big 3.

If you're scared of P/F affecting your chances of residency, then do a SMP with a linkage to a MD program as you know US DO has their fair shares of problems, but not as big as what the caribbean has. The reality with P/F, US DO, and US IMGs will still match at the locations that they've matched in the past few years. Maybe some programs will shift differently, but I dont see why programs that were undesirable by US MD will all of a sudden be desirable for them after the P/F. Until they change the system, this will continue to exist.
 
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8jsi37 said:
Mcat is okay maybe if you got a few more points, i can see you getting IIs at DO schools.
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They have taken the MCAT 4 times with the highest score of a 499. After that many tries with that score, it'd take a good amount of convincing for a DO school acceptance imo. But reinvention and maybe a 5th attempt with a high score improvement could still help.
 
Gambino. said:
They have taken the MCAT 4 times with the highest score of a 499. After that many tries with that score, it'd take a good amount of convincing for a DO school acceptance imo. But reinvention and maybe a 5th attempt with a high score improvement could still help.
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yeah thats why i said maybe. It's not really guaranteed, but it's worth a shot to apply. It really depends on which DO schools. Most likely the new DO schools that just opened up are more willing to take the chance than the more established ones. If that fails, idk OP really needs to think about if risking 300k+ at a caribbean school is worth it or switch into a more "safe" career route like podiatry or something.
 
If you have an opportunity to stay in the US for a 1 year masters.... it is a no brainer. Staying in the USA just opens so many more doors. The only argument against perhaps is if you want to do a non competitive specialty like family or pediatrics. If I wanted to do family I would definitely not waste my time spending 1 or 2 years getting that masters.
 
coolsands155 said:
There are no US MD SMPs that offer guaranteed acceptance, and the ones that do like Tulane require a 507 (125+ all sections), PLUS to have been WAITLISTED at a USMD the previous cycle. The other SMPs have no guarantees and you have to be a stellar student (512+ and kill the SMP)
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I see, times have changed. When I was applying most masters in biomedical science programs were either 1 or 2 years and if you got a certain GPA they offered guaranteed acceptance. It was like a B average.
 
coolsands155 said:
There are no US MD SMPs that offer guaranteed acceptance, and the ones that do like Tulane require a 507 (125+ all sections), PLUS to have been WAITLISTED at a USMD the previous cycle. The other SMPs have no guarantees and you have to be a stellar student (512+ and kill the SMP)
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Is applying to an MD SMP even worth it today considering how competitive MD admissions has become?
 
coolsands155 said:
No, but I can only speak for my SMP which has become less successful over the years.

The only way I would recommend someone to do an MD SMP is if they have a 515+ and all boxes "checked" (volunteering research, etc.) that way the focus is 100% on the SMP

Otherwise, there are DO SMPs with easier requirements and guaranteed interviews.
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Yeah, that's what I was getting at. A lot of people seem to succeed with the SMP to DO bridge. 515 MCAT for an SMP? That's just crazy.
 
coolsands155 said:
SMPs like Tulane and others with guaranteed interviews usually want to see 508-9. HOWEVER, I think 1 or 2 SD above that can compensate for deficiencies elsewhere and bring about some peace of mind. You'll see Caribbean schools listed in the "where they ended up" pages of these SMPs. I assume those people got a 3.2/505 and decided to cut their losses and start at Ross/SGU. Had they done a DO SMP they would have likely linked to the med school.
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SMP's look more attractive when they have an admission guarantee. I personally couldn't do a two-year program just for a guaranteed interview.
 
What is the best international medical school in terms of getting matched into US residency and which one is most competitive? Canada? Caribbean? Europe? Australia?
 
This is way too broad a question. the main thing that would help is US citizenship/perm residency.

Also, if you can get into a Canadian school you'd easily get into a US school considering they're even more competitive.
 
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