Quick advice

[Sunz81]

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Out of all the Caribbean schools, which ones offer programs straight out of high school? Are they any good? Of these, do all offer opportunities to do clinicals in the US? Which one would you say is the best and why? Sorry, I'm just clueless about the Caribbean. 😕

 

[berkeleyboy]

Out of all the Caribbean schools, which ones offer programs straight out of high school? Are they any good? Of these, do all offer opportunities to do clinicals in the US? Which one would you say is the best and why? Sorry, I'm just clueless about the Caribbean. 😕

honestly, none of the good carib schools offer right outta high school programs and if any carib school does offer positions right outta hs...you're better off NOT going there.
if you're dying to get into med school right after HS, and you can't get into a 7 year MD/BS program in the states...
the irish schools have 6 year right out of HS programs.
go to
atlanticbridge.com
for more info.
although you're going to need straight As to get into the irish schools straight outta high school too.
hope this helps

 

[Sunz81]

After doing some research I found that St. George's, Antigua and UNIBE offer programs right out of high school. Aren't these pretty good schools?

 

[berkeleyboy]

After doing some research I found that St. George's, Antigua and UNIBE offer programs right out of high school. Aren't these pretty good schools?

ya St. george's offers a pre med program but why sell yourself short and settle for SGU when you could have the potential of going to any US medical school after attending college in the states. It just doesn't make any sense at all. Antigua...I think that program is way too new to have any established reputation whatsoever to go to. UNIBE....haven't heard too much about.

 

[Sunz81]

It's actually not for me, its for my brother. He's a junior and he wants to do medicine but he doesn't think he can get into med school in America. Even his high school grades aren't all that (3.0 GPA). He feels that if he gets into a straight program he won't have any distractions. That's why he doesn't want to go for undergrad. I personally agree with you about trying in the US, but what can I do. He's going to London in May to check out some schools there, but I told him that if he's gonna leave the US, its better if he goes to the Caribbean. Anyway, thanks for your help.

 

[berkeleyboy]

It's actually not for me, its for my brother. He's a junior and he wants to do medicine but he doesn't think he can get into med school in America. Even his high school grades aren't all that (3.0 GPA). He feels that if he gets into a straight program he won't have any distractions. That's why he doesn't want to go for undergrad. I personally agree with you about trying in the US, but what can I do. He's going to London in May to check out some schools there, but I told him that if he's gonna leave the US, its better if he goes to the Caribbean. Anyway, thanks for your help.

hmmmm....your little bro can still go to your average state school get like a 3.6-3.7 gpa and than apply for med school. He'd be really competitive than and prolly get in. St. george's and the rest of the caribbean will still be here, but the opportunity of going to a US med school is def. lost if he goes abroad now.

 

[whoam]

Tell your brother to check out some of the schools in Europe if he wants to go right after high school. Those schools are really for students out of high school because they are set up that way. I know the schools in Chezk have some English schools.

 

[Skip Intro]

I just have to say that I'm impressed that your little bro knows exactly what he wants at such a young age and is willing to go for it. I didn't know my rear-end from a hole in the ground at age 16-17, but I sure as heck thought I did.

I'd agree that, if he can't get into a 6-year program here, he should go to Europe and do a traditional six-year program there. He'll be better served coming back to the U.S. afterwards, and there are much better options for someone in his position.

-Skip

 

[whoam]

Something else your brother must think about is that if he goes to a Carribean school and doesn't like it there, the only thing he can do is go to another Carribean school, unless he wants to start over again. Credits from a Carribean school can only be transferred to some Austarlian schools, and other Carribean schools.

 

[skypilot]

It's actually not for me, its for my brother. He's a junior and he wants to do medicine but he doesn't think he can get into med school in America. Even his high school grades aren't all that (3.0 GPA). He feels that if he gets into a straight program he won't have any distractions. That's why he doesn't want to go for undergrad. I personally agree with you about trying in the US, but what can I do. He's going to London in May to check out some schools there, but I told him that if he's gonna leave the US, its better if he goes to the Caribbean. Anyway, thanks for your help.

Definitely don't waste your money doing your PreMed in the Carribean. I don't know if I would recommend going overseas until you have your s^*& together either.

Even in Europe a couple of years out of the six year program will be equivalent to undergrad in the U.S. (ie studying Physics, Orgo and Bio)

 

[tRmedic21]

If you let your brother go off to the Caribbean for undergrad and med school, right out of high school, you should have your head examined, right along with him.

Are you seriously considering helping him in this assinine plan? He isn't convinced he can get into a US school? Are you kidding me? What in the heck does a high school kid (and I stress kid at 17 years old) know about college, much less about medical school admissions in the US? How could you even consider encouraging him to give up before he's even begun to fight????

I'm sorry if this sounds harsh to you, but the bottom line is, as his older brother, it is your responsibility to smack him upside the head and tell him to suck it up and go to college. This kid is looking to take the easy and 'exciting' way out before he's even tried the traditional way. Talk about selling yourself short... "I know I can't win, so I'm not even gonna try."

I had a 3.12GPA in H.S because I didn't give a damn, which had nothing to do with my ability. My teachers were all ticked at me because I didn't 'live up to my potential'. I smoked everyone in my class on the ACT, though, without even studying. There is absolutely no reason in the world for your brother to go to SGU for undergrad when he hasn't even been to college in the US, for no good reason other than he 'thinks' he can't make it into a US school (and I repeat, what kind of perspective does a 17 y/o have??). I went the Carib route in spite of being competitive for US schools, but I would never ever ever ever ever (am I being clear enough here?) recommend a high school grad to jump on the first Carib school that offered him a shot. I mean, jeez, so what about his HS GPA??? College is a fresh slate, doesn't he know that? If he thinks he's got enough stones to make it for 4-6 years in another country then he's got enough to make good grades in the US higher education system.

I dunno, man.... this is just way too far out for me. If you don't take him out in the back yard and beat some sense into him, then I think you're really doing him a disservice.

 

[Sunz81]

Harsh? Not at all. Honest? DEFINETLY. I think your post was excellent. I totally agree that my brother should at least TRY his hand at undergrad at an average school. He's totally lazy and wants to take what he THINKS is the easy way out. I've finally managed to convince my parents that sending him out of the country for undergrad is a lousy idea, so that's a relief. They were the only ones somewhat supporting him in this madness. As far as taking him into the back yard and beating him, considering I'm his big SISTER and not brother, and he's 2x my size, it would be kinda difficult. 🙂 That was the only mistake in your post! Anyway, thanks for the brutally honest advice, it was right on the mark. Out of curiosity though, if you were offered the chance to go to competitive schools in the US, why did you go to the Caribbean?

 

[tRmedic21]

Glad to hear the disaster-in-the-making is on its way to being averted.

As for me, well, I never even applied to US schools. I have a good friend who got into our local state MD school on his first try, and I had an equivalent GPA, higher MCAT, and 7 years of medical experience (he had none), so I have little doubt I could have gotten in as well. However, my situation was pretty unique... you see, I married a girl from the Caribbean and had lived for a time in St. Vincent & the Grenadines. I had no misconceptions about what Caribbean life was like (as so many people do) and knew I could handle it. Also, we were both wanting to go to med school. Her stats were not as good as mine (although I have little doubt she also could have gotten in). We had just missed the deadline for applications for the 2003 start dates and didn't want to wait around a year in the hopes that we might both be able to start at the same time. Add in the fact then that we might get accepted to different schools. Also not a good idea (we did the long-distance thing, mandated by the INS *****s, as a punishment for NOT choosing to do things the illegal way, as so many do). God also had alot to do with our decision, and we felt like He most definately was telling us what to do. Glad we listened, things have turned out quite allright thus far. 😉 We also wanted to come to Ireland or the UK for clinicals, which was part of why we chose AUC over some of the other schools.

As a result, we've gotten to spend 3 years living outside the US, an experience many of our Stateside US med school colleagues have expressed some jealousy over, and made some amazing friends in the process. We have discussed it many times, and although things would have been easier for us as US grads, we feel that the IMG 'stigma' isn't something that's going to hamper our long-term goals in the least. US DO schools also weren't an option, as one of our goals is medical missions work part-time, and eventually we would like to practice in St. Vincent, where the DO degree isn't recognized yet. We had been around the block in medicine enough to realize that being an IMG doesn't matter much in the longrun, but being a good, caring physician does.

 

[Sunz81]

Sounds like you and your wife have been all over! That's cool. I wish you two the best of luck in whatever you set out to do. 🙂