Does anyone on this forum know of the lowest MCAT score accepted to Ross MERP?
Ross MERP
- Thread starter CBcb
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I'd like to know this too. Im interested in applying to ross (possibly merp if needed) for fall 2012
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How was your GPA, if I might ask? I feel like MERP is my only hope, and my MCAT was mediocre, at best. Enough for DO...
sgpa 3.1, cgpa 3.3. I chose to do Foundations at SGU. If it were me, I would go DO, but that is a personal choice. Lets face it, it is and will continue to be increasingly difficult to get a residency from a Caribbean school.
Don't even worry about this residency crap. I've worked in teaching hospitals for well over 10 years now. Most of the residents I know in the hardest ones to get (Ortho, Neuro, ...) did a year of some other "less desired" (OB, Internist, Family Med) residency and then stepped in as a second year. Almost all of the highly competitive residencies require a year of crap first anyway. The only caveat is that you do need to have the right scores at some point. Long story short, switching from low to high happens all the time.
A random side note: a few of my friends that went to Caribbean (3-Ross, 1 AUC, 2 went somewhere in Mexico) are doing better financially than many of the docs that went to school in the US. In no way am I saying that money is the goal or that this is common, but it's certainly ironic.
1 went to Guada, transferred to Ross, became internist for a year, switched to ortho, then joint fellowship
1 went to Ross, then intern year for Obgyn, swithced to anesthesia, then cardiac anesthesia fellowship
1 went AUC, then intern year, physiatry residency, pain management fellowship
1 Ross, family med, then to anesthesia, then to pain management fellowship
1 Mexico, .........., Ortho, Joint fellowship
1 Mexico, .........., Ortho, Spine fellowship
I'm sure a bunch of people might come on here and fight with me saying that this is BS or it was a long time ago, but it's true and some very recent.
The most successful guy I know had a 2.4 GPA, 26 MCAT went to the Caribbean and now CLEARS six figures a month.
This will not happen to everyone, but I've seen enough people rise up that I know it can happen to anyone.
A random side note: a few of my friends that went to Caribbean (3-Ross, 1 AUC, 2 went somewhere in Mexico) are doing better financially than many of the docs that went to school in the US. In no way am I saying that money is the goal or that this is common, but it's certainly ironic.
1 went to Guada, transferred to Ross, became internist for a year, switched to ortho, then joint fellowship
1 went to Ross, then intern year for Obgyn, swithced to anesthesia, then cardiac anesthesia fellowship
1 went AUC, then intern year, physiatry residency, pain management fellowship
1 Ross, family med, then to anesthesia, then to pain management fellowship
1 Mexico, .........., Ortho, Joint fellowship
1 Mexico, .........., Ortho, Spine fellowship
I'm sure a bunch of people might come on here and fight with me saying that this is BS or it was a long time ago, but it's true and some very recent.
The most successful guy I know had a 2.4 GPA, 26 MCAT went to the Caribbean and now CLEARS six figures a month.
This will not happen to everyone, but I've seen enough people rise up that I know it can happen to anyone.
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What's Foundations? Is it a prep year before med school at SGU?
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I don't exactly agree with your assessment of the situation.
Yes, some Carib grads do great. A very small number of them get highly competitive spots. Many get great spots -- IM, EM, Anesthesia, etc. Going Carib is not the end of the universe, and at the present time if you do well, you're likely to get something.
I disagree that "most" people in the competitive subs get there by transferring from one field to another. That certainly does happen, but only when a spot opens up. I would not count on this happening to you, or anyone else.
Switching from "low competitive" to "high competitive" does not happen all the time. It happens to some people, and is very difficult. There are also funding issues involved, which were less of a problem in the past.
I am not surprised that some carib grads are doing better financially than some US grads. That being said, if your main goal is to make money, you're probably better off in another field than medicine.
Your final statement is true. It can happen to anyone. But it doesn't happen to lots of people. If you go to the carib and plan a career in Gen Surg, ortho, derm, etc, expect many hurdles. You'll need to do better than all the US grads. You'll need outstanding USMLE's. You'll probably need to do 1-2 years of research, etc.
Let's be clear -- I am not saying that carib training isn't good. I've worked with many Carib grads, and feel that those that do well at the major carib schools are equally skilled to those completing US training. Doing well at a major carib school should yield a US residency. But, the carib schools all have a significant attrition rate (i.e. people fail out / leave, paying tuition and having no degree for it) and those that fail/do not do well on the USMLE will have a more difficult time matching, or not match at all. I have no problem if a carib grad dreams of / sets a goal of getting an ortho residency -- they should just be prepared to be happy in IM or FM (or another less competitive field) or risk being very disappointed, and they should be ready to work much harder and jump through more hoops for it.
