Should I go to SABA?

[LNG84]

Hey guys,

I've got a question. I know there's no ironclad answer that anyone can give me, but I thought someone may have some advice. I sent in my application to SABA the other day, and I'm waiting to hear back from them. I'm not super worried about getting in. I graduated with a B.S in bio with a 3.67, and I've been working full time in a hospital since I graduated. I decided to apply to SABA because I just can't seem to crack the MCAT. I've been studying forever, took the KAPLAN class, but I'm nowhere near beaing ready to take the test. I have just never been a great physics or chem student, and I took those classes years and years ago. So the MCAT is really what's standing in the way of my applying to a US med school Anyways, the more I read about SABA, the more confused I get. As much great stuff as I read, I keep seeing terrible things, about the teaching being bad, about it being impossible to get certain kinds of residencies. I've wanted to be a doctor my whole life, and I'm willing to go wherever I can to reach that goal, but since I can't seem to get past the MCAT (and therefore can't go to school in the US), I want to make sure I'm not wasting my time and money going to SABA.

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[SabaMed]

Hey guys,

I've got a question. I know there's no ironclad answer that anyone can give me, but I thought someone may have some advice. I sent in my application to SABA the other day, and I'm waiting to hear back from them. I'm not super worried about getting in. I graduated with a B.S in bio with a 3.67, and I've been working full time in a hospital since I graduated. I decided to apply to SABA because I just can't seem to crack the MCAT. I've been studying forever, took the KAPLAN class, but I'm nowhere near beaing ready to take the test. I have just never been a great physics or chem student, and I took those classes years and years ago. So the MCAT is really what's standing in the way of my applying to a US med school Anyways, the more I read about SABA, the more confused I get. As much great stuff as I read, I keep seeing terrible things, about the teaching being bad, about it being impossible to get certain kinds of residencies. I've wanted to be a doctor my whole life, and I'm willing to go wherever I can to reach that goal, but since I can't seem to get past the MCAT (and therefore can't go to school in the US), I want to make sure I'm not wasting my time and money going to SABA.

Saba is going to require the MCAT very shortly, and unoffically they already do. Only a few students are getting in without it (mainly RN's and PA's). My advice to you is take the MCAT and apply to DO and Allo schools. Stay in the states if you can and avoid going to the Carib because its not easy. Only question is to the bad teaching and where you heard that? The teaching isnt bad, Saba grads are doing really good on the Step1 so use that for your benchmark. If the teaching was so bad then why are the students doing so well on the boards?

 

[Inkabellous]

You should ask this question in valuemd.com under SABA section. There was a thread in there not long ago where people complained about being asked to take the MCAT. One person called the school and asked about this. The response was that they would require MCAT if the school that you have graduated from is not "well-known" meaning that it is not on their "list". Supposedly, they have their own "list" of schools in which with certain GPA, you would not be required to take the MCAT. Also, the person mentioned that if you have been out of school for a long time (many years?), it would be more likely that you need to take the MCAT. One guy said that he had 3.6 GPA and was still asked to take the MCAT. So, the list-of-schools theory kind of explained his situation. However, I have no way to verify this information though. Everything I have written here is what I gathered from that forum. Who knows why they require certain people (even with high GPA) to take the MCAT? I guess all you can do is call them up and ask specifically about your situation? They will sure let you know if they need you to take the MCAT.

 

[McGillGrad]

There is a theory that your ability to do well on the USMLE exams is strongly correlated to how well you do on the MCAT...Not necessarily because of a similarity in material but because of the general idea of the exams. The MCAT is a relatively objective way to test your knowledge of the prerequisites of medical school, whereas the USMLE steps are tests that gauge your knowledge of basic sciences (Step 1), clinical sciences (Step 2) and medical social skills (Step 2 CK).

 

[Pansit]

There is a theory that your ability to do well on the USMLE exams is strongly correlated to how well you do on the MCAT...Not necessarily because of a similarity in material but because of the general idea of the exams. The MCAT is a relatively objective way to test your knowledge of the prerequisites of medical school, whereas the USMLE steps are tests that gauge your knowledge of basic sciences (Step 1), clinical sciences (Step 2) and medical social skills (Step 2 CK).

To the OP:

Take the MCAT!!!..Like 98% of the people who end up in residency in the USA have taken the MCAT (just a guess but the real number is 90% something). So dont let anything be a red flag in your application. MCAT will be brought up in interviews, maybe residencies..etc. It is important...who knows, you do well you can get into a good school. You do bad you still can get into the carribbean. Seriously, I dont even think that Saba is the best carribbean school (some will disagree), so at least give yourself more options. Do not close doors for yourself!!

 

[SabaMed]

To the OP:

Take the MCAT!!!..Like 98% of the people who end up in residency in the USA have taken the MCAT (just a guess but the real number is 90% something). So dont let anything be a red flag in your application. MCAT will be brought up in interviews, maybe residencies..etc. It is important...who knows, you do well you can get into a good school. You do bad you still can get into the carribbean. Seriously, I dont even think that Saba is the best carribbean school (some will disagree), so at least give yourself more options. Do not close doors for yourself!!

The MCAT will be brought up in interviews for residencies?
You dont have any idea what your talking about. Next...

 

[Pansit]

The MCAT will be brought up in interviews for residencies?
You dont have any idea what your talking about. Next...

first off, i said maybe...highly unlikely but it might. The fact that you didnt take the mcat is why it might be brought up (or be used agaisnt you w/o ever being brought up so you never know seeing how subjective things can be). It's all about not closing doors for you, you cant sit there and tell me it will NEVER be brought up, there is a chance although unlikely, so why not just take it. It will definitely be brought up during med school interviews and that in itself could lead to rejection. Just the gpa and extra-curriculars arent going to be a shoe in.
So to summarize:

Medical School Interview: High Probability it will be brought up
Residency Interview: Low probability it will be brought up

So why risk it?

 

[SabaMed]

first off, i said maybe...highly unlikely but it might. The fact that you didnt take the mcat is why it might be brought up (or be used agaisnt you w/o ever being brought up so you never know seeing how subjective things can be). It's all about not closing doors for you, you cant sit there and tell me it will NEVER be brought up, there is a chance although unlikely, so why not just take it. It will definitely be brought up during med school interviews and that in itself could lead to rejection. Just the gpa and extra-curriculars arent going to be a shoe in.
So to summarize:

Medical School Interview: High Probability it will be brought up
Residency Interview: Low probability it will be brought up

So why risk it?

It will NEVER be brought up in an interview. NEVER! Before you start mouthing off facts Mr. Premed think that you might steer someone in the wrong direction. Now I'm not saying dont take the MCAT. I say take it. I did and I think all med students should have to take it but your telling me that in an interview for a residency they are going to ask about the MCAT? Nope.

 

[Pansit]

It will NEVER be brought up in an interview. NEVER! Before you start mouthing off facts Mr. Premed think that you might steer someone in the wrong direction. Now I'm not saying dont take the MCAT. I say take it. I did and I think all med students should have to take it but your telling me that in an interview for a residency they are going to ask about the MCAT? Nope.

I dont know why we are arguing?....we both agree that the mcat is an unlikely factor for residency and we both agree that he should take the mcat...so what is the problem here? I think you want to tell him that the mcat will NEVER be a factor, while all i am trying to say is that it is very unlikely. You would probably state that the SAT will NEVER be brought up in a medical school interview but it has on a few rare occasions. (Unlikely, yes) I have had a student say it was brought up in one of his interviews (very competitive field), I dont think it made a huge factor but it was still brought up. Nothing is ever 100% certain so i guess that is where we disagree.To the OP, good luck

 

[razorback58]

The MCAT will be brought up in interviews for residencies?
You dont have any idea what your talking about. Next...

My husband and I had 14 interviews for residency and nobody every asked about the MCAT - EVER. Rarely did they talk about the USMLE Step scores either because they had the officinal USMLE transcript.

We prematched before the end of the interview period.

 

[Shadowstar]

Its not even about whether the mcat will be brought up, its about nit picking people's post for minor insignificant details and railing them on it...its how arguments start and unfortunately we as humans have bad habits.

Its like someone coming on here to ask, hey, will it rain tomorrow? Then someone answers, yes it will rain, because the day before's rainfall was 3.2 inches, and yesterday's average was 3.5 inches (when it was really 3.6). Of course, there are people out there who will see this, then jump in and blabber how wrong the person who said it was 3.5 inches was and a huge argument erupts.

My point? Stop nitpicking other people's post and starting arguments when the intent of the post is understood and valid. There are enough wars and crimes in the world today lets not contribute to them.

 

[Faze2]

Just a question to the OP. You say the MCAT is what will get in your way. How do you know? Have you even taken it yet? If you have done KAPLAN, and spent the god awful amount of money doing so, why not just take it and see what you get? You may do better than you expected, and be able to get into a US allo or osteo school.

I mean this this next comment in an entirely constructive and motivational way:

Stop being a b*tch, man up, and take the f*ckin MCAT and kick a**. You just might do well.

 

[LNG84]

I don't think that last comment was particularly constructive or motivational, not to mention rude....

I (and I imagine many others) have been studying my butt off despite the fact that I have graduated and work full time now, and I've taken practice test after practice test, and I just can't manage to do well enough to justify spending a good portion of my current salary to take the actual exam. I'm sure there are others who hear me there...

Maybe you did wonderful on the exam, but to tell someone to stop being a baby and just take it, when they came here asking for advice doesn't help anybody.

And on that note (and to answer some others who said otherwise), I was called today by an admissions officer to schedule an interview with SABA, who said that my application was more than sufficient without an MCAT score....

 

[George85]

I don't know how old you are, but you probably have time on your side. Keep working at the MCAT until you feel your Kaplan scores are good enough. An extra year or two invested state side far outweighs the problems you might face going offshore. I say might - I know many offshore grads who have done just fine, but many also fall by the wayside with big loans to pay off and nothing to show for it. If you've already taken it and done badly then aim to take it again. Don't underestimate what it takes to go offshore and succeed- believe me, it's not the easy option.

If you feel that you must go that route then start at the top and work your way down. Start with St.Georges. Expensive, but the best offshore school.

Also, take a close look at your MCAT scores. They are a good predictor of USMLE scores. Even if you can bypass the MCAT because you don't test well, unfortunately the same option is not available for step 1, 2, and 3.

And finally .... this is America and it really is the land of opportunity. There is only one thing that stands between you and your goals, and that's how determined you are. Good Luck.

 

[SabaMed]

I don't know how old you are, but you probably have time on your side. Keep working at the MCAT until you feel your Kaplan scores are good enough. An extra year or two invested state side far outweighs the problems you might face going offshore. I say might - I know many offshore grads who have done just fine, but many also fall by the wayside with big loans to pay off and nothing to show for it. If you've already taken it and done badly then aim to take it again. Don't underestimate what it takes to go offshore and succeed- believe me, it's not the easy option.

If you feel that you must go that route then start at the top and work your way down. Start with St.Georges. Expensive, but the best offshore school.

Also, take a close look at your MCAT scores. They are a good predictor of USMLE scores. Even if you can bypass the MCAT because you don't test well, unfortunately the same option is not available for step 1, 2, and 3.

And finally .... this is America and it really is the land of opportunity. There is only one thing that stands between you and your goals, and that's how determined you are. Good Luck.

I totally agree.... SGU was/is the best choice.

 

[Faze2]

I don't think that last comment was particularly constructive or motivational, not to mention rude....

I (and I imagine many others) have been studying my butt off despite the fact that I have graduated and work full time now, and I've taken practice test after practice test, and I just can't manage to do well enough to justify spending a good portion of my current salary to take the actual exam. I'm sure there are others who hear me there...

Maybe you did wonderful on the exam, but to tell someone to stop being a baby and just take it, when they came here asking for advice doesn't help anybody.

And on that note (and to answer some others who said otherwise), I was called today by an admissions officer to schedule an interview with SABA, who said that my application was more than sufficient without an MCAT score....

Hey, didn't mean to sound like a d*ck in my last post. I was really kidding in that last comment, but I guess it probably does not translate well over the computer. I just think you should take it and see how you do before you jump to any conclusions or limit yourself by not taking it. I know you are set on SABA, but SABA may not be set on you. I'm not trying to be negative here, but let's just say that SABA does not accept you. What if, if you would have taken the MCAT you would have gotten say a 20-25, you could say the h*ll with SABA and apply to other carrib schools or even some DO schools with your gpa and get in! But by not taking it you have no idea how or what you could've done. I meant my last post to say "give yourself some credit". I'm not saying be unrealistic, but you NEVER know if you NEVER try. And like others have posted before, if you cannot do well on the MCAT, for whatever reason, what makes you think that your boards will be any easier?

Remember the old saying, "I do not regret the things I have done, only those I have not."