So new to the carribean thing...advise please

[njinga413]

Hey people so i am finally deciding to go to carribean and my stats are 3.7 gpa and 26 mcat. I am thinking of ross and sgu, but i wanted to know more about their curriculum.....do both do their third year in miami? i dont know how exactly it works...plus anybody know the costs per year? in general, where would do u think is good for a surgery match?...i know these qsns are so vague but any feedback will be greatly appreciated!

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[nibiru6]

YOU will be the only student in the Carribean entering with a 3.7 and 26 MCAT. you could manage pulling a US med program with a sob story or strong extracirricular background - and good interview


but if youre looking here, you are just as dumb as most of the EPIC FAIL students applying overseas!

 

[digitalising]

YOU will be the only student in the Carribean entering with a 3.7 and 26 MCAT. you could manage pulling a US med program with a sob story or strong extracirricular background - and good interview


but if youre looking here, you are just as dumb as most of the EPIC FAIL students applying overseas!

Which would logically include you as you're posting on this forum. I'm beginning to wonder if you just discovered Internet memes.

OP, you have a competitive GPA. It would be a better strategy to retake your MCAT, boost that to thirties or above, and apply broadly. Examine why you scored mid-twenties on the MCAT and then correct it. Take a class if you need to.

You can throw in a couple of applications to the top Caribbean schools as well as a back-up if you like. Alternatively or concurrently you can examine D.O. programs which may be more sympathetic to low-MCAT scores.

I hope that helps.

 

[digitalising]

Hey people so i am finally deciding to go to carribean and my stats are 3.7 gpa and 26 mcat. I am thinking of ross and sgu, but i wanted to know more about their curriculum.....do both do their third year in miami? i dont know how exactly it works...plus anybody know the costs per year? in general, where would do u think is good for a surgery match?...i know these qsns are so vague but any feedback will be greatly appreciated!

SGU Clinical Centers: http://sgu.edu/website/sguwebsite.nsf/som/affiliated-hospitals.html

SGU Matchlist: http://sgu.edu/website/sguwebsite.nsf/alumni/student-profile.html

SGU Tuition: http://sgu.edu/website/sguwebsite.nsf/financial-services/som-tuition.html

First year is Term 1 and 2, second is 3-6, and then three and four are terms 7-11. First year's COA was about 60K, which includes housing, tuition, transportation and miscellaneous spending, which means you don't have to actually borrow/pay all of that.

 

[dragonfly99]

Yeah, SGU's match list is pretty good.
I second the request that you should give a good hard try at raising the MCAT just a little. Even if you got a 29 or 30 you would have a decent shot in the US for a school. Also if you like surgery consider a DO school...they have a focus on the musculoskeletal system anyway. They have their own residencies too. What I would like to know about St George's is what % of those surgery matches are prelim (i.e. only got 1 guaranteed year of surgery) vs. categorical (i.e. the student got a promise of a full 5 years surgical training). I hope most of them got categorical spots. I have a friend who is an IMG who got a surgery prelim year, then got stuck and couldn't get an upper level spot. He was a good resident too...what happens is that the hospitals have more preliminary/1st year spots than upper levels, so they get IMG's (and some US grads) for a prelim year, get 5 or 6 of them but then only keep 1 or 2 for the full residency. The rest are cut loose and some don't even find an upper level spot. There are just pitfalls to fall in to if you have to come from the Caribbean back to the US. Not that surgery (especially general surgery) can't be done, but it just makes your life harder. Plus, it's expensive. Maybe better to drop a couple thousand on an MCAT review course and study like hell, and try for US school really hard, then with a backup plan to go to Caribbean if you want.

 

[AngryBaby]

Yeah, SGU's match list is pretty good.
I second the request that you should give a good hard try at raising the MCAT just a little. Even if you got a 29 or 30 you would have a decent shot in the US for a school. Also if you like surgery consider a DO school...they have a focus on the musculoskeletal system anyway. They have their own residencies too. What I would like to know about St George's is what % of those surgery matches are prelim (i.e. only got 1 guaranteed year of surgery) vs. categorical (i.e. the student got a promise of a full 5 years surgical training). I hope most of them got categorical spots. I have a friend who is an IMG who got a surgery prelim year, then got stuck and couldn't get an upper level spot. He was a good resident too...what happens is that the hospitals have more preliminary/1st year spots than upper levels, so they get IMG's (and some US grads) for a prelim year, get 5 or 6 of them but then only keep 1 or 2 for the full residency. The rest are cut loose and some don't even find an upper level spot. There are just pitfalls to fall in to if you have to come from the Caribbean back to the US. Not that surgery (especially general surgery) can't be done, but it just makes your life harder. Plus, it's expensive. Maybe better to drop a couple thousand on an MCAT review course and study like hell, and try for US school really hard, then with a backup plan to go to Caribbean if you want.

I haven't bothered to check up on the surgery residents (prelim vs. categorical) but if you, or anyone, is interested you can click on "PGY-2" on the top of the screen and see if the same kids are listed under surgery. Easiest way to do that is to click on "specialty" to sort by specialty, take note of the names, then click on "PGY-2" and repeat.

EDIT: OK, just did it. By my count 36 surgery residents in PGY-1 and 24 in PGY-2. I did it in a hurry so feel free to double-check.

 

[IniquityBliss]

- Yes, your stats are very good and you have a good shot at a US school. I am currently an M2 at Ross and our entering class does, however, have similar stats (3.5+ and 27). It's definitely true that med school keeps getting harder and harder to get into.

- I cannot give you information about the curriculum at SGU since I don't go there, but I can give you info about Ross (and point out the differences between Ross and SGU that I know of).

- Ross has 3 semesters per year (Jan, May, Sept); SGU has two (Jan, Sept).
So, you do not have 'summers off' at Ross but you do at SGU. The advantage to this is that you get back to the states in 16 months. However, SGU has some really good electives offered over the summers.

- The curriculum at Ross is as follows:
M1 year:
Semester 1 - Biochem, Anat, Histo, Physiology, Doctor Pt. and Society (DPS)
Semester 2 - Biochem, Anat, Histo, Physiology, DPS, Neuro

M2 year:
Semester 1 - Pharm, Path, Micro/Immuno, Intro to Clinical Medicine (ICM), Behavioral Science
Semester 2 - Pharm, Path, Micro/Immuno, ICM

* Please keep the following in mind:
You must take the USMLE Step 1 after your 2nd year of medical school in order to begin your rotations (i.e. 3rd year).
The National Board of Medical Examiners will NOT allow you to sit for this exam unless you have completed 20 calendar months of coursework. So, if you are a Ross student, you will finish 2 years of medical school in 16 calendar months. Since this does not meet the requirement of 20 calendar months, you will have to complete another semster - i.e. 5th semester -- aka Miami.
Currently, you can complete this semester in Dominica, Miami, or Michigan. Miami was the original 'home' of 5th semester but Ross has developed programs in Dominica and Michigan. There are more people than spots for 5th semester in Dominca (it's getting more competitive each semester) and Michigan is the most competitive (the lowest GPA - med school GPA - is a 3.3 and that is well below the norm for getting to Michigan).
After 5th semester, you take the step and then begin your rotations.

I don't think SGU has a 5th semester since they have 2 semesters per year instead of 3. This has advantages and disadvantages. The advantage: by the time you get to 5th semester you have already learned all of the information that you need to pass the step (i.e. in theory, this gives you 4 more months to study) and you will also be doing 'mini' rotations before you start your actual rotations. The disadvantage: Ross is not free and this 5th semester will tack on another $20,000.

Hopefully someone from SGU will comment and give you info about their curriculum (and correct me if I was wrong about their curriculum).

Cheers and good luck.

 

[tsunamiking]

so is Miami the easiest place to go to for the fifth semester?

I am currently applying to Ross and I live in Miami so knowing that I can come back home for a semester and not pay for a place to live or food for a couple of months doesn't sound too bad for me!

Can you PM me please? Thanks and good luck in school!!!!!!

 

[KimSavesTheDay]

Wait! I'd also like to know if Miami is the easiest place to go for 5th semester? How is it decided where you go?