Top 3 vs Rest & Residency Matching

[xylem29]

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Not trying to troll here or to get flamed.

For the caribbean schools, I think that Saba, Ross, and SGU are the top 3...at least, these are the ones that I hear (and i myself considered) about the most, be it from peers or posters at school. Now, I know that the clerkship years are done at US hospitals and that most graduates match into US residencies. My first question is: do all graduates pretty much match into US programs or is there a percentage of students who go unmatched (by that I mean, higher than normal b/c even at US schools, there's always a % of unmatched students)

My 2nd question: are there huge differences b/w the top 3 schools and the other caribbean schools? do the other caribbean schools give you the same shot as the top 3 at US programs? Are there other schools that also have their clerkships done at US hospitals?

Finally - if there are many many international schools - australia, ireland, and caribbean being the most popular 2nd chance areas - are there usually enough residency spots for all img's to match into?

I guess my overlying question is: Because there are tons of intl school's out there that serve as 2nd chance schools, will one be taking a risk by going to a less reputable school?

 

[SabaMed]

Each school has it positives and negatives. You can go anywhere in the world for medical school but you must pass the Step1. Which school is going to prepare you the best? Maybe you can pass the Step without going to a good school, I know of a few that did that but you have to be self motivated. I'm not self motivated and I would fail the Step without getting forced to study. I really wish I could self motivated myself, I can't so I need a school that guides me. Saba forces us to attend classes, we can only miss a couple here and there.
SGU is probably the best school outside of the US but the tuition is more than double Saba's. It's really what level of education you want, etc.
I know of a student going to Cuba for free medical education now, I think thats great but.... Is Cuba going to prepare him for the Step? hell no. Can he still pass it on his own, sure but very hard. Once again, I probably couldn't do it. The take home point is you can go anywhere if your willing to work hard enough but easier if your forced to do it.

 

[xylem29]

Each school has it positives and negatives. You can go anywhere in the world for medical school but you must pass the Step1. Which school is going to prepare you the best? Maybe you can pass the Step without going to a good school, I know of a few that did that but you have to be self motivated. I'm not self motivated and I would fail the Step without getting forced to study. I really wish I could self motivated myself, I can't so I need a school that guides me. Saba forces us to attend classes, we can only miss a couple here and there.
SGU is probably the best school outside of the US but the tuition is more than double Saba's. It's really what level of education you want, etc.
I know of a student going to Cuba for free medical education now, I think thats great but.... Is Cuba going to prepare him for the Step? hell no. Can he still pass it on his own, sure but very hard. Once again, I probably couldn't do it. The take home point is you can go anywhere if your willing to work hard enough but easier if your forced to do it.

Interesting - so I guess this pretty much means that it all again depends on the individual. It's just that, you know how it is believed that IMGs are disadvantaged when it comes to competitive residencies? I figured, if graduates coming from the top 3 are already disadvantaged, then what about the ones that come from schools that don't even do rotations at US schools?