I really enjoy reading these caribbean arguments. But always, how these caribbean posts go is like this:
OP posts something good about the caribbean
Random premed/med student comes in and spews artificial data about a 50% match rate at SGU
The adcoms come in to shut the OP down with copypasta proverbs
Skip Intro and The Argus come and defend the caribbean to some extent
Adcoms get into argument with Skip Intro and The Argus
And then we wait for the next premed to post about caribbean.
What I have to say to every premed reading is that you'll never get a conclusive answer about the caribbean on SDN. There is no where you will get an unbiased answer. US adcoms and students will promote going to the United States, and successful caribbean grads will advocate for going to the caribbean if you cant go in the states. What really matters is your sense of judgement and whether you can judge whether you will be successful. If your recent grades are below 3.0, and you think just because a caribbean school accepts you means you're going to kill your classes and steps, that is definitely magic thinking, and Goro is right to say 'you are the mark these diploma mills prey upon'.
In my own life, I dont know anyone who has failed from SGU or Ross. Maybe they didnt want to wait and spend time/money on taking MCAT classes or postbacc/SMP. Maybe they had elderly parents who they need to take care of, so they cant afford to take more time off. There are many more reasons why the people I know chose to go to the caribbean. And these are just normal people, there was nothing special about them, and yet they were able to spend 2 years in a 3rd world country with poor amenities, terrible food, no AC, and thats just the beginning. These people were really motivated, and in the end they did what they thought was best for them. They used their best judgement. If you have the inability to perform well in your classes and you cant get a good MCAT score, yet you still decide to go to the caribbean, then you arent using your best judgement. You need to turn things around BEFORE you decide to go.
On another note, personally, I would probably avoid AUA. I would try my best to get into SGU or Ross if the MD or DO cycle didnt serve me well.