AUA spring 2018

[ktaveras0308]

Has anyone applied to AUA for the spring 2018 semester ?

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[msuspartans]

I did. And I couldn't believe people would actually go to this institution. Just google how corrupt they're and ask them questions like what their class size is, match rates and usmle pass rates. I had an interview there and I couldn't believe how disgusting this school is. You shouldn't attend this school and no one should pay a penny to attend these institutions.

 

[AUA_Danielle]

The committee is rendering decisions now for both the Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 starting classes. I'm glad you asked about class size. Like the Fall 2017 class, we expect the Spring 2018 lectures capped at 100. Students are assigned to small study groups of no more than 10 and guided by a faculty facilitator. Two of these small study groups are assigned a permanent classroom on campus or “Homeroom” that serves as an academic base of operations.
Our 2017 residency placement rate is 88%. That's about 300 new MDs in the US and Canada. Let me know if you want to talk with one of our graduates, or fill out this form and one will get in touch: Residency Placements - American University of Antigua (AUA)

 

[msuspartans]

WARNING! American University of Antigua

 

[pseud0]

The committee is rendering decisions now for both the Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 starting classes. I'm glad you asked about class size. Like the Fall 2017 class, we expect the Spring 2018 lectures capped at 100. Students are assigned to small study groups of no more than 10 and guided by a faculty facilitator. Two of these small study groups are assigned a permanent classroom on campus or “Homeroom” that serves as an academic base of operations.
Our 2017 residency placement rate is 88%. That's about 300 new MDs in the US and Canada. Let me know if you want to talk with one of our graduates, or fill out this form and one will get in touch: Residency Placements - American University of Antigua (AUA)

"Rendering decisions" means does the student exist, did they pass the credit check

Your "2017 residency match placement of 88%" is misleading at best, a lie at worst.

What percentage of first year students make it to the point where they can even enter the match? Exactly, you wont answer that, because your 88% statistic means literally nothing. Its probably under 50% that make it through all 4 years.
What percentage of that 88% were matched through SOAP at some terrible hospital in north dakota? Im sure you wont anwer that either.

 

[aformerstudent]

Do not go to AUA. It's a shady school. They accept people who fail out of other medical schools who then end up failing their first term lol.

Plus, if you read the other boards, you will see that there is a bottleneck for third year with a lot of students being held back because they can't get past STEP 2.

I have said it before and I'll say it again, go to SGU only if you take the Carib route. As time is going by I am hearing about more and more students who are not even making it out of basic sciences at a lot of these lower schools.

 

[vnw98]

Do not go to AUA. It's a shady school. They accept people who fail out of other medical schools who then end up failing their first term lol.

Plus, if you read the other boards, you will see that there is a bottleneck for third year with a lot of students being held back because they can't get past STEP 2.

I have said it before and I'll say it again, go to SGU only if you take the Carib route. As time is going by I am hearing about more and more students who are not even making it out of basic sciences at a lot of these lower schools.

AUA does certain things for the good of the students. Can you imagine them letting you pass all classes and not really learn anything the first two years and then just let you sit for all the steps no matter how many times you fail? If they did that they would not have the best interest of the student and the schools would never be where it is today. I graduated from AUA and so many of my really close friends. I also finished residency at one of AUA clinical training spots. So I can tell you it is possible to be successful from going to AUA. Just look at the match list every year.

When you look at class sizes for basic sciences yes it may sound like a lot but please look at all the other schools and their class sizes. Of the big schools in the Caribbean all the classes sizes are similar. There are many disgruntled students who either did not pass certain classes, or the comp so therefore they were not allowed to take the Step. I mean would you really want to take it and fail with out being truly ready and then hurt your own chances of not getting a residency. I interview for a residency program and trust me its so hard to get an interview with 1 failed attempt but with multiple you can almost forget about it.

If any prospective student has any real concerns please message me and I would not mind setting up a time to talk to you on the phone to tell you the real AUA and what you can really expect. I have many friends who are practicing or in fellowship at many major hospitals and would not mind asking them to speak to you guys as well. This is Medical School and you will have to study hard.

 

[TexasDoc2017]

Do not go to AUA. It's a shady school. They accept people who fail out of other medical schools who then end up failing their first term lol.

Plus, if you read the other boards, you will see that there is a bottleneck for third year with a lot of students being held back because they can't get past STEP 2.

I have said it before and I'll say it again, go to SGU only if you take the Carib route. As time is going by I am hearing about more and more students who are not even making it out of basic sciences at a lot of these lower schools.

AUA- is what you make of it. I personally knew that the quality of the school would be only what I wanted to invest into my education. Medical school is hard enough, but you have to understand this a stepping stone in the career that is an arduous path. AUA does provide the tools that you need to make it through, it is up to the student to invest the time and effort that it takes to make it.

It is not an easy choice to move away from family and friends and to dedicate the majority of your time to studying, most people that fail out or that can't pass the step reflect on poor time investment, I would not blame AUA.

 

[aformerstudent]

Gentleman, I applaud your defense but I too know people from "your school" and I am telling you it is not as easy as "working hard" and "dedicating the majority of your time to studying." With these schools, there is a certain degree of politics within the administration that you and many others fail to discuss. This boils down to a set amount of clinical spots for the third year and too many students to fill them. Yes, it's easy to tell someone just to work hard but, from my experience, it's much more than that. From what I have seen, the only school that is worth taking that risk is SGU. I see more students succeeding from there than I do from any other school.

So I can tell you it is possible to be successful from going to AUA.

When you are spending that type of money and investing that much time, I need to know that my efforts will guarantee success; not the possibility.

AUA- is what you make of it.

That's just a sneaky way of saying that I am right in my assessment of this school.

 

[longislandmd]

As a recent grad from AUA and current PGY-1 in Internal Medicine, I believe I can shed some light on this. All medical schools are tough, no matter where you go. The reason you see a bottleneck effect in Caribbean medical schools is because they have a lower threshold for admission- which can be both a good and bad thing. The reason most students go to Caribbean med schools is because they've had a hard time getting into US med schools. Therefore, schools like AUA give you to opportunity to make up for your past mistakes and still pursue medicine. Unfortunately, a lot of students use the same study habits they used in undergrad and that doesn't work. So yes, AUA is what you make of it. If you use the opportunity wisely, you'll go far. But if you expect a guaranteed medical degree and residency, I doubt you'll find that anywhere beside a US MD school.

 

[It's_A_Service_Wolf]

"Rendering decisions" means does the student exist, did they pass the credit check

Your "2017 residency match placement of 88%" is misleading at best, a lie at worst.

What percentage of first year students make it to the point where they can even enter the match? Exactly, you wont answer that, because your 88% statistic means literally nothing. Its probably under 50% that make it through all 4 years.
What percentage of that 88% were matched through SOAP at some terrible hospital in north dakota? Im sure you wont anwer that either.

Because North Dakota doesn't get residents? I didn't go to AUA, I went to Ross. Not everyone in my class made it, but half the people I went to undergrad with didn't finish there either - by your logic I shouldn't have gone to college. You're probably one of the alarmists shouting about the "1 to 1" ratio of US grads to residencies that never panned out. It doesn't matter if it was 1:1 or even 1 residency for every 1.5 US grads there's some residencies US grads will NEVER go, and it's because of people like you who act like if it's not plastics at NYU it's not worth doing. These kids may not be cookie cutter US Med school applicants, but neither was I. You'd rather have them give up before the start rather than risk matching into IM or 'gasp' Psych in "North Dakota" Are you going to come off your high horse and treat the rural teacher so he can keep working or the adolescent one bad day away from shooting up his school? No? That's fine, it's not for everyone, but for the love of God, don't turn away the people who will.

OP, I don't know about AUA, but don't give up.

 

[vnw98]

Gentleman, I applaud your defense but I too know people from "your school" and I am telling you it is not as easy as "working hard" and "dedicating the majority of your time to studying." With these schools, there is a certain degree of politics within the administration that you and many others fail to discuss. This boils down to a set amount of clinical spots for the third year and too many students to fill them. Yes, it's easy to tell someone just to work hard but, from my experience, it's much more than that. From what I have seen, the only school that is worth taking that risk is SGU. I see more students succeeding from there than I do from any other school.


When you are spending that type of money and investing that much time, I need to know that my efforts will guarantee success; not the possibility.


That's just a sneaky way of saying that I am right in my assessment of this school.

There are no guarantees in life. If you invest time in studying and not partying every time you get a chance the likely hood of success increases. A school cannot say oh yeah please come and give us money we guarantee you will pass and get a residency. Don't get me wrong I had a good time on the island also but in moderation. Some people over do it and get in trouble with their grades. People try to get notes from previous classes and rely on those to pass the new semester and not take their own notes. Also people will pass around old files and try to memorize those to pass the exams. This is not the right way to study and its cheating. I can tell you from when I was on the island people who tried to get notes and questions and comps from other students either failed out later in medical school or have not passed USMLE exams to get a residency. Practicing medicine is an Honor not a privilege.

 

[aformerstudent]

There are no guarantees in life. If you invest time in studying and not partying every time you get a chance the likely hood of success increases. A school cannot say oh yeah please come and give us money we guarantee you will pass and get a residency. Don't get me wrong I had a good time on the island also but in moderation. Some people over do it and get in trouble with their grades. People try to get notes from previous classes and rely on those to pass the new semester and not take their own notes. Also people will pass around old files and try to memorize those to pass the exams. This is not the right way to study and its cheating. I can tell you from when I was on the island people who tried to get notes and questions and comps from other students either failed out later in medical school or have not passed USMLE exams to get a residency. Practicing medicine is an Honor not a privilege.

That wasn't the point of my post. The point being is that hard work is not enough because there are politics involved with all of these Caribbean schools. It would be foolish to just tell someone to "work hard, don't take short-cuts, and don't party." Those are good things but it takes more than that. You have to be two steps ahead and know how to study smart, how to change your studying to adjust changing terms, and to adjust to ever-changing policies. Straight-A students fail in the Caribbean. I'm sure they are smart but they still fail. It's takes more than studying to survive there. I've seen it.

 

[ICNU]

Been accepted to AUA this fall, interested in talking with a recent AUA graduate who I can discuss the medical school with.

 

[AUA_Danielle]

Been accepted to AUA this fall, interested in talking with a recent AUA graduate who I can discuss the medical school with.

Congratulations on your acceptance. Some AUA grads do come to this site but not frequently you can email or PM me your email address and I can have a few reach out if you don't hear from someone right away.

 

[gyngyn]

Congratulations on your acceptance. Some AUA grads do come to this site but not frequently you can email or PM me your email address and I can have a few reach out if you don't hear from someone right away.

Sharing information here will benefit many. Is there any reason not to do so?

 

[Skip Intro]

Sharing information here will benefit many. Is there any reason not to do so?

I think Danielle is suggesting that she will provide personal contacts for ICNU to reach out to.

This is the admonition you get when you sign up for an account on SDN:

DON'T POST OR USE YOUR REAL NAME ON THE FORUMS - Please keep your identity protected! This is the name that will be shown with your messages. Once set, this cannot be changed.
​

-Skip

 

[AUA_Danielle]

I think Danielle is suggesting that she will provide personal contacts for ICNU to reach out to.

This is the admonition you get when you sign up for an account on SDN:

DON'T POST OR USE YOUR REAL NAME ON THE FORUMS - Please keep your identity protected! This is the name that will be shown with your messages. Once set, this cannot be changed.
​

-Skip

What Skip said. We're happy for AUA grads to post here, but I know accepted students often prefer more personalized discussions with graduates over the phone or in person. However, we welcome the opportunity to facilitate a public Q&A here with AUA graduates where the forum had an appropriate audience/interest.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Obviously, AUA Admin will connect you with people who were happy and successful in their school and training. That's fine, but you might want to talk to people who were unsuccessful. Perhaps AUA will connect you with them also if you ask.

 

[ICNU]

What Skip said. We're happy for AUA grads to post here, but I know accepted students often prefer more personalized discussions with graduates over the phone or in person. However, we welcome the opportunity to facilitate a public Q&A here with AUA graduates where the forum had an appropriate audience/interest.

What Skip said. I want to talk to recent graduates.

 

[ICNU]

What Skip said. We're happy for AUA grads to post here, but I know accepted students often prefer more personalized discussions with graduates over the phone or in person. However, we welcome the opportunity to facilitate a public Q&A here with AUA graduates where the forum had an appropriate audience/interest.

Danielle, thanks for contacting me. I tried to send you my email address but for some reason I was given an error message

 

[ICNU]

Obviously, AUA Admin will connect you with people who were happy and successful in their school and training. That's fine, but you might want to talk to people who were unsuccessful. Perhaps AUA will connect you with them also if you ask.

I would like to speak to different students as possible however naysayers are not what I am looking for.

 

[deleted888443]

I would like to speak to different students as possible however naysayers are not what I am looking for.

Be sure to ask different questions such as attrition rate, match rate, comp/usmle pass rate, and quality of instruction. These are important things to know before going to an offshore school.

 

[AUA_Danielle]

Danielle, thanks for contacting me. I tried to send you my email address but for some reason I was given an error message

I got your email and will have one of the two grads (or both) reach out.

 

[ICNU]

I got your email and will have one of the two grads (or both) reach out.

Hopefully, it is a recent grad and not one who graduated 7 years ago.

 

[ICNU]

Be sure to ask different questions such as attrition rate, match rate, comp/usmle pass rate, and quality of instruction. These are important things to know before going to an offshore school.

Thanks for the advice. Did you attend a Carribean medical school?

 

[AUA_Danielle]

Hopefully, it is a recent grad and not one who graduated 7 years ago.

Sure! Though I think the two grads you specifically requested graduated a few years ago, we can also get you in touch with recent grads.

 

[deleted888443]

Thanks for the advice. Did you attend a Carribean medical school?

No but I applied to some recently.

 

[HairyNocturnist]

2013 AUA Grad/ 2016 Board Certified Internal Medicine Here:

The Caribbean is what you make it. As long as you're going to pay money, the school will keep taking it. The ones who take it seriously and do well will make it. Yes, you need better scores than US grads and yes you have to be willing to swallow your pride and apply broadly when it's your turn for the match. During ms3/4 I called the NY office constantly to set up my rotations (being proactive imho) but I got done on time.

I knew I wasn't getting into a US school with my undergrad resume, nor was I going to mess around for x number of application cycles- I knew I just couldn't make the same mistakes. If asked if I would do it again I'd say yes for sure.

Sorry for the grammar but it's late and I don't like typing on my iPad lol. Feel free to PM me for details or more questions.

 

[deleted936442]

Can a current student in the new “next” curriculum “pre-clinical” tell us how to work around the no lectures policy? How are they succeeding on their own?