International Med. Schools

[jrpestana]

As a backup plan, I am looking into the following schools: Ross Univ., American univ. of the Carrib., and St. George Univ.

Does anyone have any information that would lead one to believe one of these schools is superior to the others? I'm looking for information from those who have applied/attended/knows someone who has attended any one of these schools. Please feel free to comment on admission (heard Ross takes just about anyone), tuition, location, atmosphere, etc... Any information will be appreciated.

ps: They all have about the same USMLE pass rate of 90-92% according to either their website or admissions personnel.

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[Sundarban1]

As a backup plan, I am looking into the following schools: Ross Univ., American univ. of the Carrib., and St. George Univ.

Does anyone have any information that would lead one to believe one of these schools is superior to the others? I'm looking for information from those who have applied/attended/knows someone who has attended any one of these schools. Please feel free to comment on admission (heard Ross takes just about anyone), tuition, location, atmosphere, etc... Any information will be appreciated.

ps: They all have about the same USMLE pass rate of 90-92% according to either their website or admissions personnel.

Tons upton tons of information regarding your questions can be found by searching this forum. Frequently people do not respond to generalized questions (I found that out myself) that have been coverd in the past.

In addition, you should check out valuemd.com, which is a site with forums that are specific to caribbean schools. You will find more threads for each school and more information overall.

 

[blackbeard505]

Please feel free to comment on admission (heard Ross takes just about anyone), tuition, location, atmosphere, etc... Any information will be appreciated.

I'll just give you a ranking based on my impressions after surfing this forum and valuemd for a while....Most of the ppl will just give u some BS about, oh, u have to look at this and that without ever answering the question. So here we go.


Tuition: SGU > Ross > AUC
Location: AUC > SGU > Ross
Atmosphere: AUC > SGU > Ross
Selectivity: SGU > Ross > AUC+
Residency Quality/
placement: SGU > Ross > AUC
USMLE Pass rates: SGU > Ross may be higher than AUC, im not sure.
Rate of Attrition: Ross > AUC > SGU
Clinical Rotations: SGU > Ross > AUC
MCAT averages: SGU > Ross > AUC
Quality of faculty: SGU > Ross and AUC may be a toss-up; i dont know.
Nude Beaches: AUC
Strip clubs: AUC
Casinos: AUC
Fast-food: AUC > SGU* > Ross
Student satisfaction: SGU/AUC may be too close to call > Ross
Likelihood of obtaining Fellowship: this I'd like to see more about; i have no idea. Since so many ppl go internal med and surgery, it'd be nice to have an idea if one place or another would give u an edge.

+ Interviews are optional at AUC, i believe.

*not clear how the businesses have recovered since Hurricane Ivan, so maybe Ross has an edge here...we'll see.

So where you go will come down to how much weight u give the factors above.

 

[Bevo]

tution, SGU would be the highest - its a little confusing from the way he wrote in comparison to the rest.

Location - have to agree with above poster

Atmosphere - in terms of the island would be that way, on the school I'm not so sure.

Residency - yes

Pass rates - Id put SGU and Ross closer together than Ross and AUC

Faculty - Never heard much good about AUC profs from the transfers that came to us. Never heard about SGU prof. So I can't comment on that.
I can say that I've had some pretty good professors at ross.

Attrition at Ross - horrendous, basically you go to study and you won't have to worry about it. You 1/2 a$$ it there and the school won't look at you twice about kicking you out.

Rotations - Haven't gotten to that point yet, still need to take the step in a few a couple of months. But I think the way SGU, from what Ive heard, has it organized better than Ross. Not sure there sites are any better. Although I wish we had Maimonides as a rotation site, which SGU has.
MCAT - who cares?

Rest is just kidna junk info that really shouldn't go into your decision except for the student satisfaction.

I guess, find as much info as you can pertaining to the education, pass rates and residency placements. Those are the criteria you should be researching when evaluating any school.

SGU has the "tradition" of being the "top" medical school in the caribbean. I personally don't believe that their basic sciences education is better than that of Ross. I heard the way they take care of the Clinical Sciences though is superior to how Ross does it.

my personal rankings would be SGU > Ross > AUC
in terms of the education. Residency placement it won't matter too much. They'll either hate you because you are a caribbean/FMG or they'll take you seriously because they've had previous grad from your school or caribbean. After that, you're school won't matter as much, in terms of fellowships. You're work in your residency determines that.

Plus both SGU and Ross have a lot of grads out there, so that should hopefully open up my doors.

 

[jrpestana]

First, I apologize for the general post but I was not aware that this site had a carribean forum. I would not have posted had I known this... would have used the search function.

Secondly, WOW! You guys really sumed it all up for me. I really appreciate the time you guys took to enlighten me in the matter. Imbebo, are you at Ross now?

Lastly, based on this info. I would likely attend SGU. Although, I sure would miss out on AUC's nude beaches.

 

[blackbeard505]

First, I apologize for the general post but I was not aware that this site had a carribean forum. I would not have posted had I known this... would have used the search function.

Secondly, WOW! You guys really sumed it all up for me. I really appreciate the time you guys took to enlighten me in the matter. Imbebo, are you at Ross now?

Lastly, based on this info. I would likely attend SGU. Although, I sure would miss out on AUC's nude beaches.

The beaches of St. Maartin (AUC) are only a short plane ride away. I think students from Saba, Ross, and SGU have been known to take a break and head over there...

Another school you ought to consider, or at least not rule out, is Saba. It was just approved for California residency; qualifies for private but not federal loans; cost of tuition is significantly lower than the "big 3"; low rates of attrition, i think; small class size (around 70 now, used to be 40); but im not sure about their quality of basic science education or the clinical rotations.
Also, if you are not interested in a competitive residency, then Saba is an easy choice. Its a good bang for the buck. For competitive residencies, its a bit tougher to say.

I'm not trying to sell Saba. In fact, I will be heading to SGU this february. But it IS pricy. And that is SGU's achilles heel. If SGU cost the same as Ross and AUC, it would be a no-brainer and life would be too easy. Tuition/expenses and everything for the first year at SGU in 2005 have totaled around 52k. Multiply by 4 years, and u have 208k. Possibly 218k if you throw in annual increases. Maybe its just a case of buyer's remorse, I dont know. I'll probably feel better once I'm down there. Ask me in 2 months.

Good luck!

 

[blackbeard505]

And I'll throw in one more thing. Have you looked at Irish Schools? Check out the Europe forum on here. Royal College of Surgeons and Trinity seem popular. There are others, but I'm not too familiar with them. I would have gone that route but I am reluctant to do so because:

1. Upon emailing them several times regarding US residency placement lists, I've received no response. SGU and Ross post lists on their site with the name of the alumni and the hospital they matched at...I think AUC only lists the hospital. So either the Irish schools dont keep track of where their alumni place in the US, dont care, or dont share the info for whatever reason. If I'm going to plunk down top dollar, I expect them to be a bit more forthcoming.

2. Cost of attendance at Irish schools is higher; and it will continue to creep higher as the Euro strengthens. As of now, I think it is higher than SGU.

3. Its 5 years versus 4 if you've got the science prereqs and MCAT; 6 years if you are straight out of high school. Scary.

4. Rotations are in Ireland, not the US, which has its own pluses/minuses.

The positives of an Irish school are that you get a solid education, dont have a caribbean stigma, better atmosphere/lifestyle, and hey, its EUROPE!

I'm sure there's more to it; again, check the Europe forum.

 

[Bevo]

SABA seems to be a good choice.

the cost of SGU is a big reason I was scared into Ross. I think when its all said and done, there is a ~30-50k difference in final cost of education.

I do attend Ross right now.

 

[Baditude]

After visiting Ross and SGU I chose AUC. I could not have lived in the conditions on either island. I did not get the same feeling of a community of students working together and helping each other as I did and do at AUC. The cost was also a factor SGU is much more expensive and the education isn't any better. It ultimately comes down to what you can live with. I have no regrets choosing AUC I am enjoying the island and getting a good basic sciences education. The choices available to me for clinicals are in areas of the country where I would like to be and are in good hospitals so in the long run I don't feel I made a bad choice.

 

[blueoval]

And I'll throw in one more thing. Have you looked at Irish Schools? Check out the Europe forum on here. Royal College of Surgeons and Trinity seem popular. There are others, but I'm not too familiar with them. I would have gone that route but I am reluctant to do so because:

1. Upon emailing them several times regarding US residency placement lists, I've received no response. SGU and Ross post lists on their site with the name of the alumni and the hospital they matched at...I think AUC only lists the hospital. So either the Irish schools dont keep track of where their alumni place in the US, dont care, or dont share the info for whatever reason. If I'm going to plunk down top dollar, I expect them to be a bit more forthcoming.

2. Cost of attendance at Irish schools is higher; and it will continue to creep higher as the Euro strengthens. As of now, I think it is higher than SGU.

3. Its 5 years versus 4 if you've got the science prereqs and MCAT; 6 years if you are straight out of high school. Scary.

4. Rotations are in Ireland, not the US, which has its own pluses/minuses.

The positives of an Irish school are that you get a solid education, dont have a caribbean stigma, better atmosphere/lifestyle, and hey, its EUROPE!

I'm sure there's more to it; again, check the Europe forum.

To maybe save you some time about Ireland, look at Atlantic Bridge's web site. It will tell which schools they cover. A couple don't even require the MCAT. The applications open in September and close in November. AB is extremely nice and efficent when you have questions. They don't post any residency placements for US positions.. and I'm speculating this is probably because its a school for the Irish and most people that attend there are Irish and will stay in Ireland so they probably don't care. From what I can gather they tend to like North American students because you are paying big money. Forgien students in Irleand fund something like 80% of the total cost of the medical school. That's a quicky overlook, but if it's something that might interst you look into it more.

 

[pitman]

If you're looking at Ireland, then look at Australia (similar pluses and minuses).

-pitman

To maybe save you some time about Ireland, look at Atlantic Bridge's web site. It will tell which schools they cover. A couple don't even require the MCAT. The applications open in September and close in November. AB is extremely nice and efficent when you have questions. They don't post any residency placements for US positions.. and I'm speculating this is probably because its a school for the Irish and most people that attend there are Irish and will stay in Ireland so they probably don't care. From what I can gather they tend to like North American students because you are paying big money. Forgien students in Irleand fund something like 80% of the total cost of the medical school. That's a quicky overlook, but if it's something that might interst you look into it more.

 

[hotdawg]

If you're looking at Ireland, then look at Australia (similar pluses and minuses).

-pitman

is anyone in school in australia? where can i find that thread?

 

[pitman]

I am. There's a bunch of us in the Australia forum.