Saba the best Caribbean Medical School?

[Augustus]

Tuition at Saba only costs under $94,000 for all 4 years.

At St. George's its like $195,000.

Ross and AUC are around $150,000.

Is Saba the hardest school to get into? If you're going to the Caribbean and going to have the stigma anyway why not just go to Saba?

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[demayette]

Tuition at Saba only costs under $94,000 for all 4 years.

At St. George's its like $195,000.

Ross and AUC are around $150,000.

Is Saba the hardest school to get into? If you're going to the Caribbean and going to have the stigma anyway why not just go to Saba?

Saba is not the hardest because their stats are not better than the other schools. And caribbean is all about stats. they dont care so much about ECs, LORs, ect. Saba dont have government loan. At the end, when you paying back your loan, it will be the same amount with ROSS and AUC taking interest into account. St Georges' tuition is outrageous!!! However, I heard from some students that the school is better structured than the other schools ie they help their students more... tutoring, getting your rotations in one hospital and many other stuff.

 

[Lisa D]

Saba is not the hardest because their stats are not better than the other schools. And caribbean is all about stats. they dont care so much about ECs, LORs, ect. Saba dont have government loan. At the end, when you paying back your loan, it will be the same amount with ROSS and AUC taking interest into account. St Georges' tuition is outrageous!!! However, I heard from some students that the school is better structured than the other schools ie they help their students more... tutoring, getting your rotations in one hospital and many other stuff.

The woman I spoke to in the financial department at SABA says they offer a student loan now that students must re apply for each semester.

 

[Aphtalyfe]

The woman I spoke to in the financial department at SABA says they offer a student loan now that students must re apply for each semester.

1) Their loan is like a 12%+ interest rate. So although their tuition and cost of living is less... you will still owe quite a bit when all is said and done.

2) Since the loans are private there is no chance for public service helping repay the loans. I'm not even sure if they allow income based repayment?

3) Some Saba students have been denied loans after a couple semesters at SABA, effectively leaving them out of cash.

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

1) Their loan is like a 12%+ interest rate. So although their tuition and cost of living is less... you will still owe quite a bit when all is said and done.

2) Since the loans are private there is no chance for public service helping repay the loans. I'm not even sure if they allow income based repayment?

3) Some Saba students have been denied loans after a couple semesters at SABA, effectively leaving them out of cash.

Where is this information from? What is the source? I am looking at Saba, and yes, it is all private loans. However, from what I have seen, in the US, you will NOT get through school on federal student loans alone, unless you are living with someone who pays 100% of the bills, and ONLY have tuition to worry about. Otherwise, you will have to take out private loans... Private loans count for being paid off by the government as do federal loans...

 

[CaribKid]

I am going to respond to this because I feel that financial aid is one of the things least understood about medical school, and can be very complicated in the Caribbean. First, you are incorrect about private loans. I believe you are thinking of Stafford loans as the only govt. loans, for which the max (including undergrad) is around 140-160 thousand....someone else may have the exact figure in front of them. However, you can apply and take out the Federal PLUS loan (and yes, it is not just a parent loan, look at the website) which allows you to take out up to your school's financial aid maximum (based on their budget). This interest rate is capped at 8% or so, no more than 8.5%. This is administered by the government. So, no, you don't need private loans.

I go to AUC, right near Saba, and Saba does offer a very specific type of private loan, and yes the interest rate is higher. Compound interest over 10-20 yrs adds up, so don't think it's just $100,000. Aphtalyfe was completely correct in what he said. However, the questions you should ask are: What happens during residency? How do I pay it back then? Will the interest rate fluctuate? Have any students lost private financial aid loans during school? If the answers are good, then everything works out. But this is information you need.

Finally, please don't make your decision on loans and money alone. You will enter a highly lucrative field, and you will have the ability to pay off your loans. Make sure you enter a school where residencies are proven, USMLE scores are positive, and there are plenty of clinical sites.

 

[Richardh]

i agree with caribkid. paying off for tuition is important but getting the right education and the opportunity to enter residency and later on becoming a doctor is much more important.

auc is far better with reputation, stats, and so forth

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

That is why I am asking the questions... There are things I really like about Saba, but that is a concern of mine. I am looking to go into primary care (haven't decided between FP/GP or IM)... I posted a thread about it, and would happily take opinions or info... Part of my concern about some of the other schools is where people match for residencies, etc... anyway, I am looking for thoughts and opinions about going to a carib school vs US...

 

[CaribKid]

That is why I am asking the questions... There are things I really like about Saba, but that is a concern of mine. I am looking to go into primary care (haven't decided between FP/GP or IM)... I posted a thread about it, and would happily take opinions or info... Part of my concern about some of the other schools is where people match for residencies, etc... anyway, I am looking for thoughts and opinions about going to a carib school vs US...

Ok. Here is the deal, straight up and honest. If you get into a US school, you need to go there. Period. No discussion. If you go Carib over US, you have made a mistake and are a fool. As far as DO vs MD, well, that is a decision everyone must make. Better residency chances with US DO? Yup. But not everyone likes that medical philosophy, and that's just a personal opinion, in no way putting down the DO schools.

And I need to explain to you how this whole "get a degree in 3 yrs thing works". It's probably not 3 yrs. You will spend 20 months on your island of choice. Then, you need to study for Step, let's say two months. You will lose a few weeks moving, so round it to 3. Then you have to wait for your scores before you can start clinicals. Takes 1-2 months, call it one. That's 4 months, and you haven't started clinicals yet. Let's say by some miracle of God you do them all back to back. 72 weeks for Saba, so 1.5 yrs (and this is being crazy lucky with scheduling). So, that's 18 months, right? Now, here's the part they don't tell you. You have to Match in March with everyone else. So, let's say you start in January 2011. Here is the timeline:
Jan 2011 - Start Basic
August 2012 - Finish Basic
November 2012 - Take Step 1
December 2012 - Get Scores
January 2013 - Start Clinicals
July 2014 - Finish Clinicals
September 2014 - Apply for Residency
March 2015 - Match (7 months after clincals ended)
July 2015 - Start Residency

Looks good right? Here is the problem. Coming from the Caribbean, you MUST have your residency applications sent out in September. If you don't, you are being foolish. If you miss this window because clinicals don't work out, you have to study a month longer for Step, any scheduling conflict that puts you off by a few months (let's say by 3-4), then you have to wait until THE NEXT YEAR to match. So, 2016. Is that timeline do-able? Yup. But be careful when someone tells you 3 years. It will take some great scheduling and some luck to make that happen (but it is possible). I hope this helps you and your decision process, whatever you decide.

 

[GADoctor]

Since I go to Saba, maybe I can answer some of your questions.

First, I posted in the other thread about choosing US vs Caribbean, you are crazy if you choose Caribbean over US.

Second, tuition is much much lower here, but using the in-house loan option is absolute no no. It is basically carrying a credit card debt and works about the same way. On the other hand, Saba should have federal loans soon. There was a meeting in September of last year at the Department of Education for just that. If you go to Department of Education website and search Saba, you can get all that information. But until that happens, if you are an American, then you should expect to pay out of pocket.

Third, medical school is 4 years. Technically yes, it should be only 3.5, but that almost never happens. More often it takes you a bit more. This is true for every medical school.

Finally, Saba has very good stats. I have no idea where others think somehow AUC stats are better, or any of the other 3. Our step scores and residency placements have been second to none. Just go and compare, they are posted on the respective websites of each school. More importantly, in one month, Saba officially becomes part of Holland, and approved by the Dutch accreditation organization NVAO, that review is posted on their site.

Hopefully when the Antilles break up, better objective stats will become available that do not group all the Antillean schools together with AUC and Saba, and give SGU that little tag line. IMO, all 4 Caribbean schools are good, and each have strong points and weak ones. My recommendation to you is do your homework, and do it well. Research and do not make a split decision.

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

Very helpful again, thanks... This part of the forum has been the most helpful by far. Most of the other premed areas people are just vicious and nasty... Thanks again for the help...

 

[dbiddy808]

I graduated from Saba in 2002. I will be starting a fellowship at Harvard next year...I think anything can be done if you are intelligent and hard working. Don't believe the haters. After you have finished training and have proven yourself, where you went to medical school doesn't really matter.

 

[thechad]

January 2013 - Start Clinicals
July 2013 - Finish Clinicals

So you're doing 3rd and 4th year in about 49 weeks?

 

[CaribKid]

So you're doing 3rd and 4th year in about 49 weeks?

Got me on a typo. Should be 2014, not 2013

 

[DoctorJCM]

I graduated from Saba in 2002. I will be starting a fellowship at Harvard next year...I think anything can be done if you are intelligent and hard working. Don't believe the haters. After you have finished training and have proven yourself, where you went to medical school doesn't really matter.

are you at brigham? if you so i will like to speak with you about your experience. I am starting SABA jan 2013

 

[sevm01]

Hey DoctorJCM, can I pm you about your experience at SABA?
Thanks!

 

[Medstart108]

He probably won't respond, he only made one post and never logged in again. You can see when they last logged on by checking their profile page.