One thing bothers me about many of the replies in this thread.

If you truly are a student at another school, why would you care what the discussion is on a thread in the IUHS forum. It is suspicious at best.

Forget the "whys", how about the "hows'? How would a student at AUC find the time to post about IUHS?

I have stated clearly in my two posts that I have no idea whether or not IUHS is an absolute failure. I do know they have managed to stay in business for nearly 7 years now. In fact, many of the replies in this forum are to posts made 2 and 3 years ago that predicted IUHS' demise. Yet. They still remain standing.

The only one I tend to think is objective is Maximllian. His response seems to be pretty easy to understand.."IUHS is not for everyone, and if you decide to attend there, you have no one to blame but yourself...and further....there are other less risky choices available".

I paraphrased there, but I believe that to be the general theme to his posts.

I agree with all of it. I agree that SGU, Saba, and Ross clearly offer me less risky paths to becoming a physician. The only thing that atrracts me to IUHS is the electronic component to the basic sciences. I am a self-learner, and I don't think I lose anything by completing Biochem/Embryo/Physio/Path online.

Which leads me to the place where I am at. I will apply to IUHS, I will fly down to the island. I will thorougly investigage the licensing issues in my home state. If I am dumb enough to throw away 20K without fully investigating the risks associated with IUHS, who is to blame? Obviously myself.

I can live with that.

And just to better understand the posters here. Can someone help me understand how or why a full-time medical student would give a single thought to the prospective medical school choice of a complete stranger?

The cynic in me believes that there is nothing altruistic in this, but rather a monetary influence at stake. It also makes me believe other programs and schools want the entire sandbox for themselves.

St. George's/Ross/Saba have no reason whatsoever to fear any competition. They clearly are doing it right. However, some of the less desirable schools could do better with less competition. Food for thought anyway.