Hey all,

I just read some stuff in the Canadian IMG forum (it's listed in the "miscellaneous forums" section). I found it a bit disturbing because I've never heard most of this stuff before. Is this stuff true?
(my apologies, I'm going to cut and paste the whole thing, not sure how to use the functions since I've only started posting recently)

Here's the cut and pasted 'stuff' from the original post (it's got the '>' signs next to it):

>Hi there,
>
>my advice to you is do not go to AUC. I have friends who went there >and it was terrible nightmare for them.
>
>The school is a total rip off. They charged my friends $6600 per >semester. Now the tuition is like 8500 or 9000 per semester. And 10,000 >per semester for clinicals
>
>The profs are horrible. So you basically teach yourself.
>
>The island has an enormously high crime rate.
>
>They lie about their USMLE pass rate. One third of each class fails.
>
>They send 80% of their students to England or Ireland for clinicals. If >you want any electives in the U.S. you must set them up yourself.
>
>The owner of the school is a known criminal.
>
>Don't go to AUC. It really is a big mistake.
>
>Oh yeah, and they accept anyone that applies. Basically as long as you >send a completed application form with the fee you will be mailed a >letter of acceptance.

Hi there,
i think you should do your own research and make the judgements rather then relaying on one negative post. AUC has well proven records for USMLE 1,2,3 and has been around for a while and graduated hundreds of MDs. i have no doubt saying this that AUC is as good as the other big two (SGU, ROSS) but again, that is my opinion. the final decision is yours, you do the research and decide,. i wish you best of luck with what ever you decide.
sonics.

tuition portin is true. crime rate is probably like any us city. since i've been here there has been some petty theft and one car stolen that i know about. compare that to any us city and it is likely the same for a five month period. the profs are just like any school some good some bad and everything in between. you are not getting a glorified 2 year kaplan review course here i guarantee that so that does mean that you have to put in the extra effort to learn board style questions. they by no means spoon feed you info so you will work your but off. as for rotations no one is forced to go to uk some simply choose for their own reasons. dr durst has answered this time and time again and i beleive he said auc had a few open slots left at his place almost every semester. fail rate is probably comperable to any carib school it seems to be more like 15to20% though the rest just give up and leave. every carib school is in it for the money and they will admit some who are at the lower tier and they will not make it simple as that. there are plenty of things wrong with auc but there are also plenty of things that are just fine just like ANY school anywhere. and please change the 'hundreds' of prcticing doctors in the US to "thousands" since there are over 3,500 MD's from AUC practicing. oh and as for the pass rate i've heard everything under the sun and the latest supposedly from an old ross/auc prof was that fisrt time pass rate for AUC is usually 40% or so and for ross 50% or so and that what they tell us is the overall pass rate not first time. who knows i don't care i am focusing on the boards from the begining. i've made my choice to come here now i have to live with it and not be a disgruntled little "female dog" and blame evryone else if I fail like some of these people. how about spending a little less time at sunset beach, or bliss instead of whinning about how bad it is b/c you can't pass?...hehe back to the lab

you are right. for you, not being a disgruntled little female dog is probably the best way to handle the situation. for those who have not yet moved to a third world country and paid $10,000 for their first semester, going to some other school that actually teaches its students how to practice medicine would probably be the best way to handle the situation.

and by the way, a lot of the initial post is true.

I was just wondering, are you an MD, are you currently attending AUC?

__________________
Galveston Beach Bum

these types of stories have been circulating for decades.
since the first class created the first rumor of doom, thousands of us have gone onto success, despite the constant battery of stories like these.

I think most of us here are wise enough to choose (on their own ) the school they want to attend.
and i won't comment on the 3rd world thing.

Personally I think AUC is the most logical solution between the 3 big carib schools (ross,AUC,SGU)
Ross is in Dominica for god sakes literally almost a jungle and SGU I don't know but 40,000$ a year is way too much!

and some say that sint maarten has too many distraction (well you'll get bored of it eventually) living on island is not different than living in a city.I've lived 7 years on a tourist island and 12 years in various cities it's all the same!

No, bbpmedic, 'Mr. Smith' is actually a conglomerate of about 4 former students and one never-AUC-student who all decided to use the nickname to post on the boards. This is by his/her own admission in a previous post.

I find exactly the opposite of the original post to be true in alot of cases. While you do end up teaching yourself alot of material, I think we are pretty well-guided through it by the profs, which is my understanding of their jobs, overall. Now, some are worse than others, but we have several who are nothing short of amazing, and ALL of the ones I have dealt with so far will spend alot of time with you outside of class if you seek their help. ALL. Up through 2nd sem, anyways.

If you can't learn on your own, and you can't get through a course without being spöönfed, I would urge you DO NOT come to AUC. #1, You won't make it. #2, We don't want your whiney rear failing out and then going around spouting a bunch of ** about how AUC doesn't teach you or prepare you. It's ridiculous and it's stupid. AUC has over 3,500 practicing physicians in the US. Doesn't sound like too much of an uphill battle to me. Sounds like sour grapes from people who couldn't cut it or just plain didn't like it.

You wanna be spoonfed? Enroll in a daycare! Med school ain't for you.....

Hey all,

Thanx for the replies. I was pretty sure that alot of the stuff in the original post I found were not true/exaggerated a bit. I am planning on applying to AUC for january, and wanted to make sure there weren't alot of bad things that I didn't know about the school. From everything I've heard/read/talked to admin. about I will still be applying ( within the month ).

we are not LEARNING HOW TO PRACTICE MEDICINE!!!!!! we are learning BASIC SCIENCE that will give you the BASIC knowledge so you can then learn how to practice medicine. it is moronic to think that any school can take an hour a day with a professor and teach you a chapter in any book. of course you have to put in extra effort dissecting the material so that if you spend all your time just doing stuff from lecture you will fail and end up posting bogus anon. ** b/c you are 20 grand in the hole...hehe pretty pathetic. who else do you blame for your failure by the way? daddy didn't hold you long enough? mommy never told you she loved you? grow up take some responsibilty, you chose the school, you failed, you write out the loan checks every month.

bunch of cryin little babies.