Thread: MUA(Nevis) vs AUC

I have been accepted at several schools but have narrowed my list down to MUA (Nevis) and AUC. I am very confused about picking a school and my deposit is due in a few days i have had sleepless nights doing research and reading several forums for over 120 hrs

1. How much is housing/car at either schools, i have ?
2. What should i bring other than clothes/books/money?
3. How long did the loan take to process for either schools?
4. Administration is only helpful to an extent i felt like i was buying a car while interviewing.
5. Where are MUA's clinical sites I have read online that it is not advisable to go to schools that do not post their clinical sites on their website or catalog?
6. Someone please compare the education/classes between AUC vs MUA I am not going there for the nice beaches i am going there for my dream/study i cancelled spaartan and ross because of problems i have heard.

7. Someone please tell me why is AUC charging $1000 a month for dorms is it really that GOOD!
8. Should i ship a car to the islands?

Thanks

1. How much is housing/car at either schools, i have ?
You can get a decent place in Sint Maarten for under $1k a month as a single student.

2. What should i bring other than clothes/books/money?
I think that pretty much sums it up. Just simple things in life, some CDs (and a discman) might help. Personal products (deodorant, medicines, etc.) for at least one semester.

3. How long did the loan take to process for either schools?
Hmm... around two weeks to process after my FAFSA was done? Then once the school gets your check, another 10 days for them to cut you one for the balance.

4. Administration is only helpful to an extent i felt like i was buying a car while interviewing. Sounds about right. You can get much more info from current/former students.

5. Where are MUA's clinical sites I have read online that it is not advisable to go to schools that do not post their clinical sites on their website or catalog? Dunno.

6. Someone please compare the education/classes between AUC vs MUA I am not going there for the nice beaches i am going there for my dream/study i cancelled spaartan and ross because of problems i have heard. I don't know anything about MUA's classes. At AUC, if you can study on your own to a decent extent, and you bother to go to class, you should do fine, unless you have significant difficulty learning out of a book. Notes and old tests help a ton. Scribes are available for some classes, but sometimes they are of dubious assistance, due to some mistakes.

7. Someone please tell me why is AUC charging $1000 a month for dorms is it really that GOOD! The dorms are about the going rate for apartments here. I said you can get away for less than a grand, yes, but keep in mind the dorms have a lower deposit, all utilities paid, central air (oh, how I miss that!), new formidable structure (think about hurricanes), backup power and water (have you followed the Ross forum and their problems with being able to study at home?), and are guarded/gated 24/7 with plenty of parking. They are also right on campus, which is a huge benefit in 1st sem, when you will spend late nights in Anatomy lab, or for going home at lunch and saving having to eat out. If it had been feasible for my wife and I to live in the dorms, you can bet we would have!

8. Should i ship a car to the islands? I wouldn't, but you can, for $1500 or so, I think, maybe slightly less. You can get a decent car here for $2k or so, and you can sell it for about the same when you leave, which means little to no actual cost, other than tags, license, upkeep, fuel.

I hope these helped somewhat. Let me know if I can answer any more specifics.

I was in the same situation in May, and chose AUC. MUA is cheaper and has much smaller classes which I liked. I didn't like the fact that the admissions at MUA and SABA claimed the two schools to be the same just on different islands. Ie. if SABA is approved by CA as it is expected to be in the near future, MUA will NOT. Also, they tell you that the only states that they are not yet approved in are CA and NY, but be careful because some other states base their approval on recognition by NY and/or CA. If you know where you plan to practice call that state medical board and be sure they recognize MUA and that you can be licensed to practice there coming from MUA.

Best of Luck,

"Tin Cup"

Originally Posted by tRmedic21

8. Should i ship a car to the islands? I wouldn't, but you can, for $1500 or so, I think, maybe slightly less. You can get a decent car here for $2k or so, and you can sell it for about the same when you leave, which means little to no actual cost, other than tags, license, upkeep, fuel.

They said it would cost me $2100.00 to ship a Ford Escort from Miami to San Martin - more than my car is worth!

"Tin Cup"

don't bother! not only do you pay the 2k for the shipping but you still need to pay for the registration/tags/insurance and then on top of that the roads suck so anything you ship down you can kiss goodbye in a year or two. peace

The 2100 is less than my car is worth, but I am also still upside down on my payments as its still rather new and in order to not take a loss I would have to keep making payments on it anyways. Also, its a Jeep and I already live on the coast, so the wear and tear is nothing new to me. Think its worth it to ship it? What are the approximate costs of tags and license and all that?

Out
The Bum

When i talked to the lady at Intermar the $2100 is just to ship it down, she said you'll need to deal with a SXM freight company to get it back - sounds expensive to me. But, man a Jeep would be nice!

"Tin Cup"

Im really not worried about shipping it back. It would be paid for by then and I figure I could sell it for a pretty penny when I left, not many Jeeps there I'd imagine. Then, being as it will be that I will have that pretty little MD after my name, I can go buy a new one after clinicals.

Thanks for the info,
The Bum

What kind of Jeep is it? Just remember that gas is expensive down there.

I'm still in the process of brainwashing my wife into letting me buy a Wrangler when I get down there.

It is a wrangler, I got the 4 banger for gas reasons anyways. I dont think I will be driving it much down there, but it would be nice to be able to drive myself to the store or to a local surf spot for some R&R. From what I can tell, there isn't much driving to be done there anyways

The Bum