Application Standards

[MsCooper]

Hi,

Again asking for my husband, we have narrowed our search of Caribbean schools down to four (St. James Medical School, MUA Nevis Medical School, Saba, St. Georges) and I was wondering if anyone could give insight into what the schools generally expect as far as grades. He has a 3.5 from undergrad and expects to get a 27-29 on the MCATS.

Any advice and/or numbers from current students would be helpful.

Thanks,

Rajaa

[rdecastro]

Interesting mix.

He should be fine at Saba

[stephew]

i would HIGHLY recommend that you search the threads here first. Yours is a broad question and i think a little basic and fundemntal "getting up to date" on the issues involved in chosing a school is warrented. not all offshore schools are the same and you need to make your decision based on several issues. do a search, get the questions in order and go from there.

[MsCooper]

hi,

thanks for the advice. we have spent the past few days limiting our list down, but there is no point in wasting the time and money on schools that have application requirements that are beyond what is attainable. i'd like to know what's realistic before moving on.

thanks,

rajaa

[Locuscoeruleus22]

From your list, I would definately recommend SABA over the other ones. SGU is a great school with great clinicals and reputation, but the cost can be an issue for most people. Have you looked into Ross also? Ross is another good option with lots of clinicals and great reputation. But the class size worries many applicants. Best wishes as you and your husband make your selection.

[wolfvgang22]

Definitely apply to Saba. It only costs $50 (unless it has gone up in the last two years) and your odds of getting accepted are probably good if you write a strong personal statement. If you don't get accepted to Saba, then they will forward your application to MUA. They often do that with most qualified applications that just barely miss the mark in an increasingly competitive applicant pool.

Go ahead and apply to SGU or one other dream school elsewhere that you might not get into, if you want. It cannot hurt you whatsoever at this point, since you are already planning to apply to younger, less prestigious schools. Wouldn't be fun to turn them down if they accepted you and you decided to go somewhere else? :)

You mentioned St. James....here please refer to Stephs post above and think about what she says.

If I were to make a short list of schools worth investigating in the caribbean from my desk here on Saba, in order, right now it would go like this:
1.) SGU (very good Education, big school, all 50 states approved, but very expensive)
2.) Saba (very good Education, smaller school, good value. California approved. Boring but extremely safe island. Very student friendly administration.)
3.) AUC (very big, expensive, may or may not "weed out" weaker students. Education good by all reports. On St. Martin, the "Los Angeles" of the caribbean)
4.) St. Matthews (Education reported good. Disapproved in California. Slightly more expensive than Saba...they are in fact Saba's chief rival. Nice island)
5.) Ross (a huge "weed out" school - only the tough survive. Have heard variable reports on educational quality. Probably the second most well known off-shore school next to SGU, and the largest. On Dominica)
6.) MUA (Nevis is a nice island. Not as academically rigorous there as on Saba. Passing at Saba is 75%, on MUA it's 70%. If you fail more than one course at Saba, you mightget offered a spot at MUA to make amends.)

Why do I limit my list to these schools? Because one thing ultimately matters (for real med schools - not scam schools): being able to pass the USMLE step 1. These schools listed above have that track record of enabling over 80% of theire students to do that.