What is the deal? SGU, AUC, etc

[JokerABC]

Seriously, what is the deal with the commenting on Ross? How does Ross produce so many enemies.........and the bigger question is whether all the "horror" stories or failing, etc are true or not. Interesting that you don't hear nearly as many of these kinds of stories from SGU or AUC. You can talk to tons of people, go to every messageboard and the SGU and AUC ones will not have these kind of rapant complaining like Ross does.

What is the deal here? If ya can't get into SGU, then would you still go to Ross with all of these so-called hassles, failing out, etc? Why not pick AUC?

[rossmd]

You have to understand, SGU is very selective and their class size isn't as big as Ross'. I guarantee Ross lets 2/3 who apply in and then let them fend for themselves. Either you make it or not, they still get paid due to the stafford loans etc.
All the whining just runs in the family. When I was on the rock, there was always a few who cried about everything. Most of us used to just sit back and laugh. There's alot of students who are used to the finer things in life and don't understand that they actually have to work for something. I know a few who transferred just cause AUC and the others were easier, as well as a better place to live. The Ross bashing started a longtime ago and people just feed off of it. They don't understand that there only hurting themselves.
Don't you ever wonder why they spend so much time on these forums, when they should be studying and worrying about step 1 in the long run. I personally feel ross is terrible at weeding out the cry babies when they apply. they need a new admissions department.

[MitchDC]

RossMD, you are incorrect in your statement that SGU classes are not as large as those at Ross. In fact, I know a few people who started at SGU last September who said they started with 350 students. That is about 50 students LARGER than at Ross.

MitchDC

[rossmd]

Thanks mitch, that's news to me that there class size is that big. I new a student there about 18months ago and it wasn't near that size. do they have three classes a year like ross?

[Fear]

RossMD, SGU has a different schedule they have 2 semesters per year, giving them the summer off. so you end up spending more time on the island because of these breaks.

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[Suzzallo]

I appreciate Ross give me a chance to prove myself. If it turn out that I can't reach the final goal, I'll accept whatever the outcome. I'll never know my true strength until I have a chance to push it to the extreme. I believe everybody has to push himself to the extreme study to survive in Med school and USMLE test.

[teratos]

Same kinds of problems at AUC. For some reason people from Ross tend to post their complaints. The grass isn't always greener.

Like DrB says, Ross has a fairly open admissions policy, and the task of failing a lot of people (actually, the people fail themselves) is not pleasant. At least people get a shot. G

[anencephalic]

Med school in the caribbean is what you make it. No one should expect to be spoon-fed material at St. George's, Ross, AUC, or any other carib school. These schools exist as "for-profit" entities...the onus for success or failure is placed solely on the shoulders of the individual students. Essentially, Caribbean medical schools should be seen for what they truly are... an opportunity to practice medicne where there was none. I suspect that the people who complain the most are those who never accepted any personal responsibility for their actions in the first place.
Aloha,

[medNoir]

Every alumnus of RUSM who returns for a visit is always amazed at how much things have improved since they were students. So too will we be amazed at how good future students have it when we visit some day.

And we're not talking about the occasional grants made to a ivy choked school. But an off-shore campus thats emerging out of the jungle. Hey, our water fountains are filtered and chilled.

How are these leaps-and-bounds improvements happening ? Money of course. But also the continual pressure to do better. Constructive criticism from the grass roots is part of it. I doubt the CEO of DeVry has time to read this forum. But I do hope that an occasional reasonable point someone makes here does make it out and reach the middle manager who can do the most good.

[jim]

well put, Dr B. ross is looking for the proverbial "diamonds in the rough" that were missed by US schools. As such, they will, by nature, get a few chunks of lead so to speak. Yes, I think many people feel that once they are in, they are set. I knew a girl who was upset about failing, and stated that they should fail nobody. we argued about this quite a bit. she transfered to st mathews, easily passed all her semesters. then she took step 1. she failed,a nd her score, when i look at my score report, at the part about the range of scores, is at the very last end of the lowest scores. basically she had the lowest step 1 score for the year. she has since retaken the exam 3 times. and actually done worse. would you want her to be your doctor? Ross is giving people a chance to prove themselves. The problem is nobody admits they fail, it suddenly is a conspiracy against them.

[Ross]

Check your PM

[AUCMD2006]

sgu isn't that selective they are just way overpriced! i got in with barely competitive scores. peace out

anatomy pimp

[AUCMD2006]

i wish we had a curve on every exam....we actually have to pass with a 70% or it's a repeat....hehe med school isn't easy no matter where you go

[JokerABC]

Same kinds of problems at AUC. For some reason people from Ross tend to post their complaints. The grass isn't always greener.


Still, you would hear at least something....bad comments and such from AUC but you don't. The admission of the personality types into each school is random. So there must be a reason why Ross has so many complainers and AUC doesn't. Let's leave SGU out of it. AUC students seem to be more happy even though it is still in a progess stage for residency placement and Step 1 pass rate.

[teratos]

AUC has an 80% first time pass rate on the boards over the past 2 years. That is WITHOUT requiring people to pass the Shelf exams, which essentially weeds out the people who are likely to fail step 1....resulting in a slightly artificially elevated step 1 pass rate. The residency prospects from both schools are the same. I see no difference. Sure Ross puts people into ortho and neurosurg, but that is becasue they went for it. Most people at AUC, in my experience, went for primary care, and those who went for other fields (i.e. surgery), got it.

Personality types: Interestingly, in past years, people from Ross were seen as more "cut-throat". I noted that trend as well. The more recent students I have worked with don't have that attitude...likely due to a change in administration.

The only thing I can think of as a factor is the environment. SXM is a sweet place to live. Tons of leisure activity, lots of tourists, cheap beer at cool clubs. Still stressful, but probably not as psychologically taxing. My understanding is that Dominica is fairly primitive. If you are already irritated by the living conditions, then I would imagine you have a lower threshhold for complaining about everything else. Just a thought. G