need help deciding....smu vs saba

[gwl777]

Hi,

I've been accepted to SMU for Sept and Saba for Jan. I can't decide which school to go to. I like Saba because it has better reputation and it has CA approval. As for SMU, I get to start in sept and it is located on a better island. I'm really confused and undecided. What do you guys think?

[Nimmuk]

No one can really help you make that decision. You have to weight in your options. If you are concerned about the Cali issue, don’t go to SMU. Period.
However, if you truly want to be heard, pampered by faculty, I think SMU provides that. No hard feelings to SABA or other off-shore schools. I was accepted to all five schools and weighted my options according to what was RIGHT FOR ME, as I am not interested in Cali.

Also, don’t considered which school will start you sooner, as you could be miserable at that school. I am very proud to be an SMU student. There is no cut-throat competition here and this is something that I cherish.

So, go with what is good for your needs.

[PersianPrescription]

I can tell you why you should go to SMU and someone else can tell you why you should go to Saba but at the end none of it matters because I'm not you and you're not me. My best suggestion is to go to Saba, stay there for a couple of days, go to some classes, talk to people that are doing well and people that are not doing so well. Then come to SMU and do the same. You might spend some money but it's nothing compared to the 200K you'll drop on med school.

Now if you really want my opinion, I would choose SMU not because I go here but because I've been to Saba. I didn't like the island. It's nice and clean but it's very small and way too quite. For me, a few days of quite is ok but 5 semesters? No way.
Traveling there is much harder because you have to make a stop in St. Maarten and get on a plane that you're literally sitting on the pilot's lap. The quality of school? I really can't comment on because I don't know.

Now about SMU:
The island is much larger and much more civilized than any other island I've seen. The people on the island are very nice which is not always the case on other islands (don't know about Saba). The school officials at SMU seem very caring and interested in students' success. All schools say that but saying it is not doing it. The master's program is a nice option at SMU because you get to leave the island after your third semester and at the end you'll have an extra degree which in my mind will definitely help especially if you're planning on having your own practice. If you're from Cali, then the choice is obvious but if you're not, who cares? I don't think anybody will look at a 190 USMLE score from Saba and say it's worth more than a 230 from SMU because SMU is not approved in Cali.

Last year, St. Maarten was also supposed to get hit by a Hurricane so AUC simply cancelled classes but allowed students to stay in the building if they needed to. I'm assuming Saba was also supposed to get hit since it was so close to St. Maarten but I might be wrong about that. The only school in the Caribbean that actually did something about it was SMU. Students were evacuated before the hurricane hit and classes were resumed in Maine 10 days later. That says alot about the school officials.

Good luck wherever you end up.

[MDTOB]

Hi,

I've been accepted to SMU for Sept and Saba for Jan. I can't decide which school to go to. I like Saba because it has better reputation and it has CA approval. As for SMU, I get to start in sept and it is located on a better island. I'm really confused and undecided. What do you guys think?

If you want to practice in CA, then go to SABA.

For all other reasons, go to SMU!

It's as easy as that!

[swimguy23]

Last year, St. Maarten was also supposed to get hit by a Hurricane so AUC simply cancelled classes but allowed students to stay in the building if they needed to.

AUCs buildings and dorms are also built with reinforced concrete, etc. Some of the buildings nearby also would have offered adequate hurricane protection. I felt safer here during the hurricane than i did in my home when we got nailed by hurricanes.....its not the school did nothing.....auc produces its own power and desalinates its own water.....students were encouraged to stay in the buildings as to be provided with those services and students living off campus were told the school and dorms were available to them also. Be realistic SMU evacuated because the school was leveled, as any school would have to in those circumstances but the hurricane missed sxm and saba so you dont know what they would have done.....in fact auc has a history of evacuating the students, hurricanes, volcanoes, etc.

[SMU_Information]

[quote] Be realistic SMU evacuated because the school was leveled, as any school would have to in those circumstances

Just a quick factual correction.

While many parts of Grand Cayman suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Ivan, the campus was not "leveled". There was flooding on the first floor which later resulted in first floor wall and window damage (as the water level outside dropeed and the pressure inside sought an outlet), and some window damage. But the campus was not "leveled".

[charger5001]

Check the new thread: "Why SMU" for a response to the original question

Its a no-brainer- SMU !

[swimguy23]

[quote] Be realistic SMU evacuated because the school was leveled, as any school would have to in those circumstances

Just a quick factual correction.

While many parts of Grand Cayman suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Ivan, the campus was not "leveled". There was flooding on the first floor which later resulted in first floor wall and window damage (as the water level outside dropeed and the pressure inside sought an outlet), and some window damage. But the campus was not "leveled".

ok correction to the word "leveled"....the island of grand cayman suffered extensive damage and the school received enough damage causing the officials to take on operation elsewhere as conditions were not appropriate for classes, safety, etc. I'm sorry but i dont see much difference between a building being leveled and a building not being able to be used due to extensive damage.....just like i would say auc in montserrat was leveled even tho all that happened was the building was covered in ash.....but similar circumstances the school had to move

[SMU_Information]

It was important to correct because leveled means razed to the ground, as in completely destroyed. This was not the case. If it had been, it would have shown a lack of planning on the part of SMU for picking an unsafe building. Structurally, the campus was fine.

It also would have indicated a substantialy higher cost to rebuild vs. the not insgnificant cost of renovation.

That is why I corrected you. I have no opinion on yours or the various other poster's views on this subject, except to agree that everyone must choose the school that is right for them.

[SMU_Information]

Also, the evacuation occurred ahead of landfall. Unfortunately, not all students and faculty chose to take the opportunity..

[AUCMD2006]

SMU evacuated b/c it had to, not the magical planning powers of the admin. if you wanna put someone on a pedastal for planning then the higher pedestal goes to dr **** for spending the extra cash so he doesn't have to evacuate in such a case. so if the admin has such great planning powers, is this new 7 story bldg rated for a cat 4-5 hurricane, or will classes once again be in Maine during one of the upcoming hurricane seasons?

all this revolves around cash, if dr **** wouldn't have spent the extra cash same thing would happen. AUC didn't evacuate b/c we didn't have to due to proper planning during the construction of their owned and mortgaged campus. you can say alot about AUC, talk about the tasteless decor, have your opinion about the faculty, curriculum, say they make up pass rates, but to throw in this ridiculous inuendo that they are careless and didn't properly take care of things is irresponsible. i would say renting a building that is not hurricane resistant in that area of the world is the irresponsible and short sighted thing to do.

in short, by all accounts the smu admin did admirably to relocate and continue classes and do an outstanding job for the students. but don't slam a school for planning ahead of time, building above the code and even getting some political downfall for not choosing to use the local power and water company...

the auc building is not reinforced concrete. it is a steel frame, if you go to the 5th floor you can see the size of the "I" beams (they are really called H beams). they are fairly close to the size used in the Sears tower actually. so it is massive steel frame construction with double reinforced concrete outside walls and load bearing inside walls. all "glass" is 1/2" thick plexi double pane..try punching it and see how many fingers you break.

[SMU_Information]

rrod,

The answers to your questions are the current campus was rated to a 4, the new building are planned to be rated to 5. So, I would not call the current lease "irresponsible".

All newer construction on GC had to be built to cat 4 codes. Since Ivan, those same codes have been made even stricter.

[swimguy23]

That is why I corrected you. I have no opinion on yours or the various other poster's views on this subject, except to agree that everyone must choose the school that is right for them.

it was an adjective, I'm sure if i went thru your old posts I could find plenty of inappropriately used adjectives, nouns and gerunds. Rrod and I are commenting on the post that gave the impression that AUC sat back and did absolutely nothing in the wake of impecable danger and SMU saved their students.....Again SXM could be completely leveled but I bet AUC, the dorms, and probably campus village would still be standing.....Also, I live on the east coast, i've been in my house when we've been slammed by hurricanes.....I felt safer in my apartment here than I did in my own house.....and I do not live in anything deemed shabby (i hope shabby is an appropriate adjective, i wouldnt want to offend anyone)

but again kudos to smu for not takin insurance money and runnin, you get credit there

[SMU_Information]

Swimguy,

I only corrected it because it was not accurate. There are prospective students and others that would not realize that you were using hyperbole. Feel free to review my old posts. I typo quite a bit.

...and it was a transitive verb... :wink:

[MDTOB]

Nice segway from "trying to decide on SABA or SMU" to "Hurricane Ivan Revisited".

Congrats guys!

[AUCMD2006]

it is good that they upped the building codes since by the damage they needed it. i should point out that the auc campus was built to US building codes, more specifically post andrew florida codes. i wonder how much of sxm is up to code?

it is a nice segway isn't it? the question was already answered though, if you want Cali go to SABA.

[swimguy23]

Swimguy,

I only corrected it because it was not accurate. There are prospective students and others that would not realize that you were using hyperbole. Feel free to review my old posts. I typo quite a bit.

...and it was a transitive verb... :wink:

fine, you corrected an inaccurate word, i corrected an inaccurate statement about auc and clarified why saba didnt have to evacuate, in fact it was sunny the day the hurricane was supposed to hit, good thing they didnt evacuate everyone there were some nice waves.....

also it was not a segway denying people an opportunity to look at smu.....we were correcting a post regarding auc's "inactions" and were making the reference to Saba, only 30 miles away, not having to take action bc the hurricane didnt hit them


also, a transitive verb has such a broad definition, i mean some dictionaries will consider any linking verb transitive but by putting in "was leveled" actually makes it more of a past participle, but hey what do i know about english..... :roll: