There's a new group on facebook for those starting up SGU GSP this August '08...just to talk it up before we all get to appreciate the joys of studying like our lives and those of the public depend on it

how did you get MERPed with those stats? otherwise those are decent stats for SGU..

who got MERPed?

I had a 31R on my MCAT and have yet to hear back from Creighton...
In fact out of the 22 schools I applied to I received 9 rejections...and only an interview for my state school and am waiting on the rest of them. It's based on a lot more than your stats and competition for seats is REALLY TOUGH this year. I heard NYMC received 30,000 applications.
Even Temple received 9700.
Think of it like this: You're an admissions officer; you have 10,000 applications in front of you. 2000 or more of those have MCATs of 30 or higher; a high GPA and lots of ECs..how do you sort them out?

Spend some time over over on studentdoctor.net and see what I'm talking about. And honestly: That's the way it should be. There's a reason I only applied to SGU and that's b/c there stats are as good as a few US schools...

Ok so i'm 22 about to grad from UMiami in florida. I applied late in cycle b/c I took aug 9 mcat (got 10vr 9bs 9ps S writing). Have a 3.2 overal gpa but a 2.95-3.0 sgpa (failed orgo 2 and I'm retaking itnow). So I applied to 8 schools - 2 md and 6 do (1 of which in my state). Got 6 secondaries, but b/c of financial issues I didn't have enough money to send them all back. I only sent in 1 of my 6 secondaries, to NSUCOM in ft lauderdale, florida. I haven't heard much from them and they basically told me that If i dont hear from them by next week it's a rejection. I would have applied earlier but I was misinformed about the whole app process b/c the premed office at my school, imo, is pretty garbage. I didn't know I could submit my application with pending mcat scores. Also, my mcat scores got mixed up b/c they had my social security number wrong and it took like 2 weeks to fix that. Also, the premed advisor discouraged me so much that I almost didn't want to apply at all. So I had been looking into caribbean medical schools and SGU and Ross are my two choices (SGU slightly higher). I have been doing research and feel that SGU has more clinical spots and is more dedicated to its students. I am just not sure if I am doing the right thing. I don't want to waste 2 years trying to get my poor sgpa up in some master's program and not start med school until 2011. I have never been a fan of taking time off b/c medical school/residency is long enough. I don't want to end up being 45 and starting my clinical rotations. I mean if my sgpa is roughly 3.0 to get it up to "average" would take a lot of courses, which I don't exactly have a lot of money for. I have had to work full time to pay for college, which partially explains why my grades aren't as good as they should be.

I am just curious what people think. should i wait a year or should i apply to sgu and see what happens? Maybe apply to sgu now but also do amcas and try a few schools this summer too?

1st if it takes you 23 years to get from graduation from undergrad to starting clinical rotations without another career in there somewhere, you are doing something wrong....

that said, you need to take a deep breath and actually formualte a plan, because at the moment you seem to be all over and are blaming others for being that way.

1st don't apply to med school halfassed...you have to realize that it will take a while (at least a year, maybe 2-3 if you are not so competitive a candidate) and that (to maximize your efforts) it will cost alot of money--amcas application alone is expensive (and for a not competitive candidate- which you are-you need to apply to more than 6-7 place, much less just one secondary out). Then the secondaries cost money too. And if you are blessed with interviews, that too will be expensive--expect to spend 2-3, maybe 4 Grand for the endeavor- do not short cut here because of money- if you can't afford it, save up and apply the next year.

next realized that the early bird in med school application gets the worm- your completed AMCAS application should be ready for upload on DAY ONE. This means June15th (or whatyever the posted day is)- getting those apps in right before the deadline gives you, at best, an interview for the waitlist.(and IMHO if you haven't heard from that place by now, yoyu might as well cross it off the list--they are being polite--its too late..)

next you have to take responsiblity for your situation- your application was late because YOU didn't do the proper due diligence, don't blame it on the pre-med office....your gpa is medicore because you took too much on- obviously you cannot work AND get the good grades---do not tell adcomms during an interview these are the reasons you are a poor candidate...they will see that as someone with no initiative and poor decesion making capacity- NOT qualities they are looking for in a future physician....

IF spending 2 extra years in a post bac program will get you into a US school, then it IS worth it!!! The off shore schools should be the LAST resort after you have exhausted every possiblity of getting into a US MD program (there is controversy about USDO vs IMG, but that is a personal decesion and not a discussion i want to start here).

You are 22 years old-- 2 (or 3)years off is not gonna kill you and if anything, med school (especially med school in the caribbean) will teach you patience- med school is a marathon, not a sprint...you are picking a career path where you will see the big return, 10-15 years after all your friends who go into business- they will have nice houses and nice cars and send their kids (that they have had time to have) to private schools while you are still eating R amen noodles....

r a m e n was auto censored-- i know they are not the best thing to eat, but really??? its not a bad word!!!

__________________
GI Elective [x].......Wards [x]
Wards [x] ............Night Float [x]
MICU [x] .............CCU []
Wards [x] ............PGY 1 1/2 []
Elective!![x]..........Move Complete[]
VACATION!!!! [x]

ahh loved the post from rokshana.
I havent heard from any schools US or St. george and was starting to get incredibly depressed. Thanx for helping me stay focused on what matters....

I have to disagree with RokShana. There are plenty of IMG's who do quite well in the US. It all depends on how much you'll bust your *** in med school. Of course US schools are a better option...but there have been plenty of competitive residency positions secured by US IMG's. It all depends on you.

And on waiting....time is precious. But it depends on you...would you rather spend two more years of your life not being a Doctor?

And i will be one of them, but with all due respect, wait til you are in the process...there are things you haven't even thought of that are obstacles- CAN you do it? yes. CAN you get a competitive specialty? yes. CAN you even get a spot at a top tier program? yes? Is it easy? NO. Med School has enough hurtles in and of itself- there is no reason to have to go through them if you don't have to...if you can get into a US school, even if that means waiting out a year, its worth it, period. Do a search- very few of us (if any) will tell you that going offshore is a better option. An interesting change of opinion is to look over seagoddess's post over the years- she was was always very gung ho don't wait, go off shore, there is no difference....read the last few months of posts, now that she has been on the interview trail for gen surg....she is a competitive student, with good scores, LoRs, etc and I would bet my bottom dollar that if she was just a US student (no other changes) she would have gotten 2-3x times the invites and has seen US students on the trail that have gotten invites to places that sent her sent her a no with a quickness...

you proteinpowda if i recall have excellent stats and your problem was that you applied late in the game...you too should wait and apply again (with an AMCAS going in on june 15th as well...i would imagine (unless you interview horribly) will get your share of acceptances. You don't want to be saying shoulda, coulda, woulda, in 2-3 years....KNOW that this is your ONLY chance, not the choice you made in haste.

I went through 2 application cycle in the US, waitlisiting both times....sure I could have been down here 2 years earlier, but I came KNOWING I tried (and unfortunately did not suceed) in getting into a US school- I even applied for transfer (and again, *sigh*...), but came down knowing that i would be happy and proud of graduating from sgu, but I would trade it in an instant for the chance to have graduated from a US school...

__________________
GI Elective [x].......Wards [x]
Wards [x] ............Night Float [x]
MICU [x] .............CCU []
Wards [x] ............PGY 1 1/2 []
Elective!![x]..........Move Complete[]
VACATION!!!! [x]

Maybe my post came out a little different than what I wanted to say. I fully understand that I am to blame for 99% of my application being the way it is. But it is a fact that the premed office at my school is pretty crappy, imo. People in the office treated me like I was retarded and made me regret every trip I made there.

obviously I wouldn't go into an interview blaming others for who I am. I'm not as dumb as my gpa says I am