Hello. I was accepted to come into SMU this semester. but after talking to a friend who goes there, i've decided against it. I just thought that people could reply and put on this forum things that SMU DOESN'T tell you. I went to visit the campus and the island and LOVED it. However, I found out LATER (of course) that this incoming semester's classes will have FAR more students than the little office building (sorry, school) can handle. classes can hold about 100 max, and they have accepted 158 and counting. so i hear classes for this incoming semester will be held in the local movie theatre. something they would never tell you. i don't know about you, but the only thing i want to do in a movie theatre is eat popcorn with my feet up watching the latest release.

i guess that at the residence hall, things are very shady. for example, rules can change literally overnight. last semester's class had a note put up overnight that said that they were all being kicked out after the semester and that they would have to leave and go find apartments. something that i hear was a shock to all, because there were first, second, third, and fourth semester students living there who thought they'd be there for the remainder of their stay.

Hurricane Charlie recently passed over the island during finals week. although the damage was minimal, it could've been much worse. the cayman islands government was prompting that all buisenesses and schools give their students and employees adequate time to prepare for the hurricane (like getting water, food, and essentials). however, apparently the school was emailing the students saying, "keep studying, everything is still on". so the students were worried about their exams while they should have been out getting prepared OR if they would have cancelled finals sooner, they could have left the island before the storm came in. I suspect SMU would be in a whole lot of trouble if anyone got hurt or killed all because the school was still planning on having exams hoping that the storm would miss. finally, hours before the storm was scheduled to roll in, the school cancelled classes for the next day only because the cayman islands government ordered all buisenesses to close. i hope that this info was helpful and informative to all incoming students. be prepared. good luck.

So where are you going to go then?

This is in reply to the last post. I've heard similar, if not the same stuff. I asked the school last month about the enrollment and they told me it was already up to 150 so i figured it was only going to grow. I was also thinking about going this semester, but i've decided to wait until January. I don't wan't to be in a class with that many students. I can see why they're considering the movie theater, those classes would NEVER be able to hold 150 students. I still want to go there, i don't think they're any shadier than any other carib med school. I'm sure if students ask them, they'll answer honestly (about most things, for the most part).

I think it is silly, short-sighted, and elitist to pretend like having classes in a movie theater is the worst thing one could face in carib medical education.

the reason smu has 158 students and counting in the fall 2004 class is because unlike all past years, this year they got NY approval with Cali possibly on the way shortly plus they are in a great location and have a very student-friendly and helpful admissions office. in undergrad, the nicest lecture halls always reminded me of theaters, especially those with stadium seating.

i personally don't care where we have class, whether in a theater or nowhere at all. i plan on making this a sixteen month review for the usmle and nothing else. i can study in my room or wherever i have to.

as for the medachiever loan thing, if that's true it is inexcusable, and we will shortly find out. however, i really think that was a different time for the school and they have come a long way and will improve still further.

I know you're a SMU Alum from Belize. I assume you were around when the whole nonsense took place in Belize with the Supposed Married Power Couple/Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber/Let's Try Again with our Third School after driving a second project into the ground as well. Just a pointer, you wrote something about boats and houses being purchased with interest that was accrued on loan disbursements, I thought those elements involved were removed from the school? Thus the big upheaval and the relocation of SMU from Belize when those elements didn't allow SMU to function in capacity as a medical school in a safe environment?

Why not move from Belize to Grand Cayman? Better $pot for the admini$tration to hide their money!

$MU is alright school, but I will tell you that they are known for keeping you VERY uninformed. You'll see.

What I've heard is that SMU accepted 120 students for the Fall semester. Probably a quarter of these are transfers from other schools. So i doubt the classrooms would be packed with 150 students. Also I believe I've seen a schedule where some of the lab sessions and class sessions are split into 2 different groups according to last name. I know for example that histology lab will have 4 groups, and it usually has 2 groups. So I think the whole movie theatre talk is a bunch of rumours by either other Carib med school students or a disgruntled (ex?)SMU student. SMU is a great school and leave it as that. It's not shady or underhanded or whatever name you wanna say.
It's an reputable, proven, and successful up and coming school that will be up there in the top 2 pretty soon. This type of success makes other schools' students kinda nervous, doubting their own schools' success.

To the rumour starters: STOP.
To intelligent medical students: Best of luck on your USMLEs.

i went to one of the top undergrad colleges in Cali and we had classes in movie theatres all the time...as for SMU telling everyone things were still on during the hurricane, the Cayman govt itself didnt shut down any businesses or schools until late in the week. as soon as the govt ordered businesses and schools shut down, finals were shut down. the hurricane was scheduled to hit Th of finals week and finals began on Monday, hence the non-shutting down (along with the govt orders). as for last semester having to leave the dorms, we were told WAY before the end of the semester so whoever told you that a notice was put up overnight is totally wrong.
please, dont listen to rumors!!! talk to an official or a student to verofy before you believe whatever random crap you hear!!!