Thread: Any tips for an incoming student for the term of August,2018 ?

I am currently in my last term on this island, so perhaps I could give some good input.
If you do decide to come here, be prepared to hit the ground running. The curriculum is tough and if you cannot self-teach yourself nearly all of the material, you are pretty much doomed. While there has not been very much actual attrition to this point (seems to be highly exaggerated tbh), many people have repeated terms, effectively delaying their residency applications by a year. There is not much of safety net if you run into academic problems either. Additionally, this environment is not for everyone. I have absolutely hated my time down here and have been literally counting down the days since the moment I got here. The island is ugly, impoverished, and physically isolated from the rest of the world as well. Grenadians are also quite unfriendly and there is an ever present threat of being robbed/assaulted after you lose the housing lottery and they force you to move off campus after your first year. While a minority of people (less than 10%) seem to thrive and legitimately enjoy their time here, I can tell you that the lack of convenience combined with the stress of medical school really begins to take its toll on you with time. There a few places that students go to hang out at after exams and such, but food options are VERY limited. The island is also uncomfortably hot year-round with brutal humidity that is only made worse by frequent power-outages that disrupts your AC. Ignoring the fact that we still need to face the impending hurdle of board exams and the uncertainty in the match, if I would have known my time down here would have been so miserable, I would have seriously reconsidered rushing down here after undergrad. Being a student here in many ways is sort of like being incarcerated and is not a life that I could recommend to anyone in good faith. If you think you will be in the minority of people who thrives down here and can survive dozens of high stakes exams, then this may be a good place for you. Just keep in mind, that there is little room for error and as others have pointed out, it just gets weirder as you go along. Good luck.