Should I go? Accept now or wait and see? how long?

Pre-Med & Medical School
1

Copied from My daughters notes:

Woo Hoo! I’ve been fast track accepted to Ross University, School of Medicine, to begin what I’ve worked SO HARD for, finally become a Doctor, (or rather a Surgeon). Here’s the issue, My number one choice was AMC in Albany NY, I was declined 2 months ago and devastated! (I work as a bone& tissue recovery team, as an extension of AMC, and I have Raving Reviews, and was given a beautiful letter or letters from the top of the top in the company, and from many other area Doctors and College Professors, from my past school), I attend and will be graduating with my Masters in Public Health this May, (2017), and I desperately wanted to go to Albany Medical School of Medicine, but that didn’t work out, so, since my MCAT was not top grade, I had hoped to hear from others as well, but so far I’ve only had one callback, (well two, but the other was my very last choice), and now that its March… How long before I must jump on this or lose out? I mean how long should I wait, I really like Ross, but the cost, and so on, is not setting so well with my parents, I’m 23 yo, and have basically been in school and for research I’ve traveled to Vanuatu, twice while being the president of my college program to go there to help give medical care, do research and help the people with water, healthcare, environment, and so on. Last summer I spent May to September doing a research program, working and helping educate the people, in the beautiful islands off Fiji, and I am leaving one week after Graduation this year to go back and finish my work there. I have worked so hard, and done so much to get into that one school I had hoped for, and was so devastated at first, but my support system is wonderful, and I had a plan if I didn’t get in anywhere, I was going to sign on for peace core or my facility offered me a GREAT position, so for a year, I was going to do one of those, or travel Europe. Now, that I’ve had my interview and been accepted within a week of that, I am very EXCITED to go! Here’s the thing. Without working, I do not know how on earth I am going to pay for this?! I will get some funding through FASFA, but I know I will need loans, Thus far, my parents and I have been able to fund the last 6 years without borrowing a dime. My parents are not big on borrowing money, and this is a huge, and very scary amount of money! Al(though, we all knew this day would come, we really hoped for in state schooling, as the funding seems to be easier, (they think anyway?), How and where do we search for scholarships and grants for Ross, other than what is offered via them? My goal is to work as well, once I get there and settled, but, we are all a bit nervous… I have managed to earn scholarships and receive local state/fed. funding to help offset costs thus far, and my parents have helped, I’ve always worked 2 jobs, while attending school and its tight! Mom and Dad have 3 of us in college now, so as time goes on, they are working like crazy and so are all of us, to get by. I feel l need to do, find and apply for everything I can, but I’m finding limited information on what’s available to me to go to RUSM, Now granted, I have not even received my welcome packet yet, so I’m in a frenzy, so much excitement that I was accepted! Now, in a bit of a frenzy… I have via the telephone confirmation, vaguely accepted, but so much going on in my brain now! When I thought I was just not going to be accepted, I was crushed but had a plan, and this is one school I did really want to apply and go to, but now I’m wondering, how long do I wait before I just jump in, and once I jump in, how on earth am I going to pay for it!
Any advice?

This is a note I found from my daughter, who has just been accepted to Ross University, School of Medicine, she was drafting a letter or note for help while home this weekend to let us know the Great News! We are so excited!!! but yes, just a bit apprehensive… Weve always known that we would get to the point of having to borrow, but now that its here, we are a bit nervous!!!

Any advice and or help would be great

Thank you in advance!!!

2

Congratulations! This is absolutely terrific :slight_smile:
More than one premed must be green with envy and admiration. :slight_smile:

Most medical school students borrow. That’s why it’s recommended they not accrue debt as undergraduates, which you and your daughter wisely avoided.
Some public medical schools have scholarships for students who pledge to work in undeserved areas, your daughter could look into it.
Otherwise… Debt. :frowning:

3

Thank You

4

Any idea of how long she wait until accepting? Meaning, she has a few other apps out there and has not heard anything at all? Is this common? I would think they should deny or confirm either way? Or should she jump now as she has been accepted to at least one of the choices she liked?

5

@mom2collegekids @WayOutWestMom do you have any wisdom to offer?

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There are absolutely no scholarships at attend med school in the Caribbean. Ross qualifies for federal student loan program, but for how much longer is questionable. Ross’s Vet School is in the process of being disqualified from federal student loan eligibility. https://www.avma.org/News/JAVMANews/Pages/150601b.aspx

How long to wait before accepting–

The general advice given to med school hopefuls is that they must complete at least 2 application cycles to US schools including both MD and DO schools with at least 2 years between each cycle devoted to strengthening and improving their application before accepting a position at a caribbean medical school.

Based upon the information the OP has given I can see several areas where her daughter needs to improve. Also, the OP’s daughter need to consider applying to osteopathic (DO) programs (which tend to have lower stats).

Does her daughter want to practice medicine in the US?

If she plans to, going to a Caribbean medical school is just about the worst decision she can make.

Here’s a long thread with posts by med school adcoms and former adcoms speaking about the issues that Caribbean med grads face.

https://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/threads/reapply-to-md-do-or-accept-sgu-considering-their-decent-match-list.1211845/

Ten years ago the choice to go to the Caribbean would have been reasonable, but the situation has changed dramatically. The number of US residencies is capped (and has been since the mid 1990s) while the number of US medical graduates is increasingly rapidly. (Doubled since 2004 and is expected to double again by 2021) Additionally the in-progress merger of DO and MD residency programs has also served push US IMGs out of the residency pool.

Please see this document that is published annually by the NRMP on the success of IMGs in the residency Match process:
[Charting the Outcomes of the Match for International Medical Graduates](http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Charting-Outcomes-IMGs-2016.pdf)

Note on Table 1 that only 73 IMGs match into General Surgery out of 1845 applicants. Also note that some of those positions were preliminary spots–which are 1 year non-renewable positions that do allow a resident to continue training and finish residency. An US IMG needs to complete 2 or 3 years of residency [varies by state] to qualify for a US medical license.

The OP should also note that US IMGs need significantly higher USMLE scores to match in the same specialty as their US-educated peers and US IMGS need to interview at and rank approximately twice as many programs as their US educated peers in order to achieve any Match.

The overall match rate for US IMGs (into any specialty) last year was around 40-45%.

The OP and her daughter should be aware that Ross has a business model that could be considered predatory. It accepts far more first year students than it can accommodate for clinical rotations (which make up years 3 & 4 of med school). Consequently students are (intentionally) failed at each step along the way and are not allowed to sit for Step (USMLE) exams–required for a US residency placement-- unless they achieve a certain very high benchmarks on practice exams.

** the US 6 year graduation–which includes all multiple degree students (MD/PhD, MD/MPH) is 97%

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More data:

The Foreign Medical School Fairness Act (see: https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/2417/text?format=txt) a bipartisan bill currently under consideration in Congress would require all off shore medical school eligible for US student loan meet all US accreditation standards. (Which NONE of the Caribbean medical schools currently do…)

[Why You Waiter Has a MD](http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/16/why-your-waiter-has-an-m-d/)

8

Shoot. I didn’t realize this was a Caribbean med school!!!
:frowning:
My apologies.
The above poster is right. Stay away and do not accept that. Wait till you hear from *US * allopathic and do schools!!

9

Wow, @WayOutWestMom has offered some fascinating information here - OP, it would seem a very poor idea for you or your daughter to take on debt in order for her to attend a school that will offer her such limited prospects for future employment. Your daughter would do well to dodge this bullet!

10

For what it’s worth Queen Mary of London has a median school in Malta that’s cheaper than Carribean schools (although I’m guessing similar outcomes) and Ireland accepts American applicants.
All in all 'though… Do schools >>>>>> foreign schools.

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TYPO correction:

Also note that some of those positions were preliminary spots–which are 1 year non-renewable positions that do NOT allow a resident to continue training

12

The only offshore med school is that routinely very successful in placing its grads into US residencies is the Ben-Gurion Medical School for International Health in Israel.

13

@boyah_booo

Ross starts med school classes 3x each year (Sept, Jan, May). If she misses the registration deadline for the next term, she can always start the term after that. I guarantee Ross won’t won’t revoke her acceptance for delaying her decision.

Your D should wait at least until May-June before accepting Ross, and she needs to think hard about whether going offshore for med school is a good idea. She could easily end up with hundred of thousands of dollars in student loans, no job and no possibility of ever practicing medicine in the US.

Your D would be much better off if she would spend a year or two fixing the issues with her application (retake the MCAT, get US clinical volunteering, do US community service, acquire new or updated LORs) and reapply broadly to both MD and DO programs (or just DO programs depending on her MCAT score). Successful US med school applicants do not restrict their applications to a limited geographic area–like just New York state. Successful applicants apply widely usually to 20-25 med schools where their stats (GPA, MCAT) are in the middle 50 percentile of accepted students. She should buy access to the MSAR (Medical School Admission Requirements) for MD programs ($30) and the Osteopathic Medical College Information Book (free) for DO programs to see how she compares to typical accepted students.

It is extremely common. It’ sometimes called a “silent rejection”. Many med schools prefer not to send out final rejections until the end of application cycle–which is in May/June–just in case they need to interview more applicants to fill an unexpected shortfall in enrollment at the last minute.

14

So has she been rejected from every american medical school because last choice american medical school >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ross

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Having now been exposed to a much larger array of health care professionals that work in a hospital I would advise any student who fails to get into a US MD or DO school after 2 tries to simply pursue some other healthcare field (NP, PA, CRNA etc) vs. going abroad.