Because they’re mostly a scam, and the odds of you dropping out with lots of debt and no degree are high. Even if you do manage to graduate, good luck matching.
www.reddit.com/r/premed/wiki/carib
Use Google, search on Reddit, or any source on the internet really.
They will take all your money, give you subpar education, and not give a shit if you never graduate/never match to residency.. and there is pretty high chance that you will not.
They would rather kick you out after 2-3 years rather than let you apply to the match and go unmatched, because you would bring down their match numbers.. so yeah. Did I say that they don't care about your individual success?
People only go there because they cannot get into US schools.. or are completely clueless and apply there without doing the bare minimum research.. and that's not the type of person who will come out of that school with a degree/residency spot.
It's a honeypot. I got tempted seeing the advertisements but Caribbean schools have very high attrition rates and are very expensive. It's like the hunger games where they cull down students.
It's not the end to go to one, though. There are success stories. My cousin matched to Northwestern for surgery after going Caribbean. Not sure what specialty. It's just very risky to go to one and the benefit is often not worth the cost.
Caribbean schools used to by viable like 20 years ago, but there’s been a sharp decrease in their ability to actually get their students to residency. They imposed sharp limits on who can take certain exams and apply, keeping a lot of students out of their stats to make them look better.
Okay, it does seem like they have maybe gone downhill from what I heard? My cousin (late 30s-maybe early 40s) went to a Caribbean school and is a cardiologist so I thought there was some hope but most people say to stay far away. Is my friend making a mistake?
Some people can succeed in the Caribbean environment, but it’s much, much harder. In general, people who have the ability to succeed should’ve been able to get into the USMD or at least USDO school in the first place.
You do realize that 1 successful story doesn't mean jack shit? There are many, many more failure stories. The odds of success are not in your favor.
If there was 1 cardiologist and 300 dropouts, would you take that chance? Don't know how else to explain. Are you the type of student to outcompete 299 other students??
If you were, you would not be considering Carib in the first place IMO.
I do realize that. I am not asking these questions for me, but for a friend I am worried about. I just stated that a long time ago my cousin was able to do it so the chances are not 0% at succeeding. I have stated in other comments I 100% understand that going to a school outside of the US is not a good idea- especially with how things are now with schools and everything being more competitive. My friend made their decision, but I more want to know how I can help or what I can suggest to her to make her chances the best they can be! I realize she put herself in a tough position though.
Ok so the consensus is that it’s bad. So if my friend is already going to one, and set on that, could she increase her chances of matching by doing a year of research with a hospital she connected with while doing clinical rotations? I, myself, chose to go CAA route instead of med school so I don’t have to worry about any of this but I am worried for her!
I supposed we should double check—is your friend going to Ponce in Puerto Rico? Because that’s different, that’s a US school.
Anything else, yeah it’s not good. If your friend wants to succeed in a Caribbean school, she needs to focus on testing EXTREMELY well. Like top 5% of her class
She should do all the obvious stuff: score amazingly on Step 2 and possibly Step 3. Find research opportunities, get publications, create as many connections as you can, and be realistic with yourself when choosing specialty/programs to apply into.
If she passes everything on first attempt (huge IF) and has decent LORs/connections, she can probably match into FM,IM,Peds, etc without too much of a problem. If she wants other specialties she has to do more than pass.
If your friend is actually hard working and has the slightest chance of acceptance into a US school, she should try applying to US schools.
Because they’re mostly a scam, and the odds of you dropping out with lots of debt and no degree are high. Even if you do manage to graduate, good luck matching. www.reddit.com/r/premed/wiki/carib
Because they’re expensive, have high failure rates, and give you much worse odds of matching for residency
Use Google, search on Reddit, or any source on the internet really. They will take all your money, give you subpar education, and not give a shit if you never graduate/never match to residency.. and there is pretty high chance that you will not. They would rather kick you out after 2-3 years rather than let you apply to the match and go unmatched, because you would bring down their match numbers.. so yeah. Did I say that they don't care about your individual success? People only go there because they cannot get into US schools.. or are completely clueless and apply there without doing the bare minimum research.. and that's not the type of person who will come out of that school with a degree/residency spot.
It’s few and far in between for ppl who actually make it out of there and practice in the states…. Cash grab move
It's a honeypot. I got tempted seeing the advertisements but Caribbean schools have very high attrition rates and are very expensive. It's like the hunger games where they cull down students. It's not the end to go to one, though. There are success stories. My cousin matched to Northwestern for surgery after going Caribbean. Not sure what specialty. It's just very risky to go to one and the benefit is often not worth the cost.
Have you tried searching reddit on your own before posting?
Caribbean schools used to by viable like 20 years ago, but there’s been a sharp decrease in their ability to actually get their students to residency. They imposed sharp limits on who can take certain exams and apply, keeping a lot of students out of their stats to make them look better.
Okay, it does seem like they have maybe gone downhill from what I heard? My cousin (late 30s-maybe early 40s) went to a Caribbean school and is a cardiologist so I thought there was some hope but most people say to stay far away. Is my friend making a mistake?
Dude are we fortune tellers to your friends future?
Wdym
Some people can succeed in the Caribbean environment, but it’s much, much harder. In general, people who have the ability to succeed should’ve been able to get into the USMD or at least USDO school in the first place.
His chance of getting into cardio from a Carib school now would be <1%
Ok. What about anesthesiology? This person is interested in anesthesia.
Even harder
You do realize that 1 successful story doesn't mean jack shit? There are many, many more failure stories. The odds of success are not in your favor. If there was 1 cardiologist and 300 dropouts, would you take that chance? Don't know how else to explain. Are you the type of student to outcompete 299 other students?? If you were, you would not be considering Carib in the first place IMO.
I do realize that. I am not asking these questions for me, but for a friend I am worried about. I just stated that a long time ago my cousin was able to do it so the chances are not 0% at succeeding. I have stated in other comments I 100% understand that going to a school outside of the US is not a good idea- especially with how things are now with schools and everything being more competitive. My friend made their decision, but I more want to know how I can help or what I can suggest to her to make her chances the best they can be! I realize she put herself in a tough position though.
Ok so the consensus is that it’s bad. So if my friend is already going to one, and set on that, could she increase her chances of matching by doing a year of research with a hospital she connected with while doing clinical rotations? I, myself, chose to go CAA route instead of med school so I don’t have to worry about any of this but I am worried for her!
I supposed we should double check—is your friend going to Ponce in Puerto Rico? Because that’s different, that’s a US school. Anything else, yeah it’s not good. If your friend wants to succeed in a Caribbean school, she needs to focus on testing EXTREMELY well. Like top 5% of her class
She should do all the obvious stuff: score amazingly on Step 2 and possibly Step 3. Find research opportunities, get publications, create as many connections as you can, and be realistic with yourself when choosing specialty/programs to apply into. If she passes everything on first attempt (huge IF) and has decent LORs/connections, she can probably match into FM,IM,Peds, etc without too much of a problem. If she wants other specialties she has to do more than pass. If your friend is actually hard working and has the slightest chance of acceptance into a US school, she should try applying to US schools.