I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this one. Incredulity, anger, and sadness were a few of my initial emotions. I think a numbness has set in at this point. Facebook feeds blew up this morning with people discussing the change in ownership and most communicated feelings of outrage, betrayal or sarcastic joy. The truth of the matter is, I love this school the way it is and I'm afraid DeVry is going to ruin it. There's a certain charm to AUC. I love the small class sizes and the fact that teachers actually recognize me. I like how the classes are fair and that you can succeed if you put the work in. AUC students have been doing outstanding in the USMLE the last couple years and we're only getting better. And now... I'm not sure what's going to happen.
For those of you who don't know, DeVry also owns Ross University. And if you've read any of my posts regarding Ross, I think it's pretty obvious I don't like that school. A school that accepts 500 students and then fails out half the students in the first year? Come on. Who would choose to go to a school like that? Honestly. I'm at a loss. The only reason why I can see someone going to Ross over AUC or SGU is because they didn't get accepted to AUC or SGU. Who wants to go to a school where the school will actually *try* to fail as many people as possible to get their numbers down to the number of clinical spots they have available in the United States. Bad situation. And it got this bad once Ross came under the ownership of DeVry.
I think the fear permeating throughout campus right now is that AUC is going to turn into a Ross or that we are going to be losing clinical sites to Ross students. Another fear is that we will actually be associated with DeVry, better known for their technical school. I'm guessing once I leave the islands no one back in the States is going to know or even care about AUC's ownership, so I'm not as concerned about this. But I do not want AUC to become a Ross. If those DeVry people know anything, they will keep AUC as it is. Sure invest the $20 million on us, but build us a real library, a student center, more dorms, but don't try to shove another 1000 students on to our campus. There needs to be a Caribbean medical school with small class sizes, federal loans and a proven track record. We're it. And they really should not try messing with that.
Of course the changes won't be seen for a few years down the road (once I've graduated hopefully), but for all you prospective students, it is something to think about.
Check out the article here.
For those of you who don't know, DeVry also owns Ross University. And if you've read any of my posts regarding Ross, I think it's pretty obvious I don't like that school. A school that accepts 500 students and then fails out half the students in the first year? Come on. Who would choose to go to a school like that? Honestly. I'm at a loss. The only reason why I can see someone going to Ross over AUC or SGU is because they didn't get accepted to AUC or SGU. Who wants to go to a school where the school will actually *try* to fail as many people as possible to get their numbers down to the number of clinical spots they have available in the United States. Bad situation. And it got this bad once Ross came under the ownership of DeVry.
I think the fear permeating throughout campus right now is that AUC is going to turn into a Ross or that we are going to be losing clinical sites to Ross students. Another fear is that we will actually be associated with DeVry, better known for their technical school. I'm guessing once I leave the islands no one back in the States is going to know or even care about AUC's ownership, so I'm not as concerned about this. But I do not want AUC to become a Ross. If those DeVry people know anything, they will keep AUC as it is. Sure invest the $20 million on us, but build us a real library, a student center, more dorms, but don't try to shove another 1000 students on to our campus. There needs to be a Caribbean medical school with small class sizes, federal loans and a proven track record. We're it. And they really should not try messing with that.
Of course the changes won't be seen for a few years down the road (once I've graduated hopefully), but for all you prospective students, it is something to think about.
Check out the article here.
Sad day :(
ReplyDeleteFrankly I don't know how to respond to this. I'm very fearful that AUC will turn into Ross and as a new coming student I'm worry about the education quality that I will get. What is most attractive about AUC is the small class size and the passing rate of usmle but if they are going to increase the acceptance rate to maximize profit and only for profit alone then this is a sad day for me and future students.
ReplyDeleteIf you are a student coming in the next few weeks you won't have to worry about class size. I believe you guys are actually smaller than the last September class.... I've heard your class is around 180 students. DeVry won't be able to increase class sizes until they build a new building here on campus and that won't be happening for another few years. The small class size you seek is still here. When they start constructing a new building, I'm sure valuemd and other blogs will be teeming with the news.
ReplyDeleteThere was a "town hall" meeting yesterday with a DeVry rep and he said there are no plans whatsoever to combine AUC with Ross. Clinical sites won't be combined and the schools will continue to be their own separate entities.
Hi Andrea!
ReplyDeleteYour blog is very informative! Great job! I'm a student who is waiting on my AUC acceptance. I've got an acceptance from another "big 4" school but I think AUC is where I want to go. My only concern was the whole DeVry situation. Have the September 2011 students noticed any major changes in class size, quality of teaching, etc? Do you know perhaps know what the class size is for Jan 2012 class? Is there anything else I should consider? Thanks again and hope to hear from you soon! =)
This September class is actually a little smaller than last year's September class. And the January class should still be around 100-110 students. Increasing class sizes is not a concern as of yet, and it won't be until DeVry decides to build us new buildings and as of right now, that's not happening.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading!
I think I will not apply to AUC more, I think the best is to apply just for st George Medical school
ReplyDelete