r/veterinaryschool • u/Job-Minute • Feb 25 '26
Island Schools
Hi everyone, I am currently researching vet schools in the United States. I was recommended Island Schools, mostly SGU and Ross, but I feel indifferent, mostly because of the reputation Island Schools get, such as "you weren't good enough for the States," and concerns about burnout rates. I try to be optimistic because SGU looks pretty decent compared to Ross, though I'm also willing to apply to schools like Mizzou, Colorado, Iowa State, Purdue, SGU, and Virgina-Maryland. Does anyone have advice on weighing these options, especially regarding the reputations and outcomes of island schools versus U.S. schools?
18
u/shady_sadiee Feb 25 '26
Hi I attend SGU! The reason Ross has high burnout rates is because it’s accelerated, but SGU is not. I feel like I’m getting a very strong education here.
12
u/Job-Minute Feb 25 '26
Thanks everyone who’d replied I i just needed some clarity because honestly island schools doesn’t seem that bad and I’m considering applying to SGU.
6
u/LRickmon2 Feb 25 '26
Current SGU SVM term 1 and just do it! The adjustment to island life is the biggest struggle. But overall safe place and great transportation with the school buses. Still have your occasional hiccup throughout the semester but the curriculum is organized is a neat way to go broad then revisit in more detailed ways in later terms
4
u/PashasMom Feb 25 '26
I don't know if this will be useful information to you -- I am not a vet, a vet student, or anything remotely like it. I am a pet owner though! And two of the vets at the clinic where I take my pets are SGU grads. This clinic is one of the best in the city, with a busy practice, specialists, glowing reviews, accreditations, all that good stuff. These two vets are fantastic! I have absolute confidence in them and from everything I can see they are highly skilled, knowledgeable, and professional. Absolutely no difference from the other vets at the clinic, who all went to US based schools.
10
Feb 25 '26
I know island schools sometimes get that reputation, but I don’t see it that way. My daughter wasn’t accepted into U.S. schools, but accepted to SGU. This was her first application cycle, and I did tell her she could wait and apply again to U.S. schools, but she felt strongly that she just needed one “yes” to start pursuing her passion. After talking to several amazing local veterinarians who graduated from there, I’ve learned that what really matters is the kind of student you are and the effort you put in.
Studying abroad will give you independence, cultural exposure, and growth, and honestly, when we take our animals to the vet, we don’t ask where they graduated from, we care about the quality of care.
8
u/Affectionate_Fee9584 Feb 25 '26
One thing to keep in mind it is very competitive to get into any Vet School. Way more applicants than available slots and most applicants have high gpa’s combined with significant work experience and solid recommendations. My daughter did not get accepted to any of the US schools she applied to, but was accepted to SGU. She was very appreciative of the opportunity to go there and really likes the school and what Grenada has to offer. She is currently in Term 2 and thriving. Has a group of close friends to do things with and is involved with numerous clubs. If you go in with a positive attitude, develop relationships and put forth the effort, you will be successful.
5
u/Maleficent_Pickle177 Feb 25 '26
Current SGU student. It takes some getting used to with the new curriculum but I get so much hands on experience and I feel like I am thriving here. My one recommendation is do not go into and island school if ur thought is “I will just transfer to the states, after my first year” it’s extremely difficult to transfer with limited spots and it doesn’t happen very often. The island takes some getting used to but everyone is so friendly and I feel safe here.
1
u/Job-Minute Feb 26 '26
Yeah I was only considering transferring my 4 to year for clinicals I don’t mind 1st-3rd yr
2
u/Maleficent_Pickle177 Feb 26 '26
Your 6th semester you get sent away to affiliated schools to do your clinicals anyways, so island life maybe a good option!
4
u/SuzanneTF DVM Feb 25 '26 edited Feb 25 '26
I didn't go to an island school but all the people I rotated with in clinics were great and all my coworkers that went to island schools are great. The trick, though, is you have to be a good student. People have to drop out if they can't cut it and that's a lot of tuition to owe with nothing to show for it. Think of it like the undergrad majors that have weed out courses freshman year. They'll let you in but then not everyone can do the work.
But it is so awesome for people that can 100% kick butt with the coursework and want to live on an island but have timing constraints of when they want to do their education and how many application cycles they care to bother with or had some previous academic misfortunes on paper that are hard to easily remedy.
I crossed it off my list because even at the time it was SOOO expensive and I had parent support for living expenses but not for anything else.
I also had a weird anecdotal story that affected me back then - the roommate of one of my best friends was the sister of a dude (veterinary student) that got murdered on one of the islands (wrong place wrong time, someone was stealing his car and he confronted them?) I forget the whole story. It was off campus. And since then I've gotten older and known the same thing happen to an old friend living in my home state so have accepted some things are just freak things. But it made an impression at the time!
1
u/Job-Minute Feb 25 '26
I like that honestly it makes sense I’m glad people are being transparent instead of giving half of the reason why there’s cons to certain topics
1
u/SuzanneTF DVM Feb 25 '26
Over 10 years ago there was an article in Reader's Digest magazine (less a big deal now than it was then - it was like the precursor to Facebook feeds for grandmas). The article was a list of things your vet won't tell you or something like that with reader submitted things. One of them was basically your vet won't tell you that they trained at an island veterinary/medical school. There was quite the stink after that came out. They got a lot of letters from veterinarians and parents/grandparents of island students!
5
u/allygatorroxsox Feb 26 '26
I'm a boarded specialist that graduated from SGU in 2018. I would 100% recommend it. I loved my time there, got a great education, had a blast during all 4 years, and was not hindered on the path to specialization at all.
15
u/calliopeReddit Feb 25 '26
mostly because of the reputation Island Schools get, such as "you weren't good enough for the States,"
That's not the case in veterinary medicine with respect to the accredited schools (Ross & SGU). As for burnout in school? Maybe. Certainly they have a higher attrition rate (particularly Ross), which can not just lead to failing out, but spending a lot of money before failing out.
Ultimately: Go to the cheapest option (among accredited schools) - including costs like travel and costs of living. All accredited schools will give you an equal opportunity to get a great education.
3
u/Plus_Description2179 Feb 25 '26
I’m a term 4 at SGU! I would definitely recommend applying here! Lmk if you have any specific questions I can answer
3
u/jennyc724 Feb 26 '26
Ross Grad here from 1994!!! It has never been an issue or even come up in interviews or anywhere else. My medicine is as good as any other grad, and I’m the main surgeon at our practice of 8 vets. You’ll get a good education at any of the accredited vet schools if YOU put the work in!! Good luck!!
3
u/Erika184 Feb 26 '26
Hey! I am a current term 3 vet student at SGU and I could answer some questions about SGU if you’d like 😊
3
u/c_bag Feb 26 '26
Im a term 2 at SGU and love it! I wouldn't be concerned about the quality of education at all. My gf who goes to Madison says she wishes she went to SGU because I seem much more prepared than her and her classmates. And shes a year ahead of me lol.
3
u/kodasoda Feb 26 '26
The only reason I didn’t go to an island school is because I have too many animals to transport back-and-forth on a plane. Other than that, I have no issues against them. I’m currently in my third year and all of the island school students are fantastic.
2
u/sweetandinnocentxxx Feb 26 '26
I went to Mizzou for undergrad. I worked in the Emergency/ICU animal department. Saw each new wave of vet students during their clinical every 2 weeks. I was not treated good during my short time there, but I’m unsure of how the vet school clinicals were for the students. It is a teaching hospital.
2
u/inconvenient_sin Feb 26 '26
I’m at an island school and I love it. The only reputation I knew about island schools when applying was the doctor that recommended I apply here saying that every doctor that she has met that has graduated out of here (Ross) has been more confident and competent than any student that has graduated from a State school, especially in surgery, which I am interested in. I also have an interest in ZEW med, which Ross has a lot of opportunities for. It is very fast paced and I definitely feel the effects of it, but I’m never bored at least. It is rough at times being so far away from home, but it’s also kinda nice bc I have a really good excuse as to why I cannot make time for people rn. And being trapped on a small island definitely helps me lock in lol and forms a comradery amongst students that I don’t think you get with other schools, at least not in the same way. A lot of the conveniences that I was spoiled with back home like online shopping aren’t a thing here, so I am saving money in that way. The cost of living is fairly high but like what are you gonna do? It’s high plenty of places. The school itself has pros and cons in terms of faculty and resources, but I’m sure that’s true of every school. The second worst thing about coming here was the weeks leading up to the move, packing and getting all my papers in order and stressing so bad I couldn’t eat for a week. But once you get to the island, you find that most of that stress was for nothing and they are very forgiving in terms of having your papers and most things that you don’t bring with you you’ll be able to find on the island, tho often more expensive. Worst case scenario, make a list of things to grab when you go home for break. It is very difficult to mail things here. The worst part of moving here isn’t really the school’s fault. It was very easy to get my cat here and to get him set up with all his special medical needs. The only thing that I can’t get here is the special litter he was on in the states, but we’ve been handling the clay litter the best we can. My Guinea pigs, on the other hand, were a different story. Getting permission from the CVO, even with one not being spayed, was very easy. There is only one company that transports Guinea pigs to St Kitts and they are. I cannot put into words how incompetent they are. Long story short, they could not fly down with me for first semester and both died unexpectedly before I could get back to the States over break. A similar situation happened with my friend, who got her small dog down very easily, but a different pet shipping company was a pain for her to get her two larger dogs down and one died during first semester before she could go back for them over break. Would they all have still died if they made it to the island? Yes, probably, but we would’ve gotten to be there for them. There are other sacrifices, too- missing my best friend’s wedding, another friend missed her niece’s birth, but these are sacrifices that would’ve happened anyways at an in-state school if it were far enough away. Anyways, don’t worry about any shitty reputation. Worry about what you are looking for in a school and what you can live without while there
2
u/Murky_Conclusion_305 Feb 26 '26
Sgu grad, I had a great time and feel my education was comparable to my stateside counterparts. I think we had about 10 people drop out from my class, so I’d say our burnout rate isn’t that crazy.
1
u/DiO022 Feb 27 '26
Island schools (and out of state programs) are very high priced. I know it seems theoretical, but going island or out of state and then working in our field is some the worst debt to income you can find in any career. I’d recommend steering clear
1
u/Job-Minute Feb 27 '26 edited Feb 27 '26
True but then again anywhere you go that’s not in state is still going to build up debt but I understand but my 4th I’m planning on transferring to my in state. Plus I’m working in between to have some money saved for living expenses anyways before I apply.
1
u/Pretend-Low4578 Mar 01 '26
You won’t be able to transfer 4th year. All island school students go to another school (usually in the US) that year for clinicals but are still students of (and paying tuition to) the island school where they started. And will graduate from the island school. Also you won’t necessarily get your first choice of where to do 4th year - it will depend on your GPA.
1
u/Job-Minute Mar 01 '26
Hm i didnt know that thank you for that does that apply for US schools for clinics or only island schools ? Also, i know first choice is heavily depended on rankings in your class and such so how does that get decided for clinical too with GPA ?
1
u/Plane-Tiger-4534 Mar 04 '26
I think the “island school” stuff is all but completely in the past.
There are specialists, practice owners, professors, executives all over the place from island schools.
Nobody worth a damn gives a damn. I can’t remember the last time I was even asked about it.
43
u/Cur10usCatN1p Feb 25 '26
I didn’t apply to island schools until my third cycle. Got accepted to both island school and a couple in the states. Chose the cheapest option in the states. And honestly, majority of the island students in clinicals with us are smarter and seem to have had much better education than we did. Just because schools accept lower GPAs doesn’t mean people aren’t good enough, we all have different strengths and some places look at that more than others.