A Quick Tour of My Dorm
Hello all! Here are some pics from around campus and my dorm. Matriculants can choose whether to live in a single-bedroom suite or a two-bedroom suite during their first semester at AUC. I chose the latter since it was $800 cheaper, and I liked having a roommate. I have my own bedroom and bathroom. Plus, the two-bedroom suites have balconies while the one-bedrooms do not. They found me a roommate who was very similar in lifestyle to me.. quite, clean, and sleeps early. The dorms are available on a first-come first-serve basis. Since my class is the largest class to matriculate in AUC history with 199 new students, I met several first semesters who were not able to secure a dorm. Nevertheless the Housing Department has as a lot of information on off-campus housing that they can help students find. The campus has its own power generator and water desalination plant and so it does not experience the power outages that are common off-campus, especially during a hurricane. So far so good: no bug problem, internet’s fast, and the water tastes good. Enjoy!
**QUESTIONS FROM READERS**
It looks like you lived on the first floor. did you have any issues with bugs or flooding? i have heard that this can be an issue. i am moving in to the dorms in the next few weeks and have been assigned a first floor single. Your blog very informative, more than other information that we have been given. thanks so much.
Hi, Thanks for the comment. When I first moved into the apartment, I did have an ant problem, but that was soon resolved after I sprayed the whole place with Raid. I have not had any problems with flooding, but then again we have not had any major storms or showers this past semester. I’m actually quite surprised to hear that you heard there were flooding problems because all along the outside hallway of the dorms there is a large drainage trough where all the water would drain away if there were a major downpour. You’ll notice it when you get here 
Congratulations on your acceptance to AUC and good luck on your first semester! See you on the island!
Benji
Hi Benji, I am from Charleston SC (fellow southerner!) I have just applied to AUC and SGU after being rejected from MUSC (Medical University of South Carolina) as well as several others. I graduated from Davidson College in 2010 with a 3.0 which is very respectable for Davidson but unfortunately not that impressive when applying to med schools I have learned…I got a 28 on the MCAT last summer, and took Genetics, Microbiology and Physiology at the College of Charleston in the summer and fall and got A’s in all of them. Even so.. The GPA and MCAT score averages have risen so much in the past couple of years that I’m afraid that even if I score much better on the MCAT in May my GPA will keep me from being admitted to a US school. and I don’t want to spend the next two years trying to convince them. Just wanted to tell you how helpful and informative your blog is. Although my pre med advisor says that SGU is the best, I am very attracted to AUC because of not only your blog but other things I have read in forums. AUC has already contacted me by email and phone to express interest in my application.( I have just sent them the rest of the required things) I like the smaller class size and St Maarten looks like a better island to live on. Please keep blogging! your blog is by far the most informative and interesting of all the ones that I have read! (though I appreciate your list of other blogs too) I am very excited about the possibility of going to a caribbean med school. I know I will face some negativity but my parents are very supportive, and I think that a lot of the negativity is based in ignorance. I mean I was ignorant about the whole carib med school thing until I started really looking into it. After suffering some brutal rejection letters , it is nice to get a warm email and call from a med school, I’m not going to lie… anyway, I just wanted to tell you how fabulous your blog is and how it gives a realistic picture of what caribbean medical school is like. Thank you so much. I hope to hear good news soon! Isabel
Benji,
Thanks for showing what the dorm is like and a brief overview of campus! I did not see a laundry area in your photos and I was wondering if there is such a space on campus! Also, I have applied for the dorms for January- the schedule states that January 2nd is the first day of the semester, is this likely when the dorms will open or can you move in earlier?
Thanks!
Hays
Hi Hays,
No problem! There are laundries on floors 2 through 5 of the dorms, each with about 5 washers and dryers each. They are card operated and costs $4 to wash and $2 to dry. You can buy the laundry cards from the cafeteria when you get to campus, and refill it to whatever amount you need. You can see a picture of one of the laundry rooms here: http://www.caribbeanmedstudent.com/2009/10/auc-campus-a-pictorial-atlas/ . As for moving into the dorms, you can usually move in the Thursday before the semester starts, so that should be December 29, 2011. However, I’d double check with the Housing Department, just in case they made any changes this year.
Take care!
Benji
Holy cow, they made the laundry a more reasonable price?! It was $4 to wash and $2 to dry when I was there last in late 2006 (holy cow thats loooonnnng time ago).
Yes! Since the end of 2011, they have changed the pricing of the laundry from $4 wash/$2 dry to a more reasonable $2 wash/$1 dry, thanks to the voiced concerns of the student body.
Thanks for showing the dorms. I am starting at AUC in Sept ’14 and I have a couple of questions about them. What is the internet and cable situation? How much space is in each dorm?
Hi William,
Congratulations on your acceptance to AUC! As of now, there is wifi throughout all of campus, including the dorms. I don’t have the exact dimensions of the dorms, but they are pretty spacious. You can find the floorplans here: http://aucmed.edu/AUC/media/PDF/student-services/Housing-Floorplans.pdf
Benji
I got accepted at AUC and SABA . Which one do you recommend?
Hi Andrew,
I’m a little biased towards AUC since I went there, and that’s the only school I truly have a first hand experience with, and it got me to where I am now. I think ultimately it’s a personal choice whether you go to Saba or AUC. Both have the same level of accreditation, and both will prepare you to become a doctor. The islands are a bit different and the rotation sites are different as well. Saba is a smaller school in terms of campus and student body size. AUC students have the opportunity to go to England for rotations as well. The grading scale and failure policy is different for each school. I touched a little about this in this blog post: http://www.caribbeanmedstudent.com/2011/01/auc-vs-ross-vs-sgu-factors-to-consider/
Benji
Hey Benji,
I’m starting AUC in September, and your blog has helped me prepare so much! Do you know if the individual bedroom doors lock or if it is just the main door to the common area? I have a random roommate and I am paranoid about my stuff lol
Hi Carol, the bedroom doors lock, don’t worry. Best of luck on your journey.