for any current students at SLU, can you share your thoughts on the school? why you chose it, things you love about it, things you don't like?
Current MS-1 here. My opinion:
Pro's:
- block scheduling system (only two classes at any given time, and with the hard classes such as Anatomy and Neuroanatomy, only one class at a time)
- lectures end by noon and, except for a few days when you have mandatory afternoon small group sessions, you have the rest of the day to do what you want, be it study, work out, waste time, etc. (except during Anatomy, when the afternoon is for dissection). This is contrast to some med schools that work in undergrad-format, with four or five classes per semester, all at the same time (you will be very grateful to have Anatomy over with by October, whereas other schools will have it the entire semester)
- most lectures are recorded, if not by the school itself, then by some friendly classmate who is nice enough to share his recordings with the class (I don't think I've attended a single class in person all semester, and ever since Anatomy ended in October, I can probably count all the times I attended lecture on my two hands)
- very friendly and helpful faculty
- very cooperative environment among students (this will be the case even moreso with your incoming class, as SLU is switching to Pass/Fail next year for the preclinical years), as opposed to some schools out there where the atmosphere is cut-throat
- located in a city with four different seasons (as opposed to only 2 seasons if you're from way down south or way up north). I finally got to see snow for the first time in a very long time.
- nice looking campus (both undergrad and med center), at least during spring time when all the greenery is alive and well. in winter it looks kind of dull.
- the fact that you're part of a university and not just a stand-alone med center has its various perks (Bill Nye the Science Guy just came to the undergrad campus the other day to speak)
- Father Baker's office (this is a Jesuit institution) has free candy and occasionally food for students. We just drop by, pick stuff up, eat, chat, leave. And btw there is no proselytizing or preaching at all. In fact, everyone is encouraged to pursue their own personal faiths.
- this school's top priority is clearly education (whereas other med school's top priorities might be research or something else). The faculty frequently have "town hall meetings" and Q&A sessions where they discuss issues with students and ask for feedback and constantly adjust the system to meet our needs. There are online surveys for getting student feedback after every course, and students are invited to participate in course evaluation meetings where they share their feedback in person.
Con's:
- Cost of attendance (you probably could've guessed this one on your own). The tuition is projected to be about $43,000 next year. Factor in the typical amount of living expenses and you're looking at about $66K per year. For those on a military scholarship or MD/PhD program or some other setup where the cost is covered or shared with others, this isn't really an issue.
- downtown St. Louis is one of the crime capitals of the nation (if you confine yourself to campus, this isn't that big of an issue. It is well known that there are certain places around the edges of campus that you don't go past....)
Hope that helps you make your decisions. I myself am perfectly happy with my educational experience here.
