2008-2009 Loma Linda Secondary Application Thread

so if you're not a practicing christian/7th day, you're pretty much sunk no? Im thinking i shouldn't waste my 100 bucks here.

Anyone know what percentage of their student body isn't christian/7th day??

jzyu said:

so if you're not a practicing christian/7th day, you're pretty much sunk no? Im thinking i shouldn't waste my 100 bucks here.

Anyone know what percentage of their student body isn't christian/7th day??

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this worries me as well. i don't know if i'm going to apply either.

I just read over it. There are 6 essays, with 4 being 750 character limits each and 2 being 250 characters.

They are:

(1)Describe the extent and source of your knowledge of Loma Linda University (LLU) School of Medicine. (750 characters max)

(2)What makes LLU School of Medicine particularly attractive to you? (750 characters max)

(3)What traits make you a desirable candidate for admission to LLU School of Medicine? (750 characters max)

(4)Loma Linda University is a Seventh-day Adventist institution. The curriculum integrates ethical and relational issues from a Christian perspective into the practice of medicine. Weekly chapel services are part of this program. How would this relate to your personal educational and career goals? (750 characters max)

(5)As a Seventh-day Adventist institution, LLU has lifestyle expectations which include abstinence from alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs/substances in all forms while enrolled. During the past year, have you used any of these substances? If so, which ones? (250 characters max)

(6)If you are accepted to LLU School of Medicine, are you willing to abide by the lifestyle policies of the university while enrolled? (250 characters max)

jzyu said:

so if you're not a practicing christian/7th day, you're pretty much sunk no? Im thinking i shouldn't waste my 100 bucks here.

Anyone know what percentage of their student body isn't christian/7th day??

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From what I've heard, if you aren't a practicing 7th day, don't bother applying.

I remember reading from one of their handouts/handbooks that they reserve a certain number of spaces for non-SDA applicants...if i remember correctly, but you might want to double check. But I know they do prefer students that graduated from one of the SDA universities over other universities, regardless of what religion you practice.

So all students submitting a secondary to loma linda will refrain from drinking alcohol both in and out of school, right? Hmmm... somehow I doubt that.

BDNF said:

So all students submitting a secondary to loma linda will refrain from drinking alcohol both in and out of school, right? Hmmm... somehow I doubt that.

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Most of their students are SDA's so they would abstain regardless. The rest probably won't want to risk getting kicked out if caught.

utahjazz said:

Most of their students are SDA's so they would abstain regardless. The rest probably won't want to risk getting kicked out if caught.

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I used to live there...and I can tell you a good proportion of the class drinks.

ChubbyChaser said:

I used to live there...and I can tell you a good proportion of the class drinks.

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So how's the town like? I heard its pretty much run by SDAs. Im a practicing Christian so I think I could handle going there better than some people, but I definitely dont worship on Saturdays or anything like that....

So if you wanted to go out on a Sat. nobody would be around to hang with in Loma Linda?? Does the whole town shut down?

rockydoc said:

So how's the town like? I heard its pretty much run by SDAs. Im a practicing Christian so I think I could handle going there better than some people, but I definitely dont worship on Saturdays or anything like that....

So if you wanted to go out on a Sat. nobody would be around to hang with in Loma Linda?? Does the whole town shut down?

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Hahah no the whole town doesnt shut down, but the campus basically Does.

Id say that the town of Loma Linda is less than 50% SDA. Im not SDA and I never had a problem with it. Loma linda isnt very big, but theres things to do in neighboring redlands


From what I hear, if you arent christian you probably shouldnt even waste your money and being SDA is just that much better.

Out of curiosity, do the SDAs at the med school believe in evolution?

sunnysnow7 said:

Out of curiosity, do the SDAs at the med school believe in evolution?

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I would assume that varies from person to person.....but to my understanding, the doctrine of SDAs doesnt really permit evolution...maybe Im wrong....they have a website that explains all of the major doctrines of SDA...you can google it....it is really a conservative protestant Christian belief, with minor differences from say Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc.

Doesn't that make it hard to be scientists? I've always wondered about mixing religion with science....

utahjazz said:

Most of their students are SDA's so they would abstain regardless. The rest probably won't want to risk getting kicked out if caught.

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Do you really think all or most SDA college-age students abstain from alcohol? The few I know definitely do not abstain.

sunnysnow7 said:

Doesn't that make it hard to be scientists? I've always wondered about mixing religion with science....

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I think it really depends on the person for this one.

One of my primary care doctors was quite religious, and when I asked her this question about how she deals with practicing medicine and being a faithful Christian, she said that in many ways being a clinician has made her faith that much stronger. We didn't go into specifics, but in that instant for the first time for me, it seemed like religion and science really can mix, quite well.

I'm not religious in any way, for the record.

splotchy3754 said:

I think it really depends on the person for this one.

One of my primary care doctors was quite religious, and when I asked her this question about how she deals with practicing medicine and being a faithful Christian, she said that in many ways being a clinician has made her faith that much stronger. We didn't go into specifics, but in that instant for the first time for me, it seemed like religion and science really can mix, quite well.

I'm not religious in any way, for the record.

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agreed...I personally know a FP doc. who is the exact same way....and I also know several medical missionaries....if it didnt work well together then these people would be inefficient.....of course, this whole topic is very controversial for people b/c it deals with world views and basic beliefs....we should try not to get too much into it for fear of opening this thread into an all out religion debate

I believe the class is about 60% SDA with the remaining being mostly christian denominations. Now remember that there may be some self selection going on here. There maybe some agnostics or jewish people getting accepted to the school. However, the stats necessary to make in as such are probably higher which also makes highly likely that this person would be accepted to other schools. Now, which one do you think he/she would choose?

**** this school. I applied because they're in socal, but with all of those essays and absolutely psychotic rules, i'm not sending the secondary. I have zero chance of getting in there and would likely be miserable if I did. Man, I had such a positive image of Loma Linda before this.

ignore this, im doing administrative stuff

There are so many ways in which this school is good for me. But I'm an atheist. UGH.

It kinda struck me as funny reading through the MSAR... so many schools list that policy of "we do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age, religion, national origin, or disability." Of course, Loma Linda omitted the religion part, on their version of the statement.

I kind of don't get it. So most other schools adopt a policy of non-discrimination based on religion, but if a particular school chooses to, it can elect to do the very opposite? One can imagine the chaos if a school were specifically set up to keep out specific races... to take a drastic example, say a white supremacy group decided to found & fund a medical school. Not gonna work. Yeah, I understand Loma Linda was set up to advance adventist principles But still, it always struck me as odd that religious institutions seem to have this freedom to discriminate in ways that other institutions cannot.

/whining. I probably wouldn't be happy there anyway. NOT because I party. Heck, I barely drink (a little wine with a meal, etc.). So I'm totally the type of person they're looking for. But I don't know if I could sign a policy agreeing to completely abstain from alcohol totally, not just on campus but anywhere. Yeah, students probably don't follow it... but if the whole thing is a sham anyway, why make people sign it? See, I wouldn't feel comfortable lying. Ironically, apparently many of the people who got in apparently have no compunctions about lying about it. Something is wrong with their admissions process here. I mean, their whole point is to advance certain values, right?

this might be a lame question but:

Is it normal to submit your secondary a few weeks before your LORs arrive?
I'm still waiting for a few.

Thanks in advance.

Has anybody heard anything?

mezmerized7 said:

Has anybody heard anything?

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nope. Im pretty sure that they wait until all applications have been received in Nov. before they send out their first interview invites. I think the earliest we will hear is sometime in December. (Im not even technically complete yet and I sent in my app. back in Aug.)

Wow, ohk. Thanks rockydoc...

rockydoc said:

nope. Im pretty sure that they wait until all applications have been received in Nov. before they send out their first interview invites. I think the earliest we will hear is sometime in December. (Im not even technically complete yet and I sent in my app. back in Aug.)

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So basically me rushing through that secondary was futile??

O well.

BDNF said:

So all students submitting a secondary to loma linda will refrain from drinking alcohol both in and out of school, right? Hmmm... somehow I doubt that.

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I go to BYU and you can't drink or smoke there either. It's totally doable, but I doubt many people would be willing to give it up if they're in the habit of doing it already. I also heard that you can get kicked out for having sex if you're not married, too. I bet a few people will be withdrawing their app after hearing that!

So I think I just finally received the official "complete" email from LLU. The next step is receiving a letter from them with their decision. (per the complete email)

Im SDA, but if I am honest must admit that I have used alcohol in the last year, should I even send in the secondary or is it a lost cause. Do they only care about the illicit drugs part and not the alcohol?

mattr said:

Im SDA, but if I am honest must admit that I have used alcohol in the last year, should I even send in the secondary or is it a lost cause. Do they only care about the illicit drugs part and not the alcohol?

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So freaking terrible, this school is out of control.

Seriously, I would just tell them you have consumed alcohol in the last year and mention that you regret it ever so much.

any school that has that much focus on religion is pure bulls***. im not trying to insult anyone, but loma linda royally sucks

mattr said:

Im SDA, but if I am honest must admit that I have used alcohol in the last year, should I even send in the secondary or is it a lost cause. Do they only care about the illicit drugs part and not the alcohol?

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Im pretty sure as long as you're not an alcoholic or drink yourself into a coma every week, then they wont care as long as you can explain to them your capability to abstain from alcohol while a student at LLU. Just tell them you have used alcohol before, but you are completely capable of controlling yourself while in med school and you'll be fine.

That's what I did...I don't think it's good to lie to a christian school

rockydoc said:

Im pretty sure as long as you're not an alcoholic or drink yourself into a coma every week, then they wont care as long as you can explain to them your capability to abstain from alcohol while a student at LLU. Just tell them you have used alcohol before, but you are completely capable of controlling yourself while in med school and you'll be fine.

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The best analogy I can offer to you gents is that going to Loma Linda is like going back to high school. We are once again bunch of hormone-raged, drug-addicted, sex-drived, religion-deprived teenagers who need an institution that can control us, so we won't be a bunch of loose monkeys in the jungle.

Isn't the whole point of going to med school about self-learning, self-control and being a responsible adult? If I need someone to remind me that and force me to sign a contract so I can have more reasons to get kicked out of school, then I'd rather walk away with a pocket full of dignity and a hundred dollar bill.

Chigga said:

The best analogy I can offer to you gents is that going to Loma Linda is like going back to high school. We are once again bunch of hormone-raged, drug-addicted, sex-drived, religion-deprived teenagers who need an institution that can control us, so we won't be a bunch of loose monkeys in the jungle.

Isn't the whole point of going to med school about self-learning, self-control and being a responsible adult? If I need someone to remind me that and force me to sign a contract so I can have more reasons to get kicked out of school, then I'd rather walk away with a pocket full of dignity and a hundred dollar bill.

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I don't think their intent is to control you, its to have people attending the school who represent the institution and its values. Its simple, really. And, overall, my LLUMC experience has been pretty positive. Everyone's nice, and the environment is pretty laid back.

I'm not SDA, but I did apply. Luckily, I just don't care for alcohol... its not my cup of tea (no pun intended) so I don't feel like I'm missing anything. I know a guy who attended there as an med student and for his residency (I can't imagine him refraining from the good 'ol EtOH??). He's not SDA and he didn't have insane stats (30 MCAT). The majority are (like 70-80%), but they definitely save space for non-SDA students.

Anybody heard from LLUSOM? Does anybody know when they start sending out interviews, etc?

Thanks!

TRN1983 said:

Anybody heard from LLUSOM? Does anybody know when they start sending out interviews, etc?

Thanks!

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If you aren't SDA and don't go to one of the SDA schools where they have regional interviews, then I think invites start going out in about December. Good luck!

Thanks.

jzyu said:

so if you're not a practicing christian/7th day, you're pretty much sunk no? Im thinking i shouldn't waste my 100 bucks here.

Anyone know what percentage of their student body isn't christian/7th day??

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Good day! I'm an Adventist m'self and am interviewing soon at Loma Linda. As far as accepting non-Christians is concerned, I do know that LLU has a committment to accepting a certain number of students that are non-religiously affiliated. I don't know if that means flaming atheist or Ngetti tribal shamanism or what have you, I just know that in the informational brochure they send to interviewees, they claim that they take a percentage per year of non-affiliated students, and that no student is admitted on the basis of religion (or lack thereof) alone.

That being said, if you ARE a flaming atheist--the type that gets rabid and foamy at the mouth when people point out the gaping holes in evolutionary theory--then even if you got in, you might not want to go to LLU because they teach Christian ethics and morality as part of the curriculum, and you'd be grinding your teeth the whole time. I'd hate to subject someone to that if they were genuinely ignorant that it was coming, so if you are uncomfortable with this sort of educational backdrop, then steer clear of LLU.

Me, I love it because I'm a devout Adventist and I know Jesus is coming soon, so it's precisely the kind of place I want to be: surrounded by other people who are in to studying the Bible and living their life in the context of Christ's teaching.

At any rate, if you make it in, regardless of your religious views, I wish you the very best and I hope to meet you at some point in your medical education!

God bless you all,
David Stratton

TRN1983 said:

Anybody heard from LLUSOM? Does anybody know when they start sending out interviews, etc?

Thanks!

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I have already received an invite to interview, and my interview is scheduled to take place on November 25th. However, I am a Seventh Day Adventist, so it may be the case that they wait to send them to non-Adventists until later. But yes, to let you know, interviews have already gone out and been set up. And it's a DOOZY of an interview too! It's a full day ordeal, which probably isn't that abnormal in most schools, but they have a double interview. One from 10am to 10:45am and anotehr from 11am to 11:45am. That seems like a lot of interviewing to me, but I bet what they do is probe you for science-based knowledge in one and faith-based stuff in the other, or else have two differnet teams of interviewers both interview you and compare your answers to see if you're prevericating or not.

Thanks for the info!

I'm not SDA (or even religious), but I would still love the opportunity to interview at LLU. Many people are turned off by the religious aspect, but while I won't be God-blessing every one of my patients (nor do I feel its necessarily appropriate), I feel that many Christian principles would only benefit the "spirit" and the development of the aspiring physician. Other people are turned off by the commitment to abstinence from alcohol/etc, but I did all my partying in my early years and I have no love for the stuff.

Hopefully I'll hear from them

rockydoc said:

I would assume that varies from person to person.....but to my understanding, the doctrine of SDAs doesnt really permit evolution...maybe Im wrong....they have a website that explains all of the major doctrines of SDA...you can google it....it is really a conservative protestant Christian belief, with minor differences from say Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc.

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You are. I'm not SDA (I'm methodist... who incidentally also believe in evolution, along with Presbyterians, Lutherans, Catholics, and pretty much every other non-evangelical denomination), but I have a lot of friends who are and they all believe in evolution. I would suggest that people maybe not write this school off just because of its religious beliefs (unless you're really a militant style atheist). There was a blog on the last LLU trainwreck of a thread by an LLU graduate, and he seemed like about the most compassionate doctor you could ever imagine. SEe if you can find it.

I'm gonna be honest guys. I'm a current medical student at LLU and if you don't have Christian values, you wont get in. Do you have to be SDA? Absolutely not. Lot's of LLUSOM students are not SDA. Although it doesn't explicitly say that you have to be Christian, I don't know anyone in my class who isn't. Is that fair? Well maybe not but it's a private school that can do whatever they want so putting it bluntly, don't waste your money or time applying to LLU if you aren't Christian.

WhateverMang said:

I'm gonna be honest guys. I'm a current medical student at LLU and if you don't have Christian values, you wont get in. Do you have to be SDA? Absolutely not. Lot's of LLUSOM students are not SDA. Although it doesn't explicitly say that you have to be Christian, I don't know anyone in my class who isn't. Is that fair? Well maybe not but it's a private school that can do whatever they want so putting it bluntly, don't waste your money or time applying to LLU if you aren't Christian.

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Christian values, right? I'm okay with that. I'd say with respect to humanity, and especially the medical profession, my values are very much in-line with Christian values. There are a few social issues I'm a bit more liberal on that most Christians, but I don't think that's not a prerequisite to admission, right?

Anybody knows when in December they start contacting non-SDAs?

mezmerized7 said:

Anybody knows when in December they start contacting non-SDAs?

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They already started last week, I think.

utahjazz said:

They already started last week, I think.

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ohhh, I thought it was next month. I guess they don't like me that much

As one of the members of the class of 2012, let me just say congrats to all those who have an interview. And for the rest of you, you will most definitely get one too!

The first interview session always hits around Thanksgiving (I was in it, but didn't get accepted till April...) and for me it was all SDA (including me).

My class is 65% male, 50% non-SDA (protestants, catholics, mormons - we got it all), and really really conservative. Yes, there are plenty of people in my class that drink. And no, they DO NOT kick you out if you get caught. They send you to counseling instead. They have invested way too much in us to just boot us out.

As for the alcohol thing on the secondary, if you put 'yes' they will give you a little phone call to question you about your drinking habits. A few people in my class had to go through that. Be prepared.

The evolution thing: I believe in evolution. I am probably the only one in my class. I occasionally slip and mention something evolution related, and I've gotten looks ranging from downright nasty to confused. But overall, my class is awesome and I'm looking forward to spending the next few years with them.

As for the interviews (I'm sure you all know this) you are divided up into 2 groups. Half interview in the morning and the rest interview after lunch. You interview for one hour w/ a 3rd year and the other hour with a professor. You won't find out who you have until the day of and you recieve your packet. At lunch Dean Hadley will come in and socialize with everyone. He is pretty cool, so don't stress.

When you aren't interviewing, they will be walking you ALL over campus. Seriously, wear really comfortable shoes. You go up and down stairs in all the buildings so make sure you have shoes you can walk in (i.e. for the ladies, wear lower heels unless you are fabulous and can walk in high ones). Check the weather beforehand too. We had a freak hot spell for mine, and guys were sweating out their suits.

Lauren "Bob" Grisham will probably be leading your tour. She is a ridiculously smart 2nd year, so ask her tons of questions. Oh, and Dr. Lewis is one of the interviewers - he is AMAZING. A very delightful chap.

If there are any other questions, feel free to ask!

sincerely,
one of the few female, liberal members of the class of 2012
(if i'm still on campus when I see a tour going around, I'll run up and say hi)