2013-2014 Loma Linda University Application Thread

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gah, loma linda is such a tease with all these "You are receiving this email because you have indicated an interest in learning more about Loma Linda University" emails....

Haha yeah. You'll get it a few times throughout application season.

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I guess radio silence for everyone applying to Loma Linda?
 
Members don't see this ad :)
There are secondaries that ask these kinda of questions wow lol- I had no idea, definitely adding this school ASAP lol although I'm gonna have to do some research on seventh-day Adventists--(??) are there other schools with religious affiliations? Interesting
 
There are secondaries that ask these kinda of questions wow lol- I had no idea, definitely adding this school ASAP lol although I'm gonna have to do some research on seventh-day Adventists--(??) are there other schools with religious affiliations? Interesting

other schools are somewhat religious...like I think Albert Einstein Medical School or Icahn Mount Sinai serve kosher foods and wind down a bit on Friday evenings and Saturday. But Loma Linda is, I believe, the only one that gives preference to their own particular religious affiliation. I'm pretty sure those Judaism-affiliated schools do not give preference to Jewish medical students.
 
Anyone else getting those Loma Linda teaser emails haha.>
 
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Every time I see something from LLU I get so excited... The waiting game continues :)
 
I talked about my Christian Faith in each of the essays, and all my teaser emails so far have been about financial aid!! o_O
 
Does anyone know where they upload their picture? It says you should upload a picture on the application menu, but I don't see anywhere on the application menu to upload. Does anyone have an idea? Thanks in advanced.
 
Hey guys. I'm applying to LLUSM this cycle. The school sounds great and everything, but I'm a little apprehensive about how closely affiliated the school is with religion. I'm personally not religious at all (grew up in one of the most liberal parts of the country...probably more in line with Europe than the rest of the country when it comes to this sort of thing...lolol) and I don't have a problem with people that are, as long as they don't continuously force their beliefs upon me. Would anyone who can relate share their experiences at this school. For what its worth, I do a lot of volunteering with a Jesuit-related organization and I am very happy there. Thank you. I sincerely hope I haven't accidentally offended anybody in any way. I just want to see if this school would be a good fit for me. Once again, thank you for your input.
 
Hey guys. I'm applying to LLUSM this cycle. The school sounds great and everything, but I'm a little apprehensive about how closely affiliated the school is with religion. I'm personally not religious at all (grew up in one of the most liberal parts of the country...probably more in line with Europe than the rest of the country when it comes to this sort of thing...lolol) and I don't have a problem with people that are, as long as they don't continuously force their beliefs upon me. Would anyone who can relate share their experiences at this school. For what its worth, I do a lot of volunteering with a Jesuit-related organization and I am very happy there. Thank you. I sincerely hope I haven't accidentally offended anybody in any way. I just want to see if this school would be a good fit for me. Once again, thank you for your input.

Hey buelleguy, this is an excellent question and I'm going to do my best to address it for you. Sorry for the late response, we were in the midst of test week.

1. Loma Linda is a Seventh-day Adventist school. This means that they do not have any classes or required class events on Saturday.

2. Loma Linda has classes in the medical school curriculum that are religious in nature - inasmuch as they challenge you to think critically about how spirituality and medicine work together. These are pass/fail classes. They are very low stress and are actually a welcome period of respite from the onslaught of regular medschool lectures.

3. Loma Linda has chapel services. They are one hour once a week. They consist of singing, and a message. Maybe a special music brought to you by a talented upperclassman, and a message. None of the messages that I've heard thus far are 'preachy' or trying to 'stuff it down your throat,' which I greatly appreciate myself. Again, these are a welcome respite from the onslaught of medical lectures - in a way, a brief, low stress period to gather your thoughts.

4. Since Loma Linda is associated with religion, they require you to abide by the lifestyle policy. You can find out more about the lifestyle policy on their website, but I'll give you a short summary. (1) Don't drink, (2) Don't do drugs. Abide by those rules during your enrollment at loma linda. What does this mean? It means that as a first year, you are enrolled from August to June. It's really not that difficult of a policy, in my opinion.

5. You may have heard that Loma Linda is a vegetarian campus without caffeine. They don't care if you drink caffeine, or if you eat meat, you just won't find it for sale on campus. Regardless, because Loma Linda is a small town in one of the most populated areas of California (the Inland Empire), you'll find anything you could want one mile away in every direction.

6. You'll be able to find many different ways to volunteer in and around Loma Linda :)

7. No offense taken! I hope I've answered all of your questions!

tl;dr Loma Linda is Seventh-day Adventist and they don't force religion down your throat :)

If anyone has any more questions about Loma Linda, send 'em over. I'll do my best to answer them :)
 
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Hey guys. I'm applying to LLUSM this cycle. The school sounds great and everything, but I'm a little apprehensive about how closely affiliated the school is with religion. I'm personally not religious at all (grew up in one of the most liberal parts of the country...probably more in line with Europe than the rest of the country when it comes to this sort of thing...lolol) and I don't have a problem with people that are, as long as they don't continuously force their beliefs upon me. Would anyone who can relate share their experiences at this school. For what its worth, I do a lot of volunteering with a Jesuit-related organization and I am very happy there. Thank you. I sincerely hope I haven't accidentally offended anybody in any way. I just want to see if this school would be a good fit for me. Once again, thank you for your input.

My friend has an additional thought:

"Any integration of spiritual elements into the medical curriculum stems from the belief that spiritual health is an essential component of the human being, whether or not religion is a part of the picture. Loma Linda believes that spirituality and religion are two separate things and that even those who do not follow a specific set of religious beliefs still carry some level of spirituality. What that can mean is a sense of purpose, belonging, purposefulness, meaning - basically what gives you personal strength. This personal strength can stem from family, friends, other loved ones etc. The university itself is grounded in a specific faith background, but the principles taught in your religion classes and chapel services are by and large - relatively nonspecific. In general, all faith backgrounds are welcome, and can relate to those basic principles."

This friend of mine who wrote this has been here for 2.5 years. He continues, "Thus far, I've not noticed anything exclusive to Adventism in the curriculum. However, because of the lifestyle, christian's may feel more comfortable, just by nature of the environment. Regardless, everyone is welcome at Loma Linda."
 
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Thank you for all of this! Question- is chapel service required?

I think you can skip two chapel services per quarter. You accumulate your excused absences, so you could theoretically save them for 2nd year for when you're studying for step 1. That's what most people do.
 
Hey buelleguy, this is an excellent question and I'm going to do my best to address it for you. Sorry for the late response, we were in the midst of test week.

1. Loma Linda is a Seventh-day Adventist school. This means that they do not have any classes or required class events on Saturday.

2. Loma Linda has classes in the medical school curriculum that are religious in nature - inasmuch as they challenge you to think critically about how spirituality and medicine work together. These are pass/fail classes. They are very low stress and are actually a welcome period of respite from the onslaught of regular medschool lectures.

3. Loma Linda has chapel services. They are one hour once a week. They consist of singing, and a message. Maybe a special music brought to you by a talented upperclassman, and a message. None of the messages that I've heard thus far are 'preachy' or trying to 'stuff it down your throat,' which I greatly appreciate myself. Again, these are a welcome respite from the onslaught of medical lectures - in a way, a brief, low stress period to gather your thoughts.

4. Since Loma Linda is associated with religion, they require you to abide by the lifestyle policy. You can find out more about the lifestyle policy on their website, but I'll give you a short summary. (1) Don't drink, (2) Don't do drugs. Abide by those rules during your enrollment at loma linda. What does this mean? It means that as a first year, you are enrolled from August to June. It's really not that difficult of a policy, in my opinion.

5. You may have heard that Loma Linda is a vegetarian campus without caffeine. They don't care if you drink caffeine, or if you eat meat, you just won't find it for sale on campus. Regardless, because Loma Linda is a small town in one of the most populated areas of California (the Inland Empire), you'll find anything you could want one mile away in every direction.

6. You'll be able to find many different ways to volunteer in and around Loma Linda :)

7. No offense taken! I hope I've answered all of your questions!

tl;dr Loma Linda is Seventh-day Adventist and they don't force religion down your throat :)

If anyone has any more questions about Loma Linda, send 'em over. I'll do my best to answer them :)

Wow that was actually quite helpful. Everything that you mentioned sounds more than agreeable. Thank you! Just one more quick question though...how strict are they about the "no drinking" policy. Would they frown upon the occasional beer? Or is it just a matter of not drinking on campus? Thank you for your input.
 
Wow that was actually quite helpful. Everything that you mentioned sounds more than agreeable. Thank you! Just one more quick question though...how strict are they about the "no drinking" policy. Would they frown upon the occasional beer? Or is it just a matter of not drinking on campus? Thank you for your input.

They are pretty serious about it. I had the same apprehension before going here (non-adventist), but not drinking has not been to terrible so far. I heard from years before that people do, but it is off campus (obviously), but I can't really offer you any info further than that. If you have to be able to go grab a beer with your friends after a long week of class, LLU is probably not the place for you.
 
If anyone is interested, they've started interview season a couple weeks early for Adventist students.
 
Got one of these recently:

"This is to advise that all of your recommendations have been received and your file is now complete. When your file has been reviewed, you will be notified of our decision by postal mail."

Did others get this as well? Don't they send II's through email or have they skipped that part for me and are deciding between a hold and rejection? Also, my recommendations were sent over 3 months ago and I've been complete for over a month.
 
Got one of these recently:

"This is to advise that all of your recommendations have been received and your file is now complete. When your file has been reviewed, you will be notified of our decision by postal mail."

Did others get this as well? Don't they send II's through email or have they skipped that part for me and are deciding between a hold and rejection? Also, my recommendations were sent over 3 months ago and I've been complete for over a month.

I got that same message from them last year. It's only a canned message to let you know that your file is now in the stack ready to be looked at for interview invites.
 
I received the same message over a month ago.... I'll be nervous to open that letter for sure! I think it sounds like an excellent program!
 
So I know I'm a little behind in the process, but I just got my Secondary Invite today, and I noticed they seem to encourage a lot of LORs. I can meet all their required letters. Should I add any more? I have 10 options

How many did you guys do?
 
I wanted to ask, this school seems like a strongly religious affiliated med school. I know they talk about accepting without regards for religion, but realistically, what chances would I have as a non-Christian?
 
So I know I'm a little behind in the process, but I just got my Secondary Invite today, and I noticed they seem to encourage a lot of LORs. I can meet all their required letters. Should I add any more? I have 10 options

How many did you guys do?

I had 5
 
I wanted to ask, this school seems like a strongly religious affiliated med school. I know they talk about accepting without regards for religion, but realistically, what chances would I have as a non-Christian?

Your chances are very good.
 
Woot! Got an interview invite today my email :)

Submitted Secondary Sept 20, got the confirm on the 23rd, got an invite today! My interview is on Nov 26 :)

I was raised in LL though, so it may have helped with how fast everything moved for me. Good luck to you all!
 
Woot! Got an interview invite today my email :)

Submitted Secondary Sept 20, got the confirm on the 23rd, got an invite today! My interview is on Nov 26 :)

I was raised in LL though, so it may have helped with how fast everything moved for me. Good luck to you all!

Congrats! Are you seventh-day Adventist?
 
Completion email received on Oct 8, received some email today about FAFSA and financial aid. I'm curious if Loma sends out their letters in waves and if so how often those seem to go out.
 
Plus, what I call the "hidden secondary" (from another section of the app):

Describe your involvement with your religious group (750 characters max)

:)

Does anyone have any insight as to this question and not being religious. My family was never religious and it didnt stick, so my involvement is holidays at best... :/
 
Any advice on how to answer the religion-related questions?

Discuss how your spiritual experience has influenced your life and how you integrate it into your daily life

As a Christian educational institution, the medical curriculum integrates spiritual, ethical, and relational issues from a Christian perspective into the practice of medicine. Weekly chapel services and religion courses are part of this program. Please respond to the above as it relates to your personal educational and career goals (750 characters with space)

Describe your involvement with your religious group

I am not very religious or spiritual, so Im having difficulties answering these questions :(
 
Any advice on how to answer the religion-related questions?

Discuss how your spiritual experience has influenced your life and how you integrate it into your daily life

As a Christian educational institution, the medical curriculum integrates spiritual, ethical, and relational issues from a Christian perspective into the practice of medicine. Weekly chapel services and religion courses are part of this program. Please respond to the above as it relates to your personal educational and career goals (750 characters with space)

Describe your involvement with your religious group

I am not very religious or spiritual, so Im having difficulties answering these questions :(

Answer it to the best of your abilities. If you're not a religious person, then you shouldn't hide it, but instead you may prefer to tell them how you will fit into the mission statement of the school.

The motto of the school is "To Make Man Whole". What does that mean to you? How would you fit into the wholeness perspective that this school provides?

Just some ideas - hope this helps.
 
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Answer it to the best of your abilities. If you're not a religious person, then you shouldn't hide it, but instead you may prefer to tell them how you will fit into the mission statement of the school.

The motto of the school is "To Make Man Whole". What does that mean to you? How would you fit into the wholeness perspective that this school provides?

Just some ideas - hope this helps.

Thank you so much for the quick response. I will think more about the motto when trying to answer those questions! :)
 
Interview invite today! Super stoked! complete date 8/13, IS, non-SDA. Interview scheduled for 12/5.
 
Interview invite today! Super stoked! complete date 8/13, IS, non-SDA. Interview scheduled for 12/5.

II too! Complete early September, OOS, non-SDA. Did you get a confirmation email after scheduling?
 
II too! Complete early September, OOS, non-SDA. Did you get a confirmation email after scheduling?

Not yet, did you? I think they said they were gonna send a snail mail confirmation. Did you schedule for 12/5 also?
 
Congrats to you all who got an II!!! Was this by snail mail or email?
 
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