2014-2015 Saint Louis University Application Thread

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Has anyone interviewed with Dr. Marie Philipneri by any chance? If so feel free to PM me if you have any tips or suggestions for the interview!
 
giraffesuptop said:
Hi guys, to any current students or applicants who have already interviewed, what aspects of SLU impress and attract you to this school? Anything stand out as being exceptional at SLU?
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I'm a current M2 so I can really only speak for the pre-clinical years. What really stood out to me about SLU (and what I have experienced personally) is the dedication of the faculty to student well-being. The P/F curriculum is awesome, I would highly recommend attending a school that's strictly P/F. It really takes the pressure off, knowing you're not competing with your classmates. The deans and other staff truly care about student opinions and are highly receptive to feedback. They make sure that the curriculum is constantly improving, which centers around student input. Recorded lectures are super nice, though most schools have these now (you'll probably regret it if you attend a school with mandatory lectures). Aside from SLU, St.Louis is just a really fun city. Ignore what you see on the news about Ferguson, that truly isn't representative of the city. There are so many restaurants, free events, breweries, wineries, and things to do in general. I know that SLU doesn't have the flashiest buildings, and our library is outdated (though they're slowly replacing furniture and other things), but I really love it and I'm so glad I ended up here and not at Mizzou.
 
g0ldbear said:
Accepted about 30 minutes ago via email!!!!! First acceptance so I'm still pinching myself to make sure it's real!!!

OOS, interviewed 10/26 with Dr. Claudia Vidal, complete late July, Lizzy M ~70-71.

Good luck to everyone else!
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Congrats! SLU was my first acceptance too, and there's really no feeling like it.
 
How receptive is SLU to arranging students to meet with a current med student for another tour/more information? I was hoping to be back in Saint Louis early spring and want to check the school out one more time.

My apologies in advance if this has been asked already. Thank you!
 
Hi my fellow SDNers,
My interview at SLU is not until the end of January. If any of you plan to cancel your interview during the month of January please PM me. I'd love to interview earlier if possible.
Thank you very much
 
kiki14 said:
Just got an II today. It's been almost 4 months since I submitted my secondary, so you never know what will happen.

Hope for the best!
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Congrats!!! What are your stats, if you don't mind sharing?
 
By any chance, has anyone interviewed with Dr Chacko?
 
Just received a spot on the alternate list after interview on 11/11. Anyone know how they pull students off the waitlist? I don't recall if they talked about it during interview day
 
Buttermellow said:
I'm a current M2 so I can really only speak for the pre-clinical years. What really stood out to me about SLU (and what I have experienced personally) is the dedication of the faculty to student well-being. The P/F curriculum is awesome, I would highly recommend attending a school that's strictly P/F. It really takes the pressure off, knowing you're not competing with your classmates. The deans and other staff truly care about student opinions and are highly receptive to feedback. They make sure that the curriculum is constantly improving, which centers around student input. Recorded lectures are super nice, though most schools have these now (you'll probably regret it if you attend a school with mandatory lectures). Aside from SLU, St.Louis is just a really fun city. Ignore what you see on the news about Ferguson, that truly isn't representative of the city. There are so many restaurants, free events, breweries, wineries, and things to do in general. I know that SLU doesn't have the flashiest buildings, and our library is outdated (though they're slowly replacing furniture and other things), but I really love it and I'm so glad I ended up here and not at Mizzou.
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Thanks for your insight!

Can you also describe the preclinical curriculum? How much of the curriculum is pbl?

Are there any aspects of the curriculum that you think should be improved?
 
Do you guys think theyll release decisions this week or will things be slowed down because of the holidays? It looks like decisions come out every two weeks
 
aov12 said:
Do you guys think theyll release decisions this week or will things be slowed down because of the holidays? It looks like decisions come out every two weeks
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I just sent an email to admissions and received an automated reply back that they won't be back in the office until January 5th. So I don't think you'll hear anything this week. Hang in there!
 
last year's thread people were notified @ around jan 10. seems like 1-2 weeks after the holiday is over.
 
Congratulations to all those recently accepted! I'm an M1 at SLU, and like my M2 colleague, I can only really give a ton of insight into pre-clinical curriculum. However, if you have any questions about SLU, medical school, or anything at all, please feel free to ask me in this thread or send me a message. If I can't answer a question, I will certainly ask fellow classmates to try and get you an answer.

Congratulations again to everyone, and I hope to see many of you next Fall!
 
Paradism said:
Congratulations to all those recently accepted! I'm an M1 at SLU, and like my M2 colleague, I can only really give a ton of insight into pre-clinical curriculum. However, if you have any questions about SLU, medical school, or anything at all, please feel free to ask me in this thread or send me a message. If I can't answer a question, I will certainly ask fellow classmates to try and get you an answer.

Congratulations again to everyone, and I hope to see many of you next Fall!
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Thanks for doing this! What's a typical week like for you?
 
YellowHairSpray said:
Thanks for doing this! What's a typical week like for you?
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SLU has a lot of flexibility, so everyone has very different ways of studying/engaging in classroom material and my typical week might look very different from many of my classmates.

I do not generally attend lecture; I usually watch the lectures online so I can speed up/slow down the lecture at my leisure and pause to take notes. I generally head to the med campus library early in the morning and spend between 8-10 hours watching lectures from the previous day and studying (including lunch and coffee breaks). Depending on the classes we are currently taking we can have mandatory activities and or lectures, such as anatomy lab, clinical skills classes, or small group activities. These can range to just a couple in the week to practically every day in the case of anatomy.

There are always plenty of interest group meetings/medical talks going on week to week, so many of us attend those as a good study break and to learn things outside of the core curriculum.

Roughly every other week we all have an elective class/activity which we participate in. It's scheduled for Wednesdays, and we do not have other classes schedule during this day, but the actual time people are involved in their electives is specific to their activity.

Volunteer opportunities are squeezed in whenever they are available and when we have time. That's a pretty open ended experience, so everyone has their own schedule for that stuff.

I hope that didn't sound too disconnected! Essentially I spend most of my week in the library watching lectures and studying, going to lunch meetings, participating in mandatory activities, and squeezing in extracurricular stuff and socializing when I can. If I can be more specific please let me know!

Oh, and as a final note, I usually use weekends to play catch up on material or to do something fun and social. The availability of weekends differs by class load, but if I've been keeping up on material throughout the week I usually have at least one weekend day to blow off class and relax.
 
Last edited:
Paradism said:
SLU has a lot of flexibility, so everyone has very different ways of studying/engaging in classroom material and my typical week might look very different from many of my classmates.

I do not generally attend lecture; I usually watch the lectures online so I can speed up/slow down the lecture at my leisure and pause to take notes. I generally head to the med campus library early in the morning and spend between 8-10 hours watching lectures from the previous day and studying (including lunch and coffee breaks). Depending on the classes we are currently taking we can have mandatory activities and or lectures, such as anatomy lab, clinical skills classes, or small group activities. These can range to just a couple in the week to practically every day in the case of anatomy.

There are always plenty of interest group meetings/medical talks going on week to week, so many of us attend those as a good study break and to learn things outside of the core curriculum.

Roughly every other week we all have an elective class/activity which we participate in. It's scheduled for Wednesdays, and we do not have other classes schedule during this day, but the actual time people are involved in their electives is specific to their activity.

Volunteer opportunities are squeezed in whenever they are available and when we have time. That's a pretty open ended experience, so everyone has their own schedule for that stuff.

I hope that didn't sound too disconnected! Essentially I spend most of my week in the library watching lectures and studying, going to lunch meetings, participating in mandatory activities, and squeezing in extracurricular stuff and socializing when I can. If I can be more specific please let me know!

Oh, and as a final note, I usually use weekends to play catch up on material or to do something fun and social. The availability of weekends differs by class load, but if I've been keeping up on material throughout the week I usually have at least one weekend day to blow off class and relax.
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What is the cost of living like for St. Louis? How far away do most students live? Are there certain popular apartment complexes, etc for med students?

Are pre-clinical exams structured like the boards at all with MC, or are they a combo of MC, short answer, etc? Does it depend on the class?
 
giraffesuptop said:
Thanks for your insight!

Can you also describe the preclinical curriculum? How much of the curriculum is pbl?

Are there any aspects of the curriculum that you think should be improved?
Click to expand...

The pre-clinical curriculum is block-based. First year your blocks are basic areas of medicine. You start off with biochem/cell bio, then anatomy, micro/immuno, pharm, etc. Second year the blocks are organ-system based: cardio, lungs, kidneys, etc. Not much of the curriculum is PBL. There are group activities that are more PBL-style, moreso in first year than in second. You'll also have group activities where you interview a standardized patient, usually for a complaint related to whatever block you're in. There will be a 3rd or 4th year there to help guide you through it. Some of these groups are required attendance, but most are not (especially in second year). You'll have labs with some courses, some of them being more problem-solving oriented and some being more focused on histology or anatomy. Lectures (and some labs) are all recorded, so you don't need to worry about attending class if you find that it's not your thing.

SLU recently (in the last couple years) revamped their curriculum, shortening the pre-clincal years by a few months (I take step 1 in April, which is about 2-3 months earlier than most other schools). I find most of the classes to be very good, with the occasional bad lecturer. SLU tries really hard to improve classes from year-to-year. There are surveys after every block where people give feedback, and the deans and course directors sit down with a group of students and discuss the points the class brought up in the surveys. The administration is really receptive to class feedback and is always trying to improve. They really put our happiness and education at the top of their lists! Plus the P/F no-ranking system is great. Makes everything a lot less stressful and competitive.
 
singergirl18 said:
What is the cost of living like for St. Louis? How far away do most students live? Are there certain popular apartment complexes, etc for med students?

Are pre-clinical exams structured like the boards at all with MC, or are they a combo of MC, short answer, etc? Does it depend on the class?
Click to expand...

Cost of living is fairly cheap, about on-par with the rest of the midwest. I spend a bit over $500 for a 1-bedroom apartment, which is probably a bit less than some of my classmates spend (I'm pretty frugal, since I'm living on loans). Last year I shared a pretty nice apartment with a friend, $400 apiece for rent. I like using hotpads.com or padmapper.com to look for apartments. Most students live near school, in the Central West End, Shaw, or Tower Grove South neighborhoods. Don't be afraid to look outside those areas though, there are lots of cool areas that are 10-20 minute drives from school. Here is a google doc with housing statistics: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FsoTGMHVd6mbgBYQVWWpnwA0LeYGxII_2PuLJYjNXeU/edit

All exams are "USMLE-style" aka multiple-choice, single best answer. The only exam we had that wasn't MC was in Ethics. Both Anatomy and Neurology had portions of the exam that were not multiple choice (lab identification or slide (photo) identification)
 
Anyone else having trouble accessing their supplemental app? Been trying to check my status, but says my login info is wrong despite trying several times (I know my login and pw are correct).
 
Got my ii earlier today after 3 freaking months. Contemplating if I should even attend my interview though...
 
shaq93 said:
Got my ii earlier today after 3 freaking months. Contemplating if I should even attend my interview though...
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Congrats! Why wouldn't you go through with the interview? Just curious.

Have they started scheduling interviews in February yet?
 
ilovemyhonda said:
Congrats! Why wouldn't you go through with the interview? Just curious.

Have they started scheduling interviews in February yet?
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I already got accepted into a school that I like and St. Louis is over 11 hours driving distance from my house. Despite this Slu has a lot of features that appeal to me so Im having trouble deciding if I want to attend my interview or not. I'll have to check if they've started scheduling February interviews.
 
shaq93 said:
I already got accepted into a school that I like and St. Louis is over 11 hours driving distance from my house. Despite this Slu has a lot of features that appeal to me so Im having trouble deciding if I want to attend my interview or not. I'll have to check if they've started scheduling February interviews.
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Congratulation on the II!

SLU is on the costly side with tuition /fees over $50K per year, although it is my understanding that everyone who submits FAFSA with parental data does receive a $10K scholarship. That said, distance shouldn't be much of an issue if you see yourself attending SLU. Good luck!
 
Hi guys, whats the best way I could go about letting them know I need them to use an alternate email address? I used my alma mater email when applying without thinking they'd cancel my account so soon and with little notice (end of january)... Little worried now.
 
mmcoffee said:
Hi guys, whats the best way I could go about letting them know I need them to use an alternate email address? I used my alma mater email when applying without thinking they'd cancel my account so soon and with little notice (end of january)... Little worried now.
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All you need to do is change your email address that is associated with your AMCAS.
 
sending out good vibes to all my early-december-interview homies hoping we get some good news next week!
happy new year everyone.
 
aov12 said:
sending out good vibes to all my early-december-interview homies hoping we get some good news next week!
happy new year everyone.
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Are we supposed to hear next week?! I forgot to ask during interview day. So exciting!
 
Dare2Dream said:
Congratulation on the II!

SLU is on the costly side with tuition /fees over $50K per year, although it is my understanding that everyone who submits FAFSA with parental data does receive a $10K scholarship. That said, distance shouldn't be much of an issue if you see yourself attending SLU. Good luck!
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Did you mean to say *without* parental data? M1 year I filed with parent data, received no scholarship. Second year I applied without parental data, received 10k scholarship. Of course, this is just n=1, so I can't say that this is true for everyone.
 
sahmoc said:
Are we supposed to hear next week?! I forgot to ask during interview day. So exciting!
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i'm not sure...they told me 4-6 weeks on my interview day and monday will be exactly 6 weeks for me! they may not have factored in the holidays when they gave that estimate, though. so who knows
 
aov12 said:
i'm not sure...they told me 4-6 weeks on my interview day and monday will be exactly 6 weeks for me! they may not have factored in the holidays when they gave that estimate, though. so who knows
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mid november has not heard yet and it has been 8 weeks. december will probably be end of january. holiday usually pushes it back 2-3 weeks.
 
Buttermellow said:
Did you mean to say *without* parental data? M1 year I filed with parent data, received no scholarship. Second year I applied without parental data, received 10k scholarship. Of course, this is just n=1, so I can't say that this is true for everyone.
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My notes from a few weeks ago show $10K with parental data, otherwise $5K without it. Perhaps it is not set in stone and there are other considerations each year but upfront they seem to be suggesting putting in parental data as well.
 
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