2018-2019 Saint Louis University School of Medicine

[Lucca]

1. Will you be a full-time student for the 2018 - 2019 academic year? (10000 characters)
2. Do you wish to include any comments, other than your AMCAS personal statement, to the Admissions Committee? (10000 characters)
3. Were you ever the recipient of any action (e.g. dismissal, disqualification, suspension, etc.) by any college for unacceptable academic performance or conduct violations? (10000 characters)
4. MD-PhD only: Relate your current thinking about the type and scope of clinical career that you seek. Remember that most applicants cannot identify at this point the specific medical disciplines they might choose for residency programs. However, you may have preliminary ideas about your relative interest in direct patient care vs. consultative service, translational vs. basic research, academic medical center vs. corporate, etc. (max 10,000 characters)


Good luck to everyone applying!

Interview Feedback: Saint Louis University School of Medicine

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[JugglesMed]

The previous secondary questions show a 10k character counter max. Question for admitted students here, did you write anywhere close to 10k?

Please describe your current activities... (max 10,000 characters)

Mine is less than 1k characters for this question, I feel like it doesn't take much to answer.

 

[Hirro]

The previous secondary questions show a 10k character counter max. Question for admitted students here, did you write anywhere close to 10k?

Please describe your current activities... (max 10,000 characters)

Mine is less than 1k characters for this question, I feel like it doesn't take much to answer.

I think it's left vague to see what they get in response. I didn't even come close to getting half of the characters.

 

[owlsandturtles]

Secondary received!

There is an optional essay: "Do you wish to include any comments, other than your AMCAS personal statement, to the Admissions Committee?" (10,000 chars)

 

[JugglesMed]

Secondary received! Submitting within a few hours.

 

[Hirro]

Secondary received! Same prompts as last year.

 

[premed1110]

Secondary received! Same prompts as last year.

There aren't any actual essay prompts are there?

 

[premed1110]

Secondary received!

There is an optional essay: "Do you wish to include any comments, other than your AMCAS personal statement, to the Admissions Committee?" (10,000 chars)
.

Is it looked down upon if you don't include any comments? Or is it just really to explain ties to the school or bad grades?

 

[Hirro]

There aren't any actual essay prompts are there?

The only essay prompts are the ones posted above by other users.

 

[smileyfacegirl27]

I would also like to know if it will be detrimental if I don't add any additional comments? Is optional really optional for sluh?

 

[bvan95]

The only essay prompts are the ones posted above by other users.

Did you guys have your applications verified already?

 

[smileyfacegirl27]

Did you guys have your applications verified already?

Yes for me, mine was verified around June 16th(ish) and I had submitted it for verification on June 1st.

 

[bvan95]

Yes for me, mine was verified around June 16th(ish) and I had submitted it for verification on June 1st.

Wow! Good job! I submitted mine June 19th 🙁 Good luck with your application 😀

 

[JugglesMed]

I would also like to know if it will be detrimental if I don't add any additional comments? Is optional really optional for sluh?

Reading old threads from this school, it seems like there are two approaches.
Some use it as a Why this School Essay, others leave it blank.
I went through some old threads and it seems like people that left it blank did receive interviews.
The whole process is random though so who knows what they want.

 

[JugglesMed]

Just submitted!

 

[smileyfacegirl27]

Just submitted! (Without filling in any additional comments/writing that optional essay) so wish me luck y'all 🙂

 

[deleted787552]

Lol everyone submitting secondaries already and I still haven’t been verified

 

[Golden_Caramel]

6/29 Secondary Received

 

[Pharaoh95]

Submitted the secondary but my portal shows that "no letters of recommendation have been submitted" so technically I'm not complete. Anyone else have this issue?

Edit: "Please note that it takes 24 hours to load letters of recommendation into your file."

 

[chemist13579]

Can anyone comment on using the optional essay as a diversity essay?

 

[4Cheese]

Secondary received. Good luck to everyone!

 

[Dr.BrownBean]

Secondary received 6/29. Submitted 6/30. Now just waiting for my committee letter to be submitted. Good luck everyone!

 

[FutureDoctor06]

Did anyone not write anything for the optional essay? What is the consensus on this?

 

[Kingsmen2018]

rising m1. feel free to ask me anything on here

 

[Wahkoon]

Did anyone not write anything for the optional essay? What is the consensus on this?

I submitted this morning and I included my prewritten diversity statement since I was able to relate it back to the mission statement. I think the consensus from past years is that it may help and probably won’t hurt unless you put your foot in your mouth. They didn’t specifically ask for diversity/why our school, so it may not be worth it to try and force one - make sure you have something worth saying. My opinion is to just not overthink it. You’ll be fine either way.

 

[Master Thinker]

Did anyone not write anything for the optional essay? What is the consensus on this?

I used my diversity essay. I am never sure what to put for those optional ones so I just copy and paste what I have. Since it's optional I don't think it will matter much what you say.

 

[Sagebrush]

@Lucca

1. Will you be a full-time student for the 2018 - 2019 academic year? (10000 characters)
2. Do you wish to include any comments, other than your AMCAS personal statement, to the Admissions Committee? (10000 characters)
3. Were you ever the recipient of any action (e.g. dismissal, disqualification, suspension, etc.) by any college for unacceptable academic performance or conduct violations? (10000 characters)
4. MD-PhD only: Relate your current thinking about the type and scope of clinical career that you seek. Remember that most applicants cannot identify at this point the specific medical disciplines they might choose for residency programs. However, you may have preliminary ideas about your relative interest in direct patient care vs. consultative service, translational vs. basic research, academic medical center vs. corporate, etc. (max 10,000 characters)

 

[FutureDoctor06]

I submitted this morning and I included my prewritten diversity statement since I was able to relate it back to the mission statement. I think the consensus from past years is that it may help and probably won’t hurt unless you put your foot in your mouth. They didn’t specifically ask for diversity/why our school, so it may not be worth it to try and force one - make sure you have something worth saying. My opinion is to just not overthink it. You’ll be fine either way.

I used my diversity essay. I am never sure what to put for those optional ones so I just copy and paste what I have. Since it's optional I don't think it will matter much what you say.

Thanks! I appreciate it. I ended up not writing anything for it and just submitted today!

 

[liutimot]

Just submitted! Look forward to this!

 

[chewychocochip]

For the first question, do we elaborate if we are are a full-time student or if we are not a full-time student? My primary isn't verified yet, so I unfortunately don't have the secondary in front of me 🙁

 

[deleted905798]

rising m1. feel free to ask me anything on here

Can you tell us some general pro/cons about the curicullum? Location? student body?

Sorry if this is very general but I'm an OOS student with little exposure to SLU other than their website!

 

[Kingsmen2018]

Can you tell us some general pro/cons about the curicullum? Location? student body?

Sorry if this is very general but I'm an OOS student with little exposure to SLU other than their website!

I will tell you in about a month!

 

[smileyfacegirl27]

Can you tell us some general pro/cons about the curicullum? Location? student body?

Sorry if this is very general but I'm an OOS student with little exposure to SLU other than their website!

While I don't attend SLU (obviously since I'm applying there now) three of my cousins are in their nursing program and my mom went there and I currently live in St. Louis - so I can only really answer this from a location perspective. As far as living in St. Louis...

Cons:
- SLU is not really considered to be in a good part of town, so when you are off campus but still in the city you may have to be more aware of your safety and surroundings
- Weather in St. Louis is certainly unpredictable, it gets incredibly humid during the summer and it may be snowing in the morning but too hot for a jacket in the afternoon during some parts of the fall

Pros:
- St. Louis has a lot of free attractions - our St. Louis Zoo is rated #1, and our history museum, art museum, and science center are all free admission as well. The Muny (an outdoor theater) also has 9 rows of free seats to every show and there are plenty of things to do in Forest Park and in the St. Louis area as well as tons of events and festivals always going on
- You'll get to try Ted Drew's Frozen custard, Fitz's rootbeer, toasted ravioli, and gooey butter cake (need I say more)
- St. Louis Cardinals Baseball is almost like a cult here and everyone is invited... so if you enjoy baseball prepare to become obsessed like the rest of the city!

 

[Boola Boy]

Submitted my secondary here a few days ago...good luck everyone!

 

[westsidestoryz]

10,000 was no joke..

Just filled out about 700 characters worth on the what have Ive been doing essay

and for the additional comment, I just put my diversity essay in, still 8500 characters left lol...

Hopefully they like it short and sweet

 

[hydroxyurea]

Current M4

Pros
- Great patients to learn from. The population we serve is very sick, poor, has unmanaged diseases and you will see complications of late-stage disease which you might not at many other centers or those that see more well-to-do patients.
- Has all major medical specialties represented and available for student rotations
- Pass/fail M1-M2. They are changing it to be a bit more strenuous with NBME exams but I think you will be very well prepared for step 1.
- Student run clinics and service opportunities are very strong
- New $550 million hospital in 2020.
- Good balance of clinical rotations in M3 ranging from inner-city university hospital to large affiliated community hospitals
- Students generally friendly, not many gunners.
- Despite being in Midwest, accepting of LGBT. The grove in STL is the hub here if that's your thing



Neutral
- Nice sim lab, however not utilized as much as it could be
- Lots of M1-2 interest groups, however they don't always have tremendous faculty affiliation
- Cost of attendance high, but not out of line with other private schools.
- I know people that got >260 on step 1 and those that struggled to pass. Your experience is self-driven
- Midwest not for everyone. Affordable with little traffic and good food, but no mountains or oceans nearby. Hot summers.
- Solid match list. Not as many competitive specialties and "top 10" programs as some other schools but competitive specialties like plastics, neurosurg, IR, rad onc, derm, ortho all represented.
- People from across the country (more West coast and Cali/WA than East ocast).



Cons
- LCME probation. Expected to pass this fall, but didn't help reputation, though ultimately a lot of positive staff moves were made and new leadership is enthusiastic to improve things. Central office was at times disorganized previously but noticably improving with a few hiccups. SLU no longer on probation as of 10/10/18
- Many fields at SLU don't have a ton of clinical research
- You are in the same town as WashU and can be hard not to compare their research $$$ to ours $.
- Current hospital not new.




Overall
Pass-fail in M1-M2, strong service opportunities, decent prep for step 1 and step 2. Less clinical research opportunities than some big-name schools. Great pathology to learn from in M3-M4. Match list good but not top-tier.

 

[CAFFEINE!]

Current M4

Pros
- Great patients to learn from. The population we serve is very sick, poor, has unmanaged diseases and you will see complications of late-stage disease which you might not at many other centers or those that see more well-to-do patients.
- Has all major medical specialties represented and available for student rotations
- Pass/fail M1-M2. They are changing it to be a bit more strenuous with NBME exams but I think you will be very well prepared for step 1.
- Student run clinics and service opportunities are very strong
- New $550 million hospital in 2020.
- Good balance of clinical rotations in M3 ranging from inner-city university hospital to large affiliated community hospitals
- Students generally friendly, not many gunners.
- Despite being in Midwest, accepting of LGBT. The grove in STL is the hub here if that's your thing



Neutral
- Nice sim lab, however not utilized as much as it could be
- Lots of M1-2 interest groups, however they don't always have tremendous faculty affiliation
- Cost of attendance high, but not out of line with other private schools.
- I know people that got >260 on step 1 and those that struggled to pass. Your experience is self-driven
- Midwest not for everyone. Affordable with little traffic and good food, but no mountains or oceans nearby. Hot summers.
- Solid match list. Not as many competitive specialties and "top 10" programs as some other schools but competitive specialties like plastics, neurosurg, IR, rad onc, derm, ortho all represented.
- People from across the country (more West coast and Cali/WA than East ocast).



Cons
- LCME probation. Expected to pass this fall, but didn't help reputation, though ultimately a lot of positive staff moves were made and new leadership is enthusiastic to improve things. Central office was at times disorganized previously but noticably improving with a few hiccups.
- Many fields at SLU don't have a ton of clinical research
- You are in the same town as WashU and can be hard not to compare their research $$$ to ours $.
- Current hospital not new.




Overall
Pass-fail in M1-M2, strong service opportunities, decent prep for step 1 and step 2. Less clinical research opportunities than some big-name schools. Great pathology to learn from in M3-M4. Match list good but not top-tier.

Thank you for this. May the match be ever in your favor.

 

[notfanning]

Has anyone recently received an email from this school who didn’t apply? I’m trying to suss out whether they send promotional emails to everyone who submitted AMCAS, or if they scouted me from their Med-MAR. If they sent it because they genuinely want me to apply I may consider adding them to my list, but I’d be less inclined if they’re sending it to everyone.

 

[pstomd]

Has anyone recently received an email from this school who didn’t apply? I’m trying to suss out whether they send promotional emails to everyone who submitted AMCAS, or if they scouted me from their Med-MAR. If they sent it because they genuinely want me to apply I may consider adding them to my list, but I’d be less inclined if they’re sending it to everyone.

Just got that email. I had already submitted (and had marked complete) my secondary when I got it. For a second I thought it was a rejection email.

 

[SeltzerMFwater]

Just got that email. I had already submitted (and had marked complete) my secondary when I got it. For a second I thought it was a rejection email.

+1

Sent from my SM-G950U using SDN mobile

 

[Amroashi]

I apologize if I sounds ignorant, but how competitive/good is this school?

 

[Amroashi]

Has anyone recently received an email from this school who didn’t apply? I’m trying to suss out whether they send promotional emails to everyone who submitted AMCAS, or if they scouted me from their Med-MAR. If they sent it because they genuinely want me to apply I may consider adding them to my list, but I’d be less inclined if they’re sending it to everyone.

I received it too

 

[B4y 4RE4 N4Tiv3]

Has anyone recently received an email from this school who didn’t apply? I’m trying to suss out whether they send promotional emails to everyone who submitted AMCAS, or if they scouted me from their Med-MAR. If they sent it because they genuinely want me to apply I may consider adding them to my list, but I’d be less inclined if they’re sending it to everyone.

AAHH!!! you are also in Med-MAR hopefully you get the one from Loyola, they waive the supplemental app fee which is nice.

 

[TobyFlendersin]

AAHH!!! you are also in Med-MAR hopefully you get the one from Loyola, they waive the supplemental app fee which is nice.

Do schools only send these emails to Med-MAR applicants with certain stats/MCAT scores? I'm also in Med-MAR but my primary won't be verified for a couple more days.

 

[B4y 4RE4 N4Tiv3]

Do schools only send these emails to Med-MAR applicants with certain stats/MCAT scores? I'm also in Med-MAR but my primary won't be verified for a couple more days.

Yeah I got one from Ohio state, Loyola, Iowa, Western mich and cleveland clinic lerner.

I think you have to be verified first because I started getting them after I was verified.

 

[notfanning]

Do schools only send these emails to Med-MAR applicants with certain stats/MCAT scores? I'm also in Med-MAR but my primary won't be verified for a couple more days.

Yeah I got one from Ohio state, Loyola, Iowa, Western mich and cleveland clinic lerner.

I think you have to be verified first because I started getting them after I was verified.

I received the Loyola one even though I hadn’t been verified yet. That was during the whole debacle where they sent the email to too many applicants, though, and I didn’t get a follow-up one. I also received an email from Oakland U about a week ago, but both that one and this one from St. Louis aren’t as personalized as the original from Loyola was.

 

[deleted930295]

For what it's worth, I got the email last night but I am not URM. I do have a high MCAT though, so maybe they were sending it to a bunch of different groups?

 

[TobyFlendersin]

For what it's worth, I got the email last night but I am not URM. I do have a high MCAT though, so maybe they were sending it to a bunch of different groups?

It’s most likely sent to people with a certain MCAT score. Cutoff might be lower for URMs but it’s still most likely performance based

 

[qwerta]

Has anyone received an II yet?

 

[champagnemamasita]

do they tell you when you are under review? my app has been complete for a while