2023-2024 Loma Linda

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chilly_md

chilly_md

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2023-2024 Loma Linda Secondary Essay Prompts:

1) What makes LLUSM particularly attractive to you? (275 word limit)

2) Our medical curriculum integrates spiritual, ethical, and relational issues from the Christian perspective into the practice of medicine. Religion courses and weekly chapel services are part of this program. Please respond to the preceding statements as they relate to your personal educational and career goals. (275 word limit)

3) What personal attributes make you a desirable candidate for admission to LLUSM? (275 word limit)

4) Identify experiences in your life that illustrate your service to others. (275 word limit)

5) Discuss how your spiritual origins, development, and experiences have influenced and been integrated into your daily life. (275 word limit)

6) Please describe your current involvement (or reason for not being involved) with a church or religious group. (275 word limit)

7) If you have already graduated, briefly describe your activities since graduation and your planned activities prior to matriculation into medical school. (275 word limit)

8) Behavioral Expectations. LLU has expectations which include respect for all persons and high standards of personal and professional conduct. This includes abstinence from alcohol, nicotine, cannabinoids, and illicit drugs/substances in all forms. Please describe any use of the above substances within the past year. (No word limit)

Good luck to everyone applying!

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LLU MS3 here. If you read any of the prior forums from previous years, I've done my best to help answer any questions or concerns regarding our program. I am also able to funnel questions to my fellow classmates if there is something I cannot answer myself.

Feel free to send me a PM or tag me in a comment below. I'm not always the best about checking SDN consistently, but I promise I will get around to questions eventually.

Wishing everyone the best as this new application season opens up!
 
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chilly_md said:
Please feel free to tag a pre-medical moderator once the secondary prompt has been posted.

Good luck to everyone applying!

Interview feedback:

www.studentdoctor.net

Loma Linda University School of Medicine Interview Feedback

Review of Loma Linda University School of Medicine Interview Feedback. Get the latest information, opinions of fellow students, and LizzyM and SDN Rankings.
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@chilly_md
All of these are 275 Words or less #8 doesn't have a limit

1) What makes LLUSM particularly attractive to you?

2) Our medical curriculum integrates spiritual, ethical, and relational issues from the Christian perspective into the practice of medicine. Religion courses and weekly chapel services are part of this program. Please respond to the preceding statements as they relate to your personal educational and career goals.

3)What personal attributes make you a desirable candidate for admission to LLUSM?

4) Identify experiences in your life that illustrate your service to others.

5) Discuss how your spiritual origins, development, and experiences have influenced and been integrated into your daily life.

6) Please describe your current involvement (or reason for not being involved) with a church or religious group.

7) If you have already graduated, briefly describe your activities since graduation and your planned activities prior to matriculation into medical school.

8) Behavioral Expectations. LLU has expectations which include respect for all persons and high standards of personal and professional conduct. This includes abstinence from alcohol, nicotine, cannabinoids, and illicit drugs/substances in all forms. Please describe any use of the above substances within the past year.
 
Secondary received. The portal keeps saying that my login has failed. It keeps saying so even after resetting my password again. Anyone know what to do??
 
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Topwaterfrog01 said:
LLU MS3 here. If you read any of the prior forums from previous years, I've done my best to help answer any questions or concerns regarding our program. I am also able to funnel questions to my fellow classmates if there is something I cannot answer myself.

Feel free to send me a PM or tag me in a comment below. I'm not always the best about checking SDN consistently, but I promise I will get around to questions eventually.

Wishing everyone the best as this new application season opens up!
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How does the school feel about nonreligious applicants? I'm agnostic, but I'm very spiritual and really respect the Christian/7th day Adventist lifestyle. Lots of family and friends who go to church, I live my life according to Christian values and do lots of service, etc. Spent lots of time honoring the spirituality of patients through a religious hospice org. I understand if I'm not what they are looking for, of course.
 
Rooks said:
How does the school feel about nonreligious applicants? I'm agnostic, but I'm very spiritual and really respect the Christian/7th day Adventist lifestyle. Lots of family and friends who go to church, I live my life according to Christian values and do lots of service, etc. Spent lots of time honoring the spirituality of patients through a religious hospice org. I understand if I'm not what they are looking for, of course.
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I'm not a loma linda student (also applying this cycle) but I have tons of friends there (med school, dental school, PAs, and I also go to church over there), believe me when I tell you that there's a big amount of Loma Linda students that are not SDA. However, they DO prioritize SDA applicants and give them a spot. There's some SDA undergrads that Loma Linda prioritize as well, La Sierra University, Walla Walla, PUC, etc. With that said, although most of the SDA applicants are not as competitive and they still receive a spot in LLU, is not ALL of them. If you are SDA and your stats are kinda trash, you won't get in Loma Linda and they will prioritize someone else that have better stats than you and could make a good fit in the school. Yes, is a SDA school that would love that all their students were SDA, BUT, they are also a good medical school that want all their students to MATCH, and pass their courses.
I believe that you have a good chance if you have a good application and make sure to tell them that although you are not SDA, you are a good fit for the school
 
dklinsmann said:
@Topwaterfrog01

What is the clinical experience like at LLU? What is the level of spirituality applied to medicine? I’m curious.
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Hey! I don't want to step on topwaterfrog's toes, but I am also a 3rd year at Loma and thought I could offer my thoughts on this.

The clinical experience at LLU is one of the school's strengths. There is ample opportunity to get involved in the specialties you want, and the requirements of third year allow you to get the necessary clinical exposure and skills to succeed in any specialty. In third year, I regularly see my own patients and am expected to perform physical exams and develop a care plan alongside the residents, which has helped deepen my clinical skills.

As far as the spirituality component, in my experience it really is what you make of it. During the first two years, there are religion classes you take that somewhat have ties to medicine, and you learn how to take a spiritual history of a patient. During clinical years though, it really is up to the individual how much you want to apply these to your patients. I know of students who regularly ask patients if they want to pray with them. I lean more on the indirect side of seeing if the patient brings it up in the interview, or if they use religion as a way to support themselves through tough times or as a sense of community for them. Loma's big value is "whole-person care" and they see a patient's religion/spirituality as part of that, and a necessary part of the patient experience to evaluate in order to provide them the best care possible. Therefore, you will definitely be asked to know how to implement this into the care of your patients, but, again, how much you do that can be flexible depending on your comfortability.
 
Rooks said:
How does the school feel about nonreligious applicants? I'm agnostic, but I'm very spiritual and really respect the Christian/7th day Adventist lifestyle. Lots of family and friends who go to church, I live my life according to Christian values and do lots of service, etc. Spent lots of time honoring the spirituality of patients through a religious hospice org. I understand if I'm not what they are looking for, of course.
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Hey! Also an MS3 at Loma here. In short, they do heavily weigh SDA background in the admissions process, but I believe alignment for the schools values of whole-person care and community involvement is equally as important. Therefore, SDA + good fit is best, non-SDA + good fit is also great, SDA + bad fit is a bummer but okay, non-SDA + bad fit is a real bummer.

For context, I am a non-SDA christian, so I truly do not know LLU admission from the SDA perspective. These are my thoughts on the process as a non-SDA applicant/student.
 
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Rooks said:
How does the school feel about nonreligious applicants? I'm agnostic, but I'm very spiritual and really respect the Christian/7th day Adventist lifestyle. Lots of family and friends who go to church, I live my life according to Christian values and do lots of service, etc. Spent lots of time honoring the spirituality of patients through a religious hospice org. I understand if I'm not what they are looking for, of course.
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There are a handful of non-religious students in my class, but they are by far the minority. I'd say maybe 1-3 people in my class would claim to be agnostic. I know many who would claim to be associated with SDA or Christianity but only by name. Whether they live like it is a completely different question. If you are agnostic though, you most likely would not like the emphasis put on spiritual care and religion
 
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limoncito said:
I'm not a loma linda student (also applying this cycle) but I have tons of friends there (med school, dental school, PAs, and I also go to church over there), believe me when I tell you that there's a big amount of Loma Linda students that are not SDA. However, they DO prioritize SDA applicants and give them a spot. There's some SDA undergrads that Loma Linda prioritize as well, La Sierra University, Walla Walla, PUC, etc. With that said, although most of the SDA applicants are not as competitive and they still receive a spot in LLU, is not ALL of them. If you are SDA and your stats are kinda trash, you won't get in Loma Linda and they will prioritize someone else that have better stats than you and could make a good fit in the school. Yes, is a SDA school that would love that all their students were SDA, BUT, they are also a good medical school that want all their students to MATCH, and pass their courses.
I believe that you have a good chance if you have a good application and make sure to tell them that although you are not SDA, you are a good fit for the school
Click to expand...
I spoke with a friend of of friend who used to be the CMO for AdventHealth and went to Loma and also used to be faculty there. I would say 70% of the class is SDA. If you are not SDA, he told me you need to be essentially cream of the crop and at least Christian. That has checked out with our class profile and all my non-SDA friends. I'm not SDA but went to an SDA undergrad, so that was my connection that played a big role in getting me in.

They are very wholistic and it is a great school to attend if you can get in, even if you aren't SDA. Definitely will be a big adjustment if you have never interacted with the SDA community.
 
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dklinsmann said:
Loma Linda wants my pastor/clergy name and contact? Why?
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I think it's just to have a contact lol, just like AMCAS ask for a contact person for each of our activities. I don't think they'll call them tho hahah
 
As an FYI, Loma Linda called my pastor today. Not sure if this is good news or means anything, but I am a SDA. Perhaps they just want more information to help them in their committee review. Slightly hopeful but don't want to get my hopes up.
 
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Ben Weghorst said:
As an FYI, Loma Linda called my pastor today. Not sure if this is good news or means anything, but I am a SDA. Perhaps they just want more information to help them in their committee review. Slightly hopeful but don't want to get my hopes up.
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Oh! Do you know that they asked your pastor?
 
NutriBullet said:
....but like what questions did they ask your pastor?
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They wanted a character reference - specifically, my professional / spiritual relationship to him, my work/service with our church, and his recommendation for me for medical school.
 
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chilly_md said:
2) Our medical curriculum integrates spiritual, ethical, and relational issues from the Christian perspective into the practice of medicine. Religion courses and weekly chapel services are part of this program. Please respond to the preceding statements as they relate to your personal educational and career goals. (275 word limit)
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How are you all approaching this question? I'm Christian and still having a hard time understanding what to write about. I also feel like its very similar to #5 which is making it even harder. Maybe a current student can chime in how they approached it? Thanks!
 
brazzimamma said:
How are you all approaching this question? I'm Christian and still having a hard time understanding what to write about. I also feel like its very similar to #5 which is making it even harder. Maybe a current student can chime in how they approached it? Thanks!
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I am an accepted student for class of 2027. I remember running into the same problem when I saw this question! It is very similar to #5 and I think no matter how you write it you will have some overlap. PM me and I can help you out if you’re interested.
 
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AKYetiMan said:
I am an accepted student for class of 2027. I remember running into the same problem when I saw this question! It is very similar to #5 and I think no matter how you write it you will have some overlap. PM me and I can help you out if you’re interested.
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Thank you so much. Just messaged you!
 
Some of my academic coursework isn't showing up in the Course Check page (I think because they were pass/fail due to the pandemic), so I can't complete the pre-requisite coursework page. Anyone else having the same issue? I emailed their office but haven't heard back yet
 
consistentpoet said:
Some of my academic coursework isn't showing up in the Course Check page (I think because they were pass/fail due to the pandemic), so I can't complete the pre-requisite coursework page. Anyone else having the same issue? I emailed their office but haven't heard back yet
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Same. I just hit "Future" and listed the class anyways, explaining the predicament.
 
Which campus has the best rotations? the one in CA or the ohio one? Does anyone know anything about the campuses?
 
IS II this am!
 
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Hey everyone I have a question about the behavioral expectations question . I am a non SDA Christian . I am very devout in my faith and active in my church . I do however drink wine on occasion if I’m out to dinner or at an event like a wedding. I don’t drink often but I feel reluctant to even submit my secondary because I’m wondering if this will be looked at negatively and detour them from considering me for an II . Does anyone have any experience with this ?
 
clr770 said:
Hey everyone I have a question about the behavioral expectations question . I am a non SDA Christian . I am very devout in my faith and active in my church . I do however drink wine on occasion if I’m out to dinner or at an event like a wedding. I don’t drink often but I feel reluctant to even submit my secondary because I’m wondering if this will be looked at negatively and detour them from considering me for an II . Does anyone have any experience with this ?
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Honesty is always the best policy and I think it shows great character. The school does expect it’s students to abstain from alcohol during enrollment and if this is something you are willing to abide by then I would express that while also being honest about your past alcohol use. I really don’t think they will hold the occasional glass of wine against you, I think it’s much more likely that they’ll appreciate your willingness to be honest.
 
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Dougieb said:
Honesty is always the best policy and I think it shows great character. The school does expect it’s students to abstain from alcohol during enrollment and if this is something you are willing to abide by then I would express that while also being honest about your past alcohol use. I really don’t think they will hold the occasional glass of wine against you, I think it’s much more likely that they’ll appreciate your willingness to be honest.
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Thank you so much for your reply, it really helped me put things into perspective. Drinking is not a part of my everyday life so abstaining will not be an issue for me at all. I will be open about it and express my willingness to abstain! Thank you again for taking the time to reply. I was really worried about this.
 
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