CUSM vs Loyola

[derbandit]

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CUSM (California University of Science & Medicine)

Pros

• True P/F curriculum for preclinical (H/HP/P/F for clinical), no AOA, no internal rankings.
• Closer to my family and girlfriend (they live 1.5 hours away) -- pretty important to me that I can be near them at a moment's notice
• Weather (relative to Chicago)
• 1.5 year pre-clerkship curriculum, and 6 months to do research / start clinical earlier / whatever you want
• 2 days out of 5 days are required for attendance
• Mix of NBME and in-house exams
• Systems-based pre-clerkship curriculum
• Structured, mandatory research coursework that introduces students to the IRB process and helps connect them with faculty for research opportunities. The curriculum and student feedback gave me the impression that CUSM has a more research-oriented culture compared to Loyola, where students largely have to take the initiative to cold email faculty.
• 2/3 of students match in CA. I would ideally like to match in CA for residency as well (though I understand if I pursue the more competitive specialties, that is nowhere near a guarantee at all)
• UWorld is provided to us

Cons

• Tuition around 70k/year
• Prestige/ Ranking - not sure how much this would matter for residency -- their match list for 2025 seemed impressive for such a new school, though. I am interested in ophtho/radiology/anesthesiology/psychiatry
• No home residency for ophtho/anesthesia

Loyola -- Stritch School of Medicine

Pros

• Prestige/ Ranking ??? Is the difference in prestige that much of a difference?
• 1.5 year pre-clerkship curriculum (don't think I have that flexible 6-month slot to start clinicals earlier, however)
• Tuition around 60k/year
• Home residency for practically every specialty
• Match list also seemed impressive (5 in ophtho, 9 in anesthesia, 7 in ortho, and their IM matches seem to be in very prestigious institutions)

Cons

• P/F curriculum WITH internal ranking, (H/HP/P/F for clinical), AOA, internal rankings.
• Weather
• Far from family, no support system
• Exams are 100% in-house exams (in the style of NBME, whatever that means)
• It seems that most days have required attendance (at least 1-2 hours each day)
• Far from fam
• pre-clerkship
• curriculum is traditional / non-diseased state first year, then diseased state second year (don't think I'd like it as much compared to systems based).
• 1/5 of students match CA for residency.

I guess my question is, I prefer CUSM, but if I am interested in ophtho/rads/anesthesia, is Loyola's prestige and access to home programs worth sacrificing the flexibility, family proximity, and true P/F curriculum that CUSM offers?

 

[LunaOri]

I’d say the positives for CUSM outweigh the negatives.

 

[dodoo123]

Remember, success in competitive specialties like Ophthalmology, Radiology, and Anesthesiology depends not only on the school's prestige but also on your performance, research involvement, and networking. Choose the environment where you believe you'll thrive both personally and professionally. The 40k difference in tuition isn't that big of deal so I would personally go with CUSM if staying close to family/SO is of integral importnace. If you are open to change Stritch could be cool....

Both are great, I don't think you can really go wrong here