I'm also a first year and have a few thoughts....
Does anyone know if they bring up religion/God during class?
Yes- but I think that I notice things more than most because I am non-SDA and went to non-religious schools. We have to take a religion course for the first 2 years (ethics counts as a religion class). Additionally some of the professors pray before class and before exams. The prayers are of the "thank you for this day and the opportunity to learn, help the students" genre...certainly no altar calls or anything like that. Coming from non-religious schools it took some getting used to. I never was bothered by it, it was just a very different experience. There are a few professors who will make comments during their lectures like "isn't it amazing how God made the
fill in the blank" (again, I think that I pick up on this WAY more of this than those coming from SDA schools, which is 50% of our class). I also wasn't prepared for how many of the extra-curricular groups are religious in nature (Bible studies, CMDA, mission groups). During the first few weeks I was thinking "don't these people have any interests outside of religion?" Then the 2nd years came back and the variety greatly increased (specialty interest groups, sports, community service).
As a whole I have found the Adventists to be extremely accepting people. It is not at all a condemning atmosphere.
I don't know how to add more quotes, but in response to what I do/don't like...
Likes: I have no doubt that LLU is the most supportive, caring, and nicest med school. Everyone from the Dean's office down sincerely wants to help you in any way they can. Dr. Hadley (the dean) once said that the difference between him and the dean at UCLA is that UCLA's dean dreams of making a huge research discovery, and Dr. Hadley dreams of improving the quality of medical education. The professors are here because they want to teach, not because they are researchers who are forced to teach. Our classmates are almost all extremely nice and helpful. The gunner mentality is present, but not prevalent. We are constanly being reminded that the reason we are learning this crap is to become excellent physicians. This helps me focus on doing
my best, not doing better than my classmates.
Dislikes:
Well, it is a SDA school. My biggest complaint is that there is no coffee (or other caffeinated drinks) available on campus. I bring my own to lecture, but it would be REALLY nice to have a cart around for afternoon study sessions.
You sign a contract that you won't smoke/drink/use drugs. Yes, people still drink. I drank before I came here and I do miss drinking, but LLU is very upfront about their policy. In my opinion agreeing to their policy and then not abiding by it shows a lack of integrity. You don't have to like it (I don't), but nobody is forcing you to attend LLU.
Everything closes sundown Friday to sundown Saturday (gym, library, etc). It can be annoying for those of us not keeping Sabbath, but you get used to iit.
Also, the campus and hospital is vegetarian. Like the coffee, you are welcome to bring meat but can't buy it. Not an issue for me, but I was never a big meat eater.
This is not a dislike, just an adjustment. The class is 75% SDA, 50% from SDA colleges, and 25% non-SDA. The first week it seemed like everyone knew each other...or each other's families...or their aunt's best friend is the second cousin of their wife. Yeah, those connections exist everywhere, but people don't usually figure them out. They do here. At times it is overwhelming, but I am adjusting.
Lastly, a few myths I want to dispell...
1) LLU is not a GPA *****. I had a horrid undergrad GPA (2.9). My postbacc GPA was much, much better (3.8), but that was only 8 classes. My overall GPA (after including postbacc work) was about 3.1. LLU is willing to look beyond GPA if you give them a reason to (I had a strong MCAT and lots of research).
2) Don't freak out if you haven't gotten an interview. I interviewed in Feb and was accepted the following week. They first interview at SDA colleges, then they start on-campus. That is one reason why they are slow.
3) Admitting to moderate drinking does not mean an automatic rejection. That is why they ask if you are willing to stop. Several people advised me to lie on my application and say I didn't drink. For some crazy reason I wasn't comfortable with the idea of lying on my application to a Christian school. Granted, I was grilled about it on my interview, but I was honest about my willingness to stop and obviously he believed me.
Funny story- Of course one of my interviewers was an Addictionologist. We spend 5 minutes talking about my application in general and 40 minutes talking about drinking. He not only took my entire "alcohol consumption history", but that of my family (my mom being an alcoholic & a LLU rehab patient didn't help with this).
Where do I draw the line at how much to drink? Why do I drink? How does it make me feel? How old was I when I started to drink? How do I know that I am not an alcoholic? And on, and on... Then he told me one horror story after another about med students whose lives were ruined by drinking (apparently is the person who deals with addict med-students). He finished the interview by telling me that I really should go to Al-Anon meetings. My other interviewer didn't ask me about drinking at all.
And the true myth...
Don't bother applying if you are not some form of Christian. Other schools at LLU (like dental) accept other faiths. SOM doesn't unless you have an extraordinary, compelling reason. It makes sense when you realize the mission is to "train Christian physicians."