Loyola vs. Mizzou vs. SIU

[Sea Otter]

I've been very fortunate this cycle and have received multiple acceptances. Each school I was accepted at has something unique and positive about it and I'm having a really hard time deciding where to go. I am from the midwest and would prefer to stay here for residency and beyond. I would probably like to specialize (if I do peds it will be a subspecialty of it) and I have some clinical research interests but am not really gung-ho about it. Any thoughts or advice will be appreciated! Thanks!

Loyola
+ People were awesome and everyone seemed to love it there
+ Facilities were very nice (the GYM 😍)
+ Pretty good research opportunities
+ Solid match list
+/- More lecture than Mizzou/SIU (not sure if that's good or bad)
- Cost (got an $8,000/year scholarship but it is still my most expensive option)
- Maywood
- Farther from family
- H/HP/P/F grades (not curved though)
- No actual pediatric hospital (only a peds floor)

Mizzou
+ P/F first year then H/P/F
+ Students seemed relaxed
+ Only one test block every 8 weeks and a full week off afterwards
+ SEC sports
+ Awesome rec center
+ Pretty good match list
+/- PBL
- OOS tuition first year (and didn't get any scholarships)
- Not too close to family
- Full week of exams, not just one test

Southern Illinois
+ P/F
+ All the students I know love it
+ Very close to family
+ Not that many exams and more time to study on your own
+ Cheapest option
+ Constructing a new building that will have simulation centers/classrooms/etc.
+/- PBL
- Not as well known
- Big emphasis on primary care
- Not sure if I will be limited for competitive residencies
- Carbondale for the first year
- No fancy rec center like the other two

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[byaaaaaaah23]

Can you give us a quantitative idea of what the price differences are? It seems like you feel you would be happiest at Loyola, but you have to decide what kind of curriculum you want.

 

[Sea Otter]

Can you give us a quantitative idea of what the price differences are? It seems like you feel you would be happiest at Loyola, but you have to decide what kind of curriculum you want.

Price breakdown:
SIU ~$49,000 per year
Mizzou ~$60,000 per year
Loyola ~$65,000

Regarding curriculum, I've heard PBL can be great if don't right. But if not organized correctly, it could be a waste of time. The collaboration and working through things together is attractive though. Lecture would be nice in that I'd get the information from "experts" and not my classmates. But sitting in a seat while people talk at me for hours at a time could be boring.

 

[byaaaaaaah23]

So you are looking at saving $60k over 4 years if you choose SIU. It sounds like you could be happy at SIU, and your family is nearby. If one of your major cons is that there is not a nice gym on campus, then you could put some of that 60k ($50/month?) towards a private gym near campus lol

Are you sure you don't want to do primary care? If you really want something competitive, it might be worth going to Loyola. I don't think the $20k difference between Loyola and Mizzou is worth saving by picking Mizzou.

 

[iMed17]

Price breakdown:
SIU ~$49,000 per year
Mizzou ~$60,000 per year
Loyola ~$65,000

Regarding curriculum, I've heard PBL can be great if don't right. But if not organized correctly, it could be a waste of time. The collaboration and working through things together is attractive though. Lecture would be nice in that I'd get the information from "experts" and not my classmates. But sitting in a seat while people talk at me for hours at a time could be boring.

Actually, Loyola's cost of attendance according to their website is over $70,000 (approximately $48000 for tuition and $23,000 for living expenses)

 

[Sea Otter]

Actually, Loyola's cost of attendance according to their website is over $70,000 (approximately $48000 for tuition and $23,000 for living expenses)

The total financial aid package was for $72,000 and subtracting my scholarship, the first year at Loyola should cost about $64,000. That's only the price for the first year. I don't know for sure what the next three years will cost since they aren't posted online.

 

[eefen]

So you are looking at saving $60k over 4 years if you choose SIU. It sounds like you could be happy at SIU, and your family is nearby. If one of your major cons is that there is not a nice gym on campus, then you could put some of that 60k ($50/month?) towards a private gym near campus lol

Are you sure you don't want to do primary care? If you really want something competitive, it might be worth going to Loyola. I don't think the $20k difference between Loyola and Mizzou is worth saving by picking Mizzou.

I agree with this. I honestly don't know much about SIU or Mizzou, but I would probably pick Loyola over the latter. In regards to Loyola vs SIU...I am honestly biased towards to Loyola. It would be hard to pass that up - great school, great location (for my wife and I anyway, we would rather not live downtown, and Forest Park is great and really close), great people. Saving ~60K is certainly a tempting prospect; even more so as I'm running the numbers of some of the loans (I am in a similar situation to you scholarship-wise at Loyola). That said....I would heavily lean towards Loyola. 60k is not insurmountable, and I would probably end up rationalizing that it would be totally worth it. That being said, my wife and I have no undergrad debt, etc. YMMV.

 

[Dreamer29]

I don't know much about the three schools, but based on the information that you've provided, I would be slightly more inclined to pick SIU. For me, being close to family and cost are high on my list. But that may not be the case for you!

 

[Sea Otter]

I agree with this. I honestly don't know much about SIU or Mizzou, but I would probably pick Loyola over the latter. In regards to Loyola vs SIU...I am honestly biased towards to Loyola. It would be hard to pass that up - great school, great location (for my wife and I anyway, we would rather not live downtown, and Forest Park is great and really close), great people. Saving ~60K is certainly a tempting prospect; even more so as I'm running the numbers of some of the loans (I am in a similar situation to you scholarship-wise at Loyola). That said....I would heavily lean towards Loyola. 60k is not insurmountable, and I would probably end up rationalizing that it would be totally worth it. That being said, my wife and I have no undergrad debt, etc. YMMV.

I'm not all that familiar with Forest Park but it does seem like a pretty nice area. The money difference is something I'm considering but is not going to be a deciding factor. I enjoyed my time and all the people at Loyola but have reservations about the grading system and amount of lecture.

I don't know much about the three schools, but based on the information that you've provided, I would be slightly more inclined to pick SIU. For me, being close to family and cost are high on my list. But that may not be the case for you!

The closeness to family and less cost is definitely attractive.

 

[eefen]

I'm not all that familiar with Forest Park but it does seem like a pretty nice area. The money difference is something I'm considering but is not going to be a deciding factor. I enjoyed my time and all the people at Loyola but have reservations about the grading system and amount of lecture.

The grading system was initially sort of a "eh..." factor for me as well. However...it's not curved, which is huge. Curving is stupid. Also, it does give you an opportunity to shine in your preclinical years, if you want it. If not, you can just pass....and preclinical grades don't matter much anyway. So it's sort of a toss up. I personally actually like that, at the very least, if I wanted to try and do well, I could have something to show for the effort.

With regards to lecture....this will be more of an individual preference. Personally, I'd rather go to lecture than do PBL. Also, lecture usually goes from about 8:30 to noonish or so, with one or two afternoons taken up by a PBL or doctoring-type class. That's a pretty typical schedule for a lot of schools.

All of that being said...it sounds like you might like SIU. It has a lot of things going for it, and at the end of the day where you end up for residency and beyond has a lot more to do with how you perform in medical school that it does with the medical school that you go to.

 

[Sea Otter]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I really appreciate it!