Fenthion--congratulations on the acceptance! That's awesome!
cheezwiz11--I'm sorry you're doing the program during a down year--the professors really do have a big impact on the quality of the program.
I graduated from Loyola's MAMS in 2007, and I had an awesome experience. I can't remember your questions exactly, but:
Rogers Park and Edgewater are both fine places to live--I'd recommend living west of Broadway/Sheridan Rd. It's east of Sheridan in Rogers Park that I felt a little less safe in. Also, I'd try to live within a half mile of the school--I originally lived a little less than a mile on Sheridan--not a safe apartment building (the residents at the retirement home around the corner told me there had been two drug-related shootings in my building in the past year.) Also, a number of people lived in other neighborhoods right off the red line, and just rode in in the mornings--also a great option.
My year, about half the class applied during the program, and half waited the extra year. I would say half of those of us who applied got in that year, more to DO than MD. I would say the major difference between applying immediately and waiting a year is the quality of the schools you'll get interviews from. And as for school quality, my class has students across the country, at such schools as: Tulane, University of Wisconsin, Stritch (Loyola), Rush, University of Illinois, UCLA, OHSU, UNC-Chapel Hill, Drexel, Carver (Iowa), MCW, Rosalind Franklin, Michigan State, Wayne State, Kansas, and Albert Einstein, as well as at many DO schools. I had classmates with other top tier interviews too (e.g. Dartmouth, Rochester), but who chose to go elsewhere (e.g. state school). So, there is a definite range, and the qualifications of students in an SMP are obviously not likely to be on par with those who go straight out of college. But so far, I think all the people I've talked to are extremely happy, and a number of us got into our first choice schools.
As far as SMPs go, I applied to three: Loyola, Toledo (then it was the Medical University of Ohio), and Georgetown. I also applied late, in May. Loyola and MUO accepted me immediately, and Georgetown told me my application was awesome, but the class was already oversubscribed, so they'd let me know if space opened up. Ultimately, prior to any acceptances, I had decided on Loyola if accepted, so I went! Some of the reasons were: it's in Chicago, it's a one year program (not two), no thesis required, and the summer before med school is free (we graduated in early May).
I interviewed for the med school at University of Cincinnati--wonderfully friendly staff, amazing experiences if you're interested in peds. But the applicants I interviewed with that day did not strike me as having very broad interests--maybe that day was just a bit underwhelming, but I'm sure the student body as a whole is probably more impressive. I don't know much about the SMP though. At Drexel, I think it takes two years for the master's degree; one year to do some post-bac work; so I didn't apply to their post-bac program.
I took the latest MCAT, so I was complete late, by the end of October. I ended up with five interviews, five waitlists, and accepted to my absolute #1 first choice, off the waitlist, so I withdrew from everywhere else. Oh, and Fenthion, I had really similar stats to you--3.18 undergrad GPA, 31T & 32S MCATs (my first score was more than three years old; so I had to retake it...boo), started at an ivy, finished at a top-ten small liberal arts school.
Anyhow, best of luck choosing, and if you have any questions, feel free to PM me
