SLU is a great school. I don't think the school is "big" on anything except producing good clinicians. I don't think they have a huge primary care focus and I know the school does not emphasize research much at all. They interview all kinds of students from all over the country, but most of the student body comes from CA or the Midwest. I'm not 100% clear on the curriculum, but I believe it is a block type curriculum where you take 1 or 2 classes at once. Some of the blocks are more intense like Anatomy, while others like Metabolism are more laid-back with only an hour of class some days. Grading is Honors/Pass/Fail, with the Pass bar set at a generous 60%, but in some cases they will make a note of it in your records if you barely passed a class. The school is one of the oldest in the country and affiliated with the Jesuits, and SLU hospital is ranked in 12 IM specialties by US News. I interviewed there in April 2001, waitlisted 2 weeks later, and accepted in mid-July. I ended up turning SLU down for Tufts though since I am from the East Coast (MD resident) and wanted to stay near my family; plus Tufts has a great reputation and location. I really liked SLU and the people there though. I had a 3.62 from U Maryland-CP, 4.0 grad from UMAB, and 29Q MCAT (26Q the first time I took it in 1998), in case you are wondering what kind of stats SLU looks for. I would absolutely recommend applying there (and to Tufts as well since they also take many Cali people). good luck!
