SLU vs. UC Riverside

[Fabio Lanzoni]

Hi all,

I am trying to decide between SLU and UC Riverside like the title says. SLU has offered me $10K off a year, but so has UC Riverside. The cost difference over 4 years will be around 50-60K total (with UCR being cheaper). Is this money worth going to a new school for? Or should I pay the premium and go to an established school? What are the drawbacks of going to a new school like UC Riverside?

I've seen both cities and I will be equally fine at both so that is not a factor. I have no preference for which state I do residency in either. I am in state for UCR

Edit: I am also holding UAB, but the OOS tuition is very high

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[yoyohomieg5432]

If you will be equally happy at either school (i.e. the people, curriculum, environment, etc) I think I'd go with SLU. SLU has been in the business for a while and has a lot more experience, they also have a bigger name which certainly couldn't hurt you when applying for residencies.

 

[Dwan]

UCR has a major primary care focus and strongly encourages students to pursue that route. If you're interested in primary care, go to UCR; if you're considering other specialties, go to SLU.

 

[Entadus]

Riverside is a hole (compared to the rest of cali). Go to SLU .... UNLESS you want to do primary care. Then take UCR as it is a cheaper option

 

[Fabio Lanzoni]

Thanks for the responses guys! I am not interested in primary care, but not competitive specialties either (ie something in the neighborhood of neurology/gen surg/EM)

 

[lmn]

I would go with UCR, I personally felt like SLU's curriculum was very outdated and was told that essentially you won't have any patient contact until your 3rd & 4th years, also their lecture days seemed really long, and if I recall correctly, I don't believe their grading was P/F (I may be wrong though, I don't remember specifically). St. Louis seemed to have some nice areas with things to do, but also seemed to also really show the effects of the economy downturn (good for seeing diverse patient populations), less great for living in/having as much to do imo. Although I don't like IE/UCR area personally, you are close to LA and have everything that has to offer, I am guessing you will also have more family/friend local support and it will be easier to travel home during breaks (unless somehow you managed to get into UCR from OOS). And although they have a strong focus on primary care, I don't think it will hurt you in the least when you apply for residencies, and depending on where you want to go for residency, may offer benefits in placing you within CA if you so desire.

 

[Fabio Lanzoni]

I would go with UCR, I personally felt like SLU's curriculum was very outdated and was told that essentially you won't have any patient contact until your 3rd & 4th years, also their lecture days seemed really long, and if I recall correctly, I don't believe their grading was P/F (I may be wrong though, I don't remember specifically). St. Louis seemed to have some nice areas with things to do, but also seemed to also really show the effects of the economy downturn (good for seeing diverse patient populations), less great for living in/having as much to do imo. Although I don't like IE/UCR area personally, you are close to LA and have everything that has to offer, I am guessing you will also have more family/friend local support and it will be easier to travel home during breaks (unless somehow you managed to get into UCR from OOS). And although they have a strong focus on primary care, I don't think it will hurt you in the least when you apply for residencies, and depending on where you want to go for residency, may offer benefits in placing you within CA if you so desire.

Thanks for your input! I am local so yes my family is here in Socal

 

[kittykattat]

I would go with UCR, I personally felt like SLU's curriculum was very outdated and was told that essentially you won't have any patient contact until your 3rd & 4th years, also their lecture days seemed really long, and if I recall correctly, I don't believe their grading was P/F (I may be wrong though, I don't remember specifically). St. Louis seemed to have some nice areas with things to do, but also seemed to also really show the effects of the economy downturn (good for seeing diverse patient populations), less great for living in/having as much to do imo. Although I don't like IE/UCR area personally, you are close to LA and have everything that has to offer, I am guessing you will also have more family/friend local support and it will be easier to travel home during breaks (unless somehow you managed to get into UCR from OOS). And although they have a strong focus on primary care, I don't think it will hurt you in the least when you apply for residencies, and depending on where you want to go for residency, may offer benefits in placing you within CA if you so desire.

SLU's grading is P/F and if you dont remember that you probably werent paying much attention at all on interview day haha I feel like all they talked about the whole day was ways that they reduce students' stress, their main selling point considering that the curriculum (as you mentioned) and facilities do seem very outdated... no patient contact in the 1st or 2nd year was a low point of the curriculum in my opinion.

 

[Fabio Lanzoni]

Curriculum wise and location, they are both fine to me (I liked UAB more in terms of location and curriculum and rank, but I am not seriously considering it because of price). I guess my big question is whether attending a new school will hinder my chances at better residencies

 

[snappychalupa]

.

 

[lmn]

SLU's grading is P/F and if you dont remember that you probably werent paying much attention at all on interview day haha I feel like all they talked about the whole day was ways that they reduce students' stress, their main selling point considering that the curriculum (as you mentioned) and facilities do seem very outdated... no patient contact in the 1st or 2nd year was a low point of the curriculum in my opinion.

Not the case, specifics just get blurred as you visit more schools, especially when certain aspects really turned me off and thus I haven't been thinking about it for the past few months. Overall I don't think SLU is a bad school, I just think that they are way overdue for catching up curriculum and patient contact wise with the rest of the country, which might make the first two years more of a pain than they really have to be.

 

[kittykattat]

Not the case, specifics just get blurred as you visit more schools, especially when certain aspects really turned me off and thus I haven't been thinking about it for the past few months. Overall I don't think SLU is a bad school, I just think that they are way overdue for catching up curriculum and patient contact wise with the rest of the country, which might make the first two years more of a pain than they really have to be.

Yes I completely agree! I guess they just talked about it a lot the day I was there because it was one of their student wellness days where they had less lectures, yoga class or something like that, and were all eating free pie haha

 

[lhellouniverse]

I would go with UCR. California is the place to be

 

[lhellouniverse]

If you feel equally content with either schools then I would pick based on location

 

[DermViser]

Hi all,

I am trying to decide between SLU and UC Riverside like the title says. SLU has offered me $10K off a year, but so has UC Riverside. The cost difference over 4 years will be around 50-60K total (with UCR being cheaper). Is this money worth going to a new school for? Or should I pay the premium and go to an established school? What are the drawbacks of going to a new school like UC Riverside?

I've seen both cities and I will be equally fine at both so that is not a factor. I have no preference for which state I do residency in either. I am in state for UCR

Edit: I am also holding UAB, but the OOS tuition is very high

Only 50-60K difference and compared to an untried school and not interested in primary care and one school being P/F? SLU for sure.

 

[DermViser]

As a brand new school, UCR students are in a unique position to determine the prestige of UCR as a medical institution. I am willing to take that risk rather than place my bets on a school that has been around for over a century and has solidified its ranking and the opinions of residency directors.

Uh, no. Just...no.

 

[Fabio Lanzoni]

Thank you guys for all your input! I was able to get UCR to bump up my financial deal so I decided on UCR