University of Colorado or Saint Louis University (SLU)

[sonich835]

Hi everyone! I'm having difficulty picking between the two schools. I went to UCLA and I am a Southern California resident, so I will be OOS for both these schools. In terms of medical specialties, I am unsure what I want to pursue. I was originally thinking of primary care, but definitely want to have options for specialties like GI and Radiology to experience and narrow down my choices. I am not really interested in research, but I definitely want to have some publications due to the new STEP 1 change. I will consider raw tuition, not including estimated cost of living or total cost of attendance. Personally, I rather invest in going to a school where I'd feel much happier and proud to be at than to go to a school just for tuition purposes, so trying to figure out if the discrepancy is tuition should make me prefer one school to the other. Thank you everyone in advance! I would love to hear your opinions/advice.

University of Colorado (~66k)
Pros:
* Only MD school in Colorado, Denver Health is a huge safety net hospital, probably can see some unique cases since it's a Level 1 Trauma Center
* Relatively strong in research and primary care
* Cheaper flights, closer to West Coast
* More opportunities for scholarships
* Students here seemed less stressed, gave more concrete reasons why they loved the school
* Loved the campus, big hospitals (especially the Pediatrics Hospital), and how all the hospitals are closeby
* Aurora is diverse, Denver is fun and close
* Some matching in CA (went to LA for undergrad and hoping to return to SoCal for residency)
* Anatomy lab during first block seemed nice
* Probably more sun than in Missouri

Cons:
* Relatively more expensive than SLU
* Curriculum seems to be changing, not much communication in this department

SLU (~57k)
Pros:
* Building a brand new hospital near campus, have the opportunity to rotate through it during third year
* Campus and hospitals are all walking distance
* Lots of free things to do around the city
* Relatively cheaper in terms of cost of living
* Everyone seemed pretty happy, lots of California students, probably can relate with more people
* Also has many students matching back to California

Cons:
* Campus and hospitals seem a bit more outdated
* Had accreditation issues prior
* Not much financial aid/scholarships available
* Not as highly ranked in research and primary care
* Students were fairly neutral about whether they liked SLU or not

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[deleted894256]

In terms of culture, I think Colorado is going to have more of the West Coast vibe that you’re used to from SoCal. I think there are quite a few Cali people that go to Colorado. I’m a current Cali resident, have ties to STL and really like Colorado, so take those biases into account, haha.

I’m not sure when you were in STL and Aurora for interviews. How do you feel about winter? I’d choose CO winter over STL any day. STL can get very cold (frigid wind and ice) and be grey/gloomy with little snow.

What do you like to do outside of school? STL is fun (especially if you like beer!), and there’s a lot of nightlife/inexpensive things to do (city museum, forest park, etc) but you cannot compare the hiking/skiing/camping available in CO. STL is really inexpensive though (could get a nicer apt or even rent a house), and closer to neighborhoods with more nightlife than Aurora. My understanding is that Denver traffic is bad and makes it worth living in Aurora/closer to the school (and therefore farther from a lot of nightlife/restaurants).

Is learning how to provide comprehensive women’s health care important to you? SLU is catholic, so while they do a lot of community health/primary care stuff really well, women’s health clinical education will be limited. I also think that while SLU might have a new hospital, Colorado offers you a learning environment within a much larger health system. Denver/UC Health gets referrals from all over the region-- that means if you are considering any sub-specialties, Colorado may put you in a better position to explore those interests. With 1.5 yr preclin, you get 6 mo of extra clinical time at Colorado that can boost your step 2 score and give you more clarity as to what specialty you want to match into.

 

[carter15]

When it comes to considering the cost difference here, I think it is minimal enough to leave out of consideration (unless you have the ability to become an in-state resident at SLU after your first year or land some scholarships that make a big dent in tuition) and should come down to where you want to live and study. I personally loved my tour of Colorado and felt the students were the most down to earth here with no petty competition or judgements. The admissions team and students both cited that a lot of work goes into choosing a class that will get along with each other and be supportive of one another's learning. I also love that the Aurora campus is built with collaboration in mind, and with the Fitzsimmons Innovation Community and various specialty clinics growing this will be a great place to be for literally any realm of medicine you could step foot in.

As for SLU, take what I say with a grain of salt as I have no personal experience but do have a friend there who is really enjoying it and finds it is a good place to be for a balance between work and play. As maha2018 said there is a lot more to do in the immediate vicinity, so depending on your style this could be a great way to unwind, or could serve as a distraction. I know my friend has been able to carve his own path for leadership within the LGBTQ medical community here despite its catholic standing. I think leadership is supported at SLU, but more of an expectation (and likely why you were accepted) at Colorado. I felt like Colorado really prides itself on preparing leaders in healthcare and is willing to help you get there, whereas SLU may require a little more self-drive.

That's my 2 cents!

 

[Schrodinger's Chat]

I don't personally know a lot about SLU but I did my undergrad in St. Louis and I have to admit that I did not really enjoy my four years there. I'm from the west coast and I just didn't personally feel that stl had a lot to offer -- the weather is not great, the food is not great, and imo there's actually not a ton to do after you've done the main things once. I also personally think that SLU not teaching women's health is a big disadvantage and from what I've heard their ER department is not super rigorous so Colorado having a Level 1 Trauma Center I think gives them a big leg up in that regard. But again, this is mostly from word of mouth and just my experience with St. Louis in general since I haven't actually read up on SLU. Between the two I would personally pick Colorado, but I'm obviously quite biased!

 

[cfogarty]

As someone who was born and raised in St. Louis, I think I'd have to disagree with Schrodinger'sChat about some of their comments on the city itself. Obviously everyone is entitled to their own opinions but personally I think St. Louis has a ton to offer. It is really up and coming as a "food city" and you can see that in the major changes that have been happening in past years. I am a HUGE foodie and I can promise if you are looking there are countless good food options there (7 st. louis chefs won James Beard awards last year alone). I also think the city offers some amazing free entertainment options like Forest Park, Tower Grove Park, the St. Louis, the St. Louis Science Center and so many more. If you want more specific recommendations about what the city has to offer please feel free to DM me, otherwise I'd probably go on for days. I do think previous comments about the weather are correct though, Missouri has some pretty ****ty weather (bitterly cold winters, hot humid summers, and days when you literally jump between the two in a 24 hour period). But I do have quite a few friends (mainly St. Louis natives) who have attended SLU and loved it, two of which I know matched for extremely competitive residency programs. Overall I think you can't go wrong with either, but I don't think SLU should be discounted based on the city because it really is a great place to live!

 

[Sephirakra]

I don't personally know a lot about SLU but I did my undergrad in St. Louis and I have to admit that I did not really enjoy my four years there. I'm from the west coast and I just didn't personally feel that stl had a lot to offer -- the weather is not great, the food is not great, and imo there's actually not a ton to do after you've done the main things once. I also personally think that SLU not teaching women's health is a big disadvantage and from what I've heard their ER department is not super rigorous so Colorado having a Level 1 Trauma Center I think gives them a big leg up in that regard. But again, this is mostly from word of mouth and just my experience with St. Louis in general since I haven't actually read up on SLU. Between the two I would personally pick Colorado, but I'm obviously quite biased!

Point of information: SLU Hospital is also a Level 1 Trauma Center.

 

[Schrodinger's Chat]

Point of information: SLU Hospital is also a Level 1 Trauma Center.

My apologies! Definitely don’t want to mislead anybody or spread any misinformation — thank you for the clarification!