UVM vs Loma Linda

[applesauce_]

Hey everyone! I was recently admitted to the University of Vermont and possibly admitted to Loma Linda. For personal reasons, I have to decide whether I would go to UVM/WFSOM or Loma Linda (if admitted) in the next couple of days. I was hoping I could get some advice as to which school would be a better fit for me! Here's a pros and cons list:

University of Vermont
Pros

• very established, advanced curriculum (i excel more in team-based, flipped classroom style curriculums so this is a huge plus)
• good ranking (~60 in USNEWS but ~50 based on residency directory rankings)
• really great atmosphere, everyone is SO friendly and welcoming (absolutely LOVED my interview day and met so many great people through the hosting program)
• good match list with a high avg step 1 score
• small, tight-knit community
• pretty good research opportunities

Cons

• veryy far from home, family, and friends (I'm from Los Angeles)
• required to drive starting 1st year (which is a minor drawback for me considering I'm not comfortable driving in icy weather)
• no church nearby for my denomination (I am actively involved in my church and go at least once a week, so this is a huge drawback)
• very little diversity (i hope to work in an inner city so i feel like Burlington might not give me enough exposure to underserved communities)
• no direct flight back home
• SUPERRR expensive lol (~90K per year)

Loma Linda

Pros

• only ~2 hrs from family and friends
• diverse population (opportunities to work with underserved all throughout clinical yrs)
• faculty and admin were very friendly during my interview
• tuition is somewhat cheaper (CoL would also be cheaper because I have friends and family in the area I could potentially live with??)
• much more likely to match in CA if I go here (60% of their students match in CA, 35% match at Loma Linda)

Cons

• much lower ranking
• VERY outdated curriculum (100% mandatory lectures that are not recorded, NOT systems based)
• students don't work with standardized pts during the first year+ (which is crazy... absolutely ZERO real clinical experience their first year)
• i am not SDA so some of the rules and traditions seem a little odd to me (but this is minor)
• i didn't have a normal interview day (i pretty much went for my 2 interviews and left) so I didn't get a good feel for the school

Summary: Overall, UVM is an amazing school with a great community, curriculum, and reputation, but it lacks diversity and my denomination church. Loma Linda would allow me to stay in CA (which has A LOT of advantages) and is much more diverse, but their curriculum is extremely outdated, their student body seems like less of a fit for me, and their reputation is not as good as UVM's.

Thank you everyone! 🙂

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[libertyyne]

This is a difficult choice. What is the cost difference between the two ?

 

[applesauce_]

This is a difficult choice. What is the cost difference between the two ?

It would be around 15K cheaper per year which is a lot but I also don’t think should be the deciding factor? Not sure

 

[Master Thinker]

UVM! I heard that you can't have coffee at Loma Linda so that would be a turn off for me right there

 

[NavyDoc23]

Don't underestimate being close to family and friends for 4 years. A 2 hour drive is much better than flying across country, especially with no direct flight. A lot cheaper, too. It will be easier to match to CA by going to Loma Linda as well. I went to a medical school where everyone went to lectures. It's not that big of a deal. You connect better with classmates. You could just study on your own/put earphones in/w/e. 15k/year is 60k over 4 years. Might as well had 9k to that in interest after 4 years of medical school. Doesn't include interest during residency, etc. I'm all about saving as much money as possible.

On the other hand, this could be your one chance to get out of CA and experience something new. I interviewed at VT for residency, and loved the place. I'm very outdoorsy though, and VT would've been paradise for me. I'm used to snow, so that didn't bug me driving in it. I didn't rank it high enough to match - it fell because it was far from family.

 

[Xerophyllum]

I'm in a similar boat; my choices are between LLU and Saint Louis University. I'm also not an adventist and would save money attending LLU.

Not sure if you've decided on a school yet. I made this account just to throw in my two cents. Firstly, the whole "no coffee" thing is not true. They have dispensers in the campus hospital. Don't believe the hearsay. (Aside: I thought they had standardized patient's first year. Where'd you get that info?)

For me, SLU is the 'better' school, however I'm trying to quantify how personal happiness will play into my success at school. While interviewing I met and hung out with a non-SDA student there who chose LLU over Mayo because he thought he'd be happier in area (near Joshua Tree, the ocean, etc.). He placed a premium on personal happiness/mental health. That stuck with me.

I also talked with a LLU trained doc who scored 99th percentile on his boards; my impression from him is that board scores are going to reflect the work you put in more than where you go to school. If you got in as a non-adventist, I imagine your MCAT and GPA are pretty great. If you keep up the trend, you'll do great on your boards regardless and should be able to match fine. I've heard that since the admissions bar is lower for SDA's, they lower the school's step averages. Not sure if there's truth to that; don't quote me.

The majority of doctors I've spoken to (ENT, Internal med, cardiology) to have recommended LLU based on location. They've advised that a medical school education between two mid-tier schools will be more-or-less the same. A few disagreed and advised me to "get the best education I can." For me, my gut tells me I'd be happier at LLU, and thus I'd score better. Currently I'm trying to vet out the school and see if it'd detract from my education.



Other LLU Pros: Hey, don't rule out the entire student body yet. I might be there...
Other LLU Cons: labs closed on Saturday

Other UVM Pros: Going to a different church/denomination in Burlington could challenge you/grow your faith.
Other UVM Cons: N/A

My point: Numbers don't tell all. Only you can choose the right school for yourself.

 

[applesauce_]

I'm in a similar boat; my choices are between LLU and Saint Louis University. I'm also not an adventist and would save money attending LLU.

Not sure if you've decided on a school yet. I made this account just to throw in my two cents. Firstly, the whole "no coffee" thing is not true. They have dispensers in the campus hospital. Don't believe the hearsay. (Aside: I thought they had standardized patient's first year. Where'd you get that info?)

For me, SLU is the 'better' school, however I'm trying to quantify how personal happiness will play into my success at school. While interviewing I met and hung out with a non-SDA student there who chose LLU over Mayo because he thought he'd be happier in area (near Joshua Tree, the ocean, etc.). He placed a premium on personal happiness/mental health. That stuck with me.

I also talked with a LLU trained doc who scored 99th percentile on his boards; my impression from him is that board scores are going to reflect the work you put in more than where you go to school. If you got in as a non-adventist, I imagine your MCAT and GPA are pretty great. If you keep up the trend, you'll do great on your boards regardless and should be able to match fine. I've heard that since the admissions bar is lower for SDA's, they lower the school's step averages. Not sure if there's truth to that; don't quote me.

The majority of doctors I've spoken to (ENT, Internal med, cardiology) to have recommended LLU based on location. They've advised that a medical school education between two mid-tier schools will be more-or-less the same. A few disagreed and advised me to "get the best education I can." For me, my gut tells me I'd be happier at LLU, and thus I'd score better. Currently I'm trying to vet out the school and see if it'd detract from my education.



Other LLU Pros: Hey, don't rule out the entire student body yet. I might be there...
Other LLU Cons: labs closed on Saturday

Other UVM Pros: Going to a different church/denomination in Burlington could challenge you/grow your faith.
Other UVM Cons: N/A

My point: Numbers don't tell all. Only you can choose the right school for yourself.

Hey! Those are two really amazing choices, congrats! You are 100% right about choosing the school where you'll be happy, not the school with the best numbers. I think what held me back from choosing LLU wasn't the "prestige" of the school but structure of the curriculum and the student body. I was told by a friend who got admitted to the school and by the lady who gave me a tour of the sim center that during the students' first yr, they "practice on each other rather than standardized pts". The lady from the sim center also mentioned that they use a very outdated curriculum in terms of clinical experience and LLU is planning on changing it (to start real clinical experience in your first yr) in a couple of yrs. that being said, medical school is what you make of it so I tried to get a feel for the atmosphere of LLU and if I would be happy there. If I'm being completely honest, the only thing I liked about the atmosphere and the feel I got for the community was the fact that it's located in california haha
if LLU and UVM were my only options, I probably would've chosen LLU because I would be much happier in Cali than Vermont, but I recently got admitted to George Washington and I feel like it's really going to give me the best of both worlds 🙂

Anyways thank you so much for taking the time to offer your advice, it is very much appreciated 🙂 I hope the choice becomes clear for you too!!