What do You med Students recommend- SLU or Mizzou?

[moops]

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Let's say they are both about the same price for me- I think I want to do ER, surgery, or radiology, or ortho.. not sure though. What do you recommend? Thanks!! Please help me!!!!! I need it sooon!!! 🙂 Anything! If you read this post and have the "SLIGHTEST" idea please write something, it'd mean a whole lot.

 

[maxheadroom]

I'll just reiterate a couple of my thoughts from the previous post . . . I'm about to graduate from MU, so I'm a bit biased. That being said, I have several friends who are students/graduates of SLU.

I think that MU is probably a better choice for several reasons.

1. MU was one of the first schools to make the jump to PBL curriculum. It's been very well-integrated into the program. SLU is just now making the change. When I was a 2nd year student we had several SLU professors sitting in on our groups to see how a PBL group should run. One of the problems of going to a school when they're changing curricula is that it usually takes at least a couple of years to iron out the details. While it's in SLU's best interest to make the switch, the students who serve as "guinea pigs" may suffer during the transition.

2. MU owns its own hospital system. SLU's hospital is owned by Tenet. While Tenet has made some good changes in the hospital, several high profile attendings left SLU during the adjustment. Because of this, Ortho, ENT, and General Surgery are in times of "rebuilding". Ortho lost nearly all of its faculty about a year ago -- the new chair has supposedly brought several strong new faculty into the department, but it will be a couple of years before things truly stabilize.

3. MU has an outstanding first pass rate for Step 1. By my tally over the past four years, MU has a 1.6% failure rate for first attempts at Step 1. While I don't have actual numbers on SLU, I've been told by friends/acquaintances that SLU has struggled with some fairly high Step 1 first-attempt failure rates. I've been told numbers as high as 20%, which sounds a bit outlandish. You should ask the admissions coordinators for the first attempt pass rate on Step 1 over the past three or four years . They should have that info available.

4. MU's football team is going to be good over the next few years. Brad Smith is an outstanding talent. If you go to MU, you'll sit in a section of about 150-200 med students right on the 40 yard line. Football weekends in Columbia are huge fun. Unless it's the weekend before tests (one week of tests after eight weeks of classes), you'll have plenty of time to catch MU football and basketball. Seriously, MU is very relaxed and lowkey. I don't know the atmosphere of SLU, but I've had tons of fun here and I'm kind of sad to leave.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about MU.

 

[ForceField]

Don't know much about Mizzou, but really disliked SLU when I visited. Something like 10 of their students fail boards every year. They teach one subject at a time?! Dude, go to Mizzou.

 

[moops]

thanks for the advice!

you mentioned that MU is better academically than SLU.. where do you get that info? I looked at the "rankings" (i know, they don't mean thaat much) but MU wasn't even ranked? (SLU was like 63 or something).

Thanks!
Moops

 

[maxheadroom]

Call and ask the admissions coordinators for the first time pass rate for Step 1 . I'd say that that is the bench mark between the two schools for academics. Ask for raw numbers over the past three or four years. E.G. 95 out of 96 people in class of 2003 passed Step 1 on first attempt at School A. 130 out of 150 people in class 2003 passed Step 1 on first attempt at School B. Ask for data over the past few years. Ask about the implementation of new curriculum (is everything done, or is SLU still toying with PBL).

Don't delude yourself. The cost is a significant factor to be weighed. I haven't met anyone who's said, "Gosh, I'm glad I went to the middle tier private medschool that cost more than my middle tier state med school." Unless we're comparing WashU to MU, you're wasting money.

Just my opinion, though.

PM me with questions.

 

[deebo]

I'd say go with SLU over MU, if money isn't a factor. The 36 or 38K we pay here is friggin ridiculous.

SLU Hospital vs MU Hospital- Mizzou owns their hospital, but what does that mean? US News ranked 7 specialties at SLUH in the top 50 in the US (down from 11 pre-Tenet), but still not bad. Only 1 service at MU was ranked. Don't believe all the hype- major changes have happened at SLUH, but it's still a great hospital and far from going to hell in a handbasket. I guarantee that you will see WAY more indigent patients, disease pathology, trauma etc at SLU hosp, because of the inner city environment and referral base.

Academics- the boards. Everyone talks about the 20 step 1 failures for the notorious class of 2003. This is a fluke- in previous years, if 4 or 5 failed, heads would roll down Grand Blvd. This is partly due to the new curriculum, and partly due to some of the students accepted. The next class had significantly less failures. Additionally, the top few students continue to set new school records for step 1 scores, indicating that it isn't all the fault of the curriculum. Rest assured, if your mcat is at/above the mean (30) you have almost no chance of failing. You can pm me for more info if you like.

Why not to go to slu? The pricetag, medical scholars- one third of the class went to undergrad together. Nice friendly people, but not the sort of social situation at other med schools. The city- I get sick of dealing with people begging for money at stop lights, people getting shot on my street, etc. It's definitely worth it though, for the clinical training. I have no regrets.

About your choice of specialty- it doesn't really matter. Kick @ss at any medical school,and you'll be fine.

Best of luck, and I hope this helped.
deebo

 

[shindog]

You should read a couple of my previous posts about SLU. Do yourself a favor and don't go there. They have been going downhill for a while now. PM me if you need any more info.

BTW, Go to Mizzou.

 

[bigfrank]

There is no question that MU students do much better on the Step I, spend considerably less time in lecture (~12 hours per week LESS), are much happier, and pay roughly 60%----all in a location that doesn't necessitate you risking your life to go to class. Do yourself a favor and choose MU.

 

[moops]

the campus is actually really really nice, i checked it out- columbia is painfully boring. plus, i used many of the hopsital statistics to make my choice- slu's hospitals were so much better all around.

 

[irlandesa]

wow, after reading this thread I am really glad that I chose Tufts over SLU! Not that I felt any differently before, but still.. I liked SLU, but if there is any way you can get residency in MO I would definitely choose Mizzou. I don't know all that much about MU since I am not from Missouri or even the midwest. but if you get into a "higher-profile" private school like Tufts or BU or Einstein I would definitely pick them over both SLU and Mizzou.. And state schools are the best (unless you are a resident of a state that has a gawd-awful state school in a horrible location).

BTW, Tufts' tuition is now just under 40K😱 , BUT we have a cap on tuition for the next year and probably beyond. So to those worried that a place like Tufts or BU will break their bank account and SLU or NYMC will not, that 38K factor at SLU makes me think quite otherwise..