SJSM vs. Xavier

Which school should you go to?
This is a question I see over and over again in medical school forums. SJSM and Xavier are walking distance from each other. The Xavier campus is literally right behind the SJSM Anatomy lab. And students from both schools come together and do events.

Both Xavier and SJSM students will tell you that when it comes to aesthetics and the administration of the school, Xavier is way better. Xavier medical school helps their students with immigration and finding a place to stay. SJSM students have a lot of trouble deal with when it comes to immigration; few SJSM students do transfer to Xavier because of that. And Xavier medical school classes are over 50% smaller than SJSM, with a maximum of 25 students per class. But why do SJSM have more students? The answer is that Xavier has been around for few years and SJSM has been around for 10 years. Therefore, SJSM has more accreditation than Xavier. As for immigration, most SJSM students don’t even apply for residency, they just get a re-entry permit when they need to visit family, and then they finish basic sciences and leave without getting any residency.

I recently found out that one Xavier student, who finished basic sciences, is going back to finish his pre-medicine before taking the USMLE Step 1. Correct me if I’m wrong, but they may check your pre-medicine classes when applying for residency. SJSM however is very strict in class credits; they actually sent a student back to complete a class to get the credit in order to start MD1.

Another reason SJSM has more students than Xavier is because the tuition is over a $1000 cheaper per semester. So, which school should you go to? It’s totally up to you. But whichever school you choose make sure you complete your pre-medicine requirements.

Pre-Medicine Courses
Organic Chemistry (1 Year with Labs)*
Biology (1 Year with Labs)*
General Chemistry (1 year with labs)*
General Physics (1 year with labs)*
Biochemistry
Calculus 1
Classes with the * are core pre-medicine classes that all medical school requires.  The other classes varies from one medical school to another.