Loyola University Chicago

On July 2, I visited my alma mater, Loyola University Chicago. Located on the far North side of Chicago, right off the shores of Lake Michigan, Loyola is a midsized National University, serving about 15,000 students. Loyola is well known for its sciences, as well as its schools of education and business. Starting this year Loyola is introducing a brand new school of education as well. For more general Loyola information click here.

While I certainly have a strong familiarity with Loyola from having attended there as well as working there prior to MPA. I still thought a visit was in order as the last several years have marked significant change for the university. While Loyola has a number of campuses, including one downtown off of Michigan Avenue and an international campus in Rome, I visited the Lake Shore Campus. The Lake Shore Campus is the main residential campus for the university, and the main location for campus tours and visits. The do also arrange tours at the Water Tower Campus as well. The Undergraduate Admission office is located in the Sullivan Center on the south end of Campus.(Marked with a star)

This model is in the Admission Office and it shows the current campus as well as the plan for ongoing campus development, much of which is under way currently.

Here we are making our way along the lake front for the start of the tour.

This is the main chapel, Madonna Della Strada. While Loyola Chicago is a Catholic institution it welcomes students from all faith backgrounds.

Like many schools, Loyola uses the summer to work on various construction projects. The last few years at Loyola have seen a lot of new development on the campus. Here we see the demolition of the Jesuit Residence. No Jesuits were hurt in the destruction of this building. A new residence that will be available for limited student use has already been completed on the southwest side of campus. Across from this construction site is the brand new Information Commons and Library Annex.




Here you see the Cudahy Science building, remarkable for its aesthetically pleasing but completely non-functioning observatory.


This is Dumbach Hall. It is the oldest building on campus and houses primarily humanities classes.


This is Mertz Hall. It is the largest freshman residence hall on campus, with over 600 residents.

This is the Gentile Center, where the Ramblers play NCAA Basketball, this building also hosts a variety of concerts and special events.

Loyola has not won a championship in Basketball since 1963, but they are still the only school in the state of Illinois to have ever won one.

This is the Quinlan Life Science and Research center, built just a few yars ago. This would be where all Loyola's labs are located and where their science and Pre-med students spend most of their time.


This is the Mundelein Center, home to the Fine Arts at Loyola. This building is considered one of the oldest skyscrapers in Chicago and a great example of art deco architecture. It has been granted protected Chicago landmark status.


The tour does include a first year residence hall as well. You can see online tours of all the halls here

The admission counselor that works with MPA is Danita Salone.

To schedule your own tour at Loyola click here

Loyola uses a rolling admission process. Applications are usually reviewed starting in the beginning of October. The application for Fall 2009 should be available online by the end of the summer.