[Disclaimer]: The minimal IMAT scores differ from year to year. Also, keep in mind that the EU and Non-EU ranking lists work entirely differently.
The following are the scores for acceptance to the academic year 2020/2021:

• EU minimal score: 45 (last ranking)
• Non-EU minimal score: 49.2(1st ranking)

The class consists of 44 Eu and 16 Non-Eu spots, allowing for a good student-professor relationship.

Lectures are normally held from 8:30 till 17:30, but during the pandemic, online classes have a slightly different timing from 9:30 till 18:30. 

As lecture attendance is mandatory and strictly regulated in Milan, you might want to consider what would it feel like to have most of your day in class. Keep in mind that most other med schools in Italy have their lectures either in the morning or the afternoon, leaving space for more self-study time and the possibility of accommodating a part-time job.

You might consider long hours in the university either an advantage or a downside, as the way you learn best is strictly individual. But as a medical student in Italy with a bit of experience behind my back, I advise you to pay more attention to the day-to-day details rather than the precise position of the University in the national ranking, for example. Your bread and butter activities, such as your everyday commute, lecture hours, attendance, and exam requirements, will individually influence you and therefore be the major factors dictating your performance. 

Lectures are held in the suburbs of Milan, in the Segrate area, in the LITA building. To reach it, you’ll need to ride it almost till the very end combined with a 10 min shuttle afterward.

This is what a typical classroom looks like in LITA and the rest of the rooms are pretty much the same. Upper floors of the building house research activities, so students can ask to attend the labs as an elective activity if they are interested in this area.

Progression requirements along the years make sure students don’t miss an important piece of knowledge before attempting to study a more advanced topic. This means that you’ll need to successfully pass certain exams from the 2nd year, to proceed to related exams from 3rd year for example. In case you don’t pass such a progression exam, you will need to repeat the year. 

Bear in mind, that most other universities won’t make you repeat a year for a missing exam, so this is another factor to consider when picking a med school.
Some people like the pressure this limit puts on them because this way they’ll be stimulated to finish medical school within the 6 years planned. Others find the extra pressure unnecessary and even harmful to their performance, as medical school is demanding enough by itself.

When not required to pass all exams to proceed to the next year, medical students in Italy (and those in the Italian-taught med course in Milan in particular), spend 7,5 years to complete medical school on average.

One of the biggest perks of studying in Milan IMS is the private hospital where most of the clinical training is performed: Ospedale Niguarda Ca’ Granda. Only a small part of the practicals is held in various hospitals from the University hospital networks, which also brings the advantage of getting familiar with a different type of hospital organization.

Advanced students in the upper years are allowed to use a Laparoscopy Lab – an especially exciting hands-on experience that certainly doesn’t happen everywhere.

You’ll be required to reach a B2 Italian level at the end of the 2nd year to be allowed to the clinical training in the hospital.

IMS Milan provides university dorms at lower prices than what you’d normally pay for private accommodation in Milan. The cons are that they’re situated quite far away in another small town called Lodi. Rooms are mostly shared and it’s quite competitive to get in, so you’ll need to apply well in advance. 

Milan is probably the most expensive city to live in in Italy. Following the rule Northern bigger cities are more expensive than Southern smaller ones, rent in Milan is more expensive than in Rome and about twice more expensive than in Pavia (which is just 30 min away from it).

A single private room in a shared apartment costs around 650€ and a studio apartment (monolocale) starts from 800€. Prices vary according to the area as the more central the higher you’ll pay. You need to keep in mind, however, that if you chose a more distant neighborhood, especially one not close to a metro line, you’ll be looking to a lengthy (to put it gently) everyday commute.