I'm a second year at the Bloomington center....
So far I have really enjoyed IU. While I can't speak too much of the Indy center, things are great in Bloomington. In general my classmates are likeabe and the professors seem interested in teaching us. Plus, Bloomington is a fun college town.
As far as campus assignments, they will send you a form in the spring for you to rank the campuses in order of where you want to be and give you a chance to explain why. If you have a good reason (or can make one up) to be somewhere or have strong ties to a part of the state, it usually isn't a problem getting the campus you want. Nearly everybody here in Bloomington requested it as their first choice.
Pros of satellite campuses:
- smaller class size (16-28)
- more attention from professors then Indy
- higher average board scores and shelf scores then Indy. Bloomington historically hovers around 230 on Step 1. IU as a whole is usually around 222 and Indy around the national average. Of course, Step 1 is what you make of it.
Pros of Indy:
- don't have to attend lectures if you don't want to (I wish I would have considered this a little more)
- get a chance to become familiar with the hospital system for 3rd/4th years for what that's worth.
- more connected to clinical faculty early on (the satellite campuses will have good physicians teaching you, but obviously not the ones you will be seeing later on in your training)
Cons of Satellites:
- feel cut off from the bulk of the medical school
- not as easy to become involved in clinical research during the school year (though it isn't a problem during the summer)
- must attend lecture
- Gary, Indiana....nuff said
Cons of Indy:
- The huge number of classmates is a turn off for some people
- except on the neuro shelf (where the prof pretty much gives them the answers ahead of time), score poorly ON AVERAGE on the shelf exams and Step 1 compared to the satellite campuses.
- IUPUI is a commuter campus. This can be bad for those who enjoy centralized university life.
Overall, med school has been a good experience so far. Those I have talked to in their clinical years seem to enjoy it. It doesn't sound as if they grind med students into the ground as much as other schools do. Indy, while nothing special, is pretty clean and safe compared to other major cities. And let's be honest, you won't have the time to be going out on the town 5 nights/week if you want to do well in school.
Good luck.
