Rush vs. UIC

I got a better feeling about Rush when comparing the two interviews. It could have just been the students I talked to, but they weren't very positive about the drawbacks that a public school has (such as - the school stopped distributing notes because it was too expensive). The facilities were nicer at Rush, but it is also a lot more expensive. I seem to hear a lot on this board how happy the students are at Rush and how they aren't that happy at UIC. But I know it might be a skewed opinion.

Those are my opinions, but I'd like to hear others, because obviously UIC is much cheaper.

Isn't Rush in a better part of Chicago too? I'm not sure about Rush.

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No, they are literally right next door to each other. Literally!🙂

Doesn't uic charge for two summers? I think they do and this brings two of the four years equivalent to Rush.

On the charging for summer tuition deal, has anybody heard of any other school doing this? I think Northwestern's tuition is prorated for the 4 years, but does any other school actually charge for "summer school"? Seeing as Illinois is already one of the most expensive, if not most expensive public school in the nation, the idea seems pretty ridicilous.

RUsh because you get to rotate at Cook.

Howdy,

I attend UIC, had the option of attending Rush and am glad with my decision. A lot of other schools bump up tuition during 2nd and 3rd years. Check out U of C, Northwestern, and many others do too. In addition, when I received my financial aid packages from Rush and UIC, the decision was very clear. Obviously it's a good idea to live in campus housing your first year because that's how you can meet people, and Rush's apartments are much more pricey than UIC's campus housing. Overall, the bill for Rush came out to be about $51,000 while that for UIC was around $35,000 if I remember correctly. The cost differences are more than just tuition. The loans you'll get from Rush, the private ones, have ridiculously high interest rates, and at UIC you'll get good Stafford loans etc. for ALL your bills, that won't acquire interest until you graduate. No, you're not babied at UIC like you may be at private schools, but if you buckle down and work hard, you'll be fine.

In addition, for my own personal reasons for choosing UIC, here are a few. UIC has it's own fitness facility, and it's currently being renovated and will be awesome when it's done next year. The fitness facility is also connected to the campus housing, a huge bonus in terms of convenience... I probably wouldn't work out if the fitness facility wasn't located downstairs. There's a new research building nearing completion here, and there are many more research opportunities here than at Rush... UIC simply receives more NIH funding... FYI, Rush ranks dead last of all 126 medical schools in terms of NIH funding. I liked UIC's match list, the students seemed to match to a wide variety of programs around the nation, while those from Rush who matched into competitive specialties only matched in Chicago or at Rush. Cook County isn't necessarily a great place to do rotations. WIth so many patients, the doctors don't have tons of time to sit there and teach you much. One of my friends who did his surgery rotation at Cook County said he didn't learn a darn thing because the hospital is so busy, swamped with patients everyday.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions, we have our anatomy final tomorrow. 😱

FF

UIC has this awesome scholarship program, Hancock or something boring like that. You do research while in school and you get a free ride + stipend. No additional years like an MDPhD, just 4 and out.

Am I the only one here who keeps thinking of the band Rush?

I keep thing of the movie.

Originally posted by ForceField
In addition, when I received my financial aid packages from Rush and UIC, the decision was very clear. Overall, the bill for Rush came out to be about $51,000 while that for UIC was around $35,000 if I remember correctly. The cost differences are more than just tuition. The loans you'll get from Rush, the private ones, have ridiculously high interest rates, and at UIC you'll get good Stafford loans etc. for ALL your bills, that won't acquire interest until you graduate. No, you're not babied at UIC like you may be at private schools, but if you buckle down and work hard, you'll be fine.

FF

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My private loan from Rush is at a pretty low interest rate. Also, after receiving 3 grants my tuition is down to around 21k(total taken out ~41k). Most of the people I know are in a similar situation. However, most of the grants are based on your parent's income...so if that could help you, then it's worth checking out.
In my biased opinion Rush is a wonderful place to be....I do wish we had a gym though. 😉