5/15 Approaching and torn between UIC and Univ of Cincy

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hitherefriend

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So the deadline is fast approaching to make a final decision for where I will be going to med school in the fall. I am torn between Univ of Illinois, Chicago and Univ of Cincinnati.

The main thing is that I would rather live in Chicago. I am from CA and have only lived in big cities and thus I am very hesitant to move to Cincinnati. Diversity of my med class and the location I am in is very important and Chicago definitely trumps Cincinnati on this.

However, I am not blown away by the UIC med program. It is solid, and I have been told that 3/4 year clinical rotations are very good. My impression is that Cincinnati has a better reputation overall however. I also really liked the new facilities, whereas UIC's were old.

In the end, the most important factors to me are location, difficulty/stress level of the program and the student environment and residency placements. UIC had many more students placing in CA, but I know that could also be the result of Cincy kids being from OH and wanting to stay.

I know Univ of Cincinnati is much much cheaper that UIC but I would rather go somewhere I know I will be happy. Money is of course a factor in my decision but the other 3 things I listed above are more important to me.

PLEASE if you have any insight let me know. Basically I am trying to figure out if being Chicago is worth turning down a solid program in Cincinnati + the money I'd save.
 
UIC's OOS COA is like 80-90K/yr? that's just sick
 
$30 here to open up a OOS male spot at Cinci.
 
Well would you guys pay more money to live in an awesome location?
 
Go where you're going to be happiest, not where you will feel the most prestige. New facilities won't make you a better student, but being happy with where you live and who you work with will.
 
👍

pincheeric said:
Go where you're going to be happiest, not where you will feel the most prestige. New facilities won't make you a better student, but being happy with where you live and who you work with will.
Click to expand...
 
I know a bit about both places, Cincinnati cuz I'm from Ohio and UIC because as of now I'm going there (UPR track though, not Chicago) - I would say follow the money and go to Cincy - keep in mind that not only is UIC much more expensive than Cincy in tuition/fees OOS, but also that Chicago as a city is really expensive

Although Cincinnati is a white republican stronghold (like *cough* most of Ohio), it is actually, I would say, the best quality of life in terms of cities in the state - there are some great restaurants right on the Ohio River, and it has some kind of southern charm to it (cuz I group it more with the Kentucky culture than the rest of Ohio) - and you can live well considering how much money you would be saving on cost of living

and from what I've heard, Cincy has a solid match list and overall probably a slightly better reputation, especially for peds (their pediatrics hospital is one of the top in the country)

Whatever you decide, :luck:
 
pincheeric said:
Go where you're going to be happiest, not where you will feel the most prestige. New facilities won't make you a better student, but being happy with where you live and who you work with will.
Click to expand...

word.
 
pincheeric said:
Go where you're going to be happiest, not where you will feel the most prestige. New facilities won't make you a better student, but being happy with where you live and who you work with will.
Click to expand...

word.
 
go to UIC so I can get off of Cincy's WL.
 
phospho said:
cincy is instate for him... I don't see why it wouldn't be before pitt on his list...
Click to expand...

Even as an instate Cinci is well over 200 thousand for the four years... Plus the OP looks like he would be paying out of state for the first year...
 
i had to make the exact same decision. i chose cincinnati because 55k just for tuition plus higher living expenses just doesn't make uic worth it (at least for me).
 
DrJD said:
Even as an instate Cinci is well over 200 thousand for the four years... Plus the OP looks like he would be paying out of state for the first year...
Click to expand...

I was talking about onlyneedoneyes. I think he once mentioned that cincy was closer to his family, that's why he wanted to go there.
 
Cincy is only about one hour closer (maybe less) to my family/friends than Pitt is. I'm an OH resident, so I'd get IS tuition. I like Pitt and Cincy. Cincy would cost me about $48k/yr, whereas Pitt will cost me about $63k/yr if I go. I haven't decided how significant that difference is, but I don't really want to think about it unless I actually end up with a decision to make. Really, I want to get into WashU lol... It would be so cheap for me. Probably <$30k/year because of really small EC and the WashU FinAid policy (I'd take the $20k in loans, get scholarships for the difference except for EFC, then get loan coverage for my EFC, which would not be large at all...) :xf:

lol I can dream...
 
Thank you everyone for your insight. I know several people have said go where you will be happiest, and I think location-wise I would be significantly happier in Chicago, but then I don't know if the money I'd save in Cincinnati makes up for it. Is the consensus that it does? I also know very little about Cincinnati other than the fact that it is heavily white and Republican, two things I most definitely am not. But I guess it's not completely rural or something...

Does anyone know if I become an Ohio resident, if that affects my chances of going back to CA for residency?
 
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hitherefriend said:
Thank you everyone for your insight. I know several people have said go where you will be happiest, and I think location-wise I would be significantly happier in Chicago, but then I don't know if the I'd save in Cincinnati makes up for it. Is the consensus that does not? I also know very little about Cincinnati other than the fact that it is heavily white and Republican, two things I most definitely am not. But I guess it's not completely rural or something...

Does anyone know if I become an Ohio resident, if that affects my chances of going back to CA for residency?
Click to expand...

FWIW, I'm a South Asian democrat who lived in a pretty solidly white, Catholic Republican suburb of Cleveland for 13 years, I don't think it tarnished me in any way, I actually think it helped me to have a different perspective on life than people I know who grew up in very diverse liberal havens (like CA or NY). As I said, Cincy is a nice city to live in, and I highly doubt anybody is going to be questioning your political beliefs in med school, and I'm sure the med school itself is quite diverse (I know two who go there, a white girl from my hs and a (very liberal) Chinese-American girl from college).

As for whether Ohio residency affects chances of going to CA, I highly doubt it, all they'll see is you grew up/went to undergrad in CA. Obviously, more people who go to Cincy are OH residents who probably will stay in the midwest, but it's a good enough school that it's easy enough to break out to other parts of the country, especially if you have your ties in CA.

Also keep in mind that both schools are public, and so most Cincy grads will be in OH and thereabouts and most grads of UIC will be in IL or thereabouts, but in both schools people will get also out of the midwest, whether they are state residents or not.
 
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hitherefriend said:
Thank you everyone for your insight. I know several people have said go where you will be happiest, and I think location-wise I would be significantly happier in Chicago, but then I don't know if the money I'd save in Cincinnati makes up for it. Is the consensus that does not? I also know very little about Cincinnati other than the fact that it is heavily white and Republican, two things I most definitely am not. But I guess it's not completely rural or something...

Does anyone know if I become an Ohio resident, if that affects my chances of going back to CA for residency?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately only you can answer whether the total financial difference is worth it to you. First figure out exactly what that number is, and then weigh it against your desire to live in Chicago. They are both great schools, and neither is super cheap. You really can't lose! Personally, I'd follow the money. But I also like Cincinnati better than Chicago... Good decision for you to have to make though!
 
phospho said:
I was talking about onlyneedoneyes. I think he once mentioned that cincy was closer to his family, that's why he wanted to go there.
Click to expand...

Oh okay, my bad! 😀
 
DrJD said:
Even as an instate Cinci is well over 200 thousand for the four years... Plus the OP looks like he would be paying out of state for the first year...
Click to expand...

4 year COA for UIC OOS is a sweet $352,777.
 
hitherefriend said:
Thank you everyone for your insight. I know several people have said go where you will be happiest, and I think location-wise I would be significantly happier in Chicago, but then I don't know if the money I'd save in Cincinnati makes up for it. Is the consensus that it does? I also know very little about Cincinnati other than the fact that it is heavily white and Republican, two things I most definitely am not. But I guess it's not completely rural or something...

Does anyone know if I become an Ohio resident, if that affects my chances of going back to CA for residency?
Click to expand...

What is your gut telling you to do? I would follow that...
 
hitherefriend said:
So the deadline is fast approaching to make a final decision for where I will be going to med school in the fall. I am torn between Univ of Illinois, Chicago and Univ of Cincinnati.

The main thing is that I would rather live in Chicago. I am from CA and have only lived in big cities and thus I am very hesitant to move to Cincinnati. Diversity of my med class and the location I am in is very important and Chicago definitely trumps Cincinnati on this.

However, I am not blown away by the UIC med program. It is solid, and I have been told that 3/4 year clinical rotations are very good. My impression is that Cincinnati has a better reputation overall however. I also really liked the new facilities, whereas UIC's were old.

In the end, the most important factors to me are location, difficulty/stress level of the program and the student environment and residency placements. UIC had many more students placing in CA, but I know that could also be the result of Cincy kids being from OH and wanting to stay.

I know Univ of Cincinnati is much much cheaper that UIC but I would rather go somewhere I know I will be happy. Money is of course a factor in my decision but the other 3 things I listed above are more important to me.

PLEASE if you have any insight let me know. Basically I am trying to figure out if being Chicago is worth turning down a solid program in Cincinnati + the money I'd save.
Click to expand...

I dont think the location of UIC is worth passing up cincy. THe UIC campus isnt in the best neighborhood, and is a good 15 min (and 15$) cab ride or 30 min train/bus ride outside of downtown ( directly west). Plus 100k talks really loudly. Additionally, im sure the experience u will get in cincy will be better and more thorough than UIC because most UIC experience is observation.
 
sillyrussian said:
I dont think the location of UIC is worth passing up cincy. THe UIC campus isnt in the best neighborhood, and is a good 15 min (and 15$) cab ride or 30 min train/bus ride outside of downtown ( directly west). Plus 100k talks really loudly. Additionally, im sure the experience u will get in cincy will be better and more thorough than UIC because most UIC experience is observation.
Click to expand...

30 min? I thought it was only like 15 mins on the pink line... Either way it's still Chicago!

I'm not sure what you mean by the experience in cincy being better and more thorough + the thing about UIC being observation. Can you explain please?
 
hitherefriend said:
30 min? I thought it was only like 15 mins on the pink line... Either way it's still Chicago!

I'm not sure what you mean by the experience in cincy being better and more thorough + the thing about UIC being observation. Can you explain please?
Click to expand...


I have heard that rotations in chicago are more for observation due the vast number of practicing physicians in the area. I know in the other campuses there is much more hands on expereince. And the pink line may be 15 minutes away, i usually take the bus because where i live is a bit over a half a mile away from the blue line. and a block away from the chicago Ave bus that runs right to the mag mile. (i live 2 miles directly north of campus)
 
hitherefriend said:
30 min? I thought it was only like 15 mins on the pink line... Either way it's still Chicago!

I'm not sure what you mean by the experience in cincy being better and more thorough + the thing about UIC being observation. Can you explain please?
Click to expand...

I would take anything that guy posts with a HUGE grain of salt.

See below (which was posted yesterday).

sillyrussian said:
Im still here. Still hoping to get into UIC... 28K vs. 48k tuition makes a HUGE diff ... but im ok with going to albany. I probably wont start looking for housing til june. if ur willing to wait til then.... Again, id like to live with 2 or 3 people if possible (just more fun with more people IMO) but im fine living with just 1 other as well.
Click to expand...
 
one of my friends is an M3 at UIC (chicago campus). She said you get to SEE cool things but don't get to do AS much. She is happy there though. 2 of the residents I work with also went to UIC and said that the clinical experience was really great, though they are 3rd and 4th year graduates so they've been out for awhile. I say go wherever you'll be happiest... if the extra 100k in debt doesn't matter, go to UIC. granted, I don't know anything about cincy.
Also, if you do give up your uic spot, tell them to give it to kac714 🙂
 
I'm still hoping to get into UIC (post interview hold), and I'm waitlisted at Cincy. I would still give the OP the same advice, based on financial reasons rather than any perceived differences between the schools.
 
Thought I would throw in my two cents. I am from Ohio and going to U. Cincinnati COM next year, so I am admittedly biased. However, I know both Cincinnati and Chicago fairly well due to having many family members and friends in both locations.

Chicago is a great city with tons of things to do and I like it a lot. However, what I think you don't realize is that Cincinnati is also a big city with lots of things to do. It may seem small compared to LA (I have visited there also and that place is massive), however, there is actually a lot of diversity in the city of Cincinnati with tons of great restaurants, shopping, etc. Clifton, for example, right next to the medical school is like Greenwich Village in New York with tons of ethnic restaurants and cool shops. I feel that Cincinnati favorably compares to Chicago with much less traffic and MUCH lower cost of living.

You should also consider that you will be very busy with schoolwork while in medical school and not have much time or money to go out and shop/eat/go to cultural stuff no matter what city you are in (every medical student I talk to tells me so). So as long as you aren't in some podunk town that is truly lacking (which Cincinnati definitely is not, but places like Rootstown where NEOUCOM is are), being in a big city location is probably not as important as it seems right now.

Additionally, one big advantage that UCCOM has over any medical school in Chicago is that its hospital system is the only large research tertiary care center within a one hundred mile radius or so. So, you get to see lots of medical cases that you might miss at a hospital in Chicago where the most severe cases are shared between all the large research hospitals around. From talking to fourth years, it seems that you also do way more stuff (like assisting with surgery and writing orders) during third and fourth years than people at most other schools. You also don't have to travel far for clinical rotations, which is nice.

Just my thoughts anyway. In your situation, I would definitely save $100,000 and go to Cincinnati and just concentrate all my efforts on getting back to California since that seems to be important to you. About not many people going to California, you are right in that most people simply choose to stay in Ohio. On this year's match list, for example, several people got into top programs in their field, but these top locations just happened not to be in California.

Good luck making a choice! PM me if you have any questions about Cincinnati.
 
kmb05 said:
Thought I would throw in my two cents. I am from Ohio and going to U. Cincinnati COM next year, so I am admittedly biased. However, I know both Cincinnati and Chicago fairly well due to having many family members and friends in both locations.

Chicago is a great city with tons of things to do and I like it a lot. However, what I think you don't realize is that Cincinnati is also a big city with lots of things to do. It may seem small compared to LA (I have visited there also and that place is massive), however, there is actually a lot of diversity in the city of Cincinnati with tons of great restaurants, shopping, etc. Clifton, for example, right next to the medical school is like Greenwich Village in New York with tons of ethnic restaurants and cool shops. I feel that Cincinnati favorably compares to Chicago with much less traffic and MUCH lower cost of living.

You should also consider that you will be very busy with schoolwork while in medical school and not have much time or money to go out and shop/eat/go to cultural stuff no matter what city you are in (every medical student I talk to tells me so). So as long as you aren't in some podunk town that is truly lacking (which Cincinnati definitely is not, but places like Rootstown where NEOUCOM is are), being in a big city location is probably not as important as it seems right now.

Additionally, one big advantage that UCCOM has over any medical school in Chicago is that its hospital system is the only large research tertiary care center within a one hundred mile radius or so. So, you get to see lots of medical cases that you might miss at a hospital in Chicago where the most severe cases are shared between all the large research hospitals around. From talking to fourth years, it seems that you also do way more stuff (like assisting with surgery and writing orders) during third and fourth years than people at most other schools. You also don't have to travel far for clinical rotations, which is nice.

Just my thoughts anyway. In your situation, I would definitely save $100,000 and go to Cincinnati and just concentrate all my efforts on getting back to California since that seems to be important to you. About not many people going to California, you are right in that most people simply choose to stay in Ohio. On this year's match list, for example, several people got into top programs in their field, but these top locations just happened not to be in California.

Good luck making a choice! PM me if you have any questions about Cincinnati.
Click to expand...

Awesome post! Thank you!
 
UIC gets a whole month longer summer and ends classes two weeks earlier second year to study for boards... should I let these things factor into my decision? That long summer sounds nice... I'm so 50/50 it's kind of ridiculous
 
hitherefriend said:
UIC gets a whole month longer summer and ends classes two weeks earlier second year to study for boards... should I let these things factor into my decision? That long summer sounds nice... I'm so 50/50 it's kind of ridiculous
Click to expand...

Those aren't really great reasons to choose one school over another, haha. Think big picture.
 
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