Anyone go to UIC?

[rlplucien]

I'm currently at DePaul, but for financial reasons I would like to transfer to a state school. I understand that realistically my best bet for a state school in Illinois is UIUC, but I don't know if I can stomach living in such a small town like Champaign. Also, my girlfriend of >3 years is going to a school in Chicago and I would like to stay nearby. Not to mention the much larger number of volunteer experiences and the like that are available in Chicago over central Illinois.

However, I have some concerns about UIC that have to do with things I've heard from a couple of UIC students. I've been told that Chemistry and Physics classes are extremely difficult to excel in at UIC due to a lack of care from professors there combined with their grading systems and the competitive nature of the students there. I also read somewhere that no UIC students (as well as DePaul and Loyola students) have been accepted to the U of C or Northwestern medical schools in the last few years while plenty of UIUC students have. That concerns me a bit.

Can anyone shine some light on life at UIC as a pre med student for me? Will I end up regretting it later on if I attend UIC over UIUC?

Thanks!

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[1TB4RKSB4CK]

I wish I did.

 

[rlplucien]

Bumpin off the second page.

 

[Avoidthetiger]

Go where you want and just do as well as you can there.

I can't tell you much but I do know several UIC former undergrads will be going to UIC med school... so hey, atleast their students get into a med school. UofC and NW are very competitive to get into regardless of where you attended undergrad.

 

[macsta]

I've been told that Chemistry and Physics classes are extremely difficult to excel in at UIC due to a lack of care from professors there combined with their grading systems and the competitive nature of the students there.
Thanks!

I'm not really sure what your question is. If want to slack around, change your major to anthro or something.

Some profs are terrible others are superb...that's pretty much the norm at any large insituation (especially at ones that are research heavy). Orgo I, Orgo II, Orgo Lab, Physics I, and Physics II are hard classes. Once again, these would be hard classes at any university because they are truly new and often difficult concepts. The curves are VERY generous (60% is an Aish).

"Classes are extremely difficult to excel in at UIC due to...competitive nature of the students there"? Is this a joke? Mostly every pre-med wants to do well in their classes at any institution. This is advice for any university you end up at...study hard, do well on tests, and you won't need to worry about the curve. You might want to get a little competitive if you are serious about pursuing medical school.

I also read somewhere that no UIC students (as well as DePaul and Loyola students) have been accepted to the U of C or Northwestern medical schools in the last few years while plenty of UIUC students have. That concerns me a bit.

That is wrong. I know a few people who have gone to top 10 medical schools. That being said, the chances of ANYONE getting into Pritzker or Feinberg are very low.

 

[rlplucien]

You're right. I suppose I didn't include all of the detail in my post that I should have. From a few students I've talked to at UIC, I have been told that a large proportion of science professors at the school (as opposed to UIUC) are foreign and have very difficult to understand accents and do not care about anything but their research. I understand that this is an issue at any large university but I am talking about UIC vs UIUC specifically. I would prefer to go to UIC but I have heard of more success coming out of UIUC over UIC due to the types of professors at each school. I am continuously told that I should pick UIUC over UIC for many reasons, but I would much rather stay in the city.

 

[macsta]

You're right. I suppose I didn't include all of the detail in my post that I should have. From a few students I've talked to at UIC, I have been told that a large proportion of science professors at the school (as opposed to UIUC) are foreign and have very difficult to understand accents and do not care about anything but their research.

This is correct. I would say 80% of the science profs don't have an accent and about 90% of profs care about their students.

It is very hard to learn when you are spending most your time in class deciphering what the profs is saying. Most the profs I've encountered don't have an accent, but the ones that do aren't too bad (they normally grade easier because they know their accents hinder learning). In nearly ever class I've taken, the exams are STRAIGHT off the lecture slides, so even if you encounter a non-english speaker you can do well. Also, you can go to ratemyprofessors.com and find a professor doesn't have an accent.

Most research oriented profs will not baby you through the course material. That being said, they are more than willing to help you during their office hours, but you need to put in effort as well (reading material, going to class, knowing pertinent information).

I know MANY people that go to UofI and they have the exact same problems. I rather live in the city. It is really your choice. I wouldn't let the professors dictate your decision.

 

[rlplucien]

Thanks for taking the time to help me out macsta. I would prefer to stay in the city as well, so I think I'll do that. You definitely made me feel more comfortable about choosing UIC.

 

[Genecks]

macsta, are you on drugs? Are you a UIC rep?

No! There was definitely not a 60% is Aish.
More like 25% to 30%. Sometimes 15% or 20%.
It was more like 50% of class will be Cish for Org. II.

I'm sitting inside UIC right at this moment in time while typing this post.

For Organic II, I had Dr. Laura Anderson who really did not care about her students. Dr. Miranda cares, but he's busy. Dr. Anderson does not care. She acts like she cares, but she's just trying to play everything off in order to keep her $77k salary. She's also been hanging out with Dr. Driver in order to wedge her way into tenure.

The average for a Dr. Anderson exam was about 45%.

The people who excelled either were very well prepared (which makes the class more about exams than a learning experience; thus everything is way more competitive than usual). Combine that with the fact that Dr. Anderson has based some of her material off of Dr. Driver, and people have his materials, things become very problematic.

Simply said, organic chemistry at UIC is becoming a really bad situation for undergraduates. Physics, from what I'm told from most people, is already a really bad situation.

However, I've been told by people who have taken physics at a community college or even high school (and took it serious and excelled), seem to do well. Otherwise, the averages tend to be about 40% in the physics classes, which makes everything think the course is hellish.

Now, when people say the material is new to people which is why it is hard... Well, yeah. BUT it's definitely not hard to people who've been exposed/learned the material already, and they are the individuals screwing with the curve. That's why it becomes hard, and the same thing occurs in organic II. The courses are adjusted to be hard for those who are prepared.

Combine that with the fact that professors allow their exams (Miranda and Anderson) to leave the classroom, and you notice people who get access to these exams then they can excel where others can't. So, it becomes a culture of inheritance where those at UIC with connections tend to do well/better than others. UIC does not offer a fair, competitive environment for its students. So, courses are not completely adjusted for those who are prepared. That's why I think UIC courses are corrupt. Adjusting difficulty for the educated population is one thing, but adjusting difficulty for academic dishonesty is another.

I met plenty of people who had already taken organic II elsewhere, such as a community college or a 4-year college, yet are made by UIC reps to take UIC classes for their degree rather than allowing the courses to transfer in for credit.

UIC is a freaking mess.

With Anderson, her TAs did not really want to help us. She said the first day that her TAs were not really there to teach but to grade stuff. All of us students had a really hard time getting in contact with the TA in order to better understand concepts. However, the professor had plenty of office hours (but you had to push yourself and stay up more hours in order to complete everything else you had to do and go to those office hours). So, that compensated for the lack of the TA being around.

For Miranda, the TAs had plenty of office hours. I found that he was very helpful himself giving plenty of insight that would often help me do better. The TAs often gave great insights, too. I wish I had taken Dr. Miranda for Organic II, despite people saying he is more "difficult." I found the situation with Dr. Anderson to be frustrating. However, Anderson tended to give insights into how to categorize reaction mechanisms together with explosive diagrams, which was insightful. Interestingly, Dr. Miranda tries to spy on Dr. Anderson to learn her pedagogy so he can better prep his students (so, I feel Dr. Miranda really does care about his students, but he is a very busy person).

From a TA who has taught organic, I overheard the graduate student talking to another graduate student about how DePaul has an easier organic II course for students. He ranked things like this: DePaul < UIC < UIUC

 

[rlplucien]

Genecks, do you mean DePaul < UIC < UIUC in terms of difficulty?

 

[MatrixofBlood]

There are tremendous variations in the UIC teaching faculty, but I was friends with one woman that got into the MD/PhD program at Wash. Another person got in this year had a 36 on the MCAT. This tells me that the program isn't weak because some of the smaller local schools can't get anyone in. Miranda is a really good teacher that cares, Snee and Hammerich try hard to. Everyone knows what is going on with Drs. Anderson and Driver as well;

Prof. Anderson wasn't at UIC one week before all the TA's told everybody. They are both very dismissive of students and had something like 90% of their TAs quit. Anderson will probably quit soon, once she finds out about some of the things that Dr. Driver was doing.

 

[rlplucien]

Anyone else have any input on UIC? I'm interested in hearing more as I am still trying to decide if I should transfer here.