Originally posted by SolidGold
I'm pretty much in the same position as you and I would also like to get some impressions about UIC, other than whats on the interview feedback section. I'm also confused about the whole multi-campus thing. Can someone explain it? Thanks in advance.
O.k. I shall
attempt to explain UIC for all.
First and foremost you should all know that UIC is a state school and with that should come the understanding that they will not be "wiping your ass" for you so to speak. Don't expect the gold-star treatment that may come from private schools like UofC, Loyola, or Northwestern. There is a ton of bureaucracy and red tape as is common to state schools and tuition increases are always looming b/c of the state's budget crisis.
With that said, the clinical training at UIC is the biggest selling point. UIC students take a back seat to no one in terms of clinical exposure and training that they will receive and resdency directors have taken notice(according to an M4 UofC has been quite happy with the UIC grads it has taken into its residency programs and is interested in recruiting more) You will become a very good clinician and will be given a lot of responsibilty during your clinical years there. You will work very hard but you will be extremely well prepared for residency. In the Chicago area I think UIC carries weight. As for outside I'm not so sure as UIC isn't a top 50 school while GW is. Then again, I've always been wary of the US News rankings and largely feel they are a bunch of horse-bleep. I guess if you're looking for a national reputation you'd probably have to go with GW.
There are a lot of in-state students appx. ~90%. The school and the hospitals are located within the Chicago Medical District which also encompasses Rush and Cook County Hospital. The area is not the greatest however but it has been improved in terms of safety over the years.
There's a lot of lecture which love it or hate it is pretty common to most med schools. There are good lecturerers and bad lecturerers just like any other med school and it's really up to you to decide whether a lecture is worth attending. Lecture attendence averages around 30% so many student's only go to select lectures and use the rest of the time to study independently. I should say though that they really try to jam a ton of information down your throat more than many other med schools. They really stick it to you but people deal with it somehow and pass. Many peopel have told me that you're pretty much forced to skip a class or two just to get through all the information they throw at you.
In terms of the campuses, there are four. You have some input in terms of where you want to go but ultimately they will assign you depending on which campus has availablle spots. Chicago is the main campus and fills up first. Rockford, Peoria, and Urbana-Champaign are the other ones. Rockford is just northwest of Chicago and has a population of about 100,000+. If assigned there you will do your first year in Urbana and then the remaining 3 in Rockford. Ditto for Peoria. Peoria has a rural med program and is a city a couple hours drive southwest of Chicago. Urbana is generally reserved for the MSTP students and is where the main campus of the University of Illinois is located.
The student's tell me that with such a big class you have your gunners and you have people that are just there to learn and meet people. I'd say the atmosphere is slightly competitive but remember they have HP/P/F system so that should minimize it.
This is a very basic overview. I'm sure i've missed a lot of things. Feel free to ask me some more specific questions and I'lll try to answer them. There's also a guy on here named @imtiaz who is an M1 at Urbana so he could probably answer a lot of your questions too.
