GWU vs UIC

[123456789.]

I have a very short time to decide between the two. And I am begging for any advice or comment.

Illinois;
Pros;
*lower living costs so i can live without roomies

*very collaborative student body feels like home in that aspect

*great health network -although I wanna land a residency somewhere in Florida eventually

*way more research as i have worked as a researcher for the last 15 years (yeah I’m old) I’m interested in getting involved in some research

cons:
*cold weather, I hate cold (former gator here, who had to live in New York City and Boston so i know I hate cold)

*high tuition; 78k (could be the highest I’ve seen)

*don’t have any connections, no friends no fam

GWU;
Pros;
*Relatively lower tuition 63K (I guess anyone is lower relative to ILlinois

*great 4 seasons!

*Possible to row (former rower, although I dunno if I have the time but I want to)

*seems a bit more reputable and higher in PD ranking but I don’t think they are that different.

*i have several friends there one of which is actually an attending (yup!) and another one is a high school friend from overseas which is like a miracle. But I still think my social network AT the school is more important than other social network so a friendly student body still wins in regard to a med student’s social life? I dunno

cons;
*feels a bit snobby and distant student body but I didn’t have exposure to people yet as I was just accepted

*VERY high cost of living so I ll have to live with roommates. I dunno if it’s something that is not good as a med student. CANT BELIEVE DC is becoming comparable to manhattan. Dang!

-possible to have more gunners which to me is a con.

So overall I just wanna be and become a physician and don’t wanna deal with gunners, then again they ll always be around in the field anyway so maybe I should better get used to it from early on?

same pros for both; both schools are P/F and have good clinical rotations as I hear.

Seems that pros and cons may even out but I didn’t have a chance to talk to students from GWU cuz it was a late offer so i maybe biased due to more exposure to Illinois people. So I am in absolute need of any advice at this point. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 Thank you for your time already😟🙏🏻

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[drthedude]

I'm bias since I graduated my undergrad degree from UIC but everyone there is extremely outgoing. I've been in the west campus medicine buildings all the time and even then everyone was talking to each other and some even made an effort to talk to me (not knowing I was an undergrad)! I do not know much of GWU unfortunately but hope this helps.

I have a very short time to decide between the two. Any input is really appreciated. Regarding financials, both schools are comparable. UIC has higher tuition but DC is really expensive compared to Chicago. So overall cost of attendance will even out for me as an OOS applicant for both schools. I have some friends in DC already. Don’t have anyone in Chicago but I have heard in GWU students are not as friendly and collegial as UIC (although just heard that so not sure and absolutely in need of more info on). I met with several upper class students From UIC who were amazing and nice so I may have bias due to exposure so I really really do appreciate any comment. Both schools are P/F but in UIC students seem to be a bit more sharing regarding the resources and study materials as in subscriptions etc. I am concerned about Chicago’s safety on one hand and DC is I believe much more safer in comparison. Match is more on the ILlinois hospitals I think versus GWU may be more distributed in northeastern area and I would like to hopefully be placed in Florida hospital in the future which could be more possible with GWU but not impossible with UIC either. If anyone could have anything, any little info or just comment or input, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

 

[123456789.]

I'm bias since I graduated my undergrad degree from UIC but everyone there is extremely outgoing. I've been in the west campus medicine buildings all the time and even then everyone was talking to each other and some even made an effort to talk to me (not knowing I was an undergrad)! I do not know much of GWU unfortunately but hope this helps.

Thank you very much🙋🏻‍♀️

 

[123456789.]

I can answer any specific GW questions as you need if you pm me. I will say that COL is very high, but there are deals for living. It will be difficult to live on your own at a reasonable price. It's not snobby as you make it out to be, but there are a couple people who certainly come from wealth and it's quite obvious (though, I imagine this is at every medical school). Few gunners too, but certainly just like every other medical school.

Thank you so much for your comment!! I really am thankful for you giving me some perspective.🙋🏻‍