Illinois Applicants '08

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Hey, I've got a question for you guys. I applied to Northwestern without really having heard anything about it, just because my fiancee liked it. When I interviewed there I sort of fell in love with it and I think it's going to be my first choice... But I still don't really know a lot about it. How does it compare to the university of Chicago? Since I'm applying MD/PhD we didn't really talk about the medical school itself a lot, mostly we talked about research stuff, so I still don't know too much about the school. I didn't notice that the students were too arrogant, but I did find my fellow applicants to be a bit grating... Well I didn't really fit in with that lot...

I guess I kind of just want you guys to give me your impressions about Northwestern, since you seem to know so much about schools in Chicago.
 
I was accepted into a PhD program at Northwestern and turned it down. It was not medicine. I felt the particular department was extremely uppity and ended up going somewhere more laid back. Then I switched to medicine, which is a whole other story.

However, when I did apply to medical schools, I didn't apply to NW even though it's in the area. I just couldn't see myself at that school.

I personally know someone that's an MS-2 at Pritzker and loves it, but she's really busy!
 
For what it's worth, I've heard great things from Pritzker students, but a mixed bag from NU students. However, considering I haven't interviewed at either, this is all hearsay.

Also, I just posted it elsewhere, but a friend of mine who was complete on 8/24 just received a Rush invite (scheduled for the end of January). So, for those of us complete early on, it's definitely not over yet at Rush.
 
Hi Meg,
Thanks for your response. Why couldn't you see yourself at the school? Because of your bad experience with that PhD program? Is northwestern considered more uppity than U of Chicago? I haven't checked school rankings or anything, but aren't they in more or less the same league?

Also, are you the same person as GosouthernGo? It seems like you link to the same blog...
 
Phoenix. said:
For what it's worth, I've heard great things from Pritzker students, but a mixed bag from NU students. However, considering I haven't interviewed at either, this is all hearsay.
Click to expand...

What sort of bad stuff did you hear about NU?
 
solumanculver said:
Hi Meg,
Thanks for your response. Why couldn't you see yourself at the school? Because of your bad experience with that PhD program? Is northwestern considered more uppity than U of Chicago? I haven't checked school rankings or anything, but aren't they in more or less the same league?

Also, are you the same person as GosouthernGo? It seems like you link to the same blog...
Click to expand...
There is a slight but negligible difference in ranking between the two schools. Now, I'm gonna offer my opinion, which anyone is free to disagree with. UofC has a stereotype of having bright, nerdy kids who love it there because they are in an academically rigorous environment. They love it there because they fit right in with the crowd. NW has a stereotype of being rather preppy and possessing an air of superiority over others. Some people like it, some don't. Once again, my opinion. If you think it's wrong, post your own opinion and have others judge for themselves. Cheers!
 
solumanculver said:
Hi Meg,
Thanks for your response. Why couldn't you see yourself at the school? Because of your bad experience with that PhD program? Is northwestern considered more uppity than U of Chicago? I haven't checked school rankings or anything, but aren't they in more or less the same league?

Also, are you the same person as GosouthernGo? It seems like you link to the same blog...
Click to expand...

yes. I reserve GoSouthernGo posts for non-opinionated ones and posts related strictly to med school application and, next year, comments/questions while I'm a med student. Once I start med school I will probably use that exclusively, especially if I end up at SIU, which is the source of that username.

and yes, I couldn't see myself at NW for the experience I had. I got into other schools that I really liked, too. There are a handful of schools I've had snobbish experiences with ranging from undergrad admissions through M.S. admissions and Ph.D. admissions. Those schools are automatically off my list for the red flags I encountered before.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't take my word as gospel though. You have to decide for yourself, but you asked about our perceptions and I told you.

NW and Pritzker are comparable to those that are outsiders. Ask anyone from each school and they'll tell you their school is better. The admissions people were extremely friendly at Pritzker - they made time for me to come and go over my application stats prior to the opening of AMCAS and were really good about returning e-mails and just being plain nice. I met the NW admissions person in March 06 at an Illinois med school fair - for prospective applicants, and she blew me off. Gave me her card to email her questions because she was too busy to talk and I did, and she never emailed me back. Hmph.

So as far as personal experiences go, I have seen snotty faculty in one area and less than helpful admissions department from NW. Pritzker's admissions department was incredibly outgoing (and my stats were really not that great), my MS-2 friend loves it, and my first cousin is in a PhD program in psych there and absolutely loves it.
 
AlexMorph said:
There is a slight but negligible difference in ranking between the two schools. Now, I'm gonna offer my opinion, which anyone is free to disagree with. UofC has a stereotype of having bright, nerdy kids who love it there because they are in an academically rigorous environment. They love it there because they fit right in with the crowd. NW has a stereotype of being rather preppy and possessing an air of superiority over others. Some people like it, some don't. Once again, my opinion. If you think it's wrong, post your own opinion and have others judge for themselves. Cheers!
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks a lot for your post. As for that air of superiority, I definitely noticed it among the applicants, but the students seemed nice. Of course the MD/PhD students are maybe a bit different than the medical students on the whole.
 
megboo said:
NW and Pritzker are comparable to those that are outsiders. Ask anyone from each school and they'll tell you their school is better. The admissions people were extremely friendly at Pritzker - they made time for me to come and go over my application stats prior to the opening of AMCAS and were really good about returning e-mails and just being plain nice. I met the NW admissions person in March 06 at an Illinois med school fair - for prospective applicants, and she blew me off. Gave me her card to email her questions because she was too busy to talk and I did, and she never emailed me back. Hmph.
Click to expand...

Hi Meg,
I know what you mean when you say that bad admissions people spoil the school. Ironically, that is one of the reasons that I've ranked NW highly on my list. I got personal phone calls and emails from the department that made me feel really welcome there. But, once again, that was from the MSTP and not the medical school, so it was a different admissions office. I'm still waiting to hear from U of Chicago... their MD/PhD interviews start in January and my application still hasn't been reviewed yet. I hope that I get an interview there, I was so impressed with Northwestern that now I think about living in Chicago all the time... I kind of wish that I had applied to more places there. In any case, thanks for your impressions.
Soluman
 
as a phd with lots of md/phd friends here is what you really need to think about:
1. which place has more labs you want to work in?
2. have those labs had md/phds before?
3. how long does it take someone from those labs to finish?
4. where does the lab publish?
5. are people in those labs happy?

if you are going to be more focused long term on research all of the above matters a lot. do not chose a school because there is 1 lab that you want to work in - sometimes things do not work out between students and the pi. you need to make sure there are other options. there are happy and miserable students at every school - it really depends on the lab and what is expected of the student by the pi.

for medical school the name of the school carries weight - for the phd the name of the lab you are in carries more weight than anything else.
this makes deciding on a place for an md/phd more complicated.
 
engineers said:
as a phd with lots of md/phd friends here is what you really need to think about:
1. which place has more labs you want to work in?
2. have those labs had md/phds before?
3. how long does it take someone from those labs to finish?
4. where does the lab publish?
5. are people in those labs happy?

if you are going to be more focused long term on research all of the above matters a lot. do not chose a school because there is 1 lab that you want to work in - sometimes things do not work out between students and the pi. you need to make sure there are other options. there are happy and miserable students at every school - it really depends on the lab and what is expected of the student by the pi.

for medical school the name of the school carries weight - for the phd the name of the lab you are in carries more weight than anything else.
this makes deciding on a place for an md/phd more complicated.
Click to expand...

Hi,
Thanks for your advice. I certainly do check out those aspects of the program when I interview there, and although you're right that the prestige of the school isn't as important as the prestige of the lab, there is a correlation between the two, ie more prestigious schools tend to have better labs. Of course, when applying to MD/PhD programs there isn't generally an opportunity to poll students at the precise labs that you want to work in. You get an opportunity to talk to students from a variety of labs, but my interests are kind of narrow, I guess, so I never talk to students doing the kinds of things I'm interested in. I kind of think that it's most important to be accepted, then check out the specifics of the labs on the post acceptance tour... at least that's my strategy now.

Why the move from (engineering?) PhD to MD?
 
solumanculver said:
Of course, when applying to MD/PhD programs there isn't generally an opportunity to poll students at the precise labs that you want to work in. You get an opportunity to talk to students from a variety of labs, but my interests are kind of narrow, I guess, so I never talk to students doing the kinds of things I'm interested in. I kind of think that it's most important to be accepted, then check out the specifics of the labs on the post acceptance tour... at least that's my strategy now.

Why the move from (engineering?) PhD to MD?
Click to expand...

that's a pretty reasonable approach. once you do get in and have to make a decision be sure to see if you can talk to p.i.s directly and their students as well. if your interests are already narrow then it should be pretty easy for you to know which faculty you want to contact anyway.

as for my shift - i realized i wanted to do more clinical work and that while i could do so as a phd, it's just a lot easier to do so with an md. also, research is amazing and i do enjoy it, i really want to be more involved in direct service.
 
Got a rejection letter from SIU on Friday. Not too surprised since after the primary i was a screeners alternate, but I definately had interest in the school since its program was ranked and although I am not interested in rural medicine, I do want to work in underserved areas which I believe SIU in into (vs. research, academic medicine). Plus, in-state tuition wasn't too bad compared to the other places in IL.
 
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