MCW, UIC, or Rush?

[Jawwad]

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I'm an illinois resident too, and i think the problem with UIC is that people associate it with the undergrad campus - and most people don't have very good things to say about UIC as an udergraduate institution (seems to be a step above community college but below all the rest of the four-year state schools and not even in the same league as U of IL at Champaign).

Are u serious? That is an ignorant statement to make about UIC undergrad. I am a biochem major and the classes are definitely as hard as the classes at NW or U of C. People who transfer from loyola or depaul usually transfer back because of the toughness of classes.. At uic the staff doesnt hold your hand. UIC is seriously underrated.

 

[jbrice1639]

Are u serious? That is an ignorant statement to make about UIC undergrad.

i believe i actually said that it was an ignorant comment, but it is the general feel within the chicago area. so the fact that is a hard school doesn't matter all that much when people you're talking to think of it as a lesser school. fact is, it used to be a commuter school, and it just isn't considered by most to be in the same tier as the main U of I campus in champaign...and certainly not in the company of northwestern or university of chicago.

 

[WCGee]

i believe i actually said that it was an ignorant comment, but it is the general feel within the chicago area. so the fact that is a hard school doesn't matter all that much when people you're talking to think of it as a lesser school. fact is, it used to be a commuter school, and it just isn't considered by most to be in the same tier as the main U of I campus in champaign...and certainly not in the company of northwestern or university of chicago.

Agreed.

 

[brotherbu]

I actually know several people who turned down U of I Urbana-Champaign b/c they didn't want to live out in the middle of nowhere. A lot of people like UIC b/c it is a public school (affordable) and is in a nice metropolitan environment. Just as in any school, there are good and bad departments, and certainly the good departments at UIC (particularly the sciences) are on par with keeping you competitive with students from other schools. I never found myself subpar amongst colleagues from other institutions.

UIC is by no means near the caliber of a community college. You can find UIC alum in plenty of med schools throughout the country. It all comes down to how much you like the environment and how well you do at your school.

 

[Doctor~Detroit]

uic has a well-regarded public health school.

 

[Jinterpol]

I know that "Loyola" is nowhere to be found in the title of this thread, but I'm curious as to how one would say Loyola over Rush or vice versa.

Also, what's the reasoning behind those of you that say Loyola > UIC, which is more competitive.

I haven't interviewed at any Chicago school as of yet, but I can tell you that people here at NW say:

U of C = NW (I'm not going to discern b/t these two)
UIC
Loyola = Rush (Rush might have a slight edge b/c of its hopsital)
RFU

I hear that kids at UIC are notoriously unhappy...and that students at Rush and Loyola are more satisfied. Thoughts?

 

[pretenda]

I took one class at UIC. I was not impressed. The lecturer was so so but the class was orgo so obviously a so so lecturer makes the class pretty difficult to say the least. The labs were extremely old and broke down. I felt like I had gone back in time compared to the facilities at IU.

 

[TheRealDrDorian]

Everyone at UIC thinks UIC is better than Rush. Our dean clearly indicated to us his ranking of Chicago medical schools. NU=UofC > UIC > Rush = Loyola >> Rosalind Franklin

Possibly a biased source....seeing as he is the dean of UIC...

 

[sanche60]

I can see the comparison between Rush and UIC since they are literally right next to each other, but Loyola being better? Yeah right. I wont argue that loyola definitely seemed to have happier students (as subjective as that can be) and a very nice fitness center, but their research and clinical exposure are not comparable to UIC. UIC NIH funding is in the top fifty universities in the country (i think its 42?) and you will not get better clinical exposure (anywhere) than in the Illinois medical district, which is why you could make the argument that Rush is just as good as UIC. I think better research opportunities and clinical exposure outwiegh a good gym. Plus our gym is pretty good too. Yeah you could make the argument that Loyola students have options to go to some of these hospitals during their third and fourth year, but as a first year UIC student Im already able to see patients in Cook County, the VA, and UofI hospitals. Im not here to say UIC-COM is god, but i think the loyola argument isnt really backed up by any tangible facts. Plus, wouldnt you question a school where the medical students were all giddy happy? If youre in med school and youre really happy about how much you get to study then youre probably not studying or youre psycho. No disrespect intended.

 

[sanche60]

Also, something to consider is loyolas anatomy lab. By far the nicest lab I saw out of all the schools I visited for interviews.

 

[WCGee]

I go to undergrad at UIUC and here, UIC is definitely considered a backup school. A lot of folks here don't want to go to UIC because 1. we know many upperclassmen who attend UIC and they complain all the time about the intensive workload, aloof administration, drab environment/buildings and how miserable they are in general, 2. if you end up on the UPR track, you're in Urbana for another year with a curriculum that has you taking like 10 different lecture courses simultaneously, 3. less people get into Loyola and Rush and we therefore deem those schools (however wrong we are to do so) more competitive.

In terms of student happiness, Loyola > Rush >>>>UIC.

In terms of curriculum, Loyola > Rush >>>UIC.

In terms of hospitals/clinical opps, UIC > Rush > Loyola.

 

[jsong812]

keep in mind that the uic-chicago curriculum has undergo considerable reform w/i this past year, and from the students I talked to, it makes the schedule seem much more bearable. More specifically, UIC-chicago is headed towards a more system-based curriculum, whereas in the past all the courses seemed to be just haphazardly chosen. Again, this is true only for chicago; i am not sure about the other sites.

 

[WCGee]

keep in mind that the uic-chicago curriculum has undergo considerable reform w/i this past year, and from the students I talked to, it makes the schedule seem much more bearable. More specifically, UIC-chicago is headed towards a more system-based curriculum, whereas in the past all the courses seemed to be just haphazardly chosen. Again, this is true only for chicago; i am not sure about the other sites.

Hmm, I was unaware of that. I'll have to look it up and keep that in mind when considering schools. Thanks jsong812! 🙂

 

[chitown82]

you must be on crack based on your curriculum rankings. uic's curriculum is certainly one of the best in chicago.

I go to undergrad at UIUC and here, UIC is definitely considered a backup school. A lot of folks here don't want to go to UIC because 1. we know many upperclassmen who attend UIC and they complain all the time about the intensive workload, aloof administration, drab environment/buildings and how miserable they are in general, 2. if you end up on the UPR track, you're in Urbana for another year with a curriculum that has you taking like 10 different lecture courses simultaneously, 3. less people get into Loyola and Rush and we therefore deem those schools (however wrong we are to do so) more competitive.

In terms of student happiness, Loyola > Rush >>>>UIC.

In terms of curriculum, Loyola > Rush >>>UIC.

In terms of hospitals/clinical opps, UIC > Rush > Loyola.

 

[WCGee]

you must be on crack based on your curriculum rankings. uic's curriculum is certainly one of the best in chicago.

My ratings of the curriculum are based on the fact that Loyola has a block curriculum that allows you to focus on one class at a time, which would be beneficial to me (vs. the UIC/UPR track which has 6-10 courses running simultaneously throughout the first year). This, however, could be wrong since jsong just informed me today that they made changes to the curriculum to make it more systems based. Regardless, for ME, block curriculums are awesome. Rush, like UIC, is more traditional lecture-based (again, this could be different now), but I ranked it higher because the students seem happier with it and you don't hear as many complaints about being worked so hard. I am by no means saying that UIC has a BAD curriculum, I'm just saying that for myself, it's the least appealing.

 

[PacoX]

I'll jump into this thread too. I'm considering UIC, Rush, and Loyola, and there are pretty compelling arguments for all three. The main complaints about UIC seem to be unhappy students and too much time spent in lecture. Why exactly are the students unhappy? Also, for those actually attending one of these schools, how much of a total cost difference is there between UIC and the others? It's so hard to estimate this stuff since the amount they budget for living expenses, etc. can be way off. I'd like to hear real-world feedback about the savings from attending UIC.

 

[45408]

Also, something to consider is loyolas anatomy lab. By far the nicest lab I saw out of all the schools I visited for interviews.

Only pre-meds care about what the anatomy lab looks like. You're going to be spending one semester, max, in the anatomy lab, and some people I know stopped going halfway through the semester and just stuck with their Netter.

 

[chitown82]

I'll jump into this thread too. I'm considering UIC, Rush, and Loyola, and there are pretty compelling arguments for all three. The main complaints about UIC seem to be unhappy students and too much time spent in lecture. Why exactly are the students unhappy? Also, for those actually attending one of these schools, how much of a total cost difference is there between UIC and the others? It's so hard to estimate this stuff since the amount they budget for living expenses, etc. can be way off. I'd like to hear real-world feedback about the savings from attending UIC.

i go to uic and i couldnt be happier. im sure you can find students are uic, loyola, and rush who are miserable and students at those schools who are very happy. dont go to a school based on "happiness" as a criteria because what happens if you go to school x instead of y and you're unhappy! look thru my post history for more info on uic.

 

[chitown82]

My ratings of the curriculum are based on the fact that Loyola has a block curriculum that allows you to focus on one class at a time, which would be beneficial to me (vs. the UIC/UPR track which has 6-10 courses running simultaneously throughout the first year). This, however, could be wrong since jsong just informed me today that they made changes to the curriculum to make it more systems based. Regardless, for ME, block curriculums are awesome. Rush, like UIC, is more traditional lecture-based (again, this could be different now), but I ranked it higher because the students seem happier with it and you don't hear as many complaints about being worked so hard. I am by no means saying that UIC has a BAD curriculum, I'm just saying that for myself, it's the least appealing.

any MY ratings are:

In terms of curriculum, UIC>Rush>Loyola

In terms of hospitals/clinical opps, UIC>Rush>Loyola

Diversity of pts: UIC>Rush>Loyola

Diversity of students: UIC>Rush>Loyola

Research opportunities: UIC>Rush,Loyola

Location: UIC=Rush>Loyola

Money: UIC>Rush,Loyola

 

[jsong812]

I'll jump into this thread too. I'm considering UIC, Rush, and Loyola, and there are pretty compelling arguments for all three. The main complaints about UIC seem to be unhappy students and too much time spent in lecture. Why exactly are the students unhappy? Also, for those actually attending one of these schools, how much of a total cost difference is there between UIC and the others? It's so hard to estimate this stuff since the amount they budget for living expenses, etc. can be way off. I'd like to hear real-world feedback about the savings from attending UIC.

PacoX, where does your residency lie? If you're not in-state, you might really want to reconsider UIC as it costs ~ $55K for tuition alone. But after comparing numbers b/w UIC and MCW, as an illinois resident, the tuition differnece in a 4-year time span was going to be around 20K. Another thing to consider for UIC is their school of public health. If you are interested in going that route, UIC does boast one of the best public health schools--i'm not sure if Rush or Loyola even offers a MPH. Finally, for those of you who were oohing and aahing about Loyola's gym facilities, have you been to the new gym on halsted? It's quite remarkable and even NBA players would agree as we saw a whole bunch of them regularly in the beginning of the school year (Eddie Curry, Andrew Iguadola, Michael Finely, just to name a few).

 

[PacoX]

I'm in-state. I'd never pay out of state tuition at UIC, its insane. I agree with what was said about student happiness- that seems like such a wishy-washy way to rate a school. That's why I was wondering what exactly makes those students so unhappy, or so happy at Loyola. I think its really going to come down to curriculum and clinical exposure for me, as well as money. A gym's a gym, and an anatomy lab's an anatomy lab. Not worth nitpicking the things that don't matter much.

And for the record, I have read quite a few older posts by the people who post regularly and attend UIC and Loyola. Haven't really found any Rush posters.

 

[Critical Mass]

Pick the cheapest one after scholarship offers are doled out.

 

[jsong812]

Pick the cheapest one after scholarship offers are doled out.

speaking of which, how does one go about and get a medical school scholarship? are they offered upon one's acceptance? or does one have to apply for one after they get accepted? additionally, are they merit based--and if so, what constitues merit--or more needs based? thanks!

 

[donut22]

Pritzker vs Rush? Thoughts??

 

[tdd340]

Pritzker vs Rush? Thoughts??

This isn't even close to being close. Pritzker!!! Rush is super expensive and not even close to on par with Pritzker, Go the U of Chicago, withdraw from Rush, and count your lucky stars that they love you at Pritzker!