Miami (Miller) v. University of Illinois Chicago Campus v. Tulane

[bugseth]

Hi All! With the May 15 deadline rapidly approaching I have been racking my brain to make a decision on where to commit between these three amazing choices and was wondering if anyone cared to offer an opinion? I am instate at University of Illinois (the price is still pretty steep) but all three schools seem to offer an excellent, collaborative environment, and are associated producing great clinical physicians. I'm considering going into a competitive speciality but as I'm unsure I don't know how much that should weigh into my decision making. Any advice I could get would be helpful. Thanks!

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[byaaaaaaah23]

Tell us how much each will cost-- I personally think an extra ~50k over 4 years is worth it to go to a school/location you like a lot more. Also tell us how you like each location and the schools' curricula.

 

[bugseth]

Miami (42k a year and I was told on interview day that the price will not increase each year-not including housing)
Illinois (36k a year and prices go up each year)
Tulane (56k a year and prices go up each year--not including housing)

As far as location goes I am from Chicago (and have some family and friends here) and know that I love the city but I also wouldn't mind going somewhere new. I don't know much about Miami or New Orleans but both seem like interesting and exciting cities with lots going on. Hence it is really difficulty to choose based on locations.

Academically Miami and Tulane are both pass/fail the first two years. Even though Illinois is graded I have heard from first years there that the environment is very collaborative and everyone works together well to get through the basic science curriculum.

The thing I know the least about is the clinical experience at all three schools. I've heard that at Miami a very significant portion of the patient population speaks only Spanish so interacting with patients is done with a translator. While I wouldn't be adverse to trying to pick up spanish, I imagine it would be difficult to balance this with Med school and otherwise having a life. I can't really say all that much about Tulane and Illinois other than I've heard they produce great clinicians.

 

[byaaaaaaah23]

Miami (42k a year and I was told on interview day that the price will not increase each year-not including housing)
Illinois (36k a year and prices go up each year)
Tulane (56k a year and prices go up each year--not including housing)

As far as location goes I am from Chicago (and have some family and friends here) and know that I love the city but I also wouldn't mind going somewhere new. I don't know much about Miami or New Orleans but both seem like interesting and exciting cities with lots going on. Hence it is really difficulty to choose based on locations.

Academically Miami and Tulane are both pass/fail the first two years. Even though Illinois is graded I have heard from first years there that the environment is very collaborative and everyone works together well to get through the basic science curriculum.

The thing I know the least about is the clinical experience at all three schools. I've heard that at Miami a very significant portion of the patient population speaks only Spanish so interacting with patients is done with a translator. While I wouldn't be adverse to trying to pick up spanish, I imagine it would be difficult to balance this with Med school and otherwise having a life. I can't really say all that much about Tulane and Illinois other than I've heard they produce great clinicians.

This doesn't sound that great. Since Tulane is so much more expensive (not even including housing), I would cross this one off unless you were dying to go there, bringing your choice to Illinois vs. Miami. I think you should go with Illinois since it sounds a lot more affordable (does the 36k include housing there??) and since you don't speak Spanish.

 

[yangpa]

Hi

My understanding is that UIC tuition for IS is around 50K for the second and the third year. (I am not quite sure about their forth year though.)
So from your post, it doesn't appear that tuition difference between Miami and UIC is big.

 

[fourhumours]

Miami (42k a year and I was told on interview day that the price will not increase each year-not including housing)
Illinois (36k a year and prices go up each year)
Tulane (56k a year and prices go up each year--not including housing)

As far as location goes I am from Chicago (and have some family and friends here) and know that I love the city but I also wouldn't mind going somewhere new. I don't know much about Miami or New Orleans but both seem like interesting and exciting cities with lots going on. Hence it is really difficulty to choose based on locations.

Academically Miami and Tulane are both pass/fail the first two years. Even though Illinois is graded I have heard from first years there that the environment is very collaborative and everyone works together well to get through the basic science curriculum.

The thing I know the least about is the clinical experience at all three schools. I've heard that at Miami a very significant portion of the patient population speaks only Spanish so interacting with patients is done with a translator. While I wouldn't be adverse to trying to pick up spanish, I imagine it would be difficult to balance this with Med school and otherwise having a life. I can't really say all that much about Tulane and Illinois other than I've heard they produce great clinicians.

Most Likely I will be going to Tulane next year (waitlisted at my #1 so that is the potential reason I wouldn't go). so this is from the perspective of an incoming student.

I love Tulane (when I visited), and honestly if I had gotten rejected from my #1 school I would be going here hands down. all of the students were super laid back (more laidback than even my undergrad). the pass/fail nature of the school plus NOLA's easy going atmosphere is very conducive to actually having a good time in medical school. Tulane really emphasizes clinical experience and interaction with patients (they have multiple student run clinics) and wants students to become part of NOLA. Second Look (I don't know if you went) was great. It really got across the point that at Tulane they are less interested in great researchers (though you can definitely do research) and more interested in people who want to make a difference in the patients they are treating. I love Tulane for that reason (because I am not at all interested in Research). It is very pricey and people often end up with a higher level of debt. however part of that is the price of the school and part is because so many students (something like 30-40% of the class) do the 4 year MD/MPH, which is also sounds like a cool program.

all in all Tulane is a pretty sweet sounding school (obviously I haven't attended yet and this is all from what I learned during second look and interview), but, for me personally, I love Tulane, even with the Higher price tag, because of their mission statement and, what sounds like, great clinical opportunities.

obviously if money is really important than it probably is not the best choice.

 

[bugseth]

I certainly got that impression of Tulane on my interview day. I didn't get to go to second look so I'm glad that atmosphere continued. I didn't go to second look at Miami either but from the interview day it also seemed very laid back and centered on the clinical side more than research. Illinois seemed to have less of a "feel" but it sounds like most kids do research, service abroad, or working at clinics...

 

[jellygirl]

UIC is the same tuition for 4 years. They have a state law for the public higher ed system.

 

[bugseth]

So Miami and Illinois will likely be financially similar it seems. Can anyone speak to the clinical experiences at either institution? (Narrowing down between these two might have to come down to who wins the bulls/heat series...)