Northwestern vs University of Chicago

[washburn]

Hey, I was wondering what some opinions were on these two schools. I am the pretty nice predicament of choosing between the two, and was curious on what other's thoughts were on the subject. Thanks!

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[metallica81788]

I didn't apply to either, but I know Northwestern is pretty PBL heavy. How do you feel about PBL? A lot of current med students at other schools hate it.

Plus, is Chicago giving you money - I know they're very generous with scholarships.

I also hear Northwestern is in the nicest area of Chicago, which could mean you might not get the patient diversity of UC.

 

[washburn]

yea that's one of the things, I know NW is big on PBL and UChicago isn't, so that's one of the main differences. Problem is, I clearly have never experienced real PBL or med school without PBL, so I don't know how its going to help me choose...

 

[BBender716]

The patient population is MUCH more diverse at UChicago than NW. So if you're at all interested in any urban med or treating the underserved (even for the experience), go UChicago.

 

[bigman225]

pritzker--better pt population, less pbl-centric and it is cheaper to live around the school (both are great tho)

 

[BubbaChuck3]

You will most likely get alot of money later from Chicago. They just have to wait for more to withdraw their scholarship money first. So I'd def wait on that decision. As I will Pritzker will make it much easier for you to decide relatively shortly.

 

[FSAP]

I wouldn't go to Northwestern just because of having to commute downtown. If you can afford to live there though, it is nice. Still, if you look at residency matches, Pritzker wins out easily.

 

[washburn]

yea I won't make any decisions until I get the full financial info from both schools. I actually just found out that I'll be getting a nice grant from NU, so UChicago might not be totally dominant in that category.

Also, does anyone know how many hours per day/week you are usually in lecture at UChicago? I know at NU they say its no more than 10 hours a week, and I'm thinking that might be good for someone like me who has trouble staying awake in lectures as it is... Of course I still don't know how I feel about supplementing that with PBL,,,

 

[BBender716]

PBL replaces the extra lectures you'd receive at UChicago. I've heard they have higher than average hours in lecture but are working on reducing them, FWIW. So really it comes back to whether you prefer PBL vs. Lecture-based learning... hope that helps!


oh and awesome job on the NU grant!!

 

[SteinUmStein]

I've also been debating the same question recently... my biggest surprise was that NU actually gave me a slightly larger financial aid package, which is not what I was expecting at all. Also, does anyone know what the deal is with UChicago's year 3 and 4 tuition? Why is it so much higher, when many schools maintain the same tuition for all four years (aside from normal yearly increases)?

http://pritzker.bsd.uchicago.edu/admissions/financialaid/budget.shtml

http://chicagofinancialaid.northwestern.edu/tuition/feinberg.html

I do agree that the amount of PBL at Northwestern could be a bit overwhelming, but I did enjoy the PBL I did in my A&P class last year, it was very helpful.

 

[CUSEguy88]

Yo dude- even though I have a strong bias towards UChicago (since I'll probably be going there next year). If your aid package is much better at NW, you should definitely consider going there. The quality of the schools is very comparable.

 

[mrfuumanchu206]

I've also been debating the same question recently... my biggest surprise was that NU actually gave me a slightly larger financial aid package, which is not what I was expecting at all. Also, does anyone know what the deal is with UChicago's year 3 and 4 tuition? Why is it so much higher, when many schools maintain the same tuition for all four years (aside from normal yearly increases)?

http://pritzker.bsd.uchicago.edu/admissions/financialaid/budget.shtml

http://chicagofinancialaid.northwestern.edu/tuition/feinberg.html

I do agree that the amount of PBL at Northwestern could be a bit overwhelming, but I did enjoy the PBL I did in my A&P class last year, it was very helpful.

I mean, I thought most schools increased the tuition slightly to account for the 3rd and 4th years being 12 months rather than 9. Seems like UChicago just raises it a lil more than other schools?

 

[SteinUmStein]

I mean, I thought most schools increased the tuition slightly to account for the 3rd and 4th years being 12 months rather than 9. Seems like UChicago just raises it a lil more than other schools?

Yeah, they raise it by about $13,000 for the third and fourth years. It's not ridiculous, but it's significant.

 

[amph119]

You don't have to go to lectures at Pritzker. I am willing to sheepishly admit that I didn't go to a single physiology lecture starting about halfway through the course, and my grades on the last few exams were all around 85-92%, ha.