studend environment at UIC?

[realruby2000]

---

Members don't see this ad.

what is the student environment at uic? are students there competative like in the pre med arena or do most studens want to help one another?

 

[imtiaz]

I've heard not so good things, its more of a self-study type environment. It's competetive from what I hear. There's at least one person on this board that goes there, PimplePopperMD. Ask him.

 

[realruby2000]

Imtiazz!! this is the first time i met you jigga!!!

 

[imtiaz]

hahaha! and now we're M2s at UIC. life is weird!

 

[realruby2000]

yea but some things never change... ur still a skank!!!



just kidding jigga

ur hero

 

[ForceField]

I attend at the Chicago campus and it's not bad at all. Many students work in groups, some on their own, but nobody has been competitive or gunner-like... the students here are very down to earth and friendly.

Originally posted by realruby2000
what is the student environment at uic? are students there competative like in the pre med arena or do most studens want to help one another?

 

[imtiaz]

Originally posted by ForceField
I attend at the Chicago campus and it's not bad at all. Many students work in groups, some on their own, but nobody has been competitive or gunner-like... the students here are very down to earth and friendly.

Yeah I know. Those were our naive assumptions before we even got in and knew what it was like. We are laughing at ourselves.

 

[bokermmk]

I just interviewed at UIC and it was a great eperience. The students didnt seem competative at all, there is a scholars program for research students, the admissions staff as unbelievably friendly and accomodating, and the clinical eperience begins in the first week of school.

 

[Drnunia]

The student on the most part are great. We party together, study together, and complain about our school together. Each school has its downs and ups. I had several choices for schools and choose UIC becuase of $ and location. I heard terrible things about the school and from the beginning felt that I would have regretted my choice. But low and behold, I kinda like it here. Like I said the student are cool, some might be competitive, but you will find that in every school you go to; some are weird, really weird; but one good thing is that we are sooo diverse. We all learn the same stuff in med school, yes some schools might be more fun than others, but we all choose what and how much we want to learn and how much fun we want to make school and the time out of school. Any specific questions about UIC, you can pm me. Good luck to all those still waiting, I know how you feel!!

 

[nmcorp33]

Hmm seems like a lot of UIC med student on this board. I guess I will ask my question and hope for an answer. I was wondering what your opinion is on the Rockford campus. I got placed there and I was wondering the pros and cons? Thanks

 

[whatfun]

The student on the most part are great. We party together, study together, and complain about our school together. Each school has its downs and ups. I had several choices for schools and choose UIC becuase of $ and location. I heard terrible things about the school and from the beginning felt that I would have regretted my choice. But low and behold, I kinda like it here. Like I said the student are cool, some might be competitive, but you will find that in every school you go to; some are weird, really weird; but one good thing is that we are sooo diverse. We all learn the same stuff in med school, yes some schools might be more fun than others, but we all choose what and how much we want to learn and how much fun we want to make school and the time out of school. Any specific questions about UIC, you can pm me. Good luck to all those still waiting, I know how you feel!!

I'm also a first year at UIC and couldn't agree more with Drnunia. The one thing I do like more about UIC than other schools is that you have the independence to do what you want. There isn't this strong feeling that "you have to honor certain courses to get a certain residency" or that you're trying to out-do the next person in your class. I think many schools (especially elite schools) try to present themselves as "really laid back" when in reality every student is so compulsive and competitive that they have to fight their true nature to hide it. I have friends at several other schools that comment on this phenomenon.

At UIC, yea, those competitive students do exist, but I find they are in the minority. Most of us just want to get through this place and we generally bitch together along the way. At the same time, we can study in so many different ways - with the co-op system or lectures or handouts or just reading the book. I think students simply come to understand what works best for them and do what they have to do to get the work done. You'll find that you HAVE TO be flexible in how you study and what methods you try because different classes have different content and you might discover that what worked in undergrad doesn't work for you here.

As long as you keep that in mind, you'll be fine. 🙂

 

[meowmixer]

Hi, I'm new to the forum. . . and I'm also thinking of going to UIC. Sorry if this is a stupid question, but is UIC pass/fail or honors/high pass, etc? Thanks! 🙂

 

[imtiaz]

Hmm seems like a lot of UIC med student on this board. I guess I will ask my question and hope for an answer. I was wondering what your opinion is on the Rockford campus. I got placed there and I was wondering the pros and cons? Thanks

rockford is awesome. i love it here. it feels like home. definitely the best out of the UPR track.

pros: there are no residents, so in effect you ARE the resident. when you scrub in surgery you will be first assistant, not standing in the back watching. you get to do procedures, etc. the atmosphere here is really really laid back, the administration is AWESOME. they bend over backwards for us.

cons: rockford is rural, you might not like that. it's like a suburb. you are sort of on your own for step 1, whereas places like rush will spoon-feed you what you need to know (this is why their students score a bit better than us). it's all up to you though, if you work for it you'll score good on step 1.

if you have specific questions you can PM me.

 

[imtiaz]

Hi, I'm new to the forum. . . and I'm also thinking of going to UIC. Sorry if this is a stupid question, but is UIC pass/fail or honors/high pass, etc? Thanks! 🙂

the grading system is O/S/U, for outstanding/satisfactory/unsatisfactory. so really it's like HPF with different names.

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

I have no clue how the "studend" environment is like. But you might want to ask some UIC students here about the student environment. Sorry, I had to. 😉 😉 I know...I'm pathetic.

 

[nmcorp33]

I am wondering what a typical M1 scheduled week is like? Is it really 9-4 with classes? I have no idea how I would be able to get so much work done with such a limited time...

 

[ForceField]

It depends on the campus.

I"m at the Chicago campus currently. In the Fall, MWF is typically 8:30-12:30, occasionally you may have an afternoon class. TuTh are 8:30-12:30, and then 1:30-5:00PM Anatomy. However, you'll soon realize how you thrive best. I didn't learn anything from lecture, so that left 1:30-3:30 free for me, so I'd study on my own and then go to lab. In the Spring up until Spring break the schedule is essentially the same. Now, things are superbly easy, we only have class 8:30-12:30 everyday, and many students have been skipping even these classes, because it all depends on how you learn.

For the Urbana Campus, I know that currently they're still in class from about 9AM-4PM, which sucks big time with such nice weather. Hope this helps.

FF

 

[dechee]

I was accepted to UIC back in February, but got placed in Rockford even though I preffed Chicago 1st and Urbana 2nd. Do you UIC students know what's the likelihood I'll be reassigned to Chicago? I've written a letter and visited with the director of admissions but she says no decisions will be made until after 5/15. That's crap. If I eventually got Chicago, UIC's probably #1 choice as the city of Chicago and convenience are the main draws. But I'm only supposed to be holding one spot then.