MumblingPenguin
New Member
- Joined
- May 5, 2025
- Messages
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- Reaction score
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Hi all, I'm in the fortunate position to be choosing between two fantastic programs! I'm leaning towards UIC - Rockford, but am still hesitant. I'm not committed to any specialty yet but am interested in IM->Cards, Peds->Cards, Plastics, and ENT. I will be taking out loans for my school.
UIC (RMED):
Pros:
(+) HUGE scholarship, COA/tuition and fees are 84k total for 4 years
(+) Loved my tour of the campus, the students, and the culture (I know Rockford isn't exactly Chicago in terms of city life and excitement, but I loved the people, students, and faculty I met).
(+) Close to my S/O of 4.5 years (45min-1hour from her)
(+) Active clinical rotations. They advertise that since there are few residents on campus, students get lots of opportunities to have first assist and work closely with attendings
Cons:
(-)Residency matching. Depending on how competitive I want to match, I may have to match at UIC-Chicago or UIC-Peoria, and I don't know if they have any preference/love for UIC students from a different campus.
(-) Clinicals. I’m scared that since they are more active, they will be absolutely killer and more stressful. I’m not trying to be lazy, just don’t want to be too abused before the REAL abuse of residency.
(-) Research. I’m sure I can find opportunities and take initiative. I just want to make sure I’m not “missing out” on too much since I was BME and loved that aspect in undergrad
SIU:
Pros:
(+) Home residency program. This makes ambitious residencies like ENT more realistic (I think).
(+) PBL. I enjoyed it on my tour and interview, it’s very active, and I think I would enjoy it mostly
(+) Match list. The match list looks crazy for how “rural” and “small” SIU is. I initially would not have expected so many surgical matches, locations like Mayo, Cleveland Clinic, etc…
(+) No shelf exams, current students and friends of mine say this is a lifesaver (even though one says it probably hurts in the long run, but it’s chill for now).
Cons:
(-) Money. I have no scholarship for SIU SOM currently, and they told me that they don’t have much to offer. There are merit scholarships, but I would have to apply for those, whereas with UIC, that scholarship is already mine. Total COA/Tuition and Fees is 172k for 4 years
(-) The staff didn’t wow me the same way that UICOM did. Maybe it’s because the RMED program is so involved with its applicants, but I felt really special and supported at UIC. SIU practically ghosted me between my interview to acceptance.
(-) Nervous that PBL will require a lot of time and meetings when I could just be grinding Anki/UWorld on my own and using my time more efficiently
(-) Further from S/O, 6 hours in Carbondale and 3 hours from Springfield
TLDR; UIC is half price at 84k and a great place overall. SIU is more expensive at 172k, but the home residency match for ENT and plastics is attractive.
UIC (RMED):
Pros:
(+) HUGE scholarship, COA/tuition and fees are 84k total for 4 years
(+) Loved my tour of the campus, the students, and the culture (I know Rockford isn't exactly Chicago in terms of city life and excitement, but I loved the people, students, and faculty I met).
(+) Close to my S/O of 4.5 years (45min-1hour from her)
(+) Active clinical rotations. They advertise that since there are few residents on campus, students get lots of opportunities to have first assist and work closely with attendings
Cons:
(-)Residency matching. Depending on how competitive I want to match, I may have to match at UIC-Chicago or UIC-Peoria, and I don't know if they have any preference/love for UIC students from a different campus.
(-) Clinicals. I’m scared that since they are more active, they will be absolutely killer and more stressful. I’m not trying to be lazy, just don’t want to be too abused before the REAL abuse of residency.
(-) Research. I’m sure I can find opportunities and take initiative. I just want to make sure I’m not “missing out” on too much since I was BME and loved that aspect in undergrad
SIU:
Pros:
(+) Home residency program. This makes ambitious residencies like ENT more realistic (I think).
(+) PBL. I enjoyed it on my tour and interview, it’s very active, and I think I would enjoy it mostly
(+) Match list. The match list looks crazy for how “rural” and “small” SIU is. I initially would not have expected so many surgical matches, locations like Mayo, Cleveland Clinic, etc…
(+) No shelf exams, current students and friends of mine say this is a lifesaver (even though one says it probably hurts in the long run, but it’s chill for now).
Cons:
(-) Money. I have no scholarship for SIU SOM currently, and they told me that they don’t have much to offer. There are merit scholarships, but I would have to apply for those, whereas with UIC, that scholarship is already mine. Total COA/Tuition and Fees is 172k for 4 years
(-) The staff didn’t wow me the same way that UICOM did. Maybe it’s because the RMED program is so involved with its applicants, but I felt really special and supported at UIC. SIU practically ghosted me between my interview to acceptance.
(-) Nervous that PBL will require a lot of time and meetings when I could just be grinding Anki/UWorld on my own and using my time more efficiently
(-) Further from S/O, 6 hours in Carbondale and 3 hours from Springfield
TLDR; UIC is half price at 84k and a great place overall. SIU is more expensive at 172k, but the home residency match for ENT and plastics is attractive.
