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If you can't be in Chicago- would you rather be in Rockford or Peoria?
UIC- Rockford or Peoria?
- Thread starter redruby
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Rockford is about an hour away from Chicago so I'm sure students in the Rockford track go downtown quite often. Peoria is a bigger city than Rockford and offers more in terms of cultural activities, but its not close to Chicago. Which hospital system is better - Rockford or Peoria?
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At the interview, the dean mentioned that students in Peoria do better on the boards than the other U of I schools. I have also heard that the housing situation is better than Rockford. Peoria students pay very little rent due to a housing agreement made years ago by the University at a building made to be a retirement home I think? Anywho, students get rent very cheap due to subsidized housing and I hear it's really close. Good luck with your decision! 🙂redruby said:
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if you are hardcore, then go to peoria. i dont know much else about peoria except when i talk to classmates that went there after M1 year in urbana they didnt like it at all. youre in class from 8am-5pm and you have several afternoon labs and etc. its very high powered, they work you very hard and its high stress. yes they do score a LITTLE bit higher on boards. we had one 251 and several people got in the 230s/240s, so its not impossible to do it at rockford. thats all im going to say about peoria, i have limited information. take it for what its worth.
if you are laid back, come to rockford. ive been here for 2 yrs and i LOVE it. as others have said its very close to chicago so i can go home as often as i want. the administrative staff is VERY helpful. ill give you an example. one of the buttons on my white coat broke off. i emailed the secretary and asked to order a new coat cause the button broke off. she emailed me back within an hour and offered to sew a new one on for me. you will not find this at most medical schools. definitely not at chicago or peoria. they have to struggle with their administration just to get school-related stuff done. as far as academics, yes we are laid back. we have class from 8am-noon every day M2 year. you have to study on your own for boards. you will get early clinical exposure in your M2 year, you go to primary care clinic once a week. so when you hit the wards youll know most of the common problems (CHF, DKA, etc). and youll know how to do a good examination. M3 year there are NO residents on any of your rotations, if someone needs a line, YOU do it. if someone is getting intubated, YOU do it. if someone needs an IV, YOU do it. you get so much clinical experience its not even funny. my chicago and peoria counterparts cannot by and large say the same thing. if i had to go back and was offered a chicago spot, i honestly would not take it. people match at places like mayo (8 ppl in last years class for IM), UCSF (1 person in surgery last year), BIDMC (1 person in surgery two years ago), you name it from rockford. so id say come visit and find out if its the kind of atmosphere for you. if you have any questions you can PM me. 🙂
if you are laid back, come to rockford. ive been here for 2 yrs and i LOVE it. as others have said its very close to chicago so i can go home as often as i want. the administrative staff is VERY helpful. ill give you an example. one of the buttons on my white coat broke off. i emailed the secretary and asked to order a new coat cause the button broke off. she emailed me back within an hour and offered to sew a new one on for me. you will not find this at most medical schools. definitely not at chicago or peoria. they have to struggle with their administration just to get school-related stuff done. as far as academics, yes we are laid back. we have class from 8am-noon every day M2 year. you have to study on your own for boards. you will get early clinical exposure in your M2 year, you go to primary care clinic once a week. so when you hit the wards youll know most of the common problems (CHF, DKA, etc). and youll know how to do a good examination. M3 year there are NO residents on any of your rotations, if someone needs a line, YOU do it. if someone is getting intubated, YOU do it. if someone needs an IV, YOU do it. you get so much clinical experience its not even funny. my chicago and peoria counterparts cannot by and large say the same thing. if i had to go back and was offered a chicago spot, i honestly would not take it. people match at places like mayo (8 ppl in last years class for IM), UCSF (1 person in surgery last year), BIDMC (1 person in surgery two years ago), you name it from rockford. so id say come visit and find out if its the kind of atmosphere for you. if you have any questions you can PM me. 🙂
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tesla123 said:
The subsidized housing free and is really close, but IMO, not worth it. You will actually have less money to spend (while in school) because they reduce your financial need by however much housing is estimated to cost (about 5000/yr). You probably will not spend 5g/yr on housing (esp w/ a roommate) and the difference is $ in your pocket. Ok, so you have to pay it back in loans, but so what. I would rather have 15k more in loans than have to live in ****ty subsidized housing. Call me elitist if you want but you have to remember that the subsidized housing is not just med students. It is inhabited by many different people from the community (elderly, poor, dare I say cracked out wackos with no respect for what time of the night it is).
With that said, what other people have said about the two cities is true. If you end up on the CU-Ptown or Rockford track than have a look at both places before making a decision. You will have the opportunity to switch tracks after January during your M1 year because there will be a whole bunch of your immature classmates who want to switch cites because they make (potentially) life altering career choices based on what their friends are doing and where they are going for M234.
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how's the year in urbana? why do they do it that way, make you switch campuses after 1 year?
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the year in urbana is great. they make you switch because urbana does not have enough hospitals to accomodate 130 medical students.
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PublicEnemy said:
Urbana year is just fine. Most of the teachers are pretty good. Other than that, CU is a college town, and lacks a little in culture. Yes, I know they have Krannert and stuff like that, but I'm talking about things to actually do that don't involve 19 y.o. fratties and sorority Ho's at 50 cent beer night. If you are young and just out of college you might just have a blast (big ten campuses are really fun if that is what you are looking for, I had fun here when I used to visit my friends as an undergrad). If you are a non trad like me (26 y.o. married, non-trust fund baby) it wears on you a little. At least downtown Champaign (kinda off campus) has a slightly more mature scene.
Switching is a huge pain in the arse, especially if you have a spouse/sig. other who then has to find a new job twice if they come with you to Chambana and P-town.
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Ah yes, Urbana...
It's not a bad place, but I'm honestly tired of it...I'm looking for a change in scenery (not that I have time to see the scenery or anything though) One concern I do have is that the DI has been publishing articles that say MTD may not run next year. Thats kind of bad because parking is expensive on campus.
Rockford vs Peoria...I personally chose Rockford because I'd like to be a primary care doc and as previously mentioned, they really seem to care about the students there. I've read multiple places that Chicago students are among the most depressed med students in the country. I don't see the point in being miserable for four years and still getting the same education. That's just my opinion about it though.
It's not a bad place, but I'm honestly tired of it...I'm looking for a change in scenery (not that I have time to see the scenery or anything though) One concern I do have is that the DI has been publishing articles that say MTD may not run next year. Thats kind of bad because parking is expensive on campus.
Rockford vs Peoria...I personally chose Rockford because I'd like to be a primary care doc and as previously mentioned, they really seem to care about the students there. I've read multiple places that Chicago students are among the most depressed med students in the country. I don't see the point in being miserable for four years and still getting the same education. That's just my opinion about it though.
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