UIC vs RUSH

[mmmkoolaid]

I am deciding between UIC and RUSH... they both have there goods and bads, including costs, size, private/public. I guess I am looking for peoples opinions and thoughts on the matter. Does Rush have the prestige for such a price? Are the students at UIC really miserable? Any comments and feedback would be appreciated!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Neuronix]

I don't think there's a real prestige difference between UIC and Rush, unless there's some Illinois rivalry I don't know about. Assuming you are a IL state resident, I would definately go to UIC. Imtiaz (one of the posters in the allo forum) goes to UIC, and you could always talk to him if you want to talk to a student there.

 

[mmmkoolaid]

what if I am not an Il resident?

 

[laviddee]

hey,if you're not from illinois, then go to Rush!

i don't personally think there's a prestige difference at ALL between the two, although Rush students think there is.

but go to rush, b/c you'll be paying less, and getting more. Not more of an education, but better facilities, less bureaucracy, and better tender loving care everyone goo goos over.

anyways, that's my humble opinion.
i believe uic out of state is 40k!!!!
THAT'S CRAZY! especially if you've seen the condition some of their labs are in. AND you have to also do your small group discussion sessions in those same nasty labs!!!

it was gross, they told us when we walked in there, "do NOT touch the counter tops" and the tv hanging in the corner of the lab looked it was older than me!
but hey, med school is med school. the work may be done in the facilities, but the learning is between the ears.

 

[Explosivo]

Originally posted by mmmkoolaid
what if I am not an Il resident?

I agree with lavidee.

Go to Rush, the tuition is like $40k/yr for out-of-state students at UIC. Pretty much the only drawing card UIC has for it is it's cheap if you can call $22k-28k/yr cheap for in-state residents. Excellent clinical experience as well. However, lot's of B.S. to put up with in the first 2 years. Attitudes of students I have spoken to there in the first two years range from miserable to indifferent. Don't know if this helps but I know a guy who is an M1 at UIC right now who is so fed up that he is trying to transfer over to Rush.

My advice is to consider where you would be happiest regardless of cost. Then once you have made that decision look at the tuition and see if the cost difference between the two has you second guessing your original decision. If you feel you would be just as comfortable at the cheaper school, go there since reputation isn't much of an issue between UIC and Rush.

 

[What the pho]

Yup UIC around 41K for non resident, Rush around 30K. You can find UIC students over at rush studying and using rush facilities. Go to AMSA website and compare student satisfaction http://www.amsa.org/resource/cardev/medresults.cfm , you'll notice rush has some of the highest satisfaction ratings. Or you could do a search UIC vs Rush or other chi-town schools, there are tons of old threads discussing this topic. I know this because I was considering the same options.

 

[PimplePopperMD]

I'm a fourth year uic student.

out of staters should be a no brainer. they should all (repeat: ALL) go to Rush. Every one of you.

In staters: it still may be worth your while, if you have a choice, to go to UIC. I think that the first two years are horrible at UIC; the instruction is okay, but the exams are ridiculous, the facilities suck, and yes, we did study at Rush (I studied at coffeehouses anyway). The third and fourth years at UIC are most likely stronger, and because we have so many hospital affiiliations, and so forth, I think that we get an outstanding education.

Our student support services are horrendous. repeat: HORRENDOUS.

Will I be glad to graduate? Yes. repeat: YES!! But would i have made the same choice? Probably. The cost savings of UIC vs Rush, along with the (my opinion) superior third and fourth years, even with the (in my opinion) far worse first two years, balanced out in favor of UIC.

Take the tuition to $10K above Rush!?! The balance goes way toward Rush. Go there. Their students are happy.

 

[cafe ahnan]

Thanks PimplePopperMD.

I am in-state, and also trying to make this decision. I would love to hear from other current UIC medical students about their experience. Thanks in advance.

 

[calipremed]

I don't know anything about Rush, but I got a negative opinion of UIC when I interviewed there. One student told me the pre-clinical years suck, but the clinical years are great. Another student said that it hurt to be paying out-of-state tuition there and be getting the resources of a public school. I also didn't find anyone I met there impressive.

Altogether, my perception of the interview day left me feeling that I should seriously consider withdrawing my application from UIC despite not being accepted elsewhere yet. I strongly doubt whether I would attend there even if it were the only school I got into.

 

[cafe ahnan]

wow calipremed - that's a pretty strong statement.

My interview experience at UIC was not negative. Like your experience, the M1/M2 students I encountered all said it was grueling, but the M3/M4 students were all happy that they chose UIC.

My main dilemma is do I want to be a happy but poorer Rush student, or do I want to put myself through torture, and feel that I can do anything once I survive the first 2 years at UIC.

 

[ForceField]

Why are the first two years at UIC so bad? Someone said something about horrible exams. Could you please elaborate on why the first two years are "grueling"? Are the exams difficult, hard to study for, poorly put together, etc.?!

 

[laviddee]

i heard from my friend who said these words to me...
"DO NOT GO TO UIC!"

one professor had exams that were meant to trick the class rather than to see if they learned the material. what ended up happening is that about 40% of the class failed his class and had to take classes during the summer to make it up.

now every school has their bad professors now and then who have this head trip of superiority sometimes, so you can't take one instance and make sweeping generalizations. But this is just one story that my friend, a current 4th year at uic, has told me.

 

[PimplePopperMD]

Originally posted by ForceField
Why are the first two years at UIC so bad? Someone said something about horrible exams. Could you please elaborate on why the first two years are "grueling"? Are the exams difficult, hard to study for, poorly put together, etc.?!

-the exams are poorly written
-the facilities are pretty lousy
-the support staff isn't supportive
-many people fail multiple exams. you don't have to be stupid or lazy.
-some professors seem to "have it out" for the students; others are very cool.

having said all that, it's difficult for anyone to adequately compare med schools. if all goes well, we've all gone to ONLY ONE of them!@ So you need to take it all with a grain or two of salt. Maybe it's bad elsewhere, but they just don't complain as loudly as we do.

The first two years are indeed grueling. But I imagine they are elsewhere as well... the study of medicine isn't a walk in the park. More like a sprint through a sewer.

 

[whatfun]

Originally posted by PimplePopperMD
-the exams are poorly written
-the facilities are pretty lousy
-the support staff isn't supportive
-many people fail multiple exams. you don't have to be stupid or lazy.
-some professors seem to "have it out" for the students; others are very cool.

having said all that, it's difficult for anyone to adequately compare med schools. if all goes well, we've all gone to ONLY ONE of them!@ So you need to take it all with a grain or two of salt. Maybe it's bad elsewhere, but they just don't complain as loudly as we do.

The first two years are indeed grueling. But I imagine they are elsewhere as well... the study of medicine isn't a walk in the park. More like a sprint through a sewer.

I spoke with a friend of mine that's an M1 at UIC and she didn't have these kind of complaints about her professors or her exams, as of yet. Could you elaborate on what classes are bad or what professors?

She did mention that some professors have "died off" and you did say you are a 4th year. Maybe some bad profs "died off" since you went through?

 

[Explosivo]

Originally posted by laviddee
i heard from my friend who said these words to me...
"DO NOT GO TO UIC!"

one professor had exams that were meant to trick the class rather than to see if they learned the material. what ended up happening is that about 40% of the class failed his class and had to take classes during the summer to make it up.

That was an immunology professor. I remember an M4 relaying the story about what had happened and that she barely ended up passing that class. She says that afterwards the students got together and managed to get the assclown removed through some formal process. Now immunology is one of their easier classes.

She also mentioned that things would be better for us coming in than it was for them since many of the bad apples are no longer teaching there. Things are changing a little bit but I figure the lack of support and lousy facilities I believe will remain as the school is strapped for cash due to the state budget crisis.

I don't know what to think anymore. I've gotten the "DON'T GO TO UIC" from several student's there. On the other hand I have the whole tuition issue to think about.

 

[calipremed]

I should have mentioned that when I was there, they showed us plans for a new building, the largest in Chicago. It looked like it'll be really nice and therefore their overall facilities will be much better. It's slated to open in, I think, fall of 2004.

BTW, my interest in attending UIC would probably be much greater if I were an in-state applicant.

 

[ForceField]

Isn't Rush a primary care oriented medical school? While UIC is more do whatever you want? What about research opportunities at Rush, and options for academic medicine?

 

[rxfudd]

Also remember that Rush is pretty generous with grants and scholarships. My tuition for this year turned out to be $20,657 - and I know other people who paid even less. Not everyone gets as large of a break, but many do (it all depends on how quick you are to get financial aid forms finished and how much you and your parents make).

 

[123456]

anyone know the step 1 average score and pass rate for UIC and Rush?

 

[pinbor1]

Hi All

Here's my 2 cents on UIC, I am a 4th year there

M1 and M2 year can be painful given the quality of the lectures which vary greatly depending on the professor. The Anatomy prof is top notch, physiology and pathology are also taught well. Traditionally less stellar professors have been in histo and pharm, but this may have changed over the last few years. The support staff isn't the greatest, but it is getting better. PM me if you have any specific questions.

M3 and M4 years have been great! If I had to do this all over again, I would probably choose UIC again for these reasons. We do our rotations at multiple sites throughout chicago. I love the variety we get and the exposure to both community, urban, and university settings. I feel that the clerkship years are exceptional. We are in general looked highly upon by the residents we work with because we work hard and get done what needs to get done. We generally don't have to be told what to do and you have the oppurtunity to be hands on.

As for Board scores, I think you will do fine wherever you go. I think it is a matter of your own prepartation. Here at UIC, I don't think they focus on preparing us for the boards, but we do pretty well overall. From what I have heard we have a bimodal distribution in test scores we have a group that rocks it and then a group that doesn't do so hot.

As for matching, I think we do a pretty good job overall. Most people get one of their top 3 residency choices (~90%). At first, I thought this was a load of BS, but I know that a bunch of us have interviewed at some stellar residency programs.

I guess that when it comes to making your choice, I would use your gut feeling. You guys will be happy at UIC or Rush if you want to. I don't think you can go wrong with either schools. I know that the Rush students are probably happeir over the first 2 years, but I would say that most of the UIC and Rush 4th years I have know are pretty happy.

If you have any specific questions feel free to message me

 

[shorrin]

As an m1 going having gone through now a semester and a half I can put a few cents in. I understand the chicago schools debacle but I also believe that no matter where you go, you'll probably be glad of your choice - I suppose I'm saying that all of this uic-rush hullabaloo is sort of pointless

At any rate, I know that as a group most of us are
a little obsessive compulsive, so I'll offer my experience
at UIC thus far and you can take it for what it's worth

On the plus side:
the tuition is cheaper - so I'd say you should only
really concern yourself with this fact if you know you will be
going over the 180k student loan limit and know your
credit isn't so great

We have one of the most diverse student bodies of
any med-school. You soon will find a great group
of people to get close to

The chicago campus offers many great research opps

The anatomy prof is one of the best I've ever had,
even having had some great ones at u of c. He sets up
a saturday review session every other saturday, and
makes up and tags a gross lab quiz so you can tell
where you stand. He actually approached me after a
lab test where I scored the pass level only and suggested
we meet about studying strategies because he thought, that based on my lab knowledge, I should have done better. He really gave some good advice, and I scored 20% higher on the next test


The faculty are willing to help you when you ask. Some will
even give private review sessions and all you have to do
is ask. Some really care a great deal. Student feedback groups
are set up with the course directors for input and believe me
some changes were made!

The profs handout a lecture specific handout/outline for each class
and the Neuro profs made a CD-rom for us with a syllabus, mock tests and a complete brainstem guide

We have a coop notetaking service that you are NOT obligated to
subscribe to. If you do, it's 200/semester and worth it if you
don't go to class

Some cons:

sometimes I feel completely overloaded with work
and find the workload more than I have ever experienced

the tests can be ridiculously difficult, but most everyone passes
anyway it's med school for crying out loud - it's not supposed to
be easy

the other thing worth mentioning is the caliber of the gross lab exams.
NW for example (please correct me if I'm wrong, since this is second hand knowledge) has strictly identification tests. We, on the other hand, have to ID in order to ask a secondary or tertiary level question. So even if you can ID the structure you often have to answer functional questions to get the point.
This makes lab exams rather stressful, but it's been said that we
have to take less time to review for boards since we vigorously have to learn the stuff in the first place

the labs are not very nice - it's true, but I've never found
myself wanting for more or better equiment

Another con though is that anatomy lectures have been known to go on for 3-4 hours

the study area down in the basement is waaay better
than the pritzker students but it has some climate control issues

the food choices in the immediate area could be better

Th college of med doesn't sponser the CTA pass so
you get stuck paying 60/month, though you can live
near or on campus

It's true that I don't feel super safe in the neighborhood,
but that goes the same for pritzker's neighborhood and rush
is right by uic too

Some of the teachers are very, very bad - but not all

anyhoo, that's my several cents. pm me if you want more spec, info.