UIC vs. SIU vs. MWU-IL??

[debbiecakes]

I'm torn between the three, mainly between UIC and SIU since MWU's tuition is so expensive. Although MWU's new facilities are impressive.

UIC has always been my dream school and I loved it when I visited, except PBL scares me. I'm more of a traditional learner but have had PBL style classes in college. Are there any D1s at UIC out there who can give feedback about it? Of course SIU has a great program and their tuition costs are much lower, which are very appealing. I would prefer to be in the city though. aahh I don't know.. HELP!

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[duckdds]

Yup that's a tough call
i went to MWU IL recently and I loved it. the program looked genuine and destined to succeed. the photos of the new clinics look promising and the facilities will be world class. furthermore, the program is systems-based and the faculty have a ton of experience. everyone is so enthusiastic over there and the dental students were so nice! they didn't look beat up and stressed, really laid back but hard working. very student oriented program
SIU is nice for its tuition. clinics are pretty outdated and students said they have had some trouble finding chairs for certain procedures but they say everyone gets over it. cost of living is cheap too, students are nice and its a quiet area. lots of clinical exposure

 

[FXTTH]

Personally, I would go with UIC. They have a reputation for pumping out good clinicians and the city would be a great place to live. Cost may be a little more than SIU, but at least you would have a chance of keeping your sanity. Alton, is one of the most boring towns in Illinois. (not to mention Madison County has the 3rd worst air quality in the nation due to the refineries) I am from southern Illinois, so I actually am familiar with the Alton area. Everyone will claim that St. Louis is only a quick drive away, but who honestly wants to drive 30+ minutes every time you want to do something of interest. Oh, and PBL won't be that bad. If you have made it far enough to have 3 acceptances to dental schools, you are obviously intelligent enough to handle the curriculum, whether it be PBL or case-based learning.

Midwestern seems great with the new facilities, but the price is RIDICULOUS. I have heard that Downer's Grove and the surrounding area is reasonably priced, and a pretty clean place. It is also pretty close to Chicago. The school just started and they tend to take kids with subpar stats; however, one interesting rumor (I know a kid in the program and he/she told me this) is that some professors are leaving UIC to teach at Midwestern. That may mean something.

Don't get me wrong, SIU seems to be a decent school and I have heard they also produce great GPs; however, four years is a significant amount of time. I would prefer having more than just a decent curriculum.(i.e.-social life, entertainment outside of school) Also, if you have any intentions of specializing you will have a far better chance coming out of UIC. SIU seems to be more known for general practice, with very few graduates specializing per year. For the record, I am not trying to bash SIU. I am solely basing my opinion on what I plan to do with dentistry and the actual area surrounding the school. I'm sure the school, the curriculum, and the faculty are great.

P.S.- The UIC namebrand will probably have more merit later on.

In the end, UIC>Midwestern>SIU (none of these schools would be a bad choice, as they are still accredited (well almost for MWU) dental schools.


University of Michigan School of Dentistry-Class of 2016!!!

 

[r2thekesh]

SIU is nice for its tuition. clinics are pretty outdated

I'm pretty sure UIC's clinic has not been updated since 1970. On an interview there, a D4 said "if you can complete your procedures at UIC, you can complete them anywhere, including third world countries". They complained about having to redo crowns and other procedures because of equipment failure more than professors saying to redo something.

I'm pretty sure I've read an article about some dental company, maybe Delta Dental, donating a clinic or equipment in the last 6 years to SIU.

FYI- I've never interviewed at SIU or MWU-IL. My interview at UIC was last year.

 

[Humans]

I'm torn between the three, mainly between UIC and SIU since MWU's tuition is so expensive. Although MWU's new facilities are impressive.

UIC has always been my dream school and I loved it when I visited, except PBL scares me. I'm more of a traditional learner but have had PBL style classes in college. Are there any D1s at UIC out there who can give feedback about it? Of course SIU has a great program and their tuition costs are much lower, which are very appealing. I would prefer to be in the city though. aahh I don't know.. HELP!

As of location, I would recommend UIC. Personally I live in Chicago and the city is great, you can't get tired of it! I know many students that went to SIU and have not enjoyed it there. This is just my opinion on it, it's all up to you.
Good Luck!

 

[DavesNotHere]

Let me clear some things up for you guys who are hypothesizing.

1. UIC has old clinics. But it gives GREAT clinical education. You're working on patients by D2 year and you can do anything you want. You'll do plenty of molar endo, restoring plenty of implants, placing a handful of implants yourself, 30 units of C/B are required to graduate so you'll do a lot of that. And the PEDO is hands down the best of any school i've encountered. If you want to do a pedo residency or just be comfortable with it UIC is your place. It has all the specialties, which a lot of people will tell you is a bad thing, but it's in chicago, the patient waiting list is MONTHS AND MONTHS long (OS appts are 4-5 months out, pedo is 6 months out, etc) so you are not passing anything you don't want to PG. And, with all the residencies it greatly increases your chance of specializing b/c u can easily do externships right at home and work with faculty that are PG instructors. You can take your free time and go assist in OS, PEDO, ENDO and throw that on your resume.

There's also the rotations. The rotations send you to private offices where you will be seeing 8-10 patients a day. This is where you become a real dentist. And if you're lucky you'll get to be one of the students chosen to go to Boulder, Colorado your 3 year. This will be the GREATEST thing you've ever done. Right when you think you can't handle another day of Dental School you get a 3 month trek to colorado with your friends and relive your college days on the CU campus.

Connections at UIC are legitimate. All the top guys in chicago are on faculty at UIC and if you join delta sigma delta it really does open up doors for you. The ADA is in chicago and to neglect networking would be foolish.

The city is awesome. Chicago is easily one of the best cities in the US. It's not crowded and dirty like new york, and it's not spread out and filled with hippies/douches like LA.

In terms of the rumors about professors leaving it's half true. I say half because it's not professors it's the administration. People who are vice-somethings and assistant-somethings are leaving to become chairs at MW. So basically you're getting all the people who are too new or unworthy of a head spot becoming the chiefs and heads at MW. And saying the clinics will be good is a HUGE gamble. Imagine everything that goes into making a dental school run...now imagine being that second or third class to pass through and all the BS you'll have to put up with as the administration figures out what it takes.

And don't think for a second that MW is in Chicago. You're not. You're in a suburb. That might be good for you, that might be bad, but don't think you're in the city. Who knows if they'll have enough patients come boards time...

Also, at the last ADA meeting I went too all the people on the board were sitting around with my Residency Program Directors talking about how crappy the students will be coming out of MW bc they don't have clinics. So, whether that is true or not, it's what the people who will be hiring when you graduate will think.

I interviewed at Southern. They offered me a spot. I turned it down immediately. Southern gives a good education I understand, but you're in Alton Illinois. I just couldn't handle that for four years. And I will say the year I applied all the people that got rejected from UIC, went to Southern. Anecdotal, but it certainly influenced me.

I'm rambling. I'm biased. But that's my opinion.

 

[woof44]

im on board with the previous post, although i haven't started school yet. i was offered a spot at all 3, and eventually decided on UIC. SIUE had been my dream school - i am from southern illinois and it would've been perfect to stay around family and friends. however that was until i visited it. i am used to small town life, but i could not handle alton for 4 years. and i love kanye.

i also chose UIC because of their clinics and population base. if you work with old instruments and sometimes difficult patients, how easy will it be when you go into private practice somewhere else that is NOT in the middle of chicago and using better instruments?

another odd point, but something that is relevant for me. at all other schools i visited, they put on a "show" or something to that effect, which makes sense, since every school is essentially trying to recruit you. but i did not feel that UIC. i did not think they were trying to put on a "show", they were telling us EXACTLY how it was, and showing us exactly what we'd be using, not just the nicest parts of the facilities. maybe im different, but when someone said "no, we don't have the nicest facilities, dental school is hard as hell, even more so for you since its changing, but you will be a damn good dentist when you finish here" sold me.

in the end, choose where you feel you'll fit best. i felt that fit at UIC. you'll make 100+ in 5 years. choose where you will be happy, not where you will save the most money.

 

[kaDa]

I interviewed at all three as well and, for me, the real debate is in between UIC and Midwestern. As for SIU, I don't want to live in a small town. Like, at all. My walk from the train to the school made me realize how out of my element I would be for four years.

Sooo UIC or Midwestern. It comes down to new school/suburbs and established school/city.

Midwestern - There will probably be a problem getting tons of patients with the new school...but it won't be anything ridiculous. You think they're going to build an entire new school, hire faculty, get accredited etc and not be sure about demographics for patients? It's like saying you save up for that new car but not be sure if you can afford the gas.... Also, All their facilities are baller. Straight up. Getting trained with the newest equipment possible can't be much of a drawback. The suburbs are..well...the suburbs. That area is very very safe, family friendly etc. The flip side is nothing really exciting happens either.

UIC - They've been pumping out quality dentists for years. This is a safer, slightly cheaper bet. Plus its downtown. More danger, more excitement, more people. Their clinics aren't as nice as Midwestern's, but glitz and glam isn't what you're paying for here. Personally, this would be my choice. I'm waiting to hear back from my interview there a few weeks ago and I'd have to really think about it...

 

[Shadownght12]

First, kaDa I hope you get accepted to UIC so we can be classmates!!
Second, This was by far the hardest decision I had to make just a month ago.
I too was accepted to the three and Marquette. I easily eliminated Marquette and Midwestern. I have a sister at Midwestern-IL in the pharmacy program and a ton of friends in the new dental program and I would honestly have to say they aren't the brightest light bulbs. Not to be mean or condescending, just honest. Even during my interview, I saw a lot of older students, and I feel I would have a tough time motivating myself to compete and do well. I like a good challenge.
I visit my sister on campus all the time and the environment is nice and relaxed.

The real decision I would say is SIU vs. UIC.
SIU was initially my top choice until I interviewed there. I happen to like small towns, but Alton has nothing going on. It was slightly depressing. Their equipment is much older than UIC's and they have no STARBUCKS lol that freaked me out. What I really liked about SIU was their traditional teaching method.

In the end I picked UIC. It is a little pricier than SIU, but cheaper than MWU.
They certainly do have a good rep. and I've shadowed and worked with great dentists who graduated from there. I feel its more me.

Just my two-cents. In the end the decision is tough, but you have to realize you're going to be a dentist despite where you go.

Oh also for those of you worried about UIC's program, read this recent article about an award they were given:

http://www.newswise.com/articles/vi...d:+NewswiseLatestNews+(Newswise:+Latest+News)

 

[r2thekesh]

I don't know if I trust any curriculum until a class has finished it or taken and passed boards. But I'm sure any curriculum is good enough to learn with the right students.

 

[debbiecakes]

Thank you all so much for your input. Going through the application/interview process UIC was always the front runner. But now that I have an option of all three, I wanted to give each school fair consideration.

I think everything that has been said about UIC reinforced my initial desire to go there. They have a great reputation and the networking opportunities are vast, especially since I grew up in the Chicago-land area and plan to practice here in the future. Their research and specialty programs are also something I would not be able to get from SIU or Midwestern. The orthodontist I shadowed and her husband both went there, and my mom went to UIC College of Dentistry 🙂 so I've heard the ins and outs, and the benefits of having colleagues that graduated from there too.

My only real concern was UIC's PBL. I just hope I can adjust to PBL teaching and do as well as I would in a traditional teaching environment. I'm about 95% sure about my decision and will probably be giving up my seat at Midwestern and SIU, so I hope that means good news for those who are still waiting to hear back from them!