UIC vs Univ. of Louisville

[student56]

I got accepted to both dental schools: Univ. of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and Univ. of Louisville (UofL) and was having a tough time deciding. I am an Illinois resident, thus I would be IS for UIC and OOs for UofL. Maybe the answer is obvious to many but, I want to hear your opinions as to why I should choose one school over the other.

UIC:
- $270K (tuition and fees) for instate
- 80 Class size this year
- Building space under renovations/reconstruction
- Rank 26 on startclass (Just for thought)
- Low to none state funding, tuition will most likely increase.

Univ of Louisville:
- $300K (tuition and fees) for out of state
- 120 Class size
- Large dental school with good lab space
- Rank 14 on start class
- Incident with students not graduating on time in the past years

Sure 30K is no small amount but, I can look past it for the long run if UofL is a better option. Family is in Texas so that wouldn't play a factor in attending either school.

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[887194]

Which school do you like better? Btw smart-class is really out of date and inaccurate.

 

[ProspectivePostPreDent]

I got accepted to both dental schools: Univ. of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and Univ. of Louisville (UofL) and was having a tough time deciding. I am an Illinois resident, thus I would be IS for UIC and OOs for UofL. Maybe the answer is obvious to many but, I want to hear your opinions as to why I should choose one school over the other.

UIC:
- $270K (tuition and fees) for instate
- 80 Class size this year
- Building space under renovations/reconstruction
- Rank 26 on startclass (Just for thought)
- Low to none state funding, tuition will most likely increase.

Univ of Louisville:
- $300K (tuition and fees) for out of state
- 120 Class size
- Large dental school with good lab space
- Rank 14 on start class
- Incident with students not graduating on time (50/120) in the past year

Sure 30K is no small amount but, I can look past it for the long run if UofL is a better option. Family is in Texas so that wouldn't play a factor in attending either school.

I didn't interview at UIC so I can only say so much but start class is nonsense.

 

[I-hate-alginate]

50/120 didn't graduate on time last year? That's a red flag, I say UIC.

 

[Sweet_Tooth]

Also Louisville is definitely more than just 300k for OOS, it's more like $400k, just tuition alone for OOS is $67k per year. I think the general consensus is to go to your state school if you're accepted there because of lower cost and less debt and stress down the line, which can make all the difference

However, I will say that if you are interested in specializing then ULSD definitely seems to offer opportunities for that route, such as offering research experience and exposure to specialties (at least from what I felt from my interview and research on the school)

 

[drsoni]

Also Louisville is definitely more than just 300k for OOS, it's more like $400k, just tuition alone for OOS is $67k per year. I think the general consensus is to go to your state school if you're accepted there because of lower cost and less debt and stress down the line, which can make all the difference

However, I will say that if you are interested in specializing then ULSD definitely seems to offer opportunities for that route, such as offering research experience and exposure to specialties (at least from what I felt from my interview and research on the school)

UIC, even though being a state school, charges 73k for in-state for second, third and fourth year. I usually agree with the case of going to your state school if given the option, but Illinois is a completely different scenario imo. The state is so bankrupt that they had 400 million dollars in outstanding payments for medicaid doctors and dentists.

I went to UIC for undergrad, so I've had a personal experience. Last year, the state also cut 30 percent of it's funding to UIC (not just dental school, in general). This does not really reflect well on the school.

Also commenting on the facilities at UIC dental school, they have good teaching but lack in the clinical infrastructure. Their clinics are not really worth the 73K asking price. You can get a better hands-on clinical training going to any OOS state, and still pay less than what you'd pay for UIC instate. UIC is great school, and Chicago provides a lot of opportunities, but the outdated clinics and facilities are just not worth the price tag in my opinion.

On a side note, UIC is also known for notoriously overcharging students. For instance, a D1 school I know at UIC said she was billed for 50k tuition and 17k fees for the first year, and their handout for estimates mentioned 52k combined for both tuition and fees.
EDIT: My friend made a mistake lol. The first year was the 52k. The 17k was for the summer semester. Regardless, that amount gets bumped up to 73k for 2nd 3rd and 4th year. UIC also cites a possible 15 percent tuition increase every year. This is directly indicative of the state's and school's financial situation. Using this available information, the OP has to make the decision for himself.

Again, some people might have had better experience with UICs dental school, but it's just that going there for undergrad shed some light on the school's financial situation.

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[student56]

Which school do you like better? Btw smart-class is really out of date and inaccurate.

UIC tour and interview didn't leave a good impression as there seems to be a budget issue. I've heard good and bad reviews from people about the school but students there seem to be generally satisfied. As for Louisville, heard positive things from a friend but nothing other than that. So to answer you question: I am not sure yet. I liked UofL for school aesthetics and friendly people, and UIC for its lower class size.

I didn't interview at UIC so I can only say so much but start class is nonsense.

So you Interviewed at UofL I assume. Thoughts/ liked it?

50/120 didn't graduate on time last year? That's a red flag, I say UIC.

I agree that its a red flag. But I've honestly heard this issue with a few schools now. I dont think I'm immune to such challenges but I think it depends a lot on student's planning/organization skills as well.

Also Louisville is definitely more than just 300k for OOS, it's more like $400k, just tuition alone for OOS is $67k per year. I think the general consensus is to go to your state school if you're accepted there because of lower cost and less debt and stress down the line, which can make all the difference

However, I will say that if you are interested in specializing then ULSD definitely seems to offer opportunities for that route, such as offering research experience and exposure to specialties (at least from what I felt from my interview and research on the school)

It is about $75K/year including tuition and fees, which would bring it to about $300K for the 4 years. Am I leaving anything out? Because I am not sure how you got $400K. Thanks for the information about specializing at USLD, that looks like a plus point for me. I agree with going with lower tuition, but they are quite close ($30K, aka 10% difference).

 

[I-hate-alginate]

I agree with the whole issue about the price with UIC, when I went there to the interview, I definitely got the feeling that I won't be paying for what I'm getting. The place is very old and looks like a proper public hospital. For the price, ehh UIC is pushing it. You'll be a solid general dentist, and you'll have a solid background in dentistry, but the place is just awful. Something you will have to accept for 4 years. I would still choose UIC over UoL, what are the chances of me not graduating on time when I go to that school? 120/50..... plenty!

 

[887194]

UIC tour and interview didn't leave a good impression as there seems to be a budget issue. I've heard good and bad reviews from people about the school but students there seem to be generally satisfied. As for Louisville, heard positive things from a friend but nothing other than that. So to answer you question: I am not sure yet. I liked UofL for school aesthetics and friendly people, and UIC for its lower class size.


So you Interviewed at UofL I assume. Thoughts/ liked it?


I agree that its a red flag. But I've honestly heard this issue with a few schools now. I dont think I'm immune to such challenges but I think it depends a lot on student's planning/organization skills as well.


It is about $75K/year including tuition and fees, which would bring it to about $300K for the 4 years. Am I leaving anything out? Because I am not sure how you got $400K. Thanks for the information about specializing at USLD, that looks like a plus point for me. I agree with going with lower tuition, but they are quite close ($30K, aka 10% difference).

Well a class size of 80 vs 120 to me is no big deal. Perhaps because most of my classes had hundreds of students. Do you know the reasons why UofL doesn't graduate some people on time? What are the issues? otherwise, go with UofL, you will probably be happier there.

 

[PreDent_Eagle]

Go to UIC, we can be classmates

 

[smallfries2005]

Go to UIC, we can be classmates

So you picked UIC over Marquette?

 

[PreDent_Eagle]

So you picked UIC over Marquette?

I decided that I’ll be attending UIC on Monday, Tuesday, and Wed. Marquette can have me Thursdays and fridays, and every other Saturday.

 

[Sweet_Tooth]

UIC tour and interview didn't leave a good impression as there seems to be a budget issue. I've heard good and bad reviews from people about the school but students there seem to be generally satisfied. As for Louisville, heard positive things from a friend but nothing other than that. So to answer you question: I am not sure yet. I liked UofL for school aesthetics and friendly people, and UIC for its lower class size.


So you Interviewed at UofL I assume. Thoughts/ liked it?


I agree that its a red flag. But I've honestly heard this issue with a few schools now. I dont think I'm immune to such challenges but I think it depends a lot on student's planning/organization skills as well.


It is about $75K/year including tuition and fees, which would bring it to about $300K for the 4 years. Am I leaving anything out? Because I am not sure how you got $400K. Thanks for the information about specializing at USLD, that looks like a plus point for me. I agree with going with lower tuition, but they are quite close ($30K, aka 10% difference).

I don't know anything about UIC's tuition but I know about Louisville's cause I interviewed there. This is the COA from their website too:

 

[smallfries2005]

UIC tour didn't leave a good impression on me either as I didn't really like the facility and I felt the staff was super unprofessional but I wouldn't want to risk not graduating on time. By attending UIC you might not get the state of the art dental technology but at least you'll have the comfort of mind knowing that you'll graduate on time as a competent dentist considering they have a very good clinical program. Just my two cents.

 

[PreDent_Eagle]

UIC tour didn't leave a good impression on me either as I didn't really like the facility and I felt the staff was super unprofessional but I wouldn't want to risk not graduating on time. By attending UIC you might not get the state of the art dental technology but at least you'll have the comfort of mind knowing that you'll graduate on time as a competent dentist considering they have a very good clinical program. Just my two cents.

I agree. UIC has a 100% pass rate on boards, unmatched patient pool, modern and innovative curriculum, and state of the art dental tech. I’m able to look past the “ehhh” faculties because I’m only going to school there for 4 years, I’m not planning on working there lol.

 

[PreDent_Eagle]

Chicago or Kentucky....I think that’s an easy choice