Hi all, made a new account to preserve anonymity. I am currently deciding between University of Illinois College of Medicine in Peoria and Virginia Tech Carilion. I am a resident of Illinois, however, with VTC's M1 scholarship, tuition, at least for the M1 year is less at VTC. I am blessed to have parents that will be paying for a substantial part of my medical education, so my primary worry is not financial, but rather value of education.
If I were placed in Chicago, this would have been an easy choice (U of I). But since I was placed in the regional campus of Peoria, this has become much harder for me. Both cities are "urban" but serve a primarily rural population. Additionally, both schools have small class sizes, with Peoria having about 55 students and VTC having 42.
My clinical interests include infectious disease and neurology, in no particular order. Neither medical school is particularly strong in either of those fields. I do not necessarily want to practice in Illinois, but I also know I do not want to practice in Virginia. I also plan to take at least one year off after M3 to do research and/or get an MPP.
UICOMP
Pros
-Ranked (VTC is unranked)
-Closer to family and friends.
-Network of UIC physicians is huge and supposedly
-Encouraged taking a year off after M3 in interview.
-Impressive match list with relatively high proportion of neuro match
Cons
-Match list not nearly as impressive as Chicago
-Resources at peoria campus are not incredibly robust
-Couldn't find if there was a free clinic in the area
-Unsure of caliber of staff at Peoria
VTC
Pros
-Research seems to have a strong neuroscience focus. Met several med students interested in Neurology on my interview.
-"Prolific" (word used by interviewer) vector borne disease researchers, although these researchers all seem to be at VTC undergraduate campus, a 45 minute drive from the medical school
-At least one free clinic, which is important to me.
-Many of the researchers at Carilion come from places like Baylor or Duke.
-100% residency match the past 5 years.
-Pretty impressive match's like Baylor and Stanford
Cons
-Not ranked
-Admin seemed perplexed when I asked about taking a year off after M3
-45 minute drive to VTC undergrad, where "prolific" researchers in my interest are
-Had a horrible interview day, so my perception of the area is skewed.
-Newness of school means reputation not as established.
If I were placed in Chicago, this would have been an easy choice (U of I). But since I was placed in the regional campus of Peoria, this has become much harder for me. Both cities are "urban" but serve a primarily rural population. Additionally, both schools have small class sizes, with Peoria having about 55 students and VTC having 42.
My clinical interests include infectious disease and neurology, in no particular order. Neither medical school is particularly strong in either of those fields. I do not necessarily want to practice in Illinois, but I also know I do not want to practice in Virginia. I also plan to take at least one year off after M3 to do research and/or get an MPP.
UICOMP
Pros
-Ranked (VTC is unranked)
-Closer to family and friends.
-Network of UIC physicians is huge and supposedly
-Encouraged taking a year off after M3 in interview.
-Impressive match list with relatively high proportion of neuro match
Cons
-Match list not nearly as impressive as Chicago
-Resources at peoria campus are not incredibly robust
-Couldn't find if there was a free clinic in the area
-Unsure of caliber of staff at Peoria
VTC
Pros
-Research seems to have a strong neuroscience focus. Met several med students interested in Neurology on my interview.
-"Prolific" (word used by interviewer) vector borne disease researchers, although these researchers all seem to be at VTC undergraduate campus, a 45 minute drive from the medical school
-At least one free clinic, which is important to me.
-Many of the researchers at Carilion come from places like Baylor or Duke.
-100% residency match the past 5 years.
-Pretty impressive match's like Baylor and Stanford
Cons
-Not ranked
-Admin seemed perplexed when I asked about taking a year off after M3
-45 minute drive to VTC undergrad, where "prolific" researchers in my interest are
-Had a horrible interview day, so my perception of the area is skewed.
-Newness of school means reputation not as established.
