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Hi all, I am having an extremely tough time deciding between these two schools. I am an Illinois resident.
The cost of attendance for both schools is about the same; Iowa's tuition is higher, however, the cost of living in Chicago is much higher than Iowa City, making the cost of attendance almost identical. I have tons of family, friends, and a significant other living in the Chicagoland area. I am unsure of what specialty I would like to pursue, but I do have interest in competitive specialties such as Orthopedics.
Based on US News research and primary care rankings, Iowa is considered the “better” school.
University of Illinois at Chicago
Pros
Cons
University of Iowa-Carver College of Medicine
Pros
Summary: Both schools are solid Midwest schools, Carver may have a slight advantage. If Carver were in Chicago it would be an easy choice. I’m just worried about spending 4 years wishing I was somewhere else or wishing I could see the people I care about more frequently especially during a stressful time like medical school. But I am also worried that I’m shooting myself in the foot by not going to a “better” school if I want to pursue something competitive such as Ortho. From my understanding, step 1, grades/honors during clerkships, AOA, letters of rec, connections, and research are the most important part when applying to residencies. I believe I’ll do the same on Step 1 regardless of which of these schools I attend. I am just worried about finding mentors and getting letters of reference and solid research opportunities at UIC. Nonetheless, people have been successful at getting competitive residencies after going to UIC.
Any insight from anyone would be greatly appreciated.
The cost of attendance for both schools is about the same; Iowa's tuition is higher, however, the cost of living in Chicago is much higher than Iowa City, making the cost of attendance almost identical. I have tons of family, friends, and a significant other living in the Chicagoland area. I am unsure of what specialty I would like to pursue, but I do have interest in competitive specialties such as Orthopedics.
Based on US News research and primary care rankings, Iowa is considered the “better” school.
University of Illinois at Chicago
Pros
- Close to support group of (family, friends, and significant other of many years).
- Chicago-great city, have grown up around it and been around it my whole life. Good social life outside of medicine.
- Near other medical schools. I have heard of students from UIC doing research at Rush, Northwestern, U of Chicago, etc.
- 8 Weeks dedicated to Step 1
- Block schedule-1 exam every few weeks, and a whole week to study for it prior
Cons
- Cost of living-extremely high
- Fairly disorganized office of admissions, doesn’t seem like they actually care if you are there or not
- Match list for competitive specialties like Orthopedics varies, seem to have matches at top programs for some students, while others are at lower tier programs, seems to vary year to year
- Orthopedics department in general doesn’t seem like a very productive research department, although I could be wrong. If anyone has insight that would be appreciated. Looked up the match list for orthopedics and lot of guys seemed to be getting published with Rush or Northwestern faculty and not UIC faculty, fairly concerning
- I feel like it might be difficult to obtain quality letters of rec from faculty here and find mentors, not sure if this is true, but on the surface it appears like that
University of Iowa-Carver College of Medicine
Pros
- Great reputation, better ranking on US News than UIC
- Really good Orthopedic Match last year-11 students at some great programs
- Lower cost of living
- Very transparent admissions office seems like they actually want you to be there.
- Seems like they have reputable faculty and research opportunities
- Condensed curriculum-1.5 years pre-clinical and then begin advanced clerkships during second part of M3 (start core clerkships during second half of M2).
- It’s in Iowa City-About 3-3.5 hour drive from support network. Worried about relationship strain and not being able to spend time with people outside of medicine when I have my small amount of free time.
- Condensed curriculum gives only 4 weeks dedicated to Step 1.
- Condensed curriculum makes it look like there is an exam every Friday of every week.
Summary: Both schools are solid Midwest schools, Carver may have a slight advantage. If Carver were in Chicago it would be an easy choice. I’m just worried about spending 4 years wishing I was somewhere else or wishing I could see the people I care about more frequently especially during a stressful time like medical school. But I am also worried that I’m shooting myself in the foot by not going to a “better” school if I want to pursue something competitive such as Ortho. From my understanding, step 1, grades/honors during clerkships, AOA, letters of rec, connections, and research are the most important part when applying to residencies. I believe I’ll do the same on Step 1 regardless of which of these schools I attend. I am just worried about finding mentors and getting letters of reference and solid research opportunities at UIC. Nonetheless, people have been successful at getting competitive residencies after going to UIC.
Any insight from anyone would be greatly appreciated.
