How important is the "Feel of the Campus"?

Applying to College
1

<p>Currently, I have been having a hard time deciding which college to go to. I applied to 7 colleges of which 6 have accepted and replied back to me.</p>

<p>My top 3 choices out of the 7 are:
1. University of Wisconsin at Madison for pharmacology and toxicology
2. University of Illinois at Chicago GPPA for pharmacy
3. University of Texas at Austin for pre-pharmacy (it's listed as undecided though)</p>

<p>However, I have not received my admission letter into UIC GPPA pharmacy yet (the release date for decisions is April 1st), I will assume for simplicity that I have gotten in.</p>

<p>I have visited all 3 of these campuses, UW Madison once, UIC twice, and UT Austin once. I thought UW Madison's campus was beautiful, I loved the integrated city-campus effect and I loved their infrastructure! The location was also amazing, I plan, if I go there, to live on the Lakeshore :) I also loved the little downtown in Madison, I shopped a little when I was over there during the summer.</p>

<p>UIC's campus, on the other hand, didn't really do it for me. Although I love the fact that it's located in Chicago and very close to its downtown, I detested the almost community-college feel of the campus. The buildings were very plain-looking, there was nothing special about UIC visually-wise that I thought was worth remembering about. There didn't seem to be much going on at UIC unlike the other two campuses I visited. </p>

<p>UT Austin's campus was gorgeous. I visited over winter break so it was brisk, which I liked, and the appearance of the buildings impressed me to no end. You can tell that there's a lot to do on campus and the pharmacy building is gorgeous! (UT Austin has the #2 highest rated pharmacy school in the U.S.!)</p>

<p>However the financial cost varies significantly with each of these Universities, assuming I get 0 financial aid from either of these schools, since I am from Illinois, I would be paying out of state tuition for UW Madison which is around ~36k a year, ~27k for UIC, and ~15k for UT Austin (I would qualify as a resident). </p>

<p>According to my AP Scores, UT Austin would also be receiving the most AP credit, so I could potentially be "further" in my studies there than at the other 2 universities. </p>

<p>The deciding factor, I currently see though is that unlike the other two universities, UIC has the GPPA (Guaranteed Professional Program Admissions) program that allows me, if I maintain a certain GPA and pass the PCAT with a certain minimum score, to be automatically accepted into UIC's Pharmacy School which is ranked around #8 in the nation! That's a big deal for me, I really don't want to have to stress over graduate school more than I have to. The other two schools, UT Austin and UW Madison, though they have better campuses in my opinion, do not have this 8 year program that UIC does and I would have to apply for pharmacy school after my 2-3 years of undergraduate studies. </p>

<p>Are there any current or graduated pharmacy students that can help me with this dilemma? Should I take into account how much I like the campus or should I consider more how convenient I could get into pharmacy school at UIC? I would appreciate it so much if you could give me some insight on any of these schools. Sorry for this long post!</p>

2

<p>

Here’s my advice to mull over. First off, forget about UIC. You don’t like the school, and you’ll spend 8 years there. Second, its 12K more per year (48K total) than UT. Financially I’d suggest not going into any more debt than you need to. If your parents are footing the bill that’s different, but if its on your shoulders its easy to ignore the weight all that debt is going to have on your future. I’m not saying you’re not going to be a pharmacist, but its entirely possible you’ll end up hating the prep classes or finding some other interest you don’t even know about yet. Debt affects what you can do; its very difficult to start some of the things that get you started in many career areas such as taking a lower-paying entry job or intern position and working your way up if you can’t swing it financially because of your loan obligations. </p>

<p>Second, even if you go to UIC you are not <em>automatically</em> in the program althought I think you’ll find out at the same time you are admitted to UIC. You have to apply for it, and their website says only 1 out of 5 incoming frosh are accepted, and furthermore “A limited number of out-of-state students are accepted”. I’d read that to mean your odds are much less than 1 out of 5. So you may be no better off going there. </p>

<p>Lastly, if you’re good enough to get into that program and keep the GPA, then you’ll be good enough to get into pharmacy school later on. I know everyone likes guarantees and certainty, but I think you should be willing to make a bet on yourself.</p>

3

<p>The feel of the campus is important insofar as you’ll be there normally for 4 years, and with UIC for 8 years.</p>

<p>If you don’t like or enjoy being there, you won’t enjoy those 8 years, and that’s a problem. It can impact your academic success as well as your happiness.</p>

<p>Never go to a school that you don’t think you’ll be happy at.</p>

<p>I’d definitely recommend picking a school you like over one with guaranteed admissions into their pharmacy school.</p>

4

<p>You say you are from IL, but you are quoting in-state tuition for Texas and OOS for UIC. Everyone will qualify for loans at UIC.
UIC is a commuter school. However, the number of students living on or near campus is increasing. The physical appearance of the school has improved greatly. On east campus, all of the small classroom buildings will have its facade remodeled to get rid of the extra concrete. UIC-east campus was designed in the brutalism school of architecture. The College of Pharmacy is located on the west campus, though. There is more to a school than just architecture.
UIC and Austin both have hospitals. Right now, there is a lot of squawking from Madison to separate from the U of WI system, and that will mean a large tuition increase.
Plus, how could you say there is nothing visibly special about UIC? Everyone always remembers the view of the skyline. You need to go to the top floor of UH and take it all in. It is really a fantastic view.</p>

5

<p>^</p>

<p>If OP doesn’t like UIC, then OP doesn’t like UIC. The feel of a campus is evaluated subjectively, so there’s no sense trying to change the OP’s mind. A perfect campus for one person might be horrible for another.</p>

6

<p>It sounds like you’ve already decided you want to go to Austin :)</p>

7

<p>Thank you so much for all of your replies. You all have really made me think and reconsider. </p>

<p>Nova- I don’t believe I made a mistake regarding the tuition for UIC for in state tuition, I added up all of the fees for the in-state tuition on the collegeboard website and it comes to around 27 k. I will be paying in state tuition for texas because my father has lived in texas for 2 years now. </p>

<p>I will be visiting UT Austin and UIC again this break. I’ll let you guys now which school I end up deciding on!</p>

<p>Thanks so much for your responses :)</p>

<p>PS: CheerGirl94- at this point, yes :)</p>

8

<p>The collegeboard is wrong. The semester tuition and fees for a fall 2010 accepted LAS science major per UIC is $7307. Once you start UIC for undergrad, the tuition will not change for 4 years. The yearly tuition and fees for a full-time in-state pharmacy student isn’t even $27k
[UIC</a> Admissions and Records - Undergraduate Tuition and Fees](<a href=“http://www.uic.edu/depts/oar/undergrad/tuition_undergrad.html]UIC”>Tuition & Financial Aid | UIC Admissions)</p>