Illinois State School

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I am a community college transfer student to an Illinois state school. I just have not decided which one yet (this is assuming I could get into any that I desire). I am a pre-med/biology student. I am a hard worker; smart but not rocket scientist. I want to go to the university that would give me the best shot at getting into medical school (which is greatly dependent on a high gpa and MCAT score, among other things).</p>

<p>If you had the choice would you choose Illinois State University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, or Southern Illinois University of Carbondale? And why?</p>

2

<p>UIUC. Better national rep, and probably better campus life.</p>

3

<p>So I should go to the school with the better reputation, regardless of any other factors?</p>

<p>Oh, and I care nothing at all about sports and most aspects of social life! These thigns mean very little, if anything at all, to me.</p>

4

<p>If you are pre med, go to southern illinois or illinois state to save money for med school. UIUC = $$$$ even in state.</p>

5

<p>You seem to be limiting your search to Illinois public universities. As maxellis correctly points out, UIUC is expensive even for in-state students. This means that you have options in other states which are comparable in price to UIUC. At some state universities, such as the SUNY system and the University of Minnesota, out-of-state tuition is not much more expensive than in-state tuition at UIUC. Also, if you have strong stats, some state universities offer scholarships to out-of-state students which reduce the cost to less than the cost of attending UIUC. And don’t rule out private universities - some may offer enough merit aid so that the cost is less than that of UIUC.</p>

<p>
[QUOTE=BiologyBabe23]
Oh, and I care nothing at all about sports and most aspects of social life! These thigns mean very little, if anything at all, to me.

[/QUOTE]
</p>

<p>Is it that you don’t care one way or the other? Or do you actively prefer to avoid the typical “social life” and sports-centered culture found at many universities?</p>

<p>It’s worth mentioning that UIUC and most Illinois public universities have strong party scenes and are heavily focused on sports. UIUC in particular is well known for its large, influential, pervasive Greek system. If this culture doesn’t sound like a good fit for you, you might want to thoroughly investigate the culture at these schools and make sure they are a good fit.</p>

<p>Most of the other state universities in Illinois are comparable to UIUC in terms of campus life and overall atmosphere. UIC (the University of Illinois at Chicago) is a notable exception. It’s a predominantly commuter school located just outside downtown Chicago. It also has many medical programs and is adjacent to Chicago’s medical district.</p>

<p>As a traditional-aged student, I assumed that Illinois public universities were my only option. So I went to one without doing enough research to make sure it was a good fit. This was a mistake. It’s critical to make sure that the university that you choose is a good fit. It’s also important to consider all of your options.</p>

6

<p>I would prefer to stay in state, but I will try to look into some other schools as well. Another thing I have often looked into is how my current coursework will transfer. this affects my decision as well. Going out of state usually means that I would have to spend extra time taking more courses to fulfill their own general education requirements. Thus, even if it appeared to be a cost savings in the short-term, if it means several more semesters in the long-run it is not that cost effective.</p>

<p>Do you think that SIUC or ISU have poor reputations that may affect my chances at medical school. I looked at current medical students and residents online, and those from Illinois were pretty much all from UIUC. Perhaps this is because it is such a large university. I only found one student who attended ISU; none from SIU.</p>

<p>I don’t care one way or another about social life. I am a very happy person on my own, and when I am in “study mode” I usually don’t let much of anything distract me. </p>

<p>I don’t want to go to a university where it is cut-throat competitive either, so if other students are distracted by those activities - fine by me! My aim is to go to a school where I have a competitive chance to do well. I am a self-learner to some extent so I am positive that I will learn a great deal no matter where I go. But, it has been my lifelong dream to become a physician and that is my ultimate goal. Thus, I would like to go to the university that will give methe greatest chance for this.</p>

<p>I have often worried about the Greek system, and if those individuals perhaps have an unfair advantage in certain instances. I would not be interested in the Greek lifestyle. But, “only” 25% of the campus is Greek. That means 75% is NOT Greek, so I think I could still do fine. </p>

<p>UIC: My coursework will not transfer as well here. When I visited I just did not like it as much here. I was very interested in the strong medical ties at that campus, but it simply was not a good fit for me. Perhaps not the most logical reasoning, but I feel that I will do best at a university that I feel comfortable at.</p>

<p>I guess I’m still not sure of the options I have presented which is the better choice. Many people seem to say UIUC is the best choice (even though it is pricey) because it is the most well-known, they are nationally ranked, etc. Many people have said ISU is where people who couldn’t get into UIUC go, and that it can be difficult to get a job afterwards (employers prefer UIUC grads). Finally, it seems to me that SIUC is viewed as a party school with little recognition. So far, I have not read of, heard of, or met anyone who went there by choice (unless they lived very close, or something of that nature).</p>

<p>I have to leave at 1 am in the morning for SIUC, but I don’t want to make the 8+ hour trip if maybe ISU is the better choice of the two. Please respond ASAP with more comments!</p>

7

<p>In general, Illinois State University and any of the Illinois public universities with a compass direction in their name (e.g., Southern Illinois University) have much weaker academic reputations than UIUC. These views are widespread in my experience. This may affect admissions to medical school. It also affects your job prospects if you don’t get into medical school. In that case, all you have is a Bachelor’s degree from a school which is, rightly or wrongly, looked down on as second-rate by employers and others. Conversely, if you graduated from UIUC but did not get into medical school, you’d at least have a degree from a school which is well respected in Illinois and possibly beyond.</p>

<p>Note that I’m far from being an expert in medical school admissions. However, I attended university in Illinois and lived there for multiple years.</p>

<p>Frankly, I’m not sure driving to SIUC is worth an 8+ hour road trip unless you just feel like taking a road trip.</p>

<p>It was my experience that the Greek system has influence on UIUC’s social life out of proportion to its numbers. There was extensive debate on this topic recently in the UIUC subforum. Notably: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-illinois-urbana-champaign/707954-uiuc-good-party-school.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-illinois-urbana-champaign/707954-uiuc-good-party-school.html&lt;/a&gt; Note that while some other posters agreed with me, others disagreed.</p>

8

<p>Thanks for the info on UIUC as a fellow student there! Does it always seem so large, or does it eventually seem smaller? If I don’t get into medical school I plan on going to graduate school (still tough admissions, but more openings than medical schools). Do you think these admissions committees will look more favorably on someone with a UIUC degree in comparison to someone with a degree from a different state school?</p>

9

<p>Also, I have heard that admissions committees sometimes look more favorably on those students who did their undergraduate degree at the same school. For example, I have noticed many of the students who get accepted into the University of Illinois Medical School are from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign or Chicago. I have notived this with other states as well, such as Wisconsin.</p>

10

<p>One more thing . . . my uncle is currently working towards his Phd in biochemistry at Northern Illinois University (NIU). He went there for his bachelor’s and master’s. He wanted to go somewhere else for his Phd, had a 4.0 gpa, but was not accepted anywhere and has therefore stayed at NIU. He told me to be very careful when selecting my undergraduate college because it can indeed affect graduate school admittance. He even spoke directly to some of the schools he was not accepted into to inquire why he was rejected. In a kind of secret, “under the cover” way they told him it was due to where he went to school. Simply put, applicants that were from “better” schools were viewed more favorable. Now, I take this information with a little “grain of salt” because it was told to me by my uncle (who was devastated, frustrated, and a little angry).</p>

<p>Does anyone think that where one goes for undergraduate can have such an impact. If this is the case, then perhaps I should go to UIUC, even if I like another school a little better.</p>

11

<p>You’re welcome! Although I’m actually not a current student. Actually, I transferred out of UIUC and graduated from a different university.</p>

<p>In general, class sizes decrease as you advance through the curriculum. You’ve already avoided most of the giant lecture halls anyway because you started at community college.</p>

<p>Incidentally, even if the overall size of ISU, SIUC, etc., are smaller, this doesn’t automatically mean that your classes will be any smaller.</p>

<p>Even if many people admitted to medical school did their undergraduate degree in the same state, it’s possible that this is simply because people would rather stay put in the state where they already live.</p>

<p>Yes, I think UIUC will be viewed more favorably than other Illinois state schools by graduate schools or medical schools. I’m sorry to hear about your uncle’s experiences regarding NIU. Unfortunately, his experiences don’t surprise me. The idea that it doesn’t matter where you went for an undergraduate degree is, in my opinion, only true up to a point. Beyond that point, the problem is that even a 4.0 GPA at some lower-tier schools may not really demonstrate that one is capable of doing the work in graduate programs at top universities.</p>

<p>Another problem is that universities, below a certain point, usually are unknown outside the general area of the country where they are located. If you wanted to work in a different part of the country, having a degree from such a school might hold you back.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

12

<p>
[QUOTE=BiologyBabe23]
Going out of state usually means that I would have to spend extra time taking more courses to fulfill their own general education requirements. Thus, even if it appeared to be a cost savings in the short-term, if it means several more semesters in the long-run it is not that cost effective.

[/QUOTE]
</p>

<p>This may or may not be true. It can’t hurt to ask.</p>

<p>If you’re really uncomfortable with the size of UIUC, Binghamton University (one of the SUNY campuses) only has 11,000 undergraduates. They do offer pre-med courses. For the life sciences, Binghamton is actually cheaper for OOS students than UIUC is for in-state students. FWIW, USN&WR ranks Binghamton as a Tier 2 school - not quite as high as UIUC, but far better than any of the Illinois “directional” schools.</p>

<p>Just an idea…</p>

13

<p>IMO this shouldn’t even be a hard decision. UIUC is not only the best public in Illinois, but one of the best in the country. As such, the benefits of attending UIUC over SIUC or ISU are huge. As for the cost of attending UIUC, don’t listen to the others. It’s a negligible difference. In fact, on paper - before financial aid - the difference is at the most 5k a year. If that’s really a deal-breaker for you then I don’t think you should be looking at going to Med School.</p>

14

<p>[Welcome</a> to Southern Illinois University School of Medicine](<a href=“http://www.siumed.edu/]Welcome”>http://www.siumed.edu/)</p>

<p>SIU has a medical school. Are you saying that they only accept UIUC grads there?</p>

<p>My nephew is having a good experience in engineering at SIUC and had a state job this summer.</p>

15

<p>there is a 7k/year difference in tuition between uiuc and southern illinois. If you are paying for your own education, that is a big diffence.</p>

16

<p>@theyoungboi</p>

<p>you have little idea of what your talking about. UIUC may be ranked high, but I have a dad that works there and have lived next to it for 17 years and know about 100 people their.</p>

<p>First of all, UIUC is about 27k a year for the average student. Science and Engineering cost a couple thousand more due to tuition increased for “fees”. On top of that FinAid is terrible, almost always loans and full need is never met. Merit scholarships are next to impossible to come by unless your a URM.</p>

<p>UIUC is also very impersonal. Starting freshmen have seminars of over 500 students regularly. Professors are mainly interested in grad students and research, especially in the sciences.</p>

<p>It is a heavy party school with the largest greek system in the world (I’m not kidding, its a fact, look it up). If you don’t drink you are in a huge minority.</p>

17

<p>@SmallCollegesFTW - Unfortunately, having attended UIUC, I agree with your comments.</p>

<p>That said, do you think that the other public universities in Illinois are an improvement in any of the areas you mentioned?</p>

18

<p>SIUE does have a medical school, but they are biased against anyone who does not live in southern or central IL.<br>
By law, the IL public universities have to accept all equivalent credit from community colleges. There might be a difference in terms of the number of hours but that is all.
The IL public universities are hurting from major cuts from state funding. They all have to large freshman lectures.</p>

19

<p>I am so glad that there has been some real discussion about the Illinois public universities!
I am a little concerned about how impersonal UIUC may be. However, many of the universities are quite large, and think to some extent this is unavoidable (in the public universities). I also think that a student can make it a little more personable by taking the iniative to meet their professors, go to office hours, attend every lecture and discussion, sit up front, etc.</p>

<p>I am paying for my education on my own. UIUC is unfortunately one of the more expensive options. However, since I do not qualify for a vast majority of financial aid, the universities only differe slightly in cost. I think that a few thousand more would be worth the name and recognition. Again, I fully intend on professional/graduate school, and it appears that where you did your undergraduate can indeed affect your chances.</p>

<p>I am not a drinker or partyer. At this point, I do not intend to go Greek. But, with 75% of the student body NOT Greek, and with such a large student body overall, I am not concerned about my social life. I think with the sheer size of UIUC there must be some opportunity for social interaction and communication.</p>

<p>Thanks for the insight on SIUE. The more I have looked into that school the more I am not interested in it. I think that I would rather attend a different school.</p>

<p>Does anyone have insight of some of the differences and/or similarities between ISU and UIUC? I am sure ISU must have some large classes as well. Does anyone know how class sizes compare?</p>

20

<p>At UIC/UIUC/UIS, you can take a look at the course registration system without logging in. If you can do that with ISU, you can see how many spots are open for a particular class.
Here at UIC with regards to the professional colleges, a plurality of the students come from either UIC or UIUC. Normally the biggest undergrad school is one of the two. UIC students sometimes have an advantage because the colleges know the undergrad program the best.</p>