So, it’s the focus you’re looking for. As opposed to intellectual exploration and personal growth through clubs and extracurriculars.
I think you’ll bring your own focus wherever you go. But you are severely underestimating how much of an energy drain that commute will be, and probably the need to scramble for the missing funds as well. It’s not about the romance. I truly think you will be able to prepare yourself better because you will have fewer things to worry about for four years.
@HKimPOSSIBLE I had a kid that was $0 EFC, knew she wanted to go to medschool, just as you do. She went to a NESCAC school on full financial aid. She was never made to feel “lesser than” her very wealthy classmates. The school went beyond making sure that economic differences were moot. As far as research opportunities, you will find more at small LAC’s because you wont be competing with grad students. Do your research at summer programs. Research is not high on the list for med school applications. @WayOutWestMom can tell you the nitty gritty and fa will know your professors and are more likely to get good LOR’s and committee letters for med school. My kid ended up with more med school acceptances that one would need.
Can you please give me the citation for that? My MD kid went to Amherst and there is no way there were 57 students going to med school in any given year.
That data is from AAMC FACTS Table 2-A. But @theloniusmonk is reading it incorrectly.
Amherst is shown to have 57 APPLICANTS to med school in 2018-19, but that data includes alumni applicants as well current student applicants.
The data also includes students who may have done post-bacc and other post-graduate work or taken multiple gap years since AMCAS only captures the name of the bachelor’s granting institution in its data.
It does NOT show how many of the 57 applicants gained an acceptance, only how many APPLIED.
Thanks, I assumed it was something along those lines.
Another Bowdoin vote here, for what it’s worth. It seems like the best financial choice, for sure, and then it’s an amazing college with tons of personal attention and iMO a great springboard to med school, if that’s what you decide to do.
And another vote here against a commute. Almost everyone I know who opted, for various reasons, to commute to school more than half an hour each way has regretted it; again for various reasons, but with a uniform result of warning others off doing that (if at all possible, which it is here).
Premed with a long commute is not a good choice, especially when you have residential full rides.
That commute is a problem even if you’re not premed and being premed 100% time should be organized around that so that you can be in the labs, volunteering, in study groups - which may well end at midnight. Wasting time on a commute when you dont have a choice is one thing (and makes the likelihood of making it much lower), but when you can choose? And when the residential options are so much better and less costly?
Understand that if you get that GPA and that MCAT score, with the support and experiences you’ll have at Bowdoin, Grinnell, W&L, you WILL make it to Med school - you don’t need the hardships that will come with GPPA.
Also (since we are all piling it on), UIC is not exactly safe at night. Walking to the train then going home. As stated you might not want to do that at midnight. My kids that grew up in Chicago and are used to taking the train and don’t take it past a certain hour. They Uber. Can’t really do that going that far away. That train station where you get off can get sketchy to say the least. Then someone finds out your a medical student or assumes your a doctor since you have a lab coat on… Hmmm. Plus getting up at 5:00 am to barely make it for a morning class. Then add in 5-10 inches or snow, delays, missing parties and other social events. It’s gets old fast like very fast. If this was your only option then great. But it’s not. Why go through it?
What kind of input are you getting from your family? Are they wanting you to stay in Chicago? If so, it may be helpful to share the input you are receiving here, in case they are not as familiar with the opportunities/advantages of the LACs under consideration. I can definitely understand wanting to be close to home and have the security of the GPPA program. However, it does seem like the experience at Bowdoin and some of the others would be superior and make sense financially. It seems you would surely be on a good path toward med school and have a wonderful four years without being stuck on a train for hours each day.
Sorry, but commuting really stinks - please don’t pay extra to commute 2 hours a day. Just don’t.
Well, a lot of the input coming in from UIC experience - my brother commuting, my friend’s brother (and also someone I know) who is at GPPA, and a current Northwestern Feinberg Resident (my brother’s friend and my research mentor) who went to UIC.
Most of my family stayed in Illinois (my cousin - daughter of my aunt with the cafe - went to UIUC and is also prepping for medical school) and my other cousin when to UCSD.
Currently, we’re really looking at UIC GPPA Medicine, USC (waiting for the appeal), and Bowdoin College - in that order.
The pro’s of the GPPA program is that even if I choose not to attend UICOM (ranked #55 medical school), I’ll have stellar letters of recommendation from the GPPA program director and medical school professor and the other directors from the college of medicine.
As for “intellectual exploration and personal growth”, this program really pushes the idea (and many GPPA Med students do) major in non-science related fields - and the accessibility to university grant-funded research labs and with professors is top-notch as the GPPA program “reserves” lots of opportunity to their medical students and prioritizes them. If anything, I’ll be extremely prepared for medical school especially with the GPPA Core for Medicine - and it’s not easy to give this up knowing I’ll have to take the USMLE (Board Exams) during medical school and it definitely won’t be easy.
And the lab director at Northwestern (DT campus) teased me with an actual part-time hehe and presentations, conferences, etc → so I’ll always have that opportunity right in Chicago DT.
Also, we are considering moving closer to Downtown if I do attend UIC - rent would be similar/cheaper but I would be in Chicago for 6 more years at least. It’s not certain but for sure something on the radar. Finally, to clear any confusion, my tuition is fully covered at UIC with grants and scholarships (no loans).
However, if we do put “medicine” aside, going to Bowdoin, I would agree, is a no-brainer. However, realistically speaking, as @theloniusmonk replied to my AAMC question, Bowdoin appears nowhere, neither does W&L (and when I conferenced with their Pre-health advisor, their average MCAT was a 511 with most of their applicants being alums/graduates - and when I asked questions about research, clinical experience, shadowing, and etc on or near campus, I was definitely not instilled with confidence).
What really impacts me is what is at the end of the line for me - being a specialty surgeon in orthopedics, general surgery, cardio, or neuro. So it doesn’t just mean 4 years of medical school, 3 years of residency and a few more years as a fellow, but also I need to perform top-notch on the USMLE (Step 1 and 2 in particular).
So now I’m thinking, going to Bowdoin, great experience (minus the apparent hookup culture that seems to be fairly common which isn’t my cup of tea, to say the least). I’ll have a marine lab next door, outing club, meet some great people, #1 dining experience (seriously haha), and a close-knit community. The quality of living will be absolutely amazing. I already have a lot of Questbridge friends I’ve made. It also has an 87% admit rate to medical school - which includes D.O. along with M.D. I’ll have to schedule a call with the Bowdoin pre-health advisor to see more into the Pre-Med curriculum and some numbers, but most of that doesn’t show what comes after, whereas I’ll have an extremely tight and strong medical foundation Day 1 of Medical School which would be “at least” at a school like UICOM which is important for getting into a good Residency program for those specialties I am aiming for - and conveniently Rush Medical Center is also, right next door.
I think right now, I just don’t have the numbers and anecdotal experience, yet, that really brings Bowdoin home or lets me easily call Bowdoin for my medical career. Researching has been successful, but mostly to what I see online or posts on Reddit or other forums. And that is the uncertainty that makes me take a second to look in the long run and make a program like GPPA appealing - not just for the Doctor at 25, the guaranteed spot, but that tight foundation and really in-depth education in medicine and for a career in medicine.
Whoa, I don’t know where to start on your post so I will just throw out a few of the things that stick out to me.
Don’t look at the average MCAT score at any of the schools. Schools do NOT prepare you for the MCAT, you do.
I don’t understand what makes you think
" I’ll have an extremely tight and strong medical foundation Day 1 of Medical School which would be “at least” at a school like UICOM which is important for getting into a good Residency program for those specialties I am aiming for - and conveniently Rush Medical Center is also, right next door."
Sorry to break it to you, but if you go to med school, you will be prepared the same as every other student in your med school class. You will ALL be starting at square one, none of you will be “better” prepared for a Residency program. That thinking is not only putting the cart before the horse, it’s just plain out nonsense.
Where you go to UG will have ZERO impact on your USMLE Step I and II scores. Literally ZERO. Again, cart way before the horse. Also, Step I is now pass/fail making Step II all the more important, which nothing in your UG education will prepare you for.
Lastly before I try to go back to sleep, if you are going into surgery, you are looking at long haul. My daughter’s surgical residency is seven years…and that is before fellowship.
Oh, and definitely +1 for the food at Bowdoin, I’ve heard it is amazing compared to most other schools. 
Hmm, I’m wondering,…
Do you feel that you, too, should stay in Illinois, as most of your family did? That if commuting was ok for your brother (I‘m sorry I don’t recall details, but I presume he did not choose it over a fully funded offer out of state) it should be ok for you?
Yes, to be quite blunt, I’m wondering if there is some kind of combination of (overt or subliminal) family pressure to stay and reluctance or fear on your part to leave, going on.
I’ve quietly followed your story and have to say I agree with the advice that you are getting regarding not commuting.
I know this has been asked before, but why have you eliminated Grinnell? You would be closer to your family and would have a great LAC education. From my son’s experience, I can tell you that you will also probably get extra grant money for both research and/or study abroad. I don’t know their med school acceptance rate, but I do know you will have amazing support.
I hope your conversation with Bowdoin puts your mind at ease and of course it is a great choice. However, if distance is causing any of your doubts please take another look at Grinnell and talk with some of the professors on the Health Professional Advisory Committee.
IMO this could change my anti-commute feelings. If you could live in the West Loop, or somewhere else close, where you would have less than a 30 minute commute, then commuting might work. Where you live right now, the commute will be untenable.
Also, can you refresh my memory…are you getting direct patient-facing experience? If yes, in what way?
Following this thread is like a marathon. Random thoughts.
Commuting stinks. I commute 2 hours a day using public transit (or a least I did before Covid19). It gets old fast and can be risky at times due to weather or construction.
As far as being closer to your family that’s a personal decision but OK in my book. Family is important. Everyone needs a support system and there’s usually no better than your family. Don’t underestimate how good it is to be within driving distance.
You have excellent choices. No bad ones. Doctors come from all types of schools, locations, and backgrounds. I’ll defer to some of the parents who have kids in med school but my wife is a CRNA and we have doctor friends. It mostly comes down to GPA, MCAT’s, and determination. There’s no shortcuts or easier paths. They all seem to have suffered through med school and have the scars.
I thought Grinnell or Macalaster would be great options. Great schools and probably easier to get to from Chicago.
Good luck. Trust your gut.
I also think Grinnell and Macalaster should stay on the list…both great schools with more reasonable commuting options than Bowdoin and W&L…which are both difficult and expensive to get to.
@Mwfan1921. I agree also if the commute is much shorter. But the West Loop is really expensive. Some of the best restaurants now in Chicago are there. But yes, there might be pockets that are more renter friendly for families.
“It does NOT show how many of the 57 applicants gained an acceptance, only how many APPLIED.”
Ok thanks for clarifying, that does make more sense.
“It also has an 87% admit rate to medical school”
Many schools say something similar, try to dig in that number if you can. Bowdoin says on that page:
“keep in mind that we encourage individuals to apply to programs in health care fields when, and not before, they are in a position to be realistic candidates.”
Realistic candidate typically means there’s some weeding out going on from the freshman class. This happens everywhere, pre-med is inherently weed out.
{quote]“It also has an 87% admit rate to medical school”
Many schools say something similar, try to dig in that number if you can. Bowdoin says on that page:
“keep in mind that we encourage individuals to apply to programs in health care fields when, and not before, they are in a position to be realistic candidates.”
Realistic candidate typically means there’s some weeding out going on from the freshman class. This happens everywhere, pre-med is inherently weed out.
[/quote]
Exactly. And in that 87% there are probably a number of alums who applied after taking a gap year(s) and/or completing an SMP or Post-bacc program. Students who apply directly out of undergrad can be relatively disadvantaged as compared to students several years out of ug.
That fact does support OP doing the UIC GPPA program.