UIC OOS cost is irrelevant for the BS/MD applicants, since the program is for in state only. Agree that the IS fee for the program is rather high, but there are other states too that charge similar in state tuitions such as NJ, MI, PA. Perhaps this high instate tuition is one of the reasons that prompts UIC direct med program students take a gap year (as claimed by someone recently) since they are allowed to apply out, and give it a shot at other med schools of higher repute which are similarly or even more expensive?
Also one needs to look at total cost, just not the tuition. For example a program with a tuition of say around 40k translates to 75k total per year. The unavoidable evil of high cost of medical education. Pitt is an outlier I would say with in state tuition of around 55k, but it is very generous with oos applicants, charging similar tuition and not 20-25k higher.
Any recommendation of a book (not college application related) that anyone can recommend relating to Medical world that my Junior son can read through over the summer to broaden his knowledge of the medical/healthcare world?
You can go to the med school website and look for their estimates and break downs for yearly costs. Just as someone shared here for UIC. Typically ranges from 75-90k per year for most, depending upon location of med school, instate vs oos for state schools, among other things.
Thank you @GoldenRock@srk2017@gallentjill@8thgradekid for your suggestions and guidance which make perfect sense. Due to the strong interest in BS/MD, we decided to choose WashU over Duke and will post the stats once the application process is settled.
General question: I read a lot about GAP year in these posts for example: Upitt, WashU and other colleges. How does a GAP year will help or improve with GPA of undergrad. for medical school with minimum GPA requirements?
@GoldenRock Some brief answers to this difficult decision of where to attend for BS/MD
We are in state for GPPA, Illinois.
Roughly including scholarships, NMF, and prepaid tuition College Illinois but adding undergrad/medical school/room & board: PMM is $100k more than UIC, UMKC is 30K more and less one year of school, Union is $220K more.
GPA: PMM and GPPA are very doable at 3.5 and 3.6. UMKC is 2.85. UNION is 3.5. PITT is crazy 3.75.
MCAT: PMM and GPPA are 504 & 512 so marked difference of 64 and 87 percentile. UMKC, UNION, PITT have no MCAT required.
GPPA is nonbinding and will save seat for two years. PMM is nonbinding but very few do it. Assuming that UMKC since unconventional 6 year is binding of a non ranked med school, UNION unsure of binding policy unranked med school, Pitt unsure of binding policy but very nice US New ranking of #14 Med school so therefore assuming if you can survive you would not want to apply out.
Wild card is the my DS. He is 100% medicine, 100% wants to complete program on time with no GAP year, 100% seeking subspecialty, would like parents to be as far as Mars though parents would like him to be closer in UG years (we wouldnāt hover but it would be nice to be within driving distance).
The huge key is for all of us that if a program states 7 years we do not want to know that the culture of the program actually pushes 8 years. Time is money. Time is also better spent pursuing intentional and attainable goals.
@positivelybsmd Union is definitely binding. The paperwork you sign states that they will not write a committee letter for someone who chooses to apply out.
@srk2017@GoldenRock@rk2017 whole UIC cost subject spun off from @sajju786 DC admission to UIC GPPA.
So to put into perspective few things are misleading.
First of all, if you are GPPA admitted students, you are IS student only for SOM, so OOS cost is immaterial.
2nd OOS cost is only relevant to traditional route candidates and in this case kinda N/A.
Outside of @sajju786 GPPA case, cost comparison is just like any other traditional route SOM, in that regard UIC SOM seems higher for OOS and IS is higher for IL residents then UCs for CA residents.
@positivelybsmd based on your 2 postings and how detail oriented you are, it seems GPPA is no brainer. You are already prepaid for College Illinois so UG is free. I will take GPPA over UMKC any day, any circumstances. Also GPPA is nonbinding and so if your DS decides to switch gear at end of 3rd year, there are plenty of options to choose from.
I havenāt heard GPPA GAP year stories, one should check how frequent is that or its just an outlier. As your DS wants ā100% seeking subspecialtyā, I thought that is happening after med school, so not sure how one can be so certain so in advance, Since last year GPPA has changed SOM campus allocation. In the past students were assigned the campus at time of admission, now it is end of 3rd year, SOM campus of Chicago, Peoria and Rockford can give a student complete different college vibe.
If your son is so interested in subspecialty (this early in the game? Really?), I would suggest you to check out the residency match lists of individual medical schools. You may be surprised to find that despite the hype of rankings or what not, UPitt med school has a 40% match rate to primary care specialities. 44% if you include Obx/Gyn.
I am sorry I canāt relate to the abbreviations you used above referring to various programs, but guess Penn State/Jeff is one among them? If so, apparently based on comments by someone earlier here, they seem to have decent match rates, perhaps better than UPittās (again against the rankings hype with Penn Stateās ranking way behind according to one often followed site).
@positivelybsmd
Drop Union from consideration - no medical school is worth $220k investment
Drop UMKC - Medical student and career life is very stressful and adult life is harder than child/student life. So saving 1 year is over rated. UMKC has more controversy (look at that specific thread and reach out to Roentgen if still keen).
PMM - Drop, even $100k is not worth. The only negligible ad over GPPA is, no interview for medical school.
UPitt - Wait until acceptance offer is in hand. It is going to be hard to pass it. Your S is capable to meet the Pitt reqs, so that should not be the challenge. But I think since you have invested in prepaid tuition College Illinois, need to take a second look. (Not sure if it allows to transfer to other siblings like 529*).
UIC GPPA - Best to go for this. 1. Non binding 2. Optional 3 to 5 years. Your S can easily do it in 3 years if he is particular about number of years and not having a specific major in mind (engg will take 4 years). 3. Cost and investment already done. 4. Very easy GPA and MCAT. 5. Close to support system (!)
Very conservatively saved $160k in 529 for UG/MD for my only child. Now appears I may have $12k or so extra saved. Either take out with penalty or transfer to my childās child!