So I’m doing premed, and I was ready to transfer to the University of Michigan, but I’ve been facing pressures to attend my state school, UIC, because it would be easier. Should this be a legitimate option I should consider? Michigan has always been a dream school for me and I was planning in majoring in something like political science or English there while completing the rest of my requirements. UIC is closer, obviously, so I’m not as terrified to go there.
You should visit Ann Arbor to get a feel.
Central campus is fairly urban, in a nice way. Michigan is a great school, get in if you can.
It is a win win for you, either one will prepare you well and provide a positive learning experience for you.
You cant lose.
As med schools will initially eliminate applicants based on stats (eg GPAs, MCAT), competitive stats are very important. So if UIC is “easier” to obtain competitive GPAs then it’s a “legitimate” consideration. In addition as med school is crazy expensive and for vast majority paid for by loans, graduating from college with as little debt as possible should also be important consideration. I assume UIC is way less costly.
if you can bet a better GPA at UIC, then it’s a no brainer.
What is your cum GPA now? What is your science GPA ?
That said, what is the cost difference between the schools?
“If you can get a better GPA at UIC, then it’s a no brainer.”
Seriously? If that were the case, then all students looking to go to med school should always take the easiest route. In the meantime this student is looking to attend a university that he/she indicated was always a, “dream school.” That statement in itself indicates that this is not a, “no brainer.”
@rjkofnovi
Med schools will first want to know if an applicant can cut it academically and they will start with an applicant’s stats. Human eyes will probably never look at an applicant’s app if the stats are not there. Med schools get thousands and thousands of apps (some > 10k) for perhaps 1-200 spots. Med schools don’t have large staffs and an applicant having/not having competitive stats is an easy way to thin out the herd. So on the one hand it seriously makes sense to go to “easier” school as premed. On the other hand, as to what’s easier can be in the eye of the beholder (aka student)/who is prof, and I don’t think that a student has any way of knowing in advance if certain courses/profs will be easier or not for him/her at any school, dream or not. I think it’s better to assume that being a premed is hard no matter where you attend, and have a plan B as most that start premed will change their mind, or even if they actually apply will fail to get even one acceptance anywhere.
The elephant in the room here is UIC’s COA is approx. 15k (not counting housing) while Michigan’s OOS is approx. 66k (including housing). Assuming no aid at either, that’s a lot of debt to be carrying forward to say you went to your dream school. It’ll be even worse if you add in med school loan debt.
An “easy” undergraduate school may not prepare you well for the MCAT.
Go to the cheaper school. Study hard. It’s not just where you go to school that counts. There are people at “no name” schools that get in to medical school every year just fine. You are going to a world class university now. Take advantage of their resources.
OP said easier, not necessarily cheaper, though I would agree that on the surface UIUC would be the cheaper option. However if cost is similar, then for sure UM, given it’s the OP’s dream school and if pre-med doesn’t work out, you’re much better off with a degree from UM in poly sci and/or English.
“You are going to a world class university now.”
Never heard UIC described as, “world class.” We’re talking about UIC here, not UIUC.
@theloniusmonk The OP is considering UIC, University of Illinois at Chicago, not UIUC, the main campus.
Sorry all. I should of known better since I live in Chicago (: Yea go to Michigan if you can afford it.
Sorry guys, yeah I meant UIC not UIUC! The thing is, both are pretty much the same price for me. UIC will cost me around $6,000 while with Michigan I believe all my tuition is covered - I’m getting $54,000 in grant money. The only cost at Michigan would be living expenses while at UIC I would be commuting.
I’m transferring from a community college btw, and my GPA has been a 4.0
There’s no question here imho. Michigan and go give it your best.
Congrats on getting that much grant money. No decision now that we have all the facts. Go Blue!!
Go to Michigan. It’s a no brainer!
If UMich is giving you that much free money as an OOS transfer, it’s your dream, and you think you’d get the grades there, then go there.
First of all, schools don’t really prepare you for the MCAT. And the MCAT doesn’t really have difficult science on it.
Secondly, UIC is not an “easy school”. That’s not what anyone is talking about. I don’t think many would recommend attending some podunk directional school for premed unless that was the person’s only choice and s/he worked extra hard to make sure s/he made up for the school’s shortcomings.
There’s a HUGE difference between “easier” and “easy”. UVA and UNC-CH may be easier than MIT, but that wouldn’t mean that UVA and UNC are “easy”. See the difference?
I recall an NMF premed poster here who started with a free-ride UTDallas (NOT an easy school!!) and got a 4.0 his first year. He transferred to Vandy because he thought med schools would prefer Vandy’s name (uh, no, not at all!!).
His soph year at Vandy wrecked his GPA and suddenly he was in a huge hole. He posted here in desperation. The issue is that when you go to a top school, suddenly you’re swimming with Olympians, rather than just strong contenders. And A’s are limited in the premed prereqs, so it’s often best to go where
This student may survive GPA-wise if he’s already completed the prereqs. That said, a CC transfer also needs to take some higher up BCPM to demonstrate competence.
Edit: I see now that he hasn’t completed his premed prereqs. OP, what do you still need to take? I see that you’re a non-science premed. Again, you’d need to make sure that you demonstrate BCPM competence at your 4 year college.
I’ve said this many times: my son could have gone to a bigger name school. He went to Alabama as a premed. He graduated with a 3.99 GPA and a 4.0 BCPM. He applied to only 6 med schools and got into 3 (all US MD). He’s now a resident at Harvard’s Mass Gen Hospital (the #1 program for his competitive residency). The takeaway is: don’t lose sight of the prize. Med schools don’t care where you went to college. They care about GPA, MCAT score, community service, research, medically related ECs, and LORs.
@mom2collegekids I still need to complete my organic chemistry, physics, and biochem requirements. And yeah, you’ve pretty much summed up my fears about going to UMich. I’m scared I won’t do as well in the premed classes because there’s already so many brilliant people. As for UIC, I’ve heard horror stories too, but I don’t have any real way of weighing the rigor of the two premed programs against each other.
Horror stories from premeds are everywhere. What you need to discern is what really went on. Are the horror stories from students who just didn’t have what it takes to be a successful premeds (probably 1/4-1/2 of premeds fit this description.). Were they smart premeds but ruined their GPAs because they didn’t realize how much harder they’d have to work/study in college (a common mistake) and how much stricter profs/TAs are about attendance, rules, etc?
How did you do in Bio I and II and Gen Chem I and II?