<p>HI! I am currently a Freshman at the University of Illinois. My major is undecided, but I am on the pre-med route. I did well in all my classes last semester, but I don't know if this school was the right "fit" for me. It is veryyyyy big and veryyyy Greek (I didn't join a sorority). I feel it is very hard to meet people and there is really no sense of "community" on campus. I have thought about transferring to Marquette University next semester as a Biomedical Sciences major/premed. I am wondering if this is a smart move?? And if marquette has a strong premed program?? Or should I just suck it up and stay here for the next 3 years...?? HELP!!!!!! I am TORN!!!!!</p>
<p>First, there will be a significant cost differential if you are instate at U of I. Will this require you going into debt to do so or put additional hardship on your parents?</p>
<p>Marquette produces a good number of Doctors and has excellent Bio and Chem departments. The Medical College of Wisconsin was actually still the MU med school when I went to school there. A word of advice however, from a MU alum…you will fare far better not acknowledging your pre med path to the professors in Bio and Chem until after you have fulfilled your requirements. They have long been known to grade pre meds more difficultly…i was warned that this went on long before I went there, saw it first hand while I was there and from what I have been told by recent alum, still goes on to a degree.</p>
<p>Depending on what intro level classes you have taken at U of I, you should note that intro Bio classes at MU are still large and intro Chem classes, while large are a bit smaller than the intro Bio classes…lab sizes are small however.</p>
<p>Are you prepared to “start over” as far as making friends etc? Is the cost differential going to be a significant impediment? You need to answer these two questions first. After that only you can decide if the smaller size will be an advantage for you…MU’s programs are good and as I said earlier, it really can prepare you well for med school…but so can U of I…but ultimately your success can be heavily dependent on how happy you are wherever you are. That’s what you need to answer before making a decision.</p>
<p>What do the finances look like? Are you an IL resident who is getting in-state tuition? Can your family pay full price at Marquette without you taking out huge loans to pay for it? (Not much aid for transfer students and you do NOT want to go into debt if you’re planning on med school.) </p>
<p>What’s your current GPA? What were your SATs and HS GPA? (Since you’re only a freshman, it’s likely Marquette will ask for both college and high school data.)</p>
<p>NOTE: I did grad school at UIUC and know a couple of profs on faculty there and who live in C-U–which are two very friendly towns and with much improved amenities from when I lived there in the 70s/80s. (I periodically go back and visit. I was in C-U for a week last summer. I still like the town…)</p>
<p>The C-U community is actually quite diverse and interesting. Have you tried to get involved with anything off campus? (There are lots of both religious and non-religious off-campus volunteer organizations who would love to have help.)</p>
<p>UIUC is indeed and BIG school and it takes a while to find your niche on campus. I know this sounds trite, but have tried joining some clubs or activities to find your people? Have you tried joining a research group? Have you done any volunteer work on or off campus?</p>
<p>Any of those will bring into contact with like-minded individuals.</p>
<p>Other than being BIG, do you have any other objections to UIUC?</p>
<p>I agree with the above.</p>
<p>If you’re instate for UIUC, then it’s MUCH cheaper than Marquette. Like others mentioned, Marquette is not going to give you much FA or merit as a transfer student (maybe none). The school doesn’t even give great aid to incoming freshmen, much less to transfer students.</p>
<p>Marquette Univ. COA</p>
<p>tuition and fees: $30,462
Room and board: $9,890 </p>
<h2>Books and supplies: $900 </h2>
<p>Direct costs…about… $41k per year</p>
<p>Estimated personal expenses: $1,800</p>
<h2>Transportation expense: $200 (this is waaaay underestimated) </h2>
<p>Indirect costs…really about $3k per year</p>
<p>Contrast that with…</p>
<p>UIUC COA</p>
<p>**In-state tuition and fees: $13,096 **
Room and board: $9,714 </p>
<h2>Books and supplies: $1,200 </h2>
<p>Direct costs…about $24k per year</p>
<p>Estimated personal expenses: $2,510</p>
<h2>Transportation expense: $470 </h2>
<p>Indirect costs…about $3k per year</p>
<p>Just wanted to add…</p>
<p>It is veryyyyy big and veryyyy Greek (I didn’t join a sorority).</p>
<p>I can tell you this… A school can feel this way freshman year because of peers who are rushing/pledging. Freshmen Greeks have a lot of “greek requirements”.</p>
<p>But, after freshman year, a lot of this calms down for a few reasons. Many kids go “inactive” after a year or so because of the high and unaffordable Greek expense or because parents are upset if grades slip. And, those who stay active, become more focused on their school work and less on their “houses.”</p>
<p>You need to find the “pre-med” association at your school and join it. Once you declare a major, you need to join whatever association is affiliated with it. You need to “shrink” your school by finding your niche.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the advice!! MUCH appreciated. The finances for MU shouldn’t be an issue really…But I have to decide if it is worth it to spend more on undergrad or to save for med school? I got a 4.0 this past semester so I am hoping for some merit aid, but like mom2collegekids said, they might not give me much? Also, do you think it will “look better” or increase my chances of acceptance if I receive a degree from U of I vs Marquette? Or does it not really matter to med schools where you receive your undergrad from???</p>
<p>You need to proceed with everything at UIUC as if you’re certain that you’re going to be going there.</p>
<p>If you want to “see” what Marquette would do for you, go ahead and apply. But, no, you will not likely get any merit money from Marquette as a transfer student. Merit money is mostly used to attract the BEST incoming freshmen class BECAUSE that is considered for ranking purposes. </p>
<p>UIUC is a MUCH higher ranked school…ranked #42…VS…MU which is ranked #75. </p>
<p>So, if a med school is going to be 'more impressed," they are going to be more impressed with a degree from UIUC. </p>
<p>SAVE your money and go to UIUC…that’s a savings of about $16k per year…over 4 years that’s over $60k to put towards med school. Yeah!!!</p>
<p>Regardless of rankings, Jesuit educations are highly regarded and valued. Top students at most Jesuit schools have little to no problem in grad and professional school admissions.</p>
<p>It’s up to you to decide which is the best fit for you over the next 3 years…and yes, you are right, med school is expensive so taking UG cost into consideration should not be undervalued.</p>
<p>@eadad you are so right about rankings. People do not undersdtand rankings not only include academic related issues, but things like the amount of sports teams the school has, the amount of donation by alumni, and the list goes on and on. To me rankings should only focus on academics if they are going to be reliable. I did not want to say this but what good is saving $$$ if you are going to feel miserable?</p>
<p>Oh, I agree that a Jesuit education is very good. And, I agree that rankings aren’t the “end all/be all” at all. </p>
<p>I just think this frosh is giving up too soon on UIUC. When a person is a frosh, class sizes can seem immense and it can seem like everyone has gone “Greek.”</p>
<p>Soon, class sizes will shrink and many of those who’ve pledged will either have gone inactive or will be less “greek-involved” and more academically focused. I was in a sorority, and by the time I was a junior, I was really only doing the minimum sorority-wise…because I had to become more school-focused. </p>
<p>I also think this student needs to join some clubs that are related to major/pre-med. </p>
<p>Unless this family is very affluent - and can easily pay for Marquette AND med school, I think the money saved will really help with med school costs.</p>
<p>OP:</p>
<p>Marquette does offer some limited merit money to transfers. The Ignatius Scholarship is up to $14k. For Frosh, it’s based primarily on gpa+test scores. For transfers, it’s college record plus community service. According to some past threads on cc, it appears that the Frosh cutoff for Ignatius was a 31 ACT in prior years. </p>
<p>I agree with the others…a Jesuit education can be extremely valuable in itself. Note, Marquette also has a Core Curriculum, which means lotsa readin’ & writin’…for many, a good thing (should really help with the MCAT-VR), but for math-science geeks…</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>[Ignatius</a> Scholarships | Marquette University](<a href=“http://www.marquette.edu/explore/scholarships_ignatius.shtml]Ignatius”>Père Marquette Awards // Undergraduate Admissions // Marquette University)</p>
<p>If the OP applies and gets a good-sized scholarship, then transferring might be a good idea. </p>
<p>I wonder what stats are needed to get a $10k - 14k scholarship.</p>
<p>Hi thank you for all your advice and opinions !!! soo helpful!! I did just find out that I received the ignatius scholarship, which is great! but i still need to decide what is the best thing to do…</p>
<p>Glad for you! Now you have to sit down with your family and decide what would be best for you.</p>
<p>Hope everything works out for you.</p>
<p>Congrats…how much was the scholarship?</p>
<p>thanks, 14000 a year… there is still a bit of a cost difference</p>
<p>ALSO…if I WERE to transfer and then applied to UofI college of medicine, do you think I would still have a chance of acceptance if I went to Marquette vs. Illinois? Or do you think they will take U of I applicants over me???</p>
<p>Hopefully someone here knows whether schools with SOMs favor the undergrads from their own schools.</p>
<p>You might actually have a better chance coming from MU…some schools actually make it harder on their own…not saying UI actually is one of them but it does happen…some schools want more diversity in their student bodies and make the rode far more difficult fore their own grads by setting limits on the number they admit.</p>
<p>I would try to find out if UI school of Medicine is one that does.</p>