Hmmm....well, of course it is hard to say definitively when you don't really "know" first hand what each school is like. But I will try and tell you how I feel about each school and why.
UIC - Great reputation, bragging rights, inexpensive tuition, knowledgeable professors, was worried about just being a number there and not getting help if I needed it, was worried about there possibly being a less than team oriented atmosphere and having to deal with cut throat infighting among the students. Was worried about possibly having to deal with a program that had been in existence for so long that it was not flexible or dynamic to the needs of the students in any way. Now there is no way of knowing if those last three items are valid. These were my concerns and worries. Probably the best school to have on your resume if going for a residency.
MWU - Really good reputation, bragging rights, substantially more expensive especially if you calculate all four years plus interest on that extra amount, have heard conflicting reports on whether school is very student focused and helpful or if that is not really the case, good professors, feeling I got was that the school was very "white bread" versus more diverse and that a "right" type of student was admitted with the occasional token "other" students (foreign, older, etc.) I have no actual proof of this, it was just my take away feeling. Good team approach to encourage cooperation among the students.
SIU - Decent reputation, solid no nonsense school, inexpensive in the realm of UIC, research oriented program, was not an option for me since I was not already from Southern Illinois and could not move that far away, accepts mainly in state and Southern Illinois residents.
CSU - Crummy reputation among the uninformed, decent reputation among the informed, small program so more likely to be able to extend energy to focus on individual students if needed, good team approach to encourage cooperation among the students, incredible diversity on a scale that makes you feel proud, inexpensive, good professors, some frustrating aspects of dealing with a large bureaucratic organization (the University in general - not the COP) that still has a lot of improvements to make.
Rosalind Franklin - Very solid health care education history, new program, expensive, would be in first class so that could be good as excitement is probably high but also could be not good in that there might be a lot of kinks that need to be worked out of the program and the first class would certainly have to "experience" those kinks.
Roosevelt - Not really known as an educator of health care professionals, expensive, three year program, a lot of unknowns, was worried if they would be able to find decent professors in Illinois or decent rotation sites, first class issues stated above in Rosalind Franklin.
So, if I had my pick of schools (it was totally up to me) and there were no considerations like not having a full year of physics (this was why I did not even apply to UIC or SIU) or having to stay in the Chicagoland area (for my daughter and my currently owned property) then I would say that I would probably have picked SIU and UIC as a tie, CSU, MWU, Rosalind Franklin, Roosevelt.....in that order.
Some personal factors that led to my decision. I did not want to wait another full year to apply due to being one semester shy of physics....I could not move because to sell my two houses meant I would have taken a 100,000 bath due to the real estate market....SIU doesn't accept that many Northern Illinois residents, I did not want to take out the big loans necessary to go to MWU, Rosalind Franklin, or Roosevelt, Rosalind Franklin and Roosevelt were not open yet, CSU would allow me (unofficially) to finish my last two courses during the summer session. I felt really comfortable at my CSU interview and thought I could do well there.
Hope this helped. I'm off to study something.
