FAU vs Carle Illinois (urgent!)

[pianistmedstudent]

Hey yall. Got in off of Carle's waitlist yesterday and have 4 days (edit: 4 business days, so till early next week) until their CTE deadline. Little background – ORM from California, never lived outside of California except for a brief stint in Boston from the ages of 10-12, not interested in radiology, very interested in health tech and research, but don't really know what specialty besides that. Would obviously like to keep costs down but it's not an overwhelming barrier for me.

FAU
Pros

• faculty seems really welcoming and really cares about students; I had such a fun time during my interview
• great match lists for the past few graduating classes
• area seems nice
• LIC clinical years model

Cons

• P/F for preclinical years only (with option to honors the whole year)
• not much research opportunities? and fewer home programs
• I don't know anyone in FL
• In Florida – honestly the political landscape is scaring me; not sure if I want to train somewhere with laws or at least huge pushback against things like abortion, lgbtq+ care(!), and DEI; not really sure I would like to live there either as a young queer woman for those reasons. Also, guns – a close friend of mine is a mass shooting survivor and the gun laws are very terrifying to me.

Carle Illinois (UIUC)
Pros

• curriculum is such a perfect fit for me
• P/F all 4 years and NBME exams
• Family Med clerkship starting in 2nd year
• Match lists look great
• Some cousins at UIUC and lots of fam in Chicago

Cons

• students said the area is "surrounded by cornfields" (I haven't visited yet) but tbh this is less of a factor for me
• Starts in June lol – also less of a factor
• only 2 graduating classes so far and the most recent year had <100% match rate (in a class of 40)
• did not receive full accreditation this year even though they were eligible for it (will remain on provisional accreditation until 2024).

The bolded "cons" are really the deciding factors i think but please let me know if there's anything I missed about these schools that I should think about. Both schools have small class sizes. Should note that both are very new (although Carle is newer) and thus less established. I'm waitlisted at a much more established school as well that I would 100% go to if I got in (sent an LOI 2 weeks ago and another email today), but if they don't get back to me by carle's CTE deadline I need to decide between these two.

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[chilly_md]

I am unsure what the issue was with Carle, but I do not view it to be in the same boat as CNU. They should get their accreditation.

 

[pianistmedstudent]

I am unsure what the issue was with Carle, but I do not view it to be in the same boat as CNU. They should get their accreditation.

would it impact residency applications negatively if they still don't have full accreditation by 2027 (when I'd graduate)? Is there anything else that provisional acc. may impact?

Also, do you have any feedback on how florida's political landscape may impact training (positively, negatively, or otherwise)?

 

[alapeds]

Having lived in Florida, I would do my best to stay away because of the political (and educational, secondarily) landscape.

UIUC is in a very nice small town/city, really two small cities of urbana and champaign. Huge university on a lovely campus, with great restaurants due to many foreign students and families. Cheap to live and overall a great experience for my kids who attended for computer science grad and for music grad programs. Cornfields are there but not obvious until you get out of the very large campus and the surrounding trees of the towns. If those in the know feel the accreditation should be a non issue, I would recommend the program.

 

[chilly_md]

would it impact residency applications negatively if they still don't have full accreditation by 2027 (when I'd graduate)? Is there anything else that provisional acc. may impact?

Also, do you have any feedback on how florida's political landscape may impact training (positively, negatively, or otherwise)?

It is attached to a state school, I don’t imagine they’d be in that status all the way out in 2027.

There shouldn’t be much of a difference in training in Florida.

 

[mdog31415]

I'm gonna make the case for Carle, and here's why: med school is hard enough, and the last thing you want to do is do it somewhere that conflicts with your values. I totally get that vibe. Now, FAU is in Boca Raton and Palm Beach County- a tad bit more friendlier community to the LGBTQ+ community vs other parts of the state. The gun deal- that's a crapshoot for all states TBH. But I totally see your concerns about the state laws. So for you personally, if I was to compare both bolded things, the accreditation issue could very well be fixed by 2027 and is a smaller issue vs the Fl deal. But of course, hope you get off the WL at your top choice!

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

You sound like you'd like to go to Carle and the accreditation concern is the only thing holding you back. I say, go to Illinois. You have friends and family in the region, it is good fit for your academic goals, and much better in terms of your values and quality of life issues as you have described. Why go somewhere if you aren't going to feel comfortable / welcome?