The best advice I can give is to go where you think you can thrive. If you think UIC will be a great school for you, then attend, but if you don't like its size, location, student body, etc then don't go there. Yes, the fact that it has a vet school is a nice plus because it pretty much ensures you can get helpful and accurate pre-vet counseling/instruction, but there are better reasons to decide on a school.
Hello, thought I'd add my .02.
The school the OP is talking about is UIUC in Urbana-Champaign. UIC is in Chicago.
UIUCCVM has a close relationship with Undergrad, and the college of ACES to be specific.
As a person who attended UIUC for half of my undergrad, I would say that you will get to know the animals that you will see at CVM. If you are a member of pre-vet club you also get an opportunity to attend wetlabs, assist in spays and neuters at a local shelter, attend symposium, and sit in on conferences and lectures at the vet school. Also, for a few core courses, the same professor teaches at CVM. I had a repro class with vet students in it, (if not for the snow storm last spring, I would have sat in the vet school listening to a lecture on the new equine x-ray machine.)
Being this closely associated with CVM may be a plus or a minus for you.
There is also a CC in the same town that offers concurrent enrollment for lower level classes. Can you say less tuition money?
There may be other schools in the state that you can attend for undergrad that cost less than the big U. You would have to be careful to make sure that the classes will count for what you need to apply. This is true for every vet school, though. If you feel you don't need a relationship with the vet school other than with admissions, then another school might be a good fit. Don't rule out the option of transfering.
Also, Illinois does accept a lot of students from in state. I'm thinking about 70% or more. The rest would be out of state. I don't have stats for where in the state the students come from.
