2010-2011 University of Illinois Application Thread

[eight sat up]

This school is a very difficult school to get into. My friend applied with a 3.7 cumulative GPA and a 3.8 science GPA and a 35Q (12 PS, 11 V, 12 BS) and was rejected for "not being diverse enough." He is a white male and it was a shame he did not get accepted because he was certainly qualified. Oh and he went to UIC as an undergrad, lived near Chicago he entire life, and spoke 3 languages one of them being Polish (Chicago has one of the largest Polish communities in the United States).

lol I think that anecdote points more to the "randomness" of the process than to UIC in specific.

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[mbosman]

This school is a very difficult school to get into. My friend applied with a 3.7 cumulative GPA and a 3.8 science GPA and a 35Q (12 PS, 11 V, 12 BS) and was rejected for "not being diverse enough." He is a white male and it was a shame he did not get accepted because he was certainly qualified. Oh and he went to UIC as an undergrad, lived near Chicago he entire life, and spoke 3 languages one of them being Polish (Chicago has one of the largest Polish communities in the United States).

Your friend might have had an excellent school resume, but did he have any medical field history or volunteer experience because those are two things that medical school look highly upon.

 

[kai35]

This school is a very difficult school to get into. My friend applied with a 3.7 cumulative GPA and a 3.8 science GPA and a 35Q (12 PS, 11 V, 12 BS) and was rejected for "not being diverse enough." He is a white male and it was a shame he did not get accepted because he was certainly qualified. Oh and he went to UIC as an undergrad, lived near Chicago he entire life, and spoke 3 languages one of them being Polish (Chicago has one of the largest Polish communities in the United States).

heh... Welcome to America 2010! I've helped take part in the admissions process as a student representative and interviewer for UIC... I've seen us blatantly turn away extremely well-qualified applicants in favor of less qualified applicants who help make the class appear more colorful. I don't know if your friend was rejected based on lack of clinical experience or something less scrupulous, but the latter would not surprise me in the least.

I'm not gonna get too political, but in the name of "diversity" we often screw a lot of people over.. including those we attempt to help. I have more than a few friends who failed first and/or second year and were candidates for dismissal, and if weren't dismissed had to repeat the year. They were all members of the UHP (black/hispanic) program. I'm not saying that all blacks/hispanics aren't qualified (I know many who are).. but I am saying that when you affirmative action people in because of race when they truly aren't as academically qualified as the average matriculant, you better be darn well certain they are prepared otherwise you're gonna have some brokenhearted souls come out of med school with $50k+ debt and no M.D. to show for it. From what I have seen some of my friends go through, UIC hasn't done a good job of this.

 

[Random Anesthesiologist]

Hey everyone,
I was just wondering if anyone knew what sort of numbers the RMED and RIMSAP programs accept. I'm from Cook County, which might hurt my push for rural medicine, but I got a 29 on my MCAT (10 BS, 10 VR, 9 PS) and I have a 3.5 cum and 3.2 sci gpa from Notre Dame. Any clue if that is solid enough for any of the two programs? Thanks.

Your MCAT is competitive, but RMED rarely takes students from Cook County unless there is an outstanding reason. If you are truly interested in Rural Medicine, then I encourage you to apply. If you are just worried about admission based on your stats, the interview committee will flesh this out.

I can't speak for the RIMSAP program.

Just as a general observation from Urbana, my class consisted of about 30% California residents. This always puzzled me considering UIC is a state school.

 

[EricMont]

heh... Welcome to America 2010! I've helped take part in the admissions process as a student representative and interviewer for UIC... I've seen us blatantly turn away extremely well-qualified applicants in favor of less qualified applicants who help make the class appear more colorful. I don't know if your friend was rejected based on lack of clinical experience or something less scrupulous, but the latter would not surprise me in the least.

I'm not gonna get too political, but in the name of "diversity" we often screw a lot of people over.. including those we attempt to help. I have more than a few friends who failed first and/or second year and were candidates for dismissal, and if weren't dismissed had to repeat the year. They were all members of the UHP (black/hispanic) program. I'm not saying that all blacks/hispanics aren't qualified (I know many who are).. but I am saying that when you affirmative action people in because of race when they truly aren't as academically qualified as the average matriculant, you better be darn well certain they are prepared otherwise you're gonna have some brokenhearted souls come out of med school with $50k+ debt and no M.D. to show for it. From what I have seen some of my friends go through, UIC hasn't done a good job of this.

He had lots of research and clinical experience. He was an excellect candidate all around with plenty of meat to his resume. This is very depressing to hear about UIC. I mean this is a first hand account of witnessing denial of more than qualified people by political games and antics by UIC.

I also think that a medical school should do whatever it takes to keep their students in the program and not let them fail like you say your friends fell victim to.

 

[loua0731]

Anyone else get this email?

When are we supposed to get the actual secondary?

Dear loua0731,
Thank you for considering the University of Illinois College of Medicine for your medical education. To better serve applicants, we have developed an on-line service for monitoring the progress of your application. Your personal password for this web application is ____. Please be careful not to share this password with anyone.
To check the status of your application please use the following URL http://services.comd.uic.edu/appstat, type your AAMC ID number, and your personal password where indicated. If you have trouble accessing the webpage, please email the Webmaster at [email protected] with a description of the error. Please make sure that the Web Browser you use is IE version 6 and above or Firefox version 6.2 and above. This email was generated automatically, so please do not try replying to it.

 

[BigBoosting]

I got it. What does your Current Status say?

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

I got it. What does your Current Status say?

Supplemental Application not yet Sent -- Contact College Admissions at 312-996-5635,- Recommendation(s): received from AMCAS, expecting a total of , awaiting Admissions Officer letter review-

My guess it you DON'T have to contact admissions..just gotta wait for them to send it...?

 

[startswithb]

I also got the impression that UIC was going overboard with the affirmative action. For instance, the Peoria class of 2005 had about 5 white women/50 students. I think they've lightened up a little on the AA since then. Also, as someone else stated, I can't understand why there are so many OOS/California students as a state school. I literally don't know anyone from my IL university who was admitted to UIC for medical school. Add all of this to the skyrocketing tuition, and I am feeling quite disappointed by my state school. I've worked on two different research projects here since 2008 and have two LORs from professors, but I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't even get an interview! It's a little insulting. We'll see.

 

[biophysicianai]

Does anyone know where to get the secondary?

I got an email with a link / password to check my app status, but no link to actually fill the app out.

Anyone else in my boat?

Anyone else get this email?

When are we supposed to get the actual secondary?

Dear loua0731,
Thank you for considering the University of Illinois College of Medicine for your medical education. To better serve applicants, we have developed an on-line service for monitoring the progress of your application. Your personal password for this web application is ____. Please be careful not to share this password with anyone.
To check the status of your application please use the following URL http://services.comd.uic.edu/appstat, type your AAMC ID number, and your personal password where indicated. If you have trouble accessing the webpage, please email the Webmaster at [email protected] with a description of the error. Please make sure that the Web Browser you use is IE version 6 and above or Firefox version 6.2 and above. This email was generated automatically, so please do not try replying to it.

sorry! I guess someone else already brought this up!

 

[loua0731]

I got it. What does your Current Status say?

"Supplemental Application not yet Sent -- Contact College Admissions at 312-996-5635,- Recommendations Requirements not yet Complete-"

 

[jjwoo]

i got the same email about checking your status, but no real secondary yet.

 

[sedaniel]

Same here... confused. Maybe it will come along later today...? Has anyone actually gotten a secondary?

 

[MaryLennox]

This school is a very difficult school to get into. My friend applied with a 3.7 cumulative GPA and a 3.8 science GPA and a 35Q (12 PS, 11 V, 12 BS) and was rejected for "not being diverse enough." He is a white male and it was a shame he did not get accepted because he was certainly qualified. Oh and he went to UIC as an undergrad, lived near Chicago he entire life, and spoke 3 languages one of them being Polish (Chicago has one of the largest Polish communities in the United States).

how does he know that's why?

 

[NHBPFA5]

lol I think that anecdote points more to the "randomness" of the process than to UIC in specific.

nice avatar.... do you has teh VTAK?
<--My FA5


Yeah, I got the weird status thing without any secondary....
Called and confirmed that they have not been sent out yet.
If anyone else was still stressing about it.

 

[qwerty89]

I have the Princeton Review Best 168 Medical Schools Book.

It says UIC College of Medicine screens for secondaries. Is this true?
"About one-third of AMCAS applicants are sent a UIC Supplementary Application."

 

[eight sat up]

I has VTEC but sadly no real secondary from UIC. What a tease...

 

[EricMont]

how does he know that's why?

that was what was told to him in the rejection letter.

 

[Sweetpea MD]

hey, hey, hey! before you guys go dogging this school maybe you should try applying and see what happens! or maybe don't apply if you already have this preconceived notion and leave a spot open for someone who would love to go here.

i am a URM and this is NOT the only school i got into. i got in because i deserve to be here. and i'm OOS. i think every school will have a student or two each year who is in danger of failing out, but this isn't because the school overloads on URMs or underqualified applicants. i know plenty of people who got into UIC with 30+ MCATs and 3.5+ GPAs. in fact most of us have good scores. quit being bitter and apply to the schools you think would be the best fit for you. good luck.

 

[BBender716]

hey, hey, hey! before you guys go dogging this school maybe you should try applying and see what happens! or maybe don't apply if you already have this preconceived notion and leave a spot open for someone who would love to go here.

i am a URM and this is NOT the only school i got into. i got in because i deserve to be here. and i'm OOS. i think every school will have a student or two each year who is in danger of failing out, but this isn't because the school overloads on URMs or underqualified applicants. i know plenty of people who got into UIC with 30+ MCATs and 3.5+ GPAs. in fact most of us have good scores. quit being bitter and apply to the schools you think would be the best fit for you. good luck.

It's hard to get in anywhere and you never know what individual schools are exactly looking for. I'm guessing the secondary either hasn't been released yet or is being released in waves. Don't freak, it's all good.

Also, FWIW, i have found much of TPR's med school info to be largely inaccurate. Most UIC applicants receive secondaries after a low-ish screen. Best of luck!

 

[MaryLennox]

that was what was told to him in the rejection letter.

i can't believe they can do that. whatever happened to good old 'we have far more qualified people than we can offer spots to . . . ' ??

sucks for him. UIC seems weird about admissions for sure. ill never know why exactly my experience with them panned out the way it did, but my guess is that: 1- got an early interview due to high mcat and in state, 2- stayed in limbo post-interview for 6 months, i assumed it was due to my low gpa, 3-finally accepted towards the end of the cycle, after assuming rejection. maybe because of my contributing 'diversity'? (not ethnic, but background- art major.) i like the way lstone13 described med schools as looking for 'diversity on paper' in her mdapps . . . it makes sense.

anyway, this isn't aimed at anyone specific- but if you think UIC is easy to get into, it's not. I'm still surprised i got in. and i had 2 private school acceptances before i got the UIC one. don't underestimate them.

 

[jjwoo]

got the secondary today, one questions though, what the hell do this mean? what should i put?

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 requires that you either (1) waive your right of access to letters of
recommendation or (2) retain your right of access to letters of recommendation submitted on your behalf.

1 or 2?

 

[Phildobaggins]

got the secondary today, one questions though, what the hell do this mean? what should i put?

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 requires that you either (1) waive your right of access to letters of
recommendation or (2) retain your right of access to letters of recommendation submitted on your behalf.

1 or 2?

They are asking if you want to see your LORs or not. It's always better to waive your rights to view the letters (option 1). It conveys a sense of confidence that your letter writers will write good things about you, and also allows the writers the freedom to say what they really want w/o the fear/embarrassment/awkwardness that you will see them.

 

[jjwoo]

thanks a lot phildobaggins!

 

[mybubbles14]

got the secondary today, one questions though, what the hell do this mean? what should i put?

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 requires that you either (1) waive your right of access to letters of
recommendation or (2) retain your right of access to letters of recommendation submitted on your behalf.

1 or 2?

1...waive away

 

[NHBPFA5]

jjwoo, you got an actual secondary today? or just the status page. I'm enjoying my lull in secondaries at the moment, but don't want to miss one if it's somehow available now....

 

[sedaniel]

jjwoo, you got an actual secondary today? or just the status page. I'm enjoying my lull in secondaries at the moment, but don't want to miss one if it's somehow available now....

I got it too, yep. I first got that status page email a couple days ago and now they sent an actual supplemental app.

 

[Avoidthetiger]

Questions the same as last year?

 

[sedaniel]

Questions the same as last year?

1. Describe a situation in which you were really stressed. Tell us how you dealt with it. Please detail your reaction(s), and how it affected you. If this situation, or a similar one, were to happen again, how would you handle it?

2. Describe a hobby or activity other than something in medicine, in which you have a keen interest. Why?


250 words limit for each

 

[Tippyboat]

Questions the same as last year?

Yes.


About the advantage/challenge in educational history thing...would it just pertain to college or could it be something much earlier in our personal history?

 

[Avoidthetiger]

Yes.


About the advantage/challenge in educational history thing...would it just pertain to college or could it be something much earlier in our personal history?

Thanks.

And I think whatever you want to talk about is fine -- whether pre-college education or post. I think I did a mixture of both in my previous application.

 

[Kip]

Just received the official secondary email. From their wording, looks like they do some initial screening.

 

[Keem]

1. Describe a situation in which you were really stressed. Tell us how you dealt with it. Please detail your reaction(s), and how it affected you. If this situation, or a similar one, were to happen again, how would you handle it?

2. Describe a hobby or activity other than something in medicine, in which you have a keen interest. Why?


250 char limit for each

250 Character? Thats like 40 words

 

[sedaniel]

250 Character? Thats like 40 words

And by character I mean words

 

[on house arrest]

Just received the official secondary email. From their wording, looks like they do some initial screening.

sure does....yes!!

 

[Keem]

And by character I mean words

 

[IrishCalini]

soooo excited to get this! They are FOR SURE my #1 school of choice, just have everything I'm looking for

Good luck everyone!!

 

[jjwoo]

jjwoo, you got an actual secondary today? or just the status page. I'm enjoying my lull in secondaries at the moment, but don't want to miss one if it's somehow available now....

hey NHBPFA5, ya i got a status website invite yesterday and this morning, 9AM PST, i got the actual secondary.

best of luck.

 

[NHBPFA5]

does absolutely every blank in the courses have to be filled? like I was going to put biochem, but it didn't have a lab. Is that not filling all the pre-reqs?

 

[StarryNights]

Just received the official secondary email. From their wording, looks like they do some initial screening.

Got the actual secondary request today as well. This surprised me because I thought they send it out to everyone, didn't know they screen.

 

[Kip]

does absolutely every blank in the courses have to be filled? like I was going to put biochem, but it didn't have a lab. Is that not filling all the pre-reqs?

I left the bio lab part blank, because my lab class wasn't associated with the class. I figured if they have to, they can look at my Primary. I also am on the quarter system, and they only have enough space for 2 classes, when I need 3 to satisfy the requirements for each one. Again, I figure they can look at the Primary. Then again, I could be wrong.

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

I left the bio lab part blank, because my lab class wasn't associated with the class. I figured if they have to, they can look at my Primary. I also am on the quarter system, and they only have enough space for 2 classes, when I need 3 to satisfy the requirements for each one. Again, I figure they can look at the Primary. Then again, I could be wrong.

I named a specific Bio Lab that I took to satisfy the "one year of bio + labs" requirement (general requirement)--I didnt even think of the whole "Bio class with lab together" thing...

 

[Kip]

I named a specific Bio Lab that I took to satisfy the "one year of bio + labs" requirement (general requirement)--I didnt even think of the whole "Bio class with lab together" thing...

Well I regret not even putting down a Bio lab. Oh well. I really hope they just look at my Primary.

 

[NHBPFA5]

I guess my question has become,
I took orgo I with lab,
Orgo II without a lab,
Biochem without a lab.

I'll be missing a lab on their form, a lab that I didn't think was required, but now am not sure lol

 

[Tippyboat]

Are you guys all putting down something in the optional question about advantages/difficulties in progression of education?

I'm wondering if it sounds like whining to say, for example, I was part of an activity that was a huge time commitment, and that was an obstacle. I feel like it's insignificant because I chose to have the activity...but it's something I'm proud of.

 

[turkaglew]

still havent gotten a secondary and i went out with the first batch from amcas... getting a little worried

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

How long were your responses to the required essay prompts?

 

[chrisoc13]

So for the extracurricular activities what is everyone doing? I'm basically just transferring everything over from AMCAS. Thought they already had that info but guess not. But I don't have contact people for everything (some of them don't make sense too) so hopefully that is fine.

Also what about shadowing? Is anyone including it here?

 

[NHBPFA5]

So for the extracurricular activities what is everyone doing? I'm basically just transferring everything over from AMCAS. Thought they already had that info but guess not. But I don't have contact people for everything (some of them don't make sense too) so hopefully that is fine.

Also what about shadowing? Is anyone including it here?

I did the same. But for the weird student organizations, I put the phone number of our RSO (registered student organization) office. If they called and asked to speak with like AMSA (for example), they'd be able to tell them hopefully.
IDK if that's a good idea or if you have a similar option.. but yeah.

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

I did the same. But for the weird student organizations, I put the phone number of our RSO (registered student organization) office. If they called and asked to speak with like AMSA (for example), they'd be able to tell them hopefully.
IDK if that's a good idea or if you have a similar option.. but yeah.

well, I would've just put in club president names or whatever...they only require Contact Name...not any of that other stuff. I wonder if they're ever going to calll...lol.