Hey all,
Don't know if this outline was posted yet, but I felt that it might be helpful to bring up again. My application cycle last year followed these general rules, but there can always be a deviation, so take this with a grain of salt.
START
I. Submit Primary.
II. Wait for the email from UIC giving you your login information for the Applicant Status Check site (usually arrives within 2 weeks of submitting your primary):
https://mercury.comd.uic.edu/appstat
III. Login, and check your status in the second page. (hit NEXT button)
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A. "Application Not Complete" = Secondary not yet complete.
B. "Application in Process" = You are complete. --> Goto C.
C. "Applicant in Process" = Your file is being reviewed, 3 Possible Status Changes:
1. "Select Interview Date" = You are good enough for an interview. --> Goto D.
2. "Application in Process" = You are not good enough to grant an interview yet, but might be later on in the cycle. Check back periodically. --> Go back to B.
3. "Final Decision Made ..." = You are not good enough. --> Goto X.
D. "Select Interview Date" (A grid of dates shows up) = Call and schedule an interview date, after which "Interview Scheduled on ... " shows up. After the interview, Goto F.
F. "Decision Pending" = File pending review at the next adcom meeting (every 3rd Thursday of the month). There are 2 options from here, depending on the month:
1. Before May. --> Goto M.
2. On or After May. --> Goto N.
M. Before May, 2 Possible Status Changes:
1. "Final Decision Made ... " --> Goto S.
2. "Decision Pending" (No Status Change) + "We'll keep reviewing you" Email (a few days later) = You are a good candidate, but not good enough to grant an acceptance yet. UIC will keep reviewing you at every adcom meeting. --> Go back to F.
N. On or After May, 2 Possible Status Changes:
1. "Final Decision Made ... " You are (very likely) rejected. --> Goto X.
2. "Applicant is Waitlisted" = Waitlisted. --> Goto Y.
S. There are 2 additional conditions from here:
1. There is an "Additional Correspondences" Tab in the upper-right corner on your status page AND you get a CBC Email (a few days later) = You are (very likely) accepted. --> Goto Z.
2. There is no "Additional Correspondences" Tab and/or you don't get the CBC Email = Rejection. [Note: This is tricky. The CBC email usually comes a few days after (1-4 is the consensus) the status change. Be patient. Sometimes, the email never comes, which might be because you already had a CBC done due to an acceptance at another school. In some instances, the CBC Email even comes after the snail-mail. If after a week, neither the tab nor the CBC email shows up, it's very likely a rejection. You've probably already received snail-mail by now alerting you to it.] --> Goto X.
X. "Final Decision Made ..." = Rejection ... Wait for a "Thin Letter" via snail-mail.
Y. "Applicant is Waitlisted" = Waitlisted. ... The CBC Email no longer acts as an indicator of an acceptance. If you get accepted off of the waitlist, then Goto Z, else Goto X.
Z. "Final Decision Made ..." + "Additional Correspondences" Tab + CBC Email = (very likely) Acceptance ... Wait for a "Fat Packet" via snail-mail. [Note: Sometimes CBC emails come after the packet. CBC emails also might never arrive if you got an acceptance to another school that also does CBC through AMCAS.]
FINISH
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*** PLEASE BEAR IN MIND that this info came from 2009. Therefore, the whole process may have changed since then, and there is no guarantee to this information. But it worked for me (even though I was given the same warning) and the time line was accurate.
