2019-2020 Chicago Med at Rosalind Franklin

[holdthemayo]

Thanks for the response! That was all very helpful, especially the info about the clinical rotations. Just another quick question: how many times per week (on average) are M1/M2’s required to be on the campus?

I think @Blazers_33 or another current M1 or M2 can give you a better answer for this. The pre-clinical curriculum completely changed after my year.

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[Captain_Falcon]

Just finished M1 year. Id say every week we had an average of 4 days a week with something mandatory (some of those days with 2 or 3 mandatory things). Most weeks during the first half of the year there was at least 1 mandatory thing everyday. Towards the spring quarter it was more like 3

 

[kraskadva]

How have your clinical experiences been? I know RFU doesn't have its own hospital but rather a bunch of community connections for rotations. Do you feel like not having a home program is a significant barrier?

This is a fantastic question, because it was my biggest concern when I decided to come here. I'm going to tag @kraskadva to see if she wants to give a response for a second perspective.

I think there are two parts to your question.

1. How have my clinical experiences been?

2. Is not having a home program a significant barrier?


1. My clinical experiences have been great. When I compare them to my friends who went to other schools, they are pretty comparable. We don't have our own hospital, but our clinical partner are overall pretty good. Our strongest partner is the Advocate Health system or at Stroger which is pretty solid. There are definitely strengths and weaknesses. I think our 3rd year EM rotations are particularly good and we tend to match a lot of EM.

The commute is the obvious downside. I did most of my rotations at an Advocate hospital that is very close to my house (like 15 minutes), so I've been really lucky with commute times, but some people get less lucky than I did. I did have one month where I commuted over an hour and that sucked.

The biggest upside is that the classes above you write reviews about the sites, so you know what you are signing up for. For example, do you want to do OBGYN? Great, we have two sites that are great for it and will give you good experience, but they will work you hard. Do you think that birth is kinda yucky? Great, we have sites with more reasonable hours where you will get time to study. I picked an easy surgery site but a very demanding pediatric and EM sites, because those were more interesting to me. For FM I ranked based on proximity to my house.

The biggest downside is that you might get unlucky and have to commute a lot. We also don't really have 3rd year electives, though I've heard that may be changing.

tl;dr - I'm pretty happy with my rotations. It's been much less of an issue than I was worried it would be.

2. Yes and no. I don't think it is a major barrier to most students. We have access to most specialties and we match well every year. You might need to do an extra away during 4th year to get letters, but for most people it's not a big issue. The real downside is that there isn't as much of a safety net for borderline students. From what I understand, a lot of schools will hold spots for their own graduates who might not be quite up to par to keep them from going unmatched. For the most part, we don't have that luxury. We do have two IM programs and a Psych program that always take a few of our own students, but that's it. tbh, COVID has made things weird for our class and I wouldn't mind more home programs. For the most part I think it's not a barrier for most students.



I'm probably not the best person for this question. I'm not from Chicagoland and I happily lived in Navy housing M1 and M2 years. I did research over the summer of M1-M2 year, but haven't done much other than that. I know several people who did research downtown over the summer between M1 and M2 years and lived in an air BnB for those months. I have classmates I can think of who lived in Rogers Park, Niles, downtown, or even Milwaukee during M1 or M2 year. It is possible to live in the medical loop, but the commute is definitely not worth it for most people. It would not have been worth it for me.

For general housing questions. I lived in Navy and would recommend it. @kraskadva lived in Woodlands. If anyone has more specific questions about either one.

I'd agree with all this^^^
And just to add one note on the university home program vs community based ...
If you're gunning 100% for something super competitive and specific (optho, derm, etc.) then sure, it's an advantage to have a home program. Otherwise, I don't really think it makes that much of a difference to the general pool of applicants. And unless you have extensive experience/exposure in whichever field, your preferences for specialty are liable to change once you actually do clinical rotations, so keep an open mind.

Since most students study from home anyways, do you think it would be worthwhile to live closer to the Medical Loop or Northwestern (say around the Wheeling area) if we’re interested in getting involved with clinical research from MS1-2?

Wheeling's not a bad area to be in if you foresee yourself needing to commute both to campus and the city on a regular basis. Especially if you have family or something there that can cut your living costs dramatically. You will miss some of the social aspects of M1/2, but if that's not your priority then no problem. Most folks do live near campus for the first 2 years, but there's always a solid handful living in the city or northern burbs somewhere and it works out fine.

 

[opejustsneakrightby]

Will the WCC be the last day of orientation (Aug. 14th)? And is it expected to take place as normal at this point?

 

[Captain_Falcon]

Will the WCC be the last day of orientation (Aug. 14th)? And is it expected to take place as normal at this point?

The ceremony last year was on Friday (last day of orientation week). I do know that remote learning was announced for the fall quarter through Aug 7th. So theres still a chance a love ceremony could take place that orientation week for you guys.

I however think it will either be pushed back or made virtual for the incoming M1 class

 

[SeaHusky]

Accepted off WL. Will be withdrawing. Best of luck to you all!

 

[It costs to enroll]

Got the A. Good lord, unbelievable feeling. And if anyone is feeling discouraged, I do want to tell you it is incredibly worth the satisfaction

 

[aspiringdoctor23]

Got the A. Good lord, unbelievable feeling. And if anyone is feeling discouraged, I do want to tell you it is incredibly worth the satisfaction

congrats!!! Upcoming 3rd year here if you have questions!

 

[whalewhalewhalez]

This is a fantastic question, because it was my biggest concern when I decided to come here. I'm going to tag @kraskadva to see if she wants to give a response for a second perspective.

I think there are two parts to your question.

1. How have my clinical experiences been?

2. Is not having a home program a significant barrier?


1. My clinical experiences have been great. When I compare them to my friends who went to other schools, they are pretty comparable. We don't have our own hospital, but our clinical partner are overall pretty good. Our strongest partner is the Advocate Health system or at Stroger which is pretty solid. There are definitely strengths and weaknesses. I think our 3rd year EM rotations are particularly good and we tend to match a lot of EM.

The commute is the obvious downside. I did most of my rotations at an Advocate hospital that is very close to my house (like 15 minutes), so I've been really lucky with commute times, but some people get less lucky than I did. I did have one month where I commuted over an hour and that sucked.

The biggest upside is that the classes above you write reviews about the sites, so you know what you are signing up for. For example, do you want to do OBGYN? Great, we have two sites that are great for it and will give you good experience, but they will work you hard. Do you think that birth is kinda yucky? Great, we have sites with more reasonable hours where you will get time to study. I picked an easy surgery site but a very demanding pediatric and EM sites, because those were more interesting to me. For FM I ranked based on proximity to my house.

The biggest downside is that you might get unlucky and have to commute a lot. We also don't really have 3rd year electives, though I've heard that may be changing.

tl;dr - I'm pretty happy with my rotations. It's been much less of an issue than I was worried it would be.

2. Yes and no. I don't think it is a major barrier to most students. We have access to most specialties and we match well every year. You might need to do an extra away during 4th year to get letters, but for most people it's not a big issue. The real downside is that there isn't as much of a safety net for borderline students. From what I understand, a lot of schools will hold spots for their own graduates who might not be quite up to par to keep them from going unmatched. For the most part, we don't have that luxury. We do have two IM programs and a Psych program that always take a few of our own students, but that's it. tbh, COVID has made things weird for our class and I wouldn't mind more home programs. For the most part I think it's not a barrier for most students.



I'm probably not the best person for this question. I'm not from Chicagoland and I happily lived in Navy housing M1 and M2 years. I did research over the summer of M1-M2 year, but haven't done much other than that. I know several people who did research downtown over the summer between M1 and M2 years and lived in an air BnB for those months. I have classmates I can think of who lived in Rogers Park, Niles, downtown, or even Milwaukee during M1 or M2 year. It is possible to live in the medical loop, but the commute is definitely not worth it for most people. It would not have been worth it for me.

For general housing questions. I lived in Navy and would recommend it. @kraskadva lived in Woodlands. If anyone has more specific questions about either one.

Thanks for this, it was super helpful at easing some of my concerns! Would you recommend Navy housing? Do they provide shorter term leases to coincide with the school year?

 

[emmy37]

Accepted off of waitlist on 5/22. I declined my acceptance. Best of luck to you all!

 

[CulinaryShark]

Accepted off of the waitlist on 5/22 as well, my first A, so I accepted! Super excited, almost can't believe it, I had pretty much given up on getting in this cycle!

 

[holdthemayo]

Accepted off of the waitlist on 5/22 as well, my first A, so I accepted! Super excited, almost can't believe it, I had pretty much given up on getting in this cycle!

Congrats. Feel free to reach out with any questions

 

[Frozen_Ohana]

Accepted of the waitlist this afternoon. Interviewed late November. Feeling ecstatic.

So I have a dumb question. If I fill out the declaration of intent on the RFU portal and say I accept and all that, does that affect my ability to accept other schools where I'm waitlisted? In otherwords, will this bypass the plan to enroll vs. commit to enroll buttons in AMCAS?

 

[CulinaryShark]

Do you mind saying when you interviewed?

Np, I interviewed 10/29, and was waitlisted late December, sometime around the 22nd maybe? The waitlist time was pretty much the same day everyone else got hit in the wave of waitlists.

 

[pomegranate22]

Accepted of the waitlist this afternoon. Interviewed late November. Feeling ecstatic.

So I have a dumb question. If I fill out the declaration of intent on the RFU portal and say I accept and all that, does that affect my ability to accept other schools where I'm waitlisted? In otherwords, will this bypass the plan to enroll vs. commit to enroll buttons in AMCAS?

No, I filled all that out and eventually ended up accepting a different offer from a wait list. As long as you’re still PTE instead of CTE you should be fine!

 

[Ravioliwarrior12]

Accepted earlier this afternoon, first acceptance of the cycle! Interviewed on 2/4, waitlisted on 2/28. OOS.

 

[Lalutanda69]

When is the CTE date for this school?

 

[cyanotoxin]

When is the CTE date for this school?

July 21

 

[Lalutanda69]

July 21

Thank you!! So even if we signed the letter of intent after 5 business days, we aren’t completely locked in until the CTE date?

 

[cyanotoxin]

Thank you!! So even if we signed the letter of intent after 5 business days, we aren’t completely locked in until the CTE date?

Correct, most schools have you sign some type of “intent to enroll” form and pay a deposit to hold your acceptance, but it isn’t binding at all. You’re not locked in until you choose to CTE.

 

[tantacles]

Congratulations to all accepted! I'm an alumnus from 4 years ago. We still exist! And even though I love to talk **** about our school, I'm so happy for everyone, especially for those for whom it's your only acceptance. You are not alone. You got into your 1 medical school you need, and you are going to be a doctor. Pat yourself on the back, and take a rest for the next two months.