2010-2011 University of Illinois Application Thread

BU Medical Sciences
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Gotta say, being home for the holidays in the Chi, I'm fighting the urge to go drive by UIC every day just to look at it and soak it all in... It's been nearly a month since I received my acceptance, and I am still just as excited as I was when I heard the news 🙂

Congrats to all who are in this month! Good luck to those still waiting for good news! Keep the faith! The holidays are when miracles happen!

Also, Kaushik, you should totally have the honors of creating the group! :clap:http://forums.studentdoctor.net/member.php?u=203386
 
I also got my acceptance today in the mail 🙂
 
Acceptance packet arrived today! I am on cloud nine!!!! Interviewed 12/8 , this feels surreal! This is my second cycle (last was for fall '09). Hard work really does pay off! Good luck to everyone who's still in the grind!
 
Sirena said:
You should start it🙂
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rockclimbersher said:
Kaushik! You should start the UIC Class of 2015 Facebook Page! I second that! heheheh....
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IrishCalini said:
Also, Kaushik, you should totally have the honors of creating the group! :clap:
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Will do. 🙂

It's titled "UIC College of Medicine Class of 2015" so hopefully, I did it right. I had to add a random friend to the group so I could create it, so one of you join soon so that I can kick him out! 😀
 
I'll join the facebook group as soon as I get my acceptance packet! I am in Chicago, but they had my old apt address on the application so I guess I have to wait for the forwarding. I just need to see the official acceptance packet before I go joining any groups! Thanks for making it Kaushik!
 
I hope I made the facebook group right...I don't log on to fb frequently (but will start doing so more often!). Let me know if anyone has trouble finding/joining the group and I'll see what I can do!
 
Hey did anyone here interview at Rockford? I am interviewing there in February and would love to hear what the panel interview is like.
 
bagelbird said:
Hey did anyone here interview at Rockford? I am interviewing there in February and would love to hear what the panel interview is like.
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I interviewed at Rockford 12/8. Panel interview goes by very quickly, since it's only a half hour and three people (2 faculty, 1 student) are asking questions. It's really not so different from a normal interview, although I did feel a bit more pressure from having three people staring down the table at me. Questions are pretty standard, open-file.

I found that the biggest difference was that unlike some schools where the interviewers seem to have a list of questions they want to get there, the panel interviewers were content to keep questioning you on your answers. One interviewer would ask a question and another would push me on my response. So I'd be ready to have comprehensive answers or expand on your feet.

Have questions about Rockford, too, or at least the differences between the campuses/tracks. They probably won't be able to tell you too much about Chicago if that's what you are really interested in. Oh and though they say they assign interview times randomly on my interview day it was definitely by alphabetical order, so if your last name is on the lower end of the alphabet, bring a book!

Also, I heard back from them really quickly post-interview - acceptance received 12/18!
 
gujuDoc said:
Wow I'm surprised I've not heard from here yet. I've been complete and applicant in process for 9 weeks.

So I've been under review rather then application in process.

But I've yet to hear anything one way or another. Friends of mine in my program at BUSM were rejected already. I don't get it. Is that a good sign that I still stand a shot??
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No idea, sorry...😳 IMO, no news is better than a rejection.

I've decided that, in the future, I will become one of those med students on the adcom and I'll reveal all the nitty-gritty adcom secrets to SDNers! Muahahahaha!! /evilsmiley
 
In the same boat guju been complete since late sept. I called the office today and all she could really say was I was under review and to set tight. So no rejection means still good.


gujuDoc said:
Wow I'm surprised I've not heard from here yet. I've been complete and applicant in process for 9 weeks.

So I've been under review rather then application in process.

But I've yet to hear anything one way or another. Friends of mine in my program at BUSM were rejected already. I don't get it. Is that a good sign that I still stand a shot??
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hey guys.. so yday marked the 2 week mark for me being 'applicant in process' and i know many of you had received an interview invite around that mark.. but I have not and I know some invites were sent out last week.. so yeaa just wondering if this is a bad sign for me? i'm beyond anxious :scared:
 
Hi guys,

I have an interview coming up in February and am currently trying to figure out my housing situation for the night before the interview. Has anyone stayed in the guest housing at UIC? I called the housing office and they said they have either shared rooms for $75 or private rooms for $100 .. Any opinions about the place? It's a little steep, but I feel like its close enough to the school to avoid problems with transportation with my morning interview.

Any thoughts/ideas/suggestions? Thank you 🙂
 
2050vlsb said:
Hi guys,

I have an interview coming up in February and am currently trying to figure out my housing situation for the night before the interview. Has anyone stayed in the guest housing at UIC? I called the housing office and they said they have either shared rooms for $75 or private rooms for $100 .. Any opinions about the place? It's a little steep, but I feel like its close enough to the school to avoid problems with transportation with my morning interview.

Any thoughts/ideas/suggestions? Thank you 🙂
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100 dollars seems a bit steep for [probably] subpar guest housing, when you can get a 4-star hotel on the magnificent mile for about 90 dollars. I just took the pink line to POLK exit, walked .2 miles to the building. CHI public transportation is reliable as well as affordable. Nothing beats a comfortable night sleep, plus above average bathroom amenities:laugh: and, dare I say, some solid places to find a brew. Any other questions, feel free to PM me.

Interviewed 12/8, Accepted by mail today. UIC, you're expensive for us OOS, but I find you irresistable. Going to be a tough decision.
 
Hey fellow applicants,

I posted on this thread earlier about my upcoming interview on Jan. 14th...was wondering if there were any male applicants who would like to share a hotel room (therefore splitting the cost equally) for the night of the 13th? I feel that it'd be a good way to get to know a fellow applicant on the road, and save some money in the process. PM me if anyone is interested!

Thanks~

Rayne

edit: oops...forgot to mention that this is for the Chicago campus.
 
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If it's the chicago campus, I think they have a student hosting program.

Rayne said:
Hey fellow applicants,

I posted on this thread earlier about my upcoming interview on Jan. 14th...was wondering if there were any male applicants who would like to share a hotel room (therefore splitting the cost equally) for the night of the 13th? I feel that it'd be a good way to get to know a fellow applicant on the road, and save some money in the process. PM me if anyone is interested!

Thanks~

Rayne

edit: oops...forgot to mention that this is for the Chicago campus.
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saishravan said:
If it's the chicago campus, I think they have a student hosting program.
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whoa...I thought the Chicago campus only had the $75/night student dorm options...has anyone stayed with a medical student for the interview? any help on this please? 😳
 
Rayne said:
whoa...I thought the Chicago campus only had the $75/night student dorm options...has anyone stayed with a medical student for the interview? any help on this please? 😳
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Hey guys I'm an M1 this year...

There isn't an official student hosting program to my knowledge...I had a friend who stayed with a student last year while interviewing, but it was someone we went to undergrad with.

If I lived at a more convenient location I would definitely offer up my place. I don't live "far" from school, but my schedule is incredibly unpredictable and it's not the greatest option especially if you're trying to get to an interview at 8:30 in the morning (you will likely not find me on campus before 10 unless I have to :laugh:). I'll try to ask around with people I know that live either on campus or close to campus and see if anyone is interesting in hosting an interviewee.

If any of you are desperate and absolutely fervent about staying with a current med student PM me and I'll see what I can do.

Happy Holidays everyone and as always, good luck with your applications! 😍
 
mybubbles14 (or really anyone else currently at Chicago)~

I know its probs too soon to start thinking about this, but I'll be seeing a lot of my "Chicago" friends while I'm home over break, so I'd like to at least have a good idea when the convo topic gets brought up. Are there any specific areas of the Chi that UIC med students live? I remember on interview day that most M1s and M2s seemed scattered everywhere, but I just wanted to know your thoughts/perceptions 🙄
 
sent you a PM!! 🙂

mybubbles14 said:
Hey guys I'm an M1 this year...

There isn't an official student hosting program to my knowledge...I had a friend who stayed with a student last year while interviewing, but it was someone we went to undergrad with.

If I lived at a more convenient location I would definitely offer up my place. I don't live "far" from school, but my schedule is incredibly unpredictable and it's not the greatest option especially if you're trying to get to an interview at 8:30 in the morning (you will likely not find me on campus before 10 unless I have to :laugh:). I'll try to ask around with people I know that live either on campus or close to campus and see if anyone is interesting in hosting an interviewee.

If any of you are desperate and absolutely fervent about staying with a current med student PM me and I'll see what I can do.

Happy Holidays everyone and as always, good luck with your applications! 😍
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CURRENT M1 giving back cause last years thread helped me sooo much. My main concern last year was getting CHICAGO campus SO HERES THE INFORMATION THAT I LEARNED THE HARD WAY:

No, it's not too late to get Chicago campus, but it gets more and more unlikely every round of acceptances.

-YOU CAN PETITION to change the campus assigned to you. (I was originally assigned urbana-rockford, now I'm happily at Chicago:luck:)

-PETITIONS are looked at AFTER May 15th. So realistically, you are gambling by dropping all other acceptances and putting your name on the petition list. So be prepared to go to your assigned campus, and make your peace with dropping your other acceptances if you have any. On the flip side, spots WILL OPEN after May 15th, because some people who got chicago held them till the deadline.

- be aware: holding multiple acceptances at the time the committee reviews the petition doesn't look very good and may negatively affect your chances. TRUST ME, it nearly killed my chances. My suggestion is to make it all or nothing.

-You need a good reason. Each reason is reviewed by a committee. My reason was I'm currently staying with a relative with some severe medical conditions and I help take care of her, and we would have to hire a caretaker or something if I had to move away.

YOU WON'T get a timely decision...you may not ever get the answer you want. It's really a shot in the dark hail mary.

From what I gathered about the petition process by corresponding with emails/phone, there's a list of those who want to change to X campus. Where they put you on the list is up to them. As spots in different campuses open up they contact the next person on the list.

I'm never on SDN anymore so PMs should alert me by email, and I'll get back to you if you have any questions.

Good luck.
 
Kaushik said:
No idea, sorry...😳 IMO, no news is better than a rejection.

I've decided that, in the future, I will become one of those med students on the adcom and I'll reveal all the nitty-gritty adcom secrets to SDNers! Muahahahaha!! /evilsmiley
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:laugh::laugh::laugh: I am also considering becoming involved with admissions (once I get in somewhere) just so I can finally learn the secret! 😉. Being on this side of admissions is just torturous!

Congrats btw!!!!!! 😀 :clap:
 
So when you add up the 4 year cost according to UIC for OOS it comes up to $426,000. I've never heard of any med school graduate to be in THAT MUCH debt. Does anybody know how much of an overestimation this is? Am I going to have to pay off half a million dollars eventually?🙁
 
FreeGaza said:
So when you add up the 4 year cost according to UIC for OOS it comes up to $426,000. I've never heard of any med school graduate to be in THAT MUCH debt. Does anybody know how much of an overestimation this is? Am I going to have to pay off half a million dollars eventually?🙁
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I've heard of a few scholarships for OOS students that reduce tuition to in-state levels. I have no idea how they are determined or how many are available, but I know a few students in my class have them.

Some people also choose to do armed forces/health services scholarships (there's an option total loan forgiveness for 10-years of service in underserved areas, and it looks like they're going to count residency as part of that). Unfortunately it means you're still up in the air until you get your finaid package, but don't count UIC out immediately because of $$.
 
I have an interview this week at the Peoria campus and was hoping someone knew what the format was. Is it one-on-one or panel? If it is panel, are there multiple students interviewed simultaneously, and are there still three separate interviews? Thanks for your help!
 
well to those who were wondering, no medical student pm'ed me back concerning housing for the interview and what not...so to those people who have interviews at the chicago campus, i guess we're pretty much out of luck and have to stay at hotels or the guest housing.

🙁 weird i thought there would be more med students floating around
 
mj47 said:
I have an interview this week at the Peoria campus and was hoping someone knew what the format was. Is it one-on-one or panel? If it is panel, are there multiple students interviewed simultaneously, and are there still three separate interviews? Thanks for your help!
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there is a 2-on-1 with 2 faculty and a 1-on-1 with a med student, both are 20 minutes. Review the interview feedback. 99.99% of my questions asked were listed.
 
IrishCalini said:
mybubbles14 (or really anyone else currently at Chicago)~

I know its probs too soon to start thinking about this, but I'll be seeing a lot of my "Chicago" friends while I'm home over break, so I'd like to at least have a good idea when the convo topic gets brought up. Are there any specific areas of the Chi that UIC med students live? I remember on interview day that most M1s and M2s seemed scattered everywhere, but I just wanted to know your thoughts/perceptions 🙄
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A lot of my friends live within ~10-15 minutes walking distance to campus if not closer. I on the other hand live in the south loop which is about 10 minutes driving, however I prefer to save on parking/gas and take the train when I can (forces me to study all these notecards I can never bring myself to look at any other time). It's true that students are fairly scattered. There really isn't a great parking situation, so it's best to live somewhere that is convenient walking/biking/cta. They include cta passes in our wonderfully high tuition...so during the semester you can ride the buses and trains unlimited. The closest areas near school where I know quite a few people stay (other than on campus) are Tri-taylor, little italy and near the UIC undergrad campus. It all depends on what you're looking for really and how far you want to be from school...whether it's a two-flat, high rise, house etc.

Quite a few of my friends live with 2-3 roommates. If you're willing to have that many roommates you can get a pretty nice place in the Tri-taylor area (which is in between the undergrad and medical campus). If you want to live by yourself then it's obviously going to cost you more unless you're willing to sacrifice "luxury". Some students also live in wrigleyville, lakeview and I know of a couple that live downtown. There is a high rise about 2 blocks from the COM called Medical District. I know a couple individuals that live there, but it's fairly expensive for what you get imo. If you want to roll out of bed and walk across the street you could stay on campus in SSR.

I actually don't mind living what some of my friends consider as far 🙄 (only in chicago is <2 miles far lol). The only time it bothers me is when I have to be at an 8am exam. Originally I was mainly looking in pilsen, tri-taylor and little italy. However for what I wanted/needed where I chose was best overall and financially.

It's not a bad idea to start investigating different areas. However I wouldn't get your heart set on a particular apartment just yet, because it's still very early. Depending on what kind of place it is they will only hold it for about a month for you...unless you find an apartment/landlord that is looking for a new tenant far in advance.
 
mybubbles, or any other UIC med student, I remember reading somewhere that there's a tuition reduction if you're conducting more than 10 hrs of research per week. Do you happen to know about this and how significant the reduction is? I'm pretty interested in an academic career and plan on being involved in research throughout the preclinical years, so it'd be great to get an estimate on how much tuition money I could save on! 😉
 
Please somebody confirm this, because if so UIC just became more attractive....😍

Kaushik said:
mybubbles, or any other UIC med student, I remember reading somewhere that there's a tuition reduction if you're conducting more than 10 hrs of research per week. Do you happen to know about this and how significant the reduction is? I'm pretty interested in an academic career and plan on being involved in research throughout the preclinical years, so it'd be great to get an estimate on how much tuition money I could save on! 😉
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anybody know how late they interview? any recent interview invites? I haven't heard anything, complete in late august.
 
chitownmedical said:
anybody know how late they interview? any recent interview invites? I haven't heard anything, complete in late august.
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I randomly checked my status out of the blue yesterday and I saw that scheduling chart on my page. I called them and scheduled the interview for 1/14 in the PM. They also had a canceled 1/6 spot open but I declined. I'm OOS (MI resident), and was complete 9/20.

And I should add that they never sent me an email that my status had changed.
 
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elle13 said:
I randomly checked my status out of the blue yesterday and I saw that scheduling chart on my page. I called them and scheduled the interview for 1/14 in the PM. They also had a canceled 1/6 spot open but I declined. I'm OOS (MI resident), and was complete 9/20.

And I should add that they never sent me an email that my status had changed.
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That probably means you were invited for an interview very recently, probably the day before or the day when you checked. It tells you, if I remember correctly, in the top left hand corner when they changed your status. The status online changes a few days before they send you anything regarding the invitation (and it's snail mail, they don't e-mail notification). It's kind of annoying, but nothing we can do about it.
 
ZzzZzzZzzZzzZzz said:
there is a 2-on-1 with 2 faculty and a 1-on-1 with a med student, both are 20 minutes. Review the interview feedback. 99.99% of my questions asked were listed.
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where can i find the interview feedback? i got an invite this morning 😀😀😀. im interviewing in chicago on the 11th in the morning. i know that the peoria interview is group 3-on-1, but what about the chicago one? i'm nevous!! this is my first interview.. anyone with advice, do tell.. please! thanks.

goodluck to everyone!!!
 
elle13 said:
I randomly checked my status out of the blue yesterday and I saw that scheduling chart on my page. I called them and scheduled the interview for 1/14 in the PM. They also had a canceled 1/6 spot open but I declined. I'm OOS (MI resident), and was complete 9/20.

And I should add that they never sent me an email that my status had changed.
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Good to know, found an interview invite waiting for me.

OOS/3.9/32.

Been complete since August, so I had lost hope. Though, being OOS probably had something to do with that.
 
I got my site placement today for Chicago! Definitely excited!
 
gujuDoc said:
ugh, still applicant in process.
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I'm still "application is in progress"!!! 😱 I really haven't heard anything from any med schools for a while... the silence is really deafening!

Please invite me UIC, I really love your school!!! :xf:
 
gujuDoc said:
Go to the top of the page of this forum. Like very top where it says SDN home, bookstore, etc.

You will see the interview feedback link. Then go to allopathic schools tab.

Then you will see all the schools listed. Click on the number next to the name of the school which says number of entries.
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THANK YOU & goodluck!! :xf:
 
Chicago placement 😀. Snail mail came today, check your mailboxes!
 
Anybody know when the Jan adcom meeting is? And also how long it takes for letters to be sent out afterwards?
 
bpost137 said:
I'm still "application is in progress"!!! 😱 I really haven't heard anything from any med schools for a while... the silence is really deafening!

Please invite me UIC, I really love your school!!! :xf:
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I am in the same boat... been complete since end of August... I just called them again and they told me to wait (for the millionth time) .... bleghhh
 
Received an interview invite today via snail mail!!! complete mid august.
 
Congrats to all of you that got in or got interviews. Why won't my status change? C'mon UIC, I need an interview stat!
 
Wow.

Called to schedule an interview. No Chicago interviews until March 22nd. Though Peoria and Rockford had interviews in mid-February.

Anyone know if you can still get a Chicago spot (not interview but as location placement) at this point?
 
Barcu said:
Anyone know if you can still get a Chicago spot (not interview but as location placement) at this point?
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No one can really say for sure, but the chance of getting placed into the Chicago campus will likely significantly decrease over this month compared to if you had interviewed (and gotten accepted) earlier in the cycle.

I think, based on last year's thread, the end of December/early January was when the Chicago slots were mostly filled up. You can appeal to get a Chicago placement if you've been assigned to a different campus, but I don't know much about that process.
 
Congrats to all of the interviews here!
Barcu, I interviewed in Urbana and got placed in Chicago. You should just go for the soonest possible interview date because, as Kaushik said, the Chicago spots supposedly start to go in December/January.
 
sozme said:
Anybody know when the Jan adcom meeting is? And also how long it takes for letters to be sent out afterwards?
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Historically the adcom meets every 3rd Thursday...so around the 20th hopefully. I think my status changed thursday night after they made a decision on my application. Others that received an acceptance the same time as me received a status change the next day on Friday. I was oos at the time so I didn't receive my package until the following Thursday or Friday I believe. If you're in-state you could receive it as early as the following Tuesday or Wednesday.

Don't give up on Chicago...but please realize the other campuses are not a death sentence! Although they aren't located in the best city in the world 😛 they still have many great aspects about them that shouldn't be overlooked.

As always...good luck everyone! It aint over till it's over!
 
Kaushik said:
mybubbles, or any other UIC med student, I remember reading somewhere that there's a tuition reduction if you're conducting more than 10 hrs of research per week. Do you happen to know about this and how significant the reduction is? I'm pretty interested in an academic career and plan on being involved in research throughout the preclinical years, so it'd be great to get an estimate on how much tuition money I could save on! 😉
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mybubbles, do you happen to have any idea if what I read regarding a potential tuition reduction for conducting research was accurate? I was planning on calling UIC about it last week, but it's been so busy in the lab lately that I barely have time for a breather. And I just straight-up forgot to call today. 😳
 
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