2011-2012 University of Chicago (Pritzker) Application Thread

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As far as updating the Pritzker on academics following a continued status, do we have to send them an official transcript? Or do we just report the grades in the update letter?
 
As far as updating the Pritzker on academics following a continued status, do we have to send them an official transcript? Or do we just report the grades in the update letter?

I would include a transcript just to be safe. At my undergrad we were able to get an official, sealed copy of the transcript in an envelope - if you can do the same, maybe toss that in with your update letter.
 
Just a reminder for those planning on coming to Revisit and want a host, PLEASE make sure you fill out a request form. It's really important that we have your information so that we can make sure we have a host for you when you get here in Chicago.

Looking forward to seeing you then!
 
[Please let me know if this is off-topic for this thread]

Going off the previous discussions, it sounds like housing might be pretty expensive in Chicago (probably expected). Does anyone know what kinds of options there are besides Regents? I heard something about Windermere, but it looks like it is even more expensive. Do any of these places come with any basic furnishing?
 
[Please let me know if this is off-topic for this thread]

Going off the previous discussions, it sounds like housing might be pretty expensive in Chicago (probably expected). Does anyone know what kinds of options there are besides Regents? I heard something about Windermere, but it looks like it is even more expensive. Do any of these places come with any basic furnishing?

There's a TON of housing that is significantly cheaper than Regents (check out the post on housing I wrote - Regents is an absolutely terrible value). If you want to live by yourself, I've seen studios in older (but still not terrible) walk-up buildings for $600-700/mo, which is more reasonable. Ideally if you can handle having a roommate that'd be the way to go as you can probably get your rent down to $400-500/mo. If you're looking for cheap, I'd recommend looking at U of C's grad housing, which is just university-owned apartment buildings (i.e., not dorms).

In my search for housing I've seen a few places that are furnished, but to be honest that's not something I'm looking for so I don't know what the options are. I think a couple of the grad housing buildings could be furnished, but I'm really not sure.

Check out my long post on housing above for some links for housing options.
 
Just withdrew my acceptance here - hope one of you on the continued list hears good news soon!:xf:
 
There's a TON of housing that is significantly cheaper than Regents (check out the post on housing I wrote - Regents is an absolutely terrible value). If you want to live by yourself, I've seen studios in older (but still not terrible) walk-up buildings for $600-700/mo, which is more reasonable. Ideally if you can handle having a roommate that'd be the way to go as you can probably get your rent down to $400-500/mo. If you're looking for cheap, I'd recommend looking at U of C's grad housing, which is just university-owned apartment buildings (i.e., not dorms).

In my search for housing I've seen a few places that are furnished, but to be honest that's not something I'm looking for so I don't know what the options are. I think a couple of the grad housing buildings could be furnished, but I'm really not sure.

Check out my long post on housing above for some links for housing options.

Is it true that Regents is going to be costlier next year? Or that the med student discount will be gone?
 
I believe this is true. Rent should go up by $200/mo and the discount previously given to med students will disappear, so rent will effectively be about $300/mo more than last year for medical students.
 
I believe this is true. Rent should go up by $200/mo and the discount previously given to med students will disappear, so rent will effectively be about $300/mo more than last year for medical students.

That sounds awful. It was already rather pricey to begin with...
 
I believe this is true. Rent should go up by $200/mo and the discount previously given to med students will disappear, so rent will effectively be about $300/mo more than last year for medical students.

That sounds awful. It was already rather pricey to begin with...

Yet another reason why I won't be living in Regents again. Since they're nixing the medical student discount, that suggests to me that the university/Pritzker is going to be officially recommending a different place for medical students to stay. Maybe that place will offer discounts. Paying the market price for the rents Regents charges is just silly.
 
Just bought my plane ticket to Chi Town! See yall soon!
 
Yet another reason why I won't be living in Regents again. Since they're nixing the medical student discount, that suggests to me that the university/Pritzker is going to be officially recommending a different place for medical students to stay. Maybe that place will offer discounts. Paying the market price for the rents Regents charges is just silly.

So you think that Pritzker will officially recommend some other place? Do you have any idea where this might be? I'm hoping that the recommendation is made early enough so that most of our MS1 students will end up in the same place.
 
So you think that Pritzker will officially recommend some other place? Do you have any idea where this might be? I'm hoping that the recommendation is made early enough so that most of our MS1 students will end up in the same place.

That's just my guess - I really have no idea though. I'm guessing that if they do officially recommend a different place, you'll hear about it at revisit (or they'll mention it in another e-mail/letter at some point in the future).
 
Hey guys,

One final reminder to submit a host request ASAP if you'd like a host for revisit weekend. We hosting coordinators are trying to finalize arrangements and will likely be sending notifications out in the next day or two. Please be sure to submit a request if you haven't done so already!
 
Hey guys,

One final reminder to submit a host request ASAP if you'd like a host for revisit weekend. We hosting coordinators are trying to finalize arrangements and will likely be sending notifications out in the next day or two. Please be sure to submit a request if you haven't done so already!

its the google doc form right?
 
hi guys! sorry if this has already been covered before, but do we kiddos on the continued consideration list need to submit financial aid information/forms, or should we wait 'til April/May?
 
hi guys! sorry if this has already been covered before, but do we kiddos on the continued consideration list need to submit financial aid information/forms, or should we wait 'til April/May?

I don't think you "need" to, but I would go ahead and submit it if you would seriously consider coming to Pritzker were to be accepted. It can only speed up the process of getting you your financial aid info.
 
phone call about an hour ago!!!!!! happy day, holy moly.
 
is there some point in the application cycle when continued applicants have a final decision made on their application like accept, waitlist, or reject? For some reason i keep thinking this happens in march. Is this correct or do continued applicants remain continued all the way until like august?

+1
 

+2

I'm starting to feel like I'm never going to hear anything!

Sorry, missed these.

As far as I understand things, all continued applicants are evaluated until ~May 15th as spots become available. A significant amount of movement on the continued list will likely be happening beginning the next month or so as people make final decisions.

Once the class size has largely stabilized, a formal waitlist will be made from the remaining continued applicants.
 
Are there any statistics available for how many people take a fifth year for research at Pritzker?
 
A quarter is a VERY conservative number for Pritzker. The trend the previous few years has been leaning towards 30-35% taking time off.
 
Do you guys think that these gaps in the medical education might be detrimental when applying to residency programs later?
 
Do you guys think that these gaps in the medical education might be detrimental when applying to residency programs later?

People take gap years during medical school to do research, get degrees in business/public health/education, to do international work, etc. A number of Pritzker students in the last few years do the highly competitive Howard Hughes fellowship which is supposedly particularly desirable in future residency candidates. I'm not sure whether our rate of gap years is higher than at other institutions, but if it is I would guess it is related to our students having diverse interests (something they look for when admitting students) and to the exposure we get to research and other fields from attending med school at a very academic and multidisciplinary institution with many other prestigious graduate and professional schools next door.

Congrats to all who've heard back and good luck to those who are waiting :luck:!! I have personally loved my experience here at Pritzker and am so happy that I chose to come here.
 
I just tried to check my application status online and I can no longer login. Last time I checked in was last week I think. What does this mean??! 😕 I interviewed in Novemeber. I really hope it is at least a waitlist. Did a similar situation happen to anyone else?
 
I just tried to check my application status online and I can no longer login. Last time I checked in was last week I think. What does this mean??! 😕 I interviewed in Novemeber. I really hope it is at least a waitlist. Did a similar situation happen to anyone else?

As far as I know all acceptances have been given out for the time being, so if you haven't gotten an update yet my guess is that you're continued. More acceptances will probably go out as people withdraw and space frees up. I'm not sure why you didn't receive some kind of update though.
 
So I got my financial aid award yesterday which is great. However, looking at the budget it seems quite lavish, even for a city like Chicago where cost of living might be more expensive than some other places. Can current students comment on how your financials look now that you're a good way through the school year? Are you really needing to spend up to the amounts that are included in the budget or are those very lavish estimates? $17,000 room and board, $3,570 personal/other, and $2,209 transportation means $2,531 non tuition money per month over a 9 month school year. Thanks!
 
That does seem like a pretty generous budget for the year! A lot of it depends on your lifestyle during med school. If you don't want a car (and you won't need one for the first two years) and live in Hyde Park, you can take free buses to and from school every day and pay $0 on transportation except for what you're doing for fun. Rents in HP would probably range from $600month to $1200month (the latter being more of a 1-bedroom setup). With a roommate in a large 2 bedroom apartment in Regents, I pay about $750/month. I think they want to avoid situations of people not taking enough loans and then running out of money, and that's why they put a lot of padding in there.
 
So I got my financial aid award yesterday which is great. However, looking at the budget it seems quite lavish, even for a city like Chicago where cost of living might be more expensive than some other places. Can current students comment on how your financials look now that you're a good way through the school year? Are you really needing to spend up to the amounts that are included in the budget or are those very lavish estimates? $17,000 room and board, $3,570 personal/other, and $2,209 transportation means $2,531 non tuition money per month over a 9 month school year. Thanks!

The budget is extremely generous. I take out the full amount and have plenty of money to live a pretty nice lifestyle while still having the opportunity to splurge. Depending upon how closely you count your pennies and your particular living situation, you could probably save enough from the first two quarters to not take out loans in the third. Few people do that, but I can see how that'd be possible.
 
Speaking of financial aid, does anyone know if Pritzker offers Perkins loans throughout all 4 years of med school (assuming financial circumstances do not change much), or if they're one of those schools that only offer Perkins loans in the first year?
 
So I got my financial aid award yesterday which is great. However, looking at the budget it seems quite lavish, even for a city like Chicago where cost of living might be more expensive than some other places. Can current students comment on how your financials look now that you're a good way through the school year? Are you really needing to spend up to the amounts that are included in the budget or are those very lavish estimates? $17,000 room and board, $3,570 personal/other, and $2,209 transportation means $2,531 non tuition money per month over a 9 month school year. Thanks!

You will likely not spend that much per month during your first year, depending on if you're traveling, driving a car, etc. That being said, your expenses do pile up later on, as you're buying more books, equipment, paying for Boards. 3rd year gets very expensive as you are working long hours for 11 mos and will be driving and eating out a lot. 4th year is also expensive with interviews, licensing, etc
 
You will likely not spend that much per month during your first year, depending on if you're traveling, driving a car, etc. That being said, your expenses do pile up later on, as you're buying more books, equipment, paying for Boards. 3rd year gets very expensive as you are working long hours for 11 mos and will be driving and eating out a lot. 4th year is also expensive with interviews, licensing, etc

I see. Yeah I hadn't thought far enough ahead to realize third and fourth year get more expensive. How much would you say your budget is a month during first and second year?
 
I see. Yeah I hadn't thought far enough ahead to realize third and fourth year get more expensive. How much would you say your budget is a month during first and second year?

I shared a 2b apartment and paid about $750 a month, plus about $50 for utilities. I didn't have a car 1st and 2nd year so I never paid for gas, insurance or parking. Books and Q banks cost maybe $300-500 total for those 2 years. I also traveled a little during the summers and spent maybe $1000 or so each year. I also felt like I ate pretty comfortably at around $200 per month.

Hope this helps!
 
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