2013-2014 University of Chicago (Pritzker) Application Thread

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random question regarding the secondary. Would it be alright to write about arranged marriage/ being from a traditional indian family / assimilation struggles.....i'm not sure if this is relevant/ applicable/ taboo to write about? but i feel that struggling with this has significantly shaped me.
 
random question regarding the secondary. Would it be alright to write about arranged marriage/ being from a traditional indian family / assimilation struggles.....i'm not sure if this is relevant/ applicable/ taboo to write about? but i feel that struggling with this has significantly shaped me.

I'm no Adcom, but that sounds like a relevant topic for either of the secondary topics; my own struggle with family culture was more along the lines of common 1st gen/2nd generation clashes, but I still consider it to be a significant part of who I've become. Your narrative seems to be more compelling. I think you can definitely speak to how that has shaped you and then depending on the topic, how it will positively affect you as a more culturally "competent" physician or how you handled that challenge. 👍
 
random question regarding the secondary. Would it be alright to write about arranged marriage/ being from a traditional indian family / assimilation struggles.....i'm not sure if this is relevant/ applicable/ taboo to write about? but i feel that struggling with this has significantly shaped me.
I had a similar question, but decided against it in favor of another dilemma. However, if you can spin it right, it can be really memorable 🙂

Question though, was there a status change from complete to under review beforehand or did IIs and rejections just come out after "Complete?"
 
Thanks for letting me know! I submitted on the same day.

My chances of getting an interview are low considering my sub-3.6 gpas, so I just want to get the rejection and move on.

I feel like I am already obsessively checking my email :scared:

And that just can't be good for my health :laugh:

I also submitted on the same date (7/8) and had a complete application including the rec. letters.
 
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I'm still in shock that I got an interview invite today considering this was a definite reach for me...but I'm soo excited!! Guess I'll be seeing some of y'all on the 29th 😀
 
I'm still in shock that I got an interview invite today considering this was a definite reach for me...but I'm soo excited!! Guess I'll be seeing some of y'all on the 29th 😀

Way to go!!!
:highfive::=|:-)::woot::clap::luck:
 
I'm still in shock that I got an interview invite today considering this was a definite reach for me...but I'm soo excited!! Guess I'll be seeing some of y'all on the 29th 😀

Congrats! I'll see you there on the 29th 😉
 
I'm still in shock that I got an interview invite today considering this was a definite reach for me...but I'm soo excited!! Guess I'll be seeing some of y'all on the 29th 😀

Congrats to all have gotten interviews already! You kick butt!!
 
I'm still in shock that I got an interview invite today considering this was a definite reach for me...but I'm soo excited!! Guess I'll be seeing some of y'all on the 29th 😀

Congrats! Also congrats on your GW interview. I was put on hold :/
 
I had a question regarding the secondary. For the first question it asks about how you would enhance diversity at Pritzker and contribute to overall mission. I wrote about why Pritzker is a great school and talked about specifics about their programs and how I can contribute to them based upon my own experiences. The programs and experiences I talked about were diversity / interact with different kinds of people oriented.

Is this correct or should I strictly be talking about what makes me diverse and not include info on "Why I choose Pritzker?"
 
I'm still in shock that I got an interview invite today considering this was a definite reach for me...but I'm soo excited!! Guess I'll be seeing some of y'all on the 29th 😀

Congratulations!!! 👍

Also, I love seeing people use the word y'all. As a Texan, I consider it to be fully in accord with proper grammar!
 
I had a question regarding the secondary. For the first question it asks about how you would enhance diversity at Pritzker and contribute to overall mission. I wrote about why Pritzker is a great school and talked about specifics about their programs and how I can contribute to them based upon my own experiences. The programs and experiences I talked about were diversity / interact with different kinds of people oriented.

Is this correct or should I strictly be talking about what makes me diverse and not include info on "Why I choose Pritzker?"

I think it is more focused on how YOU can bring diversity to Pritzker.

For mine I wrote about studying Middle Egyptian Hieroglyphics, and related it to a shadowing experience.
 
I had a question regarding the secondary. For the first question it asks about how you would enhance diversity at Pritzker and contribute to overall mission. I wrote about why Pritzker is a great school and talked about specifics about their programs and how I can contribute to them based upon my own experiences. The programs and experiences I talked about were diversity / interact with different kinds of people oriented.

Is this correct or should I strictly be talking about what makes me diverse and not include info on "Why I choose Pritzker?"

You can definitely talk about why you chose Pritzker. This may be completely relevant to how you will contribute to the diversity and advance the mission. Just make sure you address the question, I can imagine that ignoring the question and writing an "Why Pritzker?" essay would not be the best plan.
 
I am in shock. Interview invite, I scheduled for the 3rd of September. So excited, I'm looking forward to meeting all those interviewing the same day. PM me if you'd like, it can't hurt to have cyber-met some of you all going into such a nerve-wracking day! :soexcited:
 
I am in shock. Interview invite, I scheduled for the 3rd of September. So excited, I'm looking forward to meeting all those interviewing the same day. PM me if you'd like, it can't hurt to have cyber-met some of you all going into such a nerve-wracking day! :soexcited:

Congrats!! When were you complete?
 
Thanks man! I was complete Thursday morning, around 9 am

First off, CONGRATS!!!!!! That's awesome!!!

Secondly, maybe they're not doing them in order? I was complete last Tuesday...hrm?
 
First off, CONGRATS!!!!!! That's awesome!!!

Secondly, maybe they're not doing them in order? I was complete last Tuesday...hrm?
I'm sure they'll get to yours soon, it seems like they're working through the weekend. Hopefully you'll receive some good news in the coming days
 
First off, CONGRATS!!!!!! That's awesome!!!

Secondly, maybe they're not doing them in order? I was complete last Tuesday...hrm?

My understanding is that apps for interviewing purposes are routed to one or more reviewers for a decision. As a result, the speed with which you get a response depends on how quickly they get to you and how many are ahead of you in their queue.

I'm not sure that this is how the process works, but I believe it is.

Sent from my SGH-M919
 
Hey guys, looking for some of that hive wisdom.

So I have been verified and submitted my app with all LoR already sent out to schools as of Friday. BU was pretty fast and looked into my LoR's and notified me, by way of putting my application on hold, that one of my character reference writers did not use institution letterhead AND didn't sign the letter. Annoying because its confidential and there's no way I could have done something about it until now. I contacted the letter writer but he will be out of the office until 8/1. Now, I have a committee letter and 3 other letters, one character and two hospital supervisors where I work, so I already fulfill the LoR requirement. However, the LoR in question I believe would be a great asset towards my application by ways of beefing up my leadership qualities.

So, two options. Wait for the writer to get me an updated later in 3 weeks and thereby keep all my applications on hold until then, OR Contact every medical school and tell them to disregard the letter and simply send the corrected letter in later as an application update.

Thoughts?
 
First off, CONGRATS!!!!!! That's awesome!!!

Secondly, maybe they're not doing them in order? I was complete last Tuesday...hrm?

From last year's thread, the people who took a while to hear a response were all rejected.
 
Do you have to be complete to get an interview? As in the LOR's have to be submitted?

Thanks.
 
Looking over my secondary I see a question titled "pre-med committee/advisor"... Does anyone remember what the question was? I have "no" marked but I'm nervous this is a mistake since I do have a committee letter. There's no way to know though, because it doesn't list the full question!
 
@NickNaylor

MDapps shows Pritzker has about a 40% acceptance rate from those who interview (241/629). How accurate are those stats? How high do you estimate the acceptance rate is from the first two months of interviews?
 
From last year's thread, the people who took a while to hear a response were all rejected.

Gee thanks for that... However it hasn't been a while yet, in fact its still less than a week.

No one is rejected until they're rejected.
 
Gee thanks for that... However it hasn't been a while yet, in fact its still less than a week.

No one is rejected until they're rejected.

I wasn't trying to be mean.

I originally checked the thread to find out the info for myself. I submitted on July 8th and hadn't heard back (while others had heard back sooner), so I looked into last year's thread and it seemed to be common that people who didn't hear back with an interview invite, within a fairly short amount of time, were all rejected.
 
I wasn't trying to be mean.

I originally checked the thread to find out the info for myself. I submitted on July 8th and hadn't heard back (while others had heard back sooner), so I looked into last year's thread and it seemed to be common that people who didn't hear back with an interview invite, within a fairly short amount of time, were all rejected.

Lol.
 
@Dbate. I looked at your MDapp and realized you put down as rejected by Uchicago. Did they really reject you already? Or are you just assuming you already got rejected?
 
@NickNaylor

MDapps shows Pritzker has about a 40% acceptance rate from those who interview (241/629). How accurate are those stats? How high do you estimate the acceptance rate is from the first two months of interviews?

I'd say the acceptance rate for interviewees is pretty close to that. I'm not sure what the exact number is, but somewhere between 33-40% sounds right.

Not sure about when most people are accepted, but given that Pritzker uses rolling admissions my guess is that many acceptances come early on in the cycle. That said, there is never a point when you're "interviewing for the waitlist." It just happens that, generally, the strongest applicants complete their apps early, are invited early, and get decisions early. But there is no intrinsic advantage.

Sent from my SGH-M919
 
Looking over my secondary I see a question titled "pre-med committee/advisor"... Does anyone remember what the question was? I have "no" marked but I'm nervous this is a mistake since I do have a committee letter. There's no way to know though, because it doesn't list the full question!

You're safe. It was asking, if you had the option of obtaining a committee letter and didn't, to explain why.
 
My understanding is that apps for interviewing purposes are routed to one or more reviewers for a decision. As a result, the speed with which you get a response depends on how quickly they get to you and how many are ahead of you in their queue.

I'm not sure that this is how the process works, but I believe it is.

Sent from my SGH-M919

Thanks, this makes a lot of sense. It explains the huge variability in how long it takes, with some people getting interviews or rejected in 20 minutes, or in my case not hearing anything for two weeks. I guess my reviewer is busy or something.
 
Thanks, this makes a lot of sense. It explains the huge variability in how long it takes, with some people getting interviews or rejected in 20 minutes, or in my case not hearing anything for two weeks. I guess my reviewer is busy or something.

Yeah, don't worry about it. It really doesn't indicate anything in terms of what your decision might be.

Also, to address the continued status that will inevitably come up: I would describe this as a "we like you, but not enough to grant an interview yet." It definitely is NOT a rejection in disguise, and you're absolutely still in the running. I think something like 10-20% of interview invites are given to people that are continued at some point, and a not insignificant number of acceptances go to people that were continued during the pre- and/or post interview phases. If you happen to get this status, don't be too discouraged.

Sent from my Nexus 7
 
Not very optimistic about this school, but holding out a glimmer of hope that my app is seen by someone who is touched by it in a memorable way 🙁
 
I'd say the acceptance rate for interviewees is pretty close to that. I'm not sure what the exact number is, but somewhere between 33-40% sounds right.

Not sure about when most people are accepted, but given that Pritzker uses rolling admissions my guess is that many acceptances come early on in the cycle. That said, there is never a point when you're "interviewing for the waitlist." It just happens that, generally, the strongest applicants complete their apps early, are invited early, and get decisions early. But there is no intrinsic advantage.

Sent from my SGH-M919

Do you think it's too late if I just submitted my primary a few days ago? Reading these threads makes me feel that I am too late in the game for a possible acceptance.

Also can I submit my secondary before being verified?
 
Do you think it's too late if I just submitted my primary a few days ago? Reading these threads makes me feel that I am too late in the game for a possible acceptance.

Also can I submit my secondary before being verified?

1) Absolutely not. This is still very early in the cycle. When I applied I didn't submit my app until early August and didn't have any issues.

2) Yes, but your app won't be reviewed until your file is complete (ie, all other parts of your app are in).

Sent from my Nexus 7
 
@Dbate. I looked at your MDapp and realized you put down as rejected by Uchicago. Did they really reject you already? Or are you just assuming you already got rejected?

I just assumed that I got rejected, so I can stop anxiously checking my email every hour.
 
I just assumed that I got rejected, so I can stop anxiously checking my email every hour.

Just get a smartphone that will notify you of new emails 🙂 but have more hope, don't give up easily, and find something to entertain you to waste time
 
Yeah, don't worry about it. It really doesn't indicate anything in terms of what your decision might be.

Also, to address the continued status that will inevitably come up: I would describe this as a "we like you, but not enough to grant an interview yet." It definitely is NOT a rejection in disguise, and you're absolutely still in the running. I think something like 10-20% of interview invites are given to people that are continued at some point, and a not insignificant number of acceptances go to people that were continued during the pre- and/or post interview phases. If you happen to get this status, don't be too discouraged.

Sent from my Nexus 7

Does the "Complete" status ever change to "Under Review," or are they synonymous? I've been complete since 7/8 and am a bit worried about not hearing anything at all.

Thanks in advance!
 
Held for later review :scared:

Is that the status that you were talking about? And if so - by when should I plan for an update?
 
Held for later review :scared:

Is that the status that you were talking about? And if so - by when should I plan for an update?
Nope, I'm just not sure if "Complete" means they're looking at it or that it's just all there...

But, Held for Review is good for Chicago, considering how fast they reject 🙂
 
It'd have been helpful to know how many people get this status. 😕 Like, they interview ~600 out of ~5200 applicants, so about 12%. If I knew what rough %ile range I stood in, it'd be so much more comforting ..
 
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