2013-2014 University of Illinois Application Thread

[IL Pre Med]

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Yup, but the first meeting of the year is on the 17th. They didn't in Sept

Okay I'm a little confused here. This committee is the one that grants acceptances correct? Is there a separate committee that invites applicants to interview?

Also, love the Zyzz reference

 

[NorthernMav]

http://www.medicine.uic.edu/admissions/apply_to_the_md_program/pre_requisites/

First paragraph seems clear to me but if you are concerned, give them a call.

Ah yes, I was concerned that they wouldn't consider my application without all 3 courses already completed. However, it seems like you just need to get them done before matriculation if interviewed and accepted. I guess I was just curious if anyone has done the same thing. Thanks anyways.

EDIT: Ignore me, it explains my situation clear as day on the secondary application! Wow..

 

[Sonofsertoli]

Uhh ohh, copied and pasted into the secondary. Will this screw me over? It's readable, but the symbols make it look weird. Hopefully it isn't a big deal.

I'm also applying through the RIMSAP program, I wonder how that will affect how I am notified if I am selected for an interview....

 

[LostinLift]

Anyone have any data on how many people receive secondaries versus interview invitations?

 

[kubajf]

The good:
Chicago location, good urban programs, a rural program at UPR, global opportunities for those in GMED, plenty of latinidad, only slightly below average step performance, renovations at the chicago campus, okay amount of research, numerous clinical sites at the chicago campus.

The bad:
tuition is sky high and only going up, not a supportive administration, few global opportunities for students not in gmed, tons of exams overall, likely having to move from Urbana to Peoria or Rockford if in the URP track, it's a public school that's underfunded and poorly organized, few scholarships, the state of Illinois is broke so anyone smart is leaving the system before their pensions evaporate, generally subpar lectures, did I mention the tuition?!? bottom line: I love love love love living in Chicago, but I seriously regret having chosen UIC.

 

[Lexipi]

Anyone interview at the Peoria campus yet? I have that one coming up real soon and I don't know what to expect.. Based on the letter I got, i do know its one with a faculty and one with a student

I am very scared

 

[Mmedran]

The good:
Chicago location, good urban programs, a rural program at UPR, global opportunities for those in GMED, plenty of latinidad, only slightly below average step performance, renovations at the chicago campus, okay amount of research, numerous clinical sites at the chicago campus.

The bad:
tuition is sky high and only going up, not a supportive administration, few global opportunities for students not in gmed, tons of exams overall, likely having to move from Urbana to Peoria or Rockford if in the URP track, it's a public school that's underfunded and poorly organized, few scholarships, the state of Illinois is broke so anyone smart is leaving the system before their pensions evaporate, generally subpar lectures, did I mention the tuition?!? bottom line: I love love love love living in Chicago, but I seriously regret having chosen UIC.

Dear kubajf, thank you for your candor! It's actually quite refreshing for someone to come out and discuss the nitty gritty about the infrastructure of a medical school.

PS-- Love the honey badger reference!

 

[VisionaryTics]

The good:
Chicago location, good urban programs, a rural program at UPR, global opportunities for those in GMED, plenty of latinidad, only slightly below average step performance, renovations at the chicago campus, okay amount of research, numerous clinical sites at the chicago campus.

The bad:
tuition is sky high and only going up, not a supportive administration, few global opportunities for students not in gmed, tons of exams overall, likely having to move from Urbana to Peoria or Rockford if in the URP track, it's a public school that's underfunded and poorly organized, few scholarships, the state of Illinois is broke so anyone smart is leaving the system before their pensions evaporate, generally subpar lectures, did I mention the tuition?!? bottom line: I love love love love living in Chicago, but I seriously regret having chosen UIC.

I thought they froze the tuition increase rate? Like, the new matriculants will know "M1 tuition is XXX and will increase by X percent per year".

Chin up. Clinical years are better.

 

[IL Pre Med]

Not sure why people are complaining about tuition, the main I want to go here is BECAUSE of the in-state tuition. $15,000/year cheaper than all the other Illinois schools.

 

[Mmedran]

Not sure why people are complaining about tuition, the main I want to go here is BECAUSE of the in-state tuition.

kubajf is OOS. Check out the difference: http://www.uic.edu/depts/oar/professional/tuition_prof/tuition_prof_fal13_spr14.html

 

[IL Pre Med]

kubajf is OOS. Check out the difference: http://www.uic.edu/depts/oar/professional/tuition_prof/tuition_prof_fal13_spr14.html

Holy moley 😱

On a side note, waiting really sucks. I've only been complete for a week but it's already killing me. I check my status way too often for my own good.

 

[BurberryDoc]

Shot in the dark here, but does anyone know if UIC extends the majority of their OOS II's later in the year? Obviously some OOS'ers have interviewed already, but we all know that the "academic phenoms" are the ones who tend to get the early invites anyway. I'm OOS with lower stats, so just trying to get a better picture of things. Thanks!

 

[wchaud2]

I saw the post on page 2 and saw nothing in regards to admission status "recommendation letters received" Submitted secondary about 2 weeks ago. How log will it take for the status to change?
Does the admissions committee meet on October 17th?

 

[BurberryDoc]

From the UIC Med Admissions FAQ's page:

"Do you send supplemental applications to everyone?
No, since there is a fee associated with the supplemental application, we send it only to applicants we are seriously considering for admission."


Does anyone know roughly what percentage of applicants recieve the supplemental?

 

[PathToMDPhD]

UIUC alum here, applying UIC MSTP. Currently have interviews scheduled for UIC MD program as well as UIC MSTP. The programs interview separately, and MSTP decision has no bearing on MD decision, from what the MSTP office has told me.

Just curious...is the MSP the same thing as MSTP?

To answer the question I quoted above: NO. MSP (Medical Scholars Program) is an MD/PhD program in Urbana-Champaign. It doesn't have to be in the hard sciences (i.e., could be sociology). MSTP is an NIH-funded MD/PhD program in Chicago, generally done in the hard sciences (i.e., cell bio, etc.). MSP is not guaranteed to be fully funded for all years; MSTP is.
See the respective Web sites here for more information:
UIC MSTP
UIUC MSP

I am applying MSP as well, although haven't heard from that program. FYI, you do need to apply to UIC to be considered for the MSP, although the MSP has a separate secondary and application process online. (Yeah, I know, it's super confusing.)

 

[Jimsy]

UIUC alum here, applying UIC MSTP. Currently have interviews scheduled for UIC MD program as well as UIC MSTP. The programs interview separately, and MSTP decision has no bearing on MD decision, from what the MSTP office has told me.



To answer the question I quoted above: NO. MSP (Medical Scholars Program) is an MD/PhD program in Urbana-Champaign. It doesn't have to be in the hard sciences (i.e., could be sociology). MSTP is an NIH-funded MD/PhD program in Chicago, generally done in the hard sciences (i.e., cell bio, etc.). MSP is not guaranteed to be fully funded for all years; MSTP is.
See the respective Web sites here for more information:
UIC MSTP
UIUC MSP

I am applying MSP as well, although haven't heard from that program. FYI, you do need to apply to UIC to be considered for the MSP, although the MSP has a separate secondary and application process online. (Yeah, I know, it's super confusing.)

I had no idea. Thank you for clarifying this for me 🙂

 

[Hjbo]

From the UIC Med Admissions FAQ's page:

"Do you send supplemental applications to everyone?
No, since there is a fee associated with the supplemental application, we send it only to applicants we are seriously considering for admission."


Does anyone know roughly what percentage of applicants recieve the supplemental?

I received a secondary only two days after being verified by AMCAS. I'd be impressed if they were able to do a significant screen in that time.
Then again, what do I know?

 

[joeybird]

So I'm in a bit of a dilemma. I really want to interview at this school but I live overseas. I am only in the states from Nov.11-Nov. 23. Currently I have an interview date of Dec.3 at the Chicago campus. Would anyone at all be willing to switch with me? I know it's a lot to ask but it would be saving me a transatlantic flight and a week of school. Please please PM.

The admissions office agreed to switch me if another interviewee agreed.

Best of luck to everyone

 

[Jennyfishy]

I received a secondary only two days after being verified by AMCAS. I'd be impressed if they were able to do a significant screen in that time.
Then again, what do I know?

Maybe a minimum gpa/mcat cutoff if at all. I got my 2ndary <2 days after verification too 😛

 

[MedBrah]

A final decision has been made.... plus the additional correspondence tab on the status page . This is good yes ?

 

[Big N Tasty]

A final decision has been made.... plus the additional correspondence tab on the status page . This is good yes ?

Samesies. Fingers crossed I guess?

 

[MedBrah]

According to this

Hey everybody, I am an incoming M1 at UIC. I can't really answer questions regarding the curriculum, but I can answer questions regarding the application process and interviewing here. I had a 3.49 cGPA and a 34 MCAT (10PS, 12VR, 12BS). To give everyone an idea of the timeline for application processing I was marked complete on 8/21 and got my II on 10/10. I interviewed 11/1 and got my acceptance letter a couple days before Thanksgiving. Other people had took much longer to get their II.

Below is a sort of flow chart for how the admission process works.

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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. [At the bottom of this post I link to a program I made that makes checking your status as easy as double clicking your mouse.]

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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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*** NOTE: There are no guarantees in the above information, since there is always the chance that UIC changes things up. Just always keep in mind that the above is of what has happened, and not what will happen.


**********************************

I want to add last year there was ONE person (as far as i know the ONLY person) who got the "Additional Correspondences" Tab and was rejected.

We should be good... fingers crossed like you said. It'll be a long wait til we get that mail.

 

[runnergirl6]

I also have the additional correspondence tab! Hoping for good news in the mail next week. I wish they would just send an email, less stressful waiting lol. When I interviewed, I thought they told us they would use email this year, but I guess I heard wrong or something.

 

[MedBrah]

I also have the additional correspondence tab! Hoping for good news in the mail next week. I wish they would just send an email, less stressful waiting lol. When I interviewed, I thought they told us they would use email this year, but I guess I heard wrong or something.

I wish it was a phone call, would be much more exciting.

 

[Strawberry7]

Final decision and additional correspondence tab. Would love this school to be my first acceptance. Fingers crossed!

 

[polo123]

Final decision + additional correspondence!

 

[Badger0]

Also have Final Decision made with Additional Correspondence! So excited!!

 

[ct303]

Thank you for the thorough flow chart.

My status says "applicant in progress"

So which category would this fall under???

I'm yet to receive any word about an interview
It's automatic acceptance, no interview necessary, full ride scholarship huh?

 

[UICBound13]

I know its early, but here is a link to the UIC COM Class of 2018 Facebook Group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/uiccom2018/

Good luck to everyone who is waiting to receive receive final word!!!

 

[mcatzzzzzz]

Does the additional correspondence tab have to have something in it (a X or a check mark or something)? Or just that the tab is now there (not sure if it was there before i didn't pay attention)

 

[MedBrah]

Does the additional correspondence tab have to have something in it (a X or a check mark or something)? Or just that the tab is now there (not sure if it was there before i didn't pay attention)

mine doesn't have anything in it


I'm certain it was not there before for me

 

[mcatzzzzzz]

mine doesn't have anything in it


I'm certain it was not there before for me

awesome! thanks man

 

[UICBound13]

Does the additional correspondence tab have to have something in it (a X or a check mark or something)? Or just that the tab is now there (not sure if it was there before i didn't pay attention)

I was accepted last year and ultimately had to defer my acceptance until the fall of 2014. My additional correspondence tab remained empty for some time. Eventually, a table will be below with necessary items to turn in (i.e. transcripts, immunizations, deposit, etc).

 

[yoyohomieg5432]

i also have the decision made status and additional correspondence tab. so it's good news to see that correspondence tab??

what's a CBC email?

 

[Hjbo]

Thank you for the thorough flow chart.

My status says "applicant in progress"

So which category would this fall under???

I'm yet to receive any word about an interview
It's automatic acceptance, no interview necessary, full ride scholarship huh?

Mine says the same. I believe it's the same as "applicant in process." It was the very first status change after "awaiting admissions officer letter review" before all my letters were received.

 

[LostinLift]

Has anyone received an interview invite recently? I'm wondering where in the application review they're at. I was complete late September.

IS I feel like this school has one of the highest interview rates. Was about 1/3rd of primaries were offered interviews, not including the people who didn't receive secondaries..... so fingers crossed.

 

[IL Pre Med]

Has anyone received an interview invite recently? I'm wondering where in the application review they're at. I was complete late September.

IS I feel like this school has one of the highest interview rates. Was about 1/3rd of primaries were offered interviews, not including the people who didn't receive secondaries..... so fingers crossed.

I'm wondering the same thing, complete early October and waiting anxiously for a response from UIC. I called the other day and they said there's about an 8 week wait to be reviewed from the time you were complete, so they should be reviewing applications from late August right now.

 

[ilikevegetables]

Hey guys!

First off, a somewhat tentative congratulations to those with the additional correspondence tab! Last year I think everyone who had it was accepted, but I have no idea if it continues to mean the same thing from year to year.

As for IIs: just like with AMCAS verification, the applications really get backlogged and take awhile to get processed especially with later complete dates. I was complete August 8th, if I remember correctly, and didn't get my interview invite til... the end of November, I think. Keep on keepin' on, and remember that UIC receives *tons* of applications but they will definitely get to yours!

I also just wanted to check in about my experience so far at UIC as an M1.

tl;dr (shouldn't these always go before a long post?!): UIC is very similar to any other US medical school - this has been my overwhelming impression from my time here and from comparing notes to people at other schools that range from public to private and from 'average' to elite. I bolded one thing below that I actually think UIC really stands out on - diversity - and for me that's a huge positive.

The Good:
- In-state tuition is quite good (for medical school)
- I've been pleased with the level of integration of the curriculum (i.e. we learn the anatomy as we're learning the histology for the same part of the body)
- When you dissect, it's just you and one other person, so it's very in-depth, and you dissect a limited amount of times per year (which I like)
- You're put into small groups for things like team-based learning and these groups are actually diverse, because - in contrast with many other medical schools, I think - UIC really walks the walk when it comes to having a diverse class
- The good professors are really good - they are engaging and it's so clear they care about students. We requested the course director for anatomy do extra lab teaching sessions and he's coming in on the weekend to do so.
- I've been very happy with our clinical experiences so far in our Essentials of Clinical Medicine class. I've been learning physical exam skills and interviewing skills and that has been great. Plus I've been able to do clinical volunteering - there seem to be lots of opportunities for this.
- I'm involved in UMed and I love it. It's great. Message me if you want more information on that.
- The class is very committed to being a collaborative group - one girl in our class has actually organized trivia review sessions for our entire class for a couple exams so far. People work together to make study guides, etc.
- Of course there are exams - don't go to medical school planning to not take exams - but I like that they're spaced out a bit. They're not every single week, nor are they all bunched up at the end of the semester. That's a personal preference.
- Our class board is super responsive and does things like get us a Keurig machine for our student lounge. We also have curriculum representatives that take surveys so you can rant about whatever class makes you angry and they will actually talk to the professors and change things.
- I'm an M1, so I don't know much about the actual clinical rotations, but I do know that there is a wide variety of places where you can do rotations and that generally people really enjoy their rotations. That bit is just what I've heard.

The Bad:
- There are some bad professors (everywhere - this is definitely not unique to UIC. I attended an elite private school for undergraduate and there were bad professors there too).
- The OOS tuition.
- Like many public schools (and maybe some private schools too), UIC charges for the summer term - less than a full semester, but yeah - for the 2nd and 3rd years, so tuition for those years is more than for the 1st and 4th. It's still less than tuition for *any* year of a private school though.
- I'm pretty sure I'm negative on the Honors/Pass/Fail system. On the one hand, I acknowledge that it does motivate me to some degree, which probably good for my to-be Step 1 score, but I do kind of wish I could slack off just the teensiest bit more. Still, I do see that it probably accomplishes their goal of motivating students to work hard.

The Ugly:
- The old 1st year lecture room definitely fits into this category, but they're renovating that, and the plans look pretty awesome.

Anyway, feel free to message me with questions, and I probably forgot to write some things that I meant to, so I might be updating this.

Best of luck with your applications, guys!

 

[Charles_Carmichael]

Hey guys, I'm an M3 at UIC!

Here's a post of mine from last year in a thread where a person was trying to decide between Loyola and UIC:

Congrats on getting into two excellent schools! Brent did an awesome job discussing Loyola. I'll try to offer some info on UIC (I'm an M2 here, so take what I say regarding the clinical years with a grain of salt).

1) I think Brent was absolutely right regarding surrounding yourself with people you enjoy being around and the impact it has on your development as a physician. I absolutely love all my classmates -- everyone works hard to make sure that everyone is learning/understanding everything. We share study guides, resources we come across, take time to explain things to classmates who might be struggling with a concept, etc. Plus, we have a pretty good social life -- this is more difficult at the moment because of the rate at which material is thrown at us, but a lot of us have become close friends and spend a lot of time together outside of class.

2) Curriculum-wise -- UIC has been working on improving their pre-clinical curriculum over these past couple of years. It's been shifting toward less and less time spent in pure lectures. With that being said, I have to disagree a bit with Brent in that I really don't think the pre-clinical curriculum of the school you attend matters (as long as it's not mandatory attendance!). Most people will have to spend a lot of time outside of class learning and retaining the material, whether they attend class or not. Plus, you'll see in many schools that as time goes by, even the most hardcore class-goers stop going to class and start streaming lectures at ~1.5x. It's just more time-efficient. As long as whichever school you attend records lectures, I don't think you should worry at all about how long an average day of lectures is like.

3) Cost -- both schools are expensive, unfortunately. Nothing else I can really say. It's up to you to decide whether that $30k difference matters to you or not. As with Loyola, the tuition at UIC is likely to increase slightly over your 4 years.

4) Clinical training -- of all the things at UIC, this was the primary reason why I decided to attend here. The hospitals here (UIH, the VA, Stroger, and countless others) and the patient population we see provide an absolutely incredible opportunity to get a diverse clinical education. Even as an M1 last year, I saw things ranging from bread-and-butter stuff to conditions that have only been documented a few times ever. Still remember the clinical presentation of that to this day.

There's a strong emphasis on early clinical training here at UIC. I know that every school says this (and I can't comment on other schools), but we get really good opportunities here. Last year, with my preceptor, I was given around 30 minutes to get an H&P from every patient by myself first, then I'd come out and present/discuss my findings with the attending, then she would have some teaching points (asking me what I think is going on, explaining reasoning, what findings to look for and why, etc), and finally, we'd both go in together to see the patient. Even got to occasionally write my notes in the EMR for the attending to sign off on. It was amazing and I cannot quantify how much I learned! And that's just from M1 year! As an M2, my preceptor currently expects me to function as an M3 when I'm in the clinic -- doing H&Ps, writing SOAP notes, reading up on patients, etc. We also have this thing, called Practicum, during M2 year -- they're basically mini-rotations where we get an entire week at a time (3 times total, over the course of the year) to practice seeing patients in the hospita -- correction: this actually ends up being a LOT more than 3 weeks total (more like 6 weeks)l. No classes or anything during this. It's entirely clinical. It's a wonderful opportunity to improve taking H&Ps, presenting your findings, etc. And all the attendings I've had so far have been very good teachers who spend a surprising amount of time (at least, I was surprised -- I thought they would be too busy!) helping you develop your clinical reasoning, forming differentials, etc.

All my current M3 friends are absolutely loving their rotations and raving about the amount of autonomy they get and how much they're learning. When I was deciding on medical schools, the most important thing to me was that I get really, really good clinical training. Pre-clinical education is pretty much the same at every medical school in the US. No matter where you attend, you'll learn the same basic science material. It's really the clinical years (and research opportunities) that set schools apart. UIC has a well-known reputation for producing excellent clinicians and it has a lot to do with our hospital system and the patient population we treat. So, it was the biggest reason why I decided to attend here and I absolutely love it here so far!

5) Research -- There are quite a few research opportunities here at UIC in practically every specialty. Be proactive and you'll likely find a project you're interested in and in the specialty you're interested in. There are also summer research fellowships offered to medical students here, so you'll be covered for funding, etc. Both basic science and clinical research opportunities are abundant.

6) Residency matching -- I can't really comment on this, since I'm just an M2, but my understanding is that we tend to have very good match lists, with people matching into every specialty and at big name academic centers. Attending UIC won't hold you back.

Anyways, I hope that offers a little bit of insight into UIC. Again, congrats on getting into these schools. Ultimately, go with the place you want to attend. I personally don't think the $30k difference is significant enough. Both are great schools and you can't go wrong with either. Best of luck!

Now that I'm in my clinical years, I can offer a bit more insight into the clinical training we get here which, IMHO, is the most important part of med school.

So far, I've gone through surgery, neurology, and am currently on my peds rotation. We get a lot of autonomy and, as long as you're proactive, you have a very long leash. If your residents and attendings see you being very proactive and taking ownership of your patients, they will let you be as involved as you're willing to be. I've really enjoyed every single rotation so far -- my residents on surgery were awesome and I learned a TON about working-up and managing surgical patients. One of the seniors, for example, would ask the 2 of us students on the service what we wanted to talk about and we'd spend our lunch time discussing that particular topic -- this happened pretty much every single day we were there. We were responsible for doing the overnight post-op checks and writing notes, which were actually used (after the interns co-signed them +/- their addendums), etc. It's a very satisfying feeling to have interns and residents trusting your judgment after a few weeks! Plus, if you were interested in certain procedures, they would be on the lookout for them and let you try your hand at them -- this is true for the other rotations as well.

On neuro, we had a LOT of teaching from the senior residents and the attendings. Spent a ton of time going over CTs and MRIs as well. Currently, on peds at UIH, this is probably going to be the most well-organized rotation I'll have all year. We have med student-specific lectures almost every day (one at 8 am and one at noon) that are excellent! And the residents are incredibly friendly and spend a ton of time teaching!

In the few months I've been an M3, I've already learned a TON of stuff. Every year keeps getting better, IMHO. We carry enough patients where we're learning a lot, but are not overwhelmed, and the clinical teaching has been, in my experience, excellent. Like I said earlier, if you're proactive and spend the time reading up on your patients and helping the team out, it's definitely noticed by both residents and attendings and they will go out of their way to teach you more (even though we clearly slow them down).

If you're deciding between schools, I highly recommend that you consider what type of clinical training you'll receive and talk to the M3s/M4s there. The preclinical education you'll get will be, for the most part, the same in pretty much every school in the US. IMHO, it's the clinical years that set schools apart. Other posters in this thread have done a good job describing the M1 and M2 years here. I think UIC, for the flaws it has with preclinical training, is excellent at clinical training (including Practicum during M2 year) and it has the reputation for producing excellent clinicians. If you're an in-state applicant, I would encourage you to seriously consider attending here if your primary goal is to develop into an excellent clinician. While there's pretty solid research going on here, UChicago and Northwestern definitely have bigger name researchers if that's your thing. If you're an OOSer, I don't know how much I'd recommend coming here since the OOS tuition is so high! If you have an acceptance somewhere cheaper, I think that it's a much better idea to go there than pay OOS tuition here at UIC, unfortunately.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask them and we'll try to answer them the best we can. I have a shelf exam on Friday, so how quickly I respond to you depends on whether I'm procrastinating or not! VisionaryTics, who posted earlier, is an M4 and he can offer a lot of solid insight into the clinical years as well. Congrats to everyone getting in so far and best of luck to those waiting to hear back!

 

[MedBrah]

According to last year's thread, it took about a week to get the mail for those of us with final decisions

 

[Strawberry7]

According to last year's thread, it took about a week to get the mail for those of us with final decisions

Hopefully later this week! Good luck everyone!

 

[PlumbLine]

I also have the additional correspondence tab! Hoping for good news in the mail next week. I wish they would just send an email, less stressful waiting lol. When I interviewed, I thought they told us they would use email this year, but I guess I heard wrong or something.

What does everyone mean by "Tab"? On my status page there are two boxes: "Interview Scheduling" and "Current Status". Within the "Interview Scheduling" box there is a smaller box that says "Additional Correspondence", but I wouldn't call it a "tab".

Also, what is a CBC email? background check?

I have a feeling I don't have the "tab", but I do have the "final decision made" message, uh ohhhhhhhhhhh

 

[Mmedran]

What does everyone mean by "Tab"? On my status page there are two boxes: "Interview Scheduling" and "Current Status". Within the "Interview Scheduling" box there is a smaller box that says "Additional Correspondence", but I wouldn't call it a "tab".

Also, what is a CBC email? background check?

I have a feeling I don't have the "tab", but I do have the "final decision made" message, uh ohhhhhhhhhhh

From what I recall, that IS the tab and the CBC email is for background check. If you have both of those, it's supposed to indicate an acceptance! Congrats 🙂

 

[MedBrah]

What does everyone mean by "Tab"? On my status page there are two boxes: "Interview Scheduling" and "Current Status". Within the "Interview Scheduling" box there is a smaller box that says "Additional Correspondence", but I wouldn't call it a "tab".

Also, what is a CBC email? background check?

I have a feeling I don't have the "tab", but I do have the "final decision made" message, uh ohhhhhhhhhhh

Yeah I wouldn't call it a tab since its not clickable, but it's a box next to the interview scheduling.

Did you get a criminal background check email ?

 

[yoyohomieg5432]

has anyone got the CBC email yet? i have the 'additional correspondence' tab but no email yet

 

[MedBrah]

has anyone got the CBC email yet? i have the 'additional correspondence' tab but no email yet

Looking through last year's thread they say that background checks didn't start until January 1st. So I think the mail is the next step.

 

[PlumbLine]

From what I recall, that IS the tab and the CBC email is for background check. If you have both of those, it's supposed to indicate an acceptance! Congrats 🙂

Cool! I haven't seen a CBC email come through but I will look out for that and the snail mail. Thanks!

 

[twinBqt]

hi all, I was verified 10/17 and received the "application status check" (asc) email the same day. I went to ivy league schools, got a decent gpa. URM, I have low sci/mcat stats, but research exp and excellent EC's and LOR's. The asc email doesn't say anything, but my amcas profile info and that all of my letters have been received. I know that UIC pre-screens. I HAVEN'T received my secondary email yet, will I get one?? How long does it take for them to send the secondary app??

 

[MedBrah]

Anyone get their letter yet ?

 

[Strawberry7]

Anyone get their letter yet ?

Nope, nothing here yet. Next week, I guess!