2014-2015 University of Illinois Application Thread

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Wuh-Bam said:
I'm not too worried about the education. She has a full-time job as a teacher in Chicago (but another conversation for another place).
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Same boat, man. I got asked on one of my interviews what my process was in picking the schools I applied to, and told them frankly that I have a fiancè with a career and had to pick a program/city where she could succeed as well.
 
Wuh-Bam said:
Got my placement today. Literally the worst possible one. I may be taking another year off...

How do they make these decisions?
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Do you know when your documents you sent back were marked received? I'm wondering when I should be expecting my placement! Thanks!

Nvm, just got it!
 
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Saw status change again today, be sure to keep checking your portals because they are still updating.
Also, called admissions and lady said correspondences are not complete yet and they don't know when they will be complete/mailed out. So statuses can change up until everythings sorted out and complete.
 
Wuh-Bam said:
Got my placement today. Literally the worst possible one. I may be taking another year off...

How do they make these decisions?
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When did you submit your site preference card? Also, did you receive your placement via email or mail
 
gard2013 said:
When did you submit your site preference card? Also, did you receive your placement via email or mail
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I got my placement today, and my site preferene card was marked that it was received on 1/14. It comes in the mail.
 
ccrod2014 said:
Saw status change again today, be sure to keep checking your portals because they are still updating.
Also, called admissions and lady said correspondences are not complete yet and they don't know when they will be complete/mailed out. So statuses can change up until everythings sorted out and complete.
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"statuses can change up until everythings sorted out and complete" -- Is this what you think or the people in admissions told you that? I still have not had any status change yet. I guess I'll be deferred. Thanks for letting us know about the process.
 
Does anyone know the average step 1 scores for peoria and rockford? Which one usually does better? Also, anyone know what/where to find their match rates?
 
yawehdisciple said:
"statuses can change up until everythings sorted out and complete" -- Is this what you think or the people in admissions told you that? I still have not had any status change yet. I guess I'll be deferred. Thanks for letting us know about the process.
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This is the assumption I'm making from what she divulged to me... Which wasn't much. She said that some people may not see dates, etc. Because no letters have been mailed out yet. Once that's completed, they might add stuff onto your portal. Like a date for additional correspondence.

Unfortunately, I would guess that if you still are decision pending by the end of today, that you were probably be deferred. But no one can be sure...
 
Wuh-Bam said:
Got my placement today. Literally the worst possible one. I may be taking another year off...

How do they make these decisions?
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Does anyone know how they make these decisions? Is there any way to tell them about your ties to the city? My husband works downtown, so things would be very difficult if I had to move to another campus.
 
Wuh-Bam said:
Yeah. They sent me a card and told me to rank them in the order I'd prefer. Chicago - Urbana -Rockford - Peoria

I've got to figure out how to tell my fiance... *Sigh* This damn school.
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Are you in state or oos?
 
sillygoosetime said:
Does anyone know the average step 1 scores for peoria and rockford? Which one usually does better? Also, anyone know what/where to find their match rates?
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Rockford has had the highest step 1 avg the last few years, though historically peoria usually had marginally higher scores. Chicago used to score a bit lower than these two campuses, but in the last couple years has almost completely closed that gap.

Class avgs don't really mean much; in the end your score is largely a reflection of personal effort. Curriculum wise, Peoria requires more mandatory scheduled class, so if you need that structure it can be good. Otherwise if you are a self-directed learner you will do well anywhere and may instead enjoy the freedom other sites allow to work on your own schedule.

All have great match lists

source: was on curriculum advisory committee in chicago last year
 
just received the CBC email tonight after yesterday noting the change in status. Hopeful for a positive letter in two weeks
 
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Congrats to those of you who recently got in! I still haven't gotten my placement letter. My understanding is that Rockford is basically for rural medicine, and Urbana is almost entirely MD PhDs. So you're looking into a split between Peoria and Chicago if you don't fit one of those categories.

For those of you who are asking, you can contest your placement if you wish but it is not easy at all to get it switched.
 
Does anyone know anything about the Global Medicine (GMED) program or the Urban Medicine (UMED) program? The info in their pamphlets and online isn't very descriptive as far as what the students actually do...
 
Mushroomking said:
Found a change on the status, "Final Decision" + "Additional Correspondence", No CBC email yet.... Is anyone else the same?
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I got my CBC email the day after my status change, but it didn't say which school was inquiring. I was accepted to another school and wait listed on another, so I'm not sure if this is UOI or not?
 
Does anyone that had a status change last week have a date next to their "additional correspondence" tab yet?
 
ccrod2014 said:
Does anyone that had a status change last week have a date next to their "additional correspondence" tab yet?
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Is there supposed to be a date next to the additional correspondence? Does that mean the date they sent the letter?
 
Hello everyone! Has anyone received an II this week? Wondering if there are any dates still available for the cycle. 🙁
 
ccrod2014 said:
Does anyone that had a status change last week have a date next to their "additional correspondence" tab yet?
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Did you have an addl correspondence that popped up later?

Just wondering so I don't freak out when/if me status changes..
 
Mushroomking said:
Is there supposed to be a date next to the additional correspondence? Does that mean the date they sent the letter?
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I believe so-- I did call admissions today and lady said correspondences were sent Friday though. Not sure, really. It just makes sense if there would be a date... but who knows.


Vivalarevolution said:
Did you have an addl correspondence that popped up later?

Just wondering so I don't freak out when/if me status changes..
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No I don't still... I was just wondering because I was trying to keep up hope till I know for sure.
 
IWUdoc2015 said:
I got my CBC email the day after my status change, but it didn't say which school was inquiring. I was accepted to another school and wait listed on another, so I'm not sure if this is UOI or not?
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Does the school send out the CBC email or is it AAMC?
 
Would merit scholarships have come in our fat packet that we got when we were admitted? If not, when are merit scholarships decided?
 
Mushroomking said:
Is there supposed to be a date next to the additional correspondence? Does that mean the date they sent the letter?
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There was never a date next to my additional correspondences tab and I was accepted in December. The only thing that had a date was "a final decision was made on x"
 
ccaapp said:
Hello everyone! Has anyone received an II this week? Wondering if there are any dates still available for the cycle. 🙁
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I'm stuck at the 'interview scheduling' screen (though I've already interviewed) and it still shows days open for 2/26 in Chicago and Rockford. Looks like they'll be sending out more interviews at some point!
 
VlLLVGE said:
I'm stuck at the 'interview scheduling' screen (though I've already interviewed) and it still shows days open for 2/26 in Chicago and Rockford. Looks like they'll be sending out more interviews at some point!
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Call them about that?

Mushroomking said:
Does the school send out the CBC email or is it AAMC?
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AAMC

ccrod2014 said:
Does anyone that had a status change last week have a date next to their "additional correspondence" tab yet?
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There is never a date next to the tab.

durphyst said:
I was placed in Urbana this week too, not MD/PhD. Honestly, I love Urbana and the U of I campus. It's a fun place.
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I wonder why we were chosen. Maybe we will be classmates.
 
TREDWISE said:
Call them about that?
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I'm an MSTP interviewee, so the woman I emailed said it was out of her hands. I'm not too worried about the application portal because I didn't use it to schedule the interview with the MSTP program in the first place :shrug:
 
I was hoping they might have still been updating the statuses from "Decision Pending" due to the overflow from the December interviews (no adcom meeting in Dec) but no such luck. What a crappy limbo state to be in. I was complete in late October and this was my only interview, so now I will have to wait until freakin' May or later to know if it's "back to the lab again yo'. Worst thing is, I have to assume I will be reapplying next cycle so that when June rolls around I've done stuff to make my application "better" than it was this year. But I probably won't know for certain until June whether I've been rejected or not, so it may be in vain. Aargh!!

Off topic, but one thing I realized based on my interview experience and subsequently being passed over is that closed-file interviews are terrible for applicants who have "question marks" in their application. I'm a classic case of a low-GPA high-MCAT applicant, and I wish that I had the opportunity to address that low GPA during the interview rather than just talking about situational scenarios and my travel experiences (my second interview was more or less the prof. asking about my travels, lol). That way at least the adcoms get some context instead of just opening my file on 1/22 seeing the number and going "pfft, seemed like a nice guy but that GPA is kinda worrisome, let's put him on hold mmkay."

Now it's back to the local physician directory for more shadowing cold calls. heh.
 
VlLLVGE said:
I'm an MSTP interviewee, so the woman I emailed said it was out of her hands. I'm not too worried about the application portal because I didn't use it to schedule the interview with the MSTP program in the first place :shrug:
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I suspect that you just love mentioning that you are interviewing for the MSTP program lol.

rekrul said:
I was hoping they might have still been updating the statuses from "Decision Pending" due to the overflow from the December interviews (no adcom meeting in Dec) but no such luck. What a crappy limbo state to be in. I was complete in late October and this was my only interview, so now I will have to wait until freakin' May or later to know if it's "back to the lab again yo'. Worst thing is, I have to assume I will be reapplying next cycle so that when June rolls around I've done stuff to make my application "better" than it was this year. But I probably won't know for certain until June whether I've been rejected or not, so it may be in vain. Aargh!!

Off topic, but one thing I realized based on my interview experience and subsequently being passed over is that closed-file interviews are terrible for applicants who have "question marks" in their application. I'm a classic case of a low-GPA high-MCAT applicant, and I wish that I had the opportunity to address that low GPA during the interview rather than just talking about situational scenarios and my travel experiences (my second interview was more or less the prof. asking about my travels, lol). That way at least the adcoms get some context instead of just opening my file on 1/22 seeing the number and going "pfft, seemed like a nice guy but that GPA is kinda worrisome, let's put him on hold mmkay."

Now it's back to the local physician directory for more shadowing cold calls. heh.
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There was one on Dec 18th. I would just assume that you have been passed over because you probably have been to be honest (saying this as someone who was passed over last year). You can always make one of your other answers lead into what you want to say about your low gpa high mcat, or you can mention it when they ask you for questions, or you could write your secondary about it (because they do have those).
 
Mushroomking said:
Does the school send out the CBC email or is it AAMC?
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The AAMC sent the email stating that because I've been conditionally accepted or wait listed to one or more schools that participate in the CBC, I'm required to fill out these forms, which I did.
 
TREDWISE said:
There was one on Dec 18th. I would just assume that you have been passed over because you probably have been to be honest (saying this as someone who was passed over last year). You can always make one of your other answers lead into what you want to say about your low gpa high mcat, or you can mention it when they ask you for questions, or you could write your secondary about it (because they do have those).
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Yeah, it's best to just assume I'm done for in this cycle, both to avoid getting hopes dashed every month and to begin working on improving my app for next year.

If I may ask, in what way did you improve your profile between last cycle and this one? Just please don't say it was by retaking the MCAT:dead:. Every successful re-applicant I spoke with was successful the second time for exactly that reason, but that is precisely the one thing that isn't applicable in my case. At this point my profile is what it is, adding more volunteering or shadowing will just be putting lipstick on the pig (gpa being the pig.) Only thing I can really do is submit my app on opening day rather than in October like I did this time, and apply to more schools. Anyway, I'd be curious to hear what your approach was to reapplying if you'd care to share.
 
rekrul said:
Yeah, it's best to just assume I'm done for in this cycle, both to avoid getting hopes dashed every month and to begin working on improving my app for next year.

If I may ask, in what way did you improve your profile between last cycle and this one? Just please don't say it was by retaking the MCAT:dead:. Every successful re-applicant I spoke with was successful the second time for exactly that reason, but that is precisely the one thing that isn't applicable in my case. At this point my profile is what it is, adding more volunteering or shadowing will just be putting lipstick on the pig (gpa being the pig.) Only thing I can really do is submit my app on opening day rather than in October like I did this time, and apply to more schools. Anyway, I'd be curious to hear what your approach was to reapplying if you'd care to share.
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Yeah you should definitely apply on the first day. You could do a SMP if your gpa is that bad.

I finished some of the activities I had started (with letters to prove it), participated in research symposiums, had a paper published (not first author), got a job doing clinical research, and got a 4.0 for my senior year. I also interviewed much better this time around. :angelic:
 
When should those who had "Decision Made" and "Additional Correspondence" expect to receive our decision letters in the mail?
 
Received rejection letter yesterday. Good luck everyone! Maybe I'll see you guys next year...
 
Good luck to ccrod with other schools!
No letter for me yet. Anyone with January status change, please post if you have received the letter!
 
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TREDWISE said:
I suspect that you just love mentioning that you are interviewing for the MSTP program lol.
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Yup. I initially responded to @ccaapp not to console my fellow interviewee, but to separate myself from the pack with my subtle superiority-complex-motivated plan. I'm quite full of myself.
 
IWUdoc2015 said:
I think it said within 2 weeks.
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I saw that on the portal, but I was wondering if there was a more specific or accurate estimate of when we could receive them based on what people have seen previously. I'm just hoping that I don't have to wait 2 weeks to find out!
 
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