2015-2016 University of Chicago (Pritzker) Application Thread

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Does anyone know if O'Hare airport has taxis readily available to downtown Chicago? Do I need to make a reservation or can I expect to find one there without any reservations/earlier phone calls?
 
PhysicianScientist said:
Does anyone know if O'Hare airport has taxis readily available to downtown Chicago? Do I need to make a reservation or can I expect to find one there without any reservations/earlier phone calls?
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Don't know about cabs but if you're ok with using public transit you can use the metro to get from O'Hare to the school. Granted it is a bit sketchy closer to the school but if you go during the day it should be fine. I flew into O'Hare and then took the metro/bus to get to my student host's place near the school. Also a LOT cheaper than a cab/Uber 🙂
 
jojahtechpremed said:
Don't know about cabs but if you're ok with using public transit you can use the metro to get from O'Hare to the school. Granted it is a bit sketchy closer to the school but if you go during the day it should be fine. I flew into O'Hare and then took the metro/bus to get to my student host's place near the school. Also a LOT cheaper than a cab/Uber 🙂
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I need to get to a hotel in downtown and will have a bag so I'd prefer cab, but thanks for the advice! I just hope there are cabs available at O'hare
 
It will be no trouble at all getting a cab from O'Hare to downtown. It is a VERY busy airport, so there are cab stands at each terminal. Just follow the signs for "ground transportation/taxis" when you land, and you won't have to wait long (if at all). Hope you have a great interview day!
 
PhysicianScientist said:
I need to get to a hotel in downtown and will have a bag so I'd prefer cab, but thanks for the advice! I just hope there are cabs available at O'hare
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there are definitely plenty of cabs available at ohare. but seriously, if you just have 1 bag, take the blue line cta into downtown. $5 vs $40 and dont have to sit in verry terrible traffic
 
timeflies said:
I sure hope I'm wrong, but I'm pretty certain that's what my portal read 2 years ago when I was rejected.
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Avocat said:
Mine says "Application Complete: Your completed application has been sent to the Committee on Admissions for review. We look forward to learning about you and your accomplishments."
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wofspindoctor said:
I got an email earlier this morning with the subject "Application Process Complete". The first line says "The Committee on Admissions has completed its review of your application and has unfortunately decided not to pursue your candidacy further." I logged onto my portal and my application status says "Application Process Complete -
Thank you for your interest in Pritzker." If you didn't get the email, perhaps call the office just to make sure?
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doctorkitten said:
I would call if I were you. Inconsistencies between the portal and an email may be a mistake (nothing to lose!). when were you complete? stats? if you care to share... pre-interview right?
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Ruh roh. Yeah no email and no corresponding update in the "My History" section. The last action was my payment being processed. I'll definitely call tomorrow and clarify.

Pre-interview, complete 9/16; LizzyM=72
 
Called this morning. Not rejected! Still under review. Was also told that the status message isn't an error, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
FresherAir said:
Does Pritzker give out its merit scholarships on a rolling, first-come-first-served basis? i.e. is it better to be accepted early in the cycle (monetarily) than it is to be accepted later in the cycle?
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doesn't matter at all - people get big scholarships even off the waitlist
 
Random question for any current students: if we received an almost full tuition scholarship and are eligible for a good amount of aid do you think it will cover everything? I see a lot of posts of students receiving full rides but do they mean merit scholarships or full rides once FAFSA comes into play?
 
Is pritzker receptive to pre-interview updates? I've been complete since late july/early august and my application still says that it's under review. I'd like to send them an update if they accept them.
 
Krabbeman said:
I also have a hypothetical question. If you actually did get a full ride somewhere, but you come from pretty low SES and will likely qualify for significant aid, what happens then? Or will they see the scholarship and then consider you to not have need even if you do come from low income? So many questions🙁
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I think most schools use something along the lines of what I wrote below. If you get a full ride, you might still get aid for what's left for living exp/fees

Demonstrated need -- Merit $ = Need eligible for aid
 
I think the medical schools do not provide full funding based on the need like undergraduate schools do. They expect you to borrow upto 100k or more at most schools before they start calculating your FA.
 
texasvandy said:
I think the medical schools do not provide full funding based on the need like undergraduate schools do. They expect you to borrow upto 100k or more at most schools before they start calculating your FA.
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I don't think that's the majority in this case. I believe that the amount many schools expect you to borrow is based on need, and that merit aid factors into your so-called "need" and it is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. If schools expected you to borrow a certain amount first, people with 1/2 tuition scholarships or something similar would end up in similar debt as someone who had full-tuition merit aid (aka need would trump merit) because a 4 year attendance costs much more than 100k (usually ~300k+).

I'm by no means an expert, just going off of some bites of info I've had when looking at "how will I pay for medical school?" type of stuff. I think the best thing would be to just contact the financial aid office; they seem to be pretty transparent and helpful. I would do this if I was already accepted with a scholarship, even if it did seem a little impatient lol.
 
https://pritzker.uchicago.edu/admissions/financialaid/Financial Aid Guide1516.pdf

There is nothing in this document that says Chicago will fully fund someone to meet their financial need. OTOH, they don't make it clear like the Ivies about taking a unit loan before providing FA to meet the need. So the school should be contacted for clarity about FA packages. So if someone is admitted, no scholarship is given, how much are they expected to borrow if their family income is 60k, 100k etc.

https://pritzker.uchicago.edu/admissions/financialaid/DebtManagement.shtml
 
rejected yesterday, complete Aug 3rd
best of luck to the rest of you
 
AnophelesGambiae said:
Hey, in a similar vein, do you know when we might hear about finaid information? I imagine it might not be till next year due to the need for FAFSA....
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correct - you won't get your full financial aid package until sometime later. I don't know when it will be but a lot of medical schools wrap those up in April so you have time to think about it before your decision in May

Krabbeman said:
I also have a hypothetical question. If you actually did get a full ride somewhere, but you come from pretty low SES and will likely qualify for significant aid, what happens then? Or will they see the scholarship and then consider you to not have need even if you do come from low income? So many questions🙁
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I think someone else correctly answered this but SES does not matter as much for medical school as it does for undergrad. The idea being that at this point you are considered independent from your parents by FAFSA. Certain factors do make a difference, in particular, how much debt you already have from undergrad and how much assets you have to contribute. SES will (I believe) impact how you qualify for loans with favorable rates. To my knowledge, the vast majority of the aid that Pritzker gives is merit based. It is extremely generous, and a large majority of students have received aid in the past few years, with definite exceptions being MD/PhD (funded elsewhere) and individuals who are coming directly from a post-bacc and do some sort of early decision agreement.

One piece of data that is really helpful is to look at the average debt of people who graduate from the school. Obviously the package you get at the end of the day will tell the whole story. I don't know when the numbers will come out for 2015/2016 graduates, but expect those to be closer to what will happen for your class than the numbers that are published for 2013 as the amount of aid at Pritzker has increased in the last few years.

Hope this answers everyone's questions.
 
womp got the axe this morning. very nice rejection email though to soften the blow. complete late july
 
Does anyone have an idea of whether there is a cutoff interview date for the December 21st decision notification date? Maybe mid-late November?
@NickNaylor
 
throwawaymed said:
Does anyone have an idea of whether there is a cutoff interview date for the December 21st decision notification date? Maybe mid-late November?
@NickNaylor
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The last cutoff was 3-4 weeks before October 15th. So I'm guessing people interviewing this week will either the the last to be included or the first not to be included.
 
throwawaymed said:
Does anyone have an idea of whether there is a cutoff interview date for the December 21st decision notification date? Maybe mid-late November?
@NickNaylor
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The new system with respect to releasing acceptances is new to me, so I'm unfamiliar with what groups of folks will be included in any one batch.
 
so post-secondary, if it's still silence after >3 months (submitted beginning of August), is it a silent hold/rejection? My portal still says application complete. No rejection or put on hold message
 
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lalarubies said:
so post-secondary, if it's still silence after 3 months, is it a silent hold/rejection? My portal still says application complete. No rejection or put on hold message
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I think its pretty safe to say that they just haven't reviewed your app yet. I don't think Pritzker really does the whole silent thing. It seems that when they review it, they either send you an II or reject you. I think if they have looked at it yet, they would at least do the "held for later review status". There are people who just recently got II that submitted before you.
 
Sir.SavaLottaLife said:
I think its pretty safe to say that they just haven't reviewed your app yet. I don't think Pritzker really does the whole silent thing. It seems that when they review it, they either send you an II or reject you. I think if they have looked at it yet, they would at least do the "held for later review status". There are people who just recently got II that submitted before you.
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I just want to second this - the time between complete and review is completely random. There is a randomness to how applications are reviewed, and for whatever reason some are reviewed earlier than others. No decision has been made on your file until you hear one way or the other, and you aren't on "hold" unless you are actually told that you are on hold. There have been a few applicants who I recently interviewed who had absolutely awesome applications and were complete sometime in July but for whatever reason weren't offered an interview for long time.
 
Anyone know where I could park if I'm driving from my hotel to the interview?
 
bararaboi said:
Anyone know where I could park if I'm driving from my hotel to the interview?
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Parking around campus is kind of a pain in the ass unless you're there pre 7am. You can park in visitor parking in the Ellis lot on the corner of Ellis and 55th or stash your car off in the neighborhood somewhere. Lots of ppl will park their cars somewhere in the area between Ellis and Drexel between 58th and 55th - no permit needed and definitely safe.
 
Congrats to everybody w the scrub tops! I wrote one or two hand written notes for some of y'all.

Also join the pritzker class of 2020 fb group! Its not contractually binding haha just an opportunity to learn more about the school and ask questions!
 
My interviews tomorrow.....and my friend from UChicago just posted an email saying that all of the Hyde Park campus is shutting down tomorrow. Any medical school student know whats up? Will interviews still continue?
 
bararaboi said:
My interviews tomorrow.....and my friend from UChicago just posted an email saying that all of the Hyde Park campus is shutting down tomorrow. Any medical school student know whats up? Will interviews still continue?
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I'm not interviewing tomorrow, but I came onto this thread because I was curious about this too... stay safe everyone!
 
bararaboi said:
My interviews tomorrow.....and my friend from UChicago just posted an email saying that all of the Hyde Park campus is shutting down tomorrow. Any medical school student know whats up? Will interviews still continue?
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I think it is likely interviews will be canceled but don't take my word for it, the admissions office will surely get in contact with you. It sounds like everything not critical to patient care will be closed and that probably includes the medical school administration. All we have been told on the medical student end is that the Dean will be emailing us with details regarding our clinical responsibilities sometime in the next hour. If that has any information re: interviews I will pass it along.
 
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