2015-2016 University of Chicago (Pritzker) Application Thread

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@NickNaylor thanks for the advice about response length re: it being shorter than the word count. do y'all view having a response that's too long similarly? Specifically re: the challenge essay...400 words isn't that much haha, but if I need to cut it I will. Thanks!
 
I didn't know we could go over, so I held both essays within the word limit. Had I known we could go over, I might have added a few more words.

What's done is done though!
 
panda16 said:
@NickNaylor thanks for the advice about response length re: it being shorter than the word count. do y'all view having a response that's too long similarly? Specifically re: the challenge essay...400 words isn't that much haha, but if I need to cut it I will. Thanks!
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In the past the secondary portal didn't actually enforce the character limit, ie, it was possible to submit responses longer than the character "limits." If that is still the case, I wouldn't worry about going over within reason. Don't write a novel if a question is calling for a 400 word response.
 
NickNaylor said:
In the past the secondary portal didn't actually enforce the character limit, ie, it was possible to submit responses longer than the character "limits." If that is still the case, I wouldn't worry about going over within reason. Don't write a novel if a question is calling for a 400 word response.
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Gotcha. My response is about 480 words right now...that awkward place where if I remove too much of the narrative the explanation of what I learned won't make sense, and if I remove too much explanation then I feel that I didn't adequately address it. Thanks for your feedback...I think I can cut it down a bit still.

And you're right, there is not a hard cutoff on the secondary application.
 
480 should be fine since ~80 words isn't a whole lot. 700 though would possibly be egregious 😛
 
phuynh94 said:
Wish I had known this tidbit about the "word limit" sooner...
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What's done is done, nothing you can do about it now. For what it's worth, I just checked and my word count last year for my challenge essay was 350 words.
 
Has anyone submitted and paid the fee but not have it show up as having "Application Fee paid" in the portal?
 
justadream said:
Has anyone submitted and paid the fee but not have it show up as having "Application Fee paid" in the portal?
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As mentioned previously, everything is updated manually. It will take at least a couple of days, possibly longer, before everything in the portal is updated.
 
Can someone clarify for me...

Essay Question 2. Tell us about a difficult or challenging situation you have encountered and how you dealt with it. In your response, identify both the coping skills you called upon to resolve the dilemma, and the support person(s) from whom you sought advice. We suggest that you limit your essay to about 400 words.

How do coping skills resolve a dilemma?! I take coping to mean like, how you personally deal with the issue, not necessarily the actual steps taken to solve the dilemma. Also, the fact that they ask which person you sought advice from, seems to indicate to me that they're looking for a specific type of problem...
 
I mentioned skills (organization, perseverance) relevant to solving the issue as well as more standard 'coping skills' (like optimism).

I'm just a candidate and Chicago is a reach for me, so take my example with a grain of salt!
 
AnophelesGambiae said:
I mentioned skills (organization, perseverance) relevant to solving the issue as well as more standard 'coping skills' (like optimism).

I'm just a candidate and Chicago is a reach for me, so take my example with a grain of salt!
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AHh, okay thanks!
 
I submitted on Thursday...it says my secondary is complete and my fee is paid, but it says my recs aren't in yet. Which they are and have been since I was verified...anyone else? Strange that they would process my secondary but not download the recs yet.
 
catchmoresun said:
I submitted on Thursday...it says my secondary is complete and my fee is paid, but it says my recs aren't in yet. Which they are and have been since I was verified...anyone else? Strange that they would process my secondary but not download the recs yet.
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Same here. As mentioned above, apparently everything is updated manually so it may take a few days for our recs to be added to our files.
 
mgzavri said:
Same here. As mentioned above, apparently everything is updated manually so it may take a few days for our recs to be added to our files.
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Just like the initial AMCAS flood, I think it may take a while at the beginning. 🙂
 
If it's been less than a week since you've submitted anything via the school (including your secondary, letters, etc.), don't panic. Don't call the admissions office. It will take time for things to be processed. There are 2-3 people in the office that are responsible for processing all of the application materials and updating the portal manually. Things won't show up as received immediately.
 
Kevindurant35 said:
What are you struggling with?
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Chicago is one of my top choices, so I'm overthinking a lot. Also having difficulty tying the "diversity" and "advance Pritzker mission" portion of the first essay together
 
starlite911 said:
Chicago is one of my top choices, so I'm overthinking a lot. Also having difficulty tying the "diversity" and "advance Pritzker mission" portion of the first essay together
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Is there anything you have done in your past that aligns with Pritzker's misison (heavy research focus)?
 
ElCapone said:
Is there anything you have done in your past that aligns with Pritzker's misison (heavy research focus)?
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Yeah, I've done several years of research and actually have a research job now during my gap year. This wasn't what I was leaning towards for my diversity, but I can probably tie it in as well for at least the Mission part?
 
starlite911 said:
Yeah, I've done several years of research and actually have a research job now during my gap year. This wasn't what I was leaning towards for my diversity, but I can probably tie it in as well for at least the Mission part?
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Pritzker isn't only research focussed. They also have a strong focus on helping underserved communities, and if you have experience doing that write about that as well.
 
Kevindurant35 said:
Pritzker isn't only research focussed. They also have a strong focus on helping underserved communities, and if you have experience doing that write about that as well.
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Thanks for the insight! There's a lot of different things I could write about, but for whatever reason, I'm just having difficulty shaping it into a flowing narrative.
 
Submitted!

Ended up not even mentioning my work with underserved communities which is a huge aspect of my app, so hopefully they get the message from my primary haha!

Best of luck everyone! We should be finding stuff out very, very soon...
 
Does anyone know the latest possible MCAT date for Pritzker? On MSAR it says Dec 6, 2014 but that seems wrong. Are the January 2015 MCATs no good for applying here?
 
DiDoc said:
Does anyone know the latest possible MCAT date for Pritzker? On MSAR it says Dec 6, 2014 but that seems wrong. Are the January 2015 MCATs no good for applying here?
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MSAR probably hasn't been updated yet, I would navigate to their website for the information about MCAT requirements. Jan 2015 MCATs would most certainly be acceptable for this cycle.
 
panda16 said:
MSAR probably hasn't been updated yet, I would navigate to their website for the information about MCAT requirements. Jan 2015 MCATs would most certainly be acceptable for this cycle.
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Their website hasn't been updated since last cycle. But it was September 2014 for last cycle so I'm assuming around September 2015 for this one.

I would just like to know for sure before I submit the secondary if my MCAT is even applicable...
 
DiDoc said:
Their website hasn't been updated since last cycle. But it was September 2014 for last cycle so I'm assuming around September 2015 for this one.

I would just like to know for sure before I submit the secondary if my MCAT is even applicable...
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I can guarantee you that the Jan 2015 MCAT is acceptable. If you want confirmation email them ASAP!
 
What are everyone's thoughts on applying early decision? Does it really help you get in?
 
Anyone else not seeing the fee portion as received even though they got emailed a receipt?
 
I thought only the recs were updated manually, no?
 
Thanks for both your tips! I just realized that I didn't properly cite some of my posters on AMCAS. Does anyone here know how I can go about properly updating this with Pritzker?
 
Tankstah said:
What are everyone's thoughts on applying early decision? Does it really help you get in?
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If you are interested in applying ED, you will likely need to meet personally with the admissions staff to discuss the process. The ED process is discussed elsewhere, but the long-short of it is that it doesn't increase your chances and will severely handicap your cycle if you don't end up getting accepted. Typically only very competitive applicants have a decent shot at ED.
 
The Cheat said:
Thanks for both your tips! I just realized that I didn't properly cite some of my posters on AMCAS. Does anyone here know how I can go about properly updating this with Pritzker?
Click to expand...

Do what you want, but as long as the critical information (authors and title) are correct, I wouldn't worry about it. No one is going to go check your citations or anything like that.
 
panda16 said:
Submitted!

Ended up not even mentioning my work with underserved communities which is a huge aspect of my app, so hopefully they get the message from my primary haha!

Best of luck everyone! We should be finding stuff out very, very soon...
Click to expand...

"very, very soon" .... does Pritzker have history of sending II's early?
 
shh-pthway said:
"very, very soon" .... does Pritzker have history of sending II's early?
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I would expect that IIs will start going out towards the end of the month if not before then. Typically interviews start in mid August or so.
 
Thanks for the replies @NickNaylor and @mojanglez ... I submitted July 4th weekend, but recs are still not downloaded and status hasn't changed to "under review" from "secondary complete" yet. Hopefully soon though! =]
 
NickNaylor said:
Everything is updated manually.

I wonder how many times this question will be asked. 🙂
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I'm a little surprised that U Chicago or any school would update payment status manually if an applicant pays via credit card or has a fee waiver. That can be automated quite well nowadays and frees up your time to read essays and do other things.
 
The Cheat said:
I'm a little surprised that U Chicago or any school would update payment status manually if an applicant pays via credit card or has a fee waiver. That can be automated quite well nowadays and frees up your time to read essays and do other things.
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It be what it be.
 
wait so.. i'm a little confused by the committee letter question, if i have a prehealth committee letter packet that i am using, so i keep the default selection at "No, NA"?
 
Oranges2 said:
wait so.. i'm a little confused by the committee letter question, if i have a prehealth committee letter packet that i am using, so i keep the default selection at "No, NA"?
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Exactly.
 
Anyone have "complete" status on the portal? ... seems they are going at slower pace than last year
 
Hey yall, sorry for not being around during the initial waves of primaries! I am currently doing a public health research project abroad and have been a little preoccupied traversing my new country.

Hope everyone is doing well and don't stress too much. As Dr. Nick Naylor has pointed out - everything is done manually and this time of year is prime for people to take vacations before the season really heats up.

Just as a reference: I submitted my secondary around July 15 and received an interview invite August 1st. Once the ball gets rolling for decisions Pritzker is known for being quite quick compared to other schools.

Good luck everyone!
 
Working on the Challenge question! Does it have to be in a professional setting? I'm considering writing about my crisis of faith.
 
bararaboi said:
Working on the Challenge question! Does it have to be in a professional setting? I'm considering writing about my crisis of faith.
Click to expand...
That question sucks... Good thing we'll be able to reuse it.
From what I've heard though, religion is a risky topic.
 
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