2015-2016 University of Chicago (Pritzker) Application Thread

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MSTP invitees, is the MSTP interview one day or two days? The MSTP website says two days but the email I got only mentioned one interview day and I can only select one day on the interview schedule. I'm wondering if my invite was actually for MD-only. Any insight, @BR2016 @edc1618 @26point2?
 
neurotroph said:
MSTP invitees, is the MSTP interview one day or two days? The MSTP website says two days but the email I got only mentioned one interview day and I can only select one day on the interview schedule. I'm wondering if my invite was actually for MD-only. Any insight, @BR2016 @edc1618 @26point2?
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My email outlined a schedule for a two-day interview (day 1 is with the medical school and day 2 is for MSTP). I was given a phone number for someone to contact to schedule my interview, and she gave me a few options for 2-day interviews.
 
neurotroph said:
MSTP invitees, is the MSTP interview one day or two days? The MSTP website says two days but the email I got only mentioned one interview day and I can only select one day on the interview schedule. I'm wondering if my invite was actually for MD-only. Any insight, @BR2016 @edc1618 @26point2?
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Yeah I scheduled my interview through email with someone in admissions, but its a Monday night dinner with Tuesday MD interviews and Wednesday MSTP interviews. So, two days!
Oh, and my invite was very specific that it was MSTP and the portal says MD/MSTP as well so that should tell you if its MD only.
 
edc1618 said:
Yeah I scheduled my interview through email with someone in admissions, but its a Monday night dinner with Tuesday MD interviews and Wednesday MSTP interviews. So, two days!
Oh, and my invite was very specific that it was MSTP and the portal says MD/MSTP as well so that should tell you if its MD only.
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hmmmm my portal still says MD/MSTP but my invite email didn't make any mention of MSTP. For me to be diverted to MD-only I would have to get an MSTP rejection first, but I haven't gotten any rejection notice. I'm so confused. I tried calling the MSTP office but nobody picked up. Will try to figure this out on Monday.
 
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So do people typically bring anything to their interviews (e.g., a folder with resume/papers)?
 
justadream said:
So do people typically bring anything to their interviews (e.g., a folder with resume/papers)?
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Wondering this too ^ someone told me for her graduate school interviews, she brought a folder with printouts of her ppt presentations / honors thesis to have on hand if the interviewer asked about them. Considering doing this for my MSTP interview but don't know if that's kind of...over the top?
 
pineapplecake said:
Wondering this too ^ someone told me for her graduate school interviews, she brought a folder with printouts of her ppt presentations / honors thesis to have on hand if the interviewer asked about them. Considering doing this for my MSTP interview but don't know if that's kind of...over the top?
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Seems a bit intense to me, but I have no idea what the standard etiquette is for PhD interviews is. I interviewed MSTP applicants for the MD portion of the day and never saw anything like that.
 
NickNaylor said:
Seems a bit intense to me, but I have no idea what the standard etiquette is for PhD interviews is. I interviewed MSTP applicants for the MD portion of the day and never saw anything like that.
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Ahaha okayy good to know 🙂 thanks!
 
I haven't heard back about student hosting yet, but should we bring a sleeping bag if we end up staying with a student?

@NickNaylor
 
ShadyLane said:
I haven't heard back about student hosting yet, but should we bring a sleeping bag if we end up staying with a student?

@NickNaylor
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You won't hear back about hosting until a week or so before your interview. The requests are sent out to students a week in advance. I would make alternate plans just in case that you can cancel without penalty.

You don't need to bring a sleeping bag. Your host will provide you with sleeping arrangements, whether that be an inflatable bed, couch, etc..
 
@NickNaylor Can you comment on opportunities to work with the underserved in Hyde Park/Chicago? I'm leaning towards primary care in these type of communities.
 
brommanders said:
@NickNaylor Can you comment on opportunities to work with the underserved in Hyde Park?
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There are plenty of opportunities in a variety of domains. Clinically, there are something like 4 or 5 free clinics that students can volunteer at. Any students can volunteer, but they are most commonly staffed by MS1s, MS2s, and Ms4s in addition to residents and attendings. Each of the clinics serves a slightly different population (e.g., a children's clinic, a clinic for battered women and their children, a clinic predominantly serving South Asian folks, and another clinic that serves the general population). I spent most of my time working at the battered women's shelter (the Maria Shelter Clinic) as well as the clinic primarily serving South Asians (the New Life Volunteering Society Clinic). Each of these clinics holds clinic on a weekly basis, so there are plenty of opportunities to volunteer in that way.

There are also a few educational opportunities, including tutoring, drug education, and a program that promotes science education at CPS schools on the south side. Pritzker also hosts a program designed for minorities (I believe for high school students) during the summer with the goal of promoting an interest in science and medicine and preparation for post-secondary education, and Pritzker students volunteer at that program.

During the summer after MS1, in addition to the Summer Research Program (SRP) there's also the Summer Service Program (SSP), which provides a stipend equivalent to the SRP for developing and implementing a service project at a local site over the course of 8-10 weeks. I don't know much about the program since I did SRP, but one of my good friends did the SSP and was involved in a project related to addressing food deserts and providing nutritional education to local residents.

I'm sure there are many more niche things going on, but those are the primary activities that I remember hearing about.
 
Please dear God, don't come to school here. Please.
 
The entire institution is morally corrupt, and they have endangered patients on multiple occasions. They do not care about patients. I highly doubt anybody will listen even with justification. Hopefully, somebody will.
 
naan said:
The entire institution is morally corrupt, and they have endangered patients on multiple occasions. They do not care about patients. I highly doubt anybody will listen even with justification. Hopefully, somebody will.
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Whatever your opinion might be, and regardless of how valid (or invalid) your complaints might be, it's important to understand that 1) the hospital system is it's own entity, distinct from the university as a whole and Pritzker specifically and 2) any grievances you might have with the UCMC system are unlikely to be unique to that system. As a resident working in a different hospital system now, there are similar issues related to patient care, processes, etc. and I suspect that is likely the case with just about any hospital system. If your goal is to identify a perfect hospital system to work in as a trainee, you will likely fail.

It is also important to note that issues like that, while certainly worthy of change, will have zero impact on the quality of training, which is ultimately the goal of medical school.
 
naan said:
The entire institution is morally corrupt, and they have endangered patients on multiple occasions. They do not care about patients. I highly doubt anybody will listen even with justification. Hopefully, somebody will.
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Let me guess....trauma center?
 
When I said institution, I was not referring only to the hospital system. Nope, unrelated to trauma center.
 
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naan said:
When I said institution, I was not referring only to the hospital system, Alex. Nope, unrelated to trauma center.
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I'm unsure of how the school can have anything to do with that when the school has no say with respect to how the hospital runs apart from organizing students for clerkships.

Also, exactly what I was thinking @Tots.
 
naan said:
When I said institution, I was not referring only to the hospital system, Alex. Nope, unrelated to trauma center.
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Well.......no one is going to decide where they go to medical school based on vague accusations made on an anonymous forum.

If you have some concern about the institution or medical education at Pritzker that you think is relevant to applicants deciding where to spend the next 4 years of their education then by all means share. One of the strengths of this forum is allowing students to get varied opinions on schools outside of the facade presented on interview days. I am all for giving applicants a complete picture of Pritzker before they decide to come here. As a student I have been beyond happy with medical education here but that doesn't mean that this is the best school for everyone.
 
I mean the school and hospital are both morally corrupt. Let's be honest, everybody will pick based on money and prestige, which happen to be the only two things the institution cares about.
 
@naan... if you arn't going to be specific then I don't think anyone cares. If nobody cares, why are you wasting your time posting here?
 
naan said:
I mean the school and hospital are both morally corrupt. Let's be honest, everybody will pick based on money and prestige, which happen to be the only two things the institution cares about.
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We will just have to agree to disagree as I don't think this was true of my experience at all.
 
The cafeterias suck and are over-priced. The Dirty is nasty. They still haven't said anything about the gunshots on 54th and Drexel last week. They tried to make Olivia Ortiz reapply. Admin aren't very supportive. I could go on.
 
naan said:
The cafeterias suck and are over-priced. The Dirty is nasty. They still haven't said anything about the gunshots on 54th and Drexel last week. They tried to make Olivia Ortiz reapply. Admin aren't very supportive. I could go on.
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None of these things have anything to do with education apart, I guess, from the "admin aren't very supportive." I'm not sure what you mean by "supportive," but this was certainly not the case for me or most of my classmates that I spoke with. And compared with many other medical schools Pritzker is beyond supportive of students and working to help them achieve their goals. I guess it depends on what your expectations and standards are. That support becomes especially evident when it comes to applying for residency.
 
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Well I guess the education part is subjective. I think m1 path and biochem are poorly taught. Nutrition was removed from the curriculum. Some faculty believe the admin doesn't care where or what you match in as long as you match. Although, I was referring to the admin in general esp. in light of Olivia.
 
naan said:
Well I guess the education part is subjective. I think m1 path and biochem are poorly taught. Nutrition was removed from the curriculum. Some faculty believe the admin doesn't care where or what you match in as long as you match. Although, I was referring to the admin in general esp. in light of Olivia.
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Just Googled Olivia Ortiz and that's really disappointing to see. Though that seems to be more of an issue with the college than the med school? (assuming I have the right person)
 
naan said:
Well I guess the education part is subjective. I think m1 path and biochem are poorly taught. Nutrition was removed from the curriculum. Some faculty believe the admin doesn't care where or what you match in as long as you match. Although, I was referring to the admin in general esp. in light of Olivia.
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Unless I'm missing something, I'm unsure of what the situation surrounding an undergrad student has anything to do with Pritker generally or the Pritzker administration specifically.

Regarding matching, at the end of the day, yes, the goal for you is to match. The goal of the school of medicine is to train future physicians. If you don't match, then you don't become a physician, period. The school will do everything in its power to give you the best shot to achieve whatever your goals are. The senior administration will make calls for you to programs if your residency application process isn't going well. They will put pressure on other faculty to support you if your application will need that support. I know these things first-hand. And yes, part of that guidance might include breaking the news to you that applying to super competitive programs in a super competitive specialty as a mediocre applicant isn't wise if your goal is to eventually practice. That's simply being realistic and supporting you in whatever way is feasible based on the effort and achievements that you have accomplished over the preceding 4+ years.

I will agree with you that the path and biochem courses can be improved at least based on my experience when I took them, but the entire M2 curriculum is top-notch and outstanding. Most of the M1 courses are also outstanding, including the anatomy course and the physiology course. The microbio course is also well-taught. The clinical skills courses are extremely well-taught.

Look, if you have substantive complaints or things that you find to be less-than-inspiring about your experience then you should share them. As @Tots said, that's a major point of value for this forum. However, tossing out a bunch of stuff that has little to no relevance to Pritzker is pointless and derails the thread off-topic. The goal here is to provide advice about the application process and answer questions specifically related to being a medical student. The response or lack thereof (I have no idea since I'm not there anymore) of the university to a shooting that did not involve anyone affiliated with the university does not fall in that category. The plight of an undergrad student also is not in that category. The quality of hospital cafeteria food is at best tangential and really not relevant to what is actually important in choosing a school and discussing the experience of being a student. If you're going to complain and critique then feel free to complain and critique, but do so in a way that will actually help applicants in a meaningful way rather than mudslinging. The former is helpful, the latter is not. I hope you can appreciate the difference.
 
I love "the dirty" :shrug:

I second everything @NickNaylor said. I don't understand what this undergrad student has to do with Pritzker. And I don't know anything about matching so I defer to him.

I definitely wasn't a big fan of the Path class. Though it was less about how it was taught and more about how it was organized. So much unnecessary detail. The administration, however, is in the process of changing the course. Biochem was more than fine my year so I don't know what to say about that. We also very clearly had a nutrition component of biochem. It was very much the biochemical basis of nutrition and lacked a lot of practical value but this is exactly what is tested on Step 1 so.....:shrug:

2nd year is a blast. Neuro is the best taught class of the first 2 years. CPP&T is maybe not as well taught as the rumors make it seem but it is fantastically organized and and just plain awesome. It is probably 50% of the reason that we do well on Step 1, the other 50% being that Pritzker accepts smart people that are good at taking tests.

And 3rd year....is awesome. :banana:
 
The bright side is that I finally got an email from this school. They worded the rejection in a nice way at least... good luck to the rest of ya
 
When were you guys complete? I was complete on the 4th and still haven't heard back.
 
Did anyone interview today?

How was the breakfast? Does everyone get there at like 8 AM sharp?
 
Rejected just now. My stats were lower than their averages but I had unique ECs. Complete 7/21. Oh well. On to the next. Best of luck to everyone!
 
Hey guys, what does a hold look like? On my portal, the hold tab is not highlighted like the other tabs, but there is a gold lock right under it.
 

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