2018-2019 University of Illinois

Getting into Med School is Hard? Not with BeMo.
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Is there hope for updates or can I assume deffered?
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Have people received any formal emails this week? I’m wondering for both people who got accepted and people who didn’t have any changes to the portal.
 
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Hi, long-time reader here but just made my account today. Interviewed early, was ghosted for months by UICOM, and just received an acceptance a few days ago. There were at least 9 hours in between seeing the acceptance on the portal and receiving the formal email. Stay strong, guys!
 
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I think IIs are done toward the end of this month... I was complete in early August, but my status never changed from "forwarded to the screening committee." Is it safe to assume that my app will not be reviewed by the admissions committee this cycle?
 
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So the next adcom meeting is for sure march 7th? They didn't manage to schedule another one b4 then like they wanted?
 
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I'm from Rockford and can answer anyone's questions about the city. I was rejected from UIC a couple weeks ago but I was accepted to a CA school which I am more than happy to attend. Looks like my life in IL is over ‍♀️. I can provide some opinions of the city from someone who has grown up there.

Weather: You get all 4 seasons here, which I personally like. The trees look beautiful in autumn. That being said, some days in winter can be brutal.

Restaurants: Has plenty of restaurants. A lot of great American food. I'm Asian (Indian) and the diversity of food here is a bit on the weaker side, especially compared to Chicago. However, I think it's improving and we've recently opened up our first bubble tea shop :D. There are a lot of Starbucks around the city and they're fairly nice and I liked to study there in high school.

Shopping: Cherryvalle Mall is a fairly decent mall. It's not as nice as the malls you find in the Chicago suburbs but it's a nice place to hang out every once in a while.

Nature: Rock Cut park is nice if you like kayaking, camping, and biking. There is also Anderson Japanese gardens which is really nice and is actually pretty close to the UIC Rockford campus.

Nightlife: I recommend Praire Street Brewery like what dustars mentioned. I left to UIUC after high school so I can't provide too much more than that. I know our downtown has been growing but I went there recently and it looked kind of shady. Not many people on the streets and not as well lit as it should be. I wouldn't go there again.

Cost of Living: I've lived under my parents roof my entire time here, but from my understanding, it's pretty cheap to live here. A 1bd 1bth apartment would probably never reach over 1k/month even pushing luxury apartments. You're going to need a car to live here, as everything is fairly spread out and you're making your life much harder without one. I've never used public transport but it doesn't seem to be prominent here.

Crime: Growing up in Rockford, we always joked about how bad the crime is in our city. At one point we were rated something along the lines of 3rd highest crime rate in the nation. The west side (near auburn street) has pretty high crime/poverty. I would advise against being around this area especially at night. The east side is fairly safe however, and this is where most of the interesting things are anyway. The medical school is somewhat near the border where crime starts to pick up, but still in the clear.

If you want to know more Rockford or my application process feel free to message me with any questions
 
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Does anyone who interviewed at Peoria know if it is open or closed file? Can't seem to find info on it anywhere...
Thank you!!!
 
Has anyone interviewed for any specialized programs? Specifically before being notified of a decision into the regular MD program?
I was invited to interview for a specialized program but, like many here, my portal has not changed as yet (interviewed early October). So just wondering if this has happened for anyone else.
 
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rkmedz said:
Has anyone interviewed for any specialized programs? Specifically before being notified of a decision into the regular MD program?
I was invited to interview for a specialized program but, like many here, my portal has not changed as yet (interviewed early October). So just wondering if this has happened for anyone else.
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I strongly suspect you've been accepted and haven't been notified. Only accepted students are considered for special programs. Someone probably made a mistake.
 
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mmgrit35 said:
I strongly suspect you've been accepted and haven't been notified. Only accepted students are considered for special programs. Someone probably made a mistake.
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This is not necessarily true. I previously interviewed for a specialized program as well without being accepted yet. Several others were also interviewing for the same program on that date.
 
neuro312 said:
This is not necessarily true. I previously interviewed for a specialized program as well without being accepted yet. Several others were also interviewing for the same program on that date.
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Sorry for the misinformation/hope then - previously they said only accepted students were considered.
 
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Does anybody know if there are still seats open at the Chicago campus? I have the Peoria UIC interview soon, but I only want to go if I have a shot at landing the Chicago campus. It definitely doesn't help that I'm from Peoria :( :( :(
 
Very unexpected OOS II today! Not sure if I will attend however.
narredfox said:
Does anybody know if there are still seats open at the Chicago campus? I have the Peoria UIC interview soon, but I only want to go if I have a shot at landing the Chicago campus. It definitely doesn't help that I'm from Peoria :( :( :(
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I see two Chicago interview dates in the portal for next week.

Edit: I'm not actually sure about the odds of getting the Chicago campus this late in the cycle.
 
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throwitallaway said:
erggggg I have 3 behavorial sciences just not the whole 2 within the same subject. Darn. I may need to withdraw my II then
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If you have already completed your degree, they likely would not offer you an interview if you didn’t satisfy their pre-requisite coursework. If you are still in school it is possible they would expect you to take more courses. Speaking from experience as I was in the latter scenario and contacted admissions about it
 
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throwitallaway said:
does anyone know how strict the behavioral science pre-reqs are...
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i know everyones said this already but you should email and ask ! they get back to you pretty quickly. after i got my ii, i emailed about my LoRs because i wasn't sure if they fulfilled the requirements, but they assured me it would be fine. good luck !
 
Ramatronics said:
In terms of resources, yes, this was an issue in the beginning. However, we've had town halls with the deans and worked on getting better representation from Peoria. The biggest issue was that Peoria went from having only 3 classes to 4 (in the old curriculum, the M1 was done in Champaign and the students then came to Peoria for the M2 year.) However, since the start of Class of 2022, there was a new active learning classroom built and there are other improvements to the campus in the works.

Historically, Peoria has done better on Step 1 and the block exams. The teachers here are phenomenal.

The biggest advantage of a Peoria vs Chicago is the class sizes. The class sizes are small and we get a lot more time with faculty. Further, there a lot of clinical opportunities that are easier to come by than in Chicago. Peoria has Urban Health, Rural, and Innovation tracks available. In terms of research, yes, Peoria has less variety than Chicago. With that being said, it's much easier to join a lab or clinical research project because there are fewer students competing for them.

Here are the match lists of Peoria (https://peoria.medicine.uic.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2018/03/2018-Residency-Assignments.pdf) and Chicago (COM Chicago Match Results).

Lastly, please keep in mind that while we all take the same tests and have the same weekly learning objectives, the lectures/classes between the campuses are not always the same but you can always view Chicago/Rockford recordings.

In terms of curriculum, unless you are interested in a very specific field or specific research area that's not available in Peoria, Peoria is the better option in my very biased opinion.

Feel free to PM me with specific questions


Oh and very high yield: Whichever school you choose, make sure it's a true P/F. Ideally block based curriculum but a true P/F is a must.
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Oh man, this makes me really excited for Peoria. I love smaller class sizes and knowing the teachers are exceptional (I'm sure most are but hearing this is comforting).
 
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got the pre-II R just now; complete early July. Was really hoping to go here but oh well. Good luck everyone!
 
Also assigned to Chicago campus, OOS
 
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Has anyone used or made an account with castlebranch? It is under the requirements for the immunizations. It seems like it is a tracking system.
 
Just reiterates what we know, but I chatted briefly with Leila on this AAMC virtual med school fair thingy, saying that I hoped to hear back in March, and she said to be patient and that the committee is being very conservative.
 
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dustars said:
Has anyone used or made an account with castlebranch? It is under the requirements for the immunizations. It seems like it is a tracking system.
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Where did you find that info? Also anyone have any ideas about when we'll get financial aid info?
 
aleezard21 said:
Where did you find that info? Also anyone have any ideas about when we'll get financial aid info?
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It’s under the admission requirements on the school website, just scroll all the way down until you hit matriculation requirements. I’m not able to post links for some reason.
 
Just called and confirmed. They said admission decisions are going out again on March 8th. I interviewed 11/29.
 
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So they are done with interviews in case anyone is still waiting. Tmrw is the last day :/
 
Has anyone interviewed for speciality programs? (UMED, GMED, etc) Or any insight into that timeline? I know the deadline for apps is Friday.
 
dustars said:
Has anyone used or made an account with castlebranch? It is under the requirements for the immunizations. It seems like it is a tracking system.
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I made an account with castlebranch but it is still not updated for 2019. I asked admissions about it and they said to wait to upload documents onto my castlebranch account until it's been updated for this year. I went ahead and completed the titer work, vaccinations, and tuberculosis test according to this checklist just to be proactive about things:
https://medicine.uic.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/2018_admission_requirments.pdf
 
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jolukemi said:
Has anyone interviewed for speciality programs? (UMED, GMED, etc) Or any insight into that timeline? I know the deadline for apps is Friday.
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not sure about GMED, but i know the UMED interviews are during second look!
 
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jolukemi said:
Has anyone interviewed for speciality programs? (UMED, GMED, etc) Or any insight into that timeline? I know the deadline for apps is Friday.
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I don't remember where I saw it but all of the interviews for GMED are held on one day in I think the end of march or beginning of April. They might be during second look too

EDIT: The GMED ones are April 1st
 
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Does anyone know when second look weekend is for the Chicago campus?
 
Has anyone received an acceptance packet in the mail? Only thing I have received is an email saying congratulations. I am wondering if I should be getting started on accepted students documents?
 
iamstressed said:
Has anyone received an acceptance packet in the mail? Only thing I have received is an email saying congratulations. I am wondering if I should be getting started on accepted students documents?
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Been accepted for 4 months, have received nothing
 
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Last interviews are today. There are two adcom meetings in March. One during the first week and one during the second week. They have filled approx. 200/300 seats and are looking to have a full class by 2nd look which is the last Friday in March @ all campuses.
 
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Also, does anyone know what the timeline looks like in August? Is there an orientation? When's the White Coat Ceremony? I'm curious in the hopes that I might still receive good news :xf:
 
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