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google12 said:
For the stressful situation prompt, do y’all think it’s okay to use a significant essay from the past (like early high school/late middle school)? Or do you think they specifically want college experiences?
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I did, but that's only because mine was about my parents divorcing and that was a pivotal moment in my life and reflecting back on it I've learned a lot about myself.
 
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google12 said:
How strict does UIC have that requirement for 3 courses in Psych/soc? I have 2 and a 3rd I put as a BIOL class but it contained a lot of psych in it as well (also has Psych in the name and course content). Idk if I can talk to them and see if that class will count
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Hopefully not that strict. I'm in a similar boat, my freshman year university had a couple classes in the behavior science realm but on the transcript it's not explicitly a behavioral science as the school manufactured its own name for the course. Would suck because one of my letter writers is an alum and it's my third. It's actually making me neurotic, I'm considering taking an online class so I have something concrete I can update them with 😵
 
google12 said:
Hey so I recently talked to someone about this. First off, it won't affect your chances at an interview, it's only something to be done before matriculation.

Second, we can apparently email somebody (idk who, email is probably online) about whether previous classes can count as that psych/soc class by sending a course description. If that doesn't work out, we can always take a course later. Hope that helps, it definitely helped me lol
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Thanks! My heart skipped a beat when I read the original post, I’ve only ever heard of schools requiring 2 behavioral/soc classes lol.
 
Is anyone else having trouble accessing the portal? I keep getting a server error message.
 
google12 said:
How strict does UIC have that requirement for 3 courses in Psych/soc? I have 2 and a 3rd I put as a BIOL class but it contained a lot of psych in it as well (also has Psych in the name and course content). Idk if I can talk to them and see if that class will count
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Hey! I emailed then about course content for a few classes a while back and they were super flexible with it. As long as it’s in the general realm and obviously not hard science/math you’ll be fine.
 
Do they only send out invites/look at your application AFTER you finish CASPer test? Or can they do it before CASPer too if you have everything else completed.
 
TheOpology said:
Do they only send out invites/look at your application AFTER you finish CASPer test? Or can they do it before CASPer too if you have everything else completed.
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I think your CASPer results have to be in before you're considered complete. At least that's the impression I got from Dr. Amiri. You can always call and ask though.
 
Has any current or former student done the Urban Med program? If so, do you know if the application questions change from year to year?
 
I submitted my application with the letters almost a month ago, yet it still says the letters are unreceived. Do we NEED to contact them or do we just give it more time?
 
springfields said:
I submitted my application with the letters almost a month ago, yet it still says the letters are unreceived. Do we NEED to contact them or do we just give it more time?
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The office is very friendly and helpful. I would call to make sure there are not any issues. When I reached out in mid-July, I was informed that two of my letters were missing signatures. I had to coordinate updated letters with two of my instructors, and it took a full week. And after they were submitted, I still had to follow up to make sure someone knew to double-back and update my application. Go ahead and check in - they have so many applicants, it's not like they are going to put you on a blacklist for checking :cat:
 
google12 said:
Call them. They literally checked my letters right then and there and manually completed my app. They were super friendly about it too, and you’ve been waiting more than a month
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Can confirm! Just did this about 2 minutes ago cause I had been waiting for 2 weeks and everything was taken care of!
 
Biochemistry prereq. Anyone know if UIC will accept a community college BioChem class? MSAR says no, but the UIC website doesn't say anything about it either way. I tried emailing them.. no response after 2 weeks.
 
BullBearMan said:
Biochemistry prereq. Anyone know if UIC will accept a community college BioChem class? MSAR says no, but the UIC website doesn't say anything about it either way. I tried emailing them.. no response after 2 weeks.
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Repeat the email or call them. They got to my email last week within a day.
 
In the portal should it say Casper received? My status says “ready” I’m not sure if that means complete ?
 
AllYouNeedIsHope said:
In the portal should it say Casper received? My status says “ready” I’m not sure if that means complete ?
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I don't think there is a specific place in the checklist for CASPer but if you have a file complete green check mark then I'm assuming your application is complete and everything was received. If not - just send them a quick email or call them they are really helpful once you get a hold of them!
 
Does the campus that you interview at have bearing on where you will be placed? Is it implying that you will most likely be placed at that location or is it truly not reflective of your ultimate campus?
 
medicalschoolhopeful17 said:
Does the campus that you interview at have bearing on where you will be placed? Is it implying that you will most likely be placed at that location or is it truly not reflective of your ultimate campus?
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They answer this on their FAQ section, I believe and say that where you interview does not have any bearing on where you'll be placed.
 
II received 8/30! Already bought my airline tickets! Staying at an Airbnb about five minutes away from campus. I’ll be flying into Midway. Is it advisable to rent a car or will Lyft/Public Transportation suffice?
 
BrowsesTooMuch said:
II received 8/30! Already bought my airline tickets! Staying at an Airbnb about five minutes away from campus. I’ll be flying into Midway. Is it advisable to rent a car or will Lyft/Public Transportation suffice?
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You an take the orange line train from Midway and take a bus after to your airbnb most likely.
 
BrowsesTooMuch said:
II received 8/30! Already bought my airline tickets! Staying at an Airbnb about five minutes away from campus. I’ll be flying into Midway. Is it advisable to rent a car or will Lyft/Public Transportation suffice?
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Congrats! Complete date?

Public transportation can take you anywhere you need to go. Like the above poster mentioned, the orange line takes you straight to downtown. The pink line take you to the medical school campus and you can take an Uber/Lyft from there if you'd like.
 
Complete date 8/10
TSHJB302 said:
Congrats! Complete date?

Public transportation can take you anywhere you need to go. Like the above poster mentioned, the orange line takes you straight to downtown. The pink line take you to the medical school campus and you can take an Uber/Lyft from there if you'd like.
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8/10
 
Thought this would help some people basically echoing what others have said, call if your letters show as not received:

I was complete early august and my application has since showed as incomplete bc my letters were showing as unreceived, even though there were showing up in the portal. I waited until today to call bc I thought it was a glitch (common at UIC lol). I spoke with the admissions office and they said that 2 of my 4 letters were academic, which is less than the required 3. I informed them that I am nontrad and they gave me an email to appeal. Hopefully it goes through. I am local and did my informal post-bacc at UIC.
 
They knew. They knew exactly what they were doing, but they did it anyway. I won't forget this treachery, UIC
 

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RMBMW said:
Congrats! Complete date? IS or OOS? LM?
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Don't remember when I was complete bc I remember they took forever to verify letters and never sent an email. But I submitted 7/16. Also my residency situation is a little weird so I honestly don't know if I'm IS or OOS here lol. Strange, I know

LM 74-75
 
google12 said:
How strict does UIC have that requirement for 3 courses in Psych/soc? I have 2 and a 3rd I put as a BIOL class but it contained a lot of psych in it as well (also has Psych in the name and course content). Idk if I can talk to them and see if that class will count
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Where did you read this? I had no idea they required 3 psych /soc classes! Can you provide a link?
 
google12 said:
According to them, you can ask to have a past class be re-classified, even if it’s noted as something else on AMCAS. I plan to have a bio class count as psych - I’d just have to email someone there and ask (send them course info, etc)

Idk if this’ll work but it better lol
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I am positive that I have no such class. Do you know if it's possible to have them consider mcat subsection score as a substitute for the class requirement? My psych/soc section was my highest
 
and 99 others said:
I am positive that I have no such class. Do you know if it's possible to have them consider mcat subsection score as a substitute for the class requirement? My psych/soc section was my highest
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LOL no... just try to take a psych class in the spring bro. Or even take some in the summer.
 
and 99 others said:
I am positive that I have no such class. Do you know if it's possible to have them consider mcat subsection score as a substitute for the class requirement? My psych/soc section was my highest
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I’ve spoken with Dr. Amiri about it, it’s a hard requirement.
 
I know there have been posts regarding issues people have had with UIC but I thought I'd share mine so others know they're not alone. My application was marked incomplete because my letters of recs are not in. I was first told that it was a glitch, that it would update soon. Now it's Sept and still incomplete.

First and foremost, calling them is impossible. When I tried admissions, there is no prompt to let you reach a real human being. I tried the waiting until the end thing too. I ended up calling three other numbers and eventually got redirected to a real human in admissions. They said that they verify letters manually and that she would be happy to do that for me now that I was on the phone with her. She did so and then told me that I also needed my CASPer in to be considered complete. There is not a checkbox for the CASPer on the application portal. I told her that and she told me that she would inform their third party vendor for the site to correct that. She also told me that it should've been in the email I got. It is absolutely not in the email regarding materials needed to complete your supplemental application.

I understand that this information is out there (SDN, reddit, etc) but its very frustrating that UIC themselves don't have this information available. I'm nontrad and a little older so I don't check SDN and reddit closely. My job right now works closely with admin in a hospital so I understand that mistakes happen but the first time it was mentioned on SDN was almost two months ago. It's now September and it still hasn't been corrected. I can't imagine how many other applicants there are out there that have incomplete applications and don't know why/how to resolve it.

TLDR: admissions is difficult to reach, you need a CASPer, you may need to call to have your letters of rec approved, their application portal is inaccurate/out of date/glitches/don't trust it, the emails they send aren't always accurate.

Sorry if this sounded ranty. Just wanted to get the info out there. Good luck everyone!
 
Danimals13 said:
TLDR: admissions is difficult to reach, you need a CASPer, you may need to call to have your letters of rec approved, their application portal is inaccurate/out of date/glitches/don't trust it, the emails they send aren't always accurate.

Sorry if this sounded ranty. Just wanted to get the info out there. Good luck everyone!
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I had the opposite experience. I emailed them about LOR after reading a few posts on here and they responded/updated my app within 1 hour.
 
keanureaves said:
I had the opposite experience. I emailed them about LOR after reading a few posts on here and they responded/updated my app within 1 hour.
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I guess you got lucky. Orrrrr I'm just really unlucky.
 
google12 said:
Yea I’m sorry you had that experience. When I called them it was hard to get ahold of them in the morning, then easier in the afternoon but once I got to them they were extremely helpful.

And as someone above stated, yea the CASPer thing is on their website unfortunately and has been for a while. It’s annoying for sure but there
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It's no biggy, just part of the pain of applying in general. Thanks for your sympathy.

Yeah, I see that its on their site. Just really confusing when its not mentioned in their communications directly with me or on their online portal. I forgot to include this in my original post but it wasn't mentioned to me the first time I called asking about the status of my application either so I kinda forgot about it. But I definitely could have been more diligent. Lesson learned.
 
They do indirectly mention it on the secondary portal, under the FAQ section it gives a CASPer deadline. Also, my original email (end of July) mentioned CASPer being required, however, the submitted secondary email does not mention CASPer under the requirements.

I know 1 school I applied to didn't have CASPer listed as a requirement and it wasn't listed on the CASPer site when I took it, and their secondary system offers little useful information. I was a paranoid applicant and noticed it was required 1 week after submitting. Until I get a complete email / complete on the portal, I will remain paranoid (looking at the schools that use AAMC's portal).
 
Did anyone actually receive a complete email from UIC?
 
TSHJB302 said:
Did anyone actually receive a complete email from UIC?
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Nope, only on the portal, although I did email asking them due to my LOR not showing as complete, and they updated it and told me I was complete.
 
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