2023-2024 Carle-Illinois

BU Medical Sciences
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+1 Showcase invite! Received today 12/6, completed 8/20
 
asparagus_liker said:
"Carle BroMenn" is a clinical research center, it apparently is a little drive away. The faculty member said the biggest room for improvement in Carle is its ability to connect students with clinical studies.

The Global Community Immersion Program is CANCELLED due to covid and no one knows when it will come back
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Thank you so much for inquiring
 
Showcase invite too

All I wanna say is I love you Carle. Fr a dream of a school....I just hope you love me back Carle

New Friends Love GIF by Chippy the Dog


The December desperateness has really caught up to me y'all...but MAN is Carle a fine lookin school
 
Does anyone know if it’s possible to receive an acceptance without an engineering degree? I wasn’t sure I would get a showcase invite since I’m doing neuroscience undergrad, but I did and am wondering if this will be a disadvantage during the final review
 
medlad23 said:
Does anyone know if it’s possible to receive an acceptance without an engineering degree? I wasn’t sure I would get a showcase invite since I’m doing neuroscience undergrad, but I did and am wondering if this will be a disadvantage during the final review
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1000%, there’s always some people who are admitted and don’t have an engineering background at all. They believe innovation doesn’t have to just be engineering related!

Here’s a blurb about c/o 2026 so 2 cycles ago: “As with preceding classes, most students in the Class of 2026 have degrees in engineering (58%), with bioengineering being the most common engineering discipline. Another 17% come from non-engineering, math-based disciplines. The remaining students arrive at Carle Illinois with degrees in more traditional pre-medicine disciplines, including biology, neuroscience, and biochemistry.”
 
signomiii said:
1000%, there’s always some people who are admitted and don’t have an engineering background at all. They believe innovation doesn’t have to just be engineering related!

Here’s a blurb about c/o 2026 so 2 cycles ago: “As with preceding classes, most students in the Class of 2026 have degrees in engineering (58%), with bioengineering being the most common engineering discipline. Another 17% come from non-engineering, math-based disciplines. The remaining students arrive at Carle Illinois with degrees in more traditional pre-medicine disciplines, including biology, neuroscience, and biochemistry.”
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Awesome, thanks for the info!
 
medlad23 said:
Does anyone know if it’s possible to receive an acceptance without an engineering degree? I wasn’t sure I would get a showcase invite since I’m doing neuroscience undergrad, but I did and am wondering if this will be a disadvantage during the final review
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I'm in the same boat, but MAN, am I willin to do anything for an A from Carle

A beautyyyyy of a school. Absolutely love it but didn't realize that I wanted to get into engineering until after I graduated
 
Sandman23 said:
I'm in the same boat, but MAN, am I willin to do anything for an A from Carle

A beautyyyyy of a school. Absolutely love it but didn't realize that I wanted to get into engineering until after I graduated
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Wishing the best for us (and everyone else) [emoji1694]
 
The showcase video mentioned finalist reviews will begin to take place until the spring; does a showcase invitation mean that we are within finalist review (approximately 300 students for 64 seats)?
 
has anyone received a showcase invite after submitting in late sept/early oct?
 
Just did the showcase. They're looking at ~350 showcase invitations for finalist review, with 64 seats being offered. If you get one it means that they've ranked you as per some threshold and are considered to be within finalist review. Finalist review means that two faculty members will score your application again, and then the whole committee will meet on Jan. 16th to vote on admissions decisions. Offers will not go out before then. They've received over 3k applications this year and have sent out approximately 300 showcase invitations from what I understood.
 
If we didn't get a showcase invite by now, it's not looking good? When are the showcases exactly?
 
asparagus_liker said:
Just did the student showcase. The students were doing startups, one got 20,000$ for her research project, and they seemed pretty enthusiastic about the engineering aspect of medicine. Otherwise, Carle seems to be a pretty normal medical school, with people doing a lot of free clinic work and such.

Apparently, the engineering aspects of the Carle program are very simplified. They no longer study math, no numerical analysis or fluid dynamic modeling training. Everything is apparently "How to think about a problem like an engineer" instead of being trained to be an engineer. This is in contrast to the Texas A&M ENMED program, where there are Arduino microcontroller classes at least. However, Carle apparently has classes about business and patents, which ENMED also has. Overall I would say Carle appears more geared towards being a physician who works with industry engineers (accurately identifying room for improvement, and handing off ideas to industry), whereas Texas A&M ENMED is more geared towards being a physician-inventor (Working in preclinical trials, clinical trials, patent process, forming startups).

It seems that the relatively secluded Carle campus in Champaigne prevents a lot of interaction with clinical trials. In contrast, Texas A&M ENMED is in the biggest medical complex in the world in Houston, so there are more clinical trials.

I got a better and more earnest response from these Carle students than I got from Texas A&M ENMED students. At ENMED, the students generally seemed to be in an engineering-medicine program for the credentials and engineering projects for their resume and future residency applications, and did not intend to be physician-innovators. At Carle, it seems that this goal of being a physician-innovator is more widespread.

Also, for some reason I was under the impression Carle was a 5 year program, I think MSAR said it was but I cannot tell. It's only 4 years, not 5.
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Thank you for this extensive writeup. Did you get the sense that the Carle students were worried or not worried about being competitive for residency applications? Since it seems like there isn't a focus on traditional clinical research opportunities?
 
Curlywhirly1 said:
Thank you for this extensive writeup. Did you get the sense that the Carle students were worried or not worried about being competitive for residency applications? Since it seems like there isn't a focus on traditional clinical research opportunities?
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They didn't seem too worried about that during my student showcase, especially since the most recent class had a 100% match rate I think.
 
asparagus_liker said:
Apparently one Carle student had SIXTY papers or posters and was applying to Mayo Clinic, and the entire residency interview they were asking about her Carle Engineering Capstone Project which they thought was really cool and unique. I interpret this as meaning that the school in and of itself is impressive to residency programs because of how unique and multidisciplinary it is.
This is corroborated by theTexas A&M ENMED students I spoke to about their residency competitiveness. About half of the students did not care at all about engineering innovation and just wanted to be a psychiatrist or something, they just wanted the cool engineering medical school for their resume.
Regarding clinical research, yeah Carle is very bad on that. They say its their biggest flaw and they are trying to buy every hospital they can apparently.
Regarding non-clinical research, Carle is not much better it seems. They are apparently hiring many MD Ph.D. faculty to try and get research going, since Champaign is not really a center of medical research like San Francisco or San Diego or Boston.

100% match rate doesn't mean what you think it means. Some of the students got into "Transitional Medicine" residencies which means they are doing 1 year as an intern while they wait for the next residency application cycle.
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Given that Carle seems to be in the nascent stages with getting research going, do you know if the student with the 60 papers come in with them already / worked with their previous research group?
Hopefully Carle students without prior research can leverage their engineering projects for competitive residencies as well...
 
asparagus_liker said:
Waiting, waiting. Looking at CycleTrack, it looks like Carle sends all admissions in two big lumps in February and March.
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In the showcases it sounded like their plan is to send a few in Jan and have all of em out by March
 
for ppl who went to the showcase, did it seem that they're done sending out invites? i expected another wave before the holidays
 
premed251 said:
for ppl who went to the showcase, did it seem that they're done sending out invites? i expected another wave before the holidays
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Last year the last one was reported Dec 19 on here and on cycletrack, but on the zoom they said they want to move up their timeline a little bit this year so they might be done but who knows maybe there will be one last wave today
 
Have people been sending thank you notes for the showcase? Not sure it’s necessary, but wanted to make sure
 
For people who have done the showcase, I know we aren't evaluated but I'm curious if they saw anyone with their camera off for part of the time? I've already rescheduled my sessions a few times because it's been hard to find time during the work day, but atp I'm hoping I can just go for it and turn off camera
 
a2zed said:
For people who have done the showcase, I know we aren't evaluated but I'm curious if they saw anyone with their camera off for part of the time? I've already rescheduled my sessions a few times because it's been hard to find time during the work day, but atp I'm hoping I can just go for it and turn off camera
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I doubt it matters. I’ve seen someone last year get an A in January without even attending a session. They really just want you to have the chance to learn about the school
 
Sandman23 said:
I'm in the same boat, but MAN, am I willin to do anything for an A from Carle

A beautyyyyy of a school. Absolutely love it but didn't realize that I wanted to get into engineering until after I graduated
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What do you find so amazing about Carle? Just curious

The student showcase left sort of a bad impression on me, so looking for reasons to get excited abt this school since its one of my few "interviews"
 
Muqsith said:
What do you find so amazing about Carle? Just curious

The student showcase left sort of a bad impression on me, so looking for reasons to get excited abt this school since its one of my few "interviews"
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Can you elaborate on this??
 
Curlywhirly1 said:
Can you elaborate on this??
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They talked about how the engineering/innovation component can be a downside sometimes because it takes away from the time they could be using for material that is covered in Step1. There's also no actual engineering classes (reasonable), but they said its just thinking with an engineering mindset, which was a little disappointing since all the math/engineering courses we had taken in undergrad won't really be of benefit. I wonder why they required all these math classes as pre-reqs if they were not needed at all anyway. Also, the location is not the best either.

It would be amazing if they had more collaboration with UIUC's engineering school, which they don't seem to have too much of atm aside from being able to recruit students for a required capstone project. It's a new school and still in the process of improving their program, so you can't really blame them for lots of these drawbacks. Plus, the students atleast mentioned that they're very responsive to feedback. Perhaps the students running the session were a little unenthusiastic at the time, so the school was not presented in the best possible light.

The reasons I've listed aren't really a big deal, but I'm more curious to see why some applicants see this as their "dream school"
 
Muqsith said:
What do you find so amazing about Carle? Just curious

The student showcase left sort of a bad impression on me, so looking for reasons to get excited abt this school since its one of my few "interviews"
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My showcase is coming up soon but haven't had it yet - just mention that for the sake of transparency.

Although, being someone who only became interested in engineering after graduating college, it's a long shot to formally steer my trajectory towards becoming a physician engineer. When it comes to programs that would allow me to do this, I see them in 3 categories: one where you take a MS in engineering as a dual degree, another where you see med via an engineering lens (as Carle does it), and the last being one that is much more into the nitty gritty of engineering (as EnMed does it). Given where I am right now, I'd rather go with a program that ties in med & engineering via practical applications. That takes out the first category of programs for me because a separate MS in engineering just wouldn't offer that to the same effect. As for the third category, I don't even qualify for programs like EnMed bc of how many engineering credits they require. And even if I could apply to EnMed, I just wouldn't have the technical know-how to hit the ground running.

Before your earlier post, I've heard some knocks on Carle for the quality of its clinical research opportunities, etc but there's not a single other school that would allow a non-engineering major like me to focus so thoroughly on medical innovation (past just a scholarly track of some kind). That is the exact reasons why I am not nearly as worried about the drawbacks of going to Carle as I am excited for the type of doctor I could become after graduating from Carle.

Not sure if what I said makes sense. It's 1 am but please let me know if I can clarify/elaborate
 
Muqsith said:
They talked about how the engineering/innovation component can be a downside sometimes because it takes away from the time they could be using for material that is covered in Step1. There's also no actual engineering classes (reasonable), but they said its just thinking with an engineering mindset, which was a little disappointing since all the math/engineering courses we had taken in undergrad won't really be of benefit. I wonder why they required all these math classes as pre-reqs if they were not needed at all anyway. Also, the location is not the best either.

It would be amazing if they had more collaboration with UIUC's engineering school, which they don't seem to have too much of atm aside from being able to recruit students for a required capstone project. It's a new school and still in the process of improving their program, so you can't really blame them for lots of these drawbacks. Plus, the students atleast mentioned that they're very responsive to feedback. Perhaps the students running the session were a little unenthusiastic at the time, so the school was not presented in the best possible light.

The reasons I've listed aren't really a big deal, but I'm more curious to see why some applicants see this as their "dream school"
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I had a pretty different experience at my showcase. Students stressed that they want to be physicians first, innovators second, and that’s what the school prioritizes. There’s even one student who was an engineer for several year and now wants as little to do with it as possible, but still loving the school. The school has even cut back on those activities due to student feedback, and I bet if the student feedback went the other way they would’ve implemented more.

Engineering mindset but not engineering classes. They’ve stressed that innovation can happen in different ways that aren’t engineering, like research, healthcare delivery, etc. They want you to always be thinking about “what can be improved?”, and for some students that might be an engineering solution, and others it might be something else.

I think it really comes down to personal fit. For me, I’d prefer the school over EnMed bc I’m not an engineer and I like the flexibility of innovation. However, someone who might want a stronger engineering focus would prob like EnMed better.

I’m not sure what the ties with UIUC engineering are in the preclinical years and would love to know more. But during clinicals there’s an engineer that comes to rounds which I thought was neat.

On the other hand:
- Location sucks and students agree with this. Students basically said all there is to do is corn. But it’s “a great place to study”
- Clinical rotations can be a mess
- Not much research/gotta fend for themselves. They said they are working in building a research building but idk when that’ll take place
- General kinks of being a new school
 
Muqsith said:
What do you find so amazing about Carle? Just curious

The student showcase left sort of a bad impression on me, so looking for reasons to get excited abt this school since its one of my few "interviews"
Click to expand...

Totally agree, it felt like the students were 60/40 complaining/ saying good things. I definitely felt different after than some of my other interviews
 
signomiii said:
I had a pretty different experience at my showcase. Students stressed that they want to be physicians first, innovators second, and that’s what the school prioritizes. There’s even one student who was an engineer for several year and now wants as little to do with it as possible, but still loving the school. The school has even cut back on those activities due to student feedback, and I bet if the student feedback went the other way they would’ve implemented more.

Engineering mindset but not engineering classes. They’ve stressed that innovation can happen in different ways that aren’t engineering, like research, healthcare delivery, etc. They want you to always be thinking about “what can be improved?”, and for some students that might be an engineering solution, and others it might be something else.

I think it really comes down to personal fit. For me, I’d prefer the school over EnMed bc I’m not an engineer and I like the flexibility of innovation. However, someone who might want a stronger engineering focus would prob like EnMed better.

I’m not sure what the ties with UIUC engineering are in the preclinical years and would love to know more. But during clinicals there’s an engineer that comes to rounds which I thought was neat.

On the other hand:
- Location sucks and students agree with this. Students basically said all there is to do is corn. But it’s “a great place to study”
- Clinical rotations can be a mess
- Not much research/gotta fend for themselves. They said they are working in building a research building but idk when that’ll take place
- General kinks of being a new school
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Thanks for your response.

I think they've got the innovation component of the curriculum figured out, but calling it an "engineering-based college of medicine" still seems like a stretch to me. Additionally, if everyone's first and primary goal is to become a physician, those downsides you've listed are pretty big issues imo. Either way, looking forward to seeing how they improve over the next few years. I think this school has a lot of potential
 
Muqsith said:
Thanks for your response.

I think they've got the innovation component of the curriculum figured out, but calling it an "engineering-based college of medicine" still seems like a stretch to me. Additionally, if everyone's first and primary goal is to become a physician, those downsides you've listed are pretty big issues imo. Either way, looking forward to seeing how they improve over the next few years. I think this school has a lot of potential
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Thanks for sharing your insight too. I think it’s important for us applicants to have a realistic understanding of the school.

Their first match list is bonks, but who knows how much of that is the school vs from the students themselves being amazing creative self starters. (A lot of students they choose have had great achievements in life already) Based on the cons there are many reasons to choose a more established school. However, if this ends up being someone’s only choice, or their first choice, I would say they are by no means screwed or even close. You’ll still come out with a great education and being a great physician and then some.
 
So are we thinking this week will be first decisions like in previous years?
 
jemt22 said:
So are we thinking this week will be first decisions like in previous years?
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I think some of us will hear back starting Wednesday
 
According to previous years, the first acceptances started to be released on the third Wednesday of January at 3:00 PST, which is tomorrow. They mentioned during the showcase that more acceptances will be rolling out starting mid to late January and keep coming in the following weeks as they review more and more applicants.

I also emailed them asking when decisions would be released. They said that they haven't released any decisions yet, but are "hoping to get our first round of decisions out later this week" so if acceptances aren't released tomorrow for whatever reason, there will most likely still be a few admissions decisions released on Thursday or Friday.
 
rhoskir said:
According to previous years, the first acceptances started to be released on the third Wednesday of January at 3:00 PST, which is tomorrow. They mentioned during the showcase that more acceptances will be rolling out starting mid to late January and keep coming in the following weeks as they review more and more applicants.

I also emailed them asking when decisions would be released. They said that they haven't released any decisions yet, but are "hoping to get our first round of decisions out later this week" so if acceptances aren't released tomorrow for whatever reason, there will most likely still be a few admissions decisions released on Thursday or Friday.
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Did they respond today or yesterday to this. Excited to potentially hear back this week
 
They may start giving out As this week, but don’t feel too bad if you don’t end up hearing anything in Jan! They only give out a few As now and I believe a lot more (the majority) will come in Feb.
 
Praying we hear good news this week - ngl I’m a little surprised I’ve made it this far (extremely grateful, love the program), not only do I not have any engineering or math background, but I didn’t major in a hard science or anything of the sort either.

I understand Carle values soft engineering principles like problem solving and creativity, and that’s the angle I took, but does anyone have any insight on how much of the class doesn’t carry that explicit background?
 
Last edited:
shom86 said:
Praying we hear good news this week - ngl I’m a little surprised I’ve made it this far (extremely grateful, love the program), not only do I not have any engineering or math background, but I didn’t major in a hard science or anything of the sort either.

I understand Carle values soft engineering principles like problem solving and creativity, and that’s the angle I took, but does anyone have any insight on how much of the class doesn’t carry that explicit background?
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According to their stats on the class of 2026:

“As with preceding classes, most students in the Class of 2026 have degrees in engineering (58%), with bioengineering being the most common engineering discipline. Another 17% come from non-engineering, math-based disciplines. The remaining students arrive at Carle Illinois with degrees in more traditional pre-medicine disciplines, including biology, neuroscience, and biochemistry.”

I don’t think it should be an issue even if you don’t have a traditional math/engineering background. You’re correct that they value soft engineering principles.
 
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