Come on Feel the ILLINOISE!

[eric23]

ILLINOIS APPLICANTS UNITE!

Will we ever get into Northwestern or U Chicago?

Is Rosalin Franklin going to lose their accreditation? Is this a rumor?

Applying to Southern Illinois?, U of I...I've heard mixed feelings?

Are you doing/planning on doing research and an Illinois med school?

Loyola? Rush? UIC?....Where else are YOU planning on applying?

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[calvinandhobbes]

girls rock your boys!

 

[calvinandhobbes]

ILLINOIS APPLICANTS UNITE!
Is Rosalin Franklin going to lose their accreditation? Is this a rumor?

where'd you hear this rumor? interesting...

 

[eric23]

where'd you hear this rumor? interesting...

oh you know how these things work...a friend in class

 

[soumdoc]

RF was going through accreditation problems last year........but I think now it's all sorted out.

Anyway! yay! An illinois thread

Applied to all Illinois schools except for UChicago (did not like campus), and SIU. Got accepted at UIC, still waiting on Loyola, Rush, NW

 

[jbrice1639]

where'd you hear this rumor? interesting...

actually, i believe it came from the fact that they were just granted a probationary accredidation recently. and if i remember the article right, it was only for 4 years instead of the normal 10. i didn't apply there so i didn't pay much attention, but i'm sure someone could google news the article or something. it was actually on the school's site when i saw it over the summer because they were so "proud" of it.

 

[trishaaa]

Eric23, you win for best thread title ever. This totally made my morning!

By the way, I only applied to one Chicago school (Loyola).

 

[godawgs39]

UChicago just gave me a nice solid pre-interview stiff-arm...interviewed at SIU already...still waiting on Loyola

 

[jbrice1639]

didn't apply to rosalind or siu

pre-interview rejection from northwestern

post-interview waitlist from pritzker

still waiting on rush

accepted at Loyola (first choice) and UIC

 

[teeney6]

I also didn't apply to RFU or SIU, or Loyola

Pre-interview rejection from Pritzker (and I went there for undergrad!)

Accepted at UIC

Waiting for a letter from Rush post-interview

Waiting to hear anything from Northwestern

 

[ronin13]

A pre-med with good taste in music?

Astonishing.

 

[TimmyTheWonderD]

Applied to NW, rejected post-secondary, pre-interview
Applied to U of C, did not finish secondary
Applied to Rush, still waiting for committee review
Applied to UIC, still waiting for committee review here, too
Applied to Loyola (1st choice), on hold, going up for review again, wish me luck
Applied to RFUMS, interviewed 11/15, waiting until 12/12 for decision
Applied to U of South Carolina, they told me I would hear something in Jan
Just applied to SIU, have not completed secondary yet

 

[hpm4]

Applied to Loyola and Northwestern and have yet to hear ANYTHING from them post-secondary....does anyone know if northwestern regularly updates their status page?

 

[jbrice1639]

Applied to Loyola and Northwestern and have yet to hear ANYTHING from them post-secondary....does anyone know if northwestern regularly updates their status page?

my nw status page never changed after i was complete, and still has not changed a week after i got their rejection letter in the mail. it seems like they only update the status page post-interview

 

[Flopotomist]

I applied to all of the Chicago programs, never finished Rush's secondary (didn't have a year off for that monster). Got into Loyola early, so going to pull the apps at the other places. It was love at first sight.

 

[eric23]

I'm curious of the regional repuation of the chicago med schools. Anyone?

 

[JJKR3]

Rush- application under active consideration
UIC- on hold after review
Loyola- on hold after review
RF- havne't heard back post-secondary

I just received an email today from an east coast school that rejected me post-secondary. I had sent an email asking why I was rejected so early (about a month ago) and they said it was because of my science GPA. My overall is a 3.5, and my science is about 3.17. My MCAT was a 32Q... do I still have a shot at an interview at one of these schools? My numbers may not be fantastic but I have plenty of other job/volunteer experiences that are worth more to me, but I'm not sure how much that matters when they look at my app? Anyone have any advice or feedback? My faith is slowly slipping away....

 

[eric23]

Rush- application under active consideration
UIC- on hold after review
Loyola- on hold after review
RF- havne't heard back post-secondary

I just received an email today from an east coast school that rejected me post-secondary. I had sent an email asking why I was rejected so early (about a month ago) and they said it was because of my science GPA. My overall is a 3.5, and my science is about 3.17. My MCAT was a 32Q... do I still have a shot at an interview at one of these schools? My numbers may not be fantastic but I have plenty of other job/volunteer experiences that are worth more to me, but I'm not sure how much that matters when they look at my app? Anyone have any advice or feedback? My faith is slowly slipping away....

I have no reason to believe you don't have a shot. Nice job on the MCAT. Given you have plenty of good experience, I don't think you should lose faith quite yet...HANG IN THERE!

 

[JJKR3]

I have no reason to believe you don't have a shot. Nice job on the MCAT. Given you have plenty of good experience, I don't think you should lose faith quite yet...HANG IN THERE!

thanks

 

[NapeSpikes]

I'm a California resident, but I think I'll have more luck in Illinois, so I'm crashing this thread. Nothing like midwestern lovin'

 

[thinknofu3]

Ok, so here goes with me:

U of C - interviewed, loved it, waiting to hear...(keeps fingers crossed!)
UIC - accepted
Loyola and Northwestern - Secondaries completed (in Aug/Sept!) and I still haven't heard *anything* from either - quite annoying
Rush - interviewed, waiting for a decision soon

RFUMS - didn't do the secondary (which I won't be doing now that I got into UIC). Who wants to write a page long essay about how you foster discovery in your own life? I have a lot of outside interests, believe me, but even I didn't know what to do with this one!

PS - I know someone who got into Rush last year with either a 27 or 28 (i don't remember exactly, but it was low). So you've still got a shot, especially if you're an IL resident. Don't hang up the towel yet - good luck!

 

[eric23]

I'm a California resident, but I think I'll have more luck in Illinois, so I'm crashing this thread. Nothing like midwestern lovin'

why would you have more luck in illinois?

still waiting to hear abour regional reputations of chicago med schools..anyone???

 

[NapeSpikes]

why would you have more luck in illinois?

Because California's a tough one to crack. All my CA state schools have really high stats (I didn't apply to LLU) and my numbers aren't very good. At this point, I'm hoping for one of the three private Chicago schools I applied to. Actually, I'm hoping for anywhere...but Chicago would be cool.

 

[thinknofu3]

I'm asking this question all the time, and often get different answers (all from respectable people). But here's what I've gathered so far:

A transplant surgeon (who left UIC very recently) told me that UIC is the best bang for your buck if you're an In-state resident. He told me that U of C won't give you enough exposure to indigent patients - which from my experiences interviewing there seem to be just fine, considering they treat the entire south side - and that Rush docs only care about making money (also seems contrary to my experience interviewing there). Of course, he is a biased opinion.

A doc I spoke to today, a cardiothoracic surgeon, echoed what I've heard from a lot of reigonal doctors - that it doesn't really matter where you go, because all the Chicago schools are good, and you're going to learn the same important info at all the schools because you all have to pass the same boards. He also said to definitely take the tuition decrease at UIC (again, if you're in-state), because it has a huge impact on the amount of debt you incur.

Then again, a resident at Albert Einstein told me that if you want to go into a competitive specialty, residency directors are always looking for people from "big name" schools. If you go by that info, it would suggest that NU or U of C might be worth the extra debt.

In my opinion though, I'd say go with what feels like the best fit. You're going to be an MD no matter where you go.

 

[SpeedRacer]

some people just posted acceptances at UIC in the wall of fame...when did you interview? i forget what they said - do they tell you a certain # of weeks after your interviewed or do they meet on a certain day every few months?

 

[sanford_w/o_son]

I'm asking this question all the time, and often get different answers (all from respectable people). But here's what I've gathered so far:

A transplant surgeon (who left UIC very recently) told me that UIC is the best bang for your buck if you're an In-state resident. He told me that U of C won't give you enough exposure to indigent patients - which from my experiences interviewing there seem to be just fine, considering they treat the entire south side - and that Rush docs only care about making money (also seems contrary to my experience interviewing there). Of course, he is a biased opinion.

A doc I spoke to today, a cardiothoracic surgeon, echoed what I've heard from a lot of reigonal doctors - that it doesn't really matter where you go, because all the Chicago schools are good, and you're going to learn the same important info at all the schools because you all have to pass the same boards. He also said to definitely take the tuition decrease at UIC (again, if you're in-state), because it has a huge impact on the amount of debt you incur.

Then again, a resident at Albert Einstein told me that if you want to go into a competitive specialty, residency directors are always looking for people from "big name" schools. If you go by that info, it would suggest that NU or U of C might be worth the extra debt.

In my opinion though, I'd say go with what feels like the best fit. You're going to be an MD no matter where you go.

U of C will definitely give you exposure to indigent pts. Like many hospitals, they admit many folks from their ED, and many of them come from the surrounding area and don't have health insurance. They're also a level-one peds trauma. The well-insured pts they get typically go there from the region for cancer treatment (as a general rule, NWU sucks up many of the well-off pts with their comfortable downtown hospital, and is one of the only hospitals in the city not in the red--let's hear it for the private insurance system!). UIC also gets indigent pts, but it's literally blocks away from county H and rush H. county H is hands down the main draw for those without health insurance. i know that rush does rotations at county, but last i heard uic is no longer affiliated? but uic does do rotations at christ H on the far south side, which has also a major trauma center and ED for the south side.

anyway, for most cases you will certainly see a wide socioeconomic range of folks at u of c. now u of c tries to tout itself as a regional leader in highly specialized care. so for specialized treatment like cx treatment or transplant surgery there may be a disproportionate amount of insured pts. but i don't know that for sure.

 

[thinknofu3]

Yup, UIC (chicago campus) still does rotations at county.

 

[puppies324]

i submitted my secondary to u chicago on aug 30th... i still haven't heard... many people who submtted a month after me heard... either interview or on hold or rejected... should i call in to check? or should i juss wait? i'm a out of state.. dunno if that would matter...

 

[eric23]

good info...much appreciated