Loyola sightings anyone?

[Asteras1]

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Has anyone that sent in a secondary to Loyola been rejected yet without an interview? I'm very curious about this since in reading through many of the posts I have found that Loyola really hasn't sent out many rejection letters if any at all. I myself sent in a secondary in late November and have not heard from them since. I called them up last week and they said my application was put off until the next commitee meeting sometime in early March. I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this happen. I'm trying to gauge whether they are really considering me for an interview or have been too lazy to send me a rejection letter.

By the way, in case anyone is interested, Loyola, Rush, and UIC have all filled their classes up. People are currently interviewing for the waitlist. However, Loyola apperently gets about 60% of its class from the wait-list and UIC gets an even larger percentage from it. So I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[imtiaz]

Woohaa! I found someone who's knowledgeable about UIC. Do you know what the status of the Chicago campus usually is? It's full right now but around August will it be relatively easy to secure a seat at Chicago? I haven't interviewed yet, being accepted is far away if it even happens. Chances are I will be one of the people that gets in very late if at all, that's why I ask. Any insight?

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Imtiaz
----------------------------------------------------------------
I write messages on money.
It's my own form of social protest.
A letter printed on paper that no one will destroy.
Passed indiscriminately across race, class, and gender lines, and written on the blood that keeps the beast alive.
A quiet little hijacking on the way to the checkout counter, and a federal crime.
I hope that someone will find my message one day when they really need it.
YOU ARE NOT A SLAVE.

 

[Asteras1]

O.k. here is all the dirt that I have picked up from a variety of sources about UIC. I have spoken with a couple of people that currently go there. One was a GPPA admit and the other I think got in normally. Both are pretty much unhappy and think the school sucks. The professors are poor, lecture attendence is about, are your ready for this, 25%! Lectures last from 8:00-5:00 so I can see why people skip them (to retain their sanity!). The facilities are aging and there really isn't any sense of belonging or support at UIC. Their curriculum and teaching methods seem to be rather antiquated. As if that weren't bad enough, they have one of the lowest passing percentages on the boards (chicago campus). According to a student I know at Loyola, UIC stands in stark contrast to a school like Loyola were they have modernized their educational approach and give their students a great deal of support and opportunities to pursue other interests while in med school. Having been an undergrad at UIC for 2 years, I fully understand the fact that they really don't give a damn about you whether you are an undergrad, grad, or med student. Most professors are concerned with their research. This shouldn't be a surprise since UIC likes to brag about how they are a "Research I" university and the obscene amounts of money they pour into their research. But, its the biggest med school in the country so what can you expect anyway?Enough of my little rant, I'm at UIUC now as an undergrad and very happy.

As for admissions info I took a look at some stats and crunched some numbers. According to last year's stats, UIC offered 743 interviews. Of those, 543 were acceptances for an acceptance rate of 73% if you got an interview!! It gets better...of those 543, the class size ended up being 300. That means that 243 people decided not to accept their admission invitation. Although I am not exactly sure of what that means, you can be assured that UIC will be digging into its wait-lists for people so don't lose hope.
I read a post on some other topic that most wait-list adds occur in June. However, I know of one friend of mine that got a phone call on the day before classes started. They told him to show up for the first day of class and that was it. But, the school wasn't UIC though.

I myself am in a particularly lousy position right now. I'm down to three schools and UIC is one of them. Although I have heard many negative things, I will happily take an acceptance there. I have been invtited to UIC for an interview but its not 'till mid-March. Rush and Loyola are my other two schools. Loyola is definitely my top choice but as more time passes it seems less and less likely I'll get in.

By the way, I have read some of your posts Imtiaz and my application is probably the reciprocal of yours. My MCATs suck but my GPA is pretty high so we may be facing similar difficulties. I can also tell you that Northwestern took an interest in me for a time and even sent me a secondary along with a "Congratualtions" letter for receiving it. But then the MCAT scores came out and they promptly shot me down. Oh well, I guess it'll be a good story to tell my kids some day when I'm busy pumping gas or bagging groceries at the Qwik-e-mart.

Hope some of this helps.

 

[imtiaz]

Yes, I know that UIC is in the dark when it comes to advancement as far as the lectures. I know many medical students that go there, but only in passing. Sort of like on a hi-bye basis. I ask them a few questions, etc. It's hard to keep medical students standing in one place, you know? They just kind of seem to walk right past you, as if in some sort of extreme emergent hurry. Anyway, I just hope that I get into UIC. I'm into the research, that's why I want to go there. Loyola is a good school, but I don't think I'd be happy there. I don't want a lot of administration in my face all the time. Just give me the books, tell me when the test is, and get out of the way. That's my attitude. You must've hated it here at UIC. If you're not used to how the undergraduate cirriculum is structured at UIC then you probably won't like the way the medical cirriculum is structured. One of the teachers for my Princeton Review class was an M2 at UIC. He told all of us about the attendance issue. He even mentioned that the professors still use the outdated names of microbes in their lectures. I know it's probably not the best school to go to, but I'm perfectly happy with the opportunity to attend there. Besides, UIC is affiliated with so many great hospitals. Another big plus is that I live about 5 minutes away from Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, IL. It's supposed to be one of the best in Illinois. During 3rd and 4th years, I'll have a great time because I won't have to lug around to far away hospitals.

About the boards, what do you mean lowest? I thought all US medical schools had around a 98% board pass rate. So UIC has a 98.1 and Loyola has a 98.5. Who cares! I'm not denying that Loyola is a higher ranked and better funded institution, but I don't think it's as bad as you're making it out to be. Or is it? You tell me.

Finally, I don't care when I get in as long as I get in. I don't care what campus I ultimately end up at as long as I end up SOMEWHERE. I'm still waiting for an interview invite though. It stinks. Thanks for posting! Keep me updated. Us underdogs have to stick together!

Keep hope alive!

------------------
Imtiaz
----------------------------------------------------------------
I write messages on money.
It's my own form of social protest.
A letter printed on paper that no one will destroy.
Passed indiscriminately across race, class, and gender lines, and written on the blood that keeps the beast alive.
A quiet little hijacking on the way to the checkout counter, and a federal crime.
I hope that someone will find my message one day when they really need it.
YOU ARE NOT A SLAVE.

 

[annita]

Originally posted by Asteras1:
Hello,
I have a question for you. I am an out of state applicant to Rush. During my interview, I was speaking to the first year students, I got the impression that the class had not yet filled up. I mean they told us that they too had their interviews during the same time and then had gotten acceptances. I know that Rush is very much biased towards the IL. residents but I have good stats and I think my application is strong. In any case, the fact that they invited me for an interview tells me that they liked what they saw. Anyways I was wondering if you knew the wait list procedures at Rush because I have been wait listed there. I don't know if its because they ran out of spaces or if I am an out of state resident. I really like Rush and would like to go there. Any input would be greatly appriciated.

Has anyone that sent in a secondary to Loyola been rejected yet without an interview? I'm very curious about this since in reading through many of the posts I have found that Loyola really hasn't sent out many rejection letters if any at all. I myself sent in a secondary in late November and have not heard from them since. I called them up last week and they said my application was put off until the next commitee meeting sometime in early March. I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this happen. I'm trying to gauge whether they are really considering me for an interview or have been too lazy to send me a rejection letter.

By the way, in case anyone is interested, Loyola, Rush, and UIC have all filled their classes up. People are currently interviewing for the waitlist. However, Loyola apperently gets about 60% of its class from the wait-list and UIC gets an even larger percentage from it. So I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[Asteras1]

As far as the boards are concerned at UIC that is what I have heard. I guess associated all the "gloomy" stuff about UIC with it but may be it isn't necessarily true. Nevertheless I can be fairly certain that the other things I know about UIC are fairly true. I too enjoy just being able to "just take the tests" and that's it however med school is a "bit" more intensive than good 'ol undergrad stuff. I dealt with UICs style for two years and I produced good grades but it cost me my sanity at times. But I believe that since medical school is on another level academically, I believe the effort given by professors in presenting the needed material should be stepped up that's all. I'm not really asking for hand-holding but just for some decent intruction. I've spoken to professors at my current school about this and they themselves agreed and even encouraged me to speak out about this to some extent.

Nevertheless, I would gladly accept getting into UIC. Although I might not be completely happy, I know I could probably deal with their teaching style better than most people having endured it for 2 years. After all, its always better than not getting in at all.

-Annita,
My information comes from a website called www.interviewfeedback.com This is an awesome site where students that have interviewed with a particular school fill out a questionnaire based on their experience. By carefully reading them you will always find out some information that you often don't get until the day of your interview such as what you are really interviewing for. A lot of what i know of the medical schools I am applying to comes from this site. Some questionnaires stated that upon being interviewed they were told thety were interviewing for the wait-list.

You mentioned that you got an "impression" that there were spots still open. My question for you is did they explicitly tell you that there are spots open or did they just imply it. It has been my experience that most admissions boards won't give you much of a direct answer. And again, don't forget that spots are constantly opening up as people cancel their acceptances in favor of others. As an Illinois resident I can tell you that most pre-meds in the state of Illinois apply to Rush. Many of them are highly qualified and often get into more "prestigious" schools and choose not to accept admission to Rush. For example, I know a girl that got into Northwestern and a few other really good med schools and applied to Rush and UIC for the heck of it with no intention of really going there(she got in of course). As for your status as an out of stater, I don't know how much this will affect you but I do know they show some preference to Illinois residents. Hope this helps a little, but I'm really no more knowledgeable about than anyone else.

 

[KMorris3]

Regarding your question about Loyola. I am pretty sure they have not sent out any rejections yet. Although something weird just happened. I sent an updated transcript to them two weeks ago and they just sent me a card stating that my file was complete and was "now under review." This is the first I have heard from them since sending in my secondary at the beginning of October. I don't know what this means. Has anyone else received a card recently stating that their application is complete? Did anyone receive this card last year after they sent in their secondary? If so, what happened?

I think it's really annoying when a med school keeps all applications until so late in the season, but such is the process.

 

[Asteras1]

I received this little card from Loyola about two weeks or so after my application was sent in back in early december. I had sent in my recs a bit ahead of time to speed up the process a little bit. I only recently sent in an updated transcript with my fall grades. To be honest with you they probably lost track of your application for a awhile. This happened to me at Ohio State. They flat out lost my application for a couple months. Finally they found it and then sent me a rejection letter two weeks later.