-westgirl,
No, I am not in at UIC but I did interview back in February. I think the committee probably reviewed my completed file last week and I will call them thursday to find out what they decided to do. I should note that I interviewed at the Rockford campus instead of Chicago. I first asked for an interview at the Chicago campus. I changed it however to Rockford so I could push the interview date up more than month earlier. If I would have interviewed at the Chicago campus, I would be interviewing on Friday. The campus at which you interview makes no difference where you will attend school if you get in. Usually you'll get a choice but if Chicago is full you may be forced to go to one of the other campuses like Rockford or Peoria. (Rockford 1st year is at the Urbana campus).
I just read on
www.interviewfeedback.com that Chicago is full right now. Very full. Admissions standards have also been raised as well and so fewer admissions are going out this year than last year. When I interviewed in February, one of the Deans at Rockford said a few spots were open at Chicago as well as at the other campuses. The fact that UIC is curbing its number of acceptances doesn't bode well for people that will be interviewing late because this lowers the absolute number of acceptances that will be given out between now and when classes begin. The wait-list though isn't exactly the kiss of death so don't lose hope. You may not get in at the first committee review after your interview but you may get an acceptance during the summer. I have heard of people getting a phone call the day before class was to begin.
You say UIC is your 7th interview...Wow! That is 7x better than I so you must be a strong applicant who probably stands a strong chance of getting at the first available open spot. I am surprised that you were given an interview so late in the year. Are you from out-of-state?
Personally, I am not very optimistic about my chances because my MCAT score just flat out sucks. I have an average amount of extra-currics but the best thing about my app is my GPA and my letters of rec. Hopefully my interview was good enough to put me over but I think I blew it to be honest.
I think the adcom meets in once in the middle of each month. Like I said, I think they met last week. If you interview next week, it looks like your application will not be reviewed until mid-April when the adcom meets again. Only completed applications (with the interview included) are sent to the adcom for final review.
I wish you luck! You seem to be a strong applicant.
-japhy,
Urbana is your basic college town with lots of parties, beer, flashers, etc.
It is very different from UIC and I know this because I was an undergrad at UIC for 2 years before I transferred out. From what I've been told, the MD/PhD program at Urbana is excellent and many students in it are pleased. Urbana students also have a high pass rate on the boards as well which is a plus. However, this may be due to the large number of MD/PhD students at Urbana that are, to put it simply, "uberstudents."
I'm not very familiar with the MD/JD program here but the law school is well regarded. I think that the class size for the med school down here is smaller. Not having to deal with Chicago's ridiculous rush hour traffic is also a very good thing. Living costs in C-U are much cheaper than Chicago. C-U isn't nearly as big as Chicago. The town is just like a very large suburb of Chicago. The only difference being that it is surrounded by farmland. I like going to school here. Leaving UIC to come here for my undergrad was probably the best decision I ever made.
Hope this helps.
