Hey everybody, I am an incoming M1 at UIC. I can't really answer questions regarding the curriculum, but I can answer questions regarding the application process and interviewing here. I had a 3.49 cGPA and a 34 MCAT (10PS, 12VR, 12BS). To give everyone an idea of the timeline for application processing I was marked complete on 8/21 and got my II on 10/10. I interviewed 11/1 and got my acceptance letter a couple days before Thanksgiving. Other people had took much longer to get their II.
Below is a sort of flow chart for how the admission process works.
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START
I. Submit Primary.
II. Wait for the email from UIC giving you your login information for the Applicant Status Check site (usually arrives within 2 weeks of submitting your primary):
https://mercury.comd.uic.edu/appstat
III. Login, and check your status in the second page. [At the bottom of this post I link to a program I made that makes checking your status as easy as double clicking your mouse.]
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A. "Application Not Complete" = Secondary not yet complete.
B. "Application in Process" = You are complete. --> Goto C.
C. "Applicant in Process" = Your file is being reviewed, 3 Possible Status Changes:
1. "Select Interview Date" = You are good enough for an interview. --> Goto D.
2. "Application in Process" = You are not good enough to grant an interview yet, but might be later on in the cycle. Check back periodically. --> Go back to B.
3. "Final Decision Made ..." = You are not good enough. --> Goto X.
D. "Select Interview Date" (A grid of dates shows up) = Call and schedule an interview date, after which "Interview Scheduled on ... " shows up. After the interview, Goto F.
F. "Decision Pending" = File pending review at the next adcom meeting (every 3rd Thursday of the month). There are 2 options from here, depending on the month:
1. Before May. --> Goto M.
2. On or After May. --> Goto N.
M. Before May, 2 Possible Status Changes:
1. "Final Decision Made ... " --> Goto S.
2. "Decision Pending" (No Status Change) + "We'll keep reviewing you" Email (a few days later) = You are a good candidate, but not good enough to grant an acceptance yet. UIC will keep reviewing you at every adcom meeting. --> Go back to F.
N. On or After May, 2 Possible Status Changes:
1. "Final Decision Made ... " You are (very likely) rejected. --> Goto X.
2. "Applicant is Waitlisted" = Waitlisted. --> Goto Y.
S. There are 2 additional conditions from here:
1. There is an "Additional Correspondences" Tab in the upper-right corner on your status page AND you get a CBC Email (a few days later) = You are (very likely) accepted. --> Goto Z.
2. There is no "Additional Correspondences" Tab and/or you don't get the CBC Email = Rejection. [Note: This is tricky. The CBC email usually comes a few days after (1-4 is the consensus) the status change. Be patient. Sometimes, the email never comes, which might be because you already had a CBC done due to an acceptance at another school. In some instances, the CBC Email even comes after the snail-mail. If after a week, neither the tab nor the CBC email shows up, it's very likely a rejection. You've probably already received snail-mail by now alerting you to it.] --> Goto X.
X. "Final Decision Made ..." = Rejection ... Wait for a "Thin Letter" via snail-mail.
Y. "Applicant is Waitlisted" = Waitlisted. ... The CBC Email no longer acts as an indicator of an acceptance. If you get accepted off of the waitlist, then Goto Z, else Goto X.
Z. "Final Decision Made ..." + "Additional Correspondences" Tab + CBC Email = (very likely) Acceptance ... Wait for a "Fat Packet" via snail-mail. [Note: Sometimes CBC emails come after the packet. CBC emails also might never arrive if you got an acceptance to another school that also does CBC through AMCAS.]
FINISH
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*** NOTE: There are no guarantees in the above information, since there is always the chance that UIC changes things up. Just always keep in mind that the above is of what has happened, and not what will happen.
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I want to add last year there was ONE person (as far as i know the ONLY person) who got the "Additional Correspondences" Tab and was rejected.
