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Anyone still waiting for the secondary?
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Received application acknowledgment email July 20th

Preliminary review complete email July 21st

Submitted secondary today, July 27th
 
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@ncklkrt Can you comment on their process from going to Primary to Secondary? Looking through past threads, it appears a secondary is a good sign with this school (as opposed to schools that may do a quick screen or just send to everyone). Does SIU go through everyone's primary and decide? Or is it some kind of filter with a lot of variables including residence, hometown, and other factors that SIU values?
 
Well, it turns out my secondary wasn't submitted last week :confused: I was contacted when my payment arrived but they didn't have my secondary.
 
djtallahassee said:
@ncklkrt Can you comment on their process from going to Primary to Secondary? Looking through past threads, it appears a secondary is a good sign with this school (as opposed to schools that may do a quick screen or just send to everyone). Does SIU go through everyone's primary and decide? Or is it some kind of filter with a lot of variables including residence, hometown, and other factors that SIU values?
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Correct, a large majority of those who are offered a secondary are offered an interview as well. They do go through each primary application and have different weights for certain things, but you are not automatically excluded if you are from the Chicagoland area for example. Only those in the admissions office know the exact weights of those things you listed, but I can say for sure SIU does screen before secondaries and most of those who complete them and pay the fee are offered an interview, usually. Keep in mind each year SIU has received more applications than the year before so that secondary/interview ratio may be decreased with a larger applicant pool.

There is no automatic filters that say "if you don't have/meet x, no secondary" and all primary applications are analyzed completely, which is something SIU does a good job of in terms of recruiting applicants that meet their mission statement.
 
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Can anybody provide me the mailing address for the $75 check? Also, is there any other requirements or just to mail the check? My browser crashed before I wrote it down and I don't know how I can access it. I wasn't e-mailed anything after submitting my secondary.
 
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ncklkrt said:
Correct, a large majority of those who are offered a secondary are offered an interview as well. They do go through each primary application and have different weights for certain things, but you are not automatically excluded if you are from the Chicagoland area for example. Only those in the admissions office know the exact weights of those things you listed, but I can say for sure SIU does screen before secondaries and most of those who complete them and pay the fee are offered an interview, usually. Keep in mind each year SIU has received more applications than the year before so that secondary/interview ratio may be decreased with a larger applicant pool.

There is no automatic filters that say "if you don't have/meet x, no secondary" and all primary applications are analyzed completely, which is something SIU does a good job of in terms of recruiting applicants that meet their mission statement.
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Thanks for the answer! Nice to know a school actually cares about my primary lol. Good luck to them though shifting the 1,000+ primarys.
 
anonsi said:
Can anybody provide me the mailing address for the $75 check? Also, is there any other requirements or just to mail the check? My browser crashed before I wrote it down and I don't know how I can access it. I wasn't e-mailed anything after submitting my secondary.
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They do not send an official "complete" email following submission or receipt of your check. I called their admission's office this past tuesday to verify they received all of my materials, and they happily confirmed it over the phone for me. They also added that more interviews will be going out this coming Monday.

Mailing Address (US Postal Service):

SIU School of Medicine/Office of Admissions
PO Box 19624
Springfield, IL 62794-9624
 
I_like_guacamole said:
II received today
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Did you submit your secondary like the day it opened? I just got an email notification that they received my primary today and it said it would take 4-6 weeks to get a secondary invite! But otherwise, congratulations! ^-^
 
I received the secondary on 7/17 and completed it 7/18. But thank you I'm excited!

PS: It took them less than a week to send me a secondary after I got the AMCAS received email.

SuperChocolateBear said:
Did you submit your secondary like the day it opened? I just got an email notification that they received my primary today and it said it would take 4-6 weeks to get a secondary invite! But otherwise, congratulations! ^-^
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In a bit of a pickle here... I'm from central IL (literally right on I-80) and wasn't planning on applying here due to how my practice MCAT scores were trending; however, I received a 508 by some miracle. I haven't started my AMCAS, so the soonest I would be verified is probably 2nd week of September. How long has it taken all of you to receive a secondary? If I'm not going to receive one until October then I'll just save myself the future heartbreak since that's pretty late lol.
 
Coltuna said:
In a bit of a pickle here... I'm from central IL (literally right on I-80) and wasn't planning on applying here due to how my practice MCAT scores were trending; however, I received a 508 by some miracle. I haven't started my AMCAS, so the soonest I would be verified is probably 2nd week of September. How long has it taken all of you to receive a secondary? If I'm not going to receive one until October then I'll just save myself the future heartbreak since that's pretty late lol.
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It is quite late, but SIU does have a rolling initial admissions process with acceptances sent out in December, February, and March. It's worth giving the admissions office a call and letting them know your situation they are extremely helpful and can guide you in terms of what's best for your application. 217-545-6013 (Springfield)
 
ncklkrt said:
It is quite late, but SIU does have a rolling initial admissions process with acceptances sent out in December, February, and March. It's worth giving the admissions office a call and letting them know your situation they are extremely helpful and can guide you in terms of what's best for your application. 217-545-6013 (Springfield)
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Thank you!
 
So I received the application acknowledgement email on July 31st. Will it really take 4-6 weeks for them to reach a decision whether I receive a secondary? Also, does anyone know if they email you to notify you that you will not be receiving a secondary? I have Illinois residency.
 
SuperChocolateBear said:
So I received the application acknowledgement email on July 31st. Will it really take 4-6 weeks for them to reach a decision whether I receive a secondary? Also, does anyone know if they email you to notify you that you will not be receiving a secondary? I have Illinois residency.
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You will not receive any notification if you will not be getting a secondary. And yes, it is possible to take up to 4-6 weeks as SIU does evaluate the entirety of your primary application before considering secondaries. It usually takes less time, but we are currently in "prime time" for application submissions, hence the long time quoted.
 
After you mail in your secondary fee, do you receive an email notification when they receive it?
 
Dr JavThrower said:
After you mail in your secondary fee, do you receive an email notification when they receive it?
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No, you will not. You're more than welcome to call and ask though! If you mail it from Illinois they usually have it within 2-3 days.
 
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Since I didn't receive a secondary, is it safe to assume that I won't be asked to complete it at any point? Do they send rejection notices?
 
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tiramisucheese said:
Since I didn't receive a secondary, is it safe to assume that I won't be asked to complete it at any point? Do they send rejection notices?
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If it hasn't been 4-6 weeks I would try to stay hopeful. I haven't gotten it either and it's been around 3 weeks or so and that's my mentality at this point.
 
tiramisucheese said:
Since I didn't receive a secondary, is it safe to assume that I won't be asked to complete it at any point? Do they send rejection notices?
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They do not send rejection notices. The average secondary time is 4-6 weeks as stated before because this is when the school receives the bulk of their applications. We are a smaller school with a smaller staff so it takes a bit longer to go through the applications.
 
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II today! I only had the option of a mid-September date, so I took it!
 
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I have not been offered a secondary, I got the email on july 12th. Is it safe to assume im out?
 
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esponda2018 said:
I have not been offered a secondary, I got the email on july 12th. Is it safe to assume im out?
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It will be 4 weeks as of Friday. SIU averages 4-6 weeks for secondaries around this time of the year. I would give it another week and then call the admissions office to ask - they are always willing to answer questions!
 
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ncklkrt said:
It will be 4 weeks as of Friday. SIU averages 4-6 weeks for secondaries around this time of the year. I would give it another week and then call the admissions office to ask - they are always willing to answer questions!
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Do you think calling at 4.5 weeks to ask about my status would help me show my interest in the school? Or would it not matter to the committee?
 
BlueBee20 said:
Do you think calling at 4.5 weeks to ask about my status would help me show my interest in the school? Or would it not matter to the committee?
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It won't hurt your application by any means but is unlikely to significantly help you either.
 
It's been 2 weeks since I submitted my secondary, so should I just assume I am not getting an interview?
 
tekkenman11 said:
It's been 2 weeks since I submitted my secondary, so should I just assume I am not getting an interview?
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Definitely not! It's only August and SIU does interviews through March. It's a super long road so don't give up yet
 
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tekkenman11 said:
It's been 2 weeks since I submitted my secondary, so should I just assume I am not getting an interview?
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It's super early in the cycle and there's still plenty of time and interview invites to be handed out. Waiting is the worst part of medical school applications - keep yourself occupied with friends, family, and hobbies to help the waiting.

In terms of interviews, the season kicks off next week - good luck to everyone who is interviewing this year! I may be a tour guide from time to time ;)
 
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ncklkrt said:
It's super early in the cycle and there's still plenty of time and interview invites to be handed out. Waiting is the worst part of medical school applications - keep yourself occupied with friends, family, and hobbies to help the waiting.

In terms of interviews, the season kicks off next week - good luck to everyone who is interviewing this year! I may be a tour guide from time to time ;)
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Thank you for all your help! I've been preparing for my interviews coming up and SIU will be my second interview of the cycle (and the one I'm stressing most about because I'm so in love with the school lol). Hoping the nerves won't take away from the interview experience
 
BlueBee20 said:
Do you think calling at 4.5 weeks to ask about my status would help me show my interest in the school? Or would it not matter to the committee?
Click to expand...

I called to inquire if they had received my mailed-in payment, and she checked that and the status of my application without me even asking. I would take that as they want us to stay in contact and check up on it.
 
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@ncklkrt Any insider prep advice for the interviews? Seems relatively low stress with individual interviews, any recommendations on how to shine? How will we recognize you on the tour without the stormtrooper helmet?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Dr JavThrower said:
I called to inquire if they had received my mailed-in payment, and she checked that and the status of my application without me even asking. I would take that as they want us to stay in contact and check up on it.
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Thanks for checking that, I'll have to do that myself. Its been about 4.5 weeks for me now so I'll have to give them a call.
 
Just got an email and I guess I was given the status "screeners alternate". Didn't even know that was a thing but sounds like I'm basically on hold until the end of the year. Extremely disappointed I haven't even been given the chance to give them a secondary to show them more about myself.

Edit: After reading past threads it seems that I am basically rejected. Great.
 
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Yep, got the screeners alternate today too. Oh well. Has anyone received a full-on rejection email yet?
 
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