That is my plan. I still have to hear from USF, and it will depend on getting money from UIC or USF. Also, they mentioned me possibly being able to combine the MCH and Global Health concentrations.
You can do an interdepartmental concentration in Global Health. It's what I'm planning to do (meeting with the coordinator for it next week to get more info). Are you instate for UIC? That out-of-state tuition is going to kill me. I'm just hoping to be able to get an assistantship.
It would definitely be difficult to turn down a free education. Although I feel like it's worth spending a little more if you feel like you'll get more out of the program/be happier. Yeah, you have to fill out the financial aid application. I still haven't submitted mine and I'm kind of worried that it won't get seen when I do. You're supposed to e-mail it to the academic coordinator, but I've e-mailed her multiple times about other things and have never received a response. I might see if they have somebody I can fax it to.
I really love the overall program at UIC - at least on paper. It looks like it's going to be excellent. I didn't look too much into it when I originally applied, but once I was accepted and actually researched the program, it moved to the top of my list. I went back and forth between whether or not I was crazy turning down Emory, but I feel that I'll really just have much better experiences and opportunities at UIC.
That's great! I'm sure it's a relief not having to worry about the money so much.
I'd probably just call them and ask if they have any updates on your application or if they need any additional materials from you. Everybody over there is really friendly and helpful, so I'm sure they may be able to give you some additional information. I would probably direct this to your department though, as they'll be able to give you a more accurate timeline than the admissions office would.Any suggestions on what to email UIC? I don't want to rush the process but it would be nice to know where I stand
Any suggestions on what to email UIC? I don't want to rush the process but it would be nice to know where I stand
sigh I hope good news I really want too stay in Chicago !
Best of luck to you. Who is your student coordinator?Just did and they responded with no update the committee is throughly reviewing and no materials neededsigh I hope good news I really want too stay in Chicago !
sigh, I'm hoping for good news...
$1400 would net you a pretty nice apartment in Chicago. You can find a decent place around the campus for under $1000. I live in one of the more expensive neighborhoods in Chicago, pay way more than I ever have, and still spend under $1200. $9,000 for the 9 month school year is probably a lot for what you get, but you do get convenience.
Why do you say avoid north Chicago? I hear that the south side tends to be a bit more dangerous?
traffic really does suck here and Forest Park is just a few minutes ~2 miles west (away) from campus
What's your budget? There are affordable options out there, it just takes some digging. When we went up last week, we looked at so many crappy apartments before we found a great one in our budget. It's helpful if you're willing to look a bit further from downtown as well. A lot of the neighborhoods right around the loop just weren't worth the money to me. The apartments were so tiny. Moving a bit further out towards somewhere like Logan Square or Lakeview gives you much better bang for your buck and still keeps your commute to roughly 30 minutes or so if you stick close to the El. I'm sure you already know most of this since you're from Chicago, but I thought I'd give my insight since I just went through the apartment search myself.
I don't live in a big apartment building, I live in a walkup, which I found on Craigslist.
Yeah, safety is definitely important. That was a big thing for us as well. From what I saw, if you're looking at places right around the loop, they're probably going to be pretty small! We were looking at 2 bed places with a budget of $1200 (rent only), so I couldn't really tell you much about 1 bed rents. It seemed like most areas of Lincoln Park were pretty good, but a little pricey. Wicker Park or Bucktown might be decent areas for you to look at if you're trying to stay close to downtown. If you don't mind a bit of a commute (like 1 hr to the school), Edgewater and Andersonville are both great, safe neighborhoods. We mostly looked at places on the northern end because I really don't mind the commute and we wanted somewhere safe with a bit of green space to walk our dogs. Like I mentioned above, we ended up choosing a place in North Center. It's very safe, but a bigger commute than the loop neighborhoods (40ish minutes on the El to UIC). Logan Square is nice as it's a very short commute on the blue line to UIC, but it's a pretty hipster neighborhood (which is fine if you fit in with that crowd) and parts of it touch some rough areas near Humboldt.
Oh yeah, we didn't really look at South Loop because it just doesn't have much space to walk the dogs. Too concrete jungle for us at this point! Sounds like that would be a pretty good set-up though. There are definitely some hidden gems on Craigslist, it just takes being able to filter your way through most of the junk that pops up.
