UIC Graduate Entry Program

sittenfeld · Mar 8, 2013

Yeah, I already (perhaps subconsciously) decided that I will be doing a Skype interview. It's simply too short notice for work and to buy a ticket... It's already about $300 to fly from CA to IL so I can only imagine what it would be like to buy a ticket days before you left. I will dress my upper half and make sure to have a strong Internet connection.

hi616 –– You raise a valid point, but perhaps there would be more of an opportunity to chit chat with interviewers if you had an in person interview. And of course, you would be privy to more information that would undoubtedly be given.

rainkissedleaves · Mar 8, 2013

I'm very self conscious on Skype.... I don't know why... Maybe it's the video aspect. My nerves are generally calm in person lol...

hi616 · Mar 8, 2013

Rainkissedleaves (and anyone hoping to come out for interviews)-

There's a hotel in the medical district (Marriott I think?) if you're looking for a place to stay. There is also plenty of hotels downtown that are easily accessible by public transportation via the blue line and pink line. Blue line can get sketchy, but mainly once you start going further west of the city.

rainkissedleaves · Mar 8, 2013

Sweet! Thank you so much @hi

ncami10 · Mar 8, 2013

Hi everyone!

I applied FNP for the GEP program as well. The Marriott is pretty much walking distance to UIC's medical district but not sure how $$$ they are (luckily I live right by UIC). That is sooo crazy they do group interviews, I had no idea. I went to an info session on the program a few weeks back and they didn't mention anything like that! Hope we all hear back in the next couple of weeks, I'm already getting ancy.

rainkissedleaves · Mar 8, 2013

Hi everyone!
I applied FNP for the GEP program as well. The Marriott is pretty much walking distance to UIC's medical district but not sure how $$$ they are (luckily I live right by UIC). That is sooo crazy they do group interviews, I had no idea. I went to an info session on the program a few weeks back and they didn't mention anything like that! Hope we all hear back in the next couple of weeks, I'm already getting ancy.

How was the info session if you don't mind reflecting on your experience? :)

ncami10 · Mar 8, 2013

Of course. It was good, there was about 25 people there but I wasn't sure how many were applying for this term. We discussed the application process and the program; most of which is basic info that's on the website. At the end we were able to ask question. Most of the people there asked about the pre-req classes / GRE scores.

The most useful info was that he said they are accepting a total of 72 for the program, but it depends on what specialty you applied for. At the time, I think it was Feb 12th he said there was a total of about 115 applicants who either had their application submitted, or opened up but not fully complete, like not all transcripts/letters of rec in. I would imaging at that time, most people applying to the program in general had at least started it? He also said it really depends on what specialty you choose. The most competitive usually each year is FNP, Peds, Midwife and Acute. But those specialties also have the largest amounts of spots open. For ex: FNP gets the most applicants but also lets in the most, usually 10 spots for FNP. (still didn't seem like a lot to me!) While other specialties, only have 1-2 spots open. He didn't say anything on this years cycle as for which were the most popular/competitive, I'm assuming it's the same as previous years.

I was curious if each year the admissions board has a set number for each specialty, 'only 10 spots for FNP, 6 for Peds, 2 for Psych......', that they had to stick to when looking at apps. I wasn't sure if maybe it depended on how competitive the applicants were/ if they made exceptions. If they had a lot of stellar applicants from one specialty vs. another, maybe they would change that number? He didn't give a completely black and white answer. He said a lot depends on the applicants, and also the amount of professors they have available to teach that specific specialty for that specific year. Besides that nothing else I didn't already know, that you can't get from the website. Hope this helps, let me know if you have any more questions and I will be more than happy to help!

rainkissedleaves · Mar 9, 2013

2 for Psych? .... I don't understand... They are going to accept 2 applicants from say like 35 people that apply? What is this ....Harvard? Lol

I heard last year they had greater numbers (around 10) for MH. 2 is insanely low... They are gonna have a class of 2 people? How .... Fun :/

Nevertheless, Thanks for the detailed response!

ncami10 · Mar 9, 2013

No, he didn't say 2 specifically for psych lol he didn't say exactly how many for each specialty.That was the example sentence I asked him about the numbers they admit. I was just giving an example bc he wouldn't give us solid numbers for anything because they didn't even know at that point. He did say for some of the smaller specialites there would be only 1-2 spots, but also only like 5 people apply to those. (Again idk what the small ones are?) Sorry for the confusion. I'm sure psych is one of the popular specialties so it probably is around 10 if the total class size is 72.

rainkissedleaves · Mar 9, 2013

No he didn't say 2 specifically for psych lol he didn't say exactly how many for each specialty.That was the example sentence I asked him about the numbers they admit. I was just giving an example bc he wouldn't give us solid numbers for anything because they didn't even know at that point. He did say for some of the smaller specialites there would be only 1-2 spots, but also only like 5 people apply to those. (Again idk what the small ones are?) Sorry for the confusion. I'm sure psych is one of the popular specialties so it probably is around 10 if the total class size is 72.[/quote']
Oh beautiful... Haha :) thank youuu !!

sittenfeld · Mar 9, 2013

3 more weeks (hopefully)!

rainkissedleaves · Mar 10, 2013

Woooo!!!! Daylight savings. Results will be an hour earlier than yesterday. Haha