2014-2015 David Geffen School of Medicine University of California - Los Angeles Application Thread

[Godisgood!!]

I interviewed in mid October - so this wait has been painfully long! I just called the admissions and they said they will be sending out notifications of your status (admit/waitlist/reject) within the next 2 weeks...and yes more people will be admitted during that time.

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[soccerman93]

I interviewed in mid October - so this wait has been painfully long! I just called the admissions and they said they will be sending out notifications of your status (admit/waitlist/reject) within the next 2 weeks...and yes more people will be admitted during that time.

You are good!!

 

[dimples_]

wait that's awesome. i guess they're changing it up this year. this also reflects best with what they told me over the phone.

 

[dimples_]

So I guess checking online is futile now. Cool I can live with that.

 

[Storph]

I interviewed in mid October - so this wait has been painfully long! I just called the admissions and they said they will be sending out notifications of your status (admit/waitlist/reject) within the next 2 weeks...and yes more people will be admitted during that time.

So if we get a "letter sent" status. it can now be a rejection, waitlist, or acceptance? Just trying to make sure.

 

[Apocalypse101]

I interviewed in mid October - so this wait has been painfully long! I just called the admissions and they said they will be sending out notifications of your status (admit/waitlist/reject) within the next 2 weeks...and yes more people will be admitted during that time.

I thought ucla doesn't send out rejections until July? That's what the dean told us. He said everyone that doesn't get accepted in the initial round (deadline supposedly march 15th) will be placed on the WL until movement occurs in may... So I'm confused.

 

[Godisgood!!]

I thought ucla doesn't send out rejections until July? That's what the dean told us. He said everyone that doesn't get accepted in the initial round (deadline supposedly march 15th) will be placed on the WL until movement occurs in may... So I'm confused.

I was also really surprised when she said post-interview rejections are coming out soon, but she's the admissions officer not me and I didn't want to argue with her on the phone haha. Maybe someone can feel free to call back and verify?

 

[blubearzangel]

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[sunflower18]

You were right!! After nightmares of reading a rejection my happy letter finally came to the East coast!! East coasters check ur mail!

Yessssssssss!!!!!!!

 

[Hopeful531]

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[Juan Solo]

I have another question for current students! @catzzz88 , @alt12345 , @Juan Solo , @lostintranscrip -- When I visited UCLA, my hosts seemed more stressed relative to the students I stayed with at other schools. I would say "oh maybe it was the time in block that I visited", but I stayed with hosts THREE times for different interviews. Obviously medical school in general is stressful, but do you feel like there is a good work/life balance at Geffen? (I'm hoping you all will alter my impression! )

*sorry if this was answered already, but this thread currently has 31 pages!*

This is more so reflective of the people you stay with than a particular program. That goes for every program. Everyone handles stress differently and every medical school is stressful.

 

[differentiating]

Anyone else still not rejected post secondary pre II? They're obviously done interviewing, I'm just curious why the hold up.

In the same boat...just seems silly not to reject us when we've clearly been rejected and other people have gotten post-secondary rejection emails, but I don't pretend to know any of the rationale that goes into this process.

 

[OscarWao]

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[MrDoctorman]

I have another question for current students! @catzzz88 , @alt12345 , @Juan Solo , @lostintranscrip -- When I visited UCLA, my hosts seemed more stressed relative to the students I stayed with at other schools. I would say "oh maybe it was the time in block that I visited", but I stayed with hosts THREE times for different interviews. Obviously medical school in general is stressful, but do you feel like there is a good work/life balance at Geffen? Do you feel like you all have time to enjoy what LA has to offer? (I'm hoping you all will alter my impression! )

*sorry if this was answered already, but this thread currently has 31 pages!*

Depends on the person. imo, DGSOM is probably one of the most relaxed schools. Sure there is a lot of work in medical school, but I would not say it is stressful. There is definitely plenty of time to explore LA and have fun. I go to the beach almost every week just to chill and try new food all the time.

 

[runningisbliss]

I interviewed in mid October - so this wait has been painfully long! I just called the admissions and they said they will be sending out notifications of your status (admit/waitlist/reject) within the next 2 weeks...and yes more people will be admitted during that time.

Such a long process. But we've all made it this far and we're almost there

thanks for the info!

 

[alt12345]

I have another question for current students! @catzzz88 , @alt12345 , @Juan Solo , @lostintranscrip -- When I visited UCLA, my hosts seemed more stressed relative to the students I stayed with at other schools. I would say "oh maybe it was the time in block that I visited", but I stayed with hosts THREE times for different interviews. Obviously medical school in general is stressful, but do you feel like there is a good work/life balance at Geffen? Do you feel like you all have time to enjoy what LA has to offer? (I'm hoping you all will alter my impression! )

*sorry if this was answered already, but this thread currently has 31 pages!*

I would agree with @MrDoctorman in that I would guess UCLA is one of the least stressful places to go to med school, it was probably that your host would have been stressed no matter what school s/he went to.

 

[Hopeful531]

I would agree with @MrDoctorman in that I would guess UCLA is one of the least stressful places to go to med school, it was probably that your host would have been stressed no matter what school s/he went to.

Thank you for all the replies!

 

[catzzz88]

I have another question for current students! @catzzz88 , @alt12345 , @Juan Solo , @lostintranscrip -- When I visited UCLA, my hosts seemed more stressed relative to the students I stayed with at other schools. I would say "oh maybe it was the time in block that I visited", but I stayed with hosts THREE times for different interviews. Obviously medical school in general is stressful, but do you feel like there is a good work/life balance at Geffen? Do you feel like you all have time to enjoy what LA has to offer? (I'm hoping you all will alter my impression! )

*sorry if this was answered already, but this thread currently has 31 pages!*

I just wanted to add my two cents.

I would absolutely not call DGSOM a stressful school. Quite the opposite. Perhaps it was the people you met or maybe even the timing (near a block exam everyone gets stressed!). DGSOM is actually well known as being one of the more laid back schools. We are pass/fail and we have incredible professors. I don't think I have felt others acting for the sake of competition since I started medical school here (except in training for upcoming GradGames, yay!)

However, it's important to remember that medical school is unlike any experience you have ever had... That being said, be ready for an incredible mix of emotions ranging from pure joy/gratefulness/excitement to pure repulsion/fear/anxiety (however brief). The ups and downs of medical school bind us all together. Some people find medical school fairly straight forward. For others, it is the first time in their lives that they have been genuinely afraid that they would fail a class regardless of how hard they study. The ladder can be terrifying for the Type A personality.

Whatever happens and whatever school you go to, you will struggle and be stressed at times. This is part of the process. If struggle/stress is something you would like to minimize, I recommend that you focus on a few factors when choosing a school if you have options (in no particular order):
1) Chose a Pass/Fail school (1st and 2nd years -- and be careful of schools that still have class rank)
2) Prosected cadavers
3) Supportive faculty a
4) Location of school (for extracurricular fun)
5) Protection from Scut Work/abuse (3rd and 4th year)
6) Hours of mandatory classes per week is low to allow for self study
7) Classes are recorded and podcasted to increase schedule flexibility
8) Research thesis requirement
9) Step 1 prep time > 3 weeks

There are probably more, but I'm typing this on my phone.

If you have questions about any of these or where DGSOM stands on each, please let us know!

This was a major factor for my decision regarding which medical schools to apply to, so I completely understand where you are coming from. I hope this helps you!

 

[OscarWao]

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[MrDoctorman]

1) No, it has mandatory, UNGRADED, weekly quizzes. They don't factor into your final grade; just serve as an indicator of what you need to study.

2) Google is your friend.

Thanks for your responses! Just playing the devil's (or @Hopeful531 's) advocate here:

1. Doesn't UCLA have mandatory weekly graded quizzes or something like that? Sure they're pass fail, but, ceteris paribus, something like that would still increase the stress at a school, wouldn't it?

2. How does UCLA make its AOA decisions?

3. Does UCLA have shelf exams at the end of each rotation?

These are just something that could contribute to the stress level at UCLA, that I haven't seen addressed yet.

 

[Panasonic25]

To add on to the above questions. I know DGSOM is moving to graded 3rd and 4th years. Are there quotas or %'s for how many students get honors?

Coming from a UC public school, they are strict on quotas of how many people can receive certain grades (i.e. Only top 10-15% get As no matter what your raw score is). Other public schools are like that too. I heard U Mich medical can only give honors to the top 15%

Anyone from DGSOM know what the quotas for UCLA are?

 

[MrDoctorman]

To add on to the above questions. I know DGSOM is moving to graded 3rd and 4th years. Are there quotas or %'s for how many students get honors?

Coming from a UC public school, they are strict on quotas of how many people can receive certain grades (i.e. Only top 10-15% get As no matter what your raw score is). Other public schools are like that too. I heard U Mich medical can only give honors to the top 15%

Anyone from DGSOM know what the quotas for UCLA are?

They told us there were no quotas, so technically everyone could get honors.

 

[OscarWao]

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[Juan Solo]

Thanks for your responses! Just playing the devil's (or @Hopeful531 's) advocate here:

1. Doesn't UCLA have mandatory weekly graded quizzes or something like that? Sure they're pass fail, but, ceteris paribus, something like that would still increase the stress at a school, wouldn't it?

2. How does UCLA make its AOA decisions?

3. Does UCLA have shelf exams at the end of each rotation?

These are just something that could contribute to the stress level at UCLA, that I haven't seen addressed yet.

1. Yup. Weekly quizzes. They don't mean much other than an indicator for you to see where you are. Doesn't increase stress. The other I literally selected B for every question because I felt like being lazy. ( I can be lazy sometimes).

2. AOA questions... Don't even get me started. Not only is an old boys club but it's doesn't matter these days in comparison to your board scores and clerkship scores.

3. I thought every medical school does for clerkship. They are national exams.

Disregard the typos.

 

[OscarWao]

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[Juan Solo]

Thanks for the response! Yale doesn't do shelf exams.

Yale doesn't do anything. (Alone in that category)

But their students take step 2 which an accumulated shelf exam.

 

[MrDoctorman]

Alright, Mr. Sassyman. If you don't know the answer to a question, just say so! Or if you don't want to answer a question, just don't!

Haha sorry. I don't know the exact answer so I would have googled it anyway.

 

[FFH]

Yale doesn't do anything. (Alone in that category)

But their students take step 2 which an accumulated shelf exam.

Haha yeah, Yale is kinda unique in the shelf exam department. It has pros and cons to have them. Based on the feedback from resident and students at Yale and other school--Pros: more focus on learning from patient care alone. Less stressful. Cons: not the best prep for Step 1. I believe they are still doing great, but not as great as let's say Penn.

 

[alt12345]

Thanks for your responses! Just playing the devil's (or @Hopeful531 's) advocate here:

1. Doesn't UCLA have mandatory weekly graded quizzes or something like that? Sure they're pass fail, but, ceteris paribus, something like that would still increase the stress at a school, wouldn't it?

2. How does UCLA make its AOA decisions?

3. Does UCLA have shelf exams at the end of each rotation?

These are just something that could contribute to the stress level at UCLA, that I haven't seen addressed yet.

The mandatory weekly assessments are not graded and frankly not a big deal. Having slacked off a couple blocks, I think I would be much more stressed if they didn't exist, because then by test time you really don't know where you stand. They are a way to make sure people don't fall far behind, they are NOT a way to make sure people are studying nonstop every week.

Check out http://alphaomegaalpha.org/ucla_chapter_info.html for the AOA selection under "Election." I'm not sure how much that should factor into your medical school decision? If you are gunning for AOA, you will probably be stressed no matter what school you go to. That being said, UCLA doesn't factor in first and second year grades, which is helpful for stress reduction.

Also I was under the impression that every school has shelf exams after rotations. News to me that Yale doesn't.

I can confirm the graded 3rd and 4th years will not have quotas, so everyone can get honors.

I think the bottom line is that stress in medical school (and especially at UCLA) is more dependent on the person, not the school. UCLA fosters an environment that I would say is as stress-free as possible -- nice weather, true pass/fail unranked, lots of step 1 time, nice housing, no mandatory lectures, easy living area, good campus facilities to take advantage of, good financial aid, and the curriculum schedule which has few tests. I'm surprised that stress at UCLA is even a topic on these boards...when I was applying, I heard multiple times how relaxed UCLA is and that has been true for me as a student. Obviously any medical school will have stressed out students, and people can get anxious before exams. I don't think you could ask much more of UCLA in terms of stress reduction, though.

 

[PozAmz]

Same...got the runtime error Hoping news is coming soon!!

What is the reason for rejection from CA schools when home state is CA and stats are good? I am nervous for myself.

 

[MD Z]

Hello everyone,

I'm delighted to see all of your accomplishments and success. It's truly humbling and heartwarming to see your excitement. I am applying next cycle and would like some honest feedback. I am a resident of Louisiana and attend LSU( I heard about the firm commitment UC schools have to in state)
I have a 3.5 overall GPA 3.2 science 31 MCAT, numbersous hours of volunteering, through Salvation Army. I also started a community success coach/ big buddy program for underrepresented youths in BR trying to attend college.( I am an AA male). I have published through my biomedical engineering lab, and wrote a psych honors thesis.

My question is at a glance do I have an decent chance of getting an II to UCLA ??? Please be honest with your feedback as any help would be much appreciated. Thanks again

 

[alt12345]

Hello everyone,

I'm delighted to see all of your accomplishments and success. It's truly humbling and heartwarming to see your excitement. I am applying next cycle and would like some honest feedback. I am a resident of Louisiana and attend LSU( I heard about the firm commitment UC schools have to in state)
I have a 3.5 overall GPA 3.2 science 31 MCAT, numbersous hours of volunteering, through Salvation Army. I also started a community success coach/ big buddy program for underrepresented youths in BR trying to attend college.( I am an AA male). I have published through my biomedical engineering lab, and wrote a psych honors thesis.

My question is at a glance do I have an decent chance of getting an II to UCLA ??? Please be honest with your feedback as any help would be much appreciated. Thanks again

I think you have a good shot. I would definitely do some research on UCLA/Drew and see if you think that's a good fit for you.

 

[P&PMD]

Hello everyone,

I'm delighted to see all of your accomplishments and success. It's truly humbling and heartwarming to see your excitement. I am applying next cycle and would like some honest feedback. I am a resident of Louisiana and attend LSU( I heard about the firm commitment UC schools have to in state)
I have a 3.5 overall GPA 3.2 science 31 MCAT, numbersous hours of volunteering, through Salvation Army. I also started a community success coach/ big buddy program for underrepresented youths in BR trying to attend college.( I am an AA male). I have published through my biomedical engineering lab, and wrote a psych honors thesis.

My question is at a glance do I have an decent chance of getting an II to UCLA ??? Please be honest with your feedback as any help would be much appreciated. Thanks again

You should definitely apply!! Go you! That's some incredible work!

 

[Coolchurro]

Hello everyone,

I'm delighted to see all of your accomplishments and success. It's truly humbling and heartwarming to see your excitement. I am applying next cycle and would like some honest feedback. I am a resident of Louisiana and attend LSU( I heard about the firm commitment UC schools have to in state)
I have a 3.5 overall GPA 3.2 science 31 MCAT, numbersous hours of volunteering, through Salvation Army. I also started a community success coach/ big buddy program for underrepresented youths in BR trying to attend college.( I am an AA male). I have published through my biomedical engineering lab, and wrote a psych honors thesis.

My question is at a glance do I have an decent chance of getting an II to UCLA ??? Please be honest with your feedback as any help would be much appreciated. Thanks again

I wish that was true.

Of California's 9 medical schools:

3 private (USC, Stanford, Loma Linda). No in-state preference there, obviously

3 public: No in-state preference
UCLA (no in-state preference, explicitly stated on website)
UCSF (no in-state preference, explicitly stated on website)
UCI (no in-state preference, explicitly stated on website)

3 public: In-state preference
UC Davis: ~105 class size
UCSD: ~125 class size
UCR: ~50 class size

UCR reserves up to ~25 seats ONLY for UCR graduates, making it's effective class size ~25 for non UCR graduates.

Total seats for allocated for in-state preference (for non-UCR pre-meds): ~255
Total California pre-med applicants: ~6000

https://www.aamc.org/download/321460/data/factstable3.pdf

 

[Oblige]

For those accepted AFTER the first batch, did any mail come in regarding second look?

 

[Will Parry]

For those accepted AFTER the first batch, did any mail come in regarding second look?

Has anyone heard anything at all regarding second look?

 

[Hopeful531]

.

 

[sunflower18]

Has anyone heard anything at all regarding second look?

No and I was in the first batch accepted.

 

[Will Parry]

No and I was in the first batch accepted.

Same here. Hopefully soon!

 

[mdapp1415]

I was also really surprised when she said post-interview rejections are coming out soon, but she's the admissions officer not me and I didn't want to argue with her on the phone haha. Maybe someone can feel free to call back and verify?

haha did any brave soul call and figure out if rejections will come out in ~2 weeks or ~may?

 

[Apocalypse101]

haha did any brave soul call and figure out if rejections will come out in ~2 weeks or ~may?

Someone should really ask and clarify! I'm curious and nervous...

 

[prdv]

Every year they've waited til May/June. I don't see why they are changing it this year

 

[dancer99]

Are there any pre-interview/post secondary people that still haven't been rejected? If there are no more interviews, why not reject me?

 

[alt12345]

Are there any pre-interview/post secondary people that still haven't been rejected? If there are no more interviews, why not reject me?

Unfortunately I don't have an answer for that, and I'm not sure anyone on this board will . You could consider calling and asking a) if they are still conducting interviews and b) if they aren't, does that mean if you haven't had an interview you are out of consideration.

Please report back if you decide to! We've had this question quite a few times.

 

[alt12345]

Accepted students: join the facebook group!!!


https://www.facebook.com/groups/1562521020702457/

 

[DrCaliBoy]

BTW new class of 2018 video

 

[sunflower18]

Got the second look email! So excited!!!

 

[Juan Solo]

Accepted students: join the facebook group!!!


https://www.facebook.com/groups/1562521020702457/

The class of 2019 makes me feel so old for this rising MS3.

However, the facebook page should serve as an excellent source of information from current medical students at UCLA. Congrats accepted applicants!!

 

[soccerusa]

Any class of 2019ers following this great march madness run? Pretty cool.

 

[Coolchurro]

It hardly feels like the majority of acceptances went out this month. Can anyone confirm?

I honestly think more people were accepted in Jan/Feb than were this March. There were really only a handful that posted on here.

And how accurate is this rumor going around that we'll actually have concrete decisions in the next 2 weeks?