2017-2018 University of California - Los Angeles (Geffen)

[buckoh24]

Still no secondary. Plz LA.

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[R_L_]

Received an II yesterday! Complete 8/22.

when are you interviewing??? Congrats!

 

[jaaackay]

Just wanted to say interviewed recently. Complete July. Love this school so much! Just make sure to eat breakfast and bring a pen.

The wait is excruciating, but I’m glad to have people off and online to complain with

 

[apollo722]

Just wanted to say interviewed recently. Complete July. Love this school so much! Just make sure to eat breakfast and bring a pen.

The wait is excruciating, but I’m glad to have people off and online to complain with

Awesome! Did they tell you how long you should wait for a decision?


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[enchantediris]

Awesome! Did they tell you how long you should wait for a decision?


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They said that the first round acceptances would happen by January (last year the committee was super efficient and they got decisions out by mid-December, but don't hold them to that). Scholarship offers go out at the same time as acceptances. They don't reject post-interview until very late in the cycle to keep as many people as possible in the pool.

 

[Smartypants92]

when are you interviewing??? Congrats!

January 9th! There was 1 date available in December but I need a bit of a break from interviews...

 

[plasticdiscoball]

Just got an II! Complete on 9/26, received on 10/30. LizzyM is 80+.

 

[dofDr2022]

My Son Application Complete on 8/13, II Received on 10/3, II Scheduled in November, IS, LizzyM is 81

 

[blastokine]

And here I was foolishly thinking UCLA didn't care about high stats as much.

 

[bootsandspooky]

And here I was foolishly thinking UCLA didn't care about high stats as much.

To be fair, they have been interviewing for less than a month, and stats seem like a pretty easy way to stratify applicants for review. Practically every school is going to send IIs to a bunch of high stats applicants first. I think that's why you see those people with 15+ interviews at this point. Even then, it's not like UCLA is interviewing every high stats person; I'm sure in the next month or two there will be some more diversity in the stats. Also good to keep in mind that they seem about 2 months behind the majority of schools. This is all stuff that I tell myself to feel better about the fact that I'm going crazy in the silence.

 

[blastokine]

To be fair, they have been interviewing for less than a month, and stats seem like a pretty easy way to stratify applicants for review. Practically every school is going to send IIs to a bunch of high stats applicants first. I think that's why you see those people with 15+ interviews at this point. Even then, it's not like UCLA is interviewing every high stats person; I'm sure in the next month or two there will be some more diversity in the stats. Also good to keep in mind that they seem about 2 months behind the majority of schools. This is all stuff that I tell myself to feel better about the fact that I'm going crazy in the silence.

I completely agree with you. I was shocked at first when I saw UCLA's average MCAT on the MSAR was a 508, thought I'd throw my app in and pray for the best.

 

[gwapsushi]

II today! LizzyM of 77 complete 9/7. Any tips on flying out there?

 

[buckoh24]

How long do they send out secondaries? Im not even gonna pre write at this point because I doubt I will get one if I sent my primary in early august.

 

[BuckStrickland]

How long do they send out secondaries? Im not even gonna pre write at this point because I doubt I will get one if I sent my primary in early august.

they send them out till december

 

[teeheety]

Hey guys!!! I don't like talking about stats but to give a word of encouragement in the midst of these superstats I have a LizzyM 71 and I got an II today! I was so shocked!

 

[xochitl]

Hey guys!!! I don't like talking about stats but to give a word of encouragement in the midst of these superstats I have a LizzyM 71 and I got an II today! I was so shocked!

congratulations and good luck!!....when were you complete?

 

[teeheety]

congratulations and good luck!!....when were you complete?

Late August!

 

[Radiata20]

Just wanted to say interviewed recently. Complete July. Love this school so much! Just make sure to eat breakfast and bring a pen.

The wait is excruciating, but I’m glad to have people off and online to complain with

Glad to hear you enjoyed your time with us! Fingers crossed for you, and hope to see you in April for Second Look Weekend!

 

[BuckStrickland]

Anyone know if UCLA puts you on hold for interview consideration until january? (like UCSD)

 

[Beantown101]

I completely agree with you. I was shocked at first when I saw UCLA's average MCAT on the MSAR was a 508, thought I'd throw my app in and pray for the best.

The 508 is because of Charles Drew SOM. The MSAR puts both together. Without Drew I'd expect the average mcat to be roughly where UCSD and UCSF are (516).

 

[Beantown101]

To be fair, they have been interviewing for less than a month, and stats seem like a pretty easy way to stratify applicants for review. Practically every school is going to send IIs to a bunch of high stats applicants first. I think that's why you see those people with 15+ interviews at this point. Even then, it's not like UCLA is interviewing every high stats person; I'm sure in the next month or two there will be some more diversity in the stats. Also good to keep in mind that they seem about 2 months behind the majority of schools. This is all stuff that I tell myself to feel better about the fact that I'm going crazy in the silence.

Of the total percentage of interviews how many do you think they have sent out? It's already November, and I have 0 II, 6 rejections, and I'm getting a bit worried. I've been complete to most schools since early-mid August and have a LizzyM=74.5.

 

[Dr. Meliodas]

The 508 is because of Charles Drew SOM. The MSAR puts both together. Without Drew I'd expect the average mcat to be roughly where UCSD and UCSF are (516).

The numbers from the Drew/UCLA & Prime are included in the MSAR, but they would not decrease the AVERAGE MCAT by as much as your saying and 8 point drop is a lot. Drew only accepts 24 students (and mind you that not all the applicants to drew have "low" MCAT's, I have heard of several that have high competitive MCAT that chose to attend Drew/UCLA program because of the mission of the program).

The most likely reason for the lower average MCAT than many other equal caliber schools is because of 1) the fact that UCLA has a very holistic review process that values much more than just pure stats. 2) the MSAR currently reflects the data from the years schools started using the new MCAT scoring scale. I would say that the MSAR only reflects about 1/3 of the scores of those who actually applied to the school, because many would presumably have applied having taken the old MCAT.

 

[blastokine]

The 508 is because of Charles Drew SOM. The MSAR puts both together. Without Drew I'd expect the average mcat to be roughly where UCSD and UCSF are (516).

The numbers from the Drew/UCLA & Prime are included in the MSAR, but they would not decrease the AVERAGE MCAT by as much as your saying and 8 point drop is a lot. Drew only accepts 24 students (and mind you that not all the applicants to drew have "low" MCAT's, I have heard of several that have high competitive MCAT that chose to attend Drew/UCLA program because of the mission of the program).

The most likely reason for the lower average MCAT than many other equal caliber schools is because of 1) the fact that UCLA has a very holistic review process that values much more than just pure stats. 2) the MSAR currently reflects the data from the years schools started using the new MCAT scoring scale. I would say that the MSAR only reflects about 1/3 of the scores of those who actually applied to the school, because many would presumably have applied having taken the old MCAT.

Yeah I knew about the Drew program but no way that decreases Geffen's average by 8 points.

 

[JohnQ666]

Do they only do MMIs here or is there also a one-on-one interview? Also, does anyone know how intense the MMI is?

 

[Beantown101]

Yeah I knew about the Drew program but no way that decreases Geffen's average by 8 points.

The numbers from the Drew/UCLA & Prime are included in the MSAR, but they would not decrease the AVERAGE MCAT by as much as your saying and 8 point drop is a lot. Drew only accepts 24 students (and mind you that not all the applicants to drew have "low" MCAT's, I have heard of several that have high competitive MCAT that chose to attend Drew/UCLA program because of the mission of the program).

The most likely reason for the lower average MCAT than many other equal caliber schools is because of 1) the fact that UCLA has a very holistic review process that values much more than just pure stats. 2) the MSAR currently reflects the data from the years schools started using the new MCAT scoring scale. I would say that the MSAR only reflects about 1/3 of the scores of those who actually applied to the school, because many would presumably have applied having taken the old MCAT.

Maybe not 8 points but definitely significantly. Compared to about 130 Geffen students, 24 people added to the data is a lot. That is roughly 20% of the original 130 people in David Geffen, making the real 25th percentile very close to the new average. Or reversely, the current 75th percentile is much closer (not exactly) to the true average (517). While there may be a couple Drew students towards the average I doubt more than one or two students have a 517+. Also do you see the incredible spread of data set in UCLA's MCAT? That also shows potential evidence of the lower end being from a different set (Drew). No other school has that type of spread, also leading to a conclusion that if u were to take out the lower 20%, u get a MUCH higher average. You may not get exactly to the 75th percentile, but I guarantee you get close (514-516).

Sign off: Insane current MD applicant (with 0 ii ) from LA who spends too much time looking at admission statistics and has a decent background in and understanding of statistics.

 

[Beantown101]

Also I really dont think 10% (of acceptances or matriculants on MSAR, so 16 people) of david geffen have below a 500

 

[bae2017]

Maybe not 8 points but definitely significantly. Compared to about 130 Geffen students, 24 people added to the data is a lot. That is roughly 20% of the original 130 people in David Geffen, making the real 25th percentile very close to the new average. Or reversely, the current 75th percentile is much closer (not exactly) to the true average (517). While there may be a couple Drew students towards the average I doubt more than one or two students have a 517+. Also do you see the incredible spread of data set in UCLA's MCAT? That also shows potential evidence of the lower end being from a different set (Drew). No other school has that type of spread, also leading to a conclusion that if u were to take out the lower 20%, u get a MUCH higher average. You may not get exactly to the 75th percentile, but I guarantee you get close (514-516).

Sign off: Insane current MD applicant (with 0 ii ) from LA who spends too much time looking at admission statistics and has a decent background in and understanding of statistics.

What? Maybe my math is flawed, but given 130 DGSOM and 24 Drew, if the true average for DGSOM was actually 514 (at the lower end of what you suggest) then the Drew average would have to be around 480 or something which is ridiculous.

Even if we assume the Drew average to be 500, which is somewhat more reasonable, then the DGSOM average is like 509.

Edit: Also, the MSAR reports the median, not the average. So working with averages in this way may not necessarily be accurate.

 

[7331poas]

Maybe not 8 points but definitely significantly. Compared to about 130 Geffen students, 24 people added to the data is a lot. That is roughly 20% of the original 130 people in David Geffen, making the real 25th percentile very close to the new average. Or reversely, the current 75th percentile is much closer (not exactly) to the true average (517). While there may be a couple Drew students towards the average I doubt more than one or two students have a 517+. Also do you see the incredible spread of data set in UCLA's MCAT? That also shows potential evidence of the lower end being from a different set (Drew). No other school has that type of spread, also leading to a conclusion that if u were to take out the lower 20%, u get a MUCH higher average. You may not get exactly to the 75th percentile, but I guarantee you get close (514-516).

Sign off: Insane current MD applicant (with 0 ii ) from LA who spends too much time looking at admission statistics and has a decent background in and understanding of statistics.

Do you have trouble with math?

 

[halamadrid17]

Maybe not 8 points but definitely significantly. Compared to about 130 Geffen students, 24 people added to the data is a lot. That is roughly 20% of the original 130 people in David Geffen, making the real 25th percentile very close to the new average. Or reversely, the current 75th percentile is much closer (not exactly) to the true average (517). While there may be a couple Drew students towards the average I doubt more than one or two students have a 517+. Also do you see the incredible spread of data set in UCLA's MCAT? That also shows potential evidence of the lower end being from a different set (Drew). No other school has that type of spread, also leading to a conclusion that if u were to take out the lower 20%, u get a MUCH higher average. You may not get exactly to the 75th percentile, but I guarantee you get close (514-516).

Sign off: Insane current MD applicant (with 0 ii ) from LA who spends too much time looking at admission statistics and has a decent background in and understanding of statistics.

Sounds like a lot of assumptions to me...

 

[eternalop]

In the realm of infinite possibilities, it is also probable that 508 is a typo. Just saying.

 

[Dr. Meliodas]

What? Maybe my math is flawed, but given 130 DGSOM and 24 Drew, if the true average for DGSOM was actually 514 (at the lower end of what you suggest) then the Drew average would have to be around 480 or something which is ridiculous.

Even if we assume the Drew average to be 500, which is somewhat more reasonable, then the DGSOM average is like 509.

Edit: Also, the MSAR reports the median, not the average. So working with averages in this way may not necessarily be accurate.

Which is closer to what the MSAR data shows ( 508 median MCAT for accepted students). Again the thing is the MSAR data is missing a lot of the applicants more than anything.

To @Beantown101 's comment about those accepted into Drew, I've heard of several people with high stats (517+) at Drew and have only heard of a handful with a 500 or lower MCAT score. In that same regard I have heard of several with high stats not getting accepted, because again acceptance into the Drew/UCLA program is highly mission based. I really think you are underestimating the students of the Drew/UCLA program. Over 1700 applications for probably no more than 100 interview spots/ and 35ish who receive acceptances, with applications reviewed by not only the Drew admissions staff but then the UCLA Geffen admissions staff - it is by no means a backdoor entrance into UCLA and is highly competitive. On another note, I'm sorry you haven't received any interviews yet, but keep your head up I'm sure you've worked really hard to get to this point, and just start sending updates to the schools your really interested in. You should be continuing things that align with the mission of the school or add new things you started and updating on your experiences and how you truly fit the mission of the school. That should get you noticed. Two of the interviews I received were "coincidentally" after submitting updates. I wish you the best through the rest of this application cycle.

 

[bae2017]

In the realm of infinite possibilities, it is also probable that 508 is a typo. Just saying.

Idk, I feel like that's not likely because 1) there's numbers for the other percentiles (so what are the chances that they made typos for all of them), and 2) it's AAMC data and not self-reported by the schools - I think they have the raw data and do the stats themselves

 

[Dr. Meliodas]

Idk, I feel like that's not likely because 1) there's numbers for the other percentiles (so what are the chances that they made typos for all of them), and 2) it's AAMC data and not self-reported by the schools - I think they have the raw data and do the stats themselves

Agreed

 

[eternalop]

Idk, I feel like that's not likely because 1) there's numbers for the other percentiles (so what are the chances that they made typos for all of them), and 2) it's AAMC data and not self-reported by the schools - I think they have the raw data and do the stats themselves

Agreed

It was a joke.

 

[Dr. Meliodas]

It was a joke.

My bad then, I've talked to people that are actually serious with that

 

[notreallymyname]

My bad then, I've talked to people that are actually serious with that

If it makes you feel better, I also didn’t realize it was a joke and just watched the “drama” from afar

 

[thinkchangeflow]

Do you have trouble with math?

I was thinking the same thing! There are so many mathematical flaws in that statement. The 508 is likely real and UCLA is following recommendations to focus more on students near the 500 mark and up while analyzing mcat as just a piece of the entire application.

Sent from my SM-A300H using SDN mobile

 

[cosmokot]

Just got a random phone call from Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. I work in a real quiet lab but I could barely hear the lady on the other end and I think she said she was calling from (or was it for??) Dermatology... But the number is UCLA's number so idk. I told her she had the wrong phone number, but for a second there I was really excited.

Universe playin games with me...?

 

[Camou_Cat]

Just got a random phone call from Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. I work in a real quiet lab but I could barely hear the lady on the other end and I think she said she was calling from (or was it for??) Dermatology... But the number is UCLA's number so idk. I told her she had the wrong phone number, but for a second there I was really excited.

Universe playin games with me...?

maybe she was asking for donation

 

[yogimed8]

(politely) pre-II rejected from MSTP on 10/30, LizzyM >80. Best of luck, y'all!

 

[Beantown101]

.

 

[Beantown101]

.

 

[Beantown101]

.

 

[leslieknope0804]

II today! LizzyM of 77 complete 9/7. Any tips on flying out there?

Congrats! I went to UCLA for undergrad so I know the area. You can fly into Burbank or other smaller airports, but LAX is definitely the closest. About 20 minutes away with no traffic (like at 5 AM) up to like an hour and a half at really bad times. If you have other questions let me know! And congrats again, wish I was you! haha

 

[f4reignbeauty]

The 508 is because of Charles Drew SOM. The MSAR puts both together. Without Drew I'd expect the average mcat to be roughly where UCSD and UCSF are (516).

That isn't completely true, and you should refrain from spreading half-truths.

 

[thinkchangeflow]

The 508 is because of Charles Drew SOM. The MSAR puts both together. Without Drew I'd expect the average mcat to be roughly where UCSD and UCSF are (516).

No. There is no sound logic in this statement and there is no mathemetical basis to support it. We all need to refrain from writing false, illogical "assumptions" on here b/c some students use SDN as a source of advice and we don't want their actions guided by poor advice.

Sent from my SM-A300H using SDN mobile

 

[Beantown101]

.

 

[7331poas]

lmao

So drew is 1/5th the class size.

Assuming UCLA's median is 516, that means drew's median must be 508 - (5 * (516-508)). So drew's class average would need to be a 468 exactly.

 

[bae2017]

So drew is 1/5th the class size.

Assuming UCLA's median is 516, that means drew's median must be 508 - (5 * (516-508)). So drew's class average would need to be a 468 exactly.

This is similar to the calculation I did. And @Beantown101 before you argue that median does not equal mean, I will say that when the sample size is sufficiently large (n>25), the median is the best approximation for the mean and I see no reason to believe our calculations are not at least approximately legitimate.

As has been said on previous pages of this thread, the most likely explanation for UCLA's 508 median on the MSAR is a combination of 1) a more holistic reviewing process - they likely took the AAMC's advice that a 500 on the new MCAT is sufficient for success in medical school at face value, and 2) the fact that the MSAR medians do not include scores from the old MCAT.

It is unclear whether or not we will see a low MCAT median for UCLA again after this cycle. Who knows, maybe they are truly pioneers in shifting medical school admissions to a more holistic process. However, your stubborn insistence that the 508 median has to be because students in the Drew program have much lower MCAT scores really doesn't have much evidence behind it and is frankly kind of rude.

 

[7331poas]

However, your stubborn insistence that the 508 median has to be because students in the Drew program have much lower MCAT scores really doesn't have much evidence behind it and is frankly kind of rude.

Uh...I think you didn't actually read what I wrote at all.