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

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is anyone who received a secondary an OOS? I'm an OOS with a LizzyM of 68-70

Haven't received Secondary.

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Prompts: @Lucca

1. Describe your involvement in the one most important non-academic activity in your life. (4000 char)
2. What has been the one most unique leadership, entrepreneurial or creative activity in which you participated? (4000 char)
3. What has been the one most important volunteer work you have done and why was it meaningful? (4000 char)
4. Has there been or will there be a gap between achieving your last degree (baccalaureate or other degrees post baccalaureate) and the expected time of medical school matriculation? (4000 char to explain if yes)
5. What is the one most important honor you have received? Why do you view this as important? (4000 char)
6. What has been your most scholarly project (thesis, research or field of study in basic or clinical science or in the humanities)? Describe one and give number of hours, dates and advisor. (4000 char)
7. Describe a problem in your life. Include how you dealt with it and how it influenced your growth. (4000 char)
8. Section to enter major work experiences, with 4000 char. to explain each experience.
9. Is there any hardship to which you would like the committee to give special attention in evaluating your application? If yes: Please explain. Include any geographic, language, economic, academic, physical, or mental factors: (4000 char)
10. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? What experiences have led you to this goal? (4000 char)

This one will be a doozy :eek:

Also, from the email: You have THIRTY days (30) in which to complete your supplemental application.

Seems like a hard deadline.

Holy cripes. this secondary could end up being a total of ~40,000 characters?!
 
This secondary is a killer. 800 characters or <200 words always seems the hit the nail on the head for me. I feel that a shorter secondary forces me to really think and reflect, cutting down my writing to incorporate only the important stuff.

sigh
 
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i feel like the 4000 characters is a mistake...should have been 400 :|
 
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Yeah, I'm going to take a hard pass on this one for a while.
 
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I kind of want to ask them buttttt how could you phrase that kind of question? :confused:o_O

"Yeah yeah, 4000 characters is great and all, but 400 characters is the best character limit for the 2017 secondary season."
 
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I am upset at the change in character count this year D:

*edited out tactless word choice.
 
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Hey I'm really not trying to be picky towards you here, but please don't say that.

On a brighter note, hopefully everyone gets a secondary soon


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No problem, I understand that it isn't the best choice of words.
 
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I think I'm going to call them tomorrow and confirm they actually want 4,000 characters for each prompt....Jesus and here I thought UCSD's was hard.
 
I think I'm going to call them tomorrow and confirm they actually want 4,000 characters for each prompt....Jesus and here I thought UCSD's was hard.
but i'm about to submit tonight
 
I just don't see why they increased the max amount of characters 5 times more than last years
 
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I just don't see why they increased the max amount of characters 5 times more than last years

Haha. You don't have to understand the change. It's like, do you want to fill it out or not? They don't have to explain their changes to us. Just go with it. Use as many characters as you need to answer. No more, no less.
 
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Haha. You don't have to understand the change. It's like, do you want to fill it out or not? They don't have to explain their changes to us. Just go with it. Use as many characters as you need to answer. No more, no less.
I realize that I was just saying that its kind of random
 
I realize that I was just saying that its kind of random

To me, it goes along with the whole holistic approach. It seems like they are giving people the room to deeply explain their experiences, diversity, cultural competencies, etc.

It's neither here nor there. You can write more if you want, but you don't have to. I guess that's why I'm not freaking out.
 
To me, it goes along with the whole holistic approach. It seems like they are giving people the room to deeply explain their experiences, diversity, cultural competencies, etc.

It's neither here nor there. You can write more if you want, but you don't have to. I guess that's why I'm not freaking out.


I thought hey maybe enough pre-meds complained 800 char wasn't enough. So they said "want more? Ok here's 4000"
 
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Does anyone know when we can designate that we want to apply PRIME?
I think you designate interest in a dual-degree on primary, and then there is a place to select PRIME-Westwood or PRIME-Drew in the secondary. Just got secondary today!
 
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has anyone else gotten a secondary from UCSF but not UCLA yet?
 
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has anyone else gotten a secondary from UCSF but not UCLA yet?

+1 I got UCR secondary about 3 days after their first wave so I'm hoping UCLA will be the same way too .... :')

edit: our LizzyM, primary #, secondary #, and schools are too similar haha
 
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+1 I got UCR secondary about 3 days after their first wave so I'm hoping UCLA will be the same way too .... :')

edit: our LizzyM, primary #, secondary #, and schools are too similar haha

same!! i also got the UCR secondary considerably fast :oops: and ik right?? the similarity is mind boggling haha
 
I'm definitely not going to utilize all 4000 characters for every question. More closer to 2000 for majority of them? Is that okay?

I think of quality over quantity as AdCom can see right through word fillers...
 
+1 I got UCR secondary about 3 days after their first wave so I'm hoping UCLA will be the same way too .... :')

edit: our LizzyM, primary #, secondary #, and schools are too similar haha

+2. I got UCSF in what I think was their first wave, but both the other UCs I've gotten so far (UCI, UCR) came significantly after other people started getting them. Holding out hope for a chance to return to LA!
 
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I'm definitely not going to utilize all 4000 characters for every question. More closer to 2000 for majority of them? Is that okay?

I think of quality over quantity as AdCom can see right through word fillers...

I think that's a good idea, I was looking through last year's school thread and everyone was complaining about how hard it was to fit their answers into 800 characters. Maybe this increase to 4000 is just to simplify things and essentially give you all the room you might want or need. I'm absolutely not planning on using all the space given, just as much as I need to adequately answer the question.
 
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I too, have received only UCD, UCSF, and UCI. Still waiting on UCLA and UCSD.
 
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I already collected last year's secondary. Applied to 15 schools that send secondaries, so far I have 10 from 2017, 4 from 2016 and I'm missing one from Howard University

UCLA (Geffen) Secondary Application (2016)


Describe involvement in the ONE most important non-academic activity that has been important in your life: (800 max)

What has been the ONE most unique leadership, entrepreneurial or creative activity in which you participated? (800 max)

What has been the ONE most important volunteer work you have done and why was it meaningful? (800 max)

What is the ONE most important honor you have received? Why do you view this as important? (800 max)

What has been your most scholarly project (thesis, research or field of study in basic or clinical science or in the humanities)?
Describe one and give number of hours, dates and advisor. (800 max)

Describe a problem in your life. Include how you dealt with it and how it influenced your growth. (800 max)

List major paid work experience during (or since) college. Give dates, description, approximate hours worked (list the most recent first). (800 max)

If there is any hardship to which you would like the committee to give special attention in evaluating your application, then check the box labeled "hardship" and briefly explain why you are indicating a hardship.Include any geographic, language, economic, academic, physical, or mental factors. (800 max)

Where do you see yourself in 10 years? What experiences have led you to this goal? (800 max)

The noted "max" is character max.

Is this for MD?
 
+2. I got UCSF in what I think was their first wave, but both the other UCs I've gotten so far (UCI, UCR) came significantly after other people started getting them. Holding out hope for a chance to return to LA!

Anyone else not heard from UCLA or UCSF? Is it time for me to start feeling rejected?
 
Anyone else not heard from UCLA or UCSF? Is it time for me to start feeling rejected?
It is only the freaking middle of July! They will continue to hand out invites for months to come. Relax, calm down. It is a LONG LONG ride until all is said and done next summer. Heck, people are STILL being pulled off waitlists around the country this week!
 
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+1 I got UCR secondary about 3 days after their first wave so I'm hoping UCLA will be the same way too .... :')

edit: our LizzyM, primary #, secondary #, and schools are too similar haha

Same here!
 
What is the one most important honor you have received? Why do you view this as important?

I received an international research fellowship that will be my gap year activity this coming year. I'm hesitant to use that for this question, however, because the experience hasn't really happened yet. However, it is well-recognized award, and maybe I could talk about how receiving the award gives validity to my proposal/research question, which is relevant to my interest in medicine. Any thoughts on how to approach this?
 
Hey what are the secondary prompts and character limits? Thanks.
 
I have all these same questions pre-written for 800 Characters... ),:
 
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