2009-2010 University of California - Davis (UCD) Application Thread

[OneMCATAway]

congrats on everyone who got their secondary today, just wondering did any of you score below an 8 in any section of the mcat? thanks

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[alibai3ah]

Again this is very much speculation, but according to someone who applied two years ago and "knows someone"....

UC Davis has this point system, where if you have a certain MCAT you get a point, if you have a certain GPA you get a point, if you have a publication you get a point, if you have studied abroad you get a point....and random stuff like that and from there they screen pre-secondaries....

Again I don't know if this is accurate, so don't hold me to this, but just something I thought I'd share

 

[alibai3ah]

congrats on everyone who got their secondary today, just wondering did any of you score below an 8 in any section of the mcat? thanks

OneMCATAway, correct me if I am wrong, but I remember you getting a UCSD or UCLA secondary, if you got either of those, I would assume you would get Davis in some time.....

 

[OneMCATAway]

Again this is very much speculation, but according to someone who applied two years ago and "knows someone"....

UC Davis has this point system, where if you have a certain MCAT you get a point, if you have a certain GPA you get a point, if you have a publication you get a point, if you have studied abroad you get a point....and random stuff like that and from there they screen pre-secondaries....

Again I don't know if this is accurate, so don't hold me to this, but just something I thought I'd share

this is very interesting, and it totally makes sense! lets see if i have enough points for them

and alibai3ah so far i got no love from any UC's.. hopefully they'll change their mind

 

[fsjune2009]

For selecting the type of course, the only option for chemistry and
organic chemistry is "Chemistry with Lab" However, at my school, the
chemistry classes were offered separately as a 3 unit course, and the
chemistry lab as a separate 2 unit course. So if I took two semesters of
chemistry (3 each) and two of chemistry lab (2 each), do I simply list
chemistry twice as 5 credits?

 

[Aggro]

I got Davis today too.

Guess I'm not going to the beach tomorrow -- I now have 20 essays to write. Thanks Maryland, UCLA, and UC Davis.

 

[Appless]

I got Davis today too.

Guess I'm not going to the beach tomorrow -- I now have 20 essays to write. Thanks Maryland, UCLA, and UC Davis.

sadly im writing those exact same ones this weekend...in addition to VCU -_-

 

[fsjune2009]

are u guys entering in the exact dates for both activities and courses taken? cause i dont know the day in september my freshman classes started...

 

[Appless]

are u guys entering in the exact dates for both activities and courses taken? cause i dont know the day in september my freshman classes started...

nope approximate is fine

 

[alibai3ah]

OneMCATAway keep your chin up, they might send secondaries later too....not everyone gets it the first day.

 

[OneMCATAway]

OneMCATAway keep your chin up, they might send secondaries later too....not everyone gets it the first day.

Thanks =) I guess on the bright side with the 7 i am sitting on as of right now i didnt really have time for another one anyway much thanks to Davis for considering my secondary load lolll

did your emails also say we let you know mid-august to january? i got all excited that i didnt have to do anything till then and then i came here and boom everyone already had the other email

 

[ourse]

I thought the second e-mail would be a "nevermind" e-mail.

Anyone find that the app won't accept "A-" since it wants grades in "alphabet letters"?

i got the same error message. the app also won't accept my prof's long email because apparently 30 characters is the max...so i dont really know what to do about the email or his phone # (which is european) if they dont fix their app

 

[ourse]

Also, for all you people wondering how many secondaries are sent out:

The Admissions Committee has requested close to 2000 secondary applications.

this is from the FAQ page of the application

 

[Appless]

Thanks =) I guess on the bright side with the 7 i am sitting on as of right now i didnt really have time for another one anyway much thanks to Davis for considering my secondary load lolll

did your emails also say we let you know mid-august to january? i got all excited that i didnt have to do anything till then and then i came here and boom everyone already had the other email

yah I got that same email saying nothing until august-jan...then one min later I got the congrats email you have been approved.

 

[ucbcal]

For those of you that received a secondary from UC Davis, can you please post the prompt and the character/word limit?

Thank you for your help!

 

[Aggro]

Part 1:

1. How do you envision your life as a physician? 500 characters.

2. What knowledge, skills and attitudes have you developed that prepare you for a medical career? 500 characters.

3. How will you contribute to and enhance the UC Davis School of Medicine community? 500 characters.

4. Is there anything else that you would like the Admissions Committee to know? (E.g. ties to UC Davis, the local communities, or the State of California) 500 characters.

Part 2:

At UC Davis School of Medicine we realize that each applicant brings diversity and perspective from a broad range of experiences. In this section we give you the opportunity to describe in detail the 3 extracurricular activities or experiences that have been most influential in leading you to a career in medicine.

Briefly describe this activity and its significance. How did it prepare you for a medical career? Include any supporting information (e.g. your contribution to the project or accomplishment as well as links to any publication, etc). 750 characters each.

 

[BlueElmo]

I can't enter in + or - for grades. What the hell do I do? What the hell did you guys do? I don't want to put a freaking B when I got a B+.

 

[Appless]

I can't enter in + or - for grades. What the hell do I do? What the hell did you guys do? I don't want to put a freaking B when I got a B+.

Im doing nothing so far, Im going to call on monday adn see if its some sorta glitch or what to do. I wouldnt submit it, before you get taht answer.

 

[zerial]

maybe we should call about the unit requirements, too, huh?

 

[Appless]

maybe we should call about the unit requirements, too, huh?

I was also going to do that on monday. Im fairly sure those are quarter but better safe then sorry.

 

[BlueElmo]

plus, the space for the Course Number is too short. I can't even enter the whole course name.

 

[bobbybeets]

Im doing nothing so far, Im going to call on monday adn see if its some sorta glitch or what to do. I wouldnt submit it, before you get taht answer.

This is in fine print on the prerequisite tab of the secondary:

"ALL applicants, we will resolve the grade submission issue this coming week to allow for a "-" or a "+" grade entry."

So I'd just wait so your entries will be accurate.

 

[Appless]

.

 

[fsjune2009]

i like how they assume that the + or - issue pertains to "A"s....

 

[nick_carraway]

i like how they assume that the + or - issue pertains to "A"s....

I think you misread their message. "A" denotes singular in this case.

 

[fsjune2009]

oh. well thats embarassing.

 

[BlueElmo]

So I guess we all wait until Monday before submitting.

 

[nick_carraway]

So I guess we all wait until Monday before submitting.

I appreciate the extra time to polish 500 characters. How can you possibly write something meaningful and substantive in 500 characters. It's almost anticlimatic after waiting so long for Davis to love me.

 

[Appless]

I appreciate the extra time to polish 500 characters. How can you possibly write something meaningful and substantive in 500 characters. It's almost anticlimatic after waiting so long for Davis to love me.

yah dude i thought the 800 limit with UCLA was bad...500 is painful. Its so hard to write something meaningful about something you have done for 4 years...in <4 sentances.... Why cant all UCs adopt UCSFs 2ndary. Though I guess i shouldnt be complaining...for those of us who are not 3.8 35 mcats...the essays are part of the reason they might even gives us a chance over the sick stat people

Also is anyone able to log into their amcas acct using the new firefox (3.5). I just upgraded and now i cant log into amcas....worst upgrade ever -_-.

 

[BlueElmo]

I meant we're in limbo cuz of that + and - problem.

 

[nick_carraway]

yah dude i thought the 800 limit with UCLA was bad...500 is painful. Its so hard to write something meaningful about something you have done for 4 years...in <4 sentances.... Why cant all UCs adopt UCSFs 2ndary. Though I guess i shouldnt be complaining...for those of us who are not 3.8 35 mcats...the essays are part of the reason they might even gives us a chance over the sick stat people

Also is anyone able to log into their amcas acct using the new firefox (3.5). I just upgraded and now i cant log into amcas....worst upgrade ever -_-.

I just use Safari 4's developer mode when I don't need to do anything intensive (and haven't since 3.5 came out).

You can turn it on from Safari's preferences and you can just select Safari to behave like Firefox.

 

[creativekat]

Gotta love short essays! Less time needed to polish. It's like an exponential graph where the x axis is # characters/words per essay allowed, and the y axis is the amount of time spent editing it. That sounded pretty nerdy.

Waiting to submit tomorrow! (If only UCSD's was as easy as UCLA's and Davis's...)

 

[Appless]

Gotta love short essays! Less time needed to polish. It's like an exponential graph where the x axis is # characters/words per essay allowed, and the y axis is the amount of time spent editing it. That sounded pretty nerdy.

Waiting to submit tomorrow! (If only UCSD's was as easy as UCLA's and Davis's...)

lol its ok. I didnt get SDs is it just the write me a 10 pg essay about your life part that makes it bad? Or just in general, maybe i should be happy i only got LA and davis ...

 

[nick_carraway]

lol its ok. I didnt get SDs is it just the write me a 10 pg essay about your life part that makes it bad? Or just in general, maybe i should be happy i only got LA and davis ...

Only LA and Davis. Oh, Elijah...

 

[BlueElmo]

I really liked the SD autobiography. Better than writing about stupid questions like "why this school", "what can you offer us", etc kind of crap.

 

[Appless]

Only LA and Davis. Oh, Elijah...

i didnt mean like boo hoo only LA and davis. Im excited i got those. I meant that if SDs makes these 2 seem easy...id be going crazy right now if i had to do it! It took me the whole weekend just to do UCLA, UCD, VCU, and maryland!!

 

[nick_carraway]

i didnt mean like boo hoo only LA and davis. Im excited i got those. I meant that if SDs makes these 2 seem easy...id be going crazy right now if i had to do it! It took me the whole weekend just to do UCLA, UCD, VCU, and maryland!!

Yeah I'm still not done with Davis' experiences, which is sad because I wrote the other essays in advance. I'm just tired of writing about the same stuff over and over again.

 

[Appless]

Yeah I'm still not done with Davis' experiences, which is sad because I wrote the other essays in advance. I'm just tired of writing about the same stuff over and over again.

yah, luckily Ive written so many of these things now, I can copy/paste near every prompt from another school, which is exactly what i did for those 3 experience prompts lol. oh and thanks for the iowa prompts, i think ill add them and ucla drew on monday.

 

[creativekat]

lol its ok. I didnt get SDs is it just the write me a 10 pg essay about your life part that makes it bad? Or just in general, maybe i should be happy i only got LA and davis ...

It's just thinking of making everything sound smooth and have meaning. There's more room for mistakes and I have to make sure that what I'm saying cannot be misconstrued or make me sound racist, sexist, or a horrible person, etc. when I'm not.

I'm really not putting that much thought into the experiences section. Isn't it already on our AMCAS? I'm more or less repeating it + adding a sentence or two on why it matters in a medical career. What about everyone else?

 

[exeunt]

i'm confused about the course unit requirement too..

 

[nick_carraway]

i'm confused about the course unit requirement too..

The examples they use are from Davis. Our ochem courses are each 4 units for a total of 12 units across 3 quarters. Ditto for physics. Bio is 5 units each across 3 quarters for 15 units. The other courses all follow a similar trend.

The numbers that they give are thus in terms of quarters, if that helps at all.

 

[BlueElmo]

I think if you have one year each of intro bio, gen chem, math, english, o-chem, and a semester of upper bio, you should be good to go.

 

[fsjune2009]

Help! what do you do if your chemistry classes do not have the lab included, but lab is taken as a separate class? My chemistry classes were all 3 units and the lab classes were 2 units on their own...anyone else have this problem? how did you account for the units?

 

[Appless]

Help! what do you do if your chemistry classes do not have the lab included, but lab is taken as a separate class? My chemistry classes were all 3 units and the lab classes were 2 units on their own...anyone else have this problem? how did you account for the units?

My school does the same...i just listed 5 classes under orgo...itsll be obvious when they look at it. Not to mention im sure UC davis understands this seeing as how they get a lot of apps from schools like UCI that do this.

 

[fsjune2009]

u listed 5 classes under orgo as in you listed 2 classes each worth 5 credits or 5 separate classes with smaller amounts of credits?

 

[Appless]

u listed 5 classes under orgo as in you listed 2 classes each worth 5 credits or 5 separate classes with smaller amounts of credits?

3 class - Chem 51A, Chem51B, Chem51C (each 4 units)

2labs - Chem 51LA, chem 51LB (each 2 units)

all those i listed under organic chem

 

[Aggro]

So I was sitting down to write essays and I discovered that not only does UC Davis not accept AP credit, but they need all requirements to be completed by January 1st.

Looks like I'm not going to UC Davis. My pre-medical advisory committee told me from the first day of school that I would not have to take statistics or calculus to enter medical school because every medical school accepted AP credit. Lo and behold, I find that Davis and UCLA actually DON'T take AP credits, but I think to myself, "That's cool. I'll retake the classes senior year and it'll be two easy As." But no, even that's not good enough.

I sent an e-mail asking if they were deadly serious about AP credit being completely unacceptable and completing a course spring semester of senior year also being worthless. I'm pretty sure they are though, though I can't understand why a school would consider an AP test to be nothing of important. The idea that a school might prevent someone from attending despite having solid grades, a nice MCAT, and every other requirement except for one semester of college calculus that's a guaranteed A for someone that TOOK AN ENTIRE YEAR OF IT IN HIGH SCHOOL is absolutely preposterous.

Sigh.

 

[BlueElmo]

So I was sitting down to write essays and I discovered that not only does UC Davis not accept AP credit, but they need all requirements to be completed by January 1st.

Looks like I'm not going to UC Davis. My pre-medical advisory committee told me from the first day of school that I would not have to take statistics or calculus to enter medical school because every medical school accepted AP credit. Lo and behold, I find that Davis and UCLA actually DON'T take AP credits, but I think to myself, "That's cool. I'll retake the classes senior year and it'll be two easy As." But no, even that's not good enough.

I sent an e-mail asking if they were deadly serious about AP credit being completely unacceptable and completing a course spring semester of senior year also being worthless. I'm pretty sure they are though, though I can't understand why a school would consider an AP test to be nothing of important. The idea that a school might prevent someone from attending despite having solid grades, a nice MCAT, and every other requirement except for one semester of college calculus that's a guaranteed A for someone that TOOK AN ENTIRE YEAR OF IT IN HIGH SCHOOL is absolutely preposterous.

Sigh.

Maybe they will let it slide. See what happens tomorrow.

 

[creativekat]

Anyone able to submit this yet?

 

[Appless]

Anyone able to submit this yet?

did they fix the grade thing yet?