UCSF 2011-2012 Applicants

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AHHHHH!!!!! I'm constantly looking at my email!!!! Im so nervous... Congrats to those who received invites!
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Does anybody know when pre-reqs for UCSF must be completed by? Is it by Spring or Summer? Can you please copy and paste the link where that information is cuz I can't find it on the website. I took an upper-div Cultural Anthropology course but now I'm concerned that perhaps they only want a lower-div one....
 
Denied. Ouchhhh. That hurts. :(

But nonetheless, congrats on everyone who was offered interviews for UCSF. And good luck!!!!!!
 
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zomg can't believe I got an invite!! Check your emails!!
 
ahh I got my interview for 2/10 as well!! super excited :) this is such a great christmas gift!! congrats to all that's gotten an interview!! happy holidays~~~
 
Jackie B said:
Does anybody know when pre-reqs for UCSF must be completed by? Is it by Spring or Summer? Can you please copy and paste the link where that information is cuz I can't find it on the website. I took an upper-div Cultural Anthropology course but now I'm concerned that perhaps they only want a lower-div one....
Click to expand...

@Jackie - I believe as long as you finish them before school starts, it's okay.

"All prerequisites must be satisfied with course work approved by the Office of Student & Curricular Affairs and must be completed prior to September 1, 2013."

http://pharmacy.ucsf.edu/pharmd/admissions/steps/1/
 
I just got my invitation for Feb 10th too. Good luck everyone!
 
I got an interview invite for January 27! I'm ECSTATIC!
 
Has anyone had any problems with responding to the "reply to" email address they included in the interview invitation email? I've tried sending a confirmation via two of my email accounts already and it keeps notifying me that it is not a valid email address...

Wow, nevermind...it seems to be a URL.
 
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It's great that they're doing invites by e-mail now. Last year they sent it out by snail mail, so some people didn't get them until they came back to school from break.

It's so great to see you guys getting interview invites! Have fun preparing!
 
I got an interview invite for January 27th!!!!! I am super excited, but I am kind of worried because I have an interview invite for UCSD the next day at 8AM on January 28th :( :( I thought UCSF and UCSD's interview dates were chosen so as to minimize conflicting dates... :(
 
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I got my invitation! OMG I'm so nervous already! Mine's on February 10th at 11:30am.
 
Anyone else have an interview 2/17 like me :D I wonder if it means anything if we have the last interview date...
 
got interview invitation for 2/10 at 2:30 pm :D SO EXCITED!!!!! Is anyone interviewing at the same time as me? Good luck everyone! :)


yoo2na said:
zomg can't believe I got an invite!! Check your emails!!
Click to expand...

I see our paths cross again lol gluck ;)
 
prepharm14 said:
interview 2/4! congrats everyone!
Click to expand...

Are you interviewing at 8:30 in the morning? I am
not so happy about the time... Not a fan of waking up early before interviews.. I'm not even sure if I want to accept the interview offer actually.

Question to current students: what do you like about UCSF? How is the faculty? What would you change about UCSF if you could? How much networking opportunity does the school provide you with? How much help does the school give you with finding internships/jobs?

Thanks in advance :)
 
futurepharmer said:
Sounds like you don't want to interview there and you are already making excuses as to why you shouldn't. If you have a negative view, nothing is going to change that. Might as well pass on the interview and not waste your money if you aren't interested. Oh, and your not being "a fan of waking up early before interview" already speaks volumes about your worth ethic. Stay home.
Click to expand...

Edit: besides it's not the interview time that's bothering me. It's the fact that they do not take IB for Chemistry and even though I have a B.S. and an honors thesis and research in chemistry with published papers, they want me to take intro to general chemistry with both labs.

That is, not a fan of having to wake up at 5:30 before an interview because I like to put on my suit and practice for at least a couple more hours after eating a healthy breakfast. For an interview at 11:30, I wake up at 7:30.

I do not think it's right to make comments about someone's work ethic by just one post, which, you might, and have, interpreted incorrectly. I am not making excuses, I am asking questions to figure out what is best for me. I ask the same type of questions for every school I've applied to.

I'd have appreciated it if you'd made a more constructive comment. This did not help me at all.
 
futurepharmer said:
There are many people who did not get an interview at ANY school that would gladly get up in the middle of the night in order to prepare for an 8:30am interview. They would even skip "eating a healthy breakfast" if it meant they would be given the chance to interview. Sounds like you are living the life of luxury and privilege.
Click to expand...

Luxury and privilege? Are you kidding me?I am an international student! I am on a visa; not a green card or permanent residency. You know what that means? That means I worked my butt off for the past 16 years to get to a school in the US with a scholarship (my parents are not here and can't afford to pay for my school), get grades good enough to stay here and get accepted to pharmacy schools now. I had 5 surgeries during college in addition to all of the other **** I've been through. I had to drop out of school and start all over. I am not sorry for keeping high standards for myself at all times, and working hard to reach my goals. I am not getting all these interviews just because... I applied to so many because I never thought I'd be accepted to any in the first place. I feel sorry for people who didn't get interviews at any schools, and I do wish I could help them out because I know what it feels like to be rejected by someplace you've been dreaming to go all your life.

If you're now mad at me because I am an international... Well.. I have nothing to say to that. You are obviously bitter at me for some reason though I cannot see what I did to make you angry. I apologize if something I said pissed you off though nothing in my first post was meant to be harsh or hurt anyone.. I am going to assume you were having a bad day and wanted to argue with someone.

At any rate... I'd recommend not talking to strangers this way since you never know who you might be talking to. I also do not want to have any more posts about this issue since it is unrelated to the topic and if you do want to continue you may message me if you wish.


I still would appreciate if there is a current student from UCSF who would be kind enough to answer my previous questions about the school :) why UCSF? Was it your first choice? What do you like most about it? etc etc
 
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seems like lots of people getting interview from UCSF this year ..
mine is 1/27 @11:30AM

Does anyone know if UCSF send out the same amount of interview invitation compared to last cycle?
 
Jackie B said:
Anyone else have an interview 2/17 like me :D I wonder if it means anything if we have the last interview date...
Click to expand...

I'm 2/17 @ 11:30am. How'd you know it's the last interview date? Looks like I get the first interview date at UCSD, last interview date for UCSF.

As for what it means, maybe this: http://youtu.be/5EdmHSTwmWY

Alright, definitely grasping at straws at this point...
 
stagius24 said:
seems like lots of people getting interview from UCSF this year ..
mine is 1/27 @11:30AM

Does anyone know if UCSF send out the same amount of interview invitation compared to last cycle?
Click to expand...


I was also wondering about that, too. On Pharmcas, it says for 2011, estimated 275 interviewed, 122 accepted, which means 44% chance of being accepted if you're interviewed. I wonder if the #'s are similiar this year...
 
lilipad89 said:
Denied. Ouchhhh. That hurts. :(

But nonetheless, congrats on everyone who was offered interviews for UCSF. And good luck!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Awesome stats! I actually got denied from UCSD, but got an interview from UCSF. I guess the schools just look for different things in a candidate. Gluck w/ your interviews!
 
JTalbain said:
I'm 2/17 @ 11:30am. How'd you know it's the last interview date? Looks like I get the first interview date at UCSD, last interview date for UCSF.

As for what it means, maybe this: http://youtu.be/5EdmHSTwmWY

Alright, definitely grasping at straws at this point...
Click to expand...

I just assumed it's the last one because I browsed last year's thread and the last interview was 2/19 and because everyone posting here so far has earlier dates than me :D

I hope your reference to the video is true and not because the interviews are ranked based on how much they want the student....as in, hopefully it's random.

I'm so excited to get an interview at UCSF. I was turned down by UCSD but I don't mind (even though I went there for undergrad...)
 
Jackie B said:
I just assumed it's the last one because I browsed last year's thread and the last interview was 2/19 and because everyone posting here so far has earlier dates than me :D

I hope your reference to the video is true and not because the interviews are ranked based on how much they want the student....as in, hopefully it's random.

I'm so excited to get an interview at UCSF. I was turned down by UCSD but I don't mind (even though I went there for undergrad...)
Click to expand...

Ah ok I see. I'm also hoping it's random... since that's a pretty big bummer to be ranked towards the bottom of the applicant pool.
 
I am interviewing @ 2:30pm on 1/27. I am SO happy and really excited (but equally nervous)! I'm looking forward to meeting some of you. yay! congrats to everyone who got interview invites :)
 
I thought that they scheduled interview dates alphabetically based on last name?
 
oktobre21 said:
Are you interviewing at 8:30 in the morning? I am
not so happy about the time... Not a fan of waking up early before interviews.. I'm not even sure if I want to accept the interview offer actually.

Question to current students: what do you like about UCSF? How is the faculty? What would you change about UCSF if you could? How much networking opportunity does the school provide you with? How much help does the school give you with finding internships/jobs?

Thanks in advance :)
Click to expand...

Hi there! I'm a current student at UCSF.

By the way, I think waking up at 4 or 5 is pretty common when interviewing. There are many other schools (at least for me) that had their interviews set at 8 am, so it's not UCSF specific.

I'd definitely consider interviewing with the school to get a better idea of what it's like. You'll probably see this at every school, but the students in my class are awesome. There's a lot of really great and different people and it's fairly easy to get along with most of them. I like that there's a good amount of stuff to do around campus and off campus. The teaching faculty is generally really great. Of course, there are some professors that aren't as good as others, but I think you'd get that anywhere. On the whole, the faculty here is pretty great. You'll get a chance to get lectures from people who basically were the founders of what they're teaching. Also, Student Affairs (OSACA) is really friendly and open to suggestions, comments, concerns.

Also, compared to undergraduate (UCSD for me), there's a lot more study rooms available, which I like. Sometimes you have to search around for one, but with your student ID, most all the rooms are open 24/7 for you, even the lecture halls sometimes as well.

One thing that I do wish UCSF could do better is working a bit on their technology. I might've been spoiled by UCSD, but I felt that UCSF's web services could be a bit more integrated and more organized. Also, due to curriculum constantly changing here, I felt at times that goals and requirements were not communicated well.

I think in terms of networking and finding internships, UCSF wants the student to take responsibility for it. The school definitely does set up interviews with big name stores for its students, and it does have internship fairs, and networking events, but whether or not you want to go to the events are all on you. You still have to apply for the interviews, you still have to prepare your resume, and so on.

I can tell you for sure that my interview experience was totally not the same as what I experienced here in the first year. I didn't have a great interview day, but when I got in, I did some more thinking about the school, and I became more excited about going. I definitely don't regret my decision at all, and it's probably one of the best decisions I made. Of course, whether or not to interview is up to you, but I think waking up at 4 or 5 in the morning for one day is definitely worth it to give it a shot and see the school. If you don't like it, hey, you only gave it a day or two of your time.

-EDIT-
Sorry, I saw some of your other questions/concerns.

For some reason, a lot of schools in the US are not very IB friendly, and prefer AP credits. I don't know why. I suspect you may have problems with this at other schools as well.

UCSF was close to my top choice. I didn't really have a top choice, I really wanted to get into UCSD as well (my undergrad school) for various personal and academic reasons, but I was denied an interview. I also really loved UIC and University of Washington, and it was pretty difficult for me to choose between the three schools. However, because UCSF was closer to home to my family, along with all of the other various little reasons, I chose SF.

Hope this helps!
 
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Also, to give everyone some background on who I am to see if your situation fits mine:

I went to UCSD for undergraduate majoring in Human Biology. I applied to pharmacy school during my senior year. Since my application stats doesn't really mean anything anymore, I don't mind sharing. At the time of applying, I had a 3.51 GPA, one leadership position in a school club, had about six months of research experience of about 20-25 hours a week (which I wrote about heavily in my application), about 2 years of Pharm Tech experience (but I only worked during school breaks and summer vacations, so really about 4 or 5 months worth). I didn't have a lot of volunteering experience (unless you count my research, since it was unpaid).

I applied to 14 schools, 4 in state and 10 out of state. I did take the PCAT. I got denied without interview from two of them, but decided to go to only five interviews. I eventually got waitlisted at two schools, and accepted to three of them.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to message me or reply or something. I'm not on SDN often, but I'll probably check in once in a while.
 
pumpkinpie2012 said:
I thought that they scheduled interview dates alphabetically based on last name?
Click to expand...

Tebowed said:
I highly doubt it, because my last name starts with one of the last alphabets lol
Click to expand...

That's interesting! I assumed they scheduled interview dates based on last names too.

I'm a current student at UCSF and my interview date was 2nd to last... and most (if not all.. because I didn't speak to all of them) people had last names from R-Y. So... I'm pretty sure the interviews are not ranked. (Unless they're doing things differently this year but that shouldn't be the case)
 
Does anyone have suggestions for decent hotels that are close to the interview site?
 
STAR1526 said:
Does anyone have suggestions for decent hotels that are close to the interview site?
Click to expand...

There is a hotel near Carl and Stanyan, but most of the decent hotels are in the downtown union square area, or if you are on a budget you can look at some hotels in the civic center area. Both places are right near the Muni/BART stations where you can just hop on to the N-Judah muni rail that will take you all the way to UCSF.
 
knutcracka said:
That's interesting! I assumed they scheduled interview dates based on last names too.

I'm a current student at UCSF and my interview date was 2nd to last... and most (if not all.. because I didn't speak to all of them) people had last names from R-Y. So... I'm pretty sure the interviews are not ranked. (Unless they're doing things differently this year but that shouldn't be the case)
Click to expand...

Yeah I don't think it's alphabetically. I'm scheduled for 2/17 but my last name starts with a D.
 
ladnar said:
Hi there! I'm a current student at UCSF.

By the way, I think waking up at 4 or 5 is pretty common when interviewing. There are many other schools (at least for me) that had their interviews set at 8 am, so it's not UCSF specific.

I'd definitely consider interviewing with the school to get a better idea of what it's like. You'll probably see this at every school, but the students in my class are awesome. There's a lot of really great and different people and it's fairly easy to get along with most of them. I like that there's a good amount of stuff to do around campus and off campus. The teaching faculty is generally really great. Of course, there are some professors that aren't as good as others, but I think you'd get that anywhere. On the whole, the faculty here is pretty great. You'll get a chance to get lectures from people who basically were the founders of what they're teaching. Also, Student Affairs (OSACA) is really friendly and open to suggestions, comments, concerns.

Also, compared to undergraduate (UCSD for me), there's a lot more study rooms available, which I like. Sometimes you have to search around for one, but with your student ID, most all the rooms are open 24/7 for you, even the lecture halls sometimes as well.

One thing that I do wish UCSF could do better is working a bit on their technology. I might've been spoiled by UCSD, but I felt that UCSF's web services could be a bit more integrated and more organized. Also, due to curriculum constantly changing here, I felt at times that goals and requirements were not communicated well.

I think in terms of networking and finding internships, UCSF wants the student to take responsibility for it. The school definitely does set up interviews with big name stores for its students, and it does have internship fairs, and networking events, but whether or not you want to go to the events are all on you. You still have to apply for the interviews, you still have to prepare your resume, and so on.

I can tell you for sure that my interview experience was totally not the same as what I experienced here in the first year. I didn't have a great interview day, but when I got in, I did some more thinking about the school, and I became more excited about going. I definitely don't regret my decision at all, and it's probably one of the best decisions I made. Of course, whether or not to interview is up to you, but I think waking up at 4 or 5 in the morning for one day is definitely worth it to give it a shot and see the school. If you don't like it, hey, you only gave it a day or two of your time.

-EDIT-
Sorry, I saw some of your other questions/concerns.

For some reason, a lot of schools in the US are not very IB friendly, and prefer AP credits. I don't know why. I suspect you may have problems with this at other schools as well.

UCSF was close to my top choice. I didn't really have a top choice, I really wanted to get into UCSD as well (my undergrad school) for various personal and academic reasons, but I was denied an interview. I also really loved UIC and University of Washington, and it was pretty difficult for me to choose between the three schools. However, because UCSF was closer to home to my family, along with all of the other various little reasons, I chose SF.

Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

This is extremely helpful thank you SO much! My interview at UNC was not that great, like yours was at UCSF, but now the more I look into the school and the opportunities it provides the more I'm starting to think that I might actually like it there...

I just declined the interview offer for UCSF actually, because I've already spent enough money traveling for interviews, and, well, mainly because I'd rather not take General Chemistry :) The money and waking up wouldn't have been an issue at all if only they were accepting IB credit.

Once again, thank you for answering my questions. UCSF is a GREAT school and I wish you best of luck (and happy new year!) with the classes and exams and with your career :)

And to everyone else who got interviews, good luck! I hope you will all do great! ;) Happy new year!
 
oktobre21 said:
This is extremely helpful thank you SO much! My interview at UNC was not that great, like yours was at UCSF, but now the more I look into the school and the opportunities it provides the more I'm starting to think that I might actually like it there...

I just declined the interview offer for UCSF actually, because I've already spent enough money traveling for interviews, and, well, mainly because I'd rather not take General Chemistry :) The money and waking up wouldn't have been an issue at all if only they were accepting IB credit.

Once again, thank you for answering my questions. UCSF is a GREAT school and I wish you best of luck (and happy new year!) with the classes and exams and with your career :)

And to everyone else who got interviews, good luck! I hope you will all do great! ;) Happy new year!
Click to expand...

Definitely understandable. I passed up on interviews from a lot of great pharmacy schools just because the time and money simply wouldn't be worth it. Applying during school can be a really big pain, and even though there were many schools I liked, it just wouldn't be good for me to go to all of them. The time constraint was a huge issue. However, there were some schools I definitely went the extra mile for. Once, I had an tournament on Sunday, an interview on Monday, and a midterm on Tuesday. I came back home from the tournament at 2am Monday, woke up at 5am to catch my flight at 9 am, had my interview at 2pm, and came back at midnight to study for my midterm.

I didn't take IB or really had any applicable AP credits, so that wasn't really an issue for me. Hope the rest of your applications go well!
 
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