2011-2012 University of California - Los Angeles Application Thread

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Sammich117

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Reserved for prompt.

Please PM the essays or lack thereof to me when the secondary is available and I will update this.

Best of luck with your application :luck::luck::luck:!
 
what's the out of state situation with this school? should I bother?
 
YouNeverKnow22 said:
what's the out of state situation with this school? should I bother?
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Yeah, I'm wondering this as well.

Though my situation is a bit complicated: I was born in California, but I'm raised in Canada. I'm still an American citizen and I have family ties in California... am I in the same boat as any other OOS applicant?
 
Oh how I'd love to come back to my homestate, even if it's pretty much impossible especially being "oos" and with my mcat.
 
Definitely will apply here. My dream school😍
 
YouNeverKnow22 said:
what's the out of state situation with this school? should I bother?
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A large majority (> 85%) of accepted students are in-state, but that might be because there are more in-state applicants.
 
centraldogma said:
A large majority (> 85%) of accepted students are in-state, but that might be because there are more in-state applicants.
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yeah I saw they interview about 10% of OOS applicants, I really want to apply here though...
 
from their website:

Residence: No preference is given to state of residence. However many applicants come from California. Acceptees from California are more likely to matriculate at UCLA. Out of 145 freshman, 85 percent were from California.
 
YouNeverKnow22 said:
yeah I saw they interview about 10% of OOS applicants, I really want to apply here though...
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If you're confident about your app and you get it in early enough it's worth a shot. It doesn't seem like they would outright reject your app based on out-of-state status.
 
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anyone know if they use just gpa and mcat to screen for who gets a secondary? are they very numbers based?
 
DIVA01x said:
anyone know if they use just gpa and mcat to screen for who gets a secondary? are they very numbers based?
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My guess is that a computer does an initial screen for secondaries based on gpa and mcat. Some people are automatically given a secondary and some are rejected. Then there are probably some that are on the border that the computer can't decide on which are looked at by a committee member.
 
Although I hate the term, this has total "dream school" written all over it for me.

Also, I was born/raised in CA and am currently back living here after graduating this month, but is there any disadvantage for me having gone to a private school out-of-state?
 
DIVA01x said:
anyone know if they use just gpa and mcat to screen for who gets a secondary? are they very numbers based?
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There is no GPA/MCAT combination that is used to screen for secondaries. Some people have received secondaries with below UCLA average stats and other have been rejected, pre-secondary, with above UCLA average stats.

daemon14 said:
Although I hate the term, this has total "dream school" written all over it for me.

Also, I was born/raised in CA and am currently back living here after graduating this month, but is there any disadvantage for me having gone to a private school out-of-state?
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I went to undergrad out-of-state as well and will be applying here. Pretty sure there should be no disadvantage to go to undergrad out of state. Plenty of Californians do and end up in California med schools. If UCLA doesn't accept you, it won't be because of where you went to undergrad.
 
well i have no ties to cali, and i'm under the avg gpa. gotta love the school though. anyone know what they look for particularly in their students/what types of students they like?
 
whats the atmosphere like at ucla compared to the other uc schools? im also considering ucsf and usc. any thoughts?
 
traffic sucks, expensive to live in west la. Northridge, which is about 10-20 minutes north is really cheap to live. other than that, it's great. the campus is kind of boring though
 
I went to UCLA as an undergrad and will be returning there in the fall @ David Geffen. Yes, traffic sucks, but it sucks pretty much all around LA. But I disagree with the campus being boring. Westwood is within a five minute walk from campus and it has plenty of restaurants, shops, and a couple of bars. There's PLENTY to do in West Hollywood, which is pretty close. The weather is usually nice and sunny so it's convenient being within a 15-minute drive from Santa Monica and Venice where the beaches are.
 
i wasn't really referring to the area around it, but the actual campus. It just gives off a boring vibe to me.
 
Soooo...one of my top choices...however I'm from the Midwest...
What is UCLA looking for...including numbers and the kind of students...what does it take to get in?!
Also, what is the tuition situation...I saw in US News that its $0 for in-state and $13,000 for OOS...is this true?
I appreciate your responses!!
 
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Ponnu28143 said:
Also, what is the tuition situation...I saw in US News that its $0 for in-state and $13,000 for OOS...is this true?
I appreciate your responses!!
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Unfortunately, no. I think this has something to do with the jargon that UCLA uses for tuition (there is no tuition, only "fees," so tuition is technically $0). It's amazingly dumb.

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can fill us in.
 
Why is this a dream school for people? What's so special about it.
 
nadaba said:
Unfortunately, no. I think this has something to do with the jargon that UCLA uses for tuition (there is no tuition, only "fees," so tuition is technically $0). It's amazingly dumb.

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can fill us in.
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The UCs were initially created to be a free form of education for California residents and thus they did not charge tuition for undergrad or graduate degrees. Obviously this dream was unrealistic and as the UCs became larger so did their alleged "fees" while keeping their tuition 0. "Fees" for UCLA was $30,437 year and is projected to rise possibly to 35k by the time you matriculate (assuming you get in 😕).

UCLA, as well as nearly every UC, essentially requires you to become a state resident after the first year of medical school so you will only be paying OOS once.

From my experience over the last year of the application process the UC medical schools didn't really show much love towards out of state applicants. Fortunately being a top tier medical school UCLA is one of the most OOS friendly UC schools (same applies to UCSF). Almost every OOS applicant I met on the application trail at UC schools were from Ivy league schools, although I know there are exceptions I am just stating what I have seen (most the OOS in my UCSF class are from Ivys, although I know we have one from U of Arizona).

If you have the GPA and MCAT that is realistic for UCLA is and some sort of non-******ed personal statement (not sure if they even look at them at that stage) expect a secondary. The schools releases secondaries to about 50% of their applicants so it isn't that selective.

Good luck to all those applying! Can't go wrong with any Cali school.
 
Deciding not to apply here anymore. After meeting Cali residents that couldn't get in here and get into hopkins,Harvard,Penn,etc it makes my chances as an OOS applicant slim to none. Good luck to everyone!
 
So Applying here, and to Charles Drew University at UCLA SOM as well. Haven't really checked the subforum to see if there's a separate thread for it because I know the essay prompts are different. Anyways, got to get back to studying for my MCAT in order to make sure its good enough 😀

good luck to everyone else that's applying!
 
SoyRicoSuave said:
UCLA, as well as nearly every UC, essentially requires you to become a state resident after the first year of medical school so you will only be paying OOS once.
Click to expand...
How does that happen?
UCSF says " If you are in California solely for educational purposes, you will not be considered to have established a residence for tuition purposes, regardless of the length of your stay."

http://registrar.ucsf.edu/registration/residency

[ETA: It looks like it is possible to become a resident, provided you meet certain requirements http://grad.berkeley.edu/admissions/cost_fees.shtml]
 
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According to UCLA's website, they have no preference for in-state/out-of state resident. So why the low 10% acceptance rate for OOS?
 
Etorphine said:
Does anyone know if, once graduated, your degree is any different from the Drew/Geffen programs? Are the match lists different?

I'm personally applying to both, and think I have what it takes to get a second glance from Drew. I'm wondering if the two are identical in terms of prestige, and it's more of a matter of which hospital you wish to do your clinical rounds at.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat, applying to both program's MD/master's paths and was wondering the same thing. I'd greatly appreciate a current student's or an alumnus's input. GL everyone!
 
Narmerguy said:
So nothing?
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Beautiful campus, excellent research opportunities, world-class hospital right on campus, great weather, close to my family, in-state tuition, excellent sports tradition.

I don't think that I consider it my dream school, though. You also have to deal with very expensive housing, traffic, LA, and Dodger fans.
 
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nadaba said:
Beautiful campus, excellent research opportunities, world-class hospital right on campus, great weather, close to my family, in-state tuition, excellent sports tradition.

I don't think that I consider it my dream school, though. You also have to deal with very expensive housing, traffic, LA, and Dodger fans.
Click to expand...

Definitely not applying here.
 
So, to those of you who are from california and applying what kind of stats do you guys have? Just a rough idea so I can see what to aim for for my next few years in undergrad.
 
medbound13 said:
So, to those of you who are from california and applying what kind of stats do you guys have? Just a rough idea so I can see what to aim for for my next few years in undergrad.
Click to expand...

Hey medbound, I suggest you buy the MSAR guidebook. It has all the info you're looking for. It'll also save you the trouble of looking back and forth in SDN forums

https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/requirements/msar/

gluck and don't stress yet...if youre class of '13 lol
 
Hey guys,

I applied OOS, graduated from Pitt (definitely not Ivy league!), with decent stats, and I was accepted this year (though I'm ultimately going somewhere else in the fall).

I encourage OOSers to apply...I don't know how I got in, but it is possible 🙂

One thing though, is to definitely make a serious effort on the secondaries. UCLA's is one of the more thought-provoking, if it's the same at last year's, and don't feel constrained by the standard 2-weeks turnaround. I spent a good 3.5 weeks on mine, and I really think my responses played a significant role in their decision to extend me an interview. Once you're at the interview, the playing field becomes a bit more level in terms of OOS/IS, so make your secondaries count!

Good luck :luck:
 
thenewyorker said:
Hey medbound, I suggest you buy the MSAR guidebook. It has all the info you're looking for. It'll also save you the trouble of looking back and forth in SDN forums

https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/requirements/msar/

gluck and don't stress yet...if youre class of '13 lol
Click to expand...

Yea, I have that book already. I just wanted to know what some actual people did rather than the median scores, such as EC's, in addition to MCAT and GPAs.
 
medbound13 said:
Yea, I have that book already. I just wanted to know what some actual people did rather than the median scores, such as EC's, in addition to MCAT and GPAs.
Click to expand...

I did 3 deployments to Southeast Asia and Afghanistan and participated in humanitarian crisis relief efforts in the Philippines before applying here. Kidding! But seriously...
 
nadaba said:
Beautiful campus, excellent research opportunities, world-class hospital right on campus, great weather, close to my family, in-state tuition, excellent sports tradition.

I don't think that I consider it my dream school, though. You also have to deal with very expensive housing, traffic, LA, and Dodger fans.
Click to expand...

I'd also float out there the p/f curriculum with no internal rank, computer-based exams with step one style questions, and minimal lecture schedule are also pretty strong bonuses. Also, just did my housing application and was pleasantly surprised with how cheap it was. As much as I wanted to move out of LA at the beginning of the cycle, UCLA really has it all and it became my top choice as I learned more about it.
 
any one know what the deal is if my parents live in CA, i graduated UCLA undergrad but have state of residence as NY now (i live here now)...anyone hear anything about institutions granting interviews to alums?
 
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Ok, here's a question for those of you looking for housing, albeit very early. (Here's my preemptive apology, as I intend to ask this question again later once we're all further along and the forum has more regular views.)

What would you be willing to pay for the following rental options:

3BR, 2bath, ~900sq ft house in-between century city and Inglewood, technichally "Los Angeles" address, very close to the 405 & La Cienega (best traffic route to UCLA from this hood), sharing with me and possibly one other person. This one is a bit retro, LoL. Still looks like it's the 80s inside, but very comfortable, great neighborhood. Right next to LAPD training center, too. I think this is a 15mi jaunt to UCLA.

3BR, 1bath, ~1000sq ft house in Redondo Beach off of Inglewood Ave, like 50ft away from Adams Middle/Washington Elementary. Uber safe hood and more modern home, renovated in 90s, tiles, sky lights, etc., but a little longer of a drive to school. It's about 5 miles from the 405 and 2 miles from ocean front. It also has a ~600sq ft guest house in back that has another bathroom & kitchen, but no hot water (codes issue, long, long story--you know Cali codes *shudder*). I think this is a 20-25mi jaunt to UCLA.

I'm originally from LA but have been living in the East for a while and really want to come back via UCLA (#1) or UCS Keck. I intend to buy these houses from my Dad, but will need roommates to pull it off.

Please PM me if interested and let me know what you think it'd be worth. I'll keep your info for later. Even if I choose UCSF or something, I'd still like to buy these homes and rent them to med students…you know, since we're all so responsible and whatnot. :meanie:

Take care!
 
unepoire said:
Hey guys,

I applied OOS, graduated from Pitt (definitely not Ivy league!), with decent stats, and I was accepted this year (though I'm ultimately going somewhere else in the fall).

I encourage OOSers to apply...I don't know how I got in, but it is possible 🙂

One thing though, is to definitely make a serious effort on the secondaries. UCLA's is one of the more thought-provoking, if it's the same at last year's, and don't feel constrained by the standard 2-weeks turnaround. I spent a good 3.5 weeks on mine, and I really think my responses played a significant role in their decision to extend me an interview. Once you're at the interview, the playing field becomes a bit more level in terms of OOS/IS, so make your secondaries count!

Good luck :luck:
Click to expand...

define decent stats lol
 
hey i have a quick question,

if i was born and lived in CA my entire life, but am currently attending college on the east coast, am i still considered to be a california state resident and thus be an in-state person when applying to the uc's?
 
I can't in good conscience let this thread fall off the front page... 😀

Incoming first year here, and I'll do my best to share any advice about UCLA's app process during this last brief period of free time before school starts in August. :luck:
 
bumping to help out dbeast's cause 😉 Where is the love for UCLA, folks?? haha, well, I will also be an incoming MS-1 here next year and would be happy to answer any questions people have about applying, too, so let's get this thread rolling!!
 
Hi Guys
haven't posted in these forums in some time, though definitely made good use of them a few years back.

UCLA is a great place to study...though as you can appreciate, it's all very subjective since this is really all I've known.

I'm busy with rotations at the moment, but let me know if you have any *specific* questions I can help with. If it's something that can be found via the school's website, I'll point that out 🙂

Good luck to you all as this process is just getting started....so stay calm, stay happy
 
I can not allow UCLA to fall off the first page of SDN🙂
 
HereIgo2011 said:
Trying to keep UCLA on first page🙂
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I'll help you out 🙂. I like your dedication. I'm an OOS applicant here with a minuscule chance. Loved UCLA too much to not try though 🙂.
 
I'll help out keeping UCLA on page 1.

Also, I figured it can't hurt to start a discussion. Does anyone know how family-friendly UCLA is? I've heard that people comment that their school is family-friendly, so I was wondering if anyone has an opinion either way about UCLA. Also, are there housing options for a 2-bedroom apartment in decent neighborhoods that are near campus?
 
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