2012-2013 University of California - Irvine Application Thread

Can any current or ms0 confirm that this year's incoming class is requiring mandatory attendance and a f/p/hp/h grading system?

And are tests really on Mondays? That seems pretty lame to be honest. If this is true, can any current me students chime in on how testing on Mondays affects you and if you feel that having them on a different day would be a LOT more beneficial?

Thanks

jHustle said:

Can any current or ms0 confirm that this year's incoming class is requiring mandatory attendance and a f/p/hp/h grading system?

And are tests really on Mondays? That seems pretty lame to be honest. If this is true, can any current me students chime in on how testing on Mondays affects you and if you feel that having them on a different day would be a LOT more beneficial?

Thanks

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Hey I can only comment on your first questions: attendance of 80% of lectures will be mandatory and grading will be p/f for the first year and h/p/f for the last three.

Edit: new info came out from adcom.

jHustle said:

Can any current or ms0 confirm that this year's incoming class is requiring mandatory attendance and a f/p/hp/h grading system?

And are tests really on Mondays? That seems pretty lame to be honest. If this is true, can any current me students chime in on how testing on Mondays affects you and if you feel that having them on a different day would be a LOT more beneficial?

Thanks

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Tests are, for the most part, on Mondays. It really isn't that big of a deal. The tests happen so frequently the first year that there never is that much information on each test (relatively speaking...it will always seem like a lot of material in med school). If you like you can blow off studying during the week and cram all weekend (altho i wouldnt recommend it, that works for some people). Or, as I did, you can study hard all week and take the weekend easy.

I'd be more concerned about mandatory attendance...that is huge.

centraldogma said:

Hey I can only comment on your first questions: attendance of 80% of lectures will be mandatory and grading will be p/f.

Try asking this question in the 2011-2012 thread for a quicker response or try calling the office.

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who said grading would be p/f? The current second years have honors and we were told that this would again be extended to the first year courses as well. maybe they changed it? At the least tho you'll have H/P/F for second year ( and third year, but that never changed). Although I disagree with this change, I dont think it is that big of a deal. People are goign to be 'gunners' or they are not.

RySerr21 said:

Tests are, for the most part, on Mondays. It really isn't that big of a deal. The tests happen so frequently the first year that there never is that much information on each test (relatively speaking...it will always seem like a lot of material in med school). If you like you can blow off studying during the week and cram all weekend (altho i wouldnt recommend it, that works for some people). Or, as I did, you can study hard all week and take the weekend easy.

I'd be more concerned about mandatory attendance...that is huge.



who said grading would be p/f? The current second years have honors and we were told that this would again be extended to the first year courses as well. maybe they changed it? At the least tho you'll have H/P/F for second year ( and third year, but that never changed). Although I disagree with this change, I dont think it is that big of a deal. People are goign to be 'gunners' or they are not.

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Do you know what time the classes will be that are required attendance? And is this specific to UCI or is it a statewide UC Regents' deal?

jHustle said:

Do you know what time the classes will be that are required attendance? And is this specific to UCI or is it a statewide UC Regents' deal?

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I havent been in lecture in over a year or two, but Im guessing much hasnt changed with timing of lectures, so in first year in general there was lecture from 8-12 most days with some days lectures going in to the afternoon. Second year there was lecture scheduled pretty much all day, most days. Someoen else can chime in if things have changed.

This change is specific to UCI (not to say that other schools won't follow at some point). Its based on how they are choosing to re-interpret a sentence that was written in some handbook somewhere. They are very out of touch.

RySerr21 said:

I havent been in lecture in over a year or two, but Im guessing much hasnt changed with timing of lectures, so in first year in general there was lecture from 8-12 most days with some days lectures going in to the afternoon. Second year there was lecture scheduled pretty much all day, most days. Someoen else can chime in if things have changed.

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copied from last year's thread:

First years in general have 4-5 hours a day. Days usually start at 8 or 9 and go till 12 or 2 (lunch from 12-1). they also have Clinical Foundations one some weeks (1-5pm) where they learn H&Ps on standardized patients. Sometimes they'll also have ultrasound sessions, small group, anatomy review sessions occasionally in the afternoons (actual anatomy dissection is in the mornings though).

Second years in general have less. Alot less days that start at 8, but they have pathology lecture and small groups that go till 330 like 2-3 times a week.

take ryserr's consistent negativity with a grain of salt. to increase your n --> 2, i absolutely love it here and have been able to (so far) build a residency application which should take me wherever i want to go in whatever field i decide on.

RySerr21 said:

who said grading would be p/f? The current second years have honors and we were told that this would again be extended to the first year courses as well. maybe they changed it? At the least tho you'll have H/P/F for second year ( and third year, but that never changed). Although I disagree with this change, I dont think it is that big of a deal. People are goign to be 'gunners' or they are not.

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Edit: looks like all four years will be h/p/f.

coloredcrayons said:

copied from last year's thread:

First years in general have 4-5 hours a day. Days usually start at 8 or 9 and go till 12 or 2 (lunch from 12-1). they also have Clinical Foundations one some weeks (1-5pm) where they learn H&Ps on standardized patients. Sometimes they'll also have ultrasound sessions, small group, anatomy review sessions occasionally in the afternoons (actual anatomy dissection is in the mornings though).

Second years in general have less. Alot less days that start at 8, but they have pathology lecture and small groups that go till 330 like 2-3 times a week.

take ryserr's consistent negativity with a grain of salt. to increase your n --> 2, i absolutely love it here and have been able to (so far) build a residency application which should take me wherever i want to go in whatever field i decide on.

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haha, i dont have consistent negativity. There are very good and very bad things about UCI just as there are for any school. I say they are out of touch because making mandatory attendance was something that was done in the face of overwhelming resistance from all classes. The same was done for going back to H/P/F.

Like you, Ive been able to build an application that will get me to where I want to be no problem...i dont think that would be any different had I gone to any other school though, and the same goes for you. But its not all roses and sunshine. Im simply bringing attention to changes that will have a significant impact on the incoming classes. If I was applying this year, I would want to know these things.

edit: I do agree with your statement that the poster should take my comments with a grain of salt, as he should take yours and everyone else's with a grain of salt as well. Gather as much info as you can and try and make the best decision that you can, but just because I have criticisms of the school (just as I have criticisms of the medical school system as a whole) doesn't mean they aren't valid/shouldn't be heard!

centraldogma said:

I was told at second look that the first year would be p/f. I don't know about the second year and beyond.

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i hope thats true! 2nd through 4th years are definitely H/P/F.

Must attend. Went to Ugrad here, and did research in Path department, so I constantly watched the med campus with envy... Hopefully next year!

AnyOne receive secondaries yEt?

Nope, no secondaries yet. I did talk to an adcom member last month though, they said the secondaries usually come out sometime in mid July. So expect something either at the end of this week or early next.

Did anyone else just get the email with just a bunch of names? lol... it's all like:


Dear Taylor,

Dear Courtney,

Dear Rebecca,

Dear Eric,

Dear Daniel,

Dear Jessica,

Dear Jeffrey,

Dear Katherine,

Dear Jordan,

Dear Ki,

Dear Kevin,

etc...

Yup. Hi everyone!

Got a similar email. Apparently they assign a group of people the same password lol.

I thought of sending an email like:

Dear Office of Admissions,

Dear Office of Admissions,

Dear Office of Admissions,

Dear Office of Admissions,

Dear Office of Admissions,

Dear Office of Admissions,

Dear Office of Admissions,

Dear Office of Admissions,

Dear Office of Admissions,

Dear Office of Admissions,

Then I decided against it... =/

got the same long list of names...but that's it! the email had no body! just the greeting!

imcanadaian said:

got the same long list of names...but that's it! the email had no body! just the greeting!

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This email was a big LOLWUT for me...

Someone derped big time.

I received another email from them, and I thought they fixed it...but it was just the same email again

Ok they just got it right. got an email apologizing for the glitch and giving me a login/password for their status check page. No secondary for now, just that they received my AMCAS app.

fingers crossed for a secondary!

bah was hoping for the actual go for the secondary. (more waiting ensues)

All that nonsense and they're not even giving out secondaries! So disappointing.

When I login I see a blank under "Secondary awarded," but I already have access to the secondary. Is this true for anyone else?

When did you submit your amcas?

i was verified amcas 6/7. we totally have access to the questions. so I'm sure you can start working on them. If you're like me, you have plenty of other secondaries waiting to be submitted...

Could someone that has access to the questions post them here?

I received a new password from UCI and it says my secondary award is "pending."

aspiringdoc1234 said:

Could someone that has access to the questions post them here?

I received a new password from UCI and it says my secondary award is "pending."

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1. In evaluating applicants with a variety of backgrounds and strengths the Admissions Committee assesses each applicant as to what they can contribute to their class. Please describe to the Admissions Committee what you have to offer in this regard. (1,800 characters, with spaces).

2. Please describe to the Admissions Committee a challenge you have overcome and what you learned about yourself from that experience. (1,800 characters, with spaces).

3. This essay is only for applicants that have already received their baccalaureate degree. Please clarify for the Admissions Committee your activities (school, work and/or volunteer, travel, etc.) since receiving your undergraduate degree. You may list them in chronological order or you may incorporate them into an essay, stating why you chose particular activities. (1,800 characters, with spaces).

I'll be an MS2 here in the fall, I'll be happy to jump in to answer any questions I can. I've actually heard that they'll be doing H/P/F for all 4 years (starting with Class of 2016). And yes, they're starting the 80% mandatory attendance with Class of 2016 as well.

As far as Monday exams go, it does suck that you are busy those weekends. But I like to have the weekends to study at the same time. Especially if the material includes everything up to the previous Friday (which it always does), it gives me a few days to digest the material before the exam. In the first half of first year, you pretty much have exams every Monday (with some exceptions). They have less material and they force you to keep up with the material. But towards the second half of first year, you have exams more like every other Monday (with more material). So we still can have free weekends.

Good luck everyone!

I don't get why we have access to the secondaries if weren't "awarded" them yet?

Yay! I finally got "invited" to the secondary!

Invite received! For those of you who got access to the status page/secondaries today maybe it was just the way UCI sets up their system. Check your email! I literally just got the formal invite.

imcanadaian said:

Invite received! For those of you who got access to the status page/secondaries today maybe it was just the way UCI sets up their system. Check your email! I literally just got the formal invite.

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Just got mine too!

Got my secondary invite a few minutes ago. How rigorous is screening? Do they just send to everyone?

virtuoso735 said:

Got my secondary invite a few minutes ago. How rigorous is screening? Do they just send to everyone?

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Have yet to get mine... Ca resident

I hope they are sending them individually or in mini-batches

is it worth it to turn in a secondary if i have a grade lower than a "B"? it says on their secondary instructions that we should have a B or higher in all prereqs

Here's to staying in Cali ! Come on UCI

peppermintle said:

is it worth it to turn in a secondary if i have a grade lower than a "B"? it says on their secondary instructions that we should have a B or higher in all prereqs

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I just called admissions and she seemed surprised about that, and said it must be new. She is going to talk to the dean and get back to me. I'm hoping they don't screen me out because i defs have a couple B- grades in chem!

This made me laugh...



Thank you for brightening my day UCI, this process is too stressful as it is.

cbas07 said:

I just called admissions and she seemed surprised about that, and said it must be new. She is going to talk to the dean and get back to me. I'm hoping they don't screen me out because i defs have a couple B- grades in chem!

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Same!

still no secondary...

cbas07 said:

I just called admissions and she seemed surprised about that, and said it must be new. She is going to talk to the dean and get back to me. I'm hoping they don't screen me out because i defs have a couple B- grades in chem!

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yes please post when you hear back!!

Received secondary earlier today.

peppermintle said:

is it worth it to turn in a secondary if i have a grade lower than a "B"? it says on their secondary instructions that we should have a B or higher in all prereqs

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I had the same question. ANy postbacc love here to answer that question? I had a couple of C's in the pre-req and most counselors told me not to retake but take upper divs of those. I got a secondary invite but like above is it even worth it to do if I get rejected?

balugo said:

I had the same question. ANy postbacc love here to answer that question? I had a couple of C's in the pre-req and most counselors told me not to retake but take upper divs of those. I got a secondary invite but like above is it even worth it to do if I get rejected?

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I'd think you would be able to enter an upper division bio course in place of the one you had a C in.

What does it mean when you get screened "in"? What are the requirements to receive the secondary?

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Haha that is my name lol!!! How many SDNers are on the list??

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