2008-2009 UCSF Secondary Application Thread

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Status
Not open for further replies.
I'm from SF, I live literally 10 minutes away from UCSF... I think I'd faint if I get in, my UCSF PRIME interview's on Thursday and I definitely can't wait!😀 And to the disparaging remarks about UCSF, come on man, relax please. I'm Black, and your statements are definitely hurtful and waaay off mark👎. I really do wonder how you'd have fit into UCSF (and into the greater SF Bay Area) even if you DID get in. I don't know how it is elsewhere, but over here, we go out of our way to encourage diversity whether it be based on socioeconomic factors, sexual orientation, skin color, or any other factor you can possibly think of. UCSF is a top 5 med school for a reason, and I'm sure the ENTIRE student body has played a part in this.
Anyway goodluck to everyone on this thread, congratulations to those already accepted, and thank God for San Francisco! I love my city!

SF FTW!

Good luck with your interview.

I love this town. I'm in Lower Haight, you?
 
is your PRIME interview in person or on the phone?

It's in person. Apparently they only do PRIME interviews on select days, so if you applied for PRIME there is less flexibility as to when you can actually interview. Also there is some kind of PRIME informational session where you meet and talk to other PRIME students at the end of your interview day, I just got the info for this last week...it's from 5-7PM so the day is definitely long (8AM - 7PM).
 
SF FTW!

Good luck with your interview.

I love this town. I'm in Lower Haight, you?


...Western Addition/Fillmore. Goodluck to you too! I forsee one of those Big White Envelopes in your future, complete with a personal note from Dean Wofsy.🙂
 
It's in person. Apparently they only do PRIME interviews on select days, so if you applied for PRIME there is less flexibility as to when you can actually interview. Also there is some kind of PRIME informational session where you meet and talk to other PRIME students at the end of your interview day, I just got the info for this last week...it's from 5-7PM so the day is definitely long (8AM - 7PM).
myself and someone else I know got emails with our interview invite (both invites within the last 3 weeks) saying that they ran out of PRIME in-person interviews and will be doing phone interviews. when did you get your invite?
 
myself and someone else I know got emails with our interview invite (both invites within the last 3 weeks) saying that they ran out of PRIME in-person interviews and will be doing phone interviews. when did you get your invite?

I got the invite email 10/23 and pushed the interview back to Jan 8th cus of work conflicts. That's weird that they're doing the PRIME interviews over the phone now, I feel like I should call to make sure mine didn't get switched too🙁 Hopefully you have a great phone voice lol 😀
 
Just got rejected by UCSF, so take my words with a grain of salt. But seriously, this school accepts URMs with MCAT scores in the 20s and rejects highly qualified applicants who don't happen to have been born with the privilege of a desired skin color for the entering class.

I know know, I'm a bunch of sour grapes. The subject of URMs has been beaten to death and it's not my intention to hijack this thread. But I just think that UCSF is more prone to accepting the undeserving URM than other medical schools.

I go to UCSF, and I have a few URM classmates who were accepted with numbers below average. These individuals are easily among the smartest, most talented, and interesting people in our class. I know its really hard to go through the whole application procedure and then not get into a school you love, but don't kid yourself by thinking the person accepted over you is anything but extraordinary, even though they may not have perfect stats. My classmates are my favorite part of school here, the admissions office does a great job.
 
is your PRIME interview in person or on the phone?

Last year I was interviewed via phone. This year they are doing interviews in person. You interview for PRIME and UCSF on the same day essentially (one of your two interviewers is in PRIME). Its still the same though in that, you have to be accepted at UCSF first to be considered for PRIME... I'm still not sure how that works. haha. you should bounce an email over to PRIME if you've already interviewed and are still interested. I have no idea how that would work though, but they are incredibly informative and helpful.
 
Last year I was interviewed via phone. This year they are doing interviews in person. You interview for PRIME and UCSF on the same day essentially (one of your two interviewers is in PRIME). Its still the same though in that, you have to be accepted at UCSF first to be considered for PRIME... I'm still not sure how that works. haha. you should bounce an email over to PRIME if you've already interviewed and are still interested. I have no idea how that would work though, but they are incredibly informative and helpful.
They told me that they ran out of in person interviews and are doing phone interviews now.
 
Just got rejected by UCSF, so take my words with a grain of salt. But seriously, this school accepts URMs with MCAT scores in the 20s and rejects highly qualified applicants who don't happen to have been born with the privilege of a desired skin color for the entering class.

I know know, I'm a bunch of sour grapes. The subject of URMs has been beaten to death and it's not my intention to hijack this thread. But I just think that UCSF is more prone to accepting the undeserving URM than other medical schools.

Dude, I am also south-east Asian and go to a HYPSM school, but I have to say that I agree with Cheem MD and RLMitchell1. I was interviewed at UCSF but I know that my rejection/waitlist is coming (just be realistic) but I don't feel I will blame it on race.
 
Anyone know when the next round of decisions will me made?

When I called in Dec and they told me that I got pushed to the January meeting, they said I should hear by "late January / early February"
 
I go to UCSF, and I have a few URM classmates who were accepted with numbers below average. These individuals are easily among the smartest, most talented, and interesting people in our class. I know its really hard to go through the whole application procedure and then not get into a school you love, but don't kid yourself by thinking the person accepted over you is anything but extraordinary, even though they may not have perfect stats. My classmates are my favorite part of school here, the admissions office does a great job.


i guess it's good that you embrace your classmates, but my question is How do you know the stats of the URM kids? I don't plan on telling ppl my stats when I get into medical school; and I would assume that quite frankly most ppl would not care to share theirs either. Are you some gunner who goes asking everyone their stats? And news flash, half the class scores below the median. So suffice it to say that half the class is below "average."
 
Hi, does anyone know what days of the week UCSF interviews? I just got an invite to Stanford and was going to send an "in the area" email to UCSF since I live on the East Coast and wouldn't want to make two CA trips, but knowing what days of the week they interview will help me in determining what day to schedule my Stanford interview (in the chance that UCSF chooses to offer me an interview).
I believe M, T, Th. I think they are only interviewing until the end of Feb.
 
I know their stats because either 1) they were on SDN last year and had to constantly fend off mean comments after they were accepted to UCSF with outlier scores (they shared their scores on MDApps), and 2) because this issue has been brought up openly in many of our small group sessions when we discuss what it was like to go through the application process. But thanks for pointlessly accusing me of being a gunner/interrogator of my classmates, when all I said was that every person here absolutely deserves their slot.


i guess it's good that you embrace your classmates, but my question is How do you know the stats of the URM kids? I don't plan on telling ppl my stats when I get into medical school; and I would assume that quite frankly most ppl would not care to share theirs either. Are you some gunner who goes asking everyone their stats? And news flash, half the class scores below the median. So suffice it to say that half the class is below "average."
 
i guess it's good that you embrace your classmates, but my question is How do you know the stats of the URM kids? I don't plan on telling ppl my stats when I get into medical school; and I would assume that quite frankly most ppl would not care to share theirs either. Are you some gunner who goes asking everyone their stats? And news flash, half the class scores below the median. So suffice it to say that half the class is below "average."
Haha RL is an absolute sweetheart and is honestly one of the LEAST gunner-ish people I know.
 
I just got an offer from UCSF!!!!🙂🙂 I am out of state, interviewed in early Nov. I thought i had a terrible interview. I got the impression that the faculty interviewer does not like me at all. For those who are still waiting, don't lose hope. Anything can happen
 
I just got an offer from UCSF!!!!🙂🙂 I am out of state, interviewed in early Nov. I thought i had a terrible interview. I got the impression that the faculty interviewer does not like me at all. For those who are still waiting, don't lose hope. Anything can happen
Congrats man! Now come to accepted students weekend. 👍
 
UCSF SOM has one goal and one goal only, that is to turn out skillful and compassionate physicians. URM or not URM, applicants are accepted because the committee believes in their potential in becoming such physicians, and it takes way more than a few numbers to convince them. Furthermore, if UCSF blindly accepts URMs purely for the sake of superficial diversity, it would not have the academic reputation it enjoys today, and no one would care if they get rejected:laugh:

I don't know who are the URMs, what are their stats, nor do I care. Every single one of my classmates is indispensable, and is here because s/he deserves so.
 
I go to UCSF, and I have a few URM classmates who were accepted with numbers below average. These individuals are easily among the smartest, most talented, and interesting people in our class. I know its really hard to go through the whole application procedure and then not get into a school you love, but don't kid yourself by thinking the person accepted over you is anything but extraordinary, even though they may not have perfect stats. My classmates are my favorite part of school here, the admissions office does a great job.

LAB PARTNER! you rock! =D
 
i guess it's good that you embrace your classmates, but my question is How do you know the stats of the URM kids? I don't plan on telling ppl my stats when I get into medical school; and I would assume that quite frankly most ppl would not care to share theirs either. Are you some gunner who goes asking everyone their stats? And news flash, half the class scores below the median. So suffice it to say that half the class is below "average."

Although you may think you may not hear or tell people your stats, they were a really important part of the process. And as such, at least among those who feel that their stats were a valuable part of their process toward medical school, some people wish to disclose their stats to others. I dont think I've heard of anyone actually bragging about their scores. I guess thats a part of the process you dont understand til your actually here. you make friends, trust each other, and tell each other your stories.

Also, in regards to your "news flash":

And news flash, half the class scores below the median. So suffice it to say that half the class is below "average."

You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks that UCSF is underperforming, or below average.... the statement you made is universal throughout medical schools in general, while the attrition rate is incredibly low (compared to law school for example), especially at UCSF. The "median" or "mean" are hardly accurate ways to judge people's performance, especially when the screening process to medical school is incredibly rigorous.
 
Am I at a big disadvantage to be interviewing at UCSF in late January since it's a rolling school? Do they tend to fill their class quickly as the season progresses, or are they more conservative?
 
How is UCSF's curriculum arranged and how does the grading system work? Also what other cool perks of UCSF are there? I feel like the UCSF website is the same BS that every school has: vague mission statements, commitment to *insert lots of things about helping, teaching, learning, serving* etc etc. I would absolutely love to go to UCSF and I feel like my only reasons are a. instate tuition, b. excellent clinical opportunities (based on what I know about it's hospitals), c. amazing research opportunities, d. a change of location that isn't too far away (so cal baby over here). I was always told that these reasons aren't enough or will not fly for convincing the school that I really want to attend. I think that's ridiculous, but hey I guess that's how life works. Thanks for any info.

edit: also if somebody could expound on the areas of concentration deal that would be great, I feel like it's not presented in depth on the website.
 
How is UCSF's curriculum arranged and how does the grading system work? Also what other cool perks of UCSF are there? I feel like the UCSF website is the same BS that every school has: vague mission statements, commitment to *insert lots of things about helping, teaching, learning, serving* etc etc. I would absolutely love to go to UCSF and I feel like my only reasons are a. instate tuition, b. excellent clinical opportunities (based on what I know about it's hospitals), c. amazing research opportunities, d. a change of location that isn't too far away (so cal baby over here). I was always told that these reasons aren't enough or will not fly for convincing the school that I really want to attend. I think that's ridiculous, but hey I guess that's how life works. Thanks for any info.

edit: also if somebody could expound on the areas of concentration deal that would be great, I feel like it's not presented in depth on the website.

the grading is P/F the first two years, and H/P/F during third and fourth.

the area of concentration stuff is new, and they are still figuring things out.

everyone's got different reasons for picking a school, and school's don't mind that. for all they know you could just have family in the area. just be honest; skilled interviewers can sift through the BS.

i'm not sure if this is your intention or not, but anytime anybody asks for general info about a school, the first thing that comes to my mind is that you are too lazy to learn about the school yourself and you want people to spoonfeed it to you so you can regurgitate it at the interview. with the exception of the grading system (i never ran across it while i was on the site), everything you've asked should be on the website, including details about the curriculum. i've spent many hours on their website, and there is a LOT to learn. if you really want to learn about the opportunities, particularly ones that you yourself are interested in, go back and explore a little more.
 
the grading is P/F the first two years, and H/P/F during third and fourth.

the area of concentration stuff is new, and they are still figuring things out.

everyone's got different reasons for picking a school, and school's don't mind that. for all they know you could just have family in the area. just be honest; skilled interviewers can sift through the BS.

i'm not sure if this is your intention or not, but anytime anybody asks for general info about a school, the first thing that comes to my mind is that you are too lazy to learn about the school yourself and you want people to spoonfeed it to you so you can regurgitate it at the interview. with the exception of the grading system (i never ran across it while i was on the site), everything you've asked should be on the website, including details about the curriculum. i've spent many hours on their website, and there is a LOT to learn. if you really want to learn about the opportunities, particularly ones that you yourself are interested in, go back and explore a little more.

This is so true. Even for the most generic-looking of websites, if you spend enough time on it, you will find lots of specific things about the school's mission, activities, location, clinical opportunities etc. You can't just go by what you can glean from 20 minutes.
 
I totally agree with you guys, I feel like I am a lazy bum in not taking the time to look at all these little minute differences. But from what I hear, med school is med school and to me the only things that really matter are proximity to my friends and family, the amount of debt I will carry afterwards, adaquate time to study for the step (hence curriculum question), possible research opportunties, and whether I will get some great diverse clinical experience (naturally I want to be an astute clinician).

I am honestly asking this here: do you guys really care about all those small little little things that you find while searching the school's website. I'm not trying to be a biter here, but could you give me an example of what were talking about? All my indian brethren now in residency or fellowships (or even attendings) tell me that med school is med school and the small details are inconsequential. Please correct me if I am wrong.

I appreciate your guys' criticism of my information-gathering method, but I just don't see the point in spending hours on the website.

EDIT: haha one of the ways I like gathering information is basically the night before my interview where I just ask my host why they like their school so much. I generally get quite a bit of detailed information there. For me, these little details would only really mean something if I was already accepted and had to make a decision between two schools that I really like. I just feel like you can't really know what your experience will be unless you actually experience it. Maybe it looks good on the website but you don't know until you know.
 
Last edited:
I totally agree with you guys, I feel like I am a lazy bum in not taking the time to look at all these little minute differences. But from what I hear, med school is med school and to me the only things that really matter are proximity to my friends and family, the amount of debt I will carry afterwards, adaquate time to study for the step (hence curriculum question), possible research opportunties, and whether I will get some great diverse clinical experience (naturally I want to be an astute clinician).

I am honestly asking this here: do you guys really care about all those small little little things that you find while searching the school's website. I'm not trying to be a biter here, but could you give me an example of what were talking about? All my indian brethren now in residency or fellowships (or even attendings) tell me that med school is med school and the small details are inconsequential. Please correct me if I am wrong.

I appreciate your guys' criticism of my information-gathering method, but I just don't see the point in spending hours on the website.

EDIT: haha one of the ways I like gathering information is basically the night before my interview where I just ask my host why they like their school so much. I generally get quite a bit of detailed information there. For me, these little details would only really mean something if I was already accepted and had to make a decision between two schools that I really like. I just feel like you can't really know what your experience will be unless you actually experience it. Maybe it looks good on the website but you don't know until you know.

If you want specific stats, policies, etc., the website, as vague as it might be, will be worth going through in details. However, one can not use any website as an exclusive or comprehensive source of info to evaluate that school. I don't think the things you mentioned are not legit reasons to want to go to UCSF, nor do I see problems with using them during your interview. The committee knows that this is probably the first time you've come to visit UCSF, and it's ok if you don't know the school inside and out. They evaluate you on how you would fit in, and contribute to the over all diversity of the class. So just be yourself, and let them figure things out for you. However, you should gather information from your trip to UCSF and find the true reasons that you want to come here, POST-interview. What's the philosophy and style of the school? How do I like the city? How do students interact with faculties and each other, and would I feel comfortable interacting with them in the same manner, should I get accepted? There are many similar questions that you can ask, and only you can answer them.
 
Does anyone know when UCSF starts sending out post-interview rejections?
 
oh man major congratulations to everyone who has been accepted! that is beyond awesome!!! man i really hope i'm still in the running for an interview! :luck:
 
Am I at a big disadvantage to be interviewing at UCSF in late January since it's a rolling school? Do they tend to fill their class quickly as the season progresses, or are they more conservative?

No you're not at a disadvantage. We fill very conservatively...that's why so many people are "deferred decisions" until April when the non-rolling schools admit. You won't be penalized for interviewing late in the process and you won't be facing a more competitive environment than those who interviewed back in September--at least that's the goal🙂
 
i'm assuming the next batch of offers come out Jan. 20th? can anyway gauge if interviewers in dec. 16th will hear by then?
 
No you're not at a disadvantage. We fill very conservatively...that's why so many people are "deferred decisions" until April when the non-rolling schools admit. You won't be penalized for interviewing late in the process and you won't be facing a more competitive environment than those who interviewed back in September--at least that's the goal🙂

Thanks man that makes me feel a lot better!
 
I know their stats because either 1) they were on SDN last year and had to constantly fend off mean comments after they were accepted to UCSF with outlier scores (they shared their scores on MDApps), and 2) because this issue has been brought up openly in many of our small group sessions when we discuss what it was like to go through the application process. But thanks for pointlessly accusing me of being a gunner/interrogator of my classmates, when all I said was that every person here absolutely deserves their slot.

your welcome. lol. jp

my bad, my bad...i just found it odd that anybody would be willing to share his or her stats after an acceptance, especially if he or she was an outlier on the low end. i guess it makes sense that you would know your classmates stats bcuz of SDN/MDApps. lol that has got to be weird. i would hope none of my classmates would know my stats unless i actually told them, which i probably never will. but you got mad ppl defending u so i guess your not so bad. so apologies. 😀

Although you may think you may not hear or tell people your stats, they were a really important part of the process. And as such, at least among those who feel that their stats were a valuable part of their process toward medical school, some people wish to disclose their stats to others. I dont think I've heard of anyone actually bragging about their scores. I guess thats a part of the process you dont understand til your actually here. you make friends, trust each other, and tell each other your stories.

Also, in regards to your "news flash":

And news flash, half the class scores below the median. So suffice it to say that half the class is below "average."

You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks that UCSF is underperforming, or below average.... the statement you made is universal throughout medical schools in general, while the attrition rate is incredibly low (compared to law school for example), especially at UCSF. The "median" or "mean" are hardly accurate ways to judge people's performance, especially when the screening process to medical school is incredibly rigorous.

fall back.

i meant below the average as in below the median of the statistics for accepted students. if the median MCAT/GPA combo for UCSF is, say, 3.8/35. that means exactly half of the student body scored at or below 35 and had either a 3.8 or lower gpa. that's what i meant by half of the class is below average. we all kno UCSF students are da bomb my dude. 👍
 
I totally agree with you guys, I feel like I am a lazy bum in not taking the time to look at all these little minute differences. But from what I hear, med school is med school and to me the only things that really matter are proximity to my friends and family, the amount of debt I will carry afterwards, adaquate time to study for the step (hence curriculum question), possible research opportunties, and whether I will get some great diverse clinical experience (naturally I want to be an astute clinician).

I am honestly asking this here: do you guys really care about all those small little little things that you find while searching the school's website. I'm not trying to be a biter here, but could you give me an example of what were talking about? All my indian brethren now in residency or fellowships (or even attendings) tell me that med school is med school and the small details are inconsequential. Please correct me if I am wrong.

I appreciate your guys' criticism of my information-gathering method, but I just don't see the point in spending hours on the website.

EDIT: haha one of the ways I like gathering information is basically the night before my interview where I just ask my host why they like their school so much. I generally get quite a bit of detailed information there. For me, these little details would only really mean something if I was already accepted and had to make a decision between two schools that I really like. I just feel like you can't really know what your experience will be unless you actually experience it. Maybe it looks good on the website but you don't know until you know.


yea mayne. that is the way to go. thats what i do. one person at a school even had the audacity to ask me in response to my question "are u just looking for things to say in your interview?" and i happily responded "yup." lol.

dude, just be vauge and feign enthusiasm and ebullience. works for me.

EDIT: im not saying im not excited about a certain school, but one can only be s000000 excited about a certain school after talking about hiself for the 20th billion time
 
i'm assuming the next batch of offers come out Jan. 20th? can anyway gauge if interviewers in dec. 16th will hear by then?

depends on whether or not your interviewers could make it to the meeting.
 
haha one of the ways I like gathering information is basically the night before my interview where I just ask my host why they like their school so much. I generally get quite a bit of detailed information there. For me, these little details would only really mean something if I was already accepted and had to make a decision between two schools that I really like. I just feel like you can't really know what your experience will be unless you actually experience it. Maybe it looks good on the website but you don't know until you know.

I totally do this too. At the beginning of the interview season i would take an hour to scour each website. By the end I was hoping that all my interviews would fall in the afternoon so that I could have the benefit of the tour, info sessions, and students just hanging around to tell me stuff about the school. Way easier to just get the info in person.

Worked out pretty well. haha...
 
I know this is kind of old, but I just want to know what you guys think of Dean Kessler's firing back in 2007. They say it is due to the fact that he reported "financial irregularities" at the school. What I couldn't understand is how can a guy like him (graduated from Harvard med, chicago law, served as commissioner of FDA for 7 years and dean of Yale med for 6 years) be pissed off by the fact the budget promised to him at his recruitment didn't correpond to what he saw once in office. He may feel cheated but he should know better that it is unwise to be in a bad relationship with key players/his superiors, no matter what the circumstance. Maybe i just don't know enough to comment on this, but how can a guy like him make such a mistake, or is there really something wrong with the financial situation at UCSF? Just want to hear other people's thoughts on this.
 
.
 
Last edited:
yes, that is a bigger problem. It will definitely affect the school's financial strength, while private schools on par with UCSF, like harvard, hopkins, wash U or Penn, won't be hit as hard because they are privately funded. For those who wondered what I was talking about, here is the article http://bulliedacademics.blogspot.com/2008/02/ucsf-dean-is-fired-cites-whistle.html. i just find it interesting because if i were him, I would have resigned quietly
 
Just got an interview invite yesterday 😍. Couldn't schedule it till the last week of Feb though cause I'm booked solid till then.
 
Just got an interview invite yesterday 😍. Couldn't schedule it till the last week of Feb though cause I'm booked solid till then.


omggg congratulations! when were you complete? i was complete at the end of november, and still no word 🙁
 
omggg congratulations! when were you complete? i was complete at the end of november, and still no word 🙁

Thanks. I got my secondary invite 11/15 and was complete a week or so after that. Don't give up yet.
 
Does anybody wanna call the office tomorrow to ask when the next batch of letters will be mailed?
 
the handout they gave us at interview said decisions are mailed around the 20th of each month...
 
I was rejected by UCSF ages ago, and I just received a rather amusing/sad letter in the mail, inviting me to apply to their minority-only postbac "if I don't get in anywhere this year".

I didn't know whether to laugh or be extremely insulted. Surely UCSF realizes that just because it rejects an applicant, said applicant probably has a shot at another school. And why a postbac for URMs only, anyway?!
 
i think they highly encourage URMs to apply for their postbac program... you can read about it on their website. i'm not sure if there is a statistic for this either, but i met a couple of kids at UCSF on interview day who came from the postbac program... so maybe they have a good chance of getting in when they finish the program?
 
I was rejected by UCSF ages ago, and I just received a rather amusing/sad letter in the mail, inviting me to apply to their minority-only postbac "if I don't get in anywhere this year".

I didn't know whether to laugh or be extremely insulted. Surely UCSF realizes that just because it rejects an applicant, said applicant probably has a shot at another school. And why a postbac for URMs only, anyway?!

ha...that is funny in a sort of funny but not really. you should send them a letter back and be like "no thanks. im getting my entire medical tution funded by another school that likes me."

i guess maybe they were just trying to be nice. but at the same time it is kind of insulting. anyway, i loved UCSF and i dont think they can do no wrong. Dean wofsky is the man! 😍
 
Complete 1/9...I want an interview invite sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo badly. Pleaseeeeeeeee
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top