2010-2011 University of California - Los Angeles Application Thread

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RoboChicken said:
Hey guys!

I was wondering how long it took them to give you the date of the interview after you give your preferences? I got the invite two days ago, but I still don't have the interview date...

Thanks! 😀
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I got the interview invite 11/30, replied the same day, and they scheduled me for 12/9. I said I was available any day, but I didn't expect them to schedule it so close.
 
I know it's impossible to prepare for the MMI, but what kinds of scenarios will we be asked for? Medical? Ethics? Healthcare reform? Random situations?

Also, since MMI is taking place, there won't be a time where we will be asked "Why Medicine and Why UCLA?" then?
 
dragon529 said:
I know it's impossible to prepare for the MMI, but what kinds of scenarios will we be asked for? Medical? Ethics? Healthcare reform? Random situations?

Also, since MMI is taking place, there won't be a time where we will be asked "Why Medicine and Why UCLA?" then?
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don't rule anything out. however, its your best bet to read the scenarios presented in the scholarly articles concerning MMI. maybe read up on how to construct a logical argument as well.
 
Should I attend the pizza social before or after the interview? Interview is on Thurs.. and the social can either be the Wed before or the Mon afterwards...

Also, can anyone who have already interviewed give a bit more details about the interview day than what is already given to us by admissions? General feelings about the MMI process and how you felt about it would be helpful.

Thanks!
 
dragon529 said:
Should I attend the pizza social before or after the interview? Interview is on Thurs.. and the social can either be the Wed before or the Mon afterwards...

Also, can anyone who have already interviewed give a bit more details about the interview day than what is already given to us by admissions? General feelings about the MMI process and how you felt about it would be helpful.

Thanks!
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Generally speaking, it would be beneficial to attend it before the interview. You get to meet and greet a lot of med students (all years) and your fellow applicants, and it was helpful asking them questions and stuff.

As far as the interview day goes, have you done a MMI before (either at Davis or Stanford)? If yes, the day is structured almost identical to that.
If no, MMI is definitely a very different style of interviewing than your run-of-the-mill one on one interviews. Without revealing any specifics (because they make us sign confidentiality agreements and I wouldn't want to reveal anything remotely specific on the internetz), the questions test spontaneity and your ability to construct a logically cohesive argument.

These questions are mostly all hypothetical scenarios (e.g. Patient wants xxx but you don't believe in it. What would you do?) that deal with a variety of ethical issues. Depending on your perspective, this may be a good thing or a bad thing. Good? Well, you don't have to "prep". Bad? Well, you are under a time crunch and in a stressful situation and have to come up with a good argument and be prepared to back it up.

Other than that, the day was pretty much routine. Lunch, tour of the campus/hospital, financial aid presentation etc etc. I had a great time interviewing here.

Good luck!
 
I am not sure if I am complete. my primaries, secondaries, and letters of rec have been received. however, on the status page, there is something that i dont understand. what the the cell that says "Transcripts" mean?
are we supposed to send them transcripts?
 
batista_123 said:
I am not sure if I am complete. my primaries, secondaries, and letters of rec have been received. however, on the status page, there is something that i dont understand. what the the cell that says "Transcripts" mean?
are we supposed to send them transcripts?
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If you get invited to an interview, they ask for you to send in a transcript.
 
For the people who sent letters of update, did you e-mail it and if so, did you get a reply that they received your letter? I sent a letter of interest/update a little while back, but I haven't heard anything from them and thought I'd see if others have. thanks!
 
I emailed in. However, I didn't get a confirmation regarding the update letter.

Abe468 said:
For the people who sent letters of update, did you e-mail it and if so, did you get a reply that they received your letter? I sent a letter of interest/update a little while back, but I haven't heard anything from them and thought I'd see if others have. thanks!
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Thanks for the quick response dragon529, hope your interview went well! I'm still waiting to hear from almost all the cali schools (except a rejection from one) Really hope the letter I sent to ucla nudges them to offer me an interview 🙂
 
Interview invite today. I am so excited! I was in LA and went to talk to the admissions person on Monday Dec 6th and got an invite today Dec 10. Don't know if it had any correlation. I am also out of state. So pumped.
 
Interview invite today! Pretty excited especially since I am OOS. Anyone else interviewing on 1/4?
 
Congratulations to those who received invites today! Would you mind sharing when you were complete?
 
zercom said:
Interview invite today. I am so excited! I was in LA and went to talk to the admissions person on Monday Dec 6th and got an invite today Dec 10. Don't know if it had any correlation. I am also out of state. So pumped.
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Congrats! I've been thinking about going in to talk to them as well. What did you say? And who did you talk to?
 
IlaEm said:
Congrats! I've been thinking about going in to talk to them as well. What did you say? And who did you talk to?
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I just went to the admissions office, which by the way is really hard to find. Took me a good 45 min to find it. I just talked to the lady that was behind the counter. She was really nice and I just told her I was in the area and wanted to check on the status of my application and where to send additional update materials. She took down my amcas ID number. I'm not sure how much this helped but I dont think it could have hurt.
 
JBruin said:
Congratulations to those who received invites today! Would you mind sharing when you were complete?
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I submitted all of my materials 9/2, but I never got a "Complete" email actually, nor did my status page on the UCLA site say my status was "Complete". Definitely out of the norm as far as med schools go...every where else I've gotten a complete email before an interview invite.
 
Received an invite today (okay, technically yesterday)..No complete e-mail but I turned in all my materials on 10/3. In state and very excited!
 
dragon529 said:
I emailed in. However, I didn't get a confirmation regarding the update letter.
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Abe468 said:
For the people who sent letters of update, did you e-mail it and if so, did you get a reply that they received your letter? I sent a letter of interest/update a little while back, but I haven't heard anything from them and thought I'd see if others have. thanks!
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I sent one in late last monday night (12/06) and I heard back from them the very next day. I was flying to interview at Penn so I didn't get the email until Thursday, and I was surprised that they replied to me so quickly. Before that, I emailed the director of admissions (I think that's her title, her name is Lily) asking where to send the update info. I ended up sending the letter directly to her as well and she replied on Saturday (they must work hard!)

that being said, I still haven't received an interview. Assuming rejection at this point 🙁 My days in California are numbered. Does anyone know when we can receive post-secondary rejections?
 
is the med school in the middle of los angeles? Could someone tell me about the area? I tried researching it but didnt find any good info.
 
YellowElephant said:
is the med school in the middle of los angeles? Could someone tell me about the area? I tried researching it but didnt find any good info.
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The med school is in one of the nicest parts of LA - an area called Westwood. It's like 3.5 miles from the Santa Monica beach, about 2 miles from Beverly Hills. One end of the UCLA undergraduate campus (the med school is right next to the undergrad campus) is across from Bel-Air. Westwood itself is a nice, safe area. People walk around at all sorts of late hours without (usually) getting into trouble.

Here wikipedia does a better job of describing the area than I do:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westwood,_Los_Angeles
 
YellowElephant said:
is the med school in the middle of los angeles? Could someone tell me about the area? I tried researching it but didnt find any good info.
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The post before mine is dead on - I'll just add a little.

UCLA and the medical school are in Westwood, which is in West LA - one of the most highly-desirable places to live in the LA area. UCLA is nestled right up against the Santa Monica Mountains, which divide the LA Basin and the San Fernando Valley ("The Valley"). It's bordered by the Culver City area, Century City, Beverly Hills, Bel Air, and Brentwood - among the best, safest neighborhoods in LA. The med school is in the old UCLA Medical Center, which lies just south of the traditional undergraduate campus. Walking from the med school area to the facilities on campus takes no more than 10 minutes.

The Westside is generally very heavy in terms of traffic, especially just south of the UCLA campus, where Wilshire and Santa Monica Blvds meet the 405. That can be a pain. But, being next to a freeway is helpful if you need to get around LA. The Westside's proximity to the beach keeps it cooler than further inland (e.g., Silverlake, Downtown) and it's pretty green and clean.

Westwood Village has pretty much everything you'd need as a student (grocery stores, Kinkos, cafes, restaurants, etc). I didn't spend all of my time in Westwood but it was convenient if I just needed to run to the store. It's generally safe though there are some homeless. Not a lot of nightlife.

Generally, UCLA is in a far better location than USC. You're 15-20 minutes (with traffic) from the beaches at Santa Monica and Venice, about 30-45 minutes (with traffic) from Malibu. Toward the East, you're about 40 minutes from Downtown and around the same amount of time from the amazingly awful Hollywood area. The Westwood area rent is pretty expensive but I paid more to live closer so I could walk to campus versus paying for a parking permit or dealing with the bus.

All in all, UCLA Med is in a great part of LA.
 
Hey everyone, sorry if this has been covered before. Does "received" mean the same thing as "complete" for the UCLA applicant status check?

Also, my supplemental and letters have been marked as received since 8/6...but I haven't heard anything from them at all in terms of status updates. Anyone else with a similar situation? Just for reference: 3.70, 35R, IS.
 
lxc said:
Hey everyone, sorry if this has been covered before. Does "received" mean the same thing as "complete" for the UCLA applicant status check?

Also, my supplemental and letters have been marked as received since 8/6...but I haven't heard anything from them at all in terms of status updates. Anyone else with a similar situation? Just for reference: 3.70, 35R, IS.
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AFAIK yes. UCLA never sends complete emails. I know quite a few people who were complete around the same time as you (some even earlier) but haven't heard back at all. I emailed them a month ago asking about my status too (I was complete late July) and they told me to be patient. Five hours later, I got an interview invite. Coincidence? Yes definitely. But the fact that they took time to reply to my email shows they are receptive to such queries.
 
Hey, I just viewed my interview confirmation again and I saw this:

Please remember to email us a passport size photo with the following specifications:
File Format: .jpg
File Name: AMCASId # + ".jpg" ex: 12345678.jpg
Dimensions: 215 pixels wide X 253 pixels high
File size: less than 100 KB.

Did everyone follow these exact specs? I already emailed a photo because there were no specs before...I'm not sure if I should send another one. This seems really specific.
 
tkp said:
AFAIK yes. UCLA never sends complete emails. I know quite a few people who were complete around the same time as you (some even earlier) but haven't heard back at all. I emailed them a month ago asking about my status too (I was complete late July) and they told me to be patient. Five hours later, I got an interview invite. Coincidence? Yes definitely. But the fact that they took time to reply to my email shows they are receptive to such queries.
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Just for future reference, which email did you send it to? Thank you very much for your help!

I have a similar story. Secondary submitted on 9/2 but have yet to hear a peep.
 
for all those thinking you need a super great gpa/mcat to get an interview...thats not the only thing these schools look for!

interview invite 12/14: 3.6c, 32S, complete early august
 
Are there any other OOS applicants still waiting for a secondary or am I the remaining sad soul?
 
In terms of reputation for residency, is the difference in UCLA and UCSD huge?

UCLA is ranked 11 and UCSD is ranked 16. So it seems like both a pretty close, however, I am not sure if there is a difference in how people consider the two schools.
 
YellowElephant said:
In terms of reputation for residency, is the difference in UCLA and UCSD huge?

UCLA is ranked 11 and UCSD is ranked 16. So it seems like both a pretty close, however, I am not sure if there is a difference in how people consider the two schools.
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I don't have any numbers put before me but UCSD - if I recall correctly - is relatively new to the Top 20 whereas UCLA is, well, UCLA.

UCLA Medicine - generally - carries a ton of weight and garners a lot of respect nationally. It's one of the four big schools out West - Washington, Stanford, UCSF, and UCLA.

Does that translate into meaningful differences in residency reputation? I don't know. But UCLA has been in/around a Top 10 med school for a long time and they train their students in some of the best facilities in the nation.
 
tkp said:
The med school is in one of the nicest parts of LA - an area called Westwood. It's like 3.5 miles from the Santa Monica beach, about 2 miles from Beverly Hills. One end of the UCLA undergraduate campus (the med school is right next to the undergrad campus) is across from Bel-Air. Westwood itself is a nice, safe area. People walk around at all sorts of late hours without (usually) getting into trouble.

Here wikipedia does a better job of describing the area than I do:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westwood,_Los_Angeles
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Any advice for getting from the airport to Lamonica's New York Pizza? I land at 5:05 and have to be at the pizza place by 6:30pm.
 
maniacmath13 said:
Any advice for getting from the airport to Lamonica's New York Pizza? I land at 5:05 and have to be at the pizza place by 6:30pm.
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Take the blue Flyaway bus to Westwood. It leaves from LAX and drops you off on Kinross, in between Gayley and Veteran. Then you can walk a block to the pizza shop. It will cost you $5 not including tip.
 
maniacmath13 said:
Any advice for getting from the airport to Lamonica's New York Pizza? I land at 5:05 and have to be at the pizza place by 6:30pm.
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To be honest, there's a very high probability that you will be late. You have to factor in getting your bags, hailing a cab/renting a car, and the disguisting amount of traffic that will be waiting for you. Generally speaking, you need to take the 405 from LAX to get to Westwood and that's going to be a parking lot at 5:00. The entrance to the 405 north is a straight shot once you exit from the airport. Just take it all the way to Wishire Blvd East and hang a left on Veteran, a right on Kinross, and a left on Gayley. The pizza place will be on your right.
 
maniacmath13 said:
Any advice for getting from the airport to Lamonica's New York Pizza? I land at 5:05 and have to be at the pizza place by 6:30pm.
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Lamonica's is really close to the flyaway stop, but as Raffle said above, there is very little chance you will make that dinner on time. You're going to be arriving at LAX and on the 405 at the worst possible time of the entire day. The flyaway to Westwood runs once every hour from the green stops outside all terminals (sometimes every half hour on select days) and unless you're flight arrives promptly at 5 and you are the first one off the plane, you're probably not going to make the 5 o'clock shuttle that comes around. That means you'll have to take the 6 o'clock shuttle and maybe, just maybe, make it to Westwood by 645-7. LAX is 15-20 minutes without traffic and could take weeks at the time you're showing up 🙂 Other options include renting a car (wouldn't recommend it- traffic sucks, streets can be confusing if you don't know where you are going, and parking in West LA is impossible) or taking the Super Shuttle which would be your best bet for making it on time at a reasonable rate (usually about 15-20 bucks w/o tip if I remember correctly)
 
maniacmath13 said:
Any advice for getting from the airport to Lamonica's New York Pizza? I land at 5:05 and have to be at the pizza place by 6:30pm.
Click to expand...

What day are you getting in? I seem to remember that the Flyaway comes every half-hour when I've taken it, so you could probably catch the 5:30pm and get there maybe-on-time. The driver also may try to take a less traffic-y route if the 405 if a ridiculous mess, but it probably wouldn't help all that much.

(The internet confirms that the Flyaway does run every half hour, but only certain times on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday....so if you're not coming then, bummer.)
 
tr0gd0r said:
What day are you getting in? I seem to remember that the Flyaway comes every half-hour when I've taken it, so you could probably catch the 5:30pm and get there maybe-on-time. The driver also may try to take a less traffic-y route if the 405 if a ridiculous mess, but it probably wouldn't help all that much.

(The internet confirms that the Flyaway does run every half hour, but only certain times on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday....so if you're not coming then, bummer.)
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I'm getting there Thursday (tomorrow), so I could get the 5:30pm flyaway. Any idea how much a cab would cost? I'm assuming that's the fastest way and I'm okay with spending a little extra if it means I'll get there on time.

And for those of you who went to the dinner, how big of a deal would it be to show up late?
 
maniacmath13 said:
I'm getting there Thursday (tomorrow), so I could get the 5:30pm flyaway. Any idea how much a cab would cost? I'm assuming that's the fastest way and I'm okay with spending a little extra if it means I'll get there on time.

And for those of you who went to the dinner, how big of a deal would it be to show up late?
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I have taken the flyaway many times this interviews both going to the airport from my apartment and back. The trip takes about 30 minutes or so, which means you will be fine. Also, the pizza party is very informal so don't worry about being late.
 
acceptmepleaz said:
Has anyone sent thank you letters for the interview?
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Lili mentioned to us that thank yous were not necessary and not expected. Especially since there are so many people involved its just impractical for this interview format. So don't worry about it. 🙂
 
Last edited:
Congrats to everyone who is received interviews!

I just wanted to give a heads up, if you're doing the UCLA and the UCD MMI, the MMI type/style/presentation of the questions are different. I personally like UCLA's MMI wayyyyy more than UCD's MMI. UCLA even told us before the interview that their MMI is different. I feel like UCLA better understood me after the interview, where as UCD still didn't know much beyond my secondary.
 
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