2010-2011 University of California - Los Angeles Application Thread

[jeepy]

I had to get mine down to 796 for it to accept it. You'll find the same problem for a later question, where the limit seems to be 798 chars.

you're right I did notice I got the error again for a different question. Kind of silly...oh well. just deleted a few words and got it submitted!

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[Asyouwereatrio]

So I'm assuming if the status page is blank, you've been screened out?

Don't assume htat, they might not have just gotten to your app. However, it may also depend on your stats...if they're competitive for UCLA.

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

What is everyone's LOR Status show...? (For those that have submitted their secondary and have your LORs on file with AMCAS)

 

[The Mull]

What is everyone's LOR Status show...? (For those that have submitted their secondary and have your LORs on file with AMCAS)

Mine still says "requested". It'll probably take them a few days to figure out that yes, they do really have the LORs.

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

Mine still says "requested". It'll probably take them a few days to figure out that yes, they do really have the LORs.

Mine was requested.. but now it's completely blank..so i was worried. Idk what it means to be blank..

one would think that in the least, if htey "received" it...it'd say "received"

 

[kachan0]

What do they mean by the question under Scholastic Achievements..."What is the ONE most important honor you have received? Why do you view this as important?"

I'm stumped...because my most important honor would be perhaps presenting a poster at a big conference ...or being published as a co-author (though not 1st or 2nd) on a paper...BUT...they aren't THAT significant. And I don't want to talk about the paper as much if I wasn't really emphasized on the paper anyway.

So do we need to talk about research or is there something else? For example, being voted as number one for an art award OR a community service award OR something along those lines? What did you all write?

 

[BioeMD]

What do they mean by the question under Scholastic Achievements..."What is the ONE most important honor you have received? Why do you view this as important?"

I'm stumped...because my most important honor would be perhaps presenting a poster at a big conference ...or being published as a co-author (though not 1st or 2nd) on a paper...BUT...they aren't THAT significant. And I don't want to talk about the paper as much if I wasn't really emphasized on the paper anyway.

So do we need to talk about research or is there something else? For example, being voted as number one for an art award OR a community service award OR something along those lines? What did you all write?

I took that to mean more of like an award or honor society kind of thing. They also have the scholastic project question where I figured you could talk about stuff like papers. Not sure though.

 

[orphn]

anyone else already submit their secondary but have the LOR column completely blank?

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

anyone else already submit their secondary but have the LOR column completely blank?

ya...I posted about that a few posts ago..probably normal. *hopefully*

 

[kachan0]

whew...finally submitted just now. Feels good...but only 15 done. Still got three on the back burner and a bunch more possibly making their way slowly towards me. Sigh but yay!

 

[dragon529]

For those of you who are using FAP to waive off the fee, is it working for you? I am FAP verified but the site still links me to the credit card or check payment page after I hit submit.

 

[OGMD]

Woo came back from vacay and had this one in the inbox.

 

[Mark Knopfler]

Would tutoring count as a non-academic activity? Generally, what do schools mean by "non-academic"--are they just looking for activities outside of classwork?

 

[RB93]

On the question about "where do you see yourself in 10 years," do you think they want us to talk about what field of medicine we're interested in? Or can we talk more about career goals in general?

 

[PharmtoMed]

For the most important volunteer work question what do you guys think it alright to include things that were done in highschool ( not on my primary app) or should I stick to more recent and therefore have repeated elements from my primary. Thanks

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

Hi everyone,

Mine shows received!

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

For the most important volunteer work question what do you guys think it alright to include things that were done in highschool ( not on my primary app) or should I stick to more recent and therefore have repeated elements from my primary. Thanks

Personally, I'd try to stick with what was "recent"...although it is pretty open-ended in terms of the time-frame. Did you not have any "meaningful" volunteer opportunities during your undergraduate that you could "twist" into your most meaningful one? They don't care if you repeat, I think the idea is that they want to see you "expand" upon one of your activities in a way you haven't done yet.

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

Would tutoring count as a non-academic activity? Generally, what do schools mean by "non-academic"--are they just looking for activities outside of classwork?

I would say tutoring is technically an academic activity. This one is honestly on the fence...but I'd assume it's academic. Non-academic is generally service opportunities and volunteering..and anything else that has nothing to do with textbooks/lectures/etc.

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

On the question about "where do you see yourself in 10 years," do you think they want us to talk about what field of medicine we're interested in? Or can we talk more about career goals in general?

I think they want the latter...but the two things you mentioned go hand in hand....Your career goal in medicine will involve your specialty...so go ahead and you wanna do _______________ as a ___________. That is what I did...although in retrospect, I don't think I mentioned my specialty. I just mentioned helping underserved.

 

[OGMD]

Hi everyone,

Mine shows received!

Me too, but date says N/A.

 

[bruincat]

Me too, but date says N/A.

same. date says N/A, but received

 

[Kip]

same. date says N/A, but received

ditto

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

I say..as long as it says received..better than nothing at all!

 

[obgyny]

For those of you who got screened in, did you get your "secondary invite" email right after receiving the "we've received your AMCAS app" email? Seems like the UCs send out both emails at the same time, at least for instate applicants.

I'm CA resident... and I got the UCLA email yesterday saying they received my AMCAS app (recently verified), so I was wondering if the time gap in emails meant anything...

Also, do they send you a secondary invite email or do you just check your status online?

Thanks!

 

[OGMD]

For those of you who got screened in, did you get your "secondary invite" email right after receiving the "we've received your AMCAS app" email? Seems like the UCs send out both emails at the same time, at least for instate applicants.

I'm CA resident... and I got the UCLA email yesterday saying they received my AMCAS app (recently verified), so I was wondering if the time gap in emails meant anything...

Also, do they send you a secondary invite email or do you just check your status online?

Thanks!

Typically, and this may not be true for all, the UC's have two screens. People with high stats (3.8+/35+) get an auto-secondary, meaning there is no human component to the review. these are the people who get the email right away. Now if you don't make that initial batch, you usually have your app reviewed by an actual person and much more in depth. Secondaries are then selected out of this second batch and sent out. These are the people who get one 3-10 weeks after the initial email. Hope that helps.

 

[kachan0]

Typically, and this may not be true for all, the UC's have two screens. People with high stats (3.8+/35+) get an auto-secondary, meaning there is no human component to the review. these are the people who get the email right away. Now if you don't make that initial batch, you usually have your app reviewed by an actual person and much more in depth. Secondaries are then selected out of this second batch and sent out. These are the people who get one 3-10 weeks after the initial email. Hope that helps.

I think this may be true for UCLA, but not so much for the other UCs? Not sure...but, I have <3.8 & <35. Got both UCI & UCD invites within minutes of receiving the "we have received your application..." email. For UCLA, I didn't get the secondary until 10 days after the initial recipient email. But then again, it seemed like many people got it on the same day as me.

 

[RB93]

On the secondary...would full-time work experience be considered non-academic?

Also, on the one most important volunteering question, do you think they def want something clinical here? I have a non-clinical one a few years ago that I had more extensive involvement in.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Also on LORs - my status went blank for awhile but now it's back. The admissions office said not to worry about it.

 

[jeepy]

I had my LORs marked as "received" with the date marked as "N/A", but it seems to have been updated to yesterday's date (7/27/10)

Probably doesn't really matter, but interesting that they had the date marked as n/a first, and then put in the date several days later.

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

I had my LORs marked as "received" with the date marked as "N/A", but it seems to have been updated to yesterday's date (7/27/10)

Probably doesn't really matter, but interesting that they had the date marked as n/a first, and then put in the date several days later.

Yeah looked like yesterday was an "update day" for UCLA and UCSD...I got updated at both schools with letters and stuff.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

it seems i have been screened out, with no secondary requested, but when i check my status it says LOR received.

hmm..

 

[QuesoAndFromage]

how long does it take them to receive LORs? I added mine last night

 

[Geographer]

Hello all- after hearing more about the school, I want to apply to UCLA. Thing is: I'm an out-of-state student. Do people think it's too late to apply to UCLA as OOS and still have a chance of getting in?

 

[jeepy]

Hello all- after hearing more about the school, I want to apply to UCLA. Thing is: I'm an out-of-state student. Do people think it's too late to apply to UCLA as OOS and still have a chance of getting in?

definitely! it's still early in the cycle, go ahead and try for it

 

[smileydoc11]

When it asks "In college have you completed one or more years of the following...", if I have not yet but will before I graduate complete one of the requirements, do I check yes or no? Thank youuu!

 

[RB93]

Trying my question again...is everyone talking about clinical volunteering in the community service question? I could talk about more recent clinical volunteering or something from a few years ago that I had leadership and longer involvement in. I'm not sure if they want something directly related to medicine though??

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

Trying my question again...is everyone talking about clinical volunteering in the community service question? I could talk about more recent clinical volunteering or something from a few years ago that I had leadership and longer involvement in. I'm not sure if they want something directly related to medicine though??

Community service wise...I don't think they want clinical volunteering.they want non-medical volunteering. At least, in my mind, that is what community service is.

 

[RB93]

Community service wise...I don't think they want clinical volunteering.they want non-medical volunteering. At least, in my mind, that is what community service is.

Thanks, you're really helpful. Yeah they just ask for "volunteering," but you may be right. I think my non-medical one would stand out a little more also.

 

[peachy101]

Also, do you think for the "where do you see yourself in 10 years" we should talk about even personal lives as well? Is that appropriate? I feel like I should be painting a pretty elaborate picture, which cannot be done without my personal life.

 

[kobefan11]

Has anyone gotten the first email (receipt of application), only to get the secondary invitation sometime later? I might be wrong, but it seems like the only people that have gotten secondaries are the people that got 2 emails in a row on the same day (or thereabout)...

 

[blizpix]

Has anyone gotten the first email (receipt of application), only to get the secondary invitation sometime later? I might be wrong, but it seems like the only people that have gotten secondaries are the people that got 2 emails in a row on the same day (or thereabout)...

i did...10 days between the two

 

[obgyny]

i did...10 days between the two

That makes me feel better, got my "App Received" email 3 days ago and haven't heard anything since. Since the other secondary invite emails I've gotten from the other UCs came immediately after the "App Received" email, I was a little worried.

 

[Lccjblu]

Did anyone apply to UCLA/Drew as well as just Geffen?

I did, and I haven't gotten secondaries from either. I did get an email from Geffen telling me that my amcas was recieved (all the way back on JULY 10th), but I haven't gotten anything since and my status check online is blank except for letters having been received.

I'm pretty worried that I got rejected pre-secondary, but that doesn't make much sense either b/c I got secondary invites from UCSD and UCD (have interview invite)...

any insight? does drew/ucla get first crack at applicants who applied to them and Geffen or something?

 

[peachy101]

Where do you see yourself in 10 years? What experiences have led you to this goal?

Would you recommend talking about the specialty you're thinking about? Because I'm not sure how certain I am about it. Of course, I'm interested in it, but I hope to keep an open mind until I've done it in rotations.

If I mentioned my interest, would they see me as determined, or naive for choosing before I've even experienced it?

 

[soccerboy2288]

Where do you see yourself in 10 years? What experiences have led you to this goal?

Would you recommend talking about the specialty you're thinking about? Because I'm not sure how certain I am about it. Of course, I'm interested in it, but I hope to keep an open mind until I've done it in rotations.

If I mentioned my interest, would they see me as determined, or naive for choosing before I've even experienced it?

I talked about something broader like other things i also wanna be involved with aside from just practice.

 

[soccerboy2288]

dream school, spent a lot of time on the essays.... but after I submitted I found out that I made two errors... I used "Principals" instead of "principles" and said "my desire [to be] a help and support others" lolol fml... dont ask me how i didnt catch them before i submitted haha

Do you guys think its a major mistake that they'd consider? theres absolutely nothing I can do about it huh?? any suggestions?

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

dream school, spent a lot of time on the essays.... but after I submitted I found out that I made two errors... I used "Principals" instead of "principles" and said "my desire [to be] a help and support others" lolol fml... dont ask me how i didnt catch them before i submitted haha

Do you guys think its a major mistake that they'd consider? theres absolutely nothing I can do about it huh?? any suggestions?

Don't fret...if they reject you on the basis of those two typos..then your application wasn't truly "someone they liked"...I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, but I'm just trying to say "if they like you, they'll take you regardless..". Typos are very common, even MED SCHOOLS make it in creating our applications..I've seen it more than once.

I'm sure everyone here will agree it's not a big deal..especially since your typos don't detract from the meaning.

 

[Mark Knopfler]

dream school, spent a lot of time on the essays.... but after I submitted I found out that I made two errors... I used "Principals" instead of "principles" and said "my desire [to be] a help and support others" lolol fml... dont ask me how i didnt catch them before i submitted haha

Do you guys think its a major mistake that they'd consider? theres absolutely nothing I can do about it huh?? any suggestions?

I wouldn't worry about it at all. I agree with the above post, they will probably overlook it if the other parts of your application are outstanding. Plus, they have so many secondaries to read, they might not even catch it.

 

[soccerboy2288]

haha, thanks guys that makes me feel a little better. I know my chances are super slim but didn't wanna think I'd get a auto rejection because of such stupid mistake (~_~) hopefully things will turn out OK!! whuuu

 

[BioeMD]

Hey guys, I had a quick question. For the prereq grid, if we haven't completed a class but are planning on doing it next year, do we put yes or no? I wasn't sure because it said classes completed during college...

 

[v4runc00l]

For the 'Other name a reference may use for you' are they just asking if you go by another name or do they want you to make up a name they can use instead of your original name?