2014-2015 David Geffen School of Medicine University of California - Los Angeles Application Thread

Applying to Med School? Get In Or Your Money Back
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bluemachine said:
haha definitely the latter. i was going to send the LOR to schools where I've been waitlisted at, and was just wondering if i might as well also should send it along to schools I haven't heard back from
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This question has probably been asked a bazillion times in the past, but what's the consensus on sending them a letter of intent?
 
tofuuu said:
This question has probably been asked a bazillion times in the past, but what's the consensus on sending them a letter of intent?
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It probably won't hurt your chances any.
 
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tofuuu said:
This question has probably been asked a bazillion times in the past, but what's the consensus on sending them a letter of intent?
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Agreed with above - don't expect it to help much unless you live in LA or have gotten in to high-ranked schools, but it can't hurt!
 
Did anyone view their financial aid documents online? It says that my NeedAccess and FAFSA confirmations have not been received. Is that something I need to print out and send to them/email them?
 
Panasonic25 said:
Did anyone view their financial aid documents online? It says that my NeedAccess and FAFSA confirmations have not been received. Is that something I need to print out and send to them/email them?
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Did you include DGSOM on your list of schools for FAFSA? The NeedAccess was accessible from a link on the Accepted Student Checklist, I'm pretty sure. Either way, both will be submitted to them online.
 
alt12345 said:
Agreed with above - don't expect it to help much unless you live in LA or have gotten in to high-ranked schools, but it can't hurt!
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I'm sort of confused by one of your points.. Can you describe exactly how living in LA would help a letter of intent? Does DGSOM even care about whether you live in LA or not?
 
INOHELP said:
I'm sort of confused by one of your points.. Can you describe exactly how living in LA would help a letter of intent? Does DGSOM even care about whether you live in LA or not?
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For the first round of accepted students of the waitlist I doubt it matters. It would most likely matter for those, let's say, who were to be taken off the waitlist a week before school/orientation starts. It's much easier to hop on the 101, get off on van-nuys, make a left of ventura blvd and take beverly glenn over to westwood than it is to fly across the country and get situated right before school starts.
 
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pandoodle said:
Have any post-interview rejections been sent out?
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I doubt it.
FYI I asked admissions today about the status of applicants who haven't received a post interview decision/update yet, and they said that the class is now full, but that they will continue to release acceptances as people decline.
So, I presume everyone is wait listed.
Good luck everyone!
 
runningisbliss said:
I doubt it.
FYI I asked admissions today about the status of applicants who haven't received a post interview decision/update yet, and they said that the class is now full, but that they will continue to release acceptances as people decline.
So, I presume everyone is wait listed.
Good luck everyone!
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did they happen to say when they would be releasing acceptances? would it be safe to assume that they wont do this until after april 30th?
 
It's not necessarily a wait-list per se. It's just that there'll be another round acceptances post-April 30.They don't reject or waitlist until Juneish.
 
@Juan Solo @alt12345 @catzzz88 @MrDoctorman Could current students share, in detail, what a typical weekly schedule is like for the preclinical years? How many hours are mandatory and how many are lectures that can be podcasted at your convenience? When does PBL happen, etc? How often do you have exams? Thank you! I am a more independent-type learner and trying to figure out if UCLA is a fit for me.
 
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threesparrows said:
@Juan Solo @alt12345 @catzzz88 @MrDoctorman Could current students share, in detail, what a typical weekly schedule is like for the preclinical years? How many hours are mandatory and how many are lectures that can be podcasted at your convenience? When does PBL happen, etc? How often do you have exams? Thank you! I am a more independent-type learner and trying to figure out if UCLA is a fit for me.
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Check out http://www.prospectivedoctor.com/typical-day-of-a-ucla-medical-student/ for a good rundown of the weekly schedule preclinical years. That website is also great for a lot of stuff (ie what to expect in medical school) and is written by UCLA medical students.
 
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fairlyplay said:
For the first round of accepted students of the waitlist I doubt it matters. It would most likely matter for those, let's say, who were to be taken off the waitlist a week before school/orientation starts. It's much easier to hop on the 101, get off on van-nuys, make a left of ventura blvd and take beverly glenn over to westwood than it is to fly across the country and get situated right before school starts.
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Yes, this, and also that when I was applying the consensus from LizzyM and others was just that letters of intent really don't hold that much weight! Students will write them, get into the school they wrote them for, then end up going to a higher ranked school they also got off the waitlist at. If you live in the area currently then you have an obviously genuine reason for wanting to attend UCLA or any other school.
 
alt12345 said:
Check out http://www.prospectivedoctor.com/typical-day-of-a-ucla-medical-student/ for a good rundown of the weekly schedule preclinical years. That website is also great for a lot of stuff (ie what to expect in medical school) and is written by UCLA medical students.
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That was super helpful, thanks! My takeaway was that the schedule is light and leaves lots of time for doing your own thing (and studying), but that you do need to be on campus for at least a couple hours every day M-F for some mandatory activity--labs or PBL. Is that correct?
 
threesparrows said:
That was super helpful, thanks! My takeaway was that the schedule is light and leaves lots of time for doing your own thing (and studying), but that you do need to be on campus for at least a couple hours every day M-F for some mandatory activity--labs or PBL. Is that correct?
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Hi there! Good questions! In general, we have mandatory sessions every day of the week. Some days it's in mornings and other days it's afternoons. Outside of the mandatory sessions, you can plan your own schedule! It's great :)

The MS1 mandatory sessions (meaning you must be on campus) could generally look something like as follows:

M: 8-10 AM PBL
Tu: 1:30 - 4:30 Doctoring or Clinical Skills
W: 1-5 Histology or Preceptorship
Th: 1-5 Anatomy or some other Laboratory
F: 8-10 AM PBL

I hope this helped get a general idea :)
 
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threesparrows said:
@Juan Solo @alt12345 @catzzz88 @MrDoctorman Could current students share, in detail, what a typical weekly schedule is like for the preclinical years? How many hours are mandatory and how many are lectures that can be podcasted at your convenience? When does PBL happen, etc? How often do you have exams? Thank you! I am a more independent-type learner and trying to figure out if UCLA is a fit for me.
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UCLA does have many aspects of its curriculum that are independent styled learning. Not as independent as Yale per se but still more on the independent side for sure. I have classmates whom I only see at mandatory sessions and they do very well learning like that.

Good luck! :)
 
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Does anyone know how you would send in an additional LOR to UCLA at this point? Does it still go through AMCAS?
 
@2015MDHOPEFUL : We're probably not gonna hear much until after April 30th. Good thing it's coming up soon!
 
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Garferies said:
Do you believe it's better to send a LOI after April 30th or right after we see some movement?
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I don't think it makes much of a difference, I would send it when you can if you are committed to sending it!
 
has anybody been accepted since that one wave in mid-march? i was just on mdapps and it seems like someone was accepted today?! ahhhhh
 
On Eagle's Wings said:
LETTER SENT today. Is that good or bad?
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It has only been good in the past, but it's possible that they are sending out wait lists and/or rejections now that it's late April. I'd be optimistic but not get your hopes up too high until you receive the letter. I'm crossing my fingers for you!!!!
 
bluemachine said:
has anybody been accepted since that one wave in mid-march? i was just on mdapps and it seems like someone was accepted today?! ahhhhh
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That might have been me. I managed to squeeze a call in to the admissions office around 4:50 Pm today. She said no one has been rejected as of now, and that I should expect very very good news from a "Letter Sent." Personally, I'm skeptical til I read the letter myself!

Also, for others, she mentioned that they hope to start "building" a wait list in mid May and won't start rejecting til June. I would assume letters sent between now and May 12thish are most likely acceptances.
 
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Ahhh congrats! Did they happen to say how long you have to decide before you have to make a final decision?
 
I'm thrilled for those of you joining the DGSOM Class of 2019! The Facebook group & the current students are extremely helpful with any questions or concerns you might have. :highfive:
 
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....so this morning I found out I was accepted into UCLA... from another medical school! They emailed me to say I was still holding more than one acceptance past the deadline, which shocked me because I already withdrew from all other schools this week. Then they let me know that I was in fact holding a spot at UCLA! I checked the portal to confirm and it said 'letter sent' as of 4/29. God is good but tough decisions ahead!!!
 
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What a way to find out! That's amazing! Congrats and welcome!
 
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Godisgood!! said:
....so this morning I found out I was accepted into UCLA... from another medical school! They emailed me to say I was still holding more than one acceptance past the deadline, which shocked me because I already withdrew from all other schools this week. Then they let me know that I was in fact holding a spot at UCLA! I checked the portal to confirm and it said 'letter sent' as of 4/29. God is good but tough decisions ahead!!!
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Lol that is actually hilarious! Congratulations! :)
 
Godisgood!! said:
....so this morning I found out I was accepted into UCLA... from another medical school! They emailed me to say I was still holding more than one acceptance past the deadline, which shocked me because I already withdrew from all other schools this week. Then they let me know that I was in fact holding a spot at UCLA! I checked the portal to confirm and it said 'letter sent' as of 4/29. God is good but tough decisions ahead!!!
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Your other school is so on point about checking these things. that's pretty impressive.
 
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tofuuu said:
I haven't wrote one yet, but i'm assuming it shouldn't be longer than a page. Someone correct me if i'm wrong.
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Absolutely not longer than a page! And make the purpose of the letter clear from the very first sentence.
 
Just got my acceptance letter from UCLA! Also was offered a sizable scholarship. The good news for all of you is that I will need to decline it since I am set on attending a different school. Hopefully, one of you is fortunate enough to get a prized spot in the UCLA class of 2019 along with my scholarship!

Now, I need to figure out how to write a polite letter to decline a very generous offer from a top 20 school...
 
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Just to note, I really enjoyed visiting this school. The interview day was pretty awesome, and the staff and students treated us like royalty. The idea of prosected cadavers and low medical school debt I think is a great idea that more schools should adopt. I am very thrilled to at least be offered admission into this school, and too bad I cannot take the best parts of this school and move it over to my dream school. Best of wishes to all of you still trying to get into UCLA. I assure you it is a great school even though I am declining it.
 
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Congrats to all the new acceptances. Can't wait to meet those of you that decide to attend!
 
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Letter sent today. No new student checklist though. Trying not to get too excited but it's hard to when I just peed myself??
 
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mmndz said:
Letter sent today. No new student checklist though. Trying not to get too excited but it's hard to when I just peed myself??
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Ahhhhhhh my fingers are crossed for you!!!! Hoping for speedy postal service, too :)
 
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historically, have people been able to see the accepted students checklist when they get letter sent? this wait is killing mee
 
I got accepted on 4/29 and just saw the accepted students checklist today.
 
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