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2016-2017 UCLA PRIME Application Thread
Started by WedgeDawg
Anything from them yet? I got the UCLA PRIME Application Receipt email on August 3rd. There wasn't a link to the secondary, you have to access your applicant status page to get to it.
not sure. i think you're in a unique situation. did you get a geffen secondary that was separate of your prime application? maybe that's why you got a separate interview?
As far as I know you aren't supposed to get two separate secondaries. The prime app has all the regular MD questions.
If you log in through the "regular MD" you still get to your prime application if you applied prime. I don't if you only apply MD only you will log into a prime app as well.
It was my impression that you are considered prime first and then regular for UCLA so I think that may mean you were passed for prime. Since it would have been the PRIME MMI
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that's really strange. i never got any communication from just david geffen. does that mean i'm only being considered by the prime?
eta: but i just found the regular portal and you're right- directs me back to what i submitted for prime
No, just the PRIME secondary that contained the regular MD prompts like @WhittyPsyche said. That's what I'm afraid of, that I was passed for PRIME and was given a regular MD interview (which is still great, since it's my first II). PRIME just sounded awesome. But I guess I'll have to wait until their December date to hear back from PRIME to know for sure.
I hope not. I didn't receive two separate emails either. Just PRIME. Since the lower half of the PRIME secondary is the Geffen secondary, I assumed that was intentional.
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same- how about you, @Doc.Do since you've received an II. did you fill out two secondaries or receive initial communication from both programs? or was it just Prime?
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@sammiesings I received my secondary from PRIME only and filled out only one secondary that contained both the PRIME and Regular MD prompts. My Application Type listed on my status page is Combined Medical Degree/Graduate. I'm pretty sure the PRIME secondary is for both regular MD and PRIME. It just seems like I already got passed up for PRIME since I got an II from the regular MD program. Well, the email didn't explicitly say Regular MD. It didn't say PRIME on it either. It just said the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
i see! when were you complete? i see you're in texas, but i was going to say maybe its possible they're thinking folks like you who are obviously highly qualified candidates can come out twice? interview for geffen and then for prime later on?
@sammiesings I submitted my secondary a month ago today on August 13. Ok, full disclosure. I'm a reapplicant and I interviewed with them 2 years ago, so there, its out there! I think that's a big reason why I got an interview this time around, even being OOS. But that still leaves the question of whether or not I'm still in the running for PRIME. I'll email them asking when I receive my interview date and let you all know.
absolutely no shame in that game 😉! i've actually heard the UCs do not like to re-interview people very often, so that must be a really good sign they're taking you on another time.
it is confusing whether you're still in the prime running since they did say prime first, then geffen? let us know what they say!
Does anyone know if a photo is required for this secondary? In the past threads, I've noticed people talk about submitting a photo...
Yes, a photo is required. If you need a cheap editing tool, I used something called Snapseed and it was good enough at editing a smartphone photo that I use the resulting picture for all of my headshots now.
I don't recall submitting a photo with this secondary...
I don't either. And doesn't look to be any place to in the portal so highly doubt it.
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maybe doc.do means after the ii. i think those with ii's have to submit photos but not with the secondary.
Ah, gotcha! 😉
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I submitted mid-July and have not heard back.
Isn't UCLA prime non-rolling? If I remember correctly, they don't start interviewing until October or so. Please correct me if I am wrong.
I think Ima call lol
From their website. Last year's thread, people began receiving IIs right around the "Interview invitations will be sent by" date. http://medschool.ucla.edu/prime-program-faqs:
Interviews
When will I be notified if I have been granted an interview for UCLA PRIME?
Interview invitations will be sent by December 17th, 2017
When are the interview days for UCLA PRIME?
January 7th, 2017 ; January 8th, 2017; January 14th, 2017
Interviews
When will I be notified if I have been granted an interview for UCLA PRIME?
Interview invitations will be sent by December 17th, 2017
When are the interview days for UCLA PRIME?
January 7th, 2017 ; January 8th, 2017; January 14th, 2017
Let us know what you found out. 😉
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Thanks for digging that up for us. I think they meant Dec 17, 2016 not 2017. I guess we have a long period of waiting. This program sounds awesome and I would kill to be apart of it.
So I just got of the phone with UCLA Prime. They are going to wait until all secondaries are screened, then they will send out IIs in early Dec. They are going to interview 78 students and will accept 18. After that the process will become rolling as people decline and such.
Thanks! I wonder how many secondaries they have sent out. 78 II seem like a very small number.
I should have asked lol. If I get a II Im sure at this point I will decline. I have IIs at some of my dream schools and (if I get accepted) will gladly let one of you good guys have it. They are screening super heavy and it wont take much to knock you out of the running. I poured my heart and soul into that secondary...even more so than Drew. Goodluck guys, its gonna be a long time til we hear from them.
Congrats! It also took me about a month to complete that secondary. I really wanted it to be the best since at this point it's my number 1 choice. Good luck with your interviews.
Eek I can't call today but can anyone else call and find out how many secondaries were sent? I think that's really important to know.
Huge difference to get an ii if only 300 sent but completely different story if there's 2000
Huge difference to get an ii if only 300 sent but completely different story if there's 2000
Did you ever ask admissions whether you were no longer under consideration for PRIME?
Since consideration is sub-sequential for Geffen, I wonder if once you get passed to them you are completely out of consideration for PRIME, or if PRIME still keeps your app for review later on. I guess then would you have to interview with PRIME again, or... It said PRIME MMI satisfies Geffen interview, but doesn't mention the other way around.
I wish they would put more details on the process on the website.
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They must already have some idea of a priority list. Because the last secondary sent out according to their website is October 17th or something, with a month to complete that's mid November before they decide who to send invites to.
I wonder if they are holding on to all applications until then, passing the ones they aren't considering to Geffen, or keeping some kind of ranking. Early December after last secondary gets in mid Nov seems pretty short to be holding all apps until then.
Guess it's important, as @sammiesings mentioned, to know how many secondaries they sent out. Maybe a couple weeks is enough if there weren't that many.
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according to last year's thread they have over 1000 applicants and they send around 200-250 secondaries. From those 200-250, they invite around 78 to interview and accept 18. So I would say you would have at least a 31.2-39% chance (78/250-78/200) to receive an interview if you got a secondary.
Just by looking at the number I don't think chances are bad at all, but I am sure the 200-250 people that receive that secondary are really competitive in terms of experiences with underserved populations and academics, so the real deal starts here.
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Ahhh good point. I just worry because I think this year they sent out prime secondaries to everyone who applied since the first email we all got was to tell us about the secondary which just happened to be on our portals.
But if they kept up on the screening, i can't imagine they'll ease up on the difficulty of the screen this year
Someone actually called to ask this and they said that they screen all applicants, so not everyone who applied to PRIME received a secondary. I did not receive any Email from UCLA regarding the secondary invite. I just checked the portal and saw it there.
All the way until December? Dang
I know. Hell, we will likely have some acceptance somewhere by then -_- This is a good hail Mary spot if we don't get in anywhere else and get interviewed
Anyone knows if you can apply to this program, after initially applying to Geffen? Seriously considering persuing an MD/MBA dual degree...
I'm not sure if you can switch over to apply to Prime but I would call them and ask🙂. Also, you can still do a dual degree MD/MBA in the regular geffen as well.
Ooh ok. Great. I'll still inquire about it. Thanks!
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