2016-2017 University of California - Irvine Application Thread

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anyone know anything about post-II letters of interest/intent/updates + additional LOR's before waitlist?
 
I have a few questions since there won't be a second look and I've forgotten a lot of things since interview day. If any current students could answer them that would be so helpful!

What is your exam schedule like? Is there a day of the week that they are usually on?

What are exams like? (Is it all taken on a computer in a giant room with your whole class?)

How do you think your curriculum compares to others in med school? Does not getting early clinical exposure (first semester) bother you?

How often do you (as a first-year) visit the medical center?

Do students here have a good work-life balance? How much free time do you have?

What do you think of the H/P/F ranking?

Where do you recommend living as a first-year?

Do you feel it is easy to tailor your education towards your interests (global health, research, or public health directed, etc)?


Sorry, I realize that is a lot... You don't have to answer them all but just trying to get a better feel of the school for now, thanks!
 
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Hi everyone! Just want to say you all are my heroes and even though I lurk on this page everyone has been super helpful. I was wondering if anyone has the match lists for 2015, 2014 and 2013. Im having a hard time finding previous years and I've been searching for a while. Also this last post ^^
 
forest84 said:
I have a few questions since there won't be a second look and I've forgotten a lot of things since interview day. If any current students could answer them that would be so helpful!

What is your exam schedule like? Is there a day of the week that they are usually on?

What are exams like? (Is it all taken on a computer in a giant room with your whole class?)

How do you think your curriculum compares to others in med school? Does not getting early clinical exposure (first semester) bother you?

How often do you (as a first-year) visit the medical center?

Do students here have a good work-life balance? How much free time do you have?

What do you think of the H/P/F ranking?

Where do you recommend living as a first-year?

Do you feel it is easy to tailor your education towards your interests (global health, research, or public health directed, etc)?


Sorry, I realize that is a lot... You don't have to answer them all but just trying to get a better feel of the school for now, thanks!
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See below for answers:
What is your exam schedule like? Is there a day of the week that they are usually on?
Exams are every 3-4 weeks and are broken up into systems (ex. Cardiovascular, Endocrine, Pulmonary/Renal, etc.). They're usually on Mondays but the day can vary.

What are exams like? (Is it all taken on a computer in a giant room with your whole class?)
We take exams together as a class in our lecture hall on our iPads. UCI gives each med student an iPad that you get to keep forever.

How do you think your curriculum compares to others in med school? Does not getting early clinical exposure (first semester) bother you?
I like that the curriculum is systems based, meaning that during each block (ex. Cardiovascular block, Endocrine block, etc.) we study the histology, physiology, and anatomy of that system so everything is integrated. We actually start clinical exposure during the second week of school in August and usually have clinical sessions once a week throughout the entire first and second year. During the second week of school, we are paired with a UCI physician and shadow that physician twice at the UCI Med Center. We also start weekly clinical sessions where we interview/exam standardized patients in August just a few weeks after starting school. Not sure where you heard we don't have early clinical exposure.

How often do you (as a first-year) visit the medical center?
Twice in the first month of school, when we have the shadowing sessions. Most UCI physicians I've met are pretty approachable and are open to having students shadow so you can ask to shadow them at the UCI Medical Center or other sites as often as you'd like.

Do students here have a good work-life balance? How much free time do you have?
It depends on the student, but most of us seem to have pretty good work-life balance. We have a good amount of free time and have a lot of socials together (ex. Big Bear trip, Vegas trip, beach volleyball, Angels baseball game, Ducks hockey game, karaoke night, etc.). We also have a few school wide events like winter formal and a fall retreat at Lake Arrowhead.

What do you think of the H/P/F ranking?
First year is P/F. Second year is H/P/F but it's not a big deal. Our performances during the clinical years are much more important so I don't think the H/P/F grading second year is too big of a deal. We're all pretty collaborative and share notes with each other so its not a competitive environment.

Where do you recommend living as a first-year?
I'd recommend staying in UCI graduate housing (Palo Verde, Verano Place, Vista Del Campo, Puerta Del Sol). It's cheaper than what you would pay if you lived in off-campus apartments near campus. A lot of us live in Palo Verde (~20-25 out of 104).

Do you feel it is easy to tailor your education towards your interests (global health, research, or public health directed, etc)?
We have a good amount of time first year so there are a lot of opportunities for you to pursue your interests. During the summer after the M1 year, a lot of people go on an international ultrasound trip (we have 6 this summer including Panama, Tanzania, Nigeria, Kenya, Indonesia, and Switzerland). A few students are involved with research right now, but summer's a good time to do research as well. We have 5 student run free clinics and most UCI students are involved in at least one (or more) of them.
 
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blackdiamondsareforever said:
I was offered an interview last week and I will be interviewing at the end of February (complete in late September, LM ~72, OOS).

Sorry if this has been asked before, but do any of you know what the grading policy is, if UCI ranks students, and if lecture attendance is mandatory? It would be great if a current student could speak to this.

For reference, the most recent MSAR says that UCI is P/F for M1 & H/P/F for M2-M4, unranked, and that "50% attendance [to lectures] is required" (this seems arbitrary and I don't totally understand what it means). Moreover, the information I found when I looked through the student handbook for the class of 2020 seemed different and very ambiguous regarding grades and rankings.

Thanks for your help & good luck to everyone waiting for news from UCI!
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Lecture attendance is not mandatory for the most part. The only mandatory lectures are clinical lectures where patients come or some clinical foundations lectures. We do have some small group PBL like sessions once every few weeks that are mandatory. Most of the basic science lectures (histology, physiology, anatomy, neuroscience, etc.) are not mandatory. M1 is P/F and M2-M4 are H/P/F. We're not required to go to lecture aside from the aforementioned mandatory lectures. I'm not sure about whether UCI ranks students, it's not really mentioned to us.
 
forrealthough said:
I interviewed at UCI early January, and received an email telling me I was waitlisted about a week later (really quick turn-around, I was surprised). This definitely stung as I thought my interview went okay, and UCI was my top choice. Does anyone know what the situation is for waitlisted students? I heard most movement occurs during late April/May. Is UCI receptive to Letters of Intent? I haven't accomplished anything extraordinary since my interview a month ago so an update letter probably wouldn't do any good. Thanks!
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I think the waitlist doesn't move until the end of April/early May so I'm not sure if Letters of Intent or update letters would be considered before then.
 
Do you know if interviewing near the end would hurt your chances (it works out better logistically for me)? Also what is the interview format like?
 
Rejected today. Complete 7/31. Good luck to those still in the running!
 
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II today! IS, LizzyM around 69, complete back in July and sent one update in December.
 
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StudyCat said:
Do you know if interviewing near the end would hurt your chances (it works out better logistically for me)? Also what is the interview format like?
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From what I understand, UCI accepts approximately the same number of students from each interview day so interviewing later doesn't hurt your chances. The interview format is 1 traditional interview with a faculty member, 1 traditional interview with a med student, and 1 MMI like station.
 
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Cookiess said:
From what I understand, UCI accepts approximately the same number of students from each interview day so interviewing later doesn't hurt your chances. The interview format is 1 traditional interview with a faculty member, 1 traditional interview with a med student, and 1 MMI like station.
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Thanks! Looking forward to interviewing here :)
 
Cookiess said:
From what I understand, UCI accepts approximately the same number of students from each interview day so interviewing later doesn't hurt your chances. The interview format is 1 traditional interview with a faculty member, 1 traditional interview with a med student, and 1 MMI like station.
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How many students accepted that day given 40 interviewees?

Also, how soon does the committee meet after the interview date to decide ? The same week?2-3 weeks after?
 
drjmd2be said:
How many students accepted that day given 40 interviewees?

Also, how soon does the committee meet after the interview date to decide ? The same week?2-3 weeks after?
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I interviewed in October and heard back exactly a month after in November. Not sure if they're still on that schedule.
 
I interviewed 12/12 and heard back 1/13. Which was two-three weeks sooner than expected
 
drjmd2be said:
How many students accepted that day given 40 interviewees?

Also, how soon does the committee meet after the interview date to decide ? The same week?2-3 weeks after?
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I think MSAR estimates a 43% post-II acceptance rate for UCI (which includes acceptances from people on the waitlist), so I would guess that the committee initially accepts between 10-15 people per interview day and then adds more acceptances from the WL as needed (43% of 40 = an average of 17.2 interviewees accepted per interview day).

I am unsure about the committee's decision timeline but most interviewees seem to hear back (about acceptances) around a month after interviewing.
 
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blackdiamondsareforever said:
I think MSAR estimates a 43% post-II acceptance rate for UCI (which includes acceptances from people on the waitlist), so I would guess that the committee initially accepts between 10-15 people per interview day and then adds more acceptances from the WL as needed (43% of 40 = an average of 17.2 interviewees accepted per interview day).

I am unsure about the committee's decision timeline but most interviewees seem to hear back (about acceptances) around a month after interviewing.
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MSAR doesn't know the post-II acceptance rate, but surprisingly it is 42.5%! Spot on.
 
Getting an II this late feels like the "wyd?" text at 2am on a Friday night.

With that said, hi everyone. I'm Gus and I'm usually pretty Grump but UCI made me crack a smile last night.

Can anyone help me out and tell me a bit about UCI? I'm a CA resident and I'm psyched to actually have a chance at a UC school, but I don't really know anything about UCI. Current students what's your elevator pitch about the school?

More importantly for me, if my goal in life is to end up in California, does it make more sense to end up at UCI or another, maybe more prestigious, school on the east coast? Assume costs are the same and I am only concerned with location after medical school and beyond.
 
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Are people getting pre II rejections? I was complete end of July and have sent two updates, and have heard nothing. At this point, kinda hoping to be axed so I can stop holding out hope.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
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Rejected pre ii last night. Good luck to everyone still in the running. LizzyM 74 and complete late July
 
anyone know if updates should be loaded on the portal or if an email is okay?
 
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I interviewed at Irvine and am not yet accepted (but don't think I will from my post-interview feelings), but the school is sending me lots of emails pressing me to complete financial aid applications. We don't have to do this until we get accepted right?
 
Still not rejected pre-II. That means there is some slim chance of an II right?
EDIT: But I have no research, so really slim right?
 
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Anybody know where to find the list of hospitals med students rotate at 3rd and 4th year? I think VA Long Beach is one, can't remember the others
 
BackToTheFuschia said:
Anybody know where to find the list of hospitals med students rotate at 3rd and 4th year? I think VA Long Beach is one, can't remember the others
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UCI Medical Center, Long Beach Memorial (and Miller's Children Hospital is its associated peds hospital), VA Long Beach
 
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pre-II rejection tonight during the dunk contest. I got a secondary invite from them almost immediately so I thought they liked me.
 
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JoeCaputo said:
pre-II rejection tonight during the dunk contest. I got a secondary invite from them almost immediately so I thought they liked me.
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same, got the email last night and I was at a wedding! hahaha. alreaday slightly buzzed so it didn't sting as much. I submitted the secondary in August.
 
Accepted via call today. Interviewed late jan
 
Waitlist :( I really wanted to go here. Interviewed for PRIME early January.
 
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Still nothing since July secondary asdlkfnaslkenfalksdfasdf
 
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Still hoping for an II from here :x
 
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Does UCI reject anyone post interview? Or is everyone just placed on the waitlist if not accepted right away?
 
maemae0811 said:
Does UCI reject anyone post interview? Or is everyone just placed on the waitlist if not accepted right away?
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Unfortunately, UCI does reject people post-interview, but I think it's just a small proportion of applicants. You can see a few of those decisions if you look through this thread. As for how many, I don't think that was disclosed during the interview day.
 
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how i'm feeling right now

 
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