2017-2018 University of California - Los Angeles (Geffen)

[bae2017]

Damn. I'm so glad I didn't start this one yet. I'm about to knock it out tomorrow

You're seeing the same thing, right? It's not just an issue on my end?

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[Avada Cadaver]

Oh my god...It cut all my secondary responses off at 800 character limit....wtf.

Does anyone know how to contact admissions? I seriously spent 2+ weeks writing thoughtful detailed responses and now post submission it looks like I wrote an unfinished half-paragraph for each prompt.

 

[Killa_T]

You're seeing the same thing, right? It's not just an issue on my end?

Nah you're right. That's pretty messed up that they would change character counts after sending the secondary out. I bet a bunch of people slaved away trying to hit close to those old character counts

 

[Killa_T]

Maybe they'll change it lol

Lmao brah called it

 

[Gonzo1996]

1. Describe your involvement in the one most important non-academic activity in your life. (800 char)
2. What has been the one most unique leadership, entrepreneurial or creative activity in which you participated? (800 char)
3. What has been the one most important volunteer work you have done and why was it meaningful? (800 char)
4. Has there been or will there be a gap between achieving your last degree (baccalaureate or other degrees post baccalaureate) and the expected time of medical school matriculation? (300 char to explain if yes)
5. What is the one most important honor you have received? Why do you view this as important? (300 char)
6. What has been your most scholarly project (thesis, research or field of study in basic or clinical science or in the humanities)? Describe one and give number of hours, dates and advisor. (300 char)
7. Describe a problem in your life. Include how you dealt with it and how it influenced your growth. (500 char)
8. Section to enter major work experiences, with 4000 char. to explain each experience.
9. Is there any hardship to which you would like the committee to give special attention in evaluating your application? If yes: Please explain. Include any geographic, language, economic, academic, physical, or mental factors: (500 char)
10. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? What experiences have led you to this goal? (500 char)

@gyngyn

OMG.... yesssss lol prewrote these and was hoping they'd lower the limit back down lol

 

[tealscuba]

Oh my god...It cut all my secondary responses off at 800 character limit....wtf.

Does anyone know how to contact admissions? I seriously spent 2+ weeks writing thoughtful detailed responses and now post submission it looks like I wrote an unfinished half-paragraph for each prompt.

My application is also cut off mid-sentence... Can they do that? Is there a way to re-submit with shorter essays or something?

 

[tealscuba]

They should be obligated read our entire essays. Like seriously, how are they going to tell us to shorten something post-hoc. I spent two weeks doing this when I could have been working on other secondaries. I wrote 3700 characters for the scholarly project when in reality I could have written 1233% less.

Yeah, this is ridiculous..

 

[DoubleThinker]

Yeah, this is ridiculous..

Yeah in the same boat here. I'm sure come some time next week they'll send out an email or something.

 

[star field]

I FREAKING KNEW IT. Thank god I didn't start, you can even look at my comment a few pages back. No way a school would increase the size of their essays by 5x

 

[jenny3495]

I spent a few days on this one too and was literally going to submit tonight!! Most of my essays are way too long now... I emailed the admissions contact asking about the change. Going to hold off changing them for now...

 

[Avada Cadaver]

I got a response from admissions stating our supplemental application responses are preserved in their entirety, as we initially submitted them.

Phew. I'm probably still going to be rejected, but at least it'll be after they read my responses

 

[Sa!yan]

So who's still waiting for a secondary app?

 

[DoubleThinker]

So who's still waiting for a secondary app?

Back to our scheduled programming

 

[jenny3495]

I got a response from admissions stating our supplemental application responses are preserved in their entirety, as we initially submitted them.

Phew. I'm probably still going to be rejected, but at least it'll be after they read my responses

But you submitted it before they changed the limit right?

 

[Avada Cadaver]

But you submitted it before they changed the limit right?

Yes.

 

[CaliforniaGirls]

I spent a few days on this one too and was literally going to submit tonight!! Most of my essays are way too long now... I emailed the admissions contact asking about the change. Going to hold off changing them for now...

Can you let us know what they say? I'm in the same situation as you...

 

[protectyaneck]

So who's still waiting for a secondary app?

I'm still waiting--have heard from every other school I applied to (including UCSD and UCSF, I'm OOS).

 

[rnclbndd]

Hi guys. I was just wondering where we could get the "official aamc letter head" and to whom are the letters addressed to? Thank you!

 

[jazzmetal]

Hi guys. I was just wondering where we could get the "official aamc letter head" and to whom are the letters addressed to? Thank you!

I think you must be talking about the AAMC Letter Request Form? When you have created an AAMC account for yourself and started filling in information for your primary, there's a section for Letters of Evaluation where you input your letter writers' contact information, then generate a cover letter for each to use when they submit their letters to AMCAS. This helps AMCAS match the letter to your application. I told my letter writers they could address the letter to "Dear Admissions Committee."

Does this answer your question?

AMCAS has made videos to explain how to complete the various sections of the application, which might be helpful for you.

 

[MedicalPhysicist]

Any MSTP applicants gotten secondaries yet? I'm still waiting.

I'm applying MSTP and still haven't received a secondary. My AMCAS was verified on 6/10. I'm IS. I know they don't start reviewing MSTP applications until after the deadline, so maybe there is no need to worry? Still making me anxious though...

 

[ZZZ the foxbat]

Anyone knows what's the email address of the adcom?

 

[rnclbndd]

I think you must be talking about the AAMC Letter Request Form? When you have created an AAMC account for yourself and started filling in information for your primary, there's a section for Letters of Evaluation where you input your letter writers' contact information, then generate a cover letter for each to use when they submit their letters to AMCAS. This helps AMCAS match the letter to your application. I told my letter writers they could address the letter to "Dear Admissions Committee."

Does this answer your question?

AMCAS has made videos to explain how to complete the various sections of the application, which might be helpful for you.

I got confused about the "letters should be on official letterhead" does that mean the letter should have the aamc logo? Or is it the letterhead of the university/institution the person is writing from?

 

[Noctámbulo]

I got confused about the "letters should be on official letterhead" does that mean the letter should have the aamc logo? Or is it the letterhead of the university/institution the person is writing from?

They mean letterhead for the institution.

 

[TheBiologist]

Hey, have not been keeping track of this thread so sorry for not looking myself but has anyone else not received a secondary yet? and what is the screen if there is one?

 

[jazzmetal]

Hey, have not been keeping track of this thread so sorry for not looking myself but has anyone else not received a secondary yet? and what is the screen if there is one?

No secondary for me. I submitted on June 20 (letters not assigned yet though). I did get secondaries from UCD and UCI right away... Holding off on submitting to UCSF or UCSD until I either retake the MCAT or concede that I'm out of runway for this year.

A friend who submitted a few days after me got secondaries from UCD, UCI, UCSD and UCSF, but not UCLA (he didn't apply to UCR).

Sounds like UCLA really takes their time reviewing primaries and has a substantial screen (50% or more).

 

[Toutie]

I think UCLA has slowed to a crawl and probably even stopped sending secondaries completely for awhile because of the goof with the character count. They are always very slow screening anyways, but this mistake very likely slowed that process even more.

Just sit tight and wait. I know many more people who were sent secondaries later in the year than received them early.

 

[scienceswimmer]

Wow it was challenging to write 4000 characters and now it's even harder to keep it to 300/500/and 800 characters....

 

[2redpartyhats]

I'm still laughing over the fact that I submitted before the character limit drop, and ended up writing the equivalent of my autobiography in there.

Any bets on why this happened? Forgot to add the correct character limits? Underestimated applicants ability to fill 4000 characters? Maybe so few people submitted secondaries that they decreased the limits to be more reasonable?


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[Killa_T]

Those who have done the secondary, did you repeat a lot of content from your primary? I feel like I've addressed many of these prompts already, but I'm not sure if it's acceptable to reuse old stuff. Thoughts?

 

[neuroyale]

gosh taking forever UCLA...

 

[jenny3495]

Finally got a response from UCLA regarding the character limit change. Can't believe I have to cut down all of my long essays by 75%. Pretty sure they sent this exact response to all the emails they got over the weekend:

"Thank you for your email. Our character limits for the supplemental application very recently changed. Since you have not yet submitted your secondary application, you will need to conform your essays to the character limits currently listed in the AMP admissions portal. Our sincere apologies for the confusion."

 

[TheOtherAlien]

I'm still laughing over the fact that I submitted before the character limit drop, and ended up writing the equivalent of my autobiography in there.

Any bets on why this happened? Forgot to add the correct character limits? Underestimated applicants ability to fill 4000 characters? Maybe so few people submitted secondaries that they decreased the limits to be more reasonable?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm so glad I submitted mine at the end of last week. It must have been just before the character limits changed. I would have hated having to rewrite all those essays, and I really feel for all of you who are stuck doing exactly that right now.

 

[DoubleThinker]

I'm so glad I submitted mine at the end of last week. It must have been just before the character limits changed. I would have hated having to rewrite all those essays, and I really feel for all of you who are stuck doing exactly that right now.

Yeah same here. Cutting down my essays really wouldn't have been an option. I would have had to rewrite them all. 4000 to 800 isn't a simple task of removing superfluous verbiage. It's an exercise in telling the same story with fewer details.

 

[fly_youfools]

Anyone still waiting on that secondary?

 

[success16]

Has anyone who applied to the MD/MPH program (UCLA PRIME) received a secondary yet?

 

[teamoteamo]

Wait. Can somebody explain why applying to both is so detrimental?

It's not detrimental to apply to both. However, if one is just applying to Drew because one thinks it's another way into UCLA, they will see right through it - especially if one has not demonstrated any compassion/service towards underserved and/or minority communities.

 

[mdboy15]

I'm interested in both the UCLA-DGSOM and UCLA-PRIME program. Can anyone chime in on the drawback on applying to PRIME? Does it delay my application to be seen by the adcom's? And if I get rejected by PRIME, will I automatically be considered for DGSOM?
Note: I am already verified, but have to receive a secondary.

 

[f4reignbeauty]

Hey all! Super stoked to watch the 2017-2018 cycle. I'm a MS3 and am "available" to answer any questions you may have! Feel free to PM those questions, and good luck all!

 

[Hopeful Future Doc]

Haha the guy that this school is named after is in The Defiant Ones on HBO. He popped up and I was just like why does his name sound so familiar

 

[ilovenutella]

Everyone waiting on their secondary (including me):
I looked through last year's thread and it looks like they sent out the second round about a month after the first. If they stick to that this year, I think we can expect our secondaries around August 18. Keep checking your email, but don't freak out if you don't get one in the next few days.

 

[Floatin]

To anyone considering applying: We are one of the few schools that screens heavily before sending secondary applications, so don't worry, we won't waste your time or money on secondary essays and fees unless we're seriously interested in you. So I'd encourage anyone interested in us to just go ahead and apply without worrying about numbers, it's very low-risk and we aren't making any money off of you (only AAMC does haha).

Agreed. I'm Northeast OOS applicant and this is the only school for which I have not received a secondary. Thus, I can attest to this statement. I most likely won't receive a secondary either, which I prefer. Rather be screened out if they don't want me in the first place then put all the effort and money in to still be rejected.

 

[annie2017]

Finally got a response from UCLA regarding the character limit change. Can't believe I have to cut down all of my long essays by 75%. Pretty sure they sent this exact response to all the emails they got over the weekend:

"Thank you for your email. Our character limits for the supplemental application very recently changed. Since you have not yet submitted your secondary application, you will need to conform your essays to the character limits currently listed in the AMP admissions portal. Our sincere apologies for the confusion."

I feel you. I'm in the same exact situation as you, and just received the same response verbatim from UCLA today. Pretty awful that they changed the character limit nearly 3 weeks after sending out secondaries... Basically have to rewrite all my answers at this point

 

[hopeful314]

Never been one to be high-strung, but this wait is killing me lol

 

[cye0216]

To anyone considering applying: We are one of the few schools that screens heavily before sending secondary applications, so don't worry, we won't waste your time or money on secondary essays and fees unless we're seriously interested in you. So I'd encourage anyone interested in us to just go ahead and apply without worrying about numbers, it's very low-risk and we aren't making any money off of you (only AAMC does haha).

Will I get a rejection letter if I won't be getting secondary?

 

[twentyeightmiles]

Got a secondary just now.

 

[OldSavage]

.

 

[Pleides]

Finally got a secondary. IS verified 6/1

 

[cassyfrog]

Just got the secondary too. IS LM~74

 

[hotcheetomania]

Finally got a secondary. IS verified 6/1

+4 ~77-78 OOS

 

[_NM_]

Secondary invite today, Lizzy M 73