2019-2020 UC San Diego

Med School Insiders
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Verified 7/12, still so secondary. Called today - apparently my grades didn't screen for an automatic secondary so Im under "manual review" 🙁

3.2 Georgetown SMP
511 MCAT (128/126/129/128)

was really looking forward to apply to this school
 
Bonehead718 said:
Verified 7/12, still so secondary. Called today - apparently my grades didn't screen for an automatic secondary so Im under "manual review" 🙁

3.2 Georgetown SMP
511 MCAT (128/126/129/128)

was really looking forward to apply to this school
Click to expand...
Similar case here. However, received my secondary within 2 days of sending my primary.
 
Fot MSTP applicants, did you list specific faculty that you are interested in during the autobiographical section or did you just give more general reasons for your interest in UCSD?
 
medjustice said:
Fot MSTP applicants, did you list specific faculty that you are interested in during the autobiographical section or did you just give more general reasons for your interest in UCSD?
Click to expand...

I listed a few just because there are a few faculty who are doing research on a specific topic of interest that isnt very common
 
Hey all, I am a low stat applicant but still received a secondary, is there any realistic chance of me actually getting II? I am really tight on money so I honestly have to think twice before turning in things. I think the UCSD medical students are supposed to be brilliant, right? WWYD?
 
billy_bush123 said:
Hey all, I am a low stat applicant but still received a secondary, is there any realistic chance of me actually getting II? I am really tight on money so I honestly have to think twice before turning in things. I think the UCSD medical students are supposed to be brilliant, right? WWYD?
Click to expand...
stats?
 
billy_bush123 said:
512 mcat, 3.7 gpa... I mean they are not bad stats overall, but I am not delusional enough to not know that those who apply to UCSD are usually the exception
Click to expand...
My 2 cents: Your stats are not bad. Their MCAT average is 515. My MCAT score is way less than yours but still giving it a shot. If I were you, I would take that chance.
 
I got a secondary with lower stats that 512 and 3.7, so there's hope.
 
My LORs show up under Document Status, but for some reason it's not marked as received under Application Status. Is anyone else having this issue? Will it get resolved when I submit my secondary?
 
Auroracat9 said:
My LORs show up under Document Status, but for some reason it's not marked as received under Application Status. Is anyone else having this issue? Will it get resolved when I submit my secondary?
Click to expand...

Yes, mine changed to received once I submitted
 
if ive passed the 1 month secondary deadline, should i not bother submitting
 
gruffgoat said:
if ive passed the 1 month secondary deadline, should i not bother submitting
Click to expand...
With most other schools I would say to still submit because it’s still early but because UCSD specifically gave a 30 day deadline I’d be a bit weary. Maybe you can call their admissions office and see how this will be looked upon if you submitted past the requested 30 days?
 
274964


Anyone else feel like 6000 char. was not even close to enough?
 
I had a beast of a time writing this one...and I'm a former English/Creative Writing major. If anyone wants a peer edit/quick look at their essay before submitting, feel free to message me!
 
KCDot said:
I had a beast of a time writing this one...and I'm a former English/Creative Writing major. If anyone wants a peer edit/quick look at their essay before submitting, feel free to message me!
Click to expand...
I will take you up on that!
 
What percentage of students get a secondary for UCSD? any indications on what the range is for the students that they send invites to?
 
stuffedicing said:
Looking for some advice: I sent UCSD a visa status update email (family is applying for permanent residency) which may likely help my app since we plan to establish legal residency in California. I sent it 10 days ago after submitting my secondary, without any response. Any benefit/risk to sending another email confirming if they noted it? Thanks in advance for the help!
Click to expand...
Legal residency application which has not started yet does not help for the current year application.
 
stuffedicing said:
Looking for some advice: I sent UCSD a visa status update email (family is applying for permanent residency) which may likely help my app since we plan to establish legal residency in California. I sent it 10 days ago after submitting my secondary, without any response. Any benefit/risk to sending another email confirming if they noted it? Thanks in advance for the help!
Click to expand...
In the same boat but won't help until and unless your application for the green card is approved. Crazy, I know, but facts
 
stuffedicing said:
That's actually what I thought but I emailed UCSF admissions before and this was part of their response: "In the past, AS (Adjustment of Status) applicants have been considered in the same way as permanent residents." They recommended I add it under "Additional Information" so I assumed UCSD would be similar, but they didn't have a similar section. I figured it can only help my app anyway
Click to expand...
Do you currently live in California and would be considered a legal resident if you already had a greencard?
 
stuffedicing said:
Yep! We've listed CA as our permanent address for the last 10 years
Click to expand...
Do California state schools require you to be a permanent resident to get admitted? If you have lived there for 10 years, you qualify as a state resident.
 
How similar are your Personal Statement and UCSD Autobiographical Sketch?
 
ayjaystudent said:
How similar are your Personal Statement and UCSD Autobiographical Sketch?
Click to expand...

I am actually a big fan (well...not "fan") of the autobiography. My PS was centered around "why medicine" which forced me to omit a ton of background information about myself and my upbringing. The autobiography gave me a chance to talk about those experiences, lessons, stories, etc, without having to worry about "aw crap this doesn't relate to why medicine", so I feel like admissions will get to see me outside of being premed, my disadvantages, etc.

In short, less than 20% of my autobiography was PS material. Though this is certainly not the rule and I don't know how adcom will react to it.
 
ayjaystudent said:
How similar are your Personal Statement and UCSD Autobiographical Sketch?
Click to expand...
Mines pretty different. I talked about other aspects of my life that weren’t in my PS or W/A. Maybe like 1 paragraph out of 6 was about medicine. After all, only 1/8 of the recommended topics had anything to do with medicine. So it should be pretty different front PS...
 
Fruitjuice said:
I am actually a big fan (well...not "fan") of the autobiography. My PS was centered around "why medicine" which forced me to omit a ton of background information about myself and my upbringing. The autobiography gave me a chance to talk about those experiences, lessons, stories, etc, without having to worry about "aw crap this doesn't relate to why medicine", so I feel like admissions will get to see me outside of being premed, my disadvantages, etc.

In short, less than 20% of my autobiography was PS material. Though this is certainly not the rule and I don't know how adcom will react to it.
Click to expand...
YESSSS! Didn’t see your comment before I posted mine but agree 100%. You sir (or ma’am) are smart. Congrats
 
Did anyone see that
honeybee87 said:
YESSSS! Didn’t see your comment before I posted mine but agree 100%. You sir (or ma’am) are smart. Congrats
Click to expand...

I agree on y'alls comment. I really focused on my heritage and upbringing and how it eventually let me into medicine and my goals as a physician. I think only 1 paragraph was about my PS as a quick summery before leading into my gap year activities.
 
Is it confirmed that that UCSD screens prior to sending secondaries?
 
Non-traditional applicants who are 32 years or older, how long was your autobiographical sketch for SD? And how much details did you omit?
 
for the autobiography, did any of you condense and summarize your PS, and add in some info regarding gap year activities?
 
aayz345 said:
hmm, so the bio has to be about lifestory w/ some tie-in to "why medicine" and a reference to gap year activities?
Click to expand...


It can be anyway you want. The overall goal is to "sketch" your biography about yourself (auto). For some, their story migth revolve around "why medicine", while others might revolve about their gap year activities.
 
Bonehead718 said:
Verified 7/12, still so secondary. Called today - apparently my grades didn't screen for an automatic secondary so Im under "manual review" 🙁

3.2 Georgetown SMP
511 MCAT (128/126/129/128)

was really looking forward to apply to this school
Click to expand...
when did you do smp? did you go to UCSD for undergrad?
 
notthrowingawaymyshot said:
With most other schools I would say to still submit because it’s still early but because UCSD specifically gave a 30 day deadline I’d be a bit weary. Maybe you can call their admissions office and see how this will be looked upon if you submitted past the requested 30 days?
Click to expand...

I'll be submitting this secondary tomorrow, which is exactly one month after it was received. Should be fine since I'm submitting on the last day, right? lol
 
aayz345 said:
I'll be submitting this secondary tomorrow, which is exactly one month after it was received. Should be fine since I'm submitting on the last day, right? lol
Click to expand...

Yep, that's what exactly one month means. Also according to an earlier post, someone called admissions and they still encouraged to submit it even though it was a few days past the deadline. I also submitted exactly one month later lol as that autobiography was a beast to write so I used as much time as I could, though I wouldn't recommend everyone do that. I'm just a slow writer.
 
aayz345 said:
I'll be submitting this secondary tomorrow, which is exactly one month after it was received. Should be fine since I'm submitting on the last day, right? lol
Click to expand...
Yeah you should be okay!! Seems like that deadline wasn’t super strict anyway as other people have called and asked
 
For autobiography prompt, there are no limitations in terms of its format, right?
I am thinking about dividing it into a few sections/chapters (by giving them different titles) that each of them centers around a specific theme.
The reason for this is because I am lost with how to connect each paragraph with each other.
Has anyone done it this way, or in any other way? Or did you just write the whole thing in a continuous fashion?
 
Last edited:
I'm worried my bio might be too short. I wrote under 3000 characters, and the limit is 6k
 
od3 said:
Yep, that's what exactly one month means. Also according to an earlier post, someone called admissions and they still encouraged to submit it even though it was a few days past the deadline. I also submitted exactly one month later lol as that autobiography was a beast to write so I used as much time as I could, though I wouldn't recommend everyone do that. I'm just a slow writer.
Click to expand...

great to hear! I'm also a slow writer haha
 
1realway said:
For autobiography prompt, there are no limitations in terms of its format, right?
I am thinking about dividing it into a few sections/chapters (by giving them different titles) that each of them centers around a specific theme.
The reason for this is because I am lost with how to connect each paragraph with each other.
Has anyone done it this way, or in any other way? Or did you just write the whole thing in a continuous fashion?
Click to expand...
I think this is a unique idea. But I would call them tomorrow, get the correct answer directly from admissions.
 
Which one was your stronger piece: Personal Statement or Autobiography Sketch? And why?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

wysdoc
2024-2025 UC San Diego
12 13 14 15 16
Replies
796
Views
254K
skyswitz
S
wysdoc
2023-2024 UC San Diego
28 29 30 31 32
Replies
2K
Views
367K
fortheloveoflife
F
wysdoc
2024-2025 UC San Francisco
23 24 25 26 27
Replies
1K
Views
363K
jffyx _net
jffyx _net
wysdoc
2022-2023 UC - San Diego
19 20 21 22 23
Replies
1K
Views
288K
Woop99
Woop99
gyngyn
2024-2025 San Juan Bautista
Replies
1
Views
4K
DrKingCEO
DrKingCEO
Top