2020-2021 UCLA (Geffen)

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elrm257 said:
Any international students received a secondary?
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I did a couple weeks ago.
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premed_777 said:
Did you end up writing 4000 characters?
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No - I don't think they are asking for that / want them to be. Just describe what you did. My three experiences are 700, 300, and 500 characters. What do others think?
 
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prufrock2891 said:
No - I don't think they are asking for that / want them to be. Just describe what you did. My three experiences are 700, 300, and 500 characters. What do others think?
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I wrote from 1000 to 2000 characters just because saw this as a chance to write down all the stuff that I felt strongly about but didn't get a chance to write about in my primary. Not sure if it's seen as fluff, but it's all stuff I care about so whatever if they think it's fluff. None of my work experiences were my most meaningful, so I liked having this space to elaborate on my work. On the other hand, my friend like saw no reason to write much (already elaborated in primary) and wrote short 300 descriptions, so I feel like it's mainly up to the writer and how much you want to say.
 
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Theory, albeit with literally no evidence: maybe the IIs were sent for the PRIME program? They have their own SDN thread, but it's pretty dead. Guess I'm just surprised there's not more activity on this thread if IIs are being sent out.
 
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katiecat213 said:
Theory, albeit with literally no evidence: maybe the IIs were sent for the PRIME program? They have their own SDN thread, but it's pretty dead. Guess I'm just surprised there's not more activity on this thread if IIs are being sent out.
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I do find it hard to believe too. Maybe I'm being neurotic but one says they submitted 8/3 and got a II 8/6 and that's just super quick
 
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atharsenal said:
I do find it hard to believe too. Maybe I'm being neurotic but one says they submitted 8/3 and got a II 8/6 and that's just super quick
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Maybe keep in mind that these responses are not 100% guaranteed to be real or accurate. Anybody could just go online and submit 5 responses with different answers
 
xxfamas1193xx said:
Maybe keep in mind that these responses are not 100% guaranteed to be real or accurate. Anybody could just go online and submit 5 responses with different answers
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Haha, we demand proof! Someone send a timestamped screenshot of their II.
 
BullBearMan said:
Haha, we demand proof! Someone send a timestamped screenshot of their II.
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I was thinking the same thing, but also like why would anyone put in the effort to lie about something that isnt even public. people are crazy.
 
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some of the stats on the II tracker are insane - 3 people with 4.0/525s and two 527s?? holy moly
 
roasted_oolong said:
some of the stats on the II tracker are insane - 3 people with 4.0/525s and two 527s?? holy moly
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Yea it seems fishy to me. Especially seeing so many responses there but nobody on this thread saying II?
 
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elrm257 said:
would you mind sharing ur stats?
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Sure, nothing special though. cGPA 3.85, MCAT 510, ORM. But, I'm non-trad (research-heavy background) and have longitudinal community service and teaching experiences. Perhaps that stood out to them? Your guess is as good as mine.
 
Received an II today, not applying to the PRIME program. In state, 3.85+ and 520+ for reference
 
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under "Document Status" does anyone else see nothing in there?
 
Just read that UCLA’s screen is, “All applicants who meet minimum academic metric thresholds established annually by the Faculty Executive Committee.”

Is this a true screen or not? I’m curious whether or not I should be celebrating my secondary... I doubt those metrics are the 3.4/512.
 
Where did you see that? My understanding was UC do a holistic screen prior.

premonist said:
Just read that UCLA’s screen is, “All applicants who meet minimum academic metric thresholds established annually by the Faculty Executive Committee.”

Is this a true screen or not? I’m curious whether or not I should be celebrating my secondary... I doubt those metrics are the 3.4/512.
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Kind of weird that so many IIs were reported on the tracker, yet only 2 people posted about IIs here lol. Usually it's the other way around
 
I find it so hard to answer prompts 7, 9, 10 in just 500 characters...To describe a problem, how you dealt with it, how it influenced you in just 500 characters??? Seriously? Any advice here? Thanks!!
 
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hamiltonnyc said:
Nice follow-up. 2020 might've been with the 'cutoffs' and I guess 2021 is a 'holistic' screen? I have to add quotes to holistic because when someone gets a secondary after a day, it's hard to see how a manual review is possible. Maybe for certain applicants that hit a few checkboxes it's automated.
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The 3.4/512 cutoff wasn’t implemented last year (I got in with a 3.4c/3.38s/511), but I’m not sure about this year. I honestly doubt there’s a cutoff as UCLA places a lot of value on seeing applicants as people, not just numbers, and having a diverse class.
 
medDaisuki said:
I find it so hard to answer prompts 7, 9, 10 in just 500 characters...To describe a problem, how you dealt with it, how it influenced you in just 500 characters??? Seriously? Any advice here? Thanks!!
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Something that really helped me was creating a mini outline for each question. I would allocate 3-4 sentences to answer the prompt since that would get me to about 500 characters give or take. So for example, for the describe a problem in your life & how you dealt with it prompt, I wrote out something like this first:

Sentence 1: What is the problem? Describe it.
Sentence 2: Why is this problem significant or important to me? How did it impact me?
Sentence 3: How did I initially react and why? (if my initial reaction differed from my ultimate reaction) or How did I react and why? (if i just “favorably” from the start lol)
Sentence 4: How did I ultimately react and why? How did I grow from this experience? Basically how did I show I was adaptable lol

That gave me my structure and kinda ensured all the key points were being hit in such a small space. I wrote out each sentence not thinking about word count, just making sure I answered the questions I had given myself. Then after all of the sentences were written, I went back and refined them. I made sure transitions were smooth, I cut words out that could go, and I made my sentences clear & concise.

This worked for me for all of the smaller 500 character essays! It really helped me narrow things down instead of starting from scratch and writing more than could ever be included lol. Hopefully that’s helpful! You got this!:)
 
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docb2 said:
Something that really helped me was creating a mini outline for each question. I would allocate 3-4 sentences to answer the prompt since that would get me to about 500 characters give or take. So for example, for the describe a problem in your life & how you dealt with it prompt, I wrote out something like this first:

Sentence 1: What is the problem? Describe it.
Sentence 2: Why is this problem significant or important to me? How did it impact me?
Sentence 3: How did I initially react and why? (if my initial reaction differed from my ultimate reaction) or How did I react and why? (if i just “favorably” from the start lol)
Sentence 4: How did I ultimately react and why? How did I grow from this experience? Basically how did I show I was adaptable lol

That gave me my structure and kinda ensured all the key points were being hit in such a small space. I wrote out each sentence not thinking about word count, just making sure I answered the questions I had given myself. Then after all of the sentences were written, I went back and refined them. I made sure transitions were smooth, I cut words out that could go, and I made my sentences clear & concise.

This worked for me for all of the smaller 500 character essays! It really helped me narrow things down instead of starting from scratch and writing more than could ever be included lol. Hopefully that’s helpful! You got this!:)
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply! It sounds like a good plan!!
 
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premonist said:
When I check my transcript status on the portal, it says the name of my undergrad but nothing under status or date received. Anyone else having this same problem?
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Yes, I also don't see anything under date received/status.
 
User1803 said:
Yes, I also don't see anything under date received/status.
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Transcripts are NOT required at this time. Will be required only during the matriculation process.
 
II received on Friday. The system to schedule interviews is down but should be back up by Wednesday.
 
Are you guys seeing a 15-day deadline on turning around the secondary ? I don't think I have seen one with that short a turnaround.
 
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