2021-2022 UCLA (Geffen)

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Lo siento to all my fellow rejects. But I’m honestly pretty happy to just be getting more clarity and see these Rs as a sign that god doesn’t want me there. It’s always gonna be there loss cause they could have had a bad bitch!
you grow best where you're planted!
 
Hi everyone!

I am a current MS1 at DGSOM, and I am the chair of the student admissions team, meaning I work for and am in cooperation with the Admissions Office (but have no bearing on admissions decisions). I advocated to the office to let me come on here and answer questions for you all as best I can, so I'm going to detail some answers below, but please reply or DM with any other questions you have! I'm just hoping to make this process as transparent and least stress-inducing as possible 🙂

1) Admissions Decisions/Acceptances
I am unfortunately not allowed to say exactly how many acceptances have gone out/are left to give, but I will say that offers of admission will be continuing regularly through February, and then slow down a bit after that. There's no official end date to acceptances, because it all depends on who accepts/rejects the offers! Admissions offers are likely to come out on Thursday evenings/Friday mornings (as you've all noticed), based on when the committee meets in the week. Any Thursday/Friday is a possibility (not just bi-weekly). The offers are not in any order/don't correlate at all with interview date--anyone can be accepted at any time! Ex: I interviewed with DGSOM in September and was accepted in May. I know it is frustrating to interview so early and not hear back for so long (I truly feel you on this), but please be patient! The committee has a lot of factors to balance and it's important for them to keep their options open as they go through the cycle. I promise they aren't keeping you in limbo just for fun and they don't mean to be disrespectful or unfair.

2) Scholarships
Geffen scholarships will start to go out in Mid-March. They are sometimes sent with the offer of admission, and sometimes sent separately. There are lots of other merit scholarships and need-based scholarships that will get offered as well (and they are offered to waitlist students too). I have full tuition and fees covered by a merit scholarship that is not the Geffen. I would also HIGHLY recommend you ask the admissions office for more aid if you feel like your offer was low/unfair. Myself and four other of my classmates did this and received more aid! And yes it is true that you can get in-state tuition after your first year as an out-of-state student. There will be info on how to establish CA residency once you matriculate 🙂. DM me for more info on cost of living in LA too.

3) Misc
Don't stress too much about a bad interview! Plenty of my classmates had bad interviews, bad internet connections, faculty interviewers who came really late, etc. It truly is a holistic process I promise.
And CONGRATS to everyone who's been accepted to DGSOM!!!!!!!! I love this school so much and I'm so excited to tell you all more about it. Def join the accepted students FB page to get more info about our school and upcoming events.

4) Second Look
2nd look details will be sent out to accepted students in the next 2 weeks! Stay tuned 🙂

Please let me know if there are any other questions I can answer!
Thank you for posting.
Have you ever sent an update letter at the time you applied?
This school is my top choice.
Would you say that sending an update letter makes the admissions officer angry?
Please tell me where to send the update letter by email or through the portal.
 
^ I know your question was not directed at me, but I thought I would offer my thoughts based on the thread. I think the consensus is update letters may or may not be read, just depends on the update or whether a decision is already trending one way or another on your application. I doubt it would make them angry. It might annoy them if they had to read your letter for nothing but not much more than an inconvenience, which is still important to consider. If you choose to send an update, you must do so through the portal.
 
^ I know your question was not directed at me, but I thought I would offer my thoughts based on the thread. I think the consensus is update letters may or may not be read, just depends on the update or whether a decision is already trending one way or another on your application. I doubt it would make them angry. It might annoy them if they had to read your letter for nothing but not much more than an inconvenience, which is still important to consider. If you choose to send an update, you must do so through the portal.
I agree with this reply! Sending an update letter won't annoy the admissions office (unless you truly have no updates to share or if you've already sent a lot).
I sent an update letter a few months after interviewing, but I don't know if it necessarily helped or not.
And yes, the influence of a letter can depend on where you are in the decision process already, but if you have good updates to share, it shouldn't hurt!
 
I agree with this reply! Sending an update letter won't annoy the admissions office (unless you truly have no updates to share or if you've already sent a lot).
I sent an update letter a few months after interviewing, but I don't know if it necessarily helped or not.
And yes, the influence of a letter can depend on where you are in the decision process already, but if you have good updates to share, it shouldn't hurt!
When sending an update letter, do I only have to upload it to the portal?
After reading your reply, I understood that it is okay to send an update letter more than once. Is that correct?
UCLA is my top choice and the results are not out yet, but what do you think about sending LoI rather than update letter?
If so, can I send it by email?
 
I can confirm. They hurt me today. Pre-II R.
Is it too late to send a LOI now?

Asking for a friend...

Wink Hello GIF by GIPHY Studios Originals
 
When sending an update letter, do I only have to upload it to the portal?
After reading your reply, I understood that it is okay to send an update letter more than once. Is that correct?
UCLA is my top choice and the results are not out yet, but what do you think about sending LoI rather than update letter?
If so, can I send it by email?
Everything in this thread is speculative just fyi. The admissions office has office hours on Wednesdays at 11am PST if you want the most reliable information.
 
Everything in this thread is speculative just fyi. The admissions office has office hours on Wednesdays at 11am PST if you want the most reliable information.
Having been to these, they literally only tell you information present on their website.
 
*disclaimer, this is not admissions related, sorry friends. Don’t want to give anyone a heart attack*

For admitted students, did you all get the email regarding the noncustodial parent information for financial aid? They mention they’ll be sending out provisional award letters soon. Does that mean scholarships and actual financial aid packages come at the same time? Or do scholarships come out and then maybe a few weeks later, aid packages come out?

Happy Friday Eve by the way!
 
*disclaimer, this is not admissions related, sorry friends. Don’t want to give anyone a heart attack*

For admitted students, did you all get the email regarding the noncustodial parent information for financial aid? They mention they’ll be sending out provisional award letters soon. Does that mean scholarships and actual financial aid packages come at the same time? Or do scholarships come out and then maybe a few weeks later, aid packages come out?

Happy Friday Eve by the way!
Was also wondering this. I have yet to complete the institutional aid forms because I'm non-trad and getting parental info is proving to be difficult. One parent hasn't filed taxes in years and I'm just like 🤦🏽‍♀️
But I don't want that to slow down an aid package. And I'm hoping scholarship info is sent soon.
 
Was also wondering this. I have yet to complete the institutional aid forms because I'm non-trad and getting parental info is proving to be difficult. One parent hasn't filed taxes in years and I'm just like 🤦🏽‍♀️
But I don't want that to slow down an aid package. And I'm hoping scholarship info is sent soon.
Ugh I feel that! Would they be okay with uploading a certification of non-filing status from the IRS? I had to hit them up because my dad has been incarcerated and has never filed taxes from prison so I had to clarify that with them to be sure it was okay that it would basically be all 0’s and they told me to just submit the form. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Also hoping financial aid comes soon. Although this has been my #1 choice, I also got into Kaiser but…I would prefer UCLA.
 
Was also wondering this. I have yet to complete the institutional aid forms because I'm non-trad and getting parental info is proving to be difficult. One parent hasn't filed taxes in years and I'm just like 🤦🏽‍♀️
But I don't want that to slow down an aid package. And I'm hoping scholarship info is sent soon.
Right there with ya! I filled out the non-custodial parent form waiver, but apparently they don't review those until late spring... 😳
 
They don't release them all at once right? I can keep refreshing my email right...
is this sarcasm? or do they actually not release all decisions at once? I have been waiting since september and UCLA is one of my favorite schools. I was holding hope for what was supposed to be a big release of decisions in mid-feb
 
is this sarcasm? or do they actually not release all decisions at once? I have been waiting since september and UCLA is one of my favorite schools. I was holding hope for what was supposed to be a big release of decisions in mid-feb
I think they meant all at once on any given day. And I think the answer is they seem to do batched release (i.e. all-at-once on Thursdays/Fridays), but that no one really understands the process here so *shrug*.
 
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