2023-2024 UC San Diego

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does anyone know if this is the last batch of PRIME interviews or if they will be sending more ?
 
also i prob ruined my chances bc i uploaded 2 update letters only to now realize the portal said don't upload update letters so they probably think I can't read 🙂 literally just did not see that before
 
applicant2323 said:
OOS II also from my spam folder lol. Complete 8/3
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Congrats!!! Did you get it today or as it lost in the spam folder for a while? Also, is this the first you've heard since submission or were you on hold? Thanks
 
Congrats to everyone that got a PRIME II today!! Do you know if the PRIME interview differs from the traditional program's? I know that they are both MMIs, but I'm wondering if the questions might be changing based on the program you are interviewing for.
 
Banksyluv89 said:
Anyone else put-off by the interview experience and questioning if they (me) know how to interact with human beings?
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Had a terrible interview experience, two of my interviews had thick accents which I couldn't understand and kept asking them to repeat themselves, all others except one seemed uninterested.
I've talked to a couple current students and they have corroborated this:
IMG_0408.jpeg

A couple were upset that they chose UCSD over other T20's due to the location and are now regretting it.

If anyone is given the opportunity of course take it and attend, but man it's just flag after flag. I've interviewed at quite a few schools and this was just not it.
 
Banksyluv89 said:
Anyone else put-off by the interview experience and questioning if they (me) know how to interact with human beings?
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Ngl, most of my interviewers were pleasant, but some were just straight up (?). Like in one of my stations, my rater would kinda smirk and look to the side as if what I said was the dumbest sh** they've ever heard (literally kept doing it the entire time and it threw me off so much) - I got the A, but I've looked at this school a little differently since that experience
 
BrokenLlamas said:
Ngl, most of my interviewers were pleasant, but some were just straight up (?). Like in one of my stations, my rater would kinda smirk and look to the side as if what I said was the dumbest sh** they've ever heard (literally kept doing it the entire time and it threw me off so much) - I got the A, but I've looked at this school a little differently since that experience
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+1, exactly this. I got the A and still absolutely love the school, but my experiences as a whole were a little off-putting honestly.
 
do PRIME applicants get admitted into the MD program first and then the PRIME one or? a little confused as to what the difference is between interviewing for PRIME vs regular MD
 
BrokenLlamas said:
Ngl, most of my interviewers were pleasant, but some were just straight up (?). Like in one of my stations, my rater would kinda smirk and look to the side as if what I said was the dumbest sh** they've ever heard (literally kept doing it the entire time and it threw me off so much) - I got the A, but I've looked at this school a little differently since that experience
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Mine just stared at me blankly as though I was wasting their time. At the med student Q&A, the current student asked how the MMIs went and only like 3 out of the 30+ interviewees gave a thumbs up and I was like...
Scared Schitts Creek GIF by CBC
 
My cousin had an interview for ENT residency at UCSD about a year ago and he described the culture as cutthroat, with the chief resident being extremely cold to the residents that they supervised. He said that even the culture at Harvard seemed way more relaxed when he interviewed there. Although this may be removed from the medical school somewhat, I think the analogy, "where there's smoke there's fire" applies here.
 
everythingisonfire said:
My MMI was fine, they were pretty stoic. My best friend got in to UCSD two cycles ago and said it’s literal hell and the culture is so toxic, she was crying like 3 times a week not even from the classes but just at how cold everyone was there to each other
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Dang...as a UCSD undergrad, it definitely is disheartening to hear that the dog-eat-dog culture also persists at the medical school. But why am I also not surprised... 🤡
 
Dang, was the MMI supposed to be like a stress interview, or are faculty really just that cold? 🫠 I was really hoping for a II here but I guess I don’t feel as bad anymore after reading these comments…. lol
 
anxiouschonkster said:
Dang, was the MMI supposed to be like a stress interview, or are faculty really just that cold? 🫠 I was really hoping for a II here but I guess I don’t feel as bad anymore after reading these comments…. lol
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In defense of UCSD, MMIs in general are not supposed to be extremely personable/friendly from what I've heard, and most interviewers are trained not to show emotion or give away any visual cues/hints when they're listening to your responses. The bulk of my negative experiences/bad vibes I remember actually came from other interactions I had during interview day, but not with many of the interviewers themselves.
 
BenzeneToluene said:
In defense of UCSD, MMIs in general are not supposed to be extremely personable/friendly from what I've heard, and most interviewers are trained not to show emotion or give away any visual cues/hints when they're listening to your responses. The bulk of my negative experiences/bad vibes I remember actually came from other interactions I had during interview day, but not with many of the interviewers themselves.
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Makes sense. I’ve only had 1 MMI so far with a different school but it was a very pleasant experience. It could have been due to my own excitement (I’m a pretty friendly/social person), so every interviewer during that MMI smiled and was very personable. I’m glad to hear your interview experience wasn’t as unpleasant! 🙂
 
The people you interact with at UCSD are kind of hit or miss. I heard a lot of the interviewers for UCSD are kind of forced to do it which is why some of them have low energy/don't want to be there but from my personal experience at UCSD a lot of the physicians and med students I've collaborated with on projects are super nice. Obviously not everyone is going to be like that but you'd probably find cold students/faculty from any institution.
 
Can someone elaborate on why the culture at ucsd is considered toxic and if this is also true for PRIME students/program? I personally had a good experience with my interview, I agree with the person above that MMI’s aren’t exactly supposed to be super friendly/personable because of the nature of the questions themselves and the idea of MMI’s being used to remove bias from interviews/interview evaluations.

I spoke to a resident doc who went here and was part of the PRIME program a couple weeks ago and also when I was completing my secondary. They seemed to have had a very positive experience.
 
anxiouschonkster said:
Makes sense. I’ve only had 1 MMI so far with a different school but it was a very pleasant experience. It could have been due to my own excitement (I’m a pretty friendly/social person), so every interviewer during that MMI smiled and was very personable. I’m glad to hear your interview experience wasn’t as unpleasant! 🙂
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I think it depends on how the school runs their MMI. Another school I interviewed for is really small so the faculty really care about who goes there. They all volunteered and were super high energy and welcoming throughout the entire process.
 
bluejay09 said:
Can someone elaborate on why the culture at ucsd is considered toxic and if this is also true for PRIME students/program? I personally had a good experience with my interview, I agree with the person above that MMI’s aren’t exactly supposed to be super friendly/personable because of the nature of the questions themselves and the idea of MMI’s being used to remove bias from interviews/interview evaluations.

I spoke to a resident doc who went here and was part of the PRIME program a couple weeks ago and also when I was completing my secondary. They seemed to have had a very positive experience.
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Tbh I think the toxic UCSD culture is a bit exaggerated from a few bad experiences people have with certain faculty, especially research labs. I had a good experience at UCSD but was lucky to have great research mentors and PIs, others that I know were not as lucky. From the post interview questionnaire with the current UCSD med students they all seemed to think the Professors supported them so if it's super toxic then it could be from fellow students, not entirely sure.
 
Gonna add to this cause why not🤣 I also didn’t love my interview experience. I had one MMI station interviewer literally look at me like I had said something outrageous even though I totally didn’t. I was already nervous so it wasn’t a great feeling but oh well. I was ultimately WLd so I won’t pretend this is a school I wouldn’t consider since it’s one of the best schools in the country lmao but yeah, weird vibes
 
everythingisonfire said:
It reminded me a lot of the cloth/wire monkey experiments from psychology, or the still-faced mother experiments lol. It’s like they want to see how we react to that, probably in an effort to see if we know how to take care of ourselves - but it makes you wonder if that is the type of environment you personally will thrive in
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thanks for sharing!! My other MMI’s have been pretty similar to this one, maybe that’s why I didn’t notice too big of a difference. That’s a lot to think about as UCSD is definitely one of my top choices, but I’ll keep an open mind and see what the vibes are at second look/in-person events.
 
bluejay09 said:
thanks for sharing!! My other MMI’s have been pretty similar to this one, maybe that’s why I didn’t notice too big of a difference. That’s a lot to think about as UCSD is definitely one of my top choices, but I’ll keep an open mind and see what the vibes are at second look/in-person events.
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Yup, same! Can't wait for second look to really get a decent sense of the vibes!
 
My experience with UCSD MMI was good overall. I did have interviewers who seemed uninterested, but I try to not let those instances define the school/program. I've also had uninterested/aloof MMI interviewers at other schools, so I think that's part of the MMI experience. They probably just want to see how you react to different situations when under high stress. Also, I think it's best to talk to multiple students/faculties/residents before coming to a conclusion on the culture at a school. Everyone's experience is unique. At the end of the day, you should choose the school that best complements your needs and ambitions. Just my opinion 🙂
 
My experience was sort of mixed but I overall left with an amazing impression, and in large part b/c the session with the students was so great. They seemed to be the most genuinely happy, chill, and collaborative of all that I have encountered during interviews. All of my MMI raters were really warm, though one station was def real weird in that the rater shared their POV on the prompt and I thought they were just plain misinterpreting/wrong. But anyway, I was totally in love at the end of the day and am really surprised to see all these negative comments!
 
I had a similar experience with my interviewers as many others here. The only MMI interviewer who actually seemed engaged in the interview with me was the med student interviewer. The rest of them were pretty cold and stoic. Almost like they were annoyed that they had to be there and completely uninterested in my responses. I wonder if it was intentional, as a way to 'stress-test' us, or whether they genuinely were just bored. In any case, I left feeling pretty unwelcome 🙁

Edit: I also want to mention that the dean, who was supposed to do the introduction session, just didn't show up. Instead we basically just waited for 30 minutes and asked questions to the lady who was coordinating the interview day (I forget her name). Felt very unprofessional.
 
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