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Nothing as of now although I added them towards the beginning of August.
 
do you think its necessary to write something in this space? I was able to answer the other optional questions and didnt feel that I had much to elaborate on for my activities but now rethinking not filling it out o_O

If you truly have nothing to add, then it’ll be better leaving it blank than writing something subpar or not true to you. But if you can think of something to help bring your app together or to emphasize why your application aligns with ucsf then I would fill it out.
 
If you truly have nothing to add, then it’ll be better leaving it blank than writing something subpar or not true to you. But if you can think of something to help bring your app together or to emphasize why your application aligns with ucsf then I would fill it out.
Thank you! alas I already submitted lol this was me rethinking my choices but hopefully not filling this space out isn't make or break 🤞
 
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+1 TX today LM 71.2, had a PhD and 9 pubs, PhD mentor is also UCSF alumnus
 
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How are my fellow September secondary peeps feeling? Call it neuroticism but I’m not feeling very confident in my odds with how long it took to get a secondary. I saw the Cycle Track graph showing they continue to send out secondaries up until December, but I don’t think we have data on how many of those late secondaries turn into IIs or As.
 
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How are my fellow September secondary peeps feeling? Call it neuroticism but I’m not feeling very confident in my odds with how long it took to get a secondary. I saw the Cycle Track graph showing they continue to send out secondaries up until December, but I don’t think we have data on how many of those late secondaries turn into IIs or As.
my brother in christ you have 10 IIs
 
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How are my fellow September secondary peeps feeling? Call it neuroticism but I’m not feeling very confident in my odds with how long it took to get a secondary. I saw the Cycle Track graph showing they continue to send out secondaries up until December, but I don’t think we have data on how many of those late secondaries turn into IIs or As.
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my brother in christ you have 10 IIs

If those were DO interviews, you wouldn’t bat an eye at my concern that I’m not competitive at a T5 like UCSF. If I was someone like Macrophage or Curry, I wouldn’t be breaking a sweat right now
 
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If those were DO interviews, you wouldn’t bat an eye at my concern that I’m not competitive at a T5 like UCSF. If I was someone like Macrophage or Curry, I wouldn’t be breaking a sweat right now
Well, they're not DO schools so I don't get your point? You've gotten IIs at multiple T20 schools so you're def competitive at UCSF! Don't count yourself out- I wouldn't worry too much about the secondary date, since clearly they're still interested enough to send it to you
 
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If those were DO interviews, you wouldn’t bat an eye at my concern that I’m not competitive at a T5 like UCSF. If I was someone like Macrophage or Curry, I wouldn’t be breaking a sweat right now
Emory, Chicago, and Boston all have a social justice focus that UCSF shares. You have interviews at those schools, so I would definitely say you’re very competitive at UCSF.
 
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Damn the neuroticism is crazy this year lol
 
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How are my fellow September secondary peeps feeling? Call it neuroticism but I’m not feeling very confident in my odds with how long it took to get a secondary. I saw the Cycle Track graph showing they continue to send out secondaries up until December, but I don’t think we have data on how many of those late secondaries turn into IIs or As.

Hi, I got the secondary the same day as you, and—trust me—I understand some of the feelings I think you’re having. I agree with what others have responded (you should be really proud of your results thus far!), but I also just wanted to say: it’s easy to feel insecure/intimidated/doubtful/insert your feeling here in this process and even easier to say “comparison is the thief of joy” to someone on a forum but much harder to work through these thoughts when you juxtapose your progress with others who get results before you.

With that being said, I will say that one practical thing that helps me talk myself off any cliffs (or 2 ft tall steps that feel like a cliff, like getting a secondary in early September instead of August like our peers) is that we have NO idea how they are sorting and prioritizing applications. We have no idea if our applications were reviewed two weeks after Mr. Macrophage or Curry despite submitting the same day because of some factor that isn’t obvious to us. There are hundreds of factors they could filter us by, especially with how holistic UCSF is—I mean, for all we know, they could be sorting us by age or height or using CTRL+Find to look for apps that use some ridiculously pretentious word like “juxtapose” as they come in, and those over 6 ft get placed on top of the stack each day, no matter the submit date.

As for ruminating on whether this will translate to an A or not, the only practical advice I have is to lean into the uncertainty and reframe it as a good thing. I know it feels good to extrapolate based on trends or you may be bracing yourself for a R, but at the end of the day, this just gives us a semblance of control / knowledge when in fact we have little. We don’t know if Mr. Macrophage and Curry will get the A and you and I the R because they got secondaries before us and honestly that’s GREAT— if we could predict with certainty who would get an A based on previous year’s secondary → A timing or stats or hours or number of interviews, I may not still have a shot at a place like UCSF (and this is why I appreciate that there is no certainty in this process, despite my frustrations with the lack of transparency sometimes). As of today, the cycle isn’t over, the cards haven’t landed, and I still have a chance.
 
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The earlier you get a secondary and submit, the earlier you are reviewed and the better your chances. It's unfortunate but it's true for the vast majority of schools since they all do rolling admissions.
 
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LOL okay, getting off my soapbox now. I didn’t mean to go off like that, but I felt like getting that out there.
 
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The earlier you get a secondary and submit, the earlier you are reviewed and the better your chances. It's unfortunate but it's true for the vast majority of schools since they all do rolling admissions.
This is the exact kind of doomthinking that has superstars like @TheRealBibFortuna so concerned.

In this thread and pretty much every school-specific thread we have people saying “I haven’t XX by YY date, am I cooked?” or “Is it too late to submit here?” Because this idea of submitting on day 1 is so pervasive in the premed community.

The fact of the matter is that UCSF only sends secondaries to 30-40% of applicants. They are incredibly holistic and take your entire application into account, and this takes time. A delayed secondary is inevitable for many, and likely has very little if any indication of the strength of an applicant. Simply receiving a secondary indicates they think you could be a good fit.

Is it better to receive a secondary in August than in October? Perhaps. But UCSF hasn’t even started sending interviews. There is no need to worry ourselves right now. September has just begun. According to CycleTrack data, less than 30% of MD interviews have gone out, and that number is likely inflated.

We as applicants often try to understand the logic and thought process of admissions committees. I of course have been guilty of this myself. But we have to remember that we are on the outside looking in. As @meticulousex36 pointed out, they could be going in any order they want, with any rhyme or reason. Each school and each admissions member will be different. The only thing we know for certain is that we’re still in the running until they’re done sending interviews.
 
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Hey y'all. Just want to remind you to include ANY UPDATES you have when writing your secondary. They don't accept pre-II application updates (emailed adcom and confirmed)
 
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This is the exact kind of doomthinking that has superstars like @TheRealBibFortuna so concerned.

In this thread and pretty much every school-specific thread we have people saying “I haven’t XX by YY date, am I cooked?” or “Is it too late to submit here?” Because this idea of submitting on day 1 is so pervasive in the premed community.

The fact of the matter is that UCSF only sends secondaries to 30-40% of applicants. They are incredibly holistic and take your entire application into account, and this takes time. A delayed secondary is inevitable for many, and likely has very little if any indication of the strength of an applicant. Simply receiving a secondary indicates they think you could be a good fit.

Is it better to receive a secondary in August than in October? Perhaps. But UCSF hasn’t even started sending interviews. There is no need to worry ourselves right now. September has just begun. According to CycleTrack data, less than 30% of MD interviews have gone out, and that number is likely inflated.

We as applicants often try to understand the logic and thought process of admissions committees. I of course have been guilty of this myself. But we have to remember that we are on the outside looking in. As @meticulousex36 pointed out, they could be going in any order they want, with any rhyme or reason. Each school and each admissions member will be different. The only thing we know for certain is that we’re still in the running until they’re done sending interviews.

It’s not "doom thinking"; it's simply the facts. If UCSF begins sending out interviews in October and you don't receive a secondary until December, you are objectively at a disadvantage. Does this mean it’s impossible to get in? No, absolutely not. However, by being one of the last applications to be reviewed, there are far fewer interview spots available. Unless your application is exceptional, as an average applicant, your chances are significantly reduced.
 
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does anyone know if i’ll still get considered if it’s after the 2 week deadline im not locked out of the portal. i’ve been sitting on the secondary for a month and a half like an idiot I didn’t open it to check the deadline. Literally submitted every other school besides this one i was just being lazy…

edit: just submitted it anyways since it’s not late in the cycle but curious if anyone knows 🫣
 
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I called about the deadline and they told me the deadline is two weeks from the email notification at midnight PST but they were pretty open and asked if I needed any extension for "as long as I needed" so maybe you can call them?
 
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I called about the deadline and they told me the deadline is two weeks from the email notification at midnight PST but they were pretty open and asked if I needed any extension for "as long as I needed" so maybe you can call them?

thank you so much for your help i’ll try calling them tomorrow morning :)
 
It’s not "doom thinking"; it's simply the facts. If UCSF begins sending out interviews in October and you don't receive a secondary until December, you are objectively at a disadvantage. Does this mean it’s impossible to get in? No, absolutely not. However, by being one of the last applications to be reviewed, there are far fewer interview spots available. Unless your application is exceptional, as an average applicant, your chances are significantly reduced.
What I don't understand is why it's productive to discuss chances of getting in atp when not a single applicant has an interview from this school yet. Like...not to be snippy but you either get in or you don't, and this kind of discussion diminishes the excitement that someone who receives a secondary from UCSF AT ANY POINT IN THE CYCLE should have. Like what is the benefit of telling someone who gets an October secondary that they don't have as high a chance of getting in? They can't change that? Just a bit of a bizarre hill to die on
 
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We all got low chance y’all - nature of the game. No point worrying about minute details - I say if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be, regardless of the timing of it all. If it happens great, if not, it’s not like you can control it, nor is gaining an understanding of how they do things (not likely for us to know) going to change how it happens. I say this very hypocritically, but also I say we should be proud of making it thusfar given it’s not a “everyone gets a secondary school”. If you got one, I think it’s safe to assume they’re at least interested, so take your wins as they come. Wishing everyone the best of luck and less anxiousness (even for me) during this process - it’s hard but in a couple months the uncertainties will wash away, hopefully.
 
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Hi, I got the secondary the same day as you, and—trust me—I understand some of the feelings I think you’re having. I agree with what others have responded (you should be really proud of your results thus far!), but I also just wanted to say: it’s easy to feel insecure/intimidated/doubtful/insert your feeling here in this process and even easier to say “comparison is the thief of joy” to someone on a forum but much harder to work through these thoughts when you juxtapose your progress with others who get results before you.

With that being said, I will say that one practical thing that helps me talk myself off any cliffs (or 2 ft tall steps that feel like a cliff, like getting a secondary in early September instead of August like our peers) is that we have NO idea how they are sorting and prioritizing applications. We have no idea if our applications were reviewed two weeks after Mr. Macrophage or Curry despite submitting the same day because of some factor that isn’t obvious to us. There are hundreds of factors they could filter us by, especially with how holistic UCSF is—I mean, for all we know, they could be sorting us by age or height or using CTRL+Find to look for apps that use some ridiculously pretentious word like “juxtapose” as they come in, and those over 6 ft get placed on top of the stack each day, no matter the submit date.

As for ruminating on whether this will translate to an A or not, the only practical advice I have is to lean into the uncertainty and reframe it as a good thing. I know it feels good to extrapolate based on trends or you may be bracing yourself for a R, but at the end of the day, this just gives us a semblance of control / knowledge when in fact we have little. We don’t know if Mr. Macrophage and Curry will get the A and you and I the R because they got secondaries before us and honestly that’s GREAT— if we could predict with certainty who would get an A based on previous year’s secondary → A timing or stats or hours or number of interviews, I may not still have a shot at a place like UCSF (and this is why I appreciate that there is no certainty in this process, despite my frustrations with the lack of transparency sometimes). As of today, the cycle isn’t over, the cards haven’t landed, and I still have a chance.
well said - @TheRealBibFortuna, you will be okay. judging by how your cycle is going so far, you'll have some great options when it's all said and done

at the end of the day, you got the secondary (something >50% of applicants can't say!). if it was meant to be, it will be - if not at UCSF, then somewhere just as good 😌
 
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