Do I Have Enough To Get Into The UC's?

[doc3232]

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GPA: 3.8, and would be about a 3.96 if ignoring my first semester
MCAT: I keep averaging about 34 and 35 on practice
ECs: I have had 2 years research and I have received 2 publications

I am currently in a UC
Tell me what you think.

Thanks very much
😀😀😀😀😀😀😀

 

[blargh]

semester must = uc berkeley, that's a good gpa for cal

med schools will not "ignore" a semester.

i would worry about taking the real mcat first and then asking what your chances are. ucs are very hard to predict, in my opinion. i may be a bad person to give advice, though, because i'm bitter about the uc med school system.

 

[RoadRunner17]

No.

See what you get on your MCAT first.

 

[doc3232]

GUILTY! but Merced also has semester just by the way.
I understand that practice MCATs may differ from what I will actually get when I do take the MCAT, which is soon, but I am just very curious.

 

[blargh]

GUILTY! but Merced also has semester just by the way.
I understand that practice MCATs may differ from what I will actually get when I do take the MCAT, which is soon, but I am just very curious.

yeah, but merced probably has 5 students total 😛

i have a few friends who scored 4-5 points off of their practice test averages for the mcat. that's why i told you to reassess later.

 

[xrevision]

I was scoring 35 on my practice tests half way through studying, and worked my way up to a 38-39. Got a 35 on the real deal 😳. So yea, practice tests will give you a range, but its best to wait for your real score. (and yes if you get your projected score you're probably good for a UC, but don't put all of your eggs into one state)

 

[Blade28]

What year are you in?

It's useless to try and predict whether or not you'll get into a UC med school without knowing your MCAT, among other things.

Are you still pre-dental? Your previous posts indicate you are.

And to everyone, PLEASE be careful with using practice tests as a predictor of how well you'd do on the real test. Just use them to gauge improvements in your scoring as you study more.

 

[mfrizzo3]

Nope

 

[secants]

Is it worth applying to the UC med school if one's an out-of-stater? I know getting in a UC undergrad is tough as out of state and was wondering if that spilled into med school as well. Assuming you have the school's avg. stats or lower

 

[Renovatio]

Your stats are definitely good enough to get you into a UC, but they are by no means any guarantee that you'll even get an interview. My friend with a 3.9 GPA and 38 MCAT got rejected from every UC two years in a row. How's that? He had the usual clinical and research experience, to boot. The application process is so random, and they each look for specific traits in their applicants, that you never know. I wouldn't be surprised if you got into a UC school, but do what everyone else does and apply to some backup schools outside of California.

 

[mfrizzo3]

Your stats are definitely good enough to get you into a UC, but they are by no means any guarantee that you'll even get an interview. My friend with a 3.9 GPA and 38 MCAT got rejected from every UC two years in a row. How's that? He had the usual clinical and research experience, to boot. The application process is so random, and they each look for specific traits in their applicants, that you never know. I wouldn't be surprised if you got into a UC school, but do what everyone else does and apply to some backup schools outside of California.

BINGO👍

 

[Pinkertinkle]

BINGO👍

So what do you need to get into a UC?

 

[mfrizzo3]

So what do you need to get into a UC?

a personality😱

 

[r536]

see, i went to berkeley

gpa 3.82
mcat 36q
honors thesis, research at ucsf, usual clinical and community service, 1 publication coming out, a couple of awards and scholarships

i thought what i had on paper (and as a person) is stellar and should be able to get in somewhere in CA


and right now
i am chewing on my fingernails because i got rejected at Davis, Irvine (post secondary) UCSF (post interview) waitlisted at UCSD and haven't heard anything from UCLA

i've applied to a couple schools in NY and only my safety school bother to grant me an interview.

it is late march and i DO NOT have even 1 single acceptance

do you know how much i regret for just applying to 15 schools?

ps. i did not apply late, all secondaries completed in Sept

 

[XerxesMD]

see, i went to berkeley

gpa 3.82
mcat 36q
honors thesis, research at ucsf, usual clinical and community service, 1 publication coming out, a couple of awards and scholarships

i thought what i had on paper (and as a person) is stellar and should be able to get in somewhere in CA


and right now
i am chewing on my fingernails because i got rejected at Davis, Irvine (post secondary) UCSF (post interview) waitlisted at UCSD and haven't heard anything from UCLA

i've applied to a couple schools in NY and only my safety school bother to grant me an interview.

it is late march and i DO NOT have even 1 single acceptance

do you know how much i regret for just applying to 15 schools?

ps. i did not apply late, all secondaries completed in Sept

That's rough man. Sorry.

 

[mbk21]

see, i went to berkeley

gpa 3.82
mcat 36q
honors thesis, research at ucsf, usual clinical and community service, 1 publication coming out, a couple of awards and scholarships

i thought what i had on paper (and as a person) is stellar and should be able to get in somewhere in CA


and right now
i am chewing on my fingernails because i got rejected at Davis, Irvine (post secondary) UCSF (post interview) waitlisted at UCSD and haven't heard anything from UCLA

i've applied to a couple schools in NY and only my safety school bother to grant me an interview.

it is late march and i DO NOT have even 1 single acceptance

do you know how much i regret for just applying to 15 schools?

ps. i did not apply late, all secondaries completed in Sept

😱 Sorry to hear about that....this is starting to scare me...

 

[iA-MD2013]

Somebody needs to close this thread...this is way too scary!!!!

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

see, i went to berkeley

gpa 3.82
mcat 36q
honors thesis, research at ucsf, usual clinical and community service, 1 publication coming out, a couple of awards and scholarships

i thought what i had on paper (and as a person) is stellar and should be able to get in somewhere in CA


and right now
i am chewing on my fingernails because i got rejected at Davis, Irvine (post secondary) UCSF (post interview) waitlisted at UCSD and haven't heard anything from UCLA

i've applied to a couple schools in NY and only my safety school bother to grant me an interview.

it is late march and i DO NOT have even 1 single acceptance

do you know how much i regret for just applying to 15 schools?

ps. i did not apply late, all secondaries completed in Sept

Which NY schools, out of curiosity?

 

[nu2004]

i just shook the magic 8 ball and it said, Outlook Not So Good, so my advice would be to apply early and broadly.

 

[r536]

Which NY schools, out of curiosity?

i applied to cornell, columbia, nyu, mount sinai, nymc and aecom

rejected at cornell, columbia, nyu and mount sinai
interviewed at nymc late Feb and aecom late march

i know i'm applying to mostly very top schools and i choose it that way bc i THOUGHT my stats and everything is comparable to these schools, and i am suffering right now

you cannot imagine how depressed i feel 🙁

 

[Handy388]

some classes in Berkeley are ludicriously easy, other aren't.

 

[alwaysaangel]

Yeah, what other ECs do you have? Thats important.

Lots of Californians have 3.9, 35, research. You need something more, something to make you stand out. Something that adds diversity to their school so they know you will contribute.

The usual clinical and research just don't cut it anymore.

 

[taponthecloud]

GPA: 3.8, and would be about a 3.96 if ignoring my first semester
MCAT: I keep averaging about 34 and 35 on practice
ECs: I have had 2 years research and I have received 2 publications

I am currently in a UC
Tell me what you think.

Thanks very much
😀😀😀😀😀😀😀

OP, why does it say "Pre-Dental" under your username?

 

[r536]

some classes in Berkeley are ludicriously easy, other aren't.

so you think i'm one of those CDB ppl who took tons of easy IB classes to boost up my GPA?

NO

i did not take any of those nutri sci, anatomy and that herbal medicine whatever class

and I am not in CDB

in fact, i am the one who screens undergrads who want to work at my lab and i do take into account the difficulty of their course load
i can see the reason why some people take certain classes

do you think my PI will let somebody who had an easy time at Cal to do the screening?

 

[Monkey House]

Assume nothing with the UCs....They are tough for everyone. I know a ton of smart and motivated students who are having a tough time getting in. I think one problem though, is people get caught up in numbers and forget that other things like solid rec letters are important. A rec from a TA in a big bio class is not going to help you too much.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Yeah, what other ECs do you have? Thats important.

Lots of Californians have 3.9, 35, research. You need something more, something to make you stand out. Something that adds diversity to their school so they know you will contribute.

The usual clinical and research just don't cut it anymore.

I personally like to call it a gimmick.

 

[alwaysaangel]

I personally like to call it a gimmick.

Exactly. You have to have something that pretty much no one else has and you have to sell it! If you can't do that - you're screwed.

 

[notdeadyet]

Exactly. You have to have something that pretty much no one else has and you have to sell it! If you can't do that - you're screwed.

Yeah, this is the beauty/bane of the UC med schools, depending on perspective.

If you feel that you can really add diversity to the class and have a unique perspective and set of experiences, the fact that the UC system carefully looks at each applicaiton and checks to see if you add something new to the class before admitting you is a big plus.

If you're a numbers freak that has focused only on GPA and MCAT and has a perfunctory list of ECs that were approached in a checklist format (e.g.: 6 mos ER, 6 mos research, 6 mos Habitat, 6 mos student leadership), then the UC system of admissions will quite possibly leave you in the dust.

The process is random and a crapshoot only if you think that you will be accepted/rejected based purely on numbers. That's just not hte UC way. They've never claimed it to be. It's a self-perpetuating myth that gets furthered every year by folks whose biggest strength is numerical.