Getting into Cali Schools...private

[vicinihil]

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I wondering if you guys were thinking about getting into Cali schools how would you guys approach the application like what would you do to give yourself better chances of getting in. Also I'm looking more at USC than the UC's just to clarify.

 

[nekrogg]

I wondering if you guys were thinking about getting into Cali schools how would you guys approach the application like what would you do to give yourself better chances of getting in. Also I'm looking more at USC than the UC's just to clarify.

have parents with a fat check book

 

[plainolerichie]

I wondering if you guys were thinking about getting into Cali schools how would you guys approach the application like what would you do to give yourself better chances of getting in. Also I'm looking more at USC than the UC's just to clarify.

I just got into USC. I don't know if I did anything different than the other schools though. What do you mean?

For USC specifically, you could learn Spanish! You are expected to learn medical Spanish for your rotations. (1/3 of the patients speak only Spanish).

 

[plainolerichie]

have parents with a fat check book

Yeah, 240K in debt for me.

 

[exmike]

I wondering if you guys were thinking about getting into Cali schools how would you guys approach the application like what would you do to give yourself better chances of getting in. Also I'm looking more at USC than the UC's just to clarify.

Covert to seventh day aventist and apply to LLU

 

[EndSong]

USC works a lot with underserved populations and speaking Spanish is almost essential for all doctors there. LLU is religious so it helps to have a religious letter of rec from like a pastor. Stanford is preferable for anyone with massive, massive leadership in medicine experience and tends to want to train those who want to go into academics.

 

[LuisitoMD]

Good luck trying to crack this code... Cali schools are so hit and miss... You may be interviewed at UCSF and not even get a secondary from the other schools.... and just in case you didn't know, the UC's screen before they send out secondaries... USC doesn't.

 

[notdeadyet]

For USC specifically, you could learn Spanish! You are expected to learn medical Spanish for your rotations. (1/3 of the patients speak only Spanish).

True for all California schools. Knowing Spanish definitely won't make you stand out, but it's one more "check" for things they're looking for in applicants. This is true for all California med schools (though I can't say for Loma Linda).

For Stanford, have research experience. If you don't, it's nigh on impossible.

 

[USCMed08]

Spanish does not help you get into USC.

 

[Wookey]

True for all California schools. Knowing Spanish definitely won't make you stand out, but it's one more "check" for things they're looking for in applicants. This is true for all California med schools (though I can't say for Loma Linda).

For Stanford, have research experience. If you don't, it's nigh on impossible.

Not necessarily. I interviewed at UCI and UCLA and spanish never came up. Spanish is definitely important in the future when you practice, in my experience it's just not critical when you are applying.

 

[kevster2001]

True for all California schools. Knowing Spanish definitely won't make you stand out, but it's one more "check" for things they're looking for in applicants. This is true for all California med schools (though I can't say for Loma Linda).

For Stanford, have research experience. If you don't, it's nigh on impossible.

How much spanish do you need. Is "yo tengo un partido en mi pantalones" enough?

 

[etf]

being me doesn't help get into usc either...

 

[Dr. Pepper]

How much spanish do you need. Is "yo tengo un partido en mi pantalones" enough?

I think you mean "yo tengo una fiesta en mis pantalones"...un partido is "a game" which kind of gives away the meaning, but la fiesta "a party" is much more straightforward. (sorry for being a smart ass) 😀

When it comes to knowing a language, they probably want to make sure you know the language very well (well enough to engage in a conversation without pausing) and to understand it well.

Overall, if you don't know spanish, don't say you do!
-Dr. P.

 

[kevster2001]

I think you mean "yo tengo una fiesta en mis pantalones"...un partido is "a game" which kind of gives away the meaning, but la fiesta "a party" is much more straightforward. (sorry for being a smart ass) 😀

When it comes to knowing a language, they probably want to make sure you know the language very well (well enough to engage in a conversation without pausing) and to understand it well.

Overall, if you don't know spanish, don't say you do!
-Dr. P.

Darn, looks like I can't con my way into USC

 

[TheFreshPrince]

I think you mean "yo tengo una fiesta en mis pantalones"...un partido is "a game" which kind of gives away the meaning, but la fiesta "a party" is much more straightforward. (sorry for being a smart ass) 😀

When it comes to knowing a language, they probably want to make sure you know the language very well (well enough to engage in a conversation without pausing) and to understand it well.

Overall, if you don't know spanish, don't say you do!
-Dr. P.

lol

 

[plainolerichie]

I was just saying the whole "know Spanish" thing almost as a joke. My point was, I'm not sure if there's anything "special" you could do for Cali schools. Maybe be a cali resident, it could help, even for private schools. Actuallly, that might hurt you. I don't know.

 

[exmike]

I was just saying the whole "know Spanish" thing almost as a joke. My point was, I'm not sure if there's anything "special" you could do for Cali schools. Maybe be a cali resident, it could help, even for private schools. Actuallly, that might hurt you. I don't know.

No, actually, all things equal, the private school will take the in state student over the out of state student. Why? Simple, becacuse the in state student is more likely to accept the offer.

 

[plainolerichie]

No, actually, all things equal, the private school will take the in state student over the out of state student. Why? Simple, becacuse the in state student is more likely to accept the offer.

Yeah, that's what I thought too, I was just not sure. Like, I thought private schools like to have people from different states too and from different backgrounds.

 

[notdeadyet]

Not necessarily. I interviewed at UCI and UCLA and spanish never came up. Spanish is definitely important in the future when you practice, in my experience it's just not critical when you are applying.

Spanish helps with the UCs. It doesn't come up if you don't have any, but it's a boost if you do. The Spanish speaking folks in California is very, very high. Having med students who have gone to the trouble already of trying to learn their language is a plus.

 

[notdeadyet]

How much spanish do you need. Is "yo tengo un partido en mi pantalones" enough?

It's pretty binary. You either are fluent in Spanish, in which case you can check the box on AMCAS, or you're like the rest of us that has Spanish somewhere between "Dos cervezas, por favor" and near fluency.

There's no level you need to have to look good. Being able to communicate with your patients is good. The fact that you have gone to the effort speaks well of you as you apply to become a physician in California.

 

[MU.Redskin]

From my experiences in researching med schools, it appears that Stanford is a complete crapshoot in all senses of the word...it appears that high GPA and high MCAT are no certainty whatsoever.

I know everyone knows someone that knows someone, etc....BUT
As to the favoring those with research experience, my lab co-worker was a Goldwater scholar, a Beckman scholar, and had a huge amount of research experience, yet still didn't get contacted for an interview.

Unfortunetly, there don't seem to be any "tricks or strategies" to getting into those elusive Cali schools for us out-of-staters... just hope for some good luck.

 

[P-Bone]

I got into USC. at the interview they asked if i knew spanish and i said flat out that i didn't, but i mentioned their spanish for docs class and said it would probably be helpful while at LA county. i think they just wanted me to know that spanish is very helpful.

as far as increasing your chances, i'd say get the secondary ASAP and work hard on it--it's relatively long, with multiple questions having longer-than-short answers.

good luck.

 

[maddscientist]

The process is totally random based on what the schools decide they are looking for and who you know. I didn't even get secondaries from most of the UC schools (even though I am at UCSF now), but I got interviews at stanford and usc. Roll the dice and apply to all of them.