My theory on what the way UCSF responds to u means for the rest of your app

[Long_John]

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UCSF is much more selective than most school for secondaries. they only send secondaries out to a 1/3 of applicants. I think UCSF's evaluation of your app for secondary is a strong early indicator of how well your total application will be received by a majority of the schools.
If you get a UCSF secondary invite within a week after your initial email notification of receipt it suggests that your app and your numbers are pretty strong and the adcom didn't even have to take a thorough look through the rest of your application before deciding to give you a secondary.
If you received a seondary invite from them more than 3 weeks after initial email receipt then that suggests that while your app is strong, its not as strong as others and it required a thorough evaluation before secondary invite.
IF you dont receive a secondary invite and are rejected that is a bad sign and could portend more negative results from the other UC's and other top schools later on in the admissions process.

 

[39094]

I couldn't disagree more. UCSF was the only school out of 11 to deny me an interview (and a secondary for that matter). I was accepted to 4 schools, two of them top 5.

Each school is different in what they want, you can't judge your success overall based on your success (or lack there of) at one school.

UCSF is much more selective than most school for secondaries. they only send secondaries out to a 1/3 of applicants. I think UCSF's evaluation of your app for secondary is a strong early indicator of how well your total application will be received by a majority of the schools.
If you get a UCSF secondary invite within a week after your initial email notification of receipt it suggests that your app and your numbers are pretty strong and the adcom didn't even have to take a thorough look through the rest of your application before deciding to give you a secondary.
If you received a seondary invite from them more than 3 weeks after initial email receipt then that suggests that while your app is strong, its not as strong as others and it required a thorough evaluation before secondary invite.
IF you dont receive a secondary invite and are rejected that is a bad sign and could portend more negative results from the other UC's and other top schools later on in the admissions process.

 

[heech]

Well, it was a good theory for the 16 minutes that it lasted.

 

[Long_John]

I couldn't disagree more. UCSF was the only school out of 11 to deny me an interview (and a secondary for that matter). I was accepted to 4 schools, two of them top 5.

Each school is different in what they want, you can't judge your success overall based on your success (or lack there of) at one school.

what schools did you get accepted to?
Did you have any special challenges that you didn't talk about in your amcas application but talked about in your secondaries?

 

[Long_John]

UCSF is much more selective than most school for secondaries. they only send secondaries out to a 1/3 of applicants. I think UCSF's evaluation of your app for secondary is a strong early indicator of how well your total application will be received by a majority of the schools.
If you get a UCSF secondary invite within a week after your initial email notification of receipt it suggests that your app and your numbers are pretty strong and the adcom didn't even have to take a thorough look through the rest of your application before deciding to give you a secondary.
If you received a seondary invite from them more than 3 weeks after initial email receipt then that suggests that while your app is strong, its not as strong as others and it required a thorough evaluation before secondary invite.
IF you dont receive a secondary invite and are rejected that is a bad sign and could portend more negative results from the other UC's and other top schools later on in the admissions process.

this theory only applies to Cali residents. I dont know how it works for people out of state

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Are you creating this theory through outsider speculation and supposition or do you have some inside information on how UCSF screens its applicants?

 

[39094]

no, nothing really special about me that would come out in secondaries but not in my AMCAS.

I'm just your average white guy who went to a state university.

Interestingly enough, my fiancee (she's asian) got a UCSF secondary about a week after she submitted her AMCAS. We have the same undergrad school, same majors, exact same GPA, same MCAT scores and similar ECs.

Read into that what u will😉

 

[Long_John]

while I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule, the majority of UCLA and UCSD admits (>70%) got UCSF secondaries

 

[jtown]

this theory only applies to Cali residents. I dont know how it works for people out of state

friend of mine at ucsf....

~3.8 gpa
30 mcat

only 1 other interview (which became a rejection)

her theory: they've got an idea of what they want their class to look like and they choose applicants that fit that makeup.... scores/ec/challenges aside....

 

[constructor]

thanks jtown... that makes sense. it's good to hear what someone who actually goes there has to say.

 

[Bear1220]

UCSF is much more selective than most school for secondaries. they only send secondaries out to a 1/3 of applicants. I think UCSF's evaluation of your app for secondary is a strong early indicator of how well your total application will be received by a majority of the schools.
If you get a UCSF secondary invite within a week after your initial email notification of receipt it suggests that your app and your numbers are pretty strong and the adcom didn't even have to take a thorough look through the rest of your application before deciding to give you a secondary.
If you received a seondary invite from them more than 3 weeks after initial email receipt then that suggests that while your app is strong, its not as strong as others and it required a thorough evaluation before secondary invite.
IF you dont receive a secondary invite and are rejected that is a bad sign and could portend more negative results from the other UC's and other top schools later on in the admissions process.

My advice to you is to not think about the process too much. It is still random in certain respects. There are tons of qualified applicants out there. I think you just have to fit what the school is looking for (which is not particularly clear for every school).

Also, I suggest not to use your status with UCSF as a ruler for whether you're going to get into other UC's and other top schools. It'll either give you false hope or false depression. If you hear favorably from one top10 school, it doesn't mean every medical school will want you. Also, since UCSF does things a bit differently from the other top10 schools (ie selective secondaries and blind interviews), it should give an applicant more reason not to use it as a measuring stick.

Ok, all that wasn't meant to be harsh. It's just emphasizing that there are no guarantees in this game. Good luck to you though. I hope everything works out for you!