Ouch!

[Indryd]

Crapshoot...they tol' me it'd be a crapshoot...I tol' 'em stfu n00bs...now I been shot to crap...jus' like they said...

My first rejection, presecondary, and it's from my top choice! WTF? gARR!

UCSF! NOOOOOOOO! They should be required to give a reason for a presecondary rejection, I mean come on! My MCAT and GPA are higher than their average, AND I have great experiences/etc. Not that I think that entitles me or whatever, but come on, not even a secondary?

*cry*

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[QofQuimica]

Crapshoot...they tol' me it'd be a crapshoot...I tol' 'em stfu n00bs...now I been shot to crap...jus' like they said...

My first rejection, presecondary, and it's from my top choice! WTF? gARR!

UCSF! NOOOOOOOO! They should be required to give a reason for a presecondary rejection, I mean come on! My MCAT and GPA are higher than their average, AND I have great experiences/etc. Not that I think that entitles me or whatever, but come on, not even a secondary?

*cry*

Sorry to hear that, Indryd. Did you call them and ask for some feedback? They might be able to give you some useful information that can help you with the rest of your apps. Hope that you get better news from the rest of your schools.

 

[MoosePilot]

Crapshoot...they tol' me it'd be a crapshoot...I tol' 'em stfu n00bs...now I been shot to crap...jus' like they said...

My first rejection, presecondary, and it's from my top choice! WTF? gARR!

UCSF! NOOOOOOOO! They should be required to give a reason for a presecondary rejection, I mean come on! My MCAT and GPA are higher than their average, AND I have great experiences/etc. Not that I think that entitles me or whatever, but come on, not even a secondary?

*cry*

I'm so sorry, Indryd.

My suggestion, if they really are your top choice, is to do what Q said and maybe go even further. Write them a letter, or schedule an appointment with their admissions director so you can speak face to face, and let them know they're your top choice. Ask for a secondary. Tell them you think you have a lot to offer as an applicant to their school. What can you lose? Show your interest, your tenacity, and see what happens! I'm not being Pollyanna, they're a big school and probably won't do anything, but that's my plan if I get a rejection from my first choice I will contact them, state my intent to attend if accepted, and ask for further consideration.

 

[Bluntman]

Indyrd...looking back at your app objectively, what do you think did you in? If your MCAT/GPA were both higher than avg, then you probably didn't get screened out because of those (even with UCSF's stiff screen). And I doubt they look at ECs when giving out secondaries...I've even seen a post saying that the adcom didn't even start meeting til this week. Administrative action? Convictions?Any ideas?

 

[drgoodlove]

Just out of curiosity...how many out of staters get UCSF secondaries? I know the total secondaries is ~1500 but I've never seen a breakdown for in an out of state. While we're at it, any ideas as to the proportion of ~500 interviews for in and out of state.

 

[Bluntman]

Just out of curiosity...how many out of staters get UCSF secondaries? I know the total secondaries is ~1500 but I've never seen a breakdown for in an out of state. While we're at it, any ideas as to the proportion of ~500 interviews for in and out of state.

Well, out of state acceptance rate is 2.4% vs. 6.9% for in-state...so...if we assume the proportions will be the same for secondaries and interviews then that comes out to be roughly:

secondaries:
instate - 1113
out of state - 387

interviews:
instate - 371
out of state - 129

Hope that helps!

 

[drmota]

its appalling to me that schools like UCSF, UCLA and UCSD accept out of state applicants when there are SO many qualified Californian students that get left in the dust and have to apply to a million schools all over.

either way, sorry to hear that indryd. good luck with your other schools.
-mota

 

[pagemmapants]

The odd thing about UCSF's app is that apparently for the AMCAS they DO NOT ask for descriptions of your 15 "activities" - JUST the titles you put and the names of the contacts.

That might have had some effect.

 

[Messerschmitts]

its appalling to me that schools like UCSF, UCLA and UCSD accept out of state applicants when there are SO many qualified Californian students that get left in the dust and have to apply to a million schools all over.

either way, sorry to hear that indryd. good luck with your other schools.
-mota

AMEN BROTHA!!! Either UC's stop admitting out-of-staters, or public schools in all states should admit out-of-staters!

And btw, sorry to hear about the rejection to UCSF, but seriously just because you have a GPA/MCAT higher than the average, rarely means you're a shoe-in. And let's be honest, it's UCSF. Unless you've been innoculating babies in Kenya, building orphanages in India, all the while publishing your 7th paper on cancer research, your chances of gaining admissions to UCSF are not great. With luck, you'll get into somewhere else that's pretty good too.

 

[LUBDUBB]

Crapshoot...they tol' me it'd be a crapshoot...I tol' 'em stfu n00bs...now I been shot to crap...jus' like they said...

My first rejection, presecondary, and it's from my top choice! WTF? gARR!

UCSF! NOOOOOOOO! They should be required to give a reason for a presecondary rejection, I mean come on! My MCAT and GPA are higher than their average, AND I have great experiences/etc. Not that I think that entitles me or whatever, but come on, not even a secondary?

*cry*

Dude, last cycle, six interviews = six waitlists = 0 acceptances. Two of them were my state schools, and my scores were higher than their avgs., now i'm asking the DO's i was laughing at for recommendations... Crapshoot...damnn right...take off your skirt and take it like a man

 

[Flopotomist]

Dude, last cycle, six interviews = six waitlists = 0 acceptances. Two of them were my state schools, and my scores were higher than their avgs., now i'm asking the DO's i was laughing at for recommendations... Crapshoot...damnn right...take off your skirt and take it like a man

In all seriousness, with your scores, if you are getting 6 interviews, and no acceptances, perhaps it is time to consider that your interview skills leave room for improvement. Try having a brutally honest friend ask you the same questions you heard at the interviews, and tell you how you can improve. Consider videotaping the sessions and reviewing them to see how you are coming across. Good luck!

 

[The JockDoc]

In all seriousness, with your scores, if you are getting 6 interviews, and no acceptances, perhaps it is time to consider that your interview skills leave room for improvement. Try having a brutally honest friend ask you the same questions you heard at the interviews, and tell you how you can improve. Consider videotaping the sessions and reviewing them to see how you are coming across. Good luck!

I am in the same position as lubdubb. I'm reapplying this year as well after 6 interviews, 5 waitlists. The feedback I got from schools was that I had great interviews, but that they felt I didn't have enough clinical experience or healthcare knowledge (which I disagree with, but all that matters in the end is what they think). I did mock interviews as well, and they went by fine.

At least I know where I need to improve this year though. I'm not sure if lubdubb was having the same issues as I did. I just wanted to point out that there are plenty of reasons why you get a post interview rejection. It isn't just interviewing skills.

 

[medhacker]

I am in the same position as lubdubb. I'm reapplying this year as well after 6 interviews, 5 waitlists. The feedback I got from schools was that I had great interviews, but that they felt I didn't have enough clinical experience or healthcare knowledge (which I disagree with, but all that matters in the end is what they think). I did mock interviews as well, and they went by fine.

At least I know where I need to improve this year though. I'm not sure if lubdubb was having the same issues as I did. I just wanted to point out that there are plenty of reasons why you get a post interview rejection. It isn't just interviewing skills.

may I ask what type/amount of clinical experience do you have?

thanks

 

[The JockDoc]

may I ask what type/amount of clinical experience do you have?

thanks

At that time I had spent 6 months in a level 1 ER (4hrs/wk) and shadowed 2 surgeons over a 3 month period (~5-6 hrs/wk).

I didn't think it was THAT limited. I'm adding to it this year - obviously - and making sure that they know what I'm doing.

I still wonder why so many schools invited me to interview if I was below their clinical experience standards. It was in my amcas, so they could have looked it over before I got the invites and spent $ on interviews.

 

[NapeSpikes]

I still wonder why so many schools invited me to interview if I was below their clinical experience standards. It was in my amcas, so they could have looked it over before I got the invites and spent $ on interviews.

Exactly, why would schools waste your time and theirs to interview you if their decision was based on your lack of clinical experience? Something about the situation doesn't fly. So maybe it is all a crapshoot.

 

[dbhvt]

Either UC's stop admitting out-of-staters, or public schools in all states should admit out-of-staters!

http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/2004/2004school-2.htm

Out of state matriculants at UC state schools (2004):
Drew/UCLA 1
Davis 4
Irvine 0
UCSD 10
UCLA-Geffen 20
UCSF 28

Sum 63

US pop: 296,000,000

Total In state matriculants 638

California pop: 35,000,000


Anyone resident of California (even 90 year olds and infants) who might think about applying to a Cali medical school is approaching 100 times better chances than anyone from the outside. I think UC state schools are doing a fine job serving the mandate to educate in state students. For Christ's sake, throw out Geffen and UCSF, and you've got 4 programs to choose from that only admitted 15 out of staters all together! I'd like to apply to UCSD, but it's sort of ridiculous trying to compete for 10 spots. I might as well apply to Mercer.

Feel free to tear apart my probability "calculations". Not very rigorous this morning, but I think the point is still good .

 

[Mediculous]

And aren't students in the MD/PhD programs included in those numbers(where residency doesn't matter)?

 

[jbrice1639]

Either UC's stop admitting out-of-staters, or public schools in all states should admit out-of-staters!

yeah, gotta say, i was shocked by this...as a non-california resident, i was advised not to waste my money applying to any UCs because they are so unreceptive to out of state applicants...as opposed to many other state schools that take a higher number of out of state applicants...including california residents taking places away from people in other states. it's a little hard to swallow that california residents would complain about less than ten slots going to out of staters...

 

[anystream]

yeah, gotta say, i was shocked by this...as a non-california resident, i was advised not to waste my money applying to any UCs because they are so unreceptive to out of state applicants...as opposed to many other state schools that take a higher number of out of state applicants...including california residents taking places away from people in other states. it's a little hard to swallow that california residents would complain about less than ten slots going to out of staters...

the situation in CA is very different though. most people here love the state and would prefer to stay close to friends and family during med school, but its really difficult to get into a school here. no other state has a situation this extreme.

IL has 7 med schools for a population of ~12,000,000
CA has 8 med schools for a population of ~34,000,000

 

[jbrice1639]

the situation in CA is very different though. most people here love the state and would prefer to stay close to friends and family during med school, but its really difficult to get into a school here. no other state has a situation this extreme.

IL has 7 med schools for a population of ~12,000,000
CA has 8 med schools for a population of ~34,000,000

IL has 7 med schools, 2 of which are public. So, not really a fair argument. Also, it is understandable that people in California would like to stay there...kinda like people anywhere who want to stay close to home/family...don't really see why that's different in California. Anyways, not intending to start a war with the people's republic of california...i just think it's odd that people from california constantly complain about how hard things are for them, and people from states like iowa, where there's only one school, don't complain that about 20% of their school's students are from out of state.

 

[anystream]

IL has 7 med schools, 2 of which are public. So, not really a fair argument. Also, it is understandable that people in California would like to stay there...kinda like people anywhere who want to stay close to home/family...don't really see why that's different in California. Anyways, not intending to start a war with the people's republic of california...i just think it's odd that people from california constantly complain about how hard things are for them, and people from states like iowa, where there's only one school, don't complain that about 20% of their school's students are from out of state.

it's because applicants with a average numbers like a 3.6 and a 30 MCAT have a fair shot of admission from their state schools (private or public) while California kids must look elsewhere