Peace out email from UCSD

[ChipLeader]

This thread is for those of us who applied to UCSD and haven't gotten an invite to bitch and whine about it . (Come to think of it I don't think anyone's posted an interview on the interviews thread yet) Anyway you probably got the email from the program coordinator stating that the first batch of invites have been sent out. It seems that from this point on they will only send out more invites based on the number of invites that end up being declined (I'm guessing this % is going to be low indeed).

UCSD was one of the few programs that I was waiting to hear from that I actually wanted to interview at. I comfortably meet the Step one cutoff they mentioned in the email and it still looks like I'm getting the boot. I've gotten invited from several "top" programs so I'm thrown off by this. I guess they must of seen something in my app they didn't like...What the heck does it take to get an interview there anyway? Not that I really wanted to go there anyway! San Diego would have been nice though. Oh well. I'm counting it as rejection # 1 for Chipleader. Bring on the venting!

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[miko2005]

This thread is for those of us who applied to UCSD and haven't gotten an invite to bitch and whine about it . (Come to think of it I don't think anyone's posted an interview on the interviews thread yet) Anyway you probably got the email from the program coordinator stating that the first batch of invites have been sent out. It seems that from this point on they will only send out more invites based on the number of invites that end up being declined (I'm guessing this % is going to be low indeed).

UCSD was one of the few programs that I was waiting to hear from that I actually wanted to interview at. I comfortably meet the Step one cutoff they mentioned in the email and it still looks like I'm getting the boot. I've gotten invited from several "top" programs so I'm thrown off by this. I guess they must of seen something in my app they didn't like...What the heck does it take to get an interview there anyway? Not that I really wanted to go there anyway! San Diego would have been nice though. Oh well. I'm counting it as rejection # 1 for Chipleader. Bring on the venting!

OMG!! I can't believe you got the same e-mail. Although not comfortably, I am still above the cutoff for the step 1. And no invite, same e-mail!! I was really kind of upset because even though I really don't even want to go there, I find it insulting that they didn't invite me for an interview.

For you, chipleader, I am sure its just a matter of time till you get invited to UCSD. Just curious, did you apply to UCLA? I still have not heard from them.

PS. I also heard that last year UCSD did not fill all their spots and had to scramble.

 

[beary]

PS. I also heard that last year UCSD did not fill all their spots and had to scramble.

Ha! Serves them right for not wanting folks like you two who have so many other great interviews.

 

[ChipLeader]

For you, chipleader, I am sure its just a matter of time till you get invited to UCSD. Just curious, did you apply to UCLA? I still have not heard from them.

PS. I also heard that last year UCSD did not fill all their spots and had to scramble.

Honestly I can't say that I really wanted to go to UCSD anyway. I was just hoping to get an interview, check out the program and make a nice mini-vacation out of it. I have to admit living in SD for 4 years would be a lot of fun, and I think UCSD in general gets tons of great applicants for all their programs because of the location as much as anything else. My personal impression of their path program is that it is very good but not great. It probably would have ended up 6th or 7th on my ROL so don't worry I'm not crying myself to sleep tonight or anything

I didn't know about them being unfilled last year. That seems hard to believe but obviously anything's possible when it comes to the match. Are we sure that wasn't on purpose (i.e. they filled that extra position previously outside the match). I thought I heard something like that a while ago...Whatever - you're right beary, that's what they get .

Miko - Yeah I applied to UCLA and have not heard from them as of yet. I kinda just applied there because it was so easy to just click on the box on ERAS that I couldn't resist. I'm up in the air about whether I'd interview there if invited. I guess we'll find out soon if I get to make that decision or not.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

I thought UCSD filled last year. They don't have many spots. In fact, I heard only 2 or 3. They might reserve one of these spots internally...that is a possibility. If that is the case, I can't imagine they interview many people anyway. Just take it in stride and move on.

 

[drPLUM]

I got an invite from UCSD yesterday. I declined it so someone out there will be getting an invite today I imagine. Had I received it earlier in the process I would have taken it but my schedule is so full now by programs that I never expected to offer. It is a solid program in a great city and has a lot to offer. My PD spoke really good things about it.

 

[omores]

Just out of curiosity, what is their cutoff for Step I? Didn't apply there but just curious because I couldn't find any information on their website.
dlc

 

[b&ierstiefel]

I thought UCSD filled last year. They don't have many spots. In fact, I heard only 2 or 3. They might reserve one of these spots internally...that is a possibility. If that is the case, I can't imagine they interview many people anyway. Just take it in stride and move on.

Just to follow up. I asked one of my classmates who came here from UCSD. They had two spots last year and filled one internally leaving one spot for an outsider. According to her, they typically don't have many med students expressing an interest in pathology to begin with.

So if you don't hear from UCSD, it's not because you suck. They just don't have many spots and can't interview everybody. Plus, all this is a crapshoot anyway (kinda like med school admissions).

 

[mrp]

Thanks for everyones' interest in UCSD Pathology!

I'm one of the chief residents this year, so be sure to introduce yourself if/when you interview.

Last year we took 3 candidates, all through the match. We never "reserve" spots for internal candidates, and we did NOT go unfilled last year--not even close. One of our interns this year was a UCSD med student, but she went through match just like everyone else. We will be taking a larger class this year, 4-5 per latest report. It's still a little up in the air right now. We are planning on interviewing roughly 40 candidates.

Sorry for the late interview invites--our program coordinator Joyce went on a very deserved vacation, and just got back a week or so ago. I think this caused a bit of a delay relative to other programs. Yes, maybe she could have picked a better time to go on vacation than right when interview invites were about to go out. oh well. Please don't read anything into the delay.

I could write stuff about our program, but I wrote a moderately lengthy review on scutwork.com about our program, and don't feel like repeating it all here. It's the latest review on UCSD path (dated 3/6/05). Suffice it to say I like UCSD path a lot, and living in San Diego is awesome, but expensive.

Regarding cutoffs for Step I, I actually have no idea--I'm not involved in the screening of candidates.

Good luck in the interview/match process to everyone!

Feel free to email me with any questions about UCSD pathology. My email is [email protected]. Obviously, remove NOSPAM from my email. Tricky, huh?

-mike

Just to follow up. I asked one of my classmates who came here from UCSD. They had two spots last year and filled one internally leaving one spot for an outsider. According to her, they typically don't have many med students expressing an interest in pathology to begin with.

So if you don't hear from UCSD, it's not because you suck. They just don't have many spots and can't interview everybody. Plus, all this is a crapshoot anyway (kinda like med school admissions).