UC Consortium 2018-2019 Cycle

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Hey, do any of you guys know the stats of about how many people apply? With like 30 seats per school, I'm trying to gauge my chances...
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Hiiii, I am currently working on the essays but forgot to note the max word length before the system crashed. Can someone please please help me out by telling me the max word length?!
 
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DJ_MD said:
Can anyone else confirm this character limit? I didn't make note of the character lengths but could have sworn it was 2,500...
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Yes, both members are correct, the response for the disadvantaged section is 1,350 characters max. And the other three essay responses (first: why med school? second: why post-bacc? third: involvement with underserved communities?) are 2,500 characters max, for each essay.

It's quite nerve-racking, this whole process--let alone the many complexities of life.

But, don't you worry, or any of us, we are so loved and no matter what happens, never lose hope.
 
I was trying to start my application on Friday but the website was down and is still down. Can someone please tell me what essays I need to complete for the application, what the essay prompts are, and what the word limit is for each essay? Also, how many letters of recommendation do I need? Finally, is there anything else I need to complete on the application?
Thank you.
 
S-dawg916 said:
I was trying to start my application on Friday but the website was down and is still down. Can someone please tell me what essays I need to complete for the application, what the essay prompts are, and what the word limit is for each essay? Also, how many letters of recommendation do I need? Finally, is there anything else I need to complete on the application?
Thank you.
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Hang in there, all will be okay!

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe there are several sections--I'll try to recall by memory. The order may be wrong, I'm sorry!

Section 1: Demographics
- (your background, parents background and education, siblings, school attended, etc.)
- (includes the section on why/how your disadvantaged background (financial, social, cultural, etc.) affected your educational pursuits **1,350 characters max.**

Section 2: Schools attended, grades, MCAT, SAT, AP scores
- (where you list all the grades and scores you have accumulated since after high school)

Section 3: Essays
- whether you are a first or a re-applicant, whether you have taken the MCATs before or have applied to medical school
- (1st essay: Why do you want to pursue medical school?) **2,500 characters max**
- (2nd essay: Why do you want to participate in this program? How do you think this post-bacc program will help you, and what can you bring to this program?) **2,500 characters max**
- (3rd essay: Describe your involvement in underserved communities?) **2,500 characters max**

Section 4: Work/ECs experiences
- (list and give a brief description of all the jobs/volunteer/ECs you have had, up to 15 experiences, I believe?)

Goodness, I'm very anxious. But, let's all try to keep positive!
 
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S-dawg916 said:
I was trying to start my application on Friday but the website was down and is still down. Can someone please tell me what essays I need to complete for the application, what the essay prompts are, and what the word limit is for each essay? Also, how many letters of recommendation do I need? Finally, is there anything else I need to complete on the application?
Thank you.
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-Essays:
1. Why do you want to go to medical school? (2,500 max)
2. Why do you want to do the post-bac program? What are your areas of weakness? (2,500 max)
3. Why do you want to work in underserved communities? (2,500 max)

- You need 3 letters of recommendation, one of which has to be from a science professor. The other two can be from advisors, supervisors/employers, or an additional science professor. I would ask asap because we have no idea when the new due date is but it may not be extended by that much!!
- Transcripts
- Questions throughout the app that ask about family background. I think one question asks about your experience coming from an underserved community and this one might be the one that is 1,3500 characters max (but others can clarify).

There's more but I forgot :/
 
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hustleforthemd said:
-Essays:
1. Why do you want to go to medical school? (2,500 max)
2. Why do you want to do the post-bac program? What are your areas of weakness? (2,500 max)
3. Why do you want to work in underserved communities? (2,500 max)

- You need 3 letters of recommendation, one of which has to be from a science professor. The other two can be from advisors, supervisors/employers, or an additional science professor. I would ask asap because we have no idea when the new due date is but it may not be extended by that much!!
- Transcripts
- Questions throughout the app that ask about family background. I think one question asks about your experience coming from an underserved community and this one might be the one that is 1,3500 characters max (but others can clarify).

There's more but I forgot :/
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Kinda to add to the letters of rec bit. One has to be absolutely from a science professor. The other one can come from any other professor from another subject, but obviously you can pick another science course as well. As for the last letter of rec, it has to come from someone from a member of your community e.g. advisers, employers, counselors, coaches etc.
 
machine323 said:
all except the disadvantaged status essay which is 1350 characters!
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Mmmm hmm. This one isn't required though, only if you are in fact a disadvantaged student, others 3 are pretty much are required even though they say that the last one (work in underserved communities) is optional.
 
wafino1 said:
Mmmm hmm. This one isn't required though, only if you are in fact a disadvantaged student, others 3 are pretty much are required even though they say that the last one (work in underserved communities) is optional.
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I was under the impression that the UC Consortium PostBacc is in fact aimed towards disadvantaged students. I know requirements for each program differ slightly, but I think this one may be a universal requirement. UCSD is the only one I know of that is open to all.
 
wafino1 said:
Kinda to add to the letters of rec bit. One has to be absolutely from a science professor. The other one can come from any other professor from another subject, but obviously you can pick another science course as well. As for the last letter of rec, it has to come from someone from a member of your community e.g. advisers, employers, counselors, coaches etc.
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On their FAQ page, they said the letter must come from at least one science "Instructor". Since I wasn't able to secure a letter from an actual science professor, I asked my upper division biology lab TA (who is technically an instructor) to write on my behalf. Should I be worried that I won't be considered because of this fact? I'm starting to feel really uneasy now.
 
UnknownButNotHidden said:
On their FAQ page, they said the letter must come from at least one science "Instructor". Since I wasn't able to secure a letter from an actual science professor, I asked my upper division biology lab TA (who is technically an instructor) to write on my behalf. Should I be worried that I won't be considered because of this fact? I'm starting to feel really uneasy now.
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I believe it did state that it needs to be an instructor that you took a course with. I would call the Consortium and speak with Mary to get more details.
 
DJ_MD said:
I believe it did state that it needs to be an instructor that you took a course with. I would call the Consortium and speak with Mary to get more details.
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Thank you, I will get in touch with Mary about that. So in your opinion, do you believe it was appropriate for a TA to submit that letter, because they are instructors, right?
 
UnknownButNotHidden said:
Thank you, I will get in touch with Mary about that. So in your opinion, do you believe it was appropriate for a TA to submit that letter, because they are instructors, right?
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If they do give you any **** over it, you can say that they pretty much ran the lab and all the experiments and gave all the lectures. The professor was merely in name, kinda how like my physics labs were run.
 
UnknownButNotHidden said:
On their FAQ page, they said the letter must come from at least one science "Instructor". Since I wasn't able to secure a letter from an actual science professor, I asked my upper division biology lab TA (who is technically an instructor) to write on my behalf. Should I be worried that I won't be considered because of this fact? I'm starting to feel really uneasy now.
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One of my friend had the same problem. But he somehow got the professor to sign on behalf of the TA. I got confused at first but he told me that since the professor was so busy so he asked the TA to write the letter and then the professor can sign it. I'm not sure if you can try to do that.
 
I'm a bit curious about how Interfolio work. If you have collected all the letters onto the website and is ready to sent the documents, do you sent it via the address that they provided or is there an email that you would send to the UC Consortium? And how long does it take usually? Thanks in advance!
 
All essays, including the disadvantaged background personal statement, are required. I would not recommend opting out of any of them, as your application would be all the more strengthened if you replied to everything they ask for.

I actually copied the prompt into a word doc, it is:

Please provide a statement relating the special circumstances you have experienced. You may wish to comment on financial, educational, social, cultural, or other factors, which you feel have been significant in affecting your academic achievements. If these factors have influenced your future goals and plans, please explain. 1350 max character count
 
Borahae said:
I'm a bit curious about how Interfolio work. If you have collected all the letters onto the website and is ready to sent the documents, do you sent it via the address that they provided or is there an email that you would send to the UC Consortium? And how long does it take usually? Thanks in advance!
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you can simply email it to [email protected] using the email option. They typically send it same day so then it just depends on how long the program will take to attach it to your app. Keep in mind however it costs $50 to upgrade your account to be able to send it to schools...
 
Has anyone heard from the consortium? I've called and emailed. I just want to know if my application has been marked complete :arghh:
 
Does anyone know if UCI is still sending out invitations for the interview?
 
hustleforthemd said:
Thank you!! And that's per essay, correct?
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ALSO if I remember correctly, that's spaces included! Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I think the characger count on Word doesn't account for the spaces!
 
Did anyone trying calling the office to ask when the website should be coming back up? It keeps going to voicemail after multiple rings whenever I call, and I would love to know an estimated time to when the system might go back on 🙁
 
When it comes to submitting our ACT/SAT/GRE scores, do we do that on the application or do we send it through the test websites? If so, does anyone know the code we send it to? Do we just submit it all to one code or is it to the individual UCs we're applying to?
 
Bernz95 said:
When it comes to submitting our ACT/SAT/GRE scores, do we do that on the application or do we send it through the test websites? If so, does anyone know the code we send it to? Do we just submit it all to one code or is it to the individual UCs we're applying to?
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You do that on the application.
No need to send it through the website
 
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Hi there!
So I know that UCI began doing interviews this week and I am wondering if anyone on here has gone to one or will be going to one this week.
If so how was your experience?
 
Does anyone know if the schools can access our applications? In other words, since the website is down, but technically the deadline is today (even though it says it will be extended), will schools continue with admissions/interviewing? Or are they as blocked out of the website as we are?
 
The system is still down and I am so anxious right now? Does anyone know if UCI still sending out interviews? And how do other schools get access to our applications?
 
Infinitely said:
The system is still down and I am so anxious right now? Does anyone know if UCI still sending out interviews? And how do other schools get access to our applications?
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Well the website says that only the application site is under maintenance so the consortium does have the rest of your information. The UC's ONLY review the applications that are complete, this info is distributed by the consortium, which means you must have submitted your online application and have your transcripts and LORs uploaded. For me I had submitted my my online app the 28th , had most of my materials delivered by the 3rd of march and uploaded by the 8th. For those of you have not finished the app I would definitely recommend to have your supplemental sent in ASAP to allot some time for the office to process them and to finish the essays before the site is back up bc its the bulk of the app.
 
Wait, did they ask for our SAT scores? I worked on my application before the website was down and I don't remember them asking for it...
 
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tostilokos said:
Perhaps the application is different for reapplicants but, when I did my application it asked for SAT/ACT scores. I have it on a copy of my app
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Is it SAT in addition to the MCAT, or SAT if you don't have the MCAT? I'm a reapplicant too but I did my MCAT already.
 
AnxiousAndDead said:
Is it SAT in addition to the MCAT, or SAT if you don't have the MCAT? I'm a reapplicant too but I did my MCAT already.
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I am not sure because I am a first time applicant and have not taken the MCAT. However, I think if you forget to put your SAT scores it will not really affect you too much. It is really just another way of assessing your test-taking skills.
 
tostilokos said:
I am not sure because I am a first time applicant and have not taken the MCAT. However, I think if you forget to put your SAT scores it will not really affect you too much. It is really just another way of assessing your test-taking skills.
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Oh I misunderstood you. You are a first time applicant, not a reapplicant. In that case the applications are probably different since we already have an MCAT and there would be no point to use an SAT score. Thanks!
 
UnknownButNotHidden said:
I actually sent my SAT scores from collegeboard. I guess I wasted money having them send my official scores, if all I needed to do was just self-report. 🙁
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They got back to me through email today and said to send the scores! No waste of money! May I know where you sent it to? The email states to send it to the Consortium only, did you just send your score to UC Davis then, or is there a special code we have to send it to?
 
Looks like the app is back online, but they haven't changed the deadline date yet, still says 3/14/18
 
Did anyone else not enter SAT score or forget too??
Should we contact them? I wonder why it would be needed.. for most it was done 4 years ago?
 
I really don't recall seeing questions about my SAT scores on the application 🙁 Am I wrong? Should I call the Consortium to confirm then?
 
Bernz95 said:
They got back to me through email today and said to send the scores! No waste of money! May I know where you sent it to? The email states to send it to the Consortium only, did you just send your score to UC Davis then, or is there a special code we have to send it to?
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I talked to the customer service rep, which is something you have to do in order to send archived (old) scores. I spent quite a lot on sending those SAT scores, it came out to around $74 with rushed delivery. I told them to send it to UC Davis, School of Medicine with this address :
UC Postbaccalaureate Consortium
UC Davis School of Medicine
4610 X Street, Suite 4101
Sacramento, CA 95817
 
How long did it take for your letters to be uploaded to the website? I sent mine about two weeks ago and I'm wondering how long I should wait until I should be concerned if the letter got lost in the mail or something... I anticipate some delay since the website is down though.

Infinitely said:
I really don't recall seeing questions about my SAT scores on the application 🙁 Am I wrong? Should I call the Consortium to confirm then?
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Did they respond?
 
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