UCLA and disadvantaged status

[polyploidy516]

Hey, I ve been hearing that UCLA weighs the disadvantaged status to a higher degree than other medical schools....is there any truth to this? Furthermore, what are the average gpa and mcat's of students applying with this status? Any comments would be much appreciated.

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[moto_za]

are you a ca resident?

 

[polyploidy516]

no I am not; however, on their website they state that they do not show preference to CA residents... so doesnt state residence not play a role for UCLA?

 

[wammabamma]

Hey, I ve been hearing that UCLA weighs the disadvantaged status to a higher degree than other medical schools....is there any truth to this? Furthermore, what are the average gpa and mcat's of students applying with this status? Any comments would be much appreciated.

if you apply to ucla and state on your amcas that you're disadvantaged ucla will make you fill out this really extensive form. it asks about your financial situation, housing situation, parents' jobs, etc from the day you were born until you were 18. so i guess ucla wants to make sure you are really disadvantaged before they allow you to have that status.

why would there be an average gpa and mcat for disadvantaged students? if you grew up poor you grew up poor right....

 

[polyploidy516]

thanks for the response. My family's situation fluctuated due to my fathers job but after I was 13 the income was well below poverty level... do you think this would be acceptable for them? I grew up in fixed income housing for a majority of my life as well, coupled with extenuating circumstances starting from 14 onwards (parent lost job, became terminally ill, lived in basements,etc)?

In regards to the gpa, I was referring to how due to the students extenuating circumstances, they had to work a majority of their college career to pay for their household expenses and to take care of their family, thus resulting in a lower gpa. Will this be considered?

 

[172858]

thanks for the response. My family's situation fluctuated due to my fathers job but after I was 13 the income was well below poverty level... do you think this would be acceptable for them? I grew up in fixed income housing for a majority of my life as well, coupled with extenuating circumstances starting from 14 onwards (parent lost job, became terminally ill, lived in basements,etc)?

In regards to the gpa, I was referring to how due to the students extenuating circumstances, they had to work a majority of their college career to pay for their household expenses and to take care of their family, thus resulting in a lower gpa. Will this be considered?

of course it will, just as at any school. just make sure that you have a well rounded app (mcat, experiences, volunteering, research, etc) and explain your gpa (whatever it may be) in your "disadvantaged" section and personal statement. also, apply broadly, so that even if you don't get into ucla per se, other schools can take this info intro consideration as well.

best of luck.

 

[PeachyPink]

Attaining the disadvantaged status from UCLA really helps you. You can get in with a much lower GPA and MCAT (~30 / 31)

 

[sylar86]

UCLA is definitley friendlier to urm's than most schools. A huge portion of their class is urm with lower stats. And yes, it does favor california residents. but if you're a california resident and a urm, you're double favored, figuratively.

 

[PeachyPink]

Additionally, you don't have to be URM to qualify for the disadvantaged status at UCLA. Those who are granted that status are reviewed by an entirely separate sub-committee, too.

 

[flaahless]

UCLA is definitley friendlier to urm's than most schools. A huge portion of their class is urm with lower stats. And yes, it does favor california residents. but if you're a california resident and a urm, you're double favored, figuratively.

Don't get UCLA confused with Drew.

 

[pntgrd]

UCLA is definitley friendlier to urm's than most schools. A huge portion of their class is urm with lower stats. And yes, it does favor california residents. but if you're a california resident and a urm, you're double favored, figuratively.

UCLA explicitly says it does not favor CA residents.

 

[moto_za]

From their website:

Residence: No preference is given to state of residence. However many applicants come from California. Acceptees from California are more likely to matriculate at UCLA. Out of 145 freshman, 85 percent were from California.

 

[moto_za]

BTW, what is the difference between all the programs at UCLA? I am confused...

 

[xxbruinxx]

Briefly...and I would suggest looking these up for accuracy
UCLA has three programs, each one somewhat independent from the other

1. Charles Drew/UCLA Program
-separate AMCAS application, secondary, interview, etc.
-those students that the program wants to accept (approx. 12 students) have to go through a final review/screen by UCLA's admiss. comm.
-students complete 1st two years in westwood (with the rest of the class) and then complete their 3rd/4th yr at a county hospital. Rotations used to take place at MLK, but I believe they are branching out even more to Harbor-UCLA and Olive View county hospitals.
-as part of their 3rd/4th year, students are also req'd to propose/carry-out a research project

2. UCLA Geffen (aka. "regular" program)
-has it's own AMCAS, secondary, interview
-as part of the admissions process, UCLA has a variety of sub-committees, including one that reviews applications from "disadvantaged" applicants.

3. UCLA PRIME - this is the most recent addition, first entering class this year
-I believe the plan is for each UC medical school to have a PRIME program, though each will have a different focus. For example, UC Davis' program focuses more on rural medicine, whereas I believe UCI's focuses more on the Latino community. I think for UCLA, the PRIME program offers students a chance to work extensively with medically underserved communities in the LA area.
-it's a 5-yr program where students also earn their MPH (pls. double check this)


Regarding the disadvantaged section, it gives students an opportunity to explain their situation in more detail...things that might have impacted their education/learning during their formative years (this being the key time frame). Keep in mind that there is economic and also educationally disadvantaged.

Identifying yourself as disadvantaged will not "get you in"... it will simply offer the admission's committee a greater insight. Though I wouldn't go looking for things to put here just for the sake of it...it could work against you.

While this is a subjective section, my experience is that schools approach it very objectively. As WammaBamma stated, they (and other schools as well) ask for a lot of facts and figures. Members of the admissions committee have been doing this for a long time I'm sure, and know how to interpret the data and put in the context of your overall application.

Hope this helps, and if I mis-stated something, please feel free to edit.

 

[paradisedoc]

Do you know how many students enroll in each of the three programs?
Also, since the demise of MLK Hospital, has Harbor-UCLA become less available to the Geffen students, or, if Drew only has 12 students in each class, is the additional number of med students not that important?

 

[Fibroblastman]

if you apply to ucla and state on your amcas that you're disadvantaged ucla will make you fill out this really extensive form. it asks about your financial situation, housing situation, parents' jobs, etc from the day you were born until you were 18. so i guess ucla wants to make sure you are really disadvantaged before they allow you to have that status.

why would there be an average gpa and mcat for disadvantaged students? if you grew up poor you grew up poor right....

Good to know!

 

[prio001]

I just got a secondary from UCLA and claimed disadvantaged status. on AMCAS I had no idea I was in a separate pile when I claimed it... but that really doesn't matter. I tried to find more information about the processes and it seems there are many opinions out there. The only thing from UCLA I could find was a PPT presentation which listed these stats :

Class of 2008 (which we all know)
�� Academic profile
�� Avg BCPM 3.71 (3.65)
�� Avg Cum AO 3.70 (3.73)
�� MCAT
�� Verbal reasoning - 9.80 (9.69)
�� Physical science - 11.1 (10.93)
�� Biological science - 11.4 (11.17)


Class of 2008
�� Academic profile for Disadvantaged Applicants
�� Avg BCPM 3.30 (3.65)
�� Avg Cum AO 3.50 (3.73)
�� MCAT
�� Verbal reasoning - 8.23 (9.80)
�� Physical science - 9.81 (11.1)
�� Biological science - 9.87 (11.4)

Criteria for Determining Socioeconomic Status
�� Financial
�� Per annum income below accepted federal
government poverty level
�� Parents income if under parental support
�� Applicants income if self-supported
�� Number of siblings (over 6) and status of their
education (none in college)
�� Applicant worked at least 40 hours/week to
support self in college

Criteria for Disadvantaged Status Consideration
�� Education level of parents
�� Deprivation of background (qualitative)
�� English as 2nd or 3rd language in home (assuming U.S. citizenship)
�� Physical handicaps
�� Mental handicaps (learning disability, treated psychological disorder)
�� Economic deprivation in formative years
�� Geographic (lower socioeconomic neighborhood, medically under
served area, gang infested neighborhood, rural, etc.)
�� Member of historically medically under served population


Cited from PPT presentation: Demystifying the Application Process, Theodore R. Hall, MD, Professor of Radiology, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs