they interviewed two groups that day...four in the morning (the one i was in) and four in the afternoon. i talked to a few of them and discovered that 2 from my group and 1 from the afternoon group was on the alternate list. there could have been more but i didn't get a chance to talk to everyone.
the 2 that i spoke to from my group had pretty good stats...they've done research, earned mostly 20-22's on the DAT and about 3.7 gpa (which are somewhat comparable to my own). one of them even told me after the interview that the faculty member who interviewed her didn't know why she was even placed on the alternate list. as for the other guy on the list..he had excellent stats too..the only deviation from the norm was that he had already graduated (from Berkeley) and took a year off before he applied. So, unless they didn't tell me the truth about their stats, it doesn't seem like LA is placing candidates with low stats on the alt list.
during the curriculum overview session, one of the candidates asked when alternates would hear from them and they said that alts will be notified after all the interviews have been conducted..which equates to the end of April. they said that there was a year where they took up to 20 alternates and another where they only took 6. they also said that alternates are on a point system where they rate you on the high, med, or low end (not sure how this works). then they said that alternates who were accepted by other schools should secure themselves a spot first just in case.
well i'm not so sure if all this clarifies things for you Mani99, if not confused you a bit. from the way things look...even pretty strong applicants were placed on the alt list so i really don't know how LA's selection system works.
p.s. don't lose hope! btw, is LA your first choice?
Scholarship Access: Becoming a Student Doctor course
