UCLA Geffen part 01

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jlee9531 said:
when most of the students at la are instate...id say by numbers alone...you have a better chance if you are instate.

Yeah, that's what most people would assume by the #'s alone, but for some odd reason, ucla doesn't take state residency into consideration (unlike any other uc schools, which take cali residency into consideration). it's on their website, man. 😎
 
check this out, the faculty guy who sat at my table for the luncheon had something to say bout this. he said that 70% (i dont think thats an exact, he just threw something out) of the entering class are from cali/uc schools not bcz they do it on purpose, but bcz the majority of the applicants are from cali/uc's. he said then that in fact the ratios of applicant/accepted are prolly about the same.
 
fakeplaztiktree said:
Am I the only one who went on the "night out on the town?" In case you're interested it was ice skating and a bar...ten people went
Overall, I really got back my appreciation of UCLA...crap, I'm torn.

I was too tired for the ice skating. How late did you guys hang out? Sounds like to you had good time..
 
Legend123 said:
I was too tired for the ice skating. How late did you guys hang out? Sounds like to you had good time..
It is funny cause out of the 10 people, only like 2-3 actually skated well...the rest of us got tired pretty quickly and stopped.
 
CalBeE said:
It is funny cause out of the 10 people, only like 2-3 actually skated well...the rest of us got tired pretty quickly and stopped.
man i guess its good i didnt go...i would have started to check everyone into the boards...:meanie:

😀
 
CalBeE said:
I'm an average looking guy, but I do have high standard I guess. But it's true that most if not all people are not ugly-looking. 😉

Nice to know.

Now, could anyone elaborate on what went on at the second look a little more? I went to another school's 2nd look this weekend, so I couldn't go to UCLA's. How were the current students? What did they say (school, classmates, social life, etc.)? Which bar did you guys go to, and how were the other prospective students?

Thanks.
 
here is a summary (sorry its so long, but im giving you the major points):

breakfast and chatting with random people from 8-8:30, welcome by dean parker and talk about the curriculum by dr. luann wilkerson until about 10:15, then we broke up into groups of about 6-8 plus a faculty to do a pbl case about a patient with emphysema until 11:15, met back at 11:30 and had presentations about the case by about 3-4 faculty and how their courses or labs teach part of the case and one doc talk to us about how important it is for physicians to be observant immediately when the see a patient (like right away when you walk into the room and how much you can figure out just by doing that). another major point was that you have lots of free time...supposedly its the school with the second least amount of class time, first being yale...but the catch is that you have to do most of it on your own so you actually dont have that much time off, just dont get caught in a trap. you have 10 hours of lecture per week, 2 pbl sessions (monday, and i think friday), you have also doctoring (standardize patient) once a week, and about 2-4 hours of lab per week, and lastly an online quiz over the weekend that i dont think is graded at all. you have 2 groups of 8...one for pbl and a different one for your doctoring course, and the groups change every so often.

then it was time for lunch around noon time...it was chinese food, lots of shrimp, we sat at tables of about 10 and a faculty tried to be at each table and was super nice and answered our questions to convince us to stay at ucla. after lunch dean leavy came and spoke (he talked a lot but it was meaningless really). in the same place we had a student panel (4 students); they each spoke about themselves and about what they were able to do at ucla...basically their point was that ucla has opportunities for you to basically do ANYTHING and it sure sounded like that. really it sounded pretty cool. no one really asked questions, well i did. they didnt really comment about social life except of the fact that they made ucla sound really cool and if they had time to do the sort of weird things they did then they sure have free time.

okay so now its about 2pm. we went to a classroom and they talked to us about the humanistic part of being a dr. interviewing skills and how to be compassionate. we had a standardized patient come in to simulate the guy we talked about during pbl. and a med student interviewed him and we and the faculty gave him pointers. it was pretty cool that we get to do that every week. really really great!! i was impressed (but the med student kinda sucked, but thats another story).

after that there was some tables for different stu orgs. there was also the optional tour around campus and then the night out. i didnt do either. maybe others here can help you.

hope that helps and sry if it was super long. feel free to ask more q's!
 
oh and we were given a big folder with stuff in it (magazines and what not, the calendar, some stuff about this years match, thats basically it). there is a pda and computer requirement. housing is guaranteed (brand new) and so is parking. dean leavy kind of ignored a question about the tuition; he indirectly said that it was going up and he cant do anything about it really. you can visit www.medstudent.ucla.edu and click on entering class of 2008. but that kinda doesnt have much.

hope that helps.
 
docmemi said:
okay so now its about 2pm. we went to a classroom and they talked to us about the humanistic part of being a dr. interviewing skills and how to be compassionate. we had a standardized patient come in to simulate the guy we talked about during pbl. and a med student interviewed him and we and the faculty gave him pointers. it was pretty cool that we get to do that every week. really really great!! i was impressed (but the med student kinda sucked, but thats another story).

I don't think he sucks...it's because he was put on the spot. I used to do training for a helpline and we do roleplays in front of the trainees...when you know that people are sitting up there secretly evaluating you, you're not gonna perform as well when you're just alone on the phone yourself.

I like certain things he did, and his voice tone was appropriate, because it was calm and not overly assertive. And some of the prospective students gave interesting advice, but they are more like things that sound good in theory...

I didn't feel that the deans really answer students questions...most of the time it seems like they didn't understand the questions...other times they are just talking like politicians...but then it's not a big deal.
 
Thanks docmemi!

How is the UCLA match list?
 
docmemi said:
oh and we were given a big folder with stuff in it (magazines and what not, the calendar, some stuff about this years match, thats basically it). there is a pda and computer requirement. housing is guaranteed (brand new) and so is parking. dean leavy kind of ignored a question about the tuition; he indirectly said that it was going up and he cant do anything about it really. you can visit www.medstudent.ucla.edu and click on entering class of 2008. but that kinda doesnt have much.

hope that helps.
The guaranteed housing is called Weyburn Terrace. They will have studios and two-bedroom apts there. Basic Cable, water, electricity, high speed internet, and gas are covered by the rent. You have to pay for Phone and parking yourself though. It's a good deal for a Westwood Apt, but then it's still expensive for some people. You have to apply online at www.housing.ucla.edu The usual wait is ONE YEAR, but because of the agreement the med school has with housing office, incoming first year med students are guaranteed housing there (People usually fight for spots in University apts).
 
GTea said:
Thanks docmemi!

How is the UCLA match list?
Lots of UCLA affiliated hospitals, quite a lot of Kaiser Permanente and other Cali hospitals. However, not a lot of people matched at UCSF this year (like 2-3 or so). That could be either people don't choose to go there, or more possibly...

(This is what I heard from a MS1): It's hard for UCSF med school grads to get residency at UCLA hospital, and vice versa. Both schools probably try to fight for each others' med school grads...

I saw many people from U of Chicago matched at UCSF hospital (Like approaching 10)...which is so different from UCLA. Coincidence? I think not.
 
CalBeE said:
I don't think he sucks...it's because he was put on the spot. I used to do training for a helpline and we do roleplays in front of the trainees...when you know that people are sitting up there secretly evaluating you, you're not gonna perform as well when you're just alone on the phone yourself.

I like certain things he did, and his voice tone was appropriate, because it was calm and not overly assertive. And some of the prospective students gave interesting advice, but they are more like things that sound good in theory...

I didn't feel that the deans really answer students questions...most of the time it seems like they didn't understand the questions...other times they are just talking like politicians...but then it's not a big deal.

Right on. As a dean he is essentially a politician and of course some of his answers are tailored that way. I think the student panel was a bit weak, I kind of liked the last guy's approach-the 4th year student. There were a few hot girls but generally most of us looked liked we were supposed to. What more could you expect from medical students 😀
 
Yeah, I went to UCLA so I know how hard it is to get university housing and how expensive it is to live in westwood. But, man, guaranteed housing at weyburn is awesome. Do you have a choice between a studio and 2 bedroom, or is it pretty much assigned randomly?

What did you guys think of the other prospectives? Nice people?
 
GTea said:
Yeah, I went to UCLA so I know how hard it is to get university housing and how expensive it is to live in westwood. But, man, guaranteed housing at weyburn is awesome. Do you have a choice between a studio and 2 bedroom, or is it pretty much assigned randomly?

What did you guys think of the other prospectives? Nice people?
Honestly, I met quite a few people who seem hesistant about coming to UCLA...probably people who are still waiting/waitlisted/rejected at a higher choice like UCSF. But that's not the majority. Most people seem very bright, as evident in my PBL sample session, and the group activity in the sample doctoring session. There are actually more White and less Asian, Blacks, Hispanic than I expected. Ask Supereagles...I think there are like 2 Black there...I don't recall meeting any hispanics.

On the other hand...I was impressed the most during the day by my PBL "coach". I didn't catch her name, but she's a MD/PhD physiologist. She did an excellent job in asking guiding questions so we don't go off the tangent. If I get a preceptor like her for PBL, I'll have more confidence in learning something.
 
I think it sucked that the 2nd look did not include any presentation on financial aid or a tenative figure on next year's tuition-other UCs like UCSF have a proposed tuition for their entering class. It now appears that most people's selection would be done blind with taking into account how much potential grant money they might be eligible for. Sometimes it sucks to have options 🙁
 
Anybody still waiting to hear back post-interview? I interviewed 3/25 and no word yet. I really hope there are still spots available! :scared:

Any insider information/tips? I already sent the LOI...
 
CalBeE said:
I don't think he sucks...it's because he was put on the spot. I used to do training for a helpline and we do roleplays in front of the trainees...when you know that people are sitting up there secretly evaluating you, you're not gonna perform as well when you're just alone on the phone yourself.

I like certain things he did, and his voice tone was appropriate, because it was calm and not overly assertive. And some of the prospective students gave interesting advice, but they are more like things that sound good in theory...

I didn't feel that the deans really answer students questions...most of the time it seems like they didn't understand the questions...other times they are just talking like politicians...but then it's not a big deal.


sorry. i didnt mean to be disrespectful.
 
CalBeE said:
Honestly, I met quite a few people who seem hesistant about coming to UCLA...probably people who are still waiting/waitlisted/rejected at a higher choice like UCSF. But that's not the majority. Most people seem very bright, as evident in my PBL sample session, and the group activity in the sample doctoring session. There are actually more White and less Asian, Blacks, Hispanic than I expected. Ask Supereagles...I think there are like 2 Black there...I don't recall meeting any hispanics.

On the other hand...I was impressed the most during the day by my PBL "coach". I didn't catch her name, but she's a MD/PhD physiologist. She did an excellent job in asking guiding questions so we don't go off the tangent. If I get a preceptor like her for PBL, I'll have more confidence in learning something.

my guy was pretty cool too. i kinda liked the idea that we are all in it together and we gotta help eachother out to learn the stuff; i think it will be very cool that everyone has to work together. i wished though that my guy knew more medicine; he was more of an anatomist...but that goes with the whole idea about pbl...we are in it together!

calbe, do you remember how much the housing was per month?? thanks.
 
docmemi said:
my guy was pretty cool too. i kinda liked the idea that we are all in it together and we gotta help eachother out to learn the stuff; i think it will be very cool that everyone has to work together. i wished though that my guy knew more medicine; he was more of an anatomist...but that goes with the whole idea about pbl...we are in it together!

calbe, do you remember how much the housing was per month?? thanks.

Here you go: http://www.housing.ucla.edu/housing_site/apartments/weyburn-terrace.htm
 
fakeplaztiktree said:
I don't recall meeting any hispanics.[/QUOTE said:
I can safely say, yes you did 😉 Yeah, I know it's hard to tell.

I met a few hispanics. The housing is great but not cheap. I am surprised that there are not many book stores in Westwood area, but a lot of theaters... on Friday night I saw lots of people(few hundred)waiting around the blocks to see KILL BILL at the Fox Theater....
 
I hear the good bookstores are in Hollywood. As for music, there's Amoeba(definitely the best music store in the country).
UCLA here I come! 😀
 
Westwood used to be a very vibrant place, "the place to be"...but then it dies out beginning 10+ years ago after a gangster incident (Trust me, the area is really safe nowadays). Many stores has since closed down as a result. Even Gap closed down a few months ago, and some places are just empty without any shop rentors. Now there are just a lot of A. Restaurants B. Theatres C. Hair Salon left in the area.

HOwever, most people go further away for other stuff...Marina Del Rey, Santa Monica, Hollywood...
 
CalBeE said:
Westwood used to be a very vibrant place, "the place to be"...but then it dies out beginning 10+ years ago after a gangster incident (Trust me, the area is really safe nowadays). Many stores has since closed down as a result. Even Gap closed down a few months ago, and some places are just empty without any shop rentors. Now there are just a lot of A. Restaurants B. Theatres C. Hair Salon left in the area.

HOwever, most people go further away for other stuff...Marina Del Rey, Santa Monica, Hollywood...

yea it used to be amazing when i was growing up. my parents would go there every weekend. sigh. but its still pretty cool now. lots of people go to the hookah restaurants. and in n out, diddy reece, jerrys, movies, office depot, kinkos, burger king, etc etc. still pretty good.
 
Barnes and Nobles should open a huge bookstore there.
 
Legend123 said:
Barnes and Nobles should open a huge bookstore there.
There is a Borders like 2 blocks south of Wilshire Blvd...but I don't get the sense that it's a popular spot because it's relatively far away from campus.

As an undergrad, the most popular places to study are still the various libraries on campus (Powell, Charles Young, Biomed, and even the Law library if you can sneak in)
 
CalBeE said:
There is a Borders like 2 blocks south of Wilshire Blvd...but I don't get the sense that it's a popular spot because it's relatively far away from campus.

As an undergrad, the most popular places to study are still the various libraries on campus (Powell, Charles Young, Biomed, and even the Law library if you can sneak in)

I thought I saw that bookstore when I was there checking on some apartments. Bookstores are great place to read, study, relax and meeting people .....
 
jay16942 said:
Anybody still waiting to hear back post-interview? I interviewed 3/25 and no word yet. I really hope there are still spots available! :scared:

Any insider information/tips? I already sent the LOI...

I interviewed the same week as you... Still nothing, no change on the status page. I thought they'd send out more letters mid-April, but it doesn't seem like anyone's gotten anything yet.
 
Legend123 said:
I thought I saw that bookstore when I was there checking on some apartments. Bookstores are great place to read, study, relax and meeting people .....
I know that there's a Barnes and Nobles at Westside Pavilion (Many blocks south of UCLA campus), and another one at Santa Monica 3rd street (15-30 minutes drive West of UCLA). Book stores are cool, but I usually like doing stuff in my apartment instead of bookstores or library...more cozy IMHO.
 
Hey Everyone! Thanks for all the great info on this thread. I had a question on LOI. I interviewed early in March and should (according to what they said) hear by the end of April. Shouldn't you send an LOI if you're waitlisted? I heard they're not really appropiate before they make that initial decison.

Any feedback? Has anyone ever submitted one before getting a decison and got in? Thanks! 🙂
 
Smile'n'Wink MD said:
Hey Everyone! Thanks for all the great info on this thread. I had a question on LOI. I interviewed early in March and should (according to what they said) hear by the end of April. Shouldn't you send an LOI if you're waitlisted? I heard they're not really appropiate before they make that initial decison.

Any feedback? Has anyone ever submitted one before getting a decison and got in? Thanks! 🙂
I sent a letter of interest before my decision was made, but I don't think it makes a difference at UCLA before the initial decision.
 
I did not send LOI before the acceptance. Good Luck. 🙂
 
twizzlers said:
I interviewed the same week as you... Still nothing, no change on the status page. I thought they'd send out more letters mid-April, but it doesn't seem like anyone's gotten anything yet.

I interviewed in early February... and it's now April 20th... and still nothing... 😴
 
This looks like the thread for UCLA talk, so:
What are other options for housing besides the UCLA graduate housing? What are good neighborhoods to live in? And is it affordable?
 
kwanny said:
I interviewed in early February... and it's now April 20th... and still nothing... 😴

I guess they are coming.....very soon. As far as no rejection is good news....Good Luck to those still in waiting.... I am sure there will be some movement esp in May when people start dropping mutiples acceptances... I know some people have eyes on UCSF.... Hang in There...
Send them LOI if that will make you feel good, just do it, get that off your chest.... UCLA is a great school, the sky is the limit... 🙂
 
Smile'n'Wink MD said:
Hey Everyone! Thanks for all the great info on this thread. I had a question on LOI. I interviewed early in March and should (according to what they said) hear by the end of April. Shouldn't you send an LOI if you're waitlisted? I heard they're not really appropiate before they make that initial decison.

Any feedback? Has anyone ever submitted one before getting a decison and got in? Thanks! 🙂

I am in a similar situation, still waiting to hear back post-interview. I was trying to decide whether to send a letter of intent. But I felt that I already expressed to my interviewer that UCLA was my top choice - and it seems that the LOI would be more appropriate to send if I were waitlisted. I've kind of second-guessed the decision to not send, but if they really are mailing decisions by end of April, I think it'd be too late to mail an LOI now anyway.
 
No one ever told me I would hear at the end of April. When I called the office, they just said I'd here in 6-8 weeks. Through my calculations, that would mean end of April for me. I sure hope they stick to that timeline!!
 
I was talking to a med student at another school, and she said she had a friend who interviewed at UCLA in October, but was accepted in May!! That person might have been on the waitlist, then accepted in May though...
 
Smile'n'Wink MD said:
No one ever told me I would hear at the end of April. When I called the office, they just said I'd here in 6-8 weeks. Through my calculations, that would mean end of April for me. I sure hope they stick to that timeline!!

My interviewer actually told me I might not hear back until June. However, since she isn't on the admissions committee, I think she was just guessing on that. I think (hope!) we're all supposed to hear something by May 15th... Based on what several people posted on this thread, I was thinking the next batch of letters would be sent out sometime April... but maybe it won't be until May.
 
So I just called up the admissions office to check the status of my application (I interviewed a little over a month ago). She pretty much told me nothing .... just that I should hear back by the end of the month. In UCLA talk, I'm pretty sure that means they don't have any idea. I asked whether they were going to send the applications out all at once ... she told me they were sending out as many as possible that they had received decisions on. So overall, I think I got no where. 😳 Anyone else have any luck?
 
I called the admissions office about the waiting list and they say we probably wouldn't hear anything until after may 15. Isn't it funny how they always seem like they are in such a rush to hang out so you feel that you have to speak faster before they hang up on you?
 
shanddallar said:
I called the admissions office about the waiting list and they say we probably wouldn't hear anything until after may 15. Isn't it funny how they always seem like they are in such a rush to hang out so you feel that you have to speak faster before they hang up on you?
Yeah really.. I think that is an admissions office tactic. Act like you have all the world to do when you really don't. I would hate to bother them from surfing the web! 🙂 So is there anyone else out there who is still waiting to hear back from their interview?
 
uclalee said:
Yeah really.. I think that is an admissions office tactic. Act like you have all the world to do when you really don't. I would hate to bother them from surfing the web! 🙂 So is there anyone else out there who is still waiting to hear back from their interview?

i have to disagree. its a pretty big job. and at a lot of schools its only like 2-3 people working in the admissions office. its a full-time, year round job that is pretty important. but honestly they are very rude sometimes and they suck in general (i mean all schools in general, some are very nice though, but i think they are faking their niceness)! they are even mean to accepted students. what is that about? i have to say that keck usc's adm office personell are the rudest people ive met ever. 😡
 
doctorvenkman said:
This looks like the thread for UCLA talk, so:
What are other options for housing besides the UCLA graduate housing? What are good neighborhoods to live in? And is it affordable?

you may check the early posts....
 
docmemi said:
i have to disagree. its a pretty big job. and at a lot of schools its only like 2-3 people working in the admissions office. its a full-time, year round job that is pretty important. but honestly they are very rude sometimes and they suck in general (i mean all schools in general, some are very nice though, but i think they are faking their niceness)! they are even mean to accepted students. what is that about? i have to say that keck usc's adm office personell are the rudest people ive met ever. 😡


I agree that it's alot of work for a few people in the adm office. But isn't it weird how when you are there for an interview, you always see these ladies standing around, doing nothing but chat about their kids, their weekend plans, etc? I also agree with the USC people being super rude. One lady laughed at me on the phone, another yelled at my friend. UCSD is not so great either. I basically was called a ***** who can't read (their website) and will never get an interview. I did 😛
 
im kinda worried about the pbl curriculum. they said that we will only be taught the hard topics in lecture and we have to learn the rest on our own. how will we know what to study? do we have to check out books by ourself? the faculty said not to worry, but i am. im worried i wont learn everything that i need to for the exam.

thoughts?
 
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