Copied my response from a previous thread. This is what I know, as it was explained to me by my interviewer. Hope this is helpful!!
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=343771
Here's my 2 cents...
I had a 2+ hour interview with Dr. Fulco, who chairs one of the admissions committees... he went over the entire admissions process ad nauseum... about 45 minutes before we even got into the formal interview...
He told me that UCLA makes all decisions based on a merit/point system. Interviewers are given a 4-5 page evaluation form that they complete for each interviewee...
In it, they have to assess how the interviewee stacks up in a variety of areas... I can't remember the exact names, even though Dr. Fulco showed me the sheet, which he had already filled in from my AMCAS before I even interviewed... I remember, it assesses your desire to go into primary care, the breadth of your research experience, commitment to bettering humanity.... things like that...
These forms, as well as your application and letters, are then reviewed in a subcommittee... I think I remember him saying there are 4, but I can't exactly remember...
At the committee, each member awards a certain number of points, in a closed ballot manner. These are then tallied and this gives you your overall score. He said that student members of the committee are able to award points. He also mentioned a complex way of calculating outliers in the votes. He mentioned that most members of the committee tend to vote consistently with the other members, and if one member votes significantly higher or lower than the others, then those values are corrected somehow...
He said the reason it takes so long to hear from UCLA, is because they have to amass a certain number of ranked applicants. He said you are LITERALLY sitting in a computer with your score from the committee, and they accept those applicants with some minimum cutoff score. He said in mid-January, they will start letting in the applicants with the highest scores.
He said that once your committee score is determined, there is nothing you can do to appeal the decision. He said that if you are denied an interview, an appeal is possible, but not if you are denied admission.
He said the wait list follows the ranked scores as well. He mentioned that once you are ranked, it does no good to send updates on coursework/activities, or even letters of interest/intent, because this will not influence your numerical score.
He was VERY informative and thorough... I felt like I was on the freakin' committee by the time he finished... THEN the interview began...
What a charming man... I hope he talks the committee into scoring me high, because I'd love to continue my medical education at UCLA.
Best of luck to everyone who is waiting to hear from UCLA, and I hope this information was helpful...
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Originally Posted by FutureDr2011
So do members of the committee know who is in and who is not? Since they vote in closed ballot fashion, that would be interesting to know...
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Of course, some administrator probably has access to it.
I was told by Dr. Fulco that they do NOT know who is in and who is not...
He said that the CHAIRS of each subcommittee know the total points awarded each applicant... He said they also know how each member voted... But the individual members don't know how each voted and they don't know the total points...
The number just goes into a computer system and ranks applicants, and whenever they're ready, they let people in above a certain cutoff... Of course, going into it, they don't know what will be the "magic" cutoff that will admit one person and reject the next...
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Originally Posted by topdogg82
i'm wondering that post-interview, do in-state candidates start out w/ more 'points' than OOS ones, since im OOS? or do they have separate lists of instate/OOS interviewees?
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In my interview, Dr. Fulco didn't mention anything about that... I'm a California resident though, so he may not have thought it was relevant.
He did make it sound like there was only ONE ranked list of applicants, though...
I have several friends from my undergrad years at UCLA who were highly qualified out of state students... they all got waitlisted and eventually rejected... However, I know of a few in state residents who were accepted...
Not sure if the difference is purely due to the residency status, though...
