Can anyone who has interviewed at UCSD or done a rotation there comment about the program. I heard they did not fill last year & as San Diego is such a beautiful place that worries me!
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- Thread starter klekolo
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klekolo said:
OK, I did neither, but from someone I know who was there as a student, I have heard it is a malignant place. Sorry to be second hand.
Also, even though it is an awesome place, it is VERY expensive to live there, and you are there on a resident salary that doesn't compensate for the difference in Cost of Living.
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kristing said:
i'm both a student and applicant there and i should prolly begin with the disclaimer that I've always been a very optimistic, happy-go-lucky guy and if someone punched me in the face I'd prolly say "that was a delight."
not sure where the malignant thing comes from, but I've heard it too. most of the residents I know like it though (my intern was a severe pessimist and didnt like it but he didnt like anything about anything). everything about UCSD has had this negative reputation from undergrad through most residency programs and it is completely baffling to me.
true, cost of living is expensive in San Diego, but it's comparable with most of southern CA and vastly more affordable than anywhere near or in the bay area. you can certainly live there on a residents salary and enjoy the other things san diego has to offer
pros of the program include a lot of elective time, the benefits of both university affiliation and a stand alone children's hospital, a good relationship among residents, and a nice hospital.
cons are that (as an intern) you only round with the attending on the day after admission (although if you are not busy on other days you are free to sit in as your resident rounds with the attending and I think it is still busy despite Q5 (but not nearly as busy as I gather CHOC or CHLA are). The difference between Q4 and Q5 is immense.
this brings us to the not filling thing last year. i asked my interviewer about that and he says that it was a complete administrative error, they had a string of great match results recently, got over-confident, were counting on more UCSD applicants returning, and did not rank enough applicants.
take this for what it's worth (probably very little): while i feel that it is surely on a lower tier than UCSF, Stanford, CHLA, and UCLA, in terms of the caliber of faculty and reputation, to many people being happy where you live is more important and San Diego living is the best. we had surfing weather on christmas day, for crying out loud. take a second look at UCSD; if anything its a great excuse to make another trip to the city.
hope this was helpful. if you have any more specific questions please feel free to ask!
🙂
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by the way, had my FINAL interview of the season today!!! 🙂 🙂 😀 😀
