UCSF interview??

[Jaded03]

This may sound like a redundant question, and someone may have answered it before but I could not find any posts concerning it so I hope you guys don't mind me asking again.

From the past, you will probably given several prompts and you get your choice. It probably won't be USC's format (summary).

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[pharminful]

For those of you who are wondering what to expect on interview day, I found this: http://more.studentdoctor.net/interviewlist.php?school=307. Maybe y'all already know about it, but I just thought I'd share. (I'm a newbie.) Good luck!

 

[angelfood]

Hello,

This may sound like a redundant question, and someone may have answered it before but I could not find any posts concerning it so I hope you guys don't mind me asking again.

Regarding the interview essay, will there be multiple topics to choose from? I know that some schools provide you an article to read and then ask you to write an essay, does UCSF do that? Is it just one essay? If there are multiple questions to choose from, will some be non-pharmacy related?

UCSF interview is my first for pharm schools so I really don't know what it's like.

Thanks a lot.

Last year, there were 2 or 3 topics to choose from for the essay, all of which were not related to pharmacy.

 

[stkyrice]

Hello,

This may sound like a redundant question, and someone may have answered it before but I could not find any posts concerning it so I hope you guys don't mind me asking again.

Regarding the interview essay, will there be multiple topics to choose from? I know that some schools provide you an article to read and then ask you to write an essay, does UCSF do that? Is it just one essay? If there are multiple questions to choose from, will some be non-pharmacy related?

UCSF interview is my first for pharm schools so I really don't know what it's like.

Thanks a lot.

You're giving 3 prompts, and you're asked to answer one of them on one side of a sheet of paper. None of the prompts are pharmacy related. The one that I chose during my interview last year was to compare and contrast two friends and talk about who would be more dependable (if I remember correctly). Two of the prompts were really straightforward, and one was really esoteric.

Given that you only have about 45-60 minutes to complete the exercise, my advice would be to choose the easiest one, and just show that you're able to write a basic 4-5 paragraph essay. You're not expected to write something that'll win a prose or nonfiction award--they just want to make sure that your written English is passable and coherent. A friend of mine blew this off a couple years ago, and even though he did really well in the interview and GPA, the lack of effort on his part to do the writing sample got him rejected.

Hope this helps.

 

[CafeMed]

A friend of mine blew this off a couple years ago, and even though he did really well in the interview and GPA, the lack of effort on his part to do the writing sample got him rejected.

Hope this helps.

Really, his essay was that bad?

 

[munition]

I interviewed at UCSF but got rejected. I should've found out what got me rejected. Gonna apply again this year. Good luck to those with interviews right now

 

[xoxfresswataxox]

Hello,

This may sound like a redundant question, and someone may have answered it before but I could not find any posts concerning it so I hope you guys don't mind me asking again.

Regarding the interview essay, will there be multiple topics to choose from? I know that some schools provide you an article to read and then ask you to write an essay, does UCSF do that? Is it just one essay? If there are multiple questions to choose from, will some be non-pharmacy related?

UCSF interview is my first for pharm schools so I really don't know what it's like.

Thanks a lot.

Hey experience from my 1/30 interview, there were multiple topics. specifically there were 3 topics you could choose from. None of them are pharmacy related. you have to do one essay about 1 page long in about 45 minutes. choose one of the three. no articles to read

 

[xoxfresswataxox]

I interviewed at UCSF but got rejected. I should've found out what got me rejected. Gonna apply again this year. Good luck to those with interviews right now

You already found out? how? I mean that's really early. I assume your interview was on fri 1/30 right? which grp? 1130 or 230pm? sorry for that many question. I'm just surprised that the decision came out that early.

 

[CafeMed]

You already found out? how? I mean that's really early. I assume your interview was on fri 1/30 right? which grp? 1130 or 230pm? sorry for that many question. I'm just surprised that the decision came out that early.

This person is referring to being rejected last year because decisions don't come out for awhile.

 

[munition]

You already found out? how? I mean that's really early. I assume your interview was on fri 1/30 right? which grp? 1130 or 230pm? sorry for that many question. I'm just surprised that the decision came out that early.

Sorry, should've re-worded that. I interviewed LAST year, and got rejected. But good luck to those doing interviews this year. It's pretty relaxed.

 

[crazy4eck]

random question, but does anybody know what the mascot of UCSF is???? Thanks!

 

[Jaded03]

random question, but does anybody know what the mascot of UCSF is???? Thanks!

They do not have one. (There's no real UCSF sports team to support. It would be like Touro or Western having a mascot.)

 

[matt48]

Sorry, should've re-worded that. I interviewed LAST year, and got rejected. But good luck to those doing interviews this year. It's pretty relaxed.

I stressed out too much on that date...

 

[stkyrice]

Really, his essay was that bad?

Yup--he literally wrote maybe two paragraphs, and when he called Joel, he got reamed for it. That was the sad part--if he hadn't done that, he would've gotten in easily.

I kept on thinking, "sucks to be him...but he should've known better."

 

[stkyrice]

They do not have one. (There's no real UCSF sports team to support. It would be like Touro or Western having a mascot.)

heh, yeah, UCSF is all grad/professional, so there's no sports at all except for intramurals. Hell, even our pro teams suck--though apparently San Francisco has an awesome roller derby team (shrug)

 

[CafeMed]

Yup--he literally wrote maybe two paragraphs, and when he called Joel, he got reamed for it. That was the sad part--if he hadn't done that, he would've gotten in easily.

I kept on thinking, "sucks to be him...but he should've known better."

Wow, that sucks, but 2 paragraphs is ridiculous. I've been worried about the essay portion so I can't believe he didn't take it seriously.

To those who have interviewed, did you guys get to do the essay portion before the interview? Joel's blog makes it sound like the essay portion comes first and then interviews begin.

 

[koercive]

Wow, that sucks, but 2 paragraphs is ridiculous. I've been worried about the essay portion so I can't believe he didn't take it seriously.

To those who have interviewed, did you guys get to do the essay portion before the interview? Joel's blog makes it sound like the essay portion comes first and then interviews begin.

I think you are randomly selected into two groups. either you interview first or you do the essay/tour first.

 

[stkyrice]

Wow, that sucks, but 2 paragraphs is ridiculous. I've been worried about the essay portion so I can't believe he didn't take it seriously.

To those who have interviewed, did you guys get to do the essay portion before the interview? Joel's blog makes it sound like the essay portion comes first and then interviews begin.

If it was like it was last year, half the people do the interview first, and the other half do the writing portion. I did the interview first actually. It might have changed this year since they're interviewing fewer people this year.

 

[CafeMed]

I think you are randomly selected into two groups. either you interview first or you do the essay/tour first.

If it was like it was last year, half the people do the interview first, and the other half do the writing portion. I did the interview first actually. It might have changed this year since they're interviewing fewer people this year.

Thanks for the info guys! Hopefully, I get to do the essay first and get it out of the way.

 

[LiquidN2]

Hi guys,

Thanks a lot for answering my questions regarding the interview essay.

I just have a few more questions. Is it gonna be a hand-written essay? I read somewhere that it's gonna be just a one-page essay and if it's hand-written I can't quite grasp the actual length because some people might have big hand-writing. Anyways, say if you transfer a good interview essay with 4-5 paragraphs to MS Word, how long should it be single-spaced? Sorry if this question sounds stupid but I'm just trying to estimate the length of the essay b/c I'm used to typing essays on the computer.

Thanks again.

 

[matt48]

Hi guys,

Thanks a lot for answering my questions regarding the interview essay.

I just have a few more questions. Is it gonna be a hand-written essay? I read somewhere that it's gonna be just a one-page essay and if it's hand-written I can't quite grasp the actual length because some people might have big hand-writing. Anyways, say if you transfer a good interview essay with 4-5 paragraphs to MS Word, how long should it be single-spaced? Sorry if this question sounds stupid but I'm just trying to estimate the length of the essay b/c I'm used to typing essays on the computer.

Thanks again.

It is handwritten. Do you seriously expect them to give you a computer with MS word to write the essay? The length of the essay is 5/6 of a page. To answer your other question, you can actually test it yourself. Write couple paragraph on a piece of paper with no line and see how much you can write in 5/6 of a page.

 

[koercive]

random question:

Was the interview invite letter just that 1 page letter or did it come with other pages (directions/maps/etc.?). My dad got the mail while I was out of the country, and I'm just double checking that I am not forgetting anything.

Things to bring were:
-pen, interview invite paper, a form of id

correct?


also , how bad is parking on a saturday in the nearby parking structure?

thanks

 

[stkyrice]

Hi guys,

Thanks a lot for answering my questions regarding the interview essay.

I just have a few more questions. Is it gonna be a hand-written essay? I read somewhere that it's gonna be just a one-page essay and if it's hand-written I can't quite grasp the actual length because some people might have big hand-writing. Anyways, say if you transfer a good interview essay with 4-5 paragraphs to MS Word, how long should it be single-spaced? Sorry if this question sounds stupid but I'm just trying to estimate the length of the essay b/c I'm used to typing essays on the computer.

Thanks again.

You're only given a box on one side of a sheet of paper, so it's less than a full sheet. To have it transfer right, it would be about half a page single spaced if you have average writing.

The problem is that there's no way to know what the questions will be--it could be as random as ice cream flavors, or as esoteric as the state of the world after nuclear war (maybe not, but still). Honestly, you're probably a lot better off preparing for the interview than stressing over the writing sample. From the looks of your posts, you can write well, so I honestly wouldn't worry about it if I were you. That being said, if you really want to practice, try writing in a blog, or a journal or something where you can practice your impromptu writing skills.

 

[stkyrice]

random question:

Was the interview invite letter just that 1 page letter or did it come with other pages (directions/maps/etc.?). My dad got the mail while I was out of the country, and I'm just double checking that I am not forgetting anything.

Things to bring were:
-pen, interview invite paper, a form of id

correct?


also , how bad is parking on a saturday in the nearby parking structure?

thanks

you don't need the invite letter, just a form of ID (driver's license, school ID, something that has your picture and your name) to confirm your identity. bring a pen for the writing sample.

parking on saturdays in the parking structure is pretty easy, and it's $3/hour. you can usually get pretty lucky and find street parking too since the campus is dead during the weekends (that is, if you can parallel park, otherwise you're better off parking in the garage). don't do meter parking (along parnassus and along 3rd avenue) since they will check and ticket.

 

[CafeMed]

parking on saturdays in the parking structure is pretty easy, and it's $3/hour. you can usually get pretty lucky and find street parking too since the campus is dead during the weekends (that is, if you can parallel park, otherwise you're better off parking in the garage).

Is there a max amount of time for street parking? In LA, there's usually a limit on it.

Parallel parking in SF should be fun.

 

[angelfood]

Is there a max amount of time for street parking? In LA, there's usually a limit on it.

Parallel parking in SF should be fun.

I live in the neighborhood next to UCSF.

It's relatively easy to find parking in the neighborhood if you allot yourself 30-minutes or so. If you don't find anything in that time, then park in the UCSF parking garage.

The streets (not the parking meters) in this neighborhood are 2-hour permit parking. However, unlike Dallas or other places, they will not tow you if you go over the 2 hour time limit. You will get a parking ticket ONLY if the meter people check it. More than likely, you won't get a ticket.

Please be very careful about where you park if you decide to park in the neighborhood. Do not block anyone's driveways! It's hard enough to pull into my garage as it is with the tiny streets and the cars parked on either side of the street. I had to call last week to have a car towed because they were blocking my driveway. (I hope that it wasn't a fellow interviewee for UCSF.)

 

[CafeMed]

I live in the neighborhood next to UCSF.

It's relatively easy to find parking in the neighborhood if you allot yourself 30-minutes or so. If you don't find anything in that time, then park in the UCSF parking garage.

The streets (not the parking meters) in this neighborhood are 2-hour permit parking. However, unlike Dallas or other places, they will not tow you if you go over the 2 hour time limit. You will get a parking ticket ONLY if the meter people check it. More than likely, you won't get a ticket.

Please be very careful about where you park if you decide to park in the neighborhood. Do not block anyone's driveways! It's hard enough to pull into my garage as it is with the tiny streets and the cars parked on either side of the street. I had to call last week to have a car towed because they were blocking my driveway. (I hope that it wasn't a fellow interviewee for UCSF.)

I think I will just play it safe and pay the $22 to park in the UCSF parking garage for the day in order to avoid worrying about it during my interview! Hopefully, it'll be worth it in the end.

 

[koercive]

Is there an all day parking option if I want to visit friends in SF (leaving my car in the structure)?

 

[CafeMed]

Is there an all day parking option if I want to visit friends in SF (leaving my car in the structure)?

Yeah, they'll just charge you the max. daily rate. According to their website, you can leave a car there for 24 hours.

 

[LiquidN2]

U guys have been so helpful. Thanks for putting up with my stupid questions.

One more question. In the invitation letter it says "be on the UCSF campus approximately five hours beyond your scheduled time" I'm a little confused. My interview is at noon, does this mean i should be on UCSF campus at 7am? If not then how early should I come before the interview? I guess ideally 30mins- 1hr?

Thanks

 

[CafeMed]

U guys have been so helpful. Thanks for putting up with my stupid questions.

One more question. In the invitation letter it says "be on the UCSF campus approximately five hours beyond your scheduled time" I'm a little confused. My interview is at noon, does this mean i should be on UCSF campus at 7am? If not then how early should I come before the interview? I guess ideally 30mins- 1hr?

Thanks

No, it means that you need to expect to be on campus for 5 hours from the point of your interview time. If your interview is at noon, you'll be on campus until about 5 pm. I'd plan to be there about 30 min ahead of your interview time.

 

[ExpressMaiL]

Is there a max amount of time for street parking? In LA, there's usually a limit on it.

Parallel parking in SF should be fun.

On certain days, parking in front of the school (on Parnassus) is allowed for a maximum of 2 hours. If I remember correctly, every $0.25 is 10 minutes.

If it's your interview date, just park in the structure so you can focus on the task at hand. Trying to save money and getting your car towed would be a bad experience...

 

[stkyrice]

I live in the neighborhood next to UCSF.

It's relatively easy to find parking in the neighborhood if you allot yourself 30-minutes or so. If you don't find anything in that time, then park in the UCSF parking garage.

The streets (not the parking meters) in this neighborhood are 2-hour permit parking. However, unlike Dallas or other places, they will not tow you if you go over the 2 hour time limit. You will get a parking ticket ONLY if the meter people check it. More than likely, you won't get a ticket.

Please be very careful about where you park if you decide to park in the neighborhood. Do not block anyone's driveways! It's hard enough to pull into my garage as it is with the tiny streets and the cars parked on either side of the street. I had to call last week to have a car towed because they were blocking my driveway. (I hope that it wasn't a fellow interviewee for UCSF.)

On Saturdays and Sundays, the 2 hour limit doesn't apply, so you can park there the whole day without having to worry about it. If you're lucky, you can also park on the areas where the curb is painted white (as long as it's on a Saturday--it's off limits during 6AM-11PM on the weekdays), like all along the library, and there are a couple of other spots also on the other side of Parnassus. Just make sure not to block the driveways at all, since you will get towed.

As for parking at a metered spot on Saturdays, they will ticket you--and the metermaids have been really anal about it this year because of the huge budget deficit.

If you interview on a weekday, it's probably better just to park in the garage.

 

[futurepharmer]

U guys have been so helpful. Thanks for putting up with my stupid questions.

One more question. In the invitation letter it says "be on the UCSF campus approximately five hours beyond your scheduled time" I'm a little confused. My interview is at noon, does this mean i should be on UCSF campus at 7am? If not then how early should I come before the interview? I guess ideally 30mins- 1hr?

Thanks

http://pharmdadmissions.ucsf.edu/2009/01/early-early-early-early-super-early.html

 

[matt48]

Yup--he literally wrote maybe two paragraphs, and when he called Joel, he got reamed for it. That was the sad part--if he hadn't done that, he would've gotten in easily.

I kept on thinking, "sucks to be him...but he should've known better."

I don't think the number of paragraphs matter that much. You only have 5/6 of a page to write, and if you want to fit 5 paragraphs into that space, I bet each paragraph only has like 5 sentences. On the other hand, if you can write decent 2 or 3 paragraphs and adaquately defend your opinion with personal examples, I think they will even like it better.

 

[stkyrice]

I don't think the number of paragraphs matter that much. You only have 5/6 of a page to write, and if you want to fit 5 paragraphs into that space, I bet each paragraph only has like 5 sentences. On the other hand, if you can write decent 2 or 3 paragraphs and adaquately defend your opinion with personal examples, I think they will even like it better.

Well, that was the issue with my friend--according to what my friend told me, he didn't take the writing sample that seriously, so apparently what he wrote wasn't substantive enough, and he knew it. I guess you could just chalk it up to thinking that he was good enough to get in without putting any effort in the writing sample, not realizing that the writing sample is just as important as everything else in the application.

 

[Jaded03]

I don't know. It doesn't seem to add up. You don't go into an application half-heartedly. It just saves your ego (inflated by your resume and GPA) from saying I was legitimately denied acceptance. I think it was a bad day for the essay portion for the applicant. Not to deny the applicant writing skills, but not performing under timed conditions AT THE TIME. I wouldn't stress anyone out about the writing portion with this story. I think if you make a valiant effort you'll be fine. If not, just say you weren't taking it seriously.

At least a few useful things did come up: Everything written must fit on a page. It's timed. Prompt choices will be given.

 

[mangop]

Just a thought: The N Judah MUNI line is pretty convenient to get around the UCSF area. I took it after taking BART up and it was totally fine (and saved me about $15 total).

 

[crazy4eck]

After going through some of the interview feedback, I see that a lot of people said the interview took 60minutes. Is it really that long? Can people who interviewed on Jan 30 comment on this? I'm interviewing this Saturday aaah!! Thanks guys.

 

[fatevsdestiny]

FYI to UCSF applicants: UCSF no longer has San Diego as a rotation site, officially as of today! So sad.

 

[BRUINGOLD]

Have the interviews so far been pretty relaxed?? My friend interviewed at UCSF last year and said the interview was extremely stressful. He felt so bad about it that he immediately left without taking the tour, etc. I'm getting more and more anxious as the time for my interview approaches.

 

[stkyrice]

I don't know. It doesn't seem to add up. You don't go into an application half-heartedly. It just saves your ego (inflated by your resume and GPA) from saying I was legitimately denied acceptance. I think it was a bad day for the essay portion for the applicant. Not to deny the applicant writing skills, but not performing under timed conditions AT THE TIME. I wouldn't stress anyone out about the writing portion with this story. I think if you make a valiant effort you'll be fine. If not, just say you weren't taking it seriously.

At least a few useful things did come up: Everything written must fit on a page. It's timed. Prompt choices will be given.

It could've been...from what I understand --and this is only from my friend, and obviously since I have no way of knowing otherwise, I have to take it at face value. I was pretty shocked too when my friend told me this, because it didn't seem to add up to me as well. From what he's told me, he seemed like a competitive applicant. Or maybe he was just trying to freak me out. Who knows. (shrug)

I totally agree with you--that you have to put in the effort to look like you know how to write, present a good argument, meaning you know how to write a good, comprehensible essay, which is something that if you've taken English comp, you should be able to do. It may have just been his way of saving face to me--which I don't understand either. Plenty of people I know don't make it the first time and are comfortable with it. (shrug)

 

[gnuel]

FYI to UCSF applicants: UCSF no longer has San Diego as a rotation site, officially as of today! So sad.

What happened?

 

[Jaded03]

Well it maybe too late for this since I fly out tomorrow. Anyone have travel tips from sfo besides taxi. I have a horror story where I shelled out 50 cash since it was so far from the airport. I guess I should just experiment with the public transportation.

 

[OTFuturePharmD]

Good luck on Saturday everyone. You'll be great!

 

[BRUINGOLD]

I can't wait for Saturday to be over, I'm so nervous with all the anticipation!

 

[xangelx]

Well it maybe too late for this since I fly out tomorrow. Anyone have travel tips from sfo besides taxi. I have a horror story where I shelled out 50 cash since it was so far from the airport. I guess I should just experiment with the public transportation.

Your hotel can give you detailed information on which BART and which muni trains to take to get to them.

 

[xangelx]

Good luck on Saturday everyone. You'll be great!

You will be there as well right? Good luck

 

[OTFuturePharmD]

I'll be there too xangelx. Can't wait to meet some of the sdner's.

 

[laketica]

what do you guys think about bringing notes to the interview? =) not written-out paragraphs, but just little words and notes.