personal-questions

Question: 

Personal Questions

If possible, will you be able to share how much UCLA weighs on GPA, Extracurriculars, Research? Can you tell us with what GPA (science and cumulative), if any research experience, volunteering, etc? I live in San Diego and UCLA is my absolute top choice.

Also, does admission weigh a lot of what undergrad school you came from?

Answer:

Sorry for the delay in responding. There were some technical issues with the site.

This is a very good and important questions!

UCLA is one of the top medical schools in the country. As such, there are many people who will apply to the school. Last year there were over 6,000 applicants and 600 students interviewed for about 160 spots. As such, MCAT and GPA will be important as UCLA will likely use these to screen out some of the applicants off the top. The median GPA for the school is a 3.81 with the 10th percentile at 3.35. For MCAT, median 34, 10th percentile 27. So, the better your scores there, the better your chances.

As far as which things weigh more heavily for the school, it depends which program you are applying to. The school in general likes to have students who are committed to serving the underserved and are culturally sensitive, particularly if they speak a second language. There is a program specifically for those who want to work with the underprivileged called the DREW program. There is also a PRIME program for students who want to pursue a Master’s degree during medical school. This can be in public health, business (MBA) or another degree. So, if you are interested in either of those programs, you would want to emphasize your commitment to service or explain your desire for a Master’s degree.

For the “normal” UCLA program, some of the same principles apply. You want to be a “well rounded” applicant with good experience in the fields you will find on my “Admissions” page. The link is on the navigation bar on the left. UCLA is an academic center, so if you have interest in or experience in research, that would be good to put on your resume and talk about during your interview.

I know this answer is a little vague, but depending on the program you want to apply to and your interests, the things you will want to emphasize will be a little different. As I mentioned before, you may want to emphasize community service and research a little more for UCLA than for other schools.

One thing I have learned is that as important as it is to have a good application, the interview is really the key to getting accepted or not. You can find a link to my suggestions about the interview on the “admissions” page as well.

It doesn’t really matter which undergraduate school you came from. The MCAT is the way that medical schools judge whether you learned what you should have from your undergraduate degree. It also doesn’t matter what your degree was in. UCLA likes a diverse class, including choice of major.

Best of luck to you! If you have follow-up questions, please post them on the site. I’d be happy to give more specifics if you need.