Los Angeles, CA
Allopathic Medical Schools | Public Non-Profit
Overall, applicants ranked the school in the top 12% of interviews, indicating it is highly regarded. They found the interview mixed with a moderate stress level, and felt they did okay.
⭐ Overall Impressions ▼
How did the interview impress you?
Most respondents felt positively about their interview.
What was the stress level of the interview?
Most respondents rated their interview as average stress.
How you think you did?
Most respondents thought they performed well at the interview.
How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?
Most respondents rank this school above all other schools.
How do you rank this school among other schools to which you've applied?
Most respondents rank this school above other schools they applied to.
0 = Below, 10 = Above
💬 Interview Questions ▼
What is one of the specific questions they asked you?
The most commonly asked interview questions at medical schools include inquiries about motivations for pursuing medicine, personal experiences and background, challenges faced, opinions on healthcare systems, future career aspirations, and specific details from the applicant's application, research, and volunteer experiences. Many respondents mentioned being asked about their family history, childhood, academic choices, and opinions on healthcare reform, indicating a thorough exploration of personal and professional motivations during the interview process. Some responses suggest that interviews were in an MMI format with strict adherence to non-disclosure agreements, emphasizing the confidentiality and structured nature of the interview process.
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Specific questions about my activities
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Signed NDA, unable to tell what questions they asked
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Tell me about your research projects
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Tell me about yourself (she didn't get a chance to read my file/application)
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Why UCLA?
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tell me about your family and home life when you were elementary school and in high school.
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what motivates you?
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your freshman grades are pretty sorry....partying too much?
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Tell me about your research.
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Why medicine?
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Why not just be a professor instead? Why not just be a NP or EMT instead?
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Have you read anything interesting lately?
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How would you change the healthcare system?
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What motivated you to sign up for ___?
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I see you did X in your application. Tell me about it.
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Tell me about youself.
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Why are you interested in medicine? Why UCLA?
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How do you feel about American healthcare? How would you fix it?
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Tell me about yourself/family history.
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Why medicine? Why UCLA?
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Problems with Healthcare
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Tell me about yourself
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Why medicine
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Interviewer #1: Tell me about yourself. Can you tell me about your family and siblings? Where did you grow up in? How would you describe this area? How would you describe the education that you have received? What are you doing right now? Can you tell me about some of your volunteering activities? Why do you want to go into medicine? Why do you want to go to UCLA? Do you have any questions for me?
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Interviewer #2: What schools have you interviewed at? What schools have you been accepted to? Tell me about your life up until the end of high school. Why did you select your undergraduate institution? Where do you see yourself 15 years from now? What are the current challenges in medicine? Tell me about the most meaningful community service work that you have done. How about of something that you failed at and what did you learn? What do you like to do for fun? Do you have any questions for me?
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What kind of medicine?
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Tell me about your research position.
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Tell me about yourself?
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What would you like to change in your past career?
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growing up with discrimination
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How to fix health care?
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Why medicine ?
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How would you fix the healthcare system?
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Questions that were specific to my app, my personal statement, research, etc
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What activities have you been involved in? (but she wanted to know things even going back to high school which I wasn't prepared for)
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Tell me about your childhood.
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Do you ever think about what makes you succeed?
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Tell me about typical day growing up?
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What is your most treasured volunteer experience?
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Lots about engineering and my research (we were both engineers); of course there was the whats wrong with healthcare / how to fix it?
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What do you do outside of school?
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What do your parents do?
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Faculty interviewer - very rigid structure. He read the entire packet of questions verbatim.
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Student interviewer over lunch. Very casual. Talked about myself, then asked about her experience at UCLA
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What has been the most challenging experience you have ever had to deal with?
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Why do you want to be a doctor? How do you know?
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All questions pertained to very specific aspects about my childhood, life and experiences.
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What do you think about our current health care system?
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Where do you see yourself 5, 10 years from now?
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What do you like to do for fun?
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compare Obama and McCain's health care plans and what you personally think
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how can you help to sustain student interest in the community once they get to medical school
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why i want to go to UCLA
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Asked about research
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How do you know you want to be a physician (both my parents are doctors)?
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What obstacles have you come across?
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The Interview was very conversational and lasted 90 minutes. Tell me about yourself.
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What did you like most about your time in Cambridge?
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What do you think is the solution to the national healthcare problem?
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How do you feel about bureaucratic regulation in medicine, and how will you deal with it?
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Tell about how you grew up.
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What would you do if medicine were not an option? (she meant as if it didn't exist)
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Is there any specialty that you are interested in and why?
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What do you think of the health care system, and what changes should be made that don't require a huge overhaul?
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What has your sister told you about medicine?
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Asked me if I thought something was due to my culture...I don't remember what it was
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Tell me about your family
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What would I be if I couldn't be a physician.
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Tell me about your path to medicine
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What are the major problems with U.S. health care?
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Why UCLA? (gave answer... silence...) What else? Anything else?
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How did you like college.
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Why medicine.
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Why UCLA.
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more about AMCAS.
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When you did [AMCAS activity] what did you think about [aspect of activity]...
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How would you fix the health care system?
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Tell me about your research/volunteer/community service
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Just very thorough discussion of each activity listed on my AMCAS and many statments in my personal statement.
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Tell me about X acticity, about research. What is unique about you. What do you do for fun.
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Tell me about yourself.
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What does socialized medicine mean to you? What does universal healthcare mean to you?
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Tell me about your family.
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what do you do for fun?
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Why do you want to be a doctor?
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Any challenges or difficulties growing up?
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What do you think about the healthcare system? (expect this question)
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Do you know the percent of uninsured individuals in the united states? If so what?
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Tell me about yourself. How was it growing up? Why do you want to become a doctor? What makes you unique compared to our other applicants?
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What has been the most creative leadership activity you have been involved in?
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Tell me about a difficult situation you had and how you dealt with it?
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Tell me more about your neighborhood as a child
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Why didnt you take the MCAT again?
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Why do you want to be a physician?
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How will you handle family life and medicine?
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Will you do research as a med student (umm...my interviewer didn't like my answer so it's not as easy of a question as you think)?
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Tell me about when your grandfather died and what that meant to you.
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What was the most challenging part about living in Mexico?
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What's it been like having a father that's gay?
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Asked specific questions about my application - interviewer knew my application, letters of rec, etc. very well.
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Do you know what field you want to get into and what research you want to do?
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Tell me about your family and how they shaped you.
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Why should we pick you?
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Why your major?
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What do you think of nationalized health care?
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What is your coping mechanism?
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Why are you a better applicant then everyone else?
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Do you consider yourself disadvantaged in any way?
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General discussion of extracurricular activities.
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Tell me about yourself. I think it may have been more along the lines of, ''Who is _____ (my name here)?''
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Tell me a little about your family and how they have shaped who you are.
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What type of medicine do you think you want to practice and why?
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When did you decide that you wanted to become a doctor?
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Many questions are asked about what is indicated on the application itself, i.e. ''I see you transferred schools, what made you decide to do that?''.
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Tell me about yourself. (Opening question)
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Why do you think you would be a good physician?
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What would you be if you could be anything completely unrelated to science?
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Why be a doctor?
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research q's
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what sets you apart
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why UCLA (this is the point of the entire interview)
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Where are you now (geographically), and what are you doing?
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Why did you choose Psychobiology as your major?
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Any idea of what specific area of medicine you'd like to go into? Why those?
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Tell me about your family: brothers and sisters? what do your parents do for a living?
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Where else are you applying?
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Have you faced any hardships in your life?
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Name three changes in the delivery of health care you would like to see.
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Do you know what medical specialty you want to get into and why???
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Tell me more about the research projects you participated in..
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Why would you choose UCLA over any other school?
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In the time you spent in other countries, did you have any opportunity to experience health care delivery systems? Did anyone you were traveling with get hurt or ill?
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Tell me about the research that you did. How was it relevant to the other projects in the lab? How is it relevant in general (As a doctor, why would I care about this drug)?
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Why do you want to go into (fill in specialty here)?
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What would you do if you did not get into medical school?
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about my past experience with eating disorder
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state of healthcare system; should we nationalize
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Was it hard putting yourself through school?
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Where do you feel you got your work ethic from?
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Would you like to continue research in your medical career?
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Start out by telling me about your family.
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Tell me about your research experience.
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What do you think about our national health care?
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Did you ever consider becoming a paramedic (I worked on an ambulance in college)?
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What would you do if a career in medicine didn't work out?
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Why did you choose a humanities major instead of one more related to medicine?
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Describe a creative project you were involved with or a time when you showed leadership in a project or a program.
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Describe a research experience that left a profound impression on you and what you learned from it.
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Why medicine? Why not a teacher, a lawyer, or a social worker?
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Any questions for me?
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So you're a runner?
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Tell me a little bit about your research.
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When did you know you wanted to pursue medicine?
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Why did you take time off?
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Describe your passions.
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What is the most difficult experience you've had?
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What is the most eye-openning experience you've had?
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Where else have you interviewed? Any acceptances (seems inappropriate)?
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name one thing that you are most proud of.
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what do you think about health care in the u.s.?
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what do you think about women in medicine? any disadvantages?
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Describe your research experience.
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Where do you see yourself in 20 years?
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Where does glycolysis take place? Where does the citric acid cycle take place? (This is the part of the interview where I felt like I was on jeopardy or something).
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Explain the grade you got in this class.
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Specific questions about my background.
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All the questions asked were to clarify any questions my interviewer had about my experiences and my background. Just know your experience well and be ready to talk about yourself.
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describe yourself and the area you grew up in.
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what do you think about managed care? what would you do to change it.
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why do you want to become a doctor?
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Health care issues, health care systems of other countries.
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Where doyou want to be in ___ years?
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Why do you want to be a doctor?
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What my parents did right and wrong when raising me?
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Why do I think my brother is the way that he is?
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Questions were mostly specific to my application.
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Are you sure you're not disadvantaged?
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Tell me about your research. (He was a neuropsychiatrist and I work in a neuroimaging lab, so he got very nit-picky about my research.)
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Why didn't you answer all of the essays?
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How do you see yourself involved in medicine-- as a clinician, a researcher, etc?
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In regard to your work in X Clinic, what sort of good and bad experiences have you had in medicine?
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What kind of special medical needs are there for people who live in isolated (ethnic, socio-economic, geographic) groups?
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How did you show leadership in this activity?
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Tell me about this experience...
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You were so busy with all these activities, how did you balance them with your academics and social life? Do you plan on being so active during medical school? How do you know?
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all sorts of stuff related to my application and essays... be sure to reread this stuff
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what are some of your hobbies
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Tell me about some of your political views.
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Tell me about your college activities.
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Describe your research and volunteer experience
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What is one of the most important health issues going on the world, and how would you fix it?
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What was one of the most memorable clinical experiences you had
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Almost all of my questions were totally specific to my application and personal history.
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describe a difficulty or problem in your life and how you dealt with it
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where else have you interviewed? any acceptances?
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all basically questions specific to my application.
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What led you to this decision?
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What do you feel about the poverty in america? (Related to my experience dealing with poverty in central america)
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What do you think about euthenasia (gave a senario)? What about abortion (with a senario)? And stem cell research?
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What was a difficult life experience? How did you end up deciding to go to your undergraduate campus? What specialty are you considering?
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tell me about your culture
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why you are interested in your specialty you declared
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why you want to be a doctor
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Tell me about your college experiences.
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Tell me about your experience abroad.
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What was your experience like at UC Berkeley?
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Please elaborate on this and that experience that you discussed in your application.
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There are a lot of professions that are relevant and useful in this world. Why do you choose medicine?
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What sets you apart from everyone else?
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Tell me about so-and-so experience (in college)
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Tell me about your college experience.
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What was your favorite class in college?
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Some specifics about my file
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What's wrong with healthcare?
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tell me about this and that involvement, volunteer,...
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Describe the research you have done?
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What kind of medicine do you see yourself practicing? Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years?
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Tell me about your family. (I was very impressed by how familiar my interviewer was with my background)
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What kind of medicine would you like to practice? (Remember, UCLA is big on academic medicine)
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Why would you pick UCLA over all the other schools you've interviewed/been accepted at?
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Tell me about your family/hobbies/friends/how you relax
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What do you think about the healthcare system?
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Why medicine/UCLA?
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have you considered academic medicine?
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why ucla
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How do I justify your file to the committee when half your courses are in history (I'm a history of science major)?
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How would (a specific person with whom I didn't get along) describe me, and what would she say I need to work on?
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How would a friend describe you?
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What is your family like?
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What kind of medicine are you interested in?
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What was rewarding about your volunteer experiences?
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Besides the sunshine and blue skies, why do you want to be here at UCLA? What does UCLA offer that you can't get somewhere else?
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Do you think women have a disadvantage in the field?
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Medicine tends to be emotionally draining as well as difficult in other aspects. How do/will you deal with this issue?
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Is there an area of medicine that interests you more than others?
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What do you feel is the biggest problem facing medicine today?
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Tell me about your research?
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What are you doing next semester while out of school?
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What other schools have you interviewed at?
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Discuss the ethical dilemma that you had experienced
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Tel me about your family
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Tell me about your family?
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Where will you be in 10 years?
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about family background
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describe healthcare
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what path will you take in medicine?
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Tell me about your family and background.
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What are your interests outside Medicine?
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What kind of physician you want to be? Academic physician? Research scientist? Clinical care?
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Why I wanted to pursue medicine, what were some of the deciding factors, explain my research, explain my interest in religious studies, what my view is on a physician’s responsibilities, and how all these factors equate to me being a physician.
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Explain this part of your personal statement to me...
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Talk about your volunteer experiences...
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What is the most important thing in your life?
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What was the last book you read? Tell me about it.
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What was the most interesting class that you took in college?
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What was the most interesting question you've been asked during an interview?
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What are your hobbies?
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Do you think you want to go into academic or clinical medicine?
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When did you decide you wanted to go into medicine?
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Explain your research to me in simple terms.
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What is one problem in medicine and how would you fix it.
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Will the health care system change much in the next 10 to 20 years.
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Do you think women and men have the same equal opportunity in practicing medicine?
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What is your strongest quality?
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Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?
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How do you think that people learn most efficiently?
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What are your hobbies? Which authors do you enjoy reading?
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Why pediatric-critical care?
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describe your hardship experience.
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when did you decide medicine is for you?
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At what point did you decide medicine was for you?
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Tell me about your family and mention any hardships or struggles.
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Tell me about your volunteer experiences.
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Solve the healthcare problem!
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Would you pull the plug on a comatose patient if relatives asked you to?
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Would you tell someone they have debilitating disease (e.g. cancer) even if spouse begs you not to because it would crush them because a relative died of the same disease previously?
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Tell me about yourself (background, family)
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What do you think makes a good doctor?
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Tell me about yourself, your family, high school and college experiences.....well, just tell me everything! (My interviewer had not read my file prior to the interview.)
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What do you want me to tell the admissions committee that you feel is absolutely critical to your application?
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What will UCLA be missing if you do not enroll in this school? When did you fall in love with medicine?
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Asked me about my research and my summer activities.
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What other schools have you applied to? Where have you interviewed? Is UCLA one of your top choices? Why?
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What were my thoughts about the current state of affairs in US healthcare.
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What made you decide to become a doctor?
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What, in your opinion, is the biggest problem facing medicine today?
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When did you move to the west coast?
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EC's (volunteer as well as "What do you do for fun?" It's a plus if you can mention some original/unique hobbies/interests)
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Family background types of questions
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Describe a typical day for you.
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What do you think a typical day is like for a medical student at UCLA?
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What was your favorite class?
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Background questions: where are you from, where do your parents live, what do they do, when did you come over CA...etc
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What do you think about the current health care system (or something of that sort in a very non-intimidating way)
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What other schools have you interviewed
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What are you passionate about?
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What do you do to relax?
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What do you think are some pros and cons of HMO's?
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Tell me about your family? She wanted to know about immediate AND extended family. She was seriously asking about aunts, uncles, grand parents, cousins, etc. Why??
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What sort of activities were you involved with on campus that were not academic? She also asked if I attended sporting events, clubs, parties, etc.
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Why do you want to come to UCLA?
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How much did you prepare for the MCAT (I had taken it twice)?
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Tell me about your brothers and sisters?
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When did you know you wanted to be a doctor?
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Have you thought about the struggles you will face as a doctor?
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What are your interests outside of medicine?
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Where did you get your passions from?
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Why did you wait a year before applying to med school? I would not have done that...
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Why exactly happened that caused your father's death.
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Where do you see yourself in 15 years?
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Why do you want to help people through medicine?
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None, its very converasational and based on your experiences and application.
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interest in research, primary care, teaching? (this is on the form as something they should ask about.)
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strengths, weaknesseses, what motivates you, challenges faced, family background, what you do for fun, doubts about medical profession, etc.
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Why do you want to go UCLA?
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You have a lot of academic/work/EC responsibilities, what do you do in your spare time?
What was the most interesting question?
Students said most interesting question asked at University of California Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine discussed a wide range of topics including personal life experiences, career aspirations, challenges faced, and opinions on various societal issues. The interview format may have been an MMI (Multiple Mini Interview) based on responses, potentially involving nondisclosure agreements as some details were not disclosed.
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What would you do if you were drafted tomorrow in the army?
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none of the questions were "interesting" -- all questions were about things I stated in my application...
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none
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What is a scientist?
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Would you be interested in Academic Medicine?
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nothing
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Given the current challenges in medicine, will you be discouraged?
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What do you think of beauracracy is medicine?
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What would you change about the school system to get students more adequately prepared for college?
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What do you do for fun?
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nothing really
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Student interviewer was asking about decisions I'd made in high school. It was kind of interesting to look bad at decisions I'd made 10 years ago.
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Did your parents finish high school?
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Questions about the challenges I've faced.
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Asked about one of the hobbies I listed on AMCAS
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What do you like to do outside of school?
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Question in regards to my personal life experiences.
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Do you know if you want to pursue academics or private practice?
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Did you ever think your school work got in the way of your passion to do research?
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Do you think phenomenological philosophy is practical? (I'm a philosophy major)
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What would you do if medicine were not an option?
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What do you think of the culture of Africa?
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What was the area/community in which you grew up like?
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If you were Obama's health care czar, what would you do to fix the problems in this country?
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My interviewer had read my application VERY thoroughly. All of the questions he asked were very directly about my experiences and statements in my application, but it was interesting to see what was the most exciting to him and what did/didn't come across from my essays.
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How would you fix the health care system?
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just questions about my background and family life.
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What does humanitarian mean to you?
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What is the incidence of disease X in area Y?
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What does ''humanitarian'' mean to you?
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Tell me about a difficult situation and how you dealt with it?
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What type of doctor do you aspire to be?
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As a woman, how would I handle the demands of medicine and having a family? Do I know the situation about the King Drew Med Center (I'm not a Drew applicant)? Should medical students do research while in school?
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If you could invite any five people, living or dead, to dinner, who would they be?
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Where is your name from?
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If you could add one thing to your application, what would it be?
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Why did you choose your major, I was a non -science major?
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How do you define Humanitarian?
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Where do you see yourself in the future?
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What are the pending issues in health care?
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Naturally, it was: ''Tell me about yourself.'' I kid!
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(After telling her that my hobby was reading) Tell me about the most recent book you have read.
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How do we fix society?
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If you could be anything, that had NOTHING to do with science, what would you be?
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you are an OOSer, why should we accept you when we doubt you'll come?
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What were the advantages and disadvantages of growing up as an only child?
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Describe a hardship you've faced, how you dealt with it and what you learned from it.
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What interests do you have outside of medicine, science, research, etc..?
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Name 5 things you absolutely have to do before you die...
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Why did you get a C on this paper? It looks like the instructor had a very emotional reaction to it. (asked in a very friendly manner)
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What is the biggest hardship you have faced? (This was the last question, after the interviewer had basically already wrapped up the interview)
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How would you change the way the medically underserved are treated?
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Nothing really, just about my app and my life
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Why medicine?
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Are you aware of the issues facing physicians today?
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What are you passionate about?
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Very conversational, nothing stuck out in particular.
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How would you address the impending crisis of the baby boomer generation aging and living longer?
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What is the most eye-openning experience you've had?
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If you don't get into any medical schools what will you do?
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Name one thing that you are the most proud of.
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How do you feel about stem cell research?
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Explain specifics about a lab technique mentioned in my app.
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Why should we choose you?
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what do you do other than study and work?
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What my parents did wrong? This was after I was asked about why my brother was not in college.
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n/a
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Why didn't you answer all of the essays on the secondary? (This was interesting since the secondary instructions tell you it is neither necessary nor required to answer all 9 essay questions.)
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How do we fix all the problems in Africa?
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How would universal medicine work in the U.S.?
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Mostly research questions, and some "where do you see yourself in __ years?"-type of questions. Nothing stood out as strange or blindsided me.
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Tell me about some of your political views.
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What is one of the most important health issues going on the world, and how would you fix it?
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What will you do if you are put into a situation where an attending is hell bent on showing he is in power, and he/she tells you to perform a procedure you are ethically against?
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what was the one motivation for your going into medicine?
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how would you strike up a conversation with a patient?
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Why do you want to be a doctor. Really. That was the most interesting question.
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How would I feel if salaries shifted and physicians began getting paid the same as school teachers where I would be living in an apartment, driving a crappy car, and sending my kids to a trashy school?
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What is my native culture? (because Igrew up in a foreign country)
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none were all that interesting. typical stuff.
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At this point in the process, all of the candidates look more or less the same in terms of grades, MCAT, and life experiences. What sets you apart from everyone else?
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How I felt about our current healthcare system?
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Is it more difficult to do lab or clinical research?
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what do think about the comtemporary art in museums? (i am a double major in art an bio)
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do you think it is better for your mom to move to this country than living in her home country? (my mom lives abroad)
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Nothing really, all the questions were typical interview questions.
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If the US did not have a budget surplus, how would you deal with the lack of access to health care? (stemmed from what I had said before)
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most difficult life experience? (most interesting because i didn't really think about my answer until then)
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Have you ever seen someone die?
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Tell us about your family, research, volunteering, etc...
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We tend to send out acceptances later, and it doesn't matter when you get them except that some people get nervous, so don't worry if it's a while before you hear from us. :)
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What do you like to do for fun?
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How did you like the other schools you've interviewed at?
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It was like a conversation between two old friends. The interviewer asked about my family and the current political mood in my home country.
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all were straight forward
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Most questions were elaborations of the UCLA secondary. The secondary basically looks for significant volunteer, leadership and/or research experience. The goal of the interview was to give me an opportunity to express a passion for medicine by describing these activities at a greater length.
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What kind of music do you like
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What was your childhood like?
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None. The interview seemed like a conversation with a long lost friend that wanted to catch up on my life till now (with an emphasis on Why Medicine?).
-
I really had no questions. The faculty just wanted to chat with me.
-
What is the most important thing in your life?
-
How would you want your medical school class to remember you? What kind of Chinese dishes can you cook?
-
It was pretty much just questions from the secondary.
-
At what age do you think children should learn how to swim?
-
it actually related to a study that was conducted on treatment trends.
-
If I had the chance to change one thing about me, what would that be?
-
Are you afraid to travel to France considering they are pro-terrorism?(I'm going to Europe in a couple of weeks and I think she just wanted to see what I would say.)
-
what area of medicine are you interested in?
-
What outside of medicine are you interested in?
-
5 books you would bring on a deserted island
-
What has been the most difficult challenge you have faced in your life?
-
My interviewers were super nice. It almost seemed like they were trying to convince me to come to UCLA.
-
very standard questions--nothing too interesting or difficult.
-
None, really--but she seemed more interested when I talked @ cultural issues/interests.
-
What would you like me (the interviewer) to say about you to the committee?
-
Questions about the research project I am doing right now.
-
It was mostly just questions about my life, family, interests outside of school, etc. It seemed like she was searching for times when I overcame adversity or struggled to get by. I think in the end, it seemed like I grew up disadvantaged, but that wasn't the point I was trying to make. She just kept asking about that kind of thing- for example she was very impressed that I worked during college, am the first non-blue collar person in my family, etc, but I'm not disadvantaged, and have had an easy life. (I'm not minority, by the way)
-
What are your passions? Why did you attend school in Arizona?
-
how would you react if you could not treat a patient to the extent you would like?
-
What was your favorite class (sci or non-sci)?
-
Why did I wait a year before applying to med school.
-
Isn't it surprising that the relationship between parents and children never changes much among the generations?
-
do you do any activities that are not goal orientated
-
explain your research to me as if i was a regular person off the street
-
This interview was for the Drew/UCLA program, where the focus is on underserved populations. I got a few questions on my volunteer experiences/commitment to underserved.
-
what do you think about the health system in Argentina? (i am from Argentina).
-
What do we have to do to get you to come here?
What was the most difficult question?
Students said most difficult question asked at University of California Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine discussed a wide range of topics from ethical dilemmas, personal motivations for medicine, knowledge of healthcare systems, to challenging experiences faced. While some mentioned specific questions on ethical scenarios and healthcare reform, others highlighted personal reflection and problem-solving inquiries, with a mix of traditional and unique questions posed during the interviews.
-
There were 2 difficult interviewers who asked ethical questions and then proceeded to attack whatever argument you put forth.
-
What did you learn through the volunteering and shadowing experiences?
-
none. all of the questions were pretty easy. all about me. not even any question about why I want to come to UCLA, and about healthcare etc...i was really surprised.
-
What does DKA do and what is the mechanism behind it? (I wrote about how a doctor I shadowed told me about it... unfortunately I had forgotten all about it when he asked me)
-
Give me a one-sentence summary of yourself.
-
Do you have any questions for me?
-
nothing
-
How will you overcome the challenges in medicine?
-
no difficult question
-
Nothing too difficult
-
what can you bring to the field of medicine ?
-
the one about activities just cuz i had to scan my brain to go back to stuff from high school and even a little earlier
-
Do you really want to do this, and how do you think you'll be able to achieve your goals for a medical career.
-
What are you looking at in deciding what school to attend?
-
About my research.
-
Healthcare reform
-
How would you fix the health care system in America?
-
Question in regards to my personal life experiences.
-
Is there a plan that you feel would work that proposes a nationalized healthcare system?
-
nothing really- whole thing was about myself
-
What can you do to help people empathize with people with special needs?
-
Nothing really
-
none
-
What do you understand about the healthcare system of...?
-
If it's survival of the fittest, why even bother to work to save people who are impoverished or who are sick abroad?
-
He took issue with a specific sentence in my personal statement that I had to explain and defend at length.
-
Why medicine? It was a pretty conversational interview. Just basic questions about what was on my application. He asked why my grades were bad the first semester.
-
Questions regarding my preparation for medicine.
-
What do you think about the US Healthcare System? Follow up: How do you want to change it? How would you fund it?
-
What do you think is the biggest problem in health care?
-
What is the incidence of disease X in area Y?
-
Why did you a semester off from your undergrad studies? What did you do?
-
What do you think about healthcare reform?
-
None at ALL..my interviwer was EXTREMELY nice and relaxed with me..it was like I was interviewing with my mother..
-
the one above handling family life and medicine. at first i was shocked to have been asked this question, but in the end, I wasn't offended. it seemed a logical question.
-
What do you think is the solution to the Universal Health Care problem? (As if it's that simple...)
-
Why do you want to become a doctor? (I've answered this question so many times, but it's still always the hardest to answer.)
-
See above
-
If you were Harry Potter and had a magic wand, how would you change the health care system?
-
What are the problems with the U.S. health care system?
-
How would you fix them?
-
''Why medicine?'' It's a question to which I have dedicated many hours, days and years, but one that nevertheless requires the mustering up of passion and presage, rationalism and reason, in order to respond lucidly.
-
Describe a difficult or challenging experience you had to face and how it affected you.
-
Same as above, ''How do we fix society?'' I asked, ''Do you mean from a clinical perspective, or in general?'' And he said ''In general.'' x_x
-
Explain xxx weakness in your application.
-
same
-
What volunteer experiences have led you to your decision to enter medicine?
-
What do you think of the current national health care system? What can we do to improve it?
-
Name three changes in the delivery of health care you would like to see.
-
Nothing really difficult... maybe just being asked about our national health care system..
-
What do you know about health care delivery systems (in the US and abroad, we discussed my experiences in different countries)?
-
What is your opinion about the state of our health care system.
-
What do you think about our national health care system?
-
All of the questions I was asked were pretty standard.
-
What do you think about national healthcare?
-
No difficult questions
-
How would you address the impending crisis of the baby boomer generation aging and living longer?
-
None were especially difficult.
-
Why UCLA?
-
You don't have alot of clinical experience. How do you want me to represent that in the admissions committee?
-
Why do you want to do MD/Ph.D and not just a Ph.D (or an MD, if you have more background in that area)?
-
Would you perform an abortion?
-
Why should we choose you? There was nothing really out of the ordinary. The questions refered to my application and my background
-
what do you think about managed health care? how would you change it?
-
What are the most important health issues in this country? How does our health system compare to systems of other countries?
-
None were difficult. All questions had absolutely nothing to do with my background.
-
what is the most difficult challenge or hardship that you have faced?
-
Why didn't you answer all of the essays on the secondary? (He seemed genuinely puzzled by my not answering all the essays.)
-
What are the main problems in health care in the world?
-
What are your strengths? What else? What else? Tell me more about that strength...
-
They asked a lot of questions about my research, and challenged any assertions I made with questions like, "How do you know that for certain? What could you do to rule out __ as a possibility?" The interviewers were all very kind and respectful (not condescending), but they did make sure you knew what you were talking about.
-
what are 3 of the biggest problems in health care today? what would you do to fix them?
-
See above. Yikes! How can I word my answer without sounding like a hard-core liberal.
-
probably the same as above. I am very against abortion, and she wanted to know how I would handle being told I had to do it.
-
what influence did your family have on your decision to be a doctor.
-
none, nothing too difficult.
-
Why do you want to be a doctor
-
"where do you see yourself in 10 years?" this one always gets me - choose your own adventure, right?
-
As simple as it may seem, the above question was by far the most difficult for me. An inner war erupts: shall I respond with the canned, reliable answer? but won't that be cheesy? shall I attempt to be humorous? but won't that sound flippant? shall I then only be honest?
-
Having grown up in a not so culturallly diverse area, was I ever ostrasized?
-
The interview was conversational with no difficult questions.
-
explain the current health care problems.
-
Tell me about your non-major research. (this question took me unawares because I'd always been asked to talk about my more significant research experience, so I wasn't too prepared to answer this particular question)
-
If the US did not have a budget surplus, how would you deal with the lack of access to health care?
-
forgot
-
Have you ever known any bad doctors?
-
How have you been a community leader?
-
If you could do one thing to change California's health care system... what would you change?
-
The grocery store employees in Los Angeles have been striking because the stores are asking for them to pay for part of health care. What should be done?
-
How do you know that you would be happy in med school?
-
Explain current state of affairs in healthcare
-
The dreaded: How would you fix the U.S. Health care System?
-
How does religion play into medicine? (my minor is in religious studies)
-
fairly typical questions...
-
None of the questions were particularly challenging.
-
nothing special.
-
What is your biggest concern about medical school?
-
how would you change medicine given the current financial crisis
-
What are some of the negative aspects of practicing medicine and being a physician? You went to UCLA as undergrad and grad student (I did my masters at UCLA as well as my undergrad). What do you think UCLA will offer you by staying here for medical school?
-
Do you think that a food-addiction should be taken as seriously as an addiction to something like cocaine?
-
No question was really all that difficult. He didn't ask me any ethical questions or hypothetical questions.
-
ethical questions
-
What do you think is wrong with the American society today?
-
Name three challenges you will face as a doctor and how you plan on overcoming them.
-
What other schools have you applied to? Where have you interviewed? Is UCLA one of your top choices? Why?
-
Where else did you apply & where have you interviewed? I answered honestly, but emphasized my desire to stay in CA. (I would have expected this question more @ private schools.)
-
How would you diffuse a situation with a hostile patient?
-
If you were accepted by all the schools you applied, would you come to UCLA?
-
How I felt about the current state of Health Care in the United States.
-
The last two questions: What unique trait will I add to the class? 2)Anything else you want me to tell the committee?
-
What can you contribute to the improvement of today's health care system? (Kind of a broad, all-encompassing question)
-
As a doctor, how will you cope with split priorities?
-
Same. He challenged me on every answer I gave. Never seemed satisified.
-
Are there any difficulties or hardships in your life?
-
Is there any clinical relavence to the research you performed?
-
would you give liver transplant to alcoholic
-
what are the social issues facing america today (other than health care)
-
What motivates you?
-
what are the social problems of this country?
-
None, it was a very laid back interivew!
🤝 Interview Format and Logistics ▼
How long was the interview?
Most respondents had an interview of more than 50 minutes.
How many people interviewed you?
Most respondents were interviewed by 1 person.
What was the style of the interview?
Most respondents had a one-on-one interview.
What type of interview was it?
Most respondents had an open file interview.
Was this interview in-person or virtual?
Most respondents had a virtual interview.
Data includes both pre- and post-COVID interviews.
No responses
Where did the interview take place?
Most respondents were interviewed at the school.
📍 On-Site Experience ▼
Who was the tour given by?
Tours were most commonly given by a Student
How did the tour guide seem?
Most tour guides were enthusiastic about the school.
How do you rank the facilities?
Most respondents rank the facilities as above average.
What is your in-state status?
Most respondents rank the facilities as below average.
What were your total hours spent traveling?
Most respondents spent 0-1 hour traveling to the interview.
What was your primary mode of travel?
Most respondents traveled by automobile to the interview.
About how much did you spend on room, food, and travel?
Most respondents spent less than $100.
What airport did you fly into?
Respondents who flew to the interview generally used Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
-
lgb
-
ONT
-
LAX
Where did you stay?
Most respondents stayed either Friends or family or with friends or family.
What is the name of the hotel you stayed in?
-
Westwood on Wilshire
-
UCLA Guest House
-
Good Nite Inn
-
Day's Inn
-
Claremont
-
Clairmont
-
Best Western
-
Angeleno
How would you rate the hotel?
Most respondents rated their hotel as good.
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
Would you recommend the hotel?
Most respondents would recommend their hotel.
What is your ranking of this school's location?
Most respondents rate the school location as good.
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
What is your ranking of this area's cultural life?
Most respondents rate the area’s cultural life as good.
0 = Bad, 10 = Great
What are your comments on where you stayed?
No responses
✅ Interview Preparation and Impressions ▼
How is the friendliness of the admissions office?
Most respondents said the admissions office was friendly.
How is the responsiveness of the admissions office?
Most respondents said the admissions office was responsive.
How did you prepare for the interview?
Most applicants prepared for the interview by reviewing their applications, conducting mock interviews, researching the school and program, reading about healthcare issues, and utilizing resources like Student Doctor Network (SDN) and the school's website. Many also practiced answering potential interview questions and stayed updated on current healthcare topics to ensure they were well-prepared and confident during the interview.
-
Go over list of potential questions and did mock interviews.
-
Reading up on MMI style interviews, mock interview, review of MMI practice questions, researching the school and PRIME program
-
Practice MMI sessions, practice 1 on 1 interviews with physicians, mentors, and friends, reading the feedback here on SDN.
-
Read SDN, application, website
-
SDN, read all my apps and knew them well, practiced answering possible interview questions, researched health care issues
-
SDN, read up on health care issues, prayed
-
read through my application looked through interview feedback on sdn kept up to date on current health care issues
-
Re-read primary/secondary app, interview feedback threads, read up on healthcare issues.
-
SDN, the website
-
MSAR, SDN, School's website, Went over primary and secondary applications, and Other interviewing experiences.
-
Read
-
SDN, read over AMCAS and secondaries.
-
mock interview with current med students, look over secondaries and just be true to yourself
-
SDN, read about ucla, read up on universal healthcare, ppos, hmos, healthcare reform, etc
-
SDN, school website, friends at school
-
SDN, mock interviews
-
Go over my app and healthcare reform.
-
Talked to current students, read website.
-
Read up on health care through the washingtonpost. Read the school's website, and looked at the AMCAS book for a quick synopsis of the school
-
Didn't prepare 'answers' but rather just took my time to provide fluid and coherent responses.
-
Look over primary and secondary apps, look at SDN Interview Feedback.
-
read the school's website, read about health care and ethics issues
-
read about UCLA, read application, read healthcare stuff
-
Looked at SDN.
-
read through the website, sdn
-
Did some brief reading on health care, thought about my activities
-
Read about the school. Got there early and parked.
-
SDN, website, mock interviews
-
Read UCLA website, secondary materials
-
SDN, UCLA website, talked to students there.
-
Read UCLA's website, talked to current students.
-
SDN, previous interviews, prepared answers to common questions
-
School's website
-
Website, news, books, talked to people
-
Read my secondary, read school website
-
application, SDN, prepared some specific questions to ask.
-
SDN, School website, UCLA students, Mock interviews, AMCAS and secondary files.
-
SDN, website, AMCAS, sec app
-
Secondary application, Primary application, go over my research in detail, read up on some health policies, and read up on UCLA's mission
-
i had a 3 interviews before this, so i was in a rhythm. i skimmed through a few health care policy books, read everything about the school, and read current events.
-
Interview prep through my school, reviewed app and papers that I have written
-
Read their website and SDN interview feedback. This was my last interview, so at this point, I had become a seasoned interviewer!
-
Read over application and websites on US healthcare system
-
SDN, my file
-
mock interviews, previous interviews
-
SDN, school website, health care books.
-
e-mail med students with questions, read over SDN, mock interviews, combed over the UCLA website.
-
Most people note, in this space: SDN, ''a health care prep book,'' the website. Indeed, I used all three. But let me offer some additional tools: 1) The New Yorker 2) The Economist 3) The Wall Street Journal 4) The New York Times 5) NEJM Perspectives 6) The Daily Bruin 7) UCLA News (http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/) 8) UCLA Today (faculty & staff) 9) UCLA Magazine (quarterly public.) 10) Los Angeles Times (a must)
-
Re-read secondary, kept up with the news.
-
Scheduled interviews at less ''top-choice'' schools to get into the rhythm, reread my secondary app (save everything you submit on a Word file somewhere!), spoke in front of a mirror for fifteen mins before going to bed
-
Interviewed, read over UCLA website, reviewed application.
-
went to other interviews
-
Used SDN questions for practice, reviewed my AMCAS and UCLA secondary, and also did some research through the MSAR and school website.
-
Read Health Policy book, read SDN website
-
Read Secondary/AMCAS application, SDN interview feedback, school website
-
Thoroughly went over my AMCAS, secondary, resume, etc. This website was helpful; I spoke to UCLA med students about their interview experiences; had mock interviews.
-
Studied school's website and my AMCAS and secondary. Thought through how to explain my research in a concise and interesting way.
-
Reviewed my application, read the UCLA website in depth, other interviews, this website...
-
SDN, school website, past interviews, read secondaries.
-
Read website, AMCAS app, SDN
-
sdn, website, my apps
-
Read up on current issues, SDN, brainstormed answers to common questions.
-
this site, ucla website, other interviews before this...
-
I've been on a few already, so I just researched UCLA to understand it better... I already knew how to answer the basic questions
-
the usual--read about the school, reviewed my primary and secondary, read up on health issues.
-
Read the UCLA website thoroughly.
-
SDN, other interviews
-
Read SDN, ucla website, secondary and AMCAS, composed answers to interview questions, read "health care meltdown" - a great book for learning about health care in the u.s.
-
Read through some information on the school and program, read over my applications, read some papers by my interviewers, reviewed my past and present research
-
this site (thanks!), primary, secondary, UCLA website, Health Care Meltdown
-
Application, SDN, UCLA website
-
Read excerpts of "health care meltdown", looked on SD site and past interviews.
-
SDN, UCLA Website
-
sdn, ucla med website
-
website
-
SDN, read application, sleep
-
Student Doctor Network, read over secondary, UCLA website
-
SDN feedback
-
SDN, school website, talked to med students there
-
Read my applications (primary and secondary), made sure I was up on all the current literature in my field, read SDN.
-
standard
-
This was my tenth, so I just read about the school, its facilities, the new curriculum...essentially everything David Geffen.
-
read over application, SDN, remind myself of why i want to go into medicine
-
Re-read application, read school's website. Not much time for anything else. It was slightly last-minute.
-
ucla website, msar, sdn
-
read about the school.
-
SDN (Thanks, SDN), UCLA website, re-read my secondary
-
Read SDN, researched on UCLA website, talked to knowledgeable people, reviewed my AMCAS and secondary and just thought a little bit about my motivation.
-
Go over the primary and secondary applications, do on-line research about the campus, do mock interview with a career counselor and read SDN
-
re-read application, looked at new curriculum info, checked out the recent papers published by researcher there - about a billion!!
-
I browsed others' experiences here at SD.net, enjoyed an LA cheesesteak from Damon & Pythias (mmmmmm...) in Westwood the night before, and dove my head into a book whenever anxiety came.
-
Read over my own application and did some research on their site
-
Reviewed application, health care issues, talked to a friend who goes to UCLA med
-
UCLA Medical School Website, Interview Feedback.
-
pbs website (look under health issues), friends, SDN, and some music
-
sdn, ucla website, search on health topics
-
SDN, looked over secondary and AMCAS
-
SDN website, MSAR, student host and other med students, read secondary essays again
-
Read SDN interview feedback, AMCAS and secondary application, and UCLA website. Got a good night's sleep! I stayed with a student host that told me so much about UCLA Med School.
-
interview feedback, ucla website, msar, news
-
Web site, essays, SDN...
-
Looked at website, read over secondary, read about interviews from this website
-
Visited this summer (didn't get to do much; just saw a lecture room, the admissions office that gave me some material, and saw the campus). Got here a day before my inteview to tour campus, get familiar with student life and opportunities on campus. Read AMCAS/2ndary, knew their curriculum and website very well, tried to answer questions asked by other interviewers at the same school, tried hard to relax because I get really nervous at interviews--spoke with my best friend, et al, for a confidence boost and reminder of the big picture. It's so hard to lose focus on you who are, so it's good to step back and remember why you're special, and why you deserve to be here more than anyone else.
-
Read over my app, read about UCLA, new current news issues.
-
I didn't have time to prepare but had already gone on 6 other interviews so it was okay.
-
I read my AMCAS application, reviewed the schools mission statement, researched topical issues in medicine today.
-
looked at my app
-
read over secondary, AMCAS, reflected on past interviews, talked to current med school students at UCLA
-
Read the secondary, AMCAS personal statement
-
Read UCLA interview feedbacks
-
Read school website neurotically. Read Forums on SDN. Knew who I was. Reviewed my Personal Statement, Secondary Essays, Research and Clinical Experience. Performed 7 mock interviews. Read up on Medical Sociology, Public Health issues and Biomedical Ethics.
-
I did not.
-
UCLA's website, MSAR, read my own essays, etc.
-
I read through my AMCAS and secondary application and looked over the UCLA SOM website. I also made up a set of questions specifically for UCLA.
-
reviewed my application.
-
I didn't I just came in there with a I'm glad I'm here attitude.
-
mock interviews with friends.
-
Read my personal statement and my secondary essaies, interviewfeedback.com, spoke with a few UCLA 4th years, only got 2 hours of sleep.
-
read application, mock interviews, watch videos, spent a lot of time alone on personal reflection
-
SDN site, school's website, reviewed my personal statement, secondaries.
-
sdn interview feeedback, ucla website, reviewed my app
-
Read my AMCAS and secondary, read the UCLA website, talk to a couple of students
-
Re-read all materials I submitted to UCLA and website.
-
Read their admissions website, read over my application, went over other students' comments on this site.
-
read UCLA's website--mostly the education section, as well as reading this site
-
Made list of UCLA questions from this site, reviewed UCLA website, reread application/essays.
-
Reviewed my primary and secondary
-
read this site, read of my application and AMCAS statement.
-
Read over the website and my secondary app.
-
I read all about UCLA, slept a lot, and I've had a few other interviewd before this one.
-
Got a haircut, spent a few days in Tahoe, read over secondary and personal statement, had friends mock-interview me.
-
Read website, MSAR, secondary application
-
Read over my AMCAs, secondary, and UCLA information.
-
Just thought about programs I was interested in, looked into what the school offered that's unique from other med schools.
-
reading their mission statement, reviewing my AMCAS and secondary apps
-
Re-read my personal statement and interviewfeedback.com.
-
read several ethics books, reviewed AMCAS essays and UC essays
-
read secondary
-
read over old secondary essays and AMCAS
-
websites, reading my secondaries.
-
looked over AMCAS and secondaries, read about UCLA's program.
What impressed you positively?
Applicants were consistently impressed by the new curriculum, the passion and friendliness of the faculty and students, the new Ronald Reagan Medical Center, the location in Westwood, the pass/fail system, the diverse student body, the supportiveness of the school, and the opportunities for research and clinical experiences. Many also highlighted the relaxed and happy atmosphere at UCLA, the resources available to students, the enthusiasm of the student tour guides, and the positive interactions with interviewers and admissions staff.
-
The new curriculum.
-
The people were down to earth and clearly passionate about what they do! Also, the PRIME program is amazing--the opportunities are endless.
-
The Director of the Curriculum gave a great intro speech, was very approachable, and has put together a really amazing curriculum at DGSOM. Her talk was the best part of the morning.
-
Students were super friendly, facilities were amazing. Attend the informal dinner if possible; its a great way to meet students.
-
The reputation, the new Reagan Center
-
students were really happy and EXTREMELY laid back. they seem to enjoy the new curiculum and the freedom they have for their outside activities.
-
Every single aspect imaginable.
-
new Ronald Reagan Center, friendliness of the students, the immediate Westwood area (clean, diverse, very student-friendly), PBL/small-group curriculum
-
Admissions Office staff were very friendly; interviewer made you feel at ease.
-
Location Location Location The New Hospital
-
The Ronald Reagan Medical Center is GORGEOUS and a fantastic teaching hospital as well. There are opportunities and resources for just about anything here. The school's mission is very appealing, but this could be different for every person. The students seemed happy and friendly. The curriculum is P/F for all four years, with chances for letters of distinction during clerkship, but this doesn't necessarily mean that it's not competitive.
-
Facility. Students' vibe. Location.
-
The school's curriculum, small amount of lecture time, research opportunities, pass/fail system
-
the diversity of student body, how the admission Office really care about the interviewee, and the medical facility.
-
the tour, the med school students, how nice admissions office staff were
-
The school really seems to take care of its students and to value their input and feedback on curriculum. 8 members of the admissions committee are students- two from each class. Unlimited research opportunities and clinical experiences.
-
The day was short and to the point. They allowed me to sit in a lecture and it was pretty interesting. I love the curriculum! Students had time to do things outside just medical school.
-
The resources that the med students have.
-
Weather, location, campus, curriculum, friendly students
-
GREAT student liasons and GREAT faculty. Also, interviewer was very relaxed alumni doctor from the area. Really wanted to get to know me beyond my grades.
-
The school, Reagan hospital as well as the facilities.
-
The location and the way that the school takes care of its students.
-
students seem to love it, very chill environment, new hospital is gorgeous
-
relax-ness of school
-
The Ronald Reagan Medical Center.
-
I really clicked with my interviewer!
-
The students and professors really seemed to love the school. We had a chance to talk to several MD students and all of them had great things to say about the school.
-
Students were fun.
-
The weather The students-very casual, friendly, and laid-back for such and elite institution The students were happy and confident
-
UCLA is in a fabulous location
-
Prime location in LA, happy students, very nice interviewer. Small interview group (5) so we could really ask our tour guide students a lot of stuff over lunch.
-
How well taken care of the students are-- they get a printed schedule of everywhere they need to be all week placed in their mailbox ever Monday morning.
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The students were awesome. They seemed very down to earth and happy to be at the school. My interviewer was very positive as well and we got along well.
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how nurturing the school is of their students, how happy the students are, the student apartments
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The students I interacted with were very enthusiastic and loved the school. The UCLA Health Center is amazing and as a student, you get tons and tons of exposure. The students seemed relaxed and happy. I really liked my interviewer, nice Doc and very relaxed.
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The tour guide was very enthusiastic about the school.
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during the guided tour, one of the professors walked by and started talking to us about the school.. he seemed pretty close to the students and seemed to care a lot about the students and the school.
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The students and how happy and relaxed they were really made a good impression on me. It meant that they were not streseed out. I love UCLA campus. I am from the central valley and the last time I was at UCLA was 2003 and even then it seems like the school keeps expanding (there is always construction going on).
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The enthusiasm of the students! The new hospital will be really cool too
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The MISSION of UCLA is awesome, the DIVERSITY of UCLA is tremendous, the LOCATION can not be beat by any other campus, the FACULTY is nicer than any other school i have been to, and most importantly, the P/F grading system is a Blessing!!! SO much other things to mention.. but those are just a few for you guys to think about!!!
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the students were SO happy. they were relaxed and enthusiastic. i didn't sense the level of stress and competitiveness that i had felt at other schools. i'm looking forward to the opening of the new hospital.
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Students seem happy, my student interviewer was awesome
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My faculty interviewer is the nicest professor I've met on the interview trail--he chatted with me for over an hour, so that I wouldn't have much down time between his interview and my student interview. The school's location is unbeatable--great weather, located in a very nice part of town, new hopsital being built that is supposedly the most technologically advanced, friendly and good-looking students/people, very diverse class, on the main campus so you really feel as you're part of UCLA, P/F all four years except for third year where you can get letters of distinction, etc.
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The student tour guides were really awesome and were willing to answer all questions truthfully. I love UCLA and definitely got along well with the other students.
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The enthusiasim of the students
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Compassion of admission staff.
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The fact that the students were very happy with the curriculum and had time to study or enjoy themselves outside the classroom (only ten hours of lecture a week).
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the students were very warm and chill. The technology within the curriculum(ex: all slides online, so you don't need to rent a microscope). The supportiveness of the faculty and administration. As one med student described it ''they will wipe your @ss for you, so all you need to do is study and push yourself.'' He explained that fin aid, student affairs, housing staff all help you out so much. If you ever want to talk to a famous prof, student affairs will make it happen. The faculty really listens to the students. New hospital to open very soon. The weather and setting of westwood. The unlimited research and clinical opportunities. residency placement is impressive(50% go to a UCLA affiliated hospital). The school being part of UCLA's main campus helps keep everything close together. Students seem genuinely happy. Really Pass/Fail grading system. The PBL system(with lectures mixed in) really gives you time to study outside. Great, interesting elective classes. The curriculum really try hard to get a holistic approach to medicine.
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Everything. The tour guide described the school as ''essentially, perfect,'' and he's essentially, right. If you haven't had a moment to review the curriculum or visit the city, I highly recommend both! (http://dgsom.healthsciences.ucla.edu/education/md/curriculum-phase-one)
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Students seem to really love being there. They learn a lot and do well on the boards, but still have a life!
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The sheer amount of resources and opportunities UCLA has, the fact that the medical school is on the UCLA campus and not in a totally random place, and the enthusiasm of the students
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Facilities, diversity in students, happiness of the student body, curriculum.
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the school is really strong academically and is located in a nice part of a very diverse and good-weathered city. if you are interested in staying in CA it should be no problem as most of their grads get CA residencies.
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How much the students liked it there! They all urged us to pick UCLA should we get in. The admissions office people were also very warm and friendly to us frazzled people in the black attire.
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Atmosphere seemed very laid back, the weather was amazing.
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The enthusiasm and helpfulness of the student tourguides and my interviewer. The clinical facilities and integrated, block-curriculum with PBL impressed me as well. LA is just a beautiful city and it's so rich in culture, westwood is amazing.
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The Office of Academic Enrichment and Outreach was extremely helpful! My med student interviewer had nothing but wonderful things to say about the curriculum and the academic atmosphere... classmates help each other out. The community service and international opportunities are endless. Also, the other applicants were pleasantly friendly.
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The faculty interview was a lot of fun! The extensive facilities for neuroscience/neuology/psychiatry/brain imaging facilities. The botanical garden adjacent to the school.
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Congeniality and enthusiasm of the students, willingness of the tour guides to answer any questions and talk nonstop about the school...great food...
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The interview was consise yet comprehensive.
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my interviewer was amazing, we got along great. my friend who's a first year introduced me to my tourguides and went along for the tour with me. the work's not so difficult the first couple of years.
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The facilities are amazing!! The new hospital will be open for business January 2007, so class of 2010 will do rotation there!
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the reactions the students had of the school.
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The atmosphere on campus, the resources available to students, and the curriculum.
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the students seem happy. the tour guides seem very enthusiastic about the school. they were selling the school to me and i think it kind of worked. they increased the lunch voucher from $5 to $10 this year.
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UCLA is gorgeous. The students are really happy and lax. Their curriculum has to be the best out of all the med schools (only 2 hours of lecture time, WOW). Students study quite a bit (as with any school), but they sure have a lot of fun too. Very culturally diverse place too, which is particular enticing to me.
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Nothing.
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The campus was nice. UCLA has a good reputation. I live 10 min from UCLA so I love the city. The administration was friendly.
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Professors, proximity of med center to undergrad campus
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the student interviewer (i had two interviews) had read over my application thoroughly, and was comfortable with talking about several aspects of my app and asking me to elaborate
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The area around the campus is really nice. There are also a lot of different kinds of research going on, with many faculty to choose from.
-
There are so many programs and resources that are not listed on the website.
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The students were really nice and welcoming. They were very down to earth and truthful about their experiences. There are also about 8 different hospitals to do clerkships which is pretty amazing and the diversity is great.
-
great school.
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The interviewer was really nice (and good looking :-)). The admissions staff was helpful and the students seemed very happy. pass-fail grading.
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students were nice
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the admissions office staff is SOOOOO nice and welcoming.
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The school facilities are superb, students seemed happy and bright, Westwood area is swanky and lively.
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Westwood is a great area to live in.
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The interviewer was extremely warm and the interview was conversational. I was able to sit in on a class as well.
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The staff was very nice and welcoming, and the student interview was so informative and stress-less
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Nearly everything! The curriculum is really well thought out. The MSTP Committee seems solid and cooperative. Research facilities (especially the new ones) are outstanding. The students seemed very fun and happy there. The interviews are also well-timed, so that you don't feel too rushed (unless you get lost... see below). All exams are taken on the computer (simulating the USMLE), and there are weekly evaluations that help you stay on top of it.
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the campus is pretty
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Students were nice, happy, and outgoing. Although the old hospital is a dump, their new facility (designed by I.M, Pei) is amazingly beautiful, as are the vast range of new research buildings. Also, UCLA has a great location and the weather is unbeatable. Also, proximity of the medical school and hospital to the undergraduate campus is a big plus.
-
i attended a lecture that was actually fun and not as "serious" as i thought a med school class would be; professors were funny and lax
-
The interview was so conversational and low-key. Very casual, and non-stressful.
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la is an awesome city. its p/f. start seeing standardized patients as an M1. new hospital - but unknown complete date...
-
everything. the school is awesome, the new hospitals look awesome, david geffen just gave them 200 million bucks. it is unbelievably awesome.
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Very nice faculty, admissions staff, and students. Everyone was helpful and attentive.
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The medical students actually seemed happy and there seemed to be cameraderie. There was also an abundance of hospitals within a block (Lots of resources!!)
-
very conversational
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nice study areas, big school, but small campus feeling. really nice students.
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Everyone was extremely friendly & well-adjusted to the school. Also, one of the students sent to eat lunch with
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The ciriculum!!
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It was UCLA--who wouldn't be impressed?
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Everything: the students, the curriculum, etc.
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Dr. Dignam: very nice, been at UCLA since the SOM was established.
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it was a very sunny, warm day and everyone there was super friendly and helpful!!! my student interviewer was 4th year who got into ucsf residency for neurosurgery! he was cute!!!
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How relaxed and friendly the students are; the short lecture time (i was told only 2hrs/day)and the great curriculum; the interest in international medicine; great opportunities for research
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The weather was awesome! The students and faculty were quite nice too, and the organ-based curriculum seems quite successful.
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The students are so laid back and have time to explore outside interests. The classrooms are cool and so was the anatomy lab. Having all 4 years P/F is great and the professors worked hard to get that. The new curriculum is definitely great as the students mentioned. They like the integrated/organ-based approach. They have outstanding faculty like Dr. Clemente who has written the Anatomy text.
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hospitals, facilities, students
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The student tour guides were really energetic and laid-back, and the facilities were amazing
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Cool new cirriculum
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The students loved the new curriculum and did a great job selling it!
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Students love it here, new curriculum has awesome reviews (I was a bit nervous about it being the first year, as compared to UCSF who revised their curriculum a few years ago), 3rd/4th years use PDA instead of notecards (a big advantage), the beautiful campus and opportunities here (for example, the student bookstore is as big as Borders, and the gym is being totally rennovated and I'm told it "will be awesome" even though it looks fabulous already; it even has a rock climbing wall). The website for students, ANGEL, has some neat features (like shows you your grade compared to the class for every quiz/exam) and students post all kinds of study sheets and interesting websites for each other. All 4 years are pass fail (with letters of distinction for the super super students, but I assume these are pretty rare). I was told that almost every student gets their 1st year pick for match, which is a huge advantage. Most students study outside, because this is as cold as it will be all year (it's about 60 degrees now).
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The staff at admissions were really friendly and students kept on dropping in to chat with them.
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I LOVE the school, the people, the weather, everything!
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The friendliness of the staff and medical students
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Pass/Fail all four years. Relaxed students and new curriculm. Westwood
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I love the campus and the med school curriculum. students aren't in class 9-5 as in some other schools (ie UCSD). Schedule varies MonFri and TuWedTh. strong emphasis on primary care and clinical experience
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the campus is beautiful, and unlike other med schools, it is connected to the undergrad campus so it feels like part of the campus. the program sounds very progressive and everything looks new and state-of-the art. they are also building a new hospital.
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The low-stressed students, the new hospital that's being built, the successful new curriculum change
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Nothing
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The Breadth of opportunities available at UCLA. The students were all very happy. Literally none of them complained. (It was kinda eerie; they were too happy. Maybe they've been brain washed... hmmm...) Laid Back interview. Supportive Admissions Committee. HUGE CAMPUS. HUGE LIBRARY. IMMENSE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES. NEARLY LIMITLESS JOINT DEGREE PROGRAMS. EXCELLENT NEW CURRICULUM. etc. ad nauseum.
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Owen Witte
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The interviewer's attitude. She was extremely nice, friendly, and helpful. I mentioned that I was interested in pediatrics and emergency medicine, and she quickly gave me the phone number of a resident so I can ask him more about that field. I ended up changing out of my suit, putting on scrubs, and going to the ER and shadowed the resident for a couple hours!
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My interviewer seemed genuinely interested in me and had read at least a part of my application.
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Its UCLA, so theres alot to be impressed with just by looking at the facilities. My student interviewer was one of the nicest people on the face of the earth.
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My interviewer and the students who took us on the tour. The new hospital set to open next year.
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hey its UCLA, they know there are highly saught after so they didn't cater to interviewees that much. In other words, its a great place with a new hospital in the works.
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The physician made me feel comfortable and it was a conversation rather than an interview.
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Everyopne seems very happy to be at UCLA. It is in a great part of town.
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the interview itself was very conversational. the interviewer did not ask any ethical or current issue question. the campus is very nice, centered, and friendly
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The interviewer's enthusiasm for the school. The medical school is located in the medical center and everything is in one place so one doesn't have to trek very far.
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faculty interviewer and new hospital to open 2004; also how happy all the students are
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The interviewer was VERY nice and he really knew my file well. The new hospital that's supposed to open in 2004/2005 should be nice.
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The students were very nice and seemed really happy (I interviewed after finals were over!)
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There were only 6 interviewees.
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students we met were very happy with UCLA, profs we ran into were really friendly.
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1) During the tour, we passed by the impressive new hospital scheduled to open @ end of 2004 or early 2005. 2) Everyone described the students as "happy". 3) The vibrant & diverse rush of doctors/students through the corridors
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The disposition of the students (i.e. low-stress, easygoing environment) and the facilities.
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The weather of SoCal is nice, the students seem to have free time to have a life, and the campus is beautiful.
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The facilities are state of the art. Very friendly students!
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All of the students seemed very happy to be there and encouraged me to come. Even though they have exams coming up, everyone seemed pretty chill. Also, the area is really upscale and safe (although it's crowded). There is plenty of housing in the area, but no on-campus housing for med/grad students. Most people I talked to said they pay around $1300-$1400 a month for a one bedroom, or $1800 for a 2 bedroom. It sounds like a lot, but tuition is cheap so that makes up for it (plus you get to live in Westwood). The new hospital that is still under construction will open in early 2005, and looks very nice, and is supposed to be the most advanced hospital around (w/ electronic charts at the bedside). Student lounge is really cool, and set to be remodeled, and is only for med students (dental students not allowed). The med campus is big and nice (and highly regarded), but is located on the main campus, which is nice. The main campus is beautiful, by the way.
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How nice and accomodating my student-host was, the random conversations/comments from roving doctors and professors, P/F grading system and how much the students love the school.
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The friendliness of faculty and students
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The wonderful med student that I stayed with.
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Students were very diverse and upbeat.
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The interviewer was very helpful and insightful!
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My interviewer and her dedication to students and medicine.
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teaching faculty
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the new hospital will be really nice
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the education and experiences are unbeatable. First two years are done at UCLA campus and then rotations are at King County Hospital, where you get A LOT of hands on clinical learning. Very cool.
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random students that stopped by the office with no other reason than to say hi to us, the nervous applicants.
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the new hospital that should be done in 2004 looks like it will be awesome!
What impressed you negatively?
Applicants commonly expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of organization and structure during the interview day, including minimal presentations, uninformative tours, long waiting times, and disinterested interviewers. Suggestions included providing more detailed information about the curriculum, financial aid, and facilities, improving the tour experience, and enhancing the overall organization of the day to better showcase the school and engage with prospective students.
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nothing
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Instead of having someone really debrief us at the end of the day/end of the interview, they played a video about DGSOM that basically just consisted of the Dean listing reasons of why his school is "the best medical school in the universe".
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The lack of a presentation by the admissions office -- had no idea about the details of the curriculum, financial aid, living options, etc. A little student contact would have been nice too! The only opportunity to talk we had was during our tour.
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students were a bit TOOOO laid back, that it kind of worried me. the grades are only pass/fail and the med students stated they cram alot, etc...just because they have a degree from UCLA, would you want them as your doctor?
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?
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there's a lot of waiting in the afternoon, in-between interviews.
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Facilities so-so.
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The Admissions Office makes no attempt to make you feel welcomed. The teaching facilities are definitely older, while the school itself is like a maze. The graduate housing for the first two years is expensive, but nice. Driving around LA can be a nightmare. This city is definitely great, but not for everyone.
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unlike most schools, UCLA doesn't have early morning meeting with a dean or someone else from admissions committee. questions are asked during your tour, but i found the first years (at least on my day) weren't good at advertising their school or knowledgeable enough to answer several of my questions.
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the current condition of the teaching / lecture facility.
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the other students that were interviewing with me weren't really friendly but i was pretty much like whatever. the horrendous traffic was also very annoying (i drove from san diego)
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Faculty interviewer seemed bored with my answers. It was not conversational with either interview. I felt grilled and pressured to have like the next 20 years of my life planned out. Faculty interviewer kept saying "you're a very unusual applicant"... Like he didn't know what do with it.
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Nothing, I loved this school
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Nothing really.
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The admissions office didn't give us a presentation. We just picked up our folder and had the interviews. Very short day.
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Everything is so close together in LA! But school is wonderful
-
Obviously... the expensive housing. =/
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The way that applicants are treated, at least on the surface. It seems as though the policy of Admissions is to seem completely indifferent to the kind of students that come to UCLA and whether or not students like the school.
-
not a lot of effort by the school to recruit (no info session, presentation from admission dean, etc)
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Nobody seemed to care that I was there. Even the people leading the tour seemed to be distracted.
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UCLA could really care less about promoting the school.
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Older facilities.
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Interviewer kinda stiff and there was only one
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Adm staff didn't really explain anything to us, just expected us to go with the flow. A lot of down time and interviewees weren't given a time range for when their day would end. I expected to be done by like 3, but my last interview started at 3:30p. Would have been nice to know this before scheduling my flight.
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How unstructured the interview day was. It was only a few hours, the tour was just walking around the building, and there wasn't much special about it
-
UCLA has the least robust interview day of any school. There was no presentation, no hospital tour. The tour was not organized and was just sort of wandering around, not seeing important places.
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How little UCLA did to sell itself. They didn't seem to care at all whether or not I liked them.
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The 3 hour drive from Aliso Viejo (about 60 miles away)
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The lack of effort the admissions office put in to welcoming interviewees
-
The people in the admissions office (mostly the first desk) were very RUDE! Not friendly and did not provide ANY information. It was like it bothered them that we were there. Almost turned me off, but then everything besides them was great. Don't let it bother you. Also, they don't give much information in their interview packet.
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The facilities are somewhat old and run down. There was a bit of waiting time, which was expected.
-
it was really annoying that the only thing good the student tour guides had to say about the school was the location and the weather. they didn't seem to know too much about some of the school programs and were more interested in partying. receptionist at doctor's office was very unfriendly and rude. interviewer was late.
-
The tour needed more direction and structure. The places we saw seemed to be in the discretion of the med students...but to their credit they openly admitted the lack of structure of the tour and really made it up by answering all my questions making me feel welcome and feeding me lunch.
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The classrooms and study rooms were outdated and dark
-
Nothing! UCLA by far is my DREAM school!
-
the facilities aren't spectacular, but again, i'm here to learn so it doesn't matter all that much.
-
Ha, where to start. I felt like the entire day could be summarized by ''We're UCLA, we don't have to tell you why we're wonderful.'' My tour was literally five minutes long and told me nothing. There was no presentation about the curriculum, admissions process, international opportunities, financial aid, research opportunities, etc etc... the things that you actually want to find out more about. I spent most of the day alone in a room waiting. My faculty interviewer completely lacked a personality.
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Nothing. This is a wonderful school!
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Nothing! I <3 UCLA!
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a lag time in between interview and tour
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Could be more of an organized day.
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The tour wasn't very thorough. We just saw a couple of facilities and then went off to lunch. The weather was also crappy that day, but I live in L.A. so I know that's not the norm.
-
the facilities look a bit old on the surface, but they are remodeling soon. The international opportunities are under developed. These are minor complaints showing how awesome the school is on the whole.
-
Well, it happened to snow in Malibu and surroundings the week I traveled there, but this rare occurrence hardly left me with a negative impression. Indeed, it allowed me to precociously (in the etymological sense) purchase a UCLA Medicine sweatshirt to fend off the cold!
-
Not an especially well-organized day; probably because they had trouble finding tour guides since most were home for break.
-
This might have just been my student guide, but he really emphasized how ''easy'' UCLA medical school is (''Finals are next week and we're all chillin, I'm going to see the Lion King at the Pantages tonite'' and ''Grading is pass/fail and EVERYONE passes'') and also the fact that grading is pass/fail with no honors or anything... though I admit these are things I'd probably come to appreciate if I were actually IN medical school :>.
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the interview day is not really well organized. i personally believe interview days are just sales pitches so this does not bother me.
-
The tour is very sparse, and I didn't get to see any actual facilities except the library, some hallways, the cafeteria (from the outside), and study spaces. Luckily, I went to UCLA for my undergrad, so I knew some things about certain parts of the hospital at least.
-
Didn't see any of the actual facilites where students learn/practice medicine. The
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The admissions office doesn't put as much effort into the interview day like a lot of other schools do. Essentially the day consists of a tour and a single interview (2 if you're lucky), and there can be a long wait in between the two with nothing to do.
-
The organization of the whole day for the applicants was kind of all over the place... also, the 1st yrs that were suppose to give the tour never showed up so there was no tour. The only student I got to talk to that day was my interviewer... fortunately I'm familiar with UCLA already, but for those who aren't this would be a big turn-off.
-
Seeming lack of effort that the school puts into the interview day--lots of time waiting around, no opportunity to visit classes or see classrooms (tour was brief)
-
The tour did not show much.
-
the medical center is super confusing. there's this random system of corridor, floor, room, and building etc. could be that i have no direction sense also.
-
Its LA, the traffic sucks and there's too much smog...but who cares!!?? IT'S UCLA!!
-
I had to wait 3 hours between the tour and my interview. There wasn't even a real tour. We just walked from the admissions building to the place that we ate lunch. I would have liked to see some classrooms or a hospital.
-
The traffic. I live only an hour from UCLA but it took me over three hours to get there. I am also not a real big fan of LA and its smog. The directions from the admissions office were pretty poor.
-
the traffic. the classroom descriptions (typical standard classroom), they only give you a $50 printing card (opposed to free printing at other campuses), no information session about financial aid, no regents scholarship...
-
The interview date isn't very informative. Most other schools usually have a talk about financial aid, student housing, etc... the day just consisted of a tour, lunch, and the interview. I just wanted a little more info about UCLA, seeing as how excited I am about the place to begin with.
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The day was very disorganized. The "tour" was a walk up the street, a stop at a cafe that is too expensive for medical students normally, a stop at the student lounge a bit further up, and a staring contest with the pretty new hospital from across the street. The tour guide was very friendly and enthusiastic but nonetheless an uninteresting, average-joe type. The administration, while friendly, was somewhat useless with regards to my needs. Providing directions is apparently beyond them (although i don't have the best sense of direciton in the world =] ). To be fair, though, the campus is a bit of a maze.
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Interviewer, students, facilities
-
the library seemed like it was falling apart, and not in great condition.
-
The campus has a lot of traffic both in and around it (it's in the middle of the city). The drivers don't seem to understand the concept of "yield to pedestrians."
-
Everything was kinda last minute.
-
Nothing really. I only got to meet one faculty member.
-
first year tour guides know nothing. i have been at ucla for 4 years, so maybe they knew nothing compared to me.
-
There is no feeling of a 'medical school campus', since the school is in the hospital. The law school and business school are nicer.
-
the interview hands down
-
Students spoke very nonchalantly about the school and portrayed ucla like a party school. they did not talk about any of the professional or academic qualities of the program.
-
Too much free time during the day if you have a late interview.
-
The interview process, the interviewer, the tour - pretty much the whole day.
-
There were no tours of student housing or the hospital. The tour was actually quite brief and not entirely informative.
-
The tour was short if you interview with a student (they take you around instead of going with the rest of the gang)
-
There were not any directions as to how to get from one interview location to another, so I got lost several times and was nearly late on a few occassions.
-
the city of LA
-
This was by far the most disorganized of all the interviews I have done. UCLA is an awesome school, but the admissions staff needs to get its act together. You should expect to be there half of the day: there is a short tour, lunch, and then interviews. I had only ONE interview, while some others in my group had two. This sucks, because I have only one voice to represent me, and my interview did not go great.
-
student interviewer was late, and the tour was unorganized...good thing i'm from la, or i would have felt shortchanged about the tour
-
The lunch and tour were way too rushed. I didn't have much time to get to my interview or collect my thoughts afterward.
-
when i sat in on a lecture, and the doors to the hall are at the front of the room. so when people come in late, its distracting. that could get annoying as a student. my faculty interviewer kept asking me about my parents for the majority of the time, but i think there are more interesting things in my application that we could have talked about. i didnt get a chance to talk to many students about the school.
-
nothing.
-
A bit disorganized. Timing was off, I missed my tour, people were confused.
-
The actual classroom, library, and study hall seemed relatively old and crunched together.
-
One interviewer came in late.
-
i am not into the new curriculum. too much pbl, leaves too many holes and gaps in education. also, the anatomy class is based on prosections, i want the opportunity to dissect.
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The day was really unstructured. Luckily, I had the first interview of the day (9:00AM), after which they dispatched me to amble aimlessly about the grounds.
-
That it's so oompetitive!!!
-
The tour was basically non-existant
-
One of the students that was supposed to eat lunch with the three interviewees did not show up.
-
one of my interview was scheduled on a day my interviewer doens't interview so i received someone else at the last min.
-
nothing really; my interviewer was about 20 minutes late, but he was so nice that he made up for it
-
I didn't get to go on the tour because my interview ran into the lunch hour. But, the others didn't get to tour the hospital anyway, so I guess I didn't miss much.Also, there's no info session or financial aid talk, so make sure you ask the medical students and interiviewing faculty all such pertinent questions about housing, transportation, financial aid etc.
-
I did not get to see the hospitals on the tour. I really wanted to see Mattel Children's Hospital since I am interested in pediatrics.
-
don't know
-
Not enough student exposure, because it was already winter break
-
It was a little disorganized...
-
Old, ugly lecture hall (hey, it does what it needs to, just not as beautiful as UCSF's). A 2nd year said, "If you get into UCSF, drop everything and go there. It's way better than here..."
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I spent about 4hours doing nothing in between the tour and my interview. The student led tour sucked, I was not impressed by the facilities or their crappy study rooms. We got a meal card for less than the cheapest meal at the cafe where we ate, so I had to dish out my own money for lunch. The day was unorganized and the students weren't too enthousiastic. I sat in a lecture, nothing impressed me, it just felt like another day in undergrad. The students didn't approach us even though we were obviously interviewing (dark suits) and the professor was kind of boring. My interviewer was uninterested and showed no signs of emotion or interest in me. Taking notes while I spoke, she rarely made eye contact.
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Traffic but I'm from LA so I already am intimately familiar with that.
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It would have been nice to have sit in on a class. The tour of the school was not very thorough.
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nothing, we had a really quick tour which was fine for me because I wanted to get going, however anyone who wants to see the school more might be disappointed. Also no free printing.
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driving in la sucks but you already knew that.
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My tour guide's not a fan of the weekly quiz evaluation, although that doesn't determine the final grade; less hand-ons clinical experience than say, schools like USC
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Scheduling of the day. Letter wanted me there at 1145. It was then I learned a student tour was at 12 and my interview was at 4. The student tour lasted all of 5 minutes so I had 4 hours to wait.
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still thinking... Traffic??? Los Angeles. Does it matter. I won't be doing much traveling as a Medical Student.
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none
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The interview day felt disorganized. The student tour wasn't very good. There isn't very much in the student hosting category--the admissions office only gave me the name of one person and when she said no that was it.
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The day lacked alot of what a typical interview has. there was no structured tour or presentation of any kind to do with housing or financial aid.
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L.A. traffic.
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the waiting time for the interview and the unorganized nature of the entire process. By what I have already read its nothing new, its UCLA.
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Nothing really!!!! It was great!
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LA traffic, the tour
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the tour was very short
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The tour was very informal and didn't have a structure or format.
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students seemed a bit apprehensive about some possible curriculum changes (to pbl)
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The tour- a couple of first year students were supposed to show us around, but they didn't really know where to take us. They said though that they had the same experience on their interview days but once you're a student there, you're treated really well.
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The traffic is very bad and rent is rather high. To avoid traffic, you must pay a very high rent to live near the school.
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Nothing. It's a great school in a great location, affiliated with 5 hospitals.
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Since it was during exam week, all the students seemed tense and probably not as friendly as they have been described previously. Also, our student tour guide told us that he skips most of his classes, prefering to study on his own. He felt that case-based classes & early clinical training are a waste of time (i don't think most students there think like this, though).
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The tour was unorganized.
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I get an impression from my student and faculty interview that the school may not have the best teaching quality. When I asked about it, my student interview gave an ambiguous answer like, "There are prof that I like and prof that I don't like, same as every school." But I didn't sit in to their class, so I can't really say for sure.
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The organization of the day. In addition the tour was not very thorough.
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The day was not well organized, and the tour was pretty worthless. There is really no info session, financial aid talk, or formal welcome. I showed up at 11:45 am, had lunch and a tour with 2 students, went to my interview, then left for the airport. The students apologized and said that the school doesn't give them any agenda or instruction for the tour, so they weren't really sure what to do. On the positive side, this made for an informal, low stress day- but it would have been nice to learn more.
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the traffice on 405...
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older facilities, lack of housing
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The interviewer. Had it out for interviewees. I think I was pretty much considered a rejection. That was my impression, considering how negative he was towards my application and interview. I wonder if there was anything I could have done to prove him wrong.
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the tour
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The MS 2 tour guide who put down my school's mascot (and my school in general) and the fellow interviewees who seemed pretty unfriendly.
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traffic, size of school
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everything's just seemed out-of-date, dirty. the tour is lame.
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The interview day was unorganized and way too long. I arrived at 9am and sat in the waiting room until 1:30 pm, when my interviewer was finally ready for me. That was ridiculous. I didn't even get to go on a tour because all the groups had gone before I was done with my interview. Bad timing, bad sheduling. Furthermore, by the time my interviewer got to me she was exhausted, as i was her fourth and last interview of the day- she didn't seem very excited about the situation- or me.
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the tour.. even though i'm a ucla undergrad.. the tour sucked! i felt sorry for the people from out of state..
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the library
What did you wish you had known ahead of time?
Applicants commonly wished they had known about the amount of downtime between interviews and events, the potential for unexpected changes in the interview process (such as having only one interviewer or missing a scheduled tour), and the importance of being well-prepared for navigating the campus and managing transportation in the LA area. Many also mentioned the need for comfortable shoes and clothing due to the long interview day.
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How many opportunities we had to ask questions.
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I wish I hadn't been so nervous about the MMI process.
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Bus schedule from LAX to Westwood
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traffic really sucks (more than I remembered it to be; I used to live in LA). also wish that I went to find the admissions office on another day....UCLA is HUGE -- I spent a good 30min looking for the room.
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That my interviewer was very opinionated and had no trouble speaking his mind.
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My first interviewer did not show up and I had to jog across campus with one of the admissions officers to catch up with the nearest tour group. Wear comfortable shoes.
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Bring a watch; couldn't find clocks in a lot of classrooms.
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nothing
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I knew that the traffic would be bad, and that parking and finding the Admissions Office would not be easy, but was still barely on time. Give yourself a lot of extra time!
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the admissions office is really close to the bio med library. So if you get lost, ask for it
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how bad the traffic would be!
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That I would be grilled and that the med school is a maze. That's another downside. The crappy facilities/classrooms (although the clinical facilities are nice)
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Nothing, no stress
-
How hot it is in a suit during the day.
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That they school does not do anything to really impress you. You arrive, pick up a packet, wait, tour, wait, interview. Now meeting with Dean etc. They know they don't have to sell themselves but it does make you wonder how much they care about the students. But students there did seem very happy!
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Where the admissions office was (almost walked into the Hospital Admissions),
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n/a
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That I would have a student interview! The admissions office guy lied to me when I asked him if I would have a student interview, and then changed what he said when our group was getting ready to leave for the tour.
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how short my day was going to be. they had me arrive by 9:45, interview at 10am, got out at 11, waited at office and chatted with other interviewees until 12, lunch and done at 1:15/1:30pm
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Nothing, I was prepared for waiting.
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One interviewer only. My hotel did not have parking.
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The interview was very structured. He had a worksheet and basically went through the sheet and filled in short answer questions.
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UCLA has great medical student housing!
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Very short interview day. 11am to 2pm for me. Some interviewees had earlier interviews.
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Lots and lots of downtime. Its not a structured or organized event. They give you your time and then say, come back when its time. So, you could literally have hours to kill. Just not very considerate in that way. But again, its a great school.
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nothing too surprising.
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My interview was at 3pm and I was on campus for the lunch tour...I wish I could have been given the option to attend one of the lectures when I signed in early that day instead of just waiting walking around campus.
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How much the students love the school! They all seem really happy and the faculty seem really wonderful too!
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UCLA's interview day has alot of downtime in between interviews and lunch so be cautious and patient!
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apparently, all slides are digital, so i'm looking forward to that. P/F all 4 years!
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For supposedly being a school focused on community health, I sure felt like the school was full of a bunch of snobs that were more concerned with their rich West LA lifestyle than actually reaching out.
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That I forgot to pack my belt!
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That I would have to endure a two hour break between lunch and my interview
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if you take the culiver city 6 bus line it is a cheap way to get to LAX, which is way out of the way of the school.
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That it was going to rain.
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waiting list changes a lot. As high as 15%(maybe more) of students comes from the waiting list. don't give up the hope if you are waitlisted. No student hosts for in state students! I guess they believe people in CA know how great they are, which is true for me.
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... that Damon & Pythias makes such good sandwiches. Mamma mia!
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The Drew program has a bad reputation with some people because of its affiliation with Drew/King hospital, but the students in the program really seem to like it and do well (and do most things the same as other UCLA students). Had I known more about it, I probably would have applied to that program as well.
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DON'T DRIVE ON WILSHIRE!! I have NEVER sat in my car on a street for 20 minutes without moving!!! haha.
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transportation in LA lives up to its reputation. leave yourself plenty of time to get to/from the airport.
-
That having only one interview with faculty could make me so paranoid about my performance. Usually, the student interview puts my worries at ease.
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The actual time of my interview and that the tour would be so poor. I would have tried to make arrangements on my own to sit in on a lecture or at least SEE a lecture hall.
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That there would be such a small amount of interviewees that day(3). Also, I knew ahead of time from the SDN feedback about the possibility of a long waiting period between the tour and interview.
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That I was going to be so comfortable and relaxed during my faculty interview that when asked to I would actually SING (one of my most favorite things to do)! There was no need for me to stress as I did...
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I knew by reading this site that there might be a lot of time to wait, but I'm glad I did know that. I had nothing to do from 1pm to 4pm.
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That I would be done by 2pm.
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That I would only be there from 1145 to 200 (which I did kind of know from before, I guess I just didn't want to believe it!!)
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The time I had to wait around.
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You have to pay for parking at the little information booths before you can enter the parking garages. Also, the address for the admissions office, 12-105, means floor one, corridor two, room 105. Once I realized this it was a lot easier to find the room.
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that i didnt have a student interviewer & what time i was going to be done at.
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That I was the only student being interviewed for the day. I had three tour guides for one of me, which was a bit awkward for me at first, but then a really great experience because I could ask any question I wanted to. I was the center of attention, and that's always fun, isn't it?! :)
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How pointless the day would be.
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Had I known that some people receive student interviews while others don't, I would have strongly requested the second interview; I think more people arguing for you, especially a peer, is invaluable.
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that i would have two interviews
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The day is pretty short. Have your cell phone handy for transportation.
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the school does not do a great job trying to recruit students.
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I wish I did not fly all the way from the East Coast to have my interviewer challenge the way my parents raised me, etc. It would have been nice to actually talk about my resume or why I would like to go to UCLA, but that did not happen. It was obvious that my interviewer made no effort to read my file.
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That the other interviewees were so nervous.. Just relax, the interviews (since open-file) are more about your application so just make sure you know what you wrote and that it is honest.
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It is so easy to get lost on UCLA's campus. Luckily, everyone I ran into was friendly and helpful. Maybe do a dry run of the campus before you go on interview day.
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that public transportation sucks and the bus was going to drop me off 30 minutes later than it was sceduled to
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That you might only have one interview.
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That I would have an interview of an hour and 45 minutes. I'm from California, so it was no big deal, but I had no idea when to expect the afternoon to be over. It would have been a problem if i had needed to catch a plane.
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that you can randomly be assigned a student interview, like i was. i was not prepared for it, & i missed the tour. also its unclear how they evaluate this if its only for some people.
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the whole place is awesome.
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Can't think of anything
-
The student tour was led by two second year students who led myself and two other applicants.
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morning and afternoon interviews
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new hospital being built! woohoo, marble palace, paperless hospital - everything will all be computerized. go new technology!
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The meal cards are worth only $5.00 -- a decent meal and drink will cost a few extra dollars on top of that.
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Morning interviews are better than the afternoon ones...you get out earlier. Plus westwood traffic SUCKS!
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lots of time between interviews.
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that i should have budgeted my time getting to the school more wisely; there was a lot of traffic, but luckily i got to the school only one minute late, so it wasn't too bad.
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UCLA campus is gorgeous! The only downside is that it's mostly a commuter school, so majority of the students drive to campus. Parking permits are kind of pricey, but I guess that's the same for most CA schools.
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I was not going to get a full-fledged tour including seeing the hospitals. Having a car is indispensable.
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santa monica freeway is 10E coming from LA (or maybe that's wrong) i took another route home and winded up in a parking lot. i was even thinking of getting off to get something to eat and start the slow crawl home later but i found myself in compton. it took 2.5 hours to get home and it only took half the time to get there.
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That I was going to have a 3 hour break after the interview before the tour
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Acceptance rate for out-of-state people is much higher than I thought; 15 of 195 interviewees last year matriculuated, so I was thinking they'd accept about 30 or so, but it turns out they accept b/w 30-50% of the out-of-staters!
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The time spent waiting for the interviewer. I should have brought my books to study for the 4 hrs that I spent staring at the wall in the cafeteria or sleeping along with the med students in lecure.
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How short my interview day was. It was pretty organized and short and sweet. I got there at 11:30 and was done by 2:45.
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that you have to take a statistics course as a pre-req
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that there are morning interviews! by reading this website ahead of time, i planned for an afternoon interview. however, i got there at 10:45, interviewed at 11, had tour at 12 and was ready to leave. if you happen to have an afternoon interview, take some time to walk around or find a nice bench on campus to read. it's a gorgeous campus. you will get a voucher for lunch worth $5. There are at least 2 bus lines that can get you to UCLA--lines 2 and 3 of the Big Blue Bus...it beats looking for parking and buses come regularly (15-20 min)
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that my interview would end so early. i finished at 2 and my flight wasn't until 8.
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UCLA students are happier than some other schools I interviewed at
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I could have left later and missed traffic
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I arrived ahead of time (by a few days), and gave myself my own tour. Much better tour than the Student guided one. Gave me the opportunity to think up some questions for the interviewer.
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No one could tell me much about the curriculum change. The medical school students seemed happy enough but they weren't dancing in the street happy either.
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That my interview was going to be resceduled and I was going to miss my flight home.
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hey I live near by so for all of you guys flying in make sure and give yourself ample time, I'm talking about two or three hours from the aiport or from anywhere. traffic is bad.
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No surprizes really!
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nothing. expect traffic. and come early for parking
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It is really random what kind of interviewer you get. The majority of interviewers are nice and easy going but I heard from another candidate that he had one last week but the interviewer only spent 12 minutes and hadn't read his file. In the end the so called interview was useless and he had to come back again. Also there are two shifts of interviews, the morning when you meet at 9:45 AM and the afternoon one when you meet at 11:45 AM. Lunch is provided in the form of a meal ticket worth $5.25.
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Make sure that you find the location of your interview ahead of time b/c navigating some of the corridors might be tricky. Also, my invitation to the interview said that I should arrive about 1/2 hour early, which I really didn't need -but I didn't drive there...(leave yourself maybe 15 extra minutes at most to find your interview room). If you're driving, you will definitely need extra time- parking is a major issue (as I learned from a few people there).
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Nothing. I learned to bring a pair of comfortable shoes for the afternoon tour.
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You may have large blocks of free time in between your interviews. One of mine was at noon, the other at 4 pm.
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curriculum is undergoing major changes so that next year will be the first year that a largely case-based or organ system approach will be used. the committe is still deciding exactly how the curriculum should be.
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1) For those told to come @ 11:45 am, your interview may not happen until 4 pm and you may have an hour break to wander @. Be prepared to wait more than 30 min even past your appointed time. 2) The committee meets on Thursdays (I'm not sure if once a month or more) 3) You have to check in @ one of the parking kiosks in the middle of the street b/c they have over a dozen football-field sized lots, some of which may be full already (also, don't stack park--i didn't do it since i wasn't sure what time i'd be done).
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The itinerary--they were very vague with the schedule.
-
That the student interview would be during lunch and it would not be the easiest to eat and talk at the same time.
-
Just make sure and arrive to the campus early becuase finding the admissions office can be a little confusing. If you are lost, people are happy to help though so just ask.
-
I didn't expect it to be 85 degrees in November! I was sweating like mad in my dark wool suit!
-
That my "interview" shoes were the most god-awful pair of shoes created by man-kind.
-
student led tours, should have thought more about questions to ask
-
Traffic is horrible!
-
I wih I was told when my interview was supposed to occur rather than show up in the morning and wait half the day.
-
come early to find parking
-
uh, the schedule. i was lucky that i had booked a later flight.
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What a long and uninteresting day it was going to be.
-
nothing.
-
wear comfortable shoes!!
What are your general comments?
Applicants generally had a positive experience at UCLA, with many noting the relaxed and conversational nature of the interviews. Some applicants appreciated the friendly and encouraging interviewers, while others mentioned the unstructured nature of the interview day and the lack of formal presentations or organized tours. Suggestions included more interaction with students, additional information sessions, and improved organization of the interview day.
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Loved the MMI process. Seemed low stress to me, and the interviewers were very responsive and encouraging.
-
Love the school, although the admissions office could put an 30-45 presentation to put us at ease and talk about the school a little. Besides that, the reputation of the school speaks for itself- - it's awesome. Love Westwood too, really nice area, beautiful people.
-
overall, i enjoyed my interview at UCLA. I was really nervous going in, since UCLA is ranked as a top med school and I was expecting a tough interview. But the med students who are super laid back impressed me with how much they love the school. But I was not impressed with the informal nature of the whole day. wish that the tour / day was more organized with demos maybe and with a financial aid advisor.
-
If, by the grace of God I am accepted, it would be the easiest choice I have ever made.
-
Great School, Great Location, the PBL style of teaching seems to be working very well for the students with lots of research opportunities.
-
UCLA has a lot to offer, you just wouldn't know it by being there at the interview day. They are almost arrogant in that they know they don't have to work hard to convince you to come, hence their interview day structure (or lack of it). They have a PBL type of learning, so there isn't a lot of traditional lecture time. Ask the students to see how they feel about it and see for yourself if that's what you like. It's nice that the school is connected to the undergraduate campus. It makes things more lively. UCLA is a great school, but perhaps not for everyone.
-
I was scheduled to arrive at 9:45, and I arrived early. I was given information about the day and had an interview at 10am. It lasted an hour. My tour and lunch began at 12. I was allowed to leave by 1:30pm. However, there were many students interviewing with afternoon interviews so they had to do a lot of waiting. Also, only selected students were given two interviews. The interview was very conversational. You'll find that all the students love the school.
-
Interviewer was amazing and the tour our group received was comprehensive (1.5 hours).
-
i was actually surprised at how laid back my iview was; i didn't feel like i was being interrogated or anything like that. the doctor was very relaxed and friendly.
-
Bah humbug. There should have been more interactions with students. Interviews should not be scheduled over lunch, it's just too awkward to eat and answer questions at the same time.
-
Great interview day overall.
-
The admissions room is a little hard to find.
-
Great school, great location. My interview was relaxed.
-
I had a gap between my student tour and my interview, so I went into a clinical training class with the students. TONS of fun...although I was their 'test' subject and had to remove my jacket and shirt...but it put the interview in perspective
-
I rather liked the format of not having to sit through monotonous presentations and what-nots. It was just straight forward, get it on and over with.
-
Talk to students outside of the interview, that's where you will get to see how the school is and how it fits your needs. The interview will probably not make you want to go there if you didn't already want to.
-
be relaxed! they just want to get to know you.
-
As has been said on many of these reviews, there is little organization to the interview day. Unlike other schools that give a powerpoint or a huge packet about why the school is so great, UCLA knows it's the sh*t, so it does not put much energy into pushing the school. Be prepared to wait around. I was prepared for all of this, so I was not disappointed.
-
The interview was really relaxed. It was more on the conversation side than anything else. My interviewer was extremely friendly and made me feel comfortable. The questions were not made to test me, but more to get to know who I was. They were a little unorganized for the tout, but that just gave us more time to ask questions.
-
I didn't get a good vibe from the interviewer. He couldn't answer my questions very well. The streets were confusing around the area. I really liked the student's attitudes though. It seems great to go there
-
Pretty casual day. Since the admiss office didn't give us any guidelines on the day, the interviewees took upon ourselves to get to know each other and facilitate our own day. Great school. Has always been a dream of mine. Facilities aren't perfect, but hey, it's no new school. Although, they are in the process of completing the new hospital.
-
Was a little caught off guard by the depth of the health care questions. Introduced them by saying, tell me a bit about U.S. health care. We just want to make sure you know a little bit about it. No stress. And then he launched into these intense hypothetical questions about problems and potential solutions to complex health care issues.
-
I love UCLA and it is my number one choice, but if I knew nothing about it beforehand, the interview doesn't say much. Talk to students and walk around the campus (not just hospital area).
-
I arrived at the admissions office and was given a schedule. Ten minutes later, my interviewer arrived and took me into an interview room for 90 minutes. After the interview, I met up with two other interviewees and the three of us were taken to lunch by three first years, then given a tour. Done by 2.
-
Overall it was great. I liked my interviewer and really liked the students at the school.
-
I arrived at the office at 9:30 for a 10:00 am interview, was given a folder with information and a schedule. My interviewer came down to the admissions office at 9:45 and took me into a small room where we talked for 90 minutes. After the interview, I returned to the waiting room. When the two other interviewees arrived, we were met by 3 students who took us to lunch at a nearby cafe then gave us a tour of the school. Then I was done by 1!
-
Got to the office in the morning, (after sitting in traffic for 1.5 hours). Whilshire is jam packed. You get there, they hand you your agenda, and said you can leave, just come back by this time. So, about an hour later I wander back into the office and have my interview. It was great, and very conversational. The Doc followed up on many things I said--after that I had another 1.5 hours to kill before lunch, again left and walked around--then came back for a student tour/lunch. The tour was ok, didnt see much. They didnt know what they were supposed to show us, but were nice and gave lots of information about the school. After that I was done. and left. some people had to wait a few hours after that for the interview. just be prepared to do a lot of sitting and doing nothing. they have no presentations whatsoever. UCLA is awesome, minus the lame interview day.
-
Overall it was fairly relaxed. I found out that my interviewer is a famous surgeon in her field.
-
Open-file faculty interview.. he did not greet me or shake my hand when I walked in. The interviewer would ask me a question and have me talk ultra slow so he could write down what I was saying, word for word. I felt like he was following an interrogation protocol and it made me feel nervous. Halfway through the interview, he looked up from his notepad and tried to make me feel less nervous by smiling at me.. which helped a lot. Towards the end, I really liked my interviewer because I could tell he was probably a very thorough doctor and cared a lot about the school and the students.. just really intimidating. Asked some specific questions I couldn't answer and didn't get to cover or talk about what I really wanted to talk about.
-
UCLA is my top school and I attended the PREP summer program so I have a major bias towards UCLA. But compared to the other schools that I have visited it just feels at home. The students and staff made me feel comfortable at the school. This is undoubtedly an exceptional institution but I did not experience any aggorance among the students. Instead I felt like they were really down to earth and genuinely happy. The interviewer was great, he really just wanted to have a conversation with me and wanted to be an advocate for me and made sure he got the information he needed to defend me in committee.
-
My student interview took place over lunch so I didn't ge to eat much and was so worried about lettuce being in my teeth :/ I also waited over 2 hours for my next interview which was not cool. They don't have formal interview days so you don't get much of a tour and no info on financial aid or when they expect to make a decision about you. Other than that, the school seems really wonderful..I hope I get in!
-
My interview experience at UCLA was my best med school experience out of all of the schools I interviewed at. The atmosphere was great! The students really love the fact that they are going to UCLA..and all of them said they made the absolute right choice in going there. UCLA is a great campus because they really focus on diversifying the medical field and reaching out to all populations that are in need of medical care. Overall, UCLA solidified my choice of wanting to attend there.
-
It was a positive one. I got to the admissions office close to noon, had a tour, ate lunch with med students, and had my first interview with a faculty member. then, i had a student interview. my student interviewer and i got along VERY well. he was genuinely interested in knowing me, and i wish he wasn't an M4, because I would love to have a classmate like him. he asked questions to learn about ME and not silly questions that could easily be gleaned from my AMCAS. Both interviewers were relaxed, but they did ask some hard questions. My student interviewer told me that he turned down a full scholarship to another in-state private school to attend UCLA.
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Showed up, waited, had my 5 minute tour, lunch with a med 4 student, waited a couple hours, faculty interview. Read up a lot about the school beforehand because you won't find out more.
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This is an amazing school in an amazing city! The resources seem unlimited! I really hope I get in!
-
This was my first interview, so I was definitely nervous. I went on the tour and to lunch first, and the students were really nice. They were honest about everything and truly loved being a student here. They said if anything, they complain about little things because they are babied so much by the faculty/administration!
-
It went well, good people, good school.
-
Check in, visit class, tour with 1st year students, lunch at Synapse cafe, wait around until interviewed.
-
The entire day was very laid back and stress-free. I had my interview early in the morning, and then had time to sit in on a lecture for about an hour before starting the tour. The medical students were really friendly and made a conscious effort to tell you about how great the school is. The tour guides were also very chill and told us how the pass/fail system creates a relaxed atmosphere. The tour itself wasn't very impressive, though.
-
Got there at 11:45am. Only 3 of us interviewed in the afternoon(more people in the morning). 3 student tour guides took us to lunch and a unstructured tour. A few people get student interviews, vast majority do not. I read on SDN that people have complained about the tour but my experience was great. since it was a 1:1 ratio of guides and interviewees we got a lot of info and a very welcoming experience. I think it really depends on who gives you the tour, mine tried really hard to sell us the school. All three of them came off the waitlist, so definitely don't give up and contact the schools if they haven't gotten back to you for an interview. After the tour interview at 2, that lasted for an hour. That was it. No intro talk or housing talk or fin aid talk. The packet I got was pretty thin, only useful was the residency match list. In the end, I absolutely adored UCLA. It is my top choice for sure, I would go in a heartbeat.
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UCLA is a fantastic place to study and practice medicine. The school is immensely diverse, the campus is located in a gorgeous area with round-the-clock endorphin-stimulating weather, the people are friendly, the curriculum is solid, the teaching tools are years ahead of the competition, the students are bright but humble, the professors collegiate and genuine, the package - perfect.
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My interviewer struck a perfect balance between finding out information from me while telling me about the school. Pretty laid-back and fun; not very stressful.
-
Of the three interviews I've had so far, this has been the closest one to being a ''stress interview,'' but I still had fun with it and didn't feel antagonized or threatened or anything like that :>
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School is in the UCLA hospital. Right in Westwood. Students seem bright and happy. Only 10 hours of lecture a week, the rest is small groups, PBL, etc. Had two interviews, one faculty, one student. Both were very nice. I was the only interviewee that day. The tour was very short, more pointing to buildings than actually visiting them. UCLA has a visitation day for accepted students, and the tour guide believed (and I agree), that interviewing students care much more about the whole presentation of the school when they’re accepted.
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the day is really short, i got there late in the morning, had two interviews, one with faculty, and then one with a student who i got a tour and lunch with before the interview. lectures start at 10, so if you are free then you can sit in on a lecture. there is little planned, so if you really want to see some things make sure you have an idea what those things are beforehand and tell the admissions staff or your tour guide and they can help you put it together.
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I had an interview with an OBGYN in her office (though the names didn't match the stuff on the wall... hmmm). It was very strange to have to travel to another floor by myself to find this office in the OBGYN department, but the admissions office is very good at picking close to the elevator locations. The actual interview impressed me positively in that UCLA really wants to know more about YOU and your background. I spent a majority of the time talking about my childhood and filling in gaps in activities I listed in my application. What negatively impressed me about the interview is that the doctor had two calls come in while I was answering two different questions. (Do they not get to turn their phones/pagers off?) It was okay in the long run, but unexpected. My interviewer didn't particularly volunteer any information on herself or the school (I got ''Uh huh,'' ''Of course,'' and ''Great,'' as responses) Also, I wasn't given the chance to ask my interviewer any questions during the short time I was there. I had some good ones lined up too! So, to tell the truth, the positive and negative aspects mushed together is why I gave the ''No Change'' rating. I truly was jealous of the lucky people who were also able to have a student interview scheduled for them.
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The doctor was friendly and much of the interview felt more like a conversation than an interrogation.
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Overall, the interview day was very pleasant, the student tourguides were friendly and helpful, and my interviewer was wonderful. My interviewer did a great job selling the school, which is something that's not emphasized by the admissions office in their planning of the interview day. This was a very low stress event.
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It was great to come into both my interviews and see that they both were very interested to know more about ME! Between both my faculty and student interviewer we covered almost everything in my application; mt road to medical school. It was great... a very fulfilling interview experience. Like I said before, the admissions office could have gone a little more out of their way , and some sort of tour would have been nice... but overall, I loved UCLA!!!
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The website and other materials for UCLA aren't as informative as other schools, so the interview was a good chance to learn more. It didn't feel like the admissions office put in a lot of effort, though, with all the time I had to wait around, no info sessions and only one interview. The student tour guides were great, though.
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My first interview was at noon and I was done with my second one by two. I had both a student and faulty interview.
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My interviewer was awesome, seemed totally like a conversation. We talked about current health care issues and the things that I did during myundergrad years...totally stress-free!!
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I arrived very early and walked around. The campus is very nice. We met the other interviewees in the waiting room and were greeted by other medical students, first years, who toured us and took us to lunch. They were all very very nice and answered all of our questions and were honest. My impression was that they were very happy and that the curriculum allowed enough flexibility to pursue your career goals, whether it be research or clinical.
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I really enjoyed me day at UCLA. My first interviewer was extremely busy that day but he did a great job of transitioning into the interview. He was direct and to the point and this allowed me to be equally agressive in explaining my application. The interview was intense but I enjoyed it. My second interview was with a student and was very informal. I had a lot of fun speaking to her and I felt fortunate that I got to have a second interview. The only stressful part of the day was getting to the school. The tour is pretty cursory and I would have liked to see some of the facilities where instruction takes place. From the outside everything looks pretty nice. I was done by 1:30 but one of the other interviewers didn't have her interview until four.
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my interview was at 10am, so the letter said to arrive at 9:45. my interview was taking place a distance from the admissions office, so i was glad i came early. interviewed for about 55 mins. lunch and tour was at 12. four MS1 gave us the tour (only about 5 of us interviewed that day). went to buy and eat lunch and the day ended at a little before 2pm.
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Wow, my interviewer was amazing. She was so friendly and so sweet, didn't ask a single question that made me feel uncomfortable. It was a conversation, and we talked about everything from her own childhood to what I should do to get as much info as possible before making a residency decision. I learned a lot from my interviewer, which is really awesome. You go into an interview expecting to be grilled (I saw a lot of previous posts about the abortion question, and found out during my tour that it is a very popular question to be asked)... but it was the exact opposite. I'm so excited about UCLA!!
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The interview day was not very well-organized. The students took us on a brief tour that didn't show much, and it doesn't seem like there's a distinct space for the medical school at UCLA. The students I met were definitely a little too laid back and uninteresting compared to the students at other schools. The facilities were old and run-down, and my interviewer definitely lacked social and communication skills.
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The interview was what really ruined the experience for me. The interviewer's name was Dr. Ravagendra/Ragavendra. He stared at his paper and pen while asking questions, refusing to make eye contact with me. Some of his questions required lengthy answers, but usually as I was beginning the second sentence to my response he would interrupt me, believing the answer to be either finished or simply not to his liking, querying a completely new topic. It seemed that he was simply trying to decide whether he liked me rather than getting to know me. For instance he asked whether I thought we should nationalize or privatize the healthcare system. I said I think we should privatize because... and evidently he didn't want to hear my reason. He interrupted me and moved onto the next topic. He asked early on whether I had ANY problems as a child, and being the honest guy I am mentioned that I wasn't very motivated in highschool, though obviously my high college GPA etc proves that's no longer the case. Nonetheless, he repeatedly referenced that answer during the interview as though I was still unmotivated, and I had to be especially careful in letting him know that it was very obviously no longer the case. He also seemed especially self-righteous. He commented that the volunteer activities, including EMT certification so i could work on my campus emergency response team, were more selfish (because the certification provides me with a job as an EMT =/ ) than benevolent. He also allowed no questions on my behalf. When it was over he said, "alright that's it. Here's my card if you..." and he didn't finish that sentence for whatever reason, nor did he hesitate in heading for the door before I could ask anything. He was also quite demeaning of my passions, scoffing as he reiterated a simplified, incomplete list of them and how they seemed unrelated to medicine. I was disappointed and believed he wanted only to determine whether or not he liked me and/or agreed with my opinions/goals. I didn't receive a student interview, which is ashame. Anyway, luck is necessary in this process, and i was unlucky. I've heard only good things from other interviewees I spoke with about their interviewers so don't concern yourself too much. Looking back, I think I was a bit too friendly with him; a disrespectful person does not deserve respect. However, during an interview that's difficult to determine. In my thankyou note I told him that the interview "was as enlightening as it was enjoyable," neither of which I qualified. So at least i could damn with faint praise 8D.
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Very, very unimpressed with this school. But first the good stuff. The professors and lecturers seemed very knowledgeable and enjoyed teaching. I was lucky enough to sit in on a lecture and a seminar, both of which were great. LA is a pretty cool city, though Westwood is a bit too yuppy for a med students. On the other hand, the students did not seem very interesting and actually not even very smart (I know that's a ridiculous blanket statement, but I must have just come across a bad bunch of them). And my interviewer was awful. She was the image of what I do not want to become as a doctor: boring, bitter, and no fun.
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i got to ucla pretty early, about an hour before check-in time, which was nice because it gave me some time to explore the hospital and walk out my nerves. i had two interviews scheduled, the first one with a student and the second one with a doctor. not everyone had the same setup for interviews, so i have no idea if it's a positive thing that i have two people arguing for me in the committee, or a bad thing if they thought i needed the help. at any rate, the student was very nice, and we had our informal interview over lunch. i didn't eat too much because i talked most of the time, but that was fine since i wasn't that hungry anyway. the second interview was with a doctor who had little to no knowledge of my application, but was very nice and interested in finding out who i was as a potential doctor. my day ended at 2:30 p.m. after starting at 11:45 a.m. and i went home.
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Most of the interviews were spent going over my research. Three out of four interviewers asked in depth questions to test my knowledge of my field. We were fed two really good meals, a catered lunch and a dinner at a nice restaurant. The current MSTP students were really nice and helpful.
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The interviewer was SO nice! He wasn't even late. I've read about how laid-back the interviews have been, but I was still expecting it to be at least a little intimidating, but the entire interview was actually very pleasant. (Pointer: pretend you're talking to a friend; you will feel more comfortable and will be more likely to be yourself.)
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Overall my experience at UCLA was great. Everyone was really welcoming and nice and answered all my questions. They are currently undergoing a new curriculm with only 2 hours of lecture a day and a lot of on-your-own study time. It's P/F so there isn't a competitive vibe between students and HELLO, it's LA, who wouldn't love sunshine all year round?
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it was good. he was a bit late (30 min) but doctors aren't known for punctuality anywyas.
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Very nice experiance, amazing school.
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The student tour was short and we only got to see the library and the hallways of the med school building. My interview started with my interviewer being late. Then my interviewer asked questions about my childhood, which is fine if his goal was to learn more about me. However, he tried to criticize the decisions that my parents made in raising me and also tied that into how I have made decisions throughout my life. I almost forgot. He also called me a sexist since my favorite movies have male leads. That was on top of telling me that my grades were bad (even though they are the same as UCLA's average) and then suggested that I should not have participated in extracurricular activities and that may have effected my grades. But keep this in mind, if my interviewer had actually read my application, he would see that my extracurricular activities did not even occur while I was in school. But that was just one of many things that he did not know about me. I would talk about what I have done (which was clearly on my application) and my interviewer had no idea what I was talking about. Considering that I flew from the east coast, I would expect that my interviewer at least know something about me other than how my parents raised me and what my favorite movies are. And here is the finale. He looks up at a broken clock in the room and tells me that we should wrap up the interview. Don't ge me wrong. I love UCLA the school. The interview definitely left a bad taste in my mouth.
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overall it was positive. i was more impressed by the faculty and staff than by the student body. my interviewer went over in great detail my application and asked me to clarify my work experience and personal history.
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I arrived at 11:45 and we had a tour/lunch until 1:30. Unfortunately, my interview was at 4:00 pm so I had way too much free time. On top of that, my interviewer was 45 minutes late. By the time I finished, the admissions office had already closed. The interview itself went rather well and the doctor was able to answer all of my questions.
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The interview day seemed poorly planned. They ask you to come in 15 mins. before your interview and give you no orientation or information about the school. My interviewer was an hour and a half late, but I excused it because, let's face it, doctors aren't known for their punctuality. As soon as we sat down, he explained to me that he conducted interviews for the subcommittee on disadvantaged students. When I told him that I wasn't disadvantaged, he responded, "Well, then I don't know why they sent me to interview you." Thanks. He then made me go through a whole list of things, trying to see if somehow I qualified as disadvantaged - Was my family impoverished? Did I grow up in a gang-infested neighborhood? Did I attend sub-par schools? Frankly, it was insulting. After all that he told me that the admissions committee had a question about my application because I didn't answer all of the essays on the secondary. I tried to explain to him that the instructions had said that it was necessary to answer every essay question, just the ones that might give the committee a better understanding of you as a person. He didn't really seem to understand this, so he made me give answers to the essays I had left blank, one being "Are you a disadvantaged student?" Throughout the interview he kept saying, "You should always answer all the essays, even if they tell you not to. I've never seen this before." After the interview, some students took us around the hospital for a quick tour (~10 min) and then we ate lunch. After lunch (around 1p) the day was over. You really couldn't get a feel for the school or even the students (it was the day before Thanksgiving so all the students had gone home). Overall, the interview experience left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
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I arrived at 7:45 AM and had to travel quite far across campus for the 8 AM interview. The interviewer was very good-natured, and it was extremely low-stress. Most of the questions (like that concerning Africa) were related to things that I had mentioned in my application. Then I sat in on a second-year class for two hours. First year students then led a tour that pretty much consisted of getting lunch. After that, my day was done at 1:30 PM.
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I had a great time. My student interview was very nice. I dont understand why only some students get student interviews, but to me it seems like that was the most informative part of my visit. Still, dont worry if you dont have a student interview as they say it doesnt help or hinder you, plus you can talk to the tour guides if you have questions.
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All aspects of the interview day were wonderful. I thought the school was outstanding on a number of levels. A lot of effort is taken to ensure a solid curriculum, access to advising for MD/PhD students, and good integration of the medical and graduate schools.
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the california schools were originally my top choices, but after checking out UCLA i have changed my mind. the day was totally disorganized. they didn't show us anything. all you get is a tour and an interview. most schools try to at least sell themselves a little. i can't believe i flew all the way there for that.
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UCLA is an amazing school and its hospitals are among the very best. The admissions staff, however, was not too kind nor was the interview day organized. My negative review is not a reflection of the school, but rather of how the admissions office handles interviews.
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i had one interview with an md, and another one with a student. the md was really kick-back. this was my best interview yet, as it was very conversational and relaxing. don't stress about it
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It was the most casual easygoing interview ever, but the admissions office-sponsored stuff seemed way to scattered and rushed.
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i truly love ucla, but the interview is not that impressive. they dont really ask any difficult questions. also fyi the personality of some of the classes is not 'study hard, party hard.' maybe more the former. no one i talked to could explain the 'clinical colleges' that ucla has. the second interview stressed me out a bit b/c i wasnt expecting it.
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great, best experience yet.
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Good experience - everyone did the best they could to accomodate me even though there was a scheduling error (they were double booked). There were no real "questions," just "Why do you want to be a doctor" and just kind of a flowing conversation from there. We talked about me, we talked about the interviewer, we just talked like two normal people would talk. I was reminded that this is not an oral exam, just an...informational conversation.
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Overall I feel like I had a good experience. Two second year students led three of us around and were really friendly. They really did seem happy and personable. The curriculum sounds awesome if you are more of a hands-on interactive person who can't stand looooong formal lecture time but self-directed is important. I was a little worried when a second year student visiting the admissions office told me he knew my interviewer and had a worrisome look on his face--that definitely added to the anxiety bc the student made it seem like my interviewer was super intense and mean. It ended up being okay. The Dr. asked some random questions just out of the blue but he was friendly and had a nice demeanor. Although my interview was fairly short, he had a lot of encouraging words to share and made me feel confident as an applicant in general. WORDS of advice: Although it was conversational and laid back, definitely think about what your opinions are in regards to ethical issues and the pros and cons of your experiences!!!
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My day started at noon. We had a campus tour, lunch with med students and interview at 1:30 pm.
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it was mostly low key, as far as interviews go. it IS ucla. how could it not be impressive? students were mostly nice and helpful and seemed pretty happy. i could dig it.
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I can't imagine a more compassionate and thoughtful interviewer! He knew my file very well and asked very thoughtful questions based on things that I had written. Even when I had some problems answering a few questions, he took the time to cull the meaning out of my confused spiel and calmed me down to a point where I could answer cogently and honestly. I don't know how representative he is as a UCLA med interviewer -- but I hope everyone's experience in the interview is as wonderful.
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I LOVED UCLA!!! I just hope I get in. Great curiculum, students, faculy , reputation, and LOCATION!! The admissions staff were so friendly and the students were happy and excited about the school.
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It was really laid-back; my interviewer was really nice.
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The admissions staff and interviewers were very friendly.
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The experience was great, very low stress.
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stressful for me because it is my top choice!!!
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The day was different from most schools I had interviewed with in that there was no scheduled informational meeting. As soon as I got to the admissions office, I was told to go to my interviewer's office and after the interview, we had a tour and lunch with first year students. During lunch, we got to talk to a fourth year student, who was really great. As he was already going through the Match, it kind of gave us a perspective on what we were all working towards. Also, he obviously really loved being at UCLA and it showed as he described his years both during the basic sciences and the clinical years. After lunch, the day was over, although some people had 2nd interview (I only had one). I left by 2pm.
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The Heatlh sciences building is a labyrinth of corridors and rooms! You definitely need a map to get around (I got very lost trying to find my interviewer's office). I had to wait for about 30mins for my interview, but I guess that's understandable since many of the faculty also have clinical practices. Anyway, my interviewer was very nice and warm. She asked me to talk mainly about things I'd written on my AMCAS and secondary applications. It was more of a conversation than an interview. UCLA has an academic medicine department, so be sure to talk about that during the interview if you're interested in teaching at all. They're really interested in knowing why you want to come to UCLA over all other schools; read up on the curriculum, student-run clinics and medical opportunities in Los Angeles. UCLA is a great school, and one student I spoke with said he picked UCLA over Harvard because the environment was more student-friendly and geared towards community based healthcare and not research. Los Angeles is nice, but it's not exactly cheap to live there. Having a car is a big plus, but the med students say you can get by with public transportation for the first two years. Since the hospitals are very widespread, third and fourth year students need to have cars for their clinical rotations. Traffic is quite bad; it would be very useful to have some knowledege of surface streets. There is a considerable amount of waiting period for people with afternoon interviews, but you can hang out at the student lounge (equipped with widescreen TV, ping-pong table and pool table). Give yourself plenty of time to get to the airport via public transportation, and make sure you have the exact amount of change.
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LA is a great city and I could definitely see myself being there. The school is phenomenal and has great professors and opportunities. The interview day was quite short for me. I got there for an early interview (11am) then had the tour/lunch and I was out by 1:30pm. The students love the school and my student host told me what many students chose UCLA over more prestigious schools (UCSF, Harvard)because of the great environment. The housing is priced pretty well but a car is a necessity. Public transporation is good but not fabulous.
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much more relaxed than expected. the dr. was really nice.
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Relaxed and interesting!
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I loved UCLA; however, I am slightly biased because I am an undergraduate there, so I already know that I would like living in LA.
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My interview packet still hadn't come by the Friday before my Tuesday interview (and I was flying out on Sunday), so I had to call and get it faxed to me. It had info about student hosts but since it hadn't come by earlier the week before I sent an e-mail out and one of the students (not on the student host list) e-mailed back saying I could stay with her, which turned out to be the best idea--she was so nice and I loved not having to stay in a hostel. Hung around campus on Monday (while studying for finals, groan), especially the med library. Got to the Admissions office 11:45 am. We went on a tour at 12 which wasn't as bad as people made it sound; my tour guides were really talkative and showed us good parts of the medical campus (I'd seen the rest so didn't care about going again). The only problem was that my interview was at 1:15 so I had to rush through the amazing lunch (got a salad with the $5 lunch voucher) and conversation with the 7 or so other interviewees. All of them were in-state except for one other besides me. My interview was right across the street, really easy to get to. I was upset that all the bathrooms in the building were locked but asked another clinic to let me use theirs. At my interviewer's clinic, I was shown into his office and was told to sit on the couch. Looked at all his impressive awards (was featured as one of US's top physicians). He was a great guy to interview with, I think just because he seemed very relaxed in general despite his impressive breadth of specialties. It was supposed to be open file but he made it seem like he wasn't shown a lot of my application, and he didn't really mention much that told me he'd really read it. But he asked some thoughtful questions, and tried to make standard questions (why want to be a doctor, how fix healthcare) more interesting by asking them in different ways. I was nervous and didn't like how my answers sounded, but think I did a good job in explaining my reasons, my personality, my desire to come to this school, and that I'd be a great addition to the class, so I went away pretty happy and pretty confident that I'll be accepted. :)
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It sucked. Very unorganized and students didn't seem very happy. I also didn't like my interviewer and I felt like she wasn't really interested in me as an applicant. I don't know what the big deal about UCLA is and it would have been nice to tour the hospital or at least meet the Dean of Admissions.
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I love UCLA!
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The entire experience was very positive.
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Very relaxed and easy day. Just a chat.
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great day.
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i was told to come at 11:45 but i got there at 9 because my friend who i stayed with had to go to class in the morning. there were about 6 of us interviewing that day, but everyone had different appointments, and some people had a student interview as well. we had lunch as a really nice cafe. my interview was with a nephrologist at one of the medical offices across the street. overall he asked pretty standard questions. he said although it is supposed to be open-file he doesn't like to know much about the interviewees. but i was very impressed with the school as a whole and i hope i get in!
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The questions that my interviewer asked was really very general, so I tried to elaborate more and make the conversation more interesting. At one point I was rather taken back though, when I mentioned that I did a research related to measuring EEG on autistic individuals. My interviewer is a neurologist, and he keep on saying that that was stuff that was done in the 60's and he couldn't understand why any researcher would still be doing that.
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The day is very disorganized. Hope that you don't get the tour at noon and interview at 4.
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I want to go so badly to UCLA.
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I had a great interview experience at ucla, mainly because of my interviewer and how nice she was.
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I had already attended summer school at UCLA, so I already had a little exposure to the school. I didn't find out that many more things that I liked but I didn't see anything I didn't like either.
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overall, I think it was about my worst inteview day. I did pretty bad during the interview because it was pushed back and I was stress about missing my flight, so I think that hampered my experience. I didn't get to talk to too many students, but the ones I did talk to were nice. the Student interview is over lunch.
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I arrived at the admissions office before my 10:45am scheduled time and my interview was at 11:00am. I was given directions to the interviewer's office which was just down the hall. The interviewer was 10 minutes late due to a conference call. We had a wonderful conversation for about 50 minutes and I felt like she got to know me very well as a person and student. She walked me back to the admissions office while we chatted. Two first year students met me and one other applicant in the admissions office. They took us on a tour of the medical school and part of the medical center and answered all our questions. We were given a $5.25 voucher but this was not enough for lunch so I had to use some of my own money. The interview day was over at 1:00pm.
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Everyone, its UCLA. The school has a tremendous reputation. So walking into the room with the interviewer I was serioulsy nervous, already began on a bad note. I tried to calm myself down and relaxed. Lots of smiling and thinking. The interviewer was not harsh adn yet he wasn't warm, he was neutral. The hospital is huge so make sure and give yourself enough time to get to your interview. The staff is great, but not outstanding. hey if you are sitting in the admissions office you have made it, if you screw the interview up then its your ass that messed it up so don't go and blame anythign else. Not to scare anyone but its up to you to stand your ground and represent. Know yourself very well otherwise don't even walk into teh place. Best of luck to everyone else.
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It was great. Everyone was really friendly and it was a nice and smooth interview.
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I had an 8:00 am interview, attended a class, had an hour in betweeen and met a friend for coffee and then had a brief tour and lunch with the other applicants. UCLA has become my first choice.
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I was asked to come to the admission office at 11:45. I got there at 11:30. We had a tour with 2 first year medical student which was very short, only like 15 minutes. We ate lunch together until 1pm. I had my interview at 3:30 so I had 2 hours to kill. The interview was very casual, getting to know more about you, conversational. However, I was still nervous since this was my first interview. Student life seems less stressful than I thought. Every students I met seem to like UCLA a lot.
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Overall it was a pleasant experience mainly due to the personality of the interviewer. The interview lasted so long because he loved to talk.
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faculty member was extremeley nice. seemed that they paired you up with someone who practiced in your field of interest (if you expressed one) - interviewer was really interested in you and your reasons for being there and being interested in medicine - seemed as if they really wanted to get a good idea of who you are and if you've thought things through that you've presented on your application
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The interviewer was very nice and chatty- my interview ended up being longer than 2 hours... He knew everything about me from my file (though he didn't have it in front of him). This was a really low-stress experience.
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Although the interview day is pretty unstructured, I really enjoyed it. My interviewer was very nice - it felt more like a conversation with a new friend.
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It was very relaxed. The interviewers knew my file very very well.
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the day wasn't as disorganized as a lot of previous people have said. two first-years gave us a long tour of the med school and we had lunch together. some people had 2 interviews, some had one. my interviewer made me feel at ease and asked very standard questions based on my application. unfortunately there was no overview to the school or financial aid session by a faculty member, so you have to make sure you ask the students or the interviewer your most important questions.
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When other interviewees tell you that they had a great interviewer who was really nice & it was conversational, don't get too relaxed since it's random who you'll get. In my case, because it was my first interview, I was a bit more nervous and spent a decent amount of time prepping. God, am i glad i did b/c my interviewer was nice, but a tough cookie, which made for a more stressful interview. She didn't ask questions any different from what's been reported before. However, her manner of interviewing was really abrupt and she started off w/ the much-dreaded "So, tell me @ yourself ....". So I began w/ my family background & she would interrupt me when she'd heard enough or wanted to interject w/ a question or switch gears. This style was tough & took me awhile to adjust to. When I first came into the office, several interviewees from the morning group were still there to wait for the afternoon folks to arrive so that we could all go get lunch & do the tour together. It was great to chat w/ other interviewees--I actually learned more useful details from them than from the admissions office.
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Excellent experience. Just be prepared to be every bit the person you portrayed in your application.
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I got to the admissions office and waited for my two interviews. My student interviewer took me on a very short tour and we ate lunch while interviewing. I found that to be very difficult, answering questions, thinking, asking questions, and eating all at the same time. I then came back for my second interview. The faculty member was dozing off at certain point and I wasn't sure what to do. But later on we talked about health care and he became more excited. At the end, he seemed to have a good impression of me and said something like he wishes to see me next fall. Overall though, there is no organized tour, no admissions talk, and I didn't even get to meet many other interviewees. I did like the admissions office people a lot. They were very friendly and helpful!
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At UCLA they go over every part of your application with you in depth. Be prepared to talk in depth about anything you wrote about on your AMCAS or secondary application. In addition, know a little about health care and ethical issues in general.
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The interview is really low stress. They just seem to be interested in your personality and family life. Be prepared to think of something catchy that you'll add to the class. She also asked me for a moment during my hospital volunteer work that was particularly important. It's a great school, and they seem to know that everyone wants to go there, so they just don't have to put a lot of work into a great interview day. The woman in the admissions office did say that they offer a "very nice" recruiting day in the spring for people that are accepted in the first batch (which is in Jabuary). I got along very well with my interviewer. She even had one of her research students bring me hot tea because I had a sore throat! At the end of the interview, she told me that she hoped to see me here next year, and said she would do her best to "sell" me to the committee, but said she can't make any guarantees. That made me very happy!
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My interviewer closely adhered to the interview sheet that was given by the admissions committee. My interviewer knew my file very well and would ask a lot of detailed related questions...mainly just to clarify any confusion on the secondary. We talked for over an hour, which was a good sign, I suposse. It was a very thorough interview and a lot of different aspects of my application and character were discussed.
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I really liked UCLA. the atmosphere was very laid back and the students all love going to school there. the faculty was approachable and caring. you could tell everyone was very intelligent but not patronizing or snobby.
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It was very stressful. I felt like the interviewer was very bitter and mean towards premeds. I requested a second interview, and the guy seemed apathethic and disinterested.
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This interview was very relaxed. The interviewer wanted to know about my family and my interests.
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I had a lot of apprehension concerning UCLA. Aside from my interviewer, I didn't feel much better about the school. Everyone seemed really competitive and there wasn't a good vibe associated with the place. Didn't get to meet any other medical students there. The entire affair was pretty unorganized.
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very positive experience overall, good school
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be forwarned that the interview time they send you has nothing to do with your actual time. i got an email saying i would have one interview at 1:30, got a letter saying to come at 11:45, and then when i got there was told i had one interview at 1:30 and one at 4:00. (??) most people don't have student interviews, so don't worry about it if you just have one. the second years do interviews and are all studying for boards, so people only have student interviews when they can actually find a second year with time. anyways, the students were all very nice, and the student and faculty interviews were both very helpful. i think i just got a negative impression of the school because i was so tired of the process by that point. after traveling for a whole year, it just becomes annoying when things are unorganized.
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the interview itself went ok, but the interview day was a waste of time.
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all the other interviewers seemed so so cool! mine was not, very dry, although he knew my file extremely well without opening it in front of me..
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don't stress over this one! The interview was very conversational... and don't worry if you only have one interviewer (no second interview with a student won't hurt you at all)
What are your suggestions for the admissions office?
Applicants commonly suggested that the admissions office improve their website for better user experience, provide a formal orientation or presentation for prospective students, offer more organized and informative tours, and hire friendly staff who are enthusiastic about interacting with students.
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The website could use some work to make it more intuitive and user-friendly
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Have a presentation before -- it would be welcoming and help us get acquainted with things like the curriculum, living situation, financial aid, etc.
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I'm glad you always answer the phone because the website needs work.
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Include a formal orientation / presentation. Include a financial aid talk.
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Very nice people. Maybe have an email explaining the general layout of the day and what time you mig
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Yes, there's no fancy presentation for UCLA when you get there. Walk around instead of waiting... it
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Try to direct interviewees better, set up a better tour, have an information session.
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better map, had to ask for directions but the people I asked were very friendly
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The interview office made it clear that I was not a priority for them, they were cold and unorganize
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I wish they would promote themselves, even just a piece of paper saying what they have to offer woul
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Can we get an overview of how the day will go prior to the interview day?
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Give a more organized, more informative tour.
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Hire nice people who like to interact with students. It was a BIG turnoff.
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