University of California Irvine School of Medicine

No change 😐

5 out of 10

A low-key MSTP dinner was held in the medical student lounge the night before the interview, and was a good way to talk to some of the students informally. Overall, they seemed satisfied with the program, but not outright enthusiastic about it. The hotel was very comfortable and convenient. The next morning, there were 30-40 applicants (MD+MSTP) present at the orientation session, which was a downpoint in the experience. The orientation paradoxically seemed rushed although it took FOREVER. With the exception of a relatively short student-led tour of the campus (which was quite good), we were in the same room for 4 hours straight! All the interviews were held in the afternoon, starting with the student interviewer, who seemed sleepy/worn out/depressed. The next three interviews (1 MD, 2 MD/PhD) were straightforward and not too stressful (though not as conversational as I thought they would be). In all, the experience at UCI left me with the same feelings I had about the school.

SDN, reviewed AMCAS and supplemental essays.

The MSTP students were nice and gave an honest opinion of their experience at UCI. The MSTP staff do a good job of coordinating the day (as well as the night before). I didn't really get too much of a tour of the research facilities, but they seemed nice. The faculty seem solid, and UCI's MSTP seminar series has some pretty outstanding speakers on the bill.

The atmosphere there wasn't very upbeat. Students and some faculty seemed rather down. I don't know if this is due to the city of Irvine being rather dead (reportedly, fun can only be had in "neighboring" beach towns) or if I just caught them all on a stressful day. The main negative in my opinion is that the hospital is 15 minutes away (by car) from the medical school; a geographic nuissance to their hope of integrating clinical and pre-clinical experiences.

The interview was how I expected it would be for the most part. However, I guess I had expected the student interview to be more conversational (he actually was pressing me on a lot of science, though not in a rude way).

Student