<p>i have always been interested in UCLA becasue of its location and the fact that is ranked high among colleges...the only thing is taht i dont know if its worth applying to b/c i want to do premed and go to med afterwards but i have never heard anything about premed at UCLA (giving me the impression that UCLA is not the school for me)...anyone know anything about premed at UCLA or like how many people do it and get accepted into med school afterwards</p>
<p>UCLA sends out more med school applications each year than any other university in the country. I would assume that the admissions rate is about the nationwide average (approx. 50%). There really isn't much more to tell you about being premed at UCLA. You have to take the same classes you would anywhere else....</p>
<p>LOL...most people here are either premed, engineers, or bizecon....well, a majority of them.</p>
<p>UCLA sends many of its kids to top med schools, but you have to do very well. Is this different from other schools? Not really. One diffence is that UCLA tends to send more total kids, but many kids were weeded out in the process or didn't get in to med school. It's similar to Berkeley in this way. If you use UCLA well and do well, you can head to top med schools, but it is a tough road (although pre-med is in general). Basically, it's possible, if that's what you're asking. </p>
<p>Search around the web and you will probably find pretty exact numbers for med school applicants from UCLA and where they got in and their grades and GPAs and what not.</p>
<p>Here's some info. Many students head to UCLA intending to go to med school, and many of them end up doing this, although many also find more interesting things, are weeded out, or do not get in.</p>
<p>hmm...lemme see, we only have the best hospital in the west for 16 straight years for you to volunteer in: <a href="http://www.healthcare.ucla.edu/best-in-the-west%5B/url%5D">http://www.healthcare.ucla.edu/best-in-the-west</a>
we'll also have a brand new Ronald Reagan Hospital up for you to do hospital-related work, whenever you plan to matriculate (hospital's completely digital, no papers whatsoever)
and our med school is only ranked #11 in the entire US, not that good right?</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>if you dont know what UCLA has to offer for premed students, given its stellar reputation in medical advances, then dont come here. please.</p>
<p>Yes, it is quite true that these amazing resources are available to a small number of UCLA students. These things offer great opportunities, and are particularly helpful if one can get positions or work at these places. They are there, but not everyone trying will be able to utilize them. Also, don't tell this person inquiring about your school that, if they don't know what is available, they should stay away. Perhaps they should stay away because of students like you who chastise those who enquire, but if they are eager to learn what will help them in the future, just help them.</p>
<p>HAHA if you think volunteering in a top hospital will do anything at all for your chances, you need to do some more research on med school admissions.</p>
<p>Are you saying that being an EMT is better than volunteering at a top hospital?</p>
<p>Ouch. that was harsh. IMO...EMT>Volunteering</p>
<p>I think anyone can volunteer at a hospital, but it takes a lot more to become an EMT.</p>
<p>Just making sure. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>no i'm saying volunteering at a hospital (any hospital) tends not to be what med school adcoms are looking for in "medical experience"</p>
<p>so you're saying u know sum1 who got into a top medical school and he/she did not volunteer at a hospital or do anything related to a hospital whatsoever in terms of medical experience? most likely the answer is no, so doing so can only help you.</p>
<p>my cousin's at UCSF med school as part of UCLA's class of 2005 and im merely following in her footsteps...a winning successful "gameplan" of courses/research/professors/etc...so far so good</p>
<p>lol I think if you reread my post, you'll notice that that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying volunteering tends not to be good medical experience. Because when you get to your interviews and they ask you what sort of experience you've had in medicine that makes you think you want to be a doctor, and all you can say is: "well, I volunteered at UCLA which, as you know, is the best hospital on the west coast. I gained soooo much knowledge of how medicine works as I pushed patients from room to room and answered those phones and gave directions to visitors at UCLA, a top ranked hospital."... well, thats not going to do you much good.</p>
<p>:rolleyes:</p>
<p>And I'm sorry but I have to comment on the other thing - the "winning gameplan". Don't think that med school is the numbers game that undergrad admissions is. Don't believe that what worked for your cousin will definitely work for you if you do the exact same thing, because again, you'll get screwed when interviews come rolling around and you can't speak passionately about your activities during undergrad. Research isn't my cup of tea, so i'm not going to do any. Does that mean I'm not going to get into med school? hell no...</p>
<p>well this isnt high school community service anymore where you're only a junior volunteer who works front desks giving directions to people, wheels random patients around, or takes samples from floor to floor.</p>
<p>theres something called "shadowing" a doctor and establishing connections with the doctors and administrators who oversee the hospital. oh but wait, thats something most people dont have so i wont get into that cuz it obviously wont apply to some of you. anyways, i personally know plenty of people who FAMILIES who went to Cal, UCI, and Stanford (not UCLA) who did very similar research with the same professors/volunteer at the same hospitals or institutions/and land fairly competitive internships, and they all got into top 10 medical schools. every single one of them (all 37 of them). Having a sibling who established a good connection w/ a previous prof definitely gets you into their personal circle, and thus nets you way better recs. of course your working in the ER is definitely excellent medical experience, but as a senior applying to medical school, I'd like to say wait it out and see if your GPA survives the upper div classes...</p>
<p>i personally would like to call what the siblings did a "winning gameplan" for success...don't know what you'd qualify it as</p>
<p>haha well you obviously know more than I do about this :rolleyes:, although it beats the hell out of me where you equate shadowing to volunteering, but whatever... good luck with your med school 'gameplan'.</p>
<p>well "hospital-related work" = shadowing so ya say what you want with whatever sarcasm you like.</p>
<p>i KNOW it's not a numbers game, but we'll see where my 3.84 and 37 carries me. i'd like to bet i'm the one with a big bright smile next spring.</p>
<p>hfsaodifhsaf:</p>
<p>Which medical schools did you apply to?</p>
<p>most of the top 50 ones, notable ones include UCSF, JHU, WashU, Stanford, UCLA, UCSD, UWash, Columbia, Michigan</p>
<p>we'll see...</p>
<p>This may be a dumb question, but how is the MCAT scored?
Why is there a two-digit numerical grade and a separate letter grade?</p>
<p>there are 3 multiple choice sections: Physical Sciences, Verbal Reasoning, and Biological Sciences, each on a scale of 1 to 15.
theres a separate letter grade for your essay, two 30-min responses, scored on a scale of J-T.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/%5B/url%5D">http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/</a>
<a href="http://info.gradschools.com/review/mcat/faq.html%5B/url%5D">http://info.gradschools.com/review/mcat/faq.html</a></p>