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Friday, December 21, 2012

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end...

I don't think I've ever welcomed a winter break as much as I have this year. What a whirlwind couple of months.

Our office will close this afternoon and not reopen until Wednesday, January 2nd. We should all use this time to step away from our busy lives and enjoy the opportunity to spend time with friends and family. A few things to note:
  1. Those with completed applications have been notified that "Invitations will be mailed between late-December and very early January. All applicants will be notified of their status by January 11th, 2013."  We are right on track!
  2. Don't get too caught up in how previous years have played out. Often I hear/read comments that start out, "Well I heard last year that you guys..." to which I respond "Every year is different!"
  3. We will not be sending out any additional invitations/denials until we return in January.
  4. If you have not received any notification from us, it means one of two things: (1) we have not received your PharmCAS application yet; or (2) we have simply not processed your completed application yet. Again, we will resume our work in January.
  5. Several years ago, I blogged about how applications are processed. Most of that information is still relevant to this year's application process. Please read it for additional information.
  6. I will be announcing a dramatic new interview process shortly! Stay tuned. 
Finally, I never intend to use this blog as a personal platform -- but this time of year can bring out a reflective part of me. This past year, several chaotic and sad events have happened in our world. It will be refreshing to close the book on 2012 and re-start fresh with a new year -- and a renewed sense of optimism and opportunity.

Have a terrific winter break, however you celebrate.

P.S. Yep, I quoted Semisonic in this blog post title. :)

4 comments:

Martiniewny said...

Thank you my mind can rest till the new year.. Thanks for always keeping us filled in.

Alast said...

Yes, thank you for always keeping us updated! Happy Holidays!

punam said...

You filling us in so often on what's happening is something a lot of schools don't really care about, this is why UCSF is great! Thanks Joel, Happy Holidays!!!

Jerika said...

That Semisonic lyric was incredibly relevant for me earlier this week—I received an interview invitation from one pharmacy school and unfortunately, a denial e-mail from UCSF. However, I’m still very glad my application was reviewed in its entirety (despite my failure to follow all of the instructions).

It astounds and inspires me how holistic the admissions process is, and how responsive the staff is to each individual applicant. I’m sure that these are both some of the larger contributing factors to UCSF’s ranking as the top pharmacy school in the nation. :) Congratulations and good luck to those who will be interviewing.

Does the PharmD program, by chance, accept transfer applications from pharmacy students at other schools? Ha…if not, I’d like to shoot for working at the UCSF Medical Center one day. When I visited San Francisco (from the depths of snowy Michigan) over winter break, I walked up that monstrous hill to see the Parnassus campus. It was like finding a stream of water in the middle of a desert. Awesome.

Anyway, thank you for braving so many essays, envelopes, phone calls, and bandaids.

 
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