Hey new applicants!
For those of you who might not know, I'm a rising second year here and I'm generally around to answer questions y'all might have about applications, life at Vandy, etc. So feel free to ask! Barring any upcoming exams, I check this site pretty dependably.
Ok, so here's how the general application process works, or has worked in the past couple of years. Warning: this will be long, but
please read it as it will cover a lot of stuff you may be wondering.
1)
you get the email saying "we got your primary and you may or may not get a secondary in 6-8 weeks". The 6-8 week deadline is PROBABLY (i.e. in my experience, not absolutely) a gross overestimation in the very beginning of the cycle because there aren't as many applicants at that point and app readers aren't as busy. So it's likely you'll hear way before then. My year I think people started getting secondaries on August 3rd or something and last year it was around that time as well. Once you get further down the line, it can take a few weeks to get a secondary, but even then I have found 6-8 weeks to be an overestimation- they just don't want you to hound them every day.
Don't do that.
2) you get a LETTER (yes,
snail-mail, some love it, some hate it) in the mail.
It's a thin white envelope regardless so don't freak out. The letter will either be a "thanks but no thanks" or a "congratulations, you got a secondary and a
simultaneous interview". Yes, this is different from every other med school out there. Again, some love it and some hate it. In my opinion, the pros outweigh the cons. You don't have to pay the secondary fee or fill out essays unless they're planning on interviewing you, which is awesome, and your interview becomes a part of your application along with everything else, not just an addendum (they evaluate the secondary, the LORs and the interview at the same time, instead of adding the interview at the last minute). Some hate it because the primary doesn't really cover everything you might want to say about yourself to get an interview, and they do interview a ton of people which leads to a slightly lesser chance of getting in afterwards. You'll see soon enough whether you like this system or not.
Anywho, the "yes" letter will have the address to an online secondary, and a username/password.
3) The good: the website with the secondary is awesome, well-designed, and won't crash your computer- this is more than I can say for a lot of the other app sites I had to deal with when I applied. LORs are due along with the secondary and will only be looked at after the interview. The bad: there's a
lot of writing involved if it's as it has been the past couple of years. It's no Duke, but it's still a lot of writing. On the other hand, remember- you already have the interview in the bag, so I think that adds an extra little bit of motivation since you're way ahead of the curve to begin with. You're not just writing a zillion essays for no reason- they WILL discuss them in committee.
4) As soon as you submit your secondary, you'll get to a page with an interview scheduler. Again, rather nifty. I believe interviews generally start at the end of August and end in March or something. You can pick a day and whether you want a
morning or afternoon interview.
** the difference = the morning interview has more downtime, so if you want to hang out with the other interviewees, visit a class, walk around the undergrad campus, or schmooze with admission peeps/students, pick this one. If you already go to Vandy, don't feel like walking around or waiting and don't care to meet people or visit classes, pick the afternoon interview.
Once you pick the date and time, you'll get the
name and information about your interviewer. I thought this was really cool, cause you can see whether you have anything in common with him/her and know to address those things when the time comes.
NOTE = DO NOT PROCRASTINATE!!!! People do this all the time and regret it afterward. Yes, you have the interview already and they won't take it away if it takes you 2 months to write your essays. BUT
ACCEPTANCES ARE ROLLING, and if you submit your secondary in November, you'll likely have to interview quite a bit later (say, December or January, cause all the earlier dates will have been taken already) and then you might not go to committee until February and by then a bunch of spots will already have been taken.
Don't be an idiot and get things done in time.
5) You'll have
one, 1-hour interview with a faculty member. Yes, just one. Make it count. We're big on "fit" here. Besides the interview, you'll have a lunch with your tour guides, an info session with people about the curriculum and such, a tour of the med school, and an optional (do it!) tour of the Children's Hospital. And there'll be a certain amount of downtime based on whether you picked the morning or afternoon interview slot.
6) post-interview, you go to committee. Everything is taken into account again, and this is the black-box component of the process so I can't tell you how it is that you're chosen because
I have no idea.
7) within a few weeks, starting Oct 15 or thereabouts, you'll either get a phone call from Dean Zic followed by a thick letter envelope in the mail, or just the thick envelope with the acceptance (this is rare I think, usually Dean Zic tries to call), or the thin letter with a WAITLIST. Yes,
we don't reject post-interview. Yes, if you're on the wait list, you will hate this. Don't ask me how the waitlist works because I have no clue, but I do know that you're "re-considered" at every meeting, so if you're really borderline you might get accepted in January after being waitlisted in December. Or you might be waitlisted forever. I don't know if extra LORs and letters of intent work.
8) usually, the waitlist doesn't move a whole lot, but
it does move a little bit every year. If you're in the unfortunate majority, you'll be in limbo from the day you get your waitlist until kingdom come. Sorry. Generally after May 15th they look at how many spots have opened up and start rejecting a bunch of waitlistees, leaving a smaller group of people who may be accepted if someone from the class drops.
OK, that should cover most of the general questions. Feel free to ask more specific stuff and good luck!