Rocky Vista University (RVUCOM) Discussion Thread 2012 - 2013

Heard that they received full accreditation.

We'll see how it affects the loan situation. But that should allow students to apply for the NHSC if they want to.

We have full COCA accreditation, but it will take a few years to get regional accrediation to get Title IV funding and be able to get Federal GradPLUS loans.


RVUCOM-Class of 2016!

Might apply hurr. Also I like Colorado!

liljata999 said:

We have full COCA accreditation, but it will take a few years to get regional accrediation to get Title IV funding and be able to get Federal GradPLUS loans.


RVUCOM-Class of 2016!

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I feel inclined to add that many of us are on Sallie Mae variable loans with introductory rates in the low 2% range + whatever the LIBOR rate is, and they just added a fixed loan which appears to be between 5.5ish and 11ish%. Long story short, you should be able to get a loan that is either competitive with the federal loans or better as long as you have a worthy co-signer.
Disclaimer: I am only a student, and any prospective student concerned about this should probably contact the financial aid office

I'm a very happy RVUCOM student and would recommend the school to any prospective student in spite of no access to title IV funding at this time. Best of luck to the student above who described him/herself as hopeful.

RVUCOM-Class of 2015

jeremykort said:

I feel inclined to add that many of us are on Sallie Mae variable loans with introductory rates in the low 2% range + whatever the LIBOR rate is, and they just added a fixed loan which appears to be between 5.5ish and 11ish%. Long story short, you should be able to get a loan that is either competitive with the federal loans or better as long as you have a worthy co-signer.
Disclaimer: I am only a student, and any prospective student concerned about this should probably contact the financial aid office

I'm a very happy RVUCOM student and would recommend the school to any prospective student in spite of no access to title IV funding at this time. Best of luck to the student above who described him/herself as hopeful.


RVUCOM-Class of 2015

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What if a student does not have a "worthy cosigner?"

If there is no worthy cosigner (like in my case...actually I just don't want to ask my parents/anyone else to do that at this point in time), then you can apply on your own to either Sallie Mae or the Health Professions Loan-Variable that Rocky Vista offers and see what gives you a better rate. Starting this year, Sallie Mae is offering a fixed interest rate option, and I am currently waiting to see what they will offer me.

i am confused. why does this school not offer federal loans?

angldrps said:

i am confused. why does this school not offer federal loans?

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RVU is a newer program, so it takes some time to gain federal accreditation for federal student loans. Any program that is a new program will have a time period which they have to gain accreditation which takes years to accomplish. One exception is the example seen in the two Western campuses, where Lebanon falls under Pamona's accreditation for loans.

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They have lectures and what they call "application" based learning, where you do have traditional lectures, but in advanced, you get a series of articles to read ahead of time and spend more time learning the material that way. I would say it has similarities to PBL, but isn't 100% PBL.

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To clarify, I would say it's much more lecture-based than leaning towards PBL. So if that is your major concern, I wouldn't let that sway you from applying to Rocky Vista.

Any other insight into RVU?

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angldrps said:

i am confused. why does this school not offer federal loans?

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I believe it is because the school is not non-profit thus making it currently ineligible for federal loans. If any students from the school wish to correct me please do so. This is the reason that I was given.

I am from Colorado originally so any DO school that gets me back there is high up on my list! When should I see a secondary? App was verified in the first week of June.

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xBODOMx said:

Has nothing to do with for profit status, it's because there is s time period before being eligible for title IV funding after full medical accreditation.

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Why is Pacific Northwest able to have the loans? Didn't they open the same year? Again im not hating on RVU, I fully plan on applying there and would love to get in. Im just trying to understand it.

This is complete speculation, but I believe it is because Pacific Northwest started applying for/was eligible to apply for regional accreditation earlier than Rocky Vista. I found this on PNWU-COM's website (http://www.pnwu.edu/college-of-osteopathic-medicine-com/curriculum/), where they have a timeline for both COCA accreditation and the regional accreditation.

I also found another Powerpoint online about how to become Title IV eligible, and it does say that the institution (whether for-profit or nonprofit) "Must Be Accredited by a Nationally Recognized Accrediting Agency" (Slide 3)

http://www.twc.state.tx.us/svcs/propschools/title_iv_school.pdf

Since Rocky Vista does now have full accreditation from COCA, I think that helps their case in getting the regional accreditation started (hopefully!).

People were saying to use RVU's secondary as the one to go with to prewrite. I began reading last years thread looking for it, found it, then continued reading. Very impressed. Just sent my primary here. I think what impressed me the most is the climate, I didn't know a place like this existed!

I hope that they send out their secondaries soon, I would love to get this application over and done with.

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azide10 said:

People were saying to use RVU's secondary as the one to go with to prewrite. I began reading last years thread looking for it, found it, then continued reading. Very impressed. Just sent my primary here. I think what impressed me the most is the climate, I didn't know a place like this existed!

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The climate here is awesome for sure. The summers can be hot with temps around 100 for a good portion of the summer, but the winters are fairly mild with snow at times. Although people think of Denver as having snow all the time, it's mainly the foothills that get the larger amounts of snow at a time and the city only receives a few inches with an occasional heavy snow (>6 in).

The school is really impressive and I'm hoping to hear positive feedback in regards to my application as well this year. I've met with one of the admissions counselors for a transcript review and was very impressed with the front desk staff as well as the counselor herself. The guy at the front desk actually recognized me and welcomed me back (I'd visited a few times before) and every time since then (went back for an open house), I received a genuine warm welcome from him. Having this level of professionalism is huge for me, especially if I'll be spending most of my time there for the next 2 years.

If anyone has any questions regarding Denver, needing a place to stay for interviews, etc feel free to PM me and I'll do my best to help you out as much as possible. Good luck everyone.

• If not currently in school, describe present activity and activity since you were last a full time student. Feel free to copy and paste your resume.
• Were you employed during the regular school year (excluding summers) while in undergraduate school? If yes give details.
• Why do you want to become an Osteopathic Physician? *Required
• Why do you wish to attend Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine? *Required
• What unique characteristics, abilities, or skill will you bring to the college and to the Osteopathic Profession? *Required
• Have you ever been convicted in any state or country of a criminal offense, other than a minor traffic offense, where you have been found guilty by a judge or jury or entered a plea of nolo contender (no contest)? Or have you entered into a plea bargain agreement, or any juvenile offenses, any offenses where the records have been expunged or any conviction that you are currently appealing, regardless of adjudication? If Yes, explain.
• Add any additional information that you consider pertinent or that you feel will be or benefit as a student or as an Osteopathic Physician.

That's what I found from last year's thread. Seems to be pretty thorough so I can't imagine it changed much.

Wow I already got a rejection and they haven't even seen my MCAT scores.

Kinda feeling a little crappy about this.

i got this

At this time your application reflects that you do not meet the minimum requirements necessary to move forward in our admissions process. If during this admission cycle, you have updated information you would like us to consider (transcripts or MCAT scores), please send them to AACOMAS and request an updated profile. If the revised information falls within our minimum standards, you will be notified that your file has been reactivated and a supplemental application will be sent to you.

havent taken the mcat yet

Yeah that's what I got too. My MCAT scores are pending.

EDIT: I just called them. We got these emails because they don't have our MCAT scores yet. OH thank godness!! So don't panic if you got this email and you haven't taken the MCAT or don't have scores yet. They said once you get your scores just submit them to AACOMAS and then request the revision.

JaBoomDay said:

EDIT: I just called them. We got these emails because they don't have our MCAT scores yet. OH thank godness!! So don't panic if you got this email and you haven't taken the MCAT or don't have scores yet. They said once you get your scores just submit them to AACOMAS and then request the revision.

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Same thing happened to my friend last year. Once you have your score they'll review your app. Not sure why they "reject" you automatically like that though. I imagine it costs them more in time because people get all freaked out by it!

Yeah I agree! I bet their office gets flooded with calls when they send out these emails. I will say though, they were REALLY nice on the phone even though they probably deal with these calls several times a day.

I'm still not happy about the initial rejection though. I kinda freaked out.

My application was released on 6/24/2012 and still no word from RVU. Anyone else still waiting for a secondary invite?

abolt18 said:

Same thing happened to my friend last year. Once you have your score they'll review your app. Not sure why they "reject" you automatically like that though. I imagine it costs them more in time because people get all freaked out by it!

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I have spoken with the office, and they told me that this goes out because they have a computer program that screens initial applicants, once MCAT scores have arrived, all you have to do is resubmit. They told me that receiving this does not hurt your application in any way.

AliceNWndrlnd said:

I have spoken with the office, and they told me that this goes out because they have a computer program that screens initial applicants, once MCAT scores have arrived, all you have to do is resubmit. They told me that receiving this does not hurt your application in any way.

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Yep, this is what I've been told by one of their admissions counselors as well. Don't sweat it, man. Give them a call, update them on the situation and they will keep your profile active.

COMedic2Doc said:

Yep, this is what I've been told by one of their admissions counselors as well. Don't sweat it, man. Give them a call, update them on the situation and they will keep your profile active.

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Oh my! That is the biggest avatar I have ever seen.

HoltMD said:

Oh my! That is the biggest avatar I have ever seen.

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LOL yeah took some work to get it back to manageable size....

Secondary! And if you received the fee waiver from AACOMAS, they waive your $50.00 fee. I'll add the prompts and whatnot later. Definitely the most extensive secondary so far for me. They require that I provide the email of the physician I shadowed... I never emailed him? I just used his office phone number!

Congratulations!

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abolt18 said:

Anyone know the dress code???

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Casual for regular classes and scrubs for anatomy lab.

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So i got the secondaries for RVU, but there isn't a character or word limit on these essays. Anyone know what they could be? I called admissions and the lady there is not responding at all

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ColeSmalls said:

I got the secondary but is it worth filling out for me? My stats seems a little low for this school, 3.25 cum 3.29 science 26 MCAT.

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If you got a secondary, fill it out. You will at least have a chance. If you don't fill it out, you have no chance!

The loans require REGIONAL accreditation, NOT federal or COCA. So, until the school is regionally accredited it can't get title IV funding... Best of luck to all of you in your applications!!

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