hi everyone!
I'm a rising second year at UVM, and although second year is notoriously busy for all med students, I'll do my best to be a presence in here and give people answers to their questions (if i have them!!)
UVM is OOS friendly compared to a lot of state schools. VT residents made up ~25% of my class at matriculation. but you have to balance that against the fact that they have received 5-6k applications every year for several years now. my class started with 114 students and i am not familiar with any plans to expand.
i do feel that the admissions folks do a superior job of looking at the whole person here, and seeing what unique perspectives a person can bring to the experience of the class as a whole. thus you'll see a wider variety of academic backgrounds, life experiences, age groups, and yes a broader range of GPA/MCAT than many other places. so far as numbers go, i think the admitted average last year was 3.7/31, but the spread is fairly high (ie we have 3.3s and 3.9s, twenty-something MCATs and high thirties MCATs - and not just a few of any of those). clearly plenty of people apply with numbers that hew close to the accepted average, but the completed application -> interview success rate is only 15-20%, so obviously they are always looking beyond the numbers!
a couple more things: interview invites in recent years have started going out in August, and the season this year ran early September to late April.
virtually everyone is initially waitlisted post-interview, and many of us that are now students here spent months on the waitlist before being accepted. so the waitlist here isn't necessarily a bad thing!
lastly, don't let the hybrid curriculum scare you! the quality of the basic science instruction here is
outstanding, and all the resources are here for you to get a great Step score if you are willing to work hard for it. the payoff comes in the clinical years, when you will have more time to learn clinical medicine and discover the field that's right for you. also, know that this is a school that genuinely appreciates the importance of student life: many incoming students are married and/or have kids, and more get hitched and/or have kids while here (sometimes to/with each other!)
this will be a long year for you guys, but it's so so so worth it!