Edward Via - Carolinas (VCOM-CC) Discussion Thread 2013 - 2014

[Hvilledoc]

Hope it goes well. Fill us in on what they say.

Thank you! I appreciate the good wish! I will fill you guys in on what they say during the interview. I do hope that they still have spots open.

I suggest staying at Hampton Inn because they pick you up from the airport when you arrive and drop you off at VCOM the next day. They also bring you back to the hotel/airport after your interview. It only costs $116 (including tax) which is the best deal I found.

I did book a room with the Hampton Inn. I agree it was a great deal! (no need for a rental car which is good since I am not 25yet)

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[Jamie407]

Thank you! I appreciate the good wish! I will fill you guys in on what they say during the interview. I do hope that they still have spots open.

Make sure they save a seat for me too!... Which state are you coming from? When did you say VCOM had receipt of your secondary again? I think I was a week or so behind you, so really hope they have room for some more interviews... My phone will not be more than a few feet away from me over the next 2 weeks....

Also tried to call Miss Haddaway for verification on the wait-list situation, but my calls went straight to voicemail... Glad you got through to talk to her. She's seems very helpful.

 

[Hvilledoc]

Make sure they save a seat for me too!... Which state are you coming from? When did you say VCOM had receipt of your secondary again? I think I was a week or so behind you, so really hope they have room for some more interviews... My phone will not be more than a few feet away from me over the next 2 weeks....

Also tried to call Miss Haddaway for verification on the wait-list situation, but my calls went straight to voicemail... Glad you got through to talk to her. She's seems very helpful.

Hi Jamie,

I am traveling from Texas! I sent in my secondary to VCOM on 12/17 and received my complete email on 12/19. I do hope that they have room for more interviews. Just keep an eye out for the call.

I was quite surprised that Gail answered right away, and yes she is very nice and helpful. I look forward to meeting her and visiting the campus!

 

[Jamie407]

Hi Jamie,

I am traveling from Texas! I sent in my secondary to VCOM on 12/17 and received my complete email on 12/19. I do hope that they have room for more interviews. Just keep an eye out for the call.

Ok! I submitted my secondary on 12/23, 6 days behind you.... 6 days certainly feels like an eternity now!... My GPA isn't bad, but my MCAT was a little low in the verbal section but better in the sciences (10's in both sciences)... Do you mind posting your stats to figure out what sort of numbers are sparking interest with the school admissions committee?

 

[Hvilledoc]

Ok! I submitted my secondary on 12/23, 6 days behind you.... 6 days certainly feels like an eternity now!... My GPA isn't bad, but my MCAT was a little low in the verbal section but better in the sciences (10's in both sciences)... Do you mind posting your stats to figure out what sort of numbers are sparking interest with the school admissions committee?

You are right, 6days do feel like an eternity! I have a 3.7 gpa and 22 mcat 8/6/8... I have heard great things from this school. I hope you also get an interview. Have you had any interviews or acceptances so far this cycle?

 

[Jamie407]

You are right, 6days do feel like an eternity! I have a 3.7 gpa and 22 mcat 8/6/8... I have heard great things from this school. I hope you also get an interview. Have you had any interviews or acceptances so far this cycle?

Ok! We're pretty similar! I have a 3.66 ScGPA, 24 MCAT with a 10/10/4... I think my low verbal has been an issue at a lot of places! I'm a native English speaker (I grew up in England and only moved here a couple of years back), but I haven't done any English comprehension since I was 16, (we finish high school at that age over in the UK!).... I am waiting to hear back from the 3 schools I applied to this cycle and back in December I applied to a Caribbean school too... VCOM is my number 1 choice in the US! School/program looks great and they seem more of a family than some of the other schools out there!...

 

[Hvilledoc]

Ok! We're pretty similar! I have a 3.66 ScGPA, 24 MCAT with a 10/10/4... I think my low verbal has been an issue at a lot of places! I'm a native English speaker (I grew up in England and only moved here a couple of years back), but I haven't done any English comprehension since I was 16, (we finish high school at that age over in the UK!).... I am waiting to hear back from the 3 schools I applied to this cycle and back in December I applied to a Caribbean school too... VCOM is my number 1 choice in the US! School/program looks great and they seem more of a family than some of the other schools out there!...

I hear ya on the verbal!.. English is my second language. I speak spanish almost all the time. Lol..
VCOM does seem like a great school and i get the impression it has a good community feeling amongst its students. What other schools did you apply to?

 

[Jamie407]

VCOM does seem like a great school and i get the impression it has a good community feeling amongst its students. What other schools did you apply to?

I also sent secondaries to NOVA, LECOM (Erie and Braderton) & WVSOM....

Just waiting to hear back!

 

[Hvilledoc]

I also sent secondaries to NOVA, LECOM (Erie and Braderton) & WVSOM....

Just waiting to hear back!

Thats good. I hope you hear back soon! I did not apply to NOVA, and LECOM placed me on hold pre secondary unless I took my MCAT this month.

 

[mke520]

Anyone know the match success rate of VCOM? I have an interview coming up at the South Carolina campus and so far I've heard nothing but good things about both campuses. BUT I know nothing about how well they match their students to their top choices so if anyone has the stats I'd appreciate that very much

 

[rosenk]

How long is each interview? I saw 2 faculty and 1 student interviews. Is it correct?

 

[quadcity]

How long is each interview? I saw 2 faculty and 1 student interviews. Is it correct?

yes correct. 30 minutes each.

 

[mke520]

could a current vcom student, or anyone else who knows, tell me what exactly block 8 - comprehensive review is? it seems like this is a block where they go over the all the previous material from blocks 1-7 but if anyone has a better understanding than i do and could elaborate on it i'd appreciate it...thanks

 

[moto_za]

Anyone have the match list for this school?
What's the difference between this campus and the one in Virginia ? TIA!

 

[Beautiful Game]

Anyone have the match list for this school?
What's the difference between this campus and the one in Virginia ? TIA!

There is no match list for VCOM-CC as yet because their inaugural class is still in the third year I think. You might be able to find the list for VCOM-VA though . The SC is the new campus but both school utilize the same curriculum and have same missions with VA being the more established campus and providing guidance to the SC campus.

 

[embracepeace]

Just got the call! Admissions just met yesterday (or was it today? I honestly didn't hear anything she said) and I was accepted!
Interviewed on January 21st. SO excited!

 

[Hvilledoc]

Just got the call! Admissions just met yesterday (or was it today? I honestly didn't hear anything she said) and I was accepted!
Interviewed on January 21st. SO excited!

Congrats!..

 

[embracepeace]

Congrats!..

Thank you! I saw that you're going to LMU so congrats to you, too! (I think we're in the same schools a lot, haha). Are you interviewing at VCOM-CC?

 

[Hvilledoc]

Thank you! I saw that you're going to LMU so congrats to you, too! (I think we're in the same schools a lot, haha). Are you interviewing at VCOM-CC?

Thank You! I am interviewing at VCOM-CC next Wednesday. I was suppose to interview there on 01/29 but due to weather related flight issues, I had to reschedule for next week.

 

[rosenk]

Accepted! I got the email before the call. So excited!

 

[quadcity]

Just got the call! Admissions just met yesterday (or was it today? I honestly didn't hear anything she said) and I was accepted!
Interviewed on January 21st. SO excited!

Accepted! I got the email before the call. So excited!

congrats!!! could you fill us in on what they said about the wait list (if anything)? also, could you share your stats?

 

[embracepeace]

congrats!!! could you fill us in on what they said about the wait list (if anything)? also, could you share your stats?

Sure! Someone from my group asked about the waitlist and whether we were interviewing for those slots. Gail emphasized that they were not interviewing for waitlist spots, but that they WERE starting to look at the people on the waitlist (seemed like there was going to be movement, maybe?). I definitely don't think they were interviewing for waitlist positions since I was immediately accepted after their committee meeting (from what I gathered on the phone call). I don't remember how many seats Gail said were available when I was interviewing (maybe someone from my session remembers?), but I remember being like "whew, that's a lot of seats still available. Thank God." If you get the chance to interview and go, the place is absolutely amazing.

As for my stats:
I was complete in early December-ish and interviewed on Jan 21st.
cGPA: 3.6
sGPA: 3.6
MCAT: 24, but it looks like they were looking at composite score (my interviewer did so it was higher than the 24)
Lotsa ECs, lotsa recs from DOs and MDs (shadowing/rounds, etc etc), rural background, a couple of higher degrees (5 first author publications so lotsa research) and so forth.

Hope this helps!

 

[embracepeace]

Oh! Forgot to say!

I think someone mentioned that VCOM really looks at the last 120 hours of your science grades? I forgot about that until one of my interviewers didn't even look at my undergraduate grades (didn't do great, had like a 2.8 sGPA when I finished undergrad), but flipped through the last couple pages of my grades and just looked at those (those were my As to make up for the undergrad ones) and he made a point to mention them. So it does appear that they do emphasize the last hours of your grades. Hope this helps for those that might not have had great undergrad science grades, but did well in post-bac, MS, PhD programs!

 

[rosenk]

congrats!!! could you fill us in on what they said about the wait list (if anything)? also, could you share your stats?

I want to add to embracepeace's comments: there was around 40 spots available at the time of my interview (1/27) if I remember correctly. Other than that, embracepeace pretty much covered everything.
My stats: 26 MCAT, ~3.5 sGPA and ~3.5 cGPA ( I don't have the exact number since AACOMAS doesn't show the verified application without re-submitting it), 3.8 graduate GPA

 

[mke520]

accepted to VCOM-CC today too and just had my interview 2 days ago...talk about hearing back quickly!!

Oh! Forgot to say!

I think someone mentioned that VCOM really looks at the last 120 hours of your science grades? I forgot about that until one of my interviewers didn't even look at my undergraduate grades (didn't do great, had like a 2.8 sGPA when I finished undergrad), but flipped through the last couple pages of my grades and just looked at those (those were my As to make up for the undergrad ones) and he made a point to mention them. So it does appear that they do emphasize the last hours of your grades. Hope this helps for those that might not have had great undergrad science grades, but did well in post-bac, MS, PhD programs!

agree with statement above...my first three semesters of college was like a 2.5 cGPA (wasn't pre-med or a science major at the time, just the average college student) and then i transferred to another school and over the next three years maintained a 3.96 GPA with a 4.0 sGPA (major: bio minor: chem) but my AACOMAS/AMCAS cGPA is a 3.44 and sGPA 3.77. VCOM didn't even care about my first three semesters of school (when i sucked it up) but rather focused on my last 3 years of science courses instead.

 

[mke520]

accepted to VCOM-CC today too and just had my interview 2 days ago...talk about hearing back quickly!!

Oh! Forgot to say!

I think someone mentioned that VCOM really looks at the last 120 hours of your science grades? I forgot about that until one of my interviewers didn't even look at my undergraduate grades (didn't do great, had like a 2.8 sGPA when I finished undergrad), but flipped through the last couple pages of my grades and just looked at those (those were my As to make up for the undergrad ones) and he made a point to mention them. So it does appear that they do emphasize the last hours of your grades. Hope this helps for those that might not have had great undergrad science grades, but did well in post-bac, MS, PhD programs!

agree with statement above...my first three semesters of college was like a 2.5 cGPA (wasn't pre-med or a science major at the time, just the average college student) and then i transferred to another school and over the next three years maintained a 3.96 GPA with a 4.0 sGPA (major: bio minor: chem) but my AACOMAS/AMCAS cGPA is a 3.44 and sGPA 3.77. VCOM didn't even care about my first three semesters of school (when i sucked it up) but rather focused on my last 3 years of science courses instead.

 

[rosenk]

Thank You! I am interviewing at VCOM-CC next Wednesday. I was suppose to interview there on 01/29 but due to weather related flight issues, I had to reschedule for next week.

Good luck to you I flew from Texas too

 

[Hvilledoc]

Good luck to you I flew from Texas too

Thank you. I will fly from Texas too!

 

[quadcity]

I want to add to embracepeace's comments: there was around 40 spots available at the time of my interview (1/27) if I remember correctly. Other than that, embracepeace pretty much covered everything.
My stats: 26 MCAT, ~3.5 sGPA and ~3.5 cGPA ( I don't have the exact number since AACOMAS doesn't show the verified application without re-submitting it), 3.8 graduate GPA

the wait list situation at this school is bananas!

lol, because they told me i was wait listed because class is full and they told you 40 spots left

I felt like I just got shot in the chest because I was deceived

hope hope hope

 

[rosenk]

the wait list situation at this school is bananas!

lol, because they told me i was wait listed because class is full and they told you 40 spots left

I felt like I just got shot in the chest because I was deceived

hope hope hope

I'm not sure if I remember/heard correctly (it may be 14 ). I didn't remember most of the stats mentioned. They may have open seats because ppl give up theirs. But I'm pretty sure they mentioned they have been looking at the waitlist. So keep up hope

PS: Sorry that I had to remove the emoticons to quote your comment. My computer just got so slow

 

[Temperature101]

VCM-CC was my only hope because they screen pre-secondary and I feel like I will be a good fit for the school... Been complete since early December and it has been dead silence since then... I guess I will have to retake the MCAT and reapply next cycle, and also beef up my ECs.

 

[quadcity]

I'm not sure if I remember/heard correctly (it may be 14 ). I didn't remember most of the stats mentioned. They may have open seats because ppl give up theirs. But I'm pretty sure they mentioned they have been looking at the waitlist. So keep up hope

PS: Sorry that I had to remove the emoticons to quote your comment. My computer just got so slow

Hope is my best friend.

 

[mke520]

i was just accepted yesterday and would like to know more on the reputation of the professors at VCOM-CC. when i went for my interview i didn't get much information on what the students think about the profs or their reputation so if i could get some additional info that would be great...thanks

 

[embracepeace]

I'm not sure if I remember/heard correctly (it may be 14 ). I didn't remember most of the stats mentioned. They may have open seats because ppl give up theirs. But I'm pretty sure they mentioned they have been looking at the waitlist. So keep up hope

PS: Sorry that I had to remove the emoticons to quote your comment. My computer just got so slow

I think you're right! I remember it was over 50 seats when I interviewed and I think I interviewed before you. I didn't want to put down a number when I mentioned this earlier because I wasn't sure of the exact number, but I do remember it being substantial!

 

[MoMo96]

.

 

[mke520]

i know i would want to know if that happened to me...as long as you go about it in a very respectful manner i'm sure they wouldn't mind answering your question but more importantly would be where do you stand on the wait list or what are your chances of getting off the wait list

 

[embracepeace]

do you guys think it would be appropriate to ask why I was wait listed?

I agree with mke520. I would definitely be diplomatic about it and tread carefully to make sure you're not offending anyone, but I would also really want to know why I was waitlisted at the time. It sounds like you have fantastic stats so I honestly do think you have a great shot!

 

[Nemologist]

Accepted! I got a e-mail yesterday in the afternoon and an 1 hour later I got a call from Erika giving me the news. Just so you know I also heard that about 40 seats were available and she is going to start checking on the waitlist pretty soon.

 

[quadcity]

do you guys think it would be appropriate to ask why I was wait listed?

Accepted! I got a e-mail yesterday in the afternoon and an 1 hour later I got a call from Erika giving me the news. Just so you know I also heard that about 40 seats were available and she is going to start checking on the waitlist pretty soon.

like Nemologist said, they may start looking at the wait list. I would start with a letter of interest first. I don't see how you were wait listed because you are above average student. maybe they think you are better suited for allopathic schools?

 

[MoMo96]

.

 

[quadcity]

I think it's mainly because I don't have a DO letter. They did emphasize they really really want a DO letter. But I thought I passed that test when they invited me for an interview. I will have a DO letter hopefully in two weeks.

I'm sending a letter of interest on Monday/Tuesday. I might send a letter of intent if they don't contact me by the end of this month (February). It's only been a little over two weeks since I was wait listed. I need to be patient.

definitely do letter of interest before letter of intent. UNLESS, you're absolutely 100% committed to VCOM, then the letter of intent makes sense. If this is the case, you should do the letter of intent now and forget about the letter of interest because it will get more competitive as more students are added to the wait list.

 

[quadcity]

I think it's mainly because I don't have a DO letter. They did emphasize they really really want a DO letter. But I thought I passed that test when they invited me for an interview. I will have a DO letter hopefully in two weeks.

I'm sending a letter of interest on Monday/Tuesday. I might send a letter of intent if they don't contact me by the end of this month (February). It's only been a little over two weeks since I was wait listed. I need to be patient.

and considering you don't have a DO letter (yet?), everyone who has a DO letter will most likely be ranked higher than you. So the sooner you commit to the school with letter of intent, the better because less people on the wait list.

 

[Element515]

If I still haven't received a secondary from this school, should I give up hope? I emailed them and they said everything was still under review...

 

[mke520]

If I still haven't received a secondary from this school, should I give up hope? I emailed them and they said everything was still under review...

anything can happen but if you have other options i would focus on those because if you haven't received a secondary by now then the likelihood of getting an interview plus acceptance is not very likely to be completely honest

 

[Element515]

anything can happen but if you have other options i would focus on those because if you haven't received a secondary by now then the likelihood of getting an interview plus acceptance is not very likely to be completely honest

Figured as much, I just wish they would at least say they will not be going further with me. This school seems pretty awesome.

 

[mke520]

what campus do the VCOM students usually prefer, the Carolinas or Virginia Campus? i thought the Carolinas campus was very nice, which is where i was accepted, but i haven't made it to the Virginia campus so i know nothing about their facilities or Blacksburg in general compared to the Carolinas campus...can anyone comment on this?

also, can you choose which campus you'd prefer to go to?

 

[Hvilledoc]

Im interviewing at VCOM-CC tomorrow. Is anyone else also interviewing tomorrow?

 

[Poptart1949]

Im interviewing at VCOM-CC tomorrow. Is anyone else also interviewing tomorrow?

I am!

 

[Hvilledoc]

I am!

Cool. Are you staying at the Hampton Inn? I just made it about half an hour ago. (im sooo tired)..

 

[Poptart1949]

Cool. Are you staying at the Hampton Inn? I just made it about half an hour ago. (im sooo tired)..

Haha no. My parents actually live in Greenville, so I'm staying with them. Get some rest.