Edward Via COM - Virginia Campus (VCOM-VC) Discussion Thread 2016-2017

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Secondary received!!!
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fazd5 said:
How are y'all answering the question "Is there any information that is relevant to your ability...." ? I am thinking of leaving it blank.
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Scumione said:
Currently completing my secondary, and I noticed on the essays it says "Maximum 500 words" but we are only given 500 characters? Is that how it is supposed to be, or is this a glitch?
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rosie23 said:
Submitted it just now!! Really like this school. Hopefully they really do weigh the recent GPA :/
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rosie23 said:
I guess I'll start it off! Just got my secondary today!! Completed a masters program last year with a 3.5 GPA and have a MCAT of 27-28. This is my third time applying so I really hope this is the year. I've usually always been rejected pre-secondary so we shall see, fingers crossed!
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Do any of you mind sharing the prompts? Are they same as last year?

1) Describe three reasons you have chosen osteopathic medicine as your....
2) Professionalism and the ability to gain respect in the community in which you live is of utmost importance....
3) Please describe a volunteer or service activity that...
4) In the event you submitted an application to VCOM last year...
5) If you have not completed all the prerequisite coursework...

Thank you.
 
Pinocytosis said:
Do any of you mind sharing the prompts? Are they same as last year?

1) Describe three reasons you have chosen osteopathic medicine as your....
2) Professionalism and the ability to gain respect in the community in which you live is of utmost importance....
3) Please describe a volunteer or service activity that...
4) In the event you submitted an application to VCOM last year...
5) If you have not completed all the prerequisite coursework...

Thank you.
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Yes, they are the same this year.
 
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Anyone have anything showing up on their portal/marked complete? Submitted my application a while ago..
 
rosie23 said:
Anyone have anything showing up on their portal/marked complete? Submitted my application a while ago..
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Nope. I m waiting for the completion email as well. I have heard it takes like 2-4 weeks. I would try calling them
 
nice! I finished mine today, going to spend tomorrow polishing it and then submit. Do they frown upon submitting secondaries before the committee letter or MCAT has been applied? I get my MCAT scores back next week and they are writing the committee letter tomorrow.

on another note, do you know anything about the Disadvantaged- Rural Community option on the secondary app? Ive been having trouble determining whether or not i apply for this, and the Email Admissions sent me did not clarify much. It basically read like "do you come from a rural community with low access to health care" rather than the typical "do you feel disadvantaged by living in a rural community?"
rosie23 said:
I've already submitted my secondary. A while ago actually. Just waiting for that completion email..
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Complete email received! They won't start looking at completed apps until early August for anyone who's wondering. They send out IIs via phone as well.

IIs for early decision go out September, and IIs for everyone else don't go out until October.


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cjcarter said:
Complete email received! They won't start looking at completed apps until early August for anyone who's wondering. They send out IIs via phone as well.

IIs for early decision go out September, and IIs for everyone else don't go out until October.


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When did you submit your secondary?
 
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Just got an email about secondary application received. It says another couple of weeks for the complete email
 
fazd5 said:
Just got an email about secondary application received. It says another couple of weeks for the complete email
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Same here! I think we submitted at a similar date.
 
How long did it take you guys to get a secondary once your coursework had been verified?
 
kj8210 said:
How long did it take you guys to get a secondary once your coursework had been verified?
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It took me 5 days once I got verified. For some it was like a day, so I guess it depends
 
Why do they have such weird payment methods? My only options are:
  • Paypal Account
  • AACOMAS Voucher
  • Check number
They really dont have an option to pay via debit and credit card?
 
ATPsynthase123 said:
Why do they have such weird payment methods? My only options are:
  • Paypal Account
  • AACOMAS Voucher
  • Check number
They really dont have an option to pay via debit and credit card?
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Create a PayPal account with your credit card. It's not a big deal; and it's actually a more secure way to pay then directly inputting a credit card number.


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ERinspired said:
Create a PayPal account with your credit card. It's not a big deal; and it's actually a more secure way to pay then directly inputting a credit card number.


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I didn't know this was an option. I went ahead and paid via check method. I hope ole U.S. Mail doesn't screw me.
 
ATPsynthase123 said:
I didn't know this was an option. I went ahead and paid via check method. I hope ole U.S. Mail doesn't screw me.
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I thought "Check Number" referred to a digital check?

(Disclaimer: I used PayPal so I'm not sure.)


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AlteredScale said:
Space reserved for prompt.

Please PM the essay prompts when available and I will update this.

Good luck to everyone applying!
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I see in the secondary instruction to not cut and paste because of extra characters. I wrote my essays in word does that mean I can't copy from word into the box on the application?

I am referring to " Please answer the following questions and limit your response to 500 words. The character count includes spaces and punctuation. Please do not cut and paste this will embed more characters." so is it not 500 words but characters. i wrote my essays in Microsoft word therefore i can't copy it over? I don't understand by copying it what will change.
 
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mrculb01 said:
I see in the secondary instruction to not cut and paste because of extra characters. I wrote my essays in word does that mean I can't copy from word into the box on the application?
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I was able to copy-paste into the box. You should be fine
 
ERinspired said:
I thought "Check Number" referred to a digital check?

(Disclaimer: I used PayPal so I'm not sure.)


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Ill call them tomorrow to check. I read on the "check status" page you can mail a check for $25 dollars to admissions. I dont know though. Do you think they will let me change payment options?
 
Does anyone know what the initial screening criteria are? Thinking about applying here..Thanks :)
 
MrsSheperd said:
Does anyone know what the initial screening criteria are? Thinking about applying here..Thanks :)
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I believe 3.0 GPA and 500 MCAT

Also if anyone is curious I spoke to admissions and their GPA/ MCAT average for matriculants is 3.5/500-502


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ATPsynthase123 said:
I believe 3.0 GPA and 500 MCAT

Also if anyone is curious I spoke to admissions and their GPA/ MCAT average for matriculants is 3.5/500-502


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Oh okay..well that sounds quite reasonable, I guess. I'm just surprised about that low GPA. I don't know how reliable this information is, but I saw in previous threads that people with lower MCATs have been accepted because they had a high GPA..?
 
MrsSheperd said:
Oh okay..well that sounds quite reasonable, I guess. I'm just surprised about that low GPA. I don't know how reliable this information is, but I saw in previous threads that people with lower MCATs have been accepted because they had a high GPA..?
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I mean the 3.0 GPA cut off is the limit for almost every US school. And yes, they do value GPA slightly more than MCAT, but I would be surprised if the accepted Someone with a sub 500 MCAT, as it correlates with a high drop out rate and low chances to pass COMLEX. Your best bet for admissions at any school is have good ECs and be around the national average for matriculants in terms of GPA/MCAT. I believe according to AACOMAS data this is a 5.52 cGPA, 3.4 sGPA and a 3.6 non-science GPA along with a 27 MCAT or 502.


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ATPsynthase123 said:
I mean the 3.0 GPA cut off is the limit for almost every US school. And yes, they do value GPA slightly more than MCAT, but I would be surprised if the accepted Someone with a sub 500 MCAT, as it correlates with a high drop out rate and low chances to pass COMLEX. Your best bet for admissions at any school is have good ECs and be around the national average for matriculants in terms of GPA/MCAT. I believe according to AACOMAS data this is a 5.52 cGPA, 3.4 sGPA and a 3.6 non-science GPA along with a 27 MCAT or 502.


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I fully agree. There's a reason the MCAT exists and aside from that, you're probably not doing yourself a favor by gaining admissions with a low score only to drop out after a couple of years in medical school with a gruesome amount of studentloan debt just because you fail COMLEX.
 
MrsSheperd said:
Does anyone know what the initial screening criteria are? Thinking about applying here..Thanks :)
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VCOM screens a lot more in depth than just by stats. They tend to only send secondaries to candidates they are very interested in interviewing.


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That's what I was trying to get a sense of. There are some schools who just screen for the threshold as far as MCAT and GPA goes and send out secondaries to every applicant above the required minimum. Other schools seem to be a bit more selective, where getting a secondary actually means that the school def is interested...not sure if my point is coming across right hahah
It just seemed as if quite a bit of applicants were getting secondaries last cycle...

But either way it goes..I think I will give it a shot. This seems to be a great school from what I've been reading.
 
ERinspired said:
VCOM screens a lot more in depth than just by stats. They tend to only send secondaries to candidates they are very interested in interviewing.


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Really? I got a secondary invite pretty much within the day of verification. They still don't have my MCAT scores and I submitted secondaries Monday


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MrsSheperd said:
I fully agree. There's a reason the MCAT exists and aside from that, you're probably not doing yourself a favor by gaining admissions with a low score only to drop out after a couple of years in medical school with a gruesome amount of studentloan debt just because you fail COMLEX.
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A little correction, it appears that according to the DO schools I've spoke to a 500 is considered the average for matriculants and a 27 on the old scale. Anything above that is outstanding.

Those schools were: VCOM, CUSOM, WVSOM, LMU-DCOM, and LUCOM.


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ATPsynthase123 said:
A little correction, it appears that according to the DO schools I've spoke to a 500 is considered the average for matriculants and a 27 on the old scale. Anything above that is outstanding.

Those schools were: VCOM, CUSOM, WVSOM, LMU-DCOM, and LUCOM.


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Hmmm... secondaries one day after verification doesn't sound too selective haha

Thank you for sharing the MCAT info! That helps a lot :)
 
MrsSheperd said:
Hmmm... secondaries one day after verification doesn't sound too selective haha
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I know lol, but if that is them being selective it bodes very well! The only school to really go through a long screening process that I've dealt with is CUSOM


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ATPsynthase123 said:
A little correction, it appears that according to the DO schools I've spoke to a 500 is considered the average for matriculants and a 27 on the old scale. Anything above that is outstanding.

Those schools were: VCOM, CUSOM, WVSOM, LMU-DCOM, and LUCOM.


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http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...centile-comparison-conversion-tables.1143689/

Your conversion from old to new scale is not correct. 500 is not the average for matriculants; it is the average according to the scale (i.e. the 50th percentile). The new scale is on a bell curve. At several schools, a 500 MCAT is the lowest they will consider.

Ex. "LUCOM has a preferred MCAT standard of 24 or greater with no individual score of less than 8. Applicants should achieve an MCAT of 500 with no individual score less than a 125. "

The others you mentioned don't state a required score as far as I know.
 
ERinspired said:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...centile-comparison-conversion-tables.1143689/

Your conversion from old to new scale is not correct. 500 is not the average for matriculants; it is the average according to the scale (i.e. the 50th percentile). The new scale is on a bell curve. At several schools, a 500 MCAT is the lowest they will consider.

Ex. "LUCOM has a preferred MCAT standard of 24 or greater with no individual score of less than 8. Applicants should achieve an MCAT of 500 with no individual score less than a 125. "

The others you mentioned don't state a required score as far as I know.
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I asked admissions at each of those schools through Email and phone calls. Each of them said the MCAT average of the matriculating class for the fall is between a 500-502 with the lowest being LMU and CUSOM and the highest being VCOM with a 502.


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My friend was accepted with a 497 so there is hope :)
 
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premedprincess26 said:
If the 500 is for screening then how could it be the average?
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VCOM doesn't specifically state their screening criteria. But I suspect that they'd stick to higher MCATs earlier in the cycle and lower would start to get through later.


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Has anyone been having problems paying for the application?!
 
Has anyone received IIs yet? When do The VCOMs start interviewing? I just submitted my pimary :)
 
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