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They asked me to limit to 6 letters.
Rocky Vista University (RVUCOM) Discussion Thread 2012 - 2013
- Thread starter JamesLMT
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Yes! The interview was so relaxing. I loved the school, campus, and staff. They seem really supportive of a collaborative study environment. =]
I hope I get accepted here. I had my interview this week.
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Just accepted! I interviewed two days ago
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Also got an acceptance!!!!!
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Congrats to those of you who were accepted, hopefully we'll see you next year!
Ouch, no word for me. Guessing that's not a good sign. How are you guys finding out about the acceptances?
Interview was very relaxed as everyone else said. School was nice and I enjoyed the area. My interview group was silent and made it very hard to talk or enjoy the experience but the students were extremly friendly.
Interview was very relaxed as everyone else said. School was nice and I enjoyed the area. My interview group was silent and made it very hard to talk or enjoy the experience but the students were extremly friendly.
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You can try logging into your portal, if it won't let you in you've been rejected...
Tried that to see if that was the case or a status was there. I can log in but my interview section is gone and no sign of a decision. Haven't gotten an email. If they are calling to let people know... I am spending over 40 hours a week in a new ER helping with a startup with no cell service so my phone is shut off. So no idea if I even have missed calls. Didn't think about that until just now, was there all day yesterday. Maybe snail mail waitlist?
I got the "alternative list" email yesterday. Shucks, but this school is exactly what everyone has been saying about it. So much camaraderie within the student body. Also the faculty make sure that no student falls through the cracks either. Man, I would do anything to get in at RVUCOM.
I feel ya. Got the alternate list at DMU, deflating feeling but still in the running. Hoping for a better result here but now I'm just confused as to what's going on. Hope it works out for ya, just gotta wait an agonizing couple of months!
You can also tell on the portal if you've been accepted....there will be tabs that include info on financial aid and such.
Good luck!
Nope not there. No alternate list email. No phone call but again my phone has been off. I guess I'll assume a rejection and maybe send a email next week after my NOVA interview. If it is a rejection I'll be sure to let you guys know if this is how they are doing it.
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Not apply this year, just lurking to see what to expect. What sort of experiences do you have over the past few years? Clinical?
Nothing crazy for ECs. I have about 1000 hours of hospital/shadowing/clinical/volunteer experience. I did two internships that were in a shadowing capacity. No research. Oh, and President of a school organization for leadership.
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Has anyone received an interview yet? What kinds of questions are they asking? What is the setting for the interview/interview day like?
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Argh -- I just got this email. I'm taking Immunology, Anatomy, and Biochem 1 this semester and expect to get As in all of them -- will it be enough?
How much does this hurt my chances if they're not really considering me until January?
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The way I see it, and after speaking with Cassidy (she was at my school 2 days ago so I chatted with her for a while) they would not have sent you this if they were not truly interested. They just want to make sure you'll perform well this semester. From the sound of it, if you do really well this semester (if I do really well this semester!) you can expect an II in January. Just send your updated transcript to AACOMAS as soon as it's available.
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I'm a current Denver resident, applying here to RVU. I toured the school and met with admissions a little over a year ago and felt very comfortable there. Admissions seems to really care about the incoming students. I was given some great advice on directions to go in with my class selection for my last year of undergrad. I've also been communicating with a current student, a second year, and she has had great things to say about the school.
Stats are: around 3.56 cGPA 3.68 sGPA, 27R MCAT.
Primary verified on AACOMAS 09-26-2012, waiting for it to get distrubuted and then submit my secondary.
Colorado is a great place to live. Hiking and outdoors activities are very close. It is easy to take a break from studying for a few hours and skip out to the foothills and do a little hike, or go on a little bike ride on one of many biking trails. Winter isn't bad here at all. Very sunny most of the time. Typical weather in winter is snow one day...sunny and warmer the next.
Housing is getting more expensive in the Denver/Parker area as the housing market recovers...but with a roommate situation it can be very affordable. You can get pretty nice 2 bedrooms for $800-$900 a month. There are no real bad areas to live in...it just depends what your interests are. I've lived in downtown Denver and the western subburbs and both have pro's and cons. South Denver/Parker/Centennial/South Aurora are all very clean and have newer accomidations. Downtown has older buildings and more diversity.
If you have any questions about the Denver/Parker area please feel free to send me a private message.
Stats are: around 3.56 cGPA 3.68 sGPA, 27R MCAT.
Primary verified on AACOMAS 09-26-2012, waiting for it to get distrubuted and then submit my secondary.
Colorado is a great place to live. Hiking and outdoors activities are very close. It is easy to take a break from studying for a few hours and skip out to the foothills and do a little hike, or go on a little bike ride on one of many biking trails. Winter isn't bad here at all. Very sunny most of the time. Typical weather in winter is snow one day...sunny and warmer the next.
Housing is getting more expensive in the Denver/Parker area as the housing market recovers...but with a roommate situation it can be very affordable. You can get pretty nice 2 bedrooms for $800-$900 a month. There are no real bad areas to live in...it just depends what your interests are. I've lived in downtown Denver and the western subburbs and both have pro's and cons. South Denver/Parker/Centennial/South Aurora are all very clean and have newer accomidations. Downtown has older buildings and more diversity.
If you have any questions about the Denver/Parker area please feel free to send me a private message.
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Hey congrats to all of you interviewing and accepted at RVU. I'm a first year at RVU and thought I'd give my two cents about the school...
The school is awesome, don't listen to all the hate on SDN. I read that stuff now and laugh at how ignorant those people are about the quality of the school. I feel like I've been getting a very good education, while having to work really hard. It feels like finals week of a hard 16 credit all-science undergrad semester almost every week, although you do get little breaks after exams every other week. The amount of material given to us every week is truly astonishing. You get used to it though, and the material is truly fascinating! The curriculum is set up in a really good way, which helps too. Anyways, the faculty and staff are, with a few exceptions, excellent. The facility is high quality and modern. Colorado is one of the best places to live in the world. Parker specifically is not that awesome (think suburban sprawl of look-alike homes and big box stores), but you can live in other towns that are cooler and still reasonably close to school. Parker and any other city in the Denver area are within 45 minutes of quality hiking/climbing/mountain biking and probably 1.5 hour to excellent skiing/snowboarding. The school has sort of a "community" feel to it and you will not be treated like a number, pretty much all of the faculty and staff are very helpful and friendly.
I am a non-trad from Colorado and I had 28M MCAT and ~3.4 overall and science GPA. There are lots of non-trads here, quite a few folks with kids, etc. My classmates have very diverse backgrounds, and it seems like everyone had at least a year off and was doing something "unique" before medical school. I would guess that RVU really values extracurricular and "life" experience (hence the high number of non-trads).
The loan situation is the main downfall of RVU until they get their regional accredidation. You pretty much have these options if you don't have extremely wealthy family: join the military and let them pay, RVU Health Professional Loan, and Sallie Mae Smart Option Student Loan. We tried other banks (wells fargo, etc) and they won't lend b/c of the accredidation issue. The loan that RVU offers is not that great and should only be used if you can't get Sallie Mae. The RVUHPL is more likely to work out if you don't have a cosigner, but you still could get denied without a cosigner in which case I think you'd be screwed. I haven't heard of anyone getting Sallie Mae without a cosigner. I have good credit and still had to get a cosigner for the Sallie Mae loan. We were offered variable 2.25% + LIBOR or 5.25% fixed. We chose variable, and are psyched. As you can see, the situation is actually pretty good if you have good credit and a good cosigner. Without that, it wouldn't be so good, some classmates were getting 10-12% rates from Sallie Mae (yikes!).
That's all I can think of for now. I'm really happy to be at RVU, and super excited to be in medical school! I'll try to check back again some other time when I actually have time for SDN and answer any questions about my experiences here. Good luck!
The school is awesome, don't listen to all the hate on SDN. I read that stuff now and laugh at how ignorant those people are about the quality of the school. I feel like I've been getting a very good education, while having to work really hard. It feels like finals week of a hard 16 credit all-science undergrad semester almost every week, although you do get little breaks after exams every other week. The amount of material given to us every week is truly astonishing. You get used to it though, and the material is truly fascinating! The curriculum is set up in a really good way, which helps too. Anyways, the faculty and staff are, with a few exceptions, excellent. The facility is high quality and modern. Colorado is one of the best places to live in the world. Parker specifically is not that awesome (think suburban sprawl of look-alike homes and big box stores), but you can live in other towns that are cooler and still reasonably close to school. Parker and any other city in the Denver area are within 45 minutes of quality hiking/climbing/mountain biking and probably 1.5 hour to excellent skiing/snowboarding. The school has sort of a "community" feel to it and you will not be treated like a number, pretty much all of the faculty and staff are very helpful and friendly.
I am a non-trad from Colorado and I had 28M MCAT and ~3.4 overall and science GPA. There are lots of non-trads here, quite a few folks with kids, etc. My classmates have very diverse backgrounds, and it seems like everyone had at least a year off and was doing something "unique" before medical school. I would guess that RVU really values extracurricular and "life" experience (hence the high number of non-trads).
The loan situation is the main downfall of RVU until they get their regional accredidation. You pretty much have these options if you don't have extremely wealthy family: join the military and let them pay, RVU Health Professional Loan, and Sallie Mae Smart Option Student Loan. We tried other banks (wells fargo, etc) and they won't lend b/c of the accredidation issue. The loan that RVU offers is not that great and should only be used if you can't get Sallie Mae. The RVUHPL is more likely to work out if you don't have a cosigner, but you still could get denied without a cosigner in which case I think you'd be screwed. I haven't heard of anyone getting Sallie Mae without a cosigner. I have good credit and still had to get a cosigner for the Sallie Mae loan. We were offered variable 2.25% + LIBOR or 5.25% fixed. We chose variable, and are psyched. As you can see, the situation is actually pretty good if you have good credit and a good cosigner. Without that, it wouldn't be so good, some classmates were getting 10-12% rates from Sallie Mae (yikes!).
That's all I can think of for now. I'm really happy to be at RVU, and super excited to be in medical school! I'll try to check back again some other time when I actually have time for SDN and answer any questions about my experiences here. Good luck!
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Great to hear all the good comments coming from current students. Sound like this school knows exactly what it is looking for and how to get it done.
I heard the school's first graduating class produced great exam results and matched well. Can someone confirm this with any stats?
For any current students, if you had to change one thing about the school, what would it be?
I heard the school's first graduating class produced great exam results and matched well. Can someone confirm this with any stats?
For any current students, if you had to change one thing about the school, what would it be?
So my file became complete today. The DO I have been shadowing finally got the letter sent. Do you think I still have a shot at this school? 29 MCAT 3.64c 3.70s deployed to Afghanistan last year after receiving a 20 on the MCAT and not being able to apply. I have a couple hundred hours of shadowing, work as a care tech at a surgical hospital, and have some volunteering experience.
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According to RVU's last two newsletters:
103 students elected to sit for the USMLE I exam (roughly 2/3rds of the class).
Pass rate is 96.1% and the Mean is 220.5
97% on COMLEX 1
98% on COMLEX 2
YAY! Congrats, see you in July!
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I hope so, I'm still waiting for my app to be complete. My references said that they sent the letters, but only one has been logged. SO frustrating waiting!
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Is anyone else interviewing 10/11? I'm staying at the Red Lion, would anyone be interested in sharing a taxi to campus? My time to be on campus is 11am.
Also, if anyone else has interviewed recently- any tips for the rest of us? Thanks!
Also, if anyone else has interviewed recently- any tips for the rest of us? Thanks!
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You don't need a taxi, I believe the shuttle will take you down there, you just have to let them know...
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Kind of along the same lines, can any current students share their thoughts on the clinical preparation at RVU? RVU's success on the boards is unrivaled, but the impression I got at the curriculum presentation was that the education was tailored more to board success rather than clinical competency. I was just curious about any simulator opportunities, utilization of patient-actors, or basic surgical skills classes. I hope that this is just poor judgment on my behalf. I absolutely loved everything else about the school. The facilities are amazing, faculty extremely approachable, students seemed really cool, and not to mention the geographic location can't be beat. But before I make the biggest decision of my life, I would just like this concern addressed.
Can someone tell me.. when you have your interview are you in the room with other interviewees? Or is it just you and the two interviewer's? If you are in the room with other applicants how many are there? Thanks for your help!
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As far as I know, the interview invite states there will be 2 faculty performing the interview. I interview at RVU tomorrow morning and hope this is the case. A group interview would totally throw me off guard.
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Its just you and two interviewers for the actual interview.
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I interviewed a couple days ago. It was me and a couple interviewers. They started off with a rough ish question but it was comfortable after that.
I recommend reading your interviewers profiles in your packet before you go in.
Could anyone who has interviewed share what the interview was like? How were the questions that they asked you? Did they ask you a lot of healthcare reform/ethical questions? Thanks for any help you can provide!
Just checking in. Was rejected here, they mail the rejections so if people are getting acceptances and you don't hear anything... yeah.
This was by far my strangest interview. It was literally me talking for 25 minutes and the interviewers were just there. Not conversational at all and not offering much feedback unless they literally had to ask a question because I ran out of things to say. Me attempting to get them involved in a conversation was completely unsuccesful. I know another applicant felt the same way, not sure how the other guy who interviewed with them felt.
However the other groups went to the full 45 minutes alloted and said it was very conversational and friendly. No super difficult questions just have a conversation and talk about your application and aspirations. Which was similar to mine it's just hard to do that when there is no back and forth, you sort of lose your spot and it's just unnerving.
I gave feedback that maybe they weren't the best together because it was a really different experience from the rest of the day so hopefully they won't be paired again for future interviews.
This was by far my strangest interview. It was literally me talking for 25 minutes and the interviewers were just there. Not conversational at all and not offering much feedback unless they literally had to ask a question because I ran out of things to say. Me attempting to get them involved in a conversation was completely unsuccesful. I know another applicant felt the same way, not sure how the other guy who interviewed with them felt.
However the other groups went to the full 45 minutes alloted and said it was very conversational and friendly. No super difficult questions just have a conversation and talk about your application and aspirations. Which was similar to mine it's just hard to do that when there is no back and forth, you sort of lose your spot and it's just unnerving.
I gave feedback that maybe they weren't the best together because it was a really different experience from the rest of the day so hopefully they won't be paired again for future interviews.
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I was asked why America is having trouble with the healthcare system i.e. why are we behind so many other countries in our quality of care.
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For clinical rotations, I can't give any definite numbers about the chances of going where you want. During orientation week, I was speaking with some third years and they said about 95% of people got to go where they wanted. I think you rank where you want to go and the school tries they're best to get everyone there, but I think its mostly a lottery type system for the more competitive rotation sites. The main rotation sites in Colorado are Denver, Boulder, Pueblo, Colorado Springs, and Greeley, and lots of rural rotations in some cool mountain towns.
For clinical education, I think they do a great job, although all I have for comparison are EMT and WFR courses, etc. We have a clinical medicine course that entails 1-2 hours of lecture/week and 2 hours of lab/week, as well as required physician shadowing and volunteering. We've already had one standardized patient (patient actors) experience, and I know that we'll have lots more before third year, as the instructors want us to be well prepared to represent RVU in the community. That's the overall impression I get from faculty and staff here: they want this school to be awesome and respected, and they know that the performance of students academically and clinically is key to make that happen, so its clear they're working very hard to provide an excellent and well-rounded education (and I think they're succeeding for the most part). We've mostly been learning history taking and physical exam stuff so far, as well some medical ethics and communication skills. Soon we start to learn all of the basic procedures that all physicians need to know, and we have access to simulators. There are extra workshops available for clinical procedures through the various clubs (surgery, EM, OBGYN, etc.). And of course those in the rural/wilderness and global tracks get tons of experience with procedures. For example, the rural/wilderness track has its own cadaver to practice procedures on (chest tubes, reducing fractures, appendectomies, etc).
For clinical education, I think they do a great job, although all I have for comparison are EMT and WFR courses, etc. We have a clinical medicine course that entails 1-2 hours of lecture/week and 2 hours of lab/week, as well as required physician shadowing and volunteering. We've already had one standardized patient (patient actors) experience, and I know that we'll have lots more before third year, as the instructors want us to be well prepared to represent RVU in the community. That's the overall impression I get from faculty and staff here: they want this school to be awesome and respected, and they know that the performance of students academically and clinically is key to make that happen, so its clear they're working very hard to provide an excellent and well-rounded education (and I think they're succeeding for the most part). We've mostly been learning history taking and physical exam stuff so far, as well some medical ethics and communication skills. Soon we start to learn all of the basic procedures that all physicians need to know, and we have access to simulators. There are extra workshops available for clinical procedures through the various clubs (surgery, EM, OBGYN, etc.). And of course those in the rural/wilderness and global tracks get tons of experience with procedures. For example, the rural/wilderness track has its own cadaver to practice procedures on (chest tubes, reducing fractures, appendectomies, etc).
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The admissions committee met yesterday to make their decisions. The dean has to sign off on their recommendations and they told us that he was out of town(not sure until when). I'm anticipating hearing something in the coming week.
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