2008-2009 Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Secondary Application Thread

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chad5871 said:
Got an interview invite today as well! I'm so excited! I wasn't able to schedule it until 9/30, though, because of scheduling conflicts. I'm just fortunate to have gotten an interview invite so early - just wish my schedule would have worked and I could have gotten the earliest interview date possible. I guess September's nothing to balk over.

And for those curious, I'm an IS male. Looks like the in-staters are getting some early VCU love.

For those with interview invites already, VCU interviewed 351 IS applicants in 2007 and accepted 205. That's almost 60% acceptance. 😀 👍
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Do you happen to know the interview/acceptance for out of state?
 
smgfan said:
All I can think is to know as much about the school prior to the interview, whipping out a few details during the interview may show sincere interest?.. otherwise, just be natural, genuine, yourself as much as possible.
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Additionally, review your PS and secondary essay. Admissions will also ask 1 or 2 hot topic questions. For example, last year I got asked how I would handle diversity in medicine (or something to that nature). Overall the VCU interview process is very relaxed. In fact my interview there last year went almost 2 hours simply because we were just talking conversationally! The interviewer is really there to get to know you. The better they understand your desire for medicine, the better they can promote you to the rest of the admissions committee, and the better your chances are for a high priority score.
 
Interview Invite on 8/21: VCU

Interview Date: 9/24

OOS applicant, I got the "very interested message"
 
I just got an interview invite from VCU. However, the earliest I could schedule my interview was 1/7/09. For those wondering, I recieved the "MAY" response after my supplemental application was reviewed.
 
silversurfer said:
I just got an interview invite from VCU. However, the earliest I could schedule my interview was 1/7/09. For those wondering, I recieved the "MAY" response after my supplemental application was reviewed.
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Actually, although January is listed first in the drop-down menu, you should still be able to schedule stuff in the fall (look at the bottom of the drop-down menu for September-December dates).
 
Does anyone know if VCU accepts AP credit that is noted on your official transcripts? I tried to find the answer on VCU's website as well as the MSAR to no avail. I also tried emailing them but it's been almost 5 days with no reply. 😛
 
Also, for those of you coming to VCU from out of town, I might be able to give you a ride to/from the airport and to/from wherever you're staying. I also might be able to host some of you guys in my guest room, but I have to double check... Since I work at VCU I'm coming down here in the mornings anyway - might as well help you guys out! If you're interested, just send me a PM and I'll see what I can do.
 
chad5871 said:
Also, for those of you coming to VCU from out of town, I might be able to give you a ride to/from the airport and to/from wherever you're staying. I also might be able to host some of you guys in my guest room, but I have to double check... Since I work at VCU I'm coming down here in the mornings anyway - might as well help you guys out! If you're interested, just send me a PM and I'll see what I can do.
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chad-don't need a room, but may need a hotel. stopping in richmond for my interview in between a vermont interview and a wedding in nc and will be with my parents. know of any reasonable, good places near the campus?
 
has anyone tried clicking on the student host link? mine says no hosts are available...🙁
 
amp3r5and said:
chad-don't need a room, but may need a hotel. stopping in richmond for my interview in between a vermont interview and a wedding in nc and will be with my parents. know of any reasonable, good places near the campus?
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I've never actually stayed in a hotel in Richmond, but you can check out this search that I did for you with the hotels closest to the campus. The reader reviews on here are usually pretty helpful, and the rates aren't bad.
 
chad5871 said:
Mine too. 9/30 interview here - maybe the list is different for each date? Or maybe they just have nobody that's volunteered yet.
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true, it may be a bit early. ill give it a week or two. looks like the hotels are pretty reasonable though.
 
amp3r5and and all others who are planning their trip to Richmond -

I just found something else that you might want to check out. Log into the VCU Applicant Portal (https://www.apps.som.vcu.edu/app_web/login/login.aspx) then click on "Instructions/Forms." Open "Arrivals and Accommodation Information." On the second page of that document there are a list of hotels and the student rates they provide for med school applicants. I'd suggest checking out the Radisson Hotel - it's really close to campus, only $80 a night, and they provide a shuttle to the campus. Just make sure you get on the shuttle that goes to the MEDICAL/MCV campus (if you see "Monroe Park Campus" you are going to the wrong place).
 
aww, is the website down? I got an email saying that my status has been updated in the last 24 hours (I got the "complete" note a couple of days ago already), so I'm really curious what they updated now... Can they reject you this fast? :-/
 
justapremed said:
aww, is the website down? I got an email saying that my status has been updated in the last 24 hours (I got the "complete" note a couple of days ago already), so I'm really curious what they updated now... Can they reject you this fast? :-/
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That's how Case Western gives interview invites. So this might be the same for VCU... I just saw the e-mail myself and the website is down for me too!
 
justapremed said:
aww, is the website down? I got an email saying that my status has been updated in the last 24 hours (I got the "complete" note a couple of days ago already), so I'm really curious what they updated now... Can they reject you this fast? :-/
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site's down
 
Is it me or did their website change design???
 
JamieMD said:
Is it me or did their website change design???
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you can get to the website????

in deep hope, i just checked back the website, hoping that their website design change was the reason why the site was down... but i still can't get to the status check page.
 
I can get to the main page, and a few links, but it seems most of it is still down, including the applications status page.
 
JamieMD said:
I can get to the main page, and a few links, but it seems most of it is still down, including the applications status page.
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phew okay. hm, the main page looks the same to me. this site, that is.

EDIT: Oh... I see now. It says: "The VCU School of Medicine recently redesigned its Web site." Oh boy, horrible timing for a new design! 😛
 
We had a huge water main break below the main street on our campus today. The water main was directly beside the basement room storing all of the computer servers for the campus. As a result, the cooling equipment (which ventilates in the area now filled with water) has been turned off. The servers have also been powered down as a precaution to prevent overheating. Although the main sites are up, student-specific (or applicant-specific) information is currently down. Our email, Blackboard, Banner, etc. are all down right now. Honestly I think the site re-design is coincidental. I don't know when they're expecting to get the servers back up and running.
 
Does anyone think scheduling an interview in January will place you at a disadvanage getting an acceptance?
 
chad5871 said:
We had a huge water main break below the main street on our campus today. The water main was directly beside the basement room storing all of the computer servers for the campus. As a result, the cooling equipment (which ventilates in the area now filled with water) has been turned off. The servers have also been powered down as a precaution to prevent overheating. Although the main sites are up, student-specific (or applicant-specific) information is currently down. Our email, Blackboard, Banner, etc. are all down right now. Honestly I think the site re-design is coincidental. I don't know when they're expecting to get the servers back up and running.
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Ah, thanks for the update! Good to know... I hope they get it fixed soon! :luck:
 
Is Radisson the hotel on West Franklin Street? That hotel is about a mile from Zanker Hall.One way cab fare to the airport costs about $25. I don't know if the hotel provides airport shuttle service.

The stops for the Campus Connector bus that run between the VCU undergrad campus and MCV locate only 100-200 feet away from the Radisson Hotel. The map of the route is available on the school site. It can help you hunt for a hotel or an apartment.

I know of someone who spent $50 a night for Quality Inn on Cary St and $25 a day for a mid size rental car from Thrifty for an interview in Mid December. But that was four years ago.

BTW, don't feel intimidated during the interview. Even though it is about a hot topic that has made headlines on every newspaper (in the country everyday for the past few weeks) but you don't know anything about it at all. There's no need to be panic. Just ask the interviewer to brief the story for you. This has been done before.

Good luck
 
Oh okay. Got the "May" status update... I'm in-state and I've been complete since 8/21. I guess I'll just keep my fingers crossed!!!!!!!!
 
smgfan said:
All I can think is to know as much about the school prior to the interview, whipping out a few details during the interview may show sincere interest?.. otherwise, just be natural, genuine, yourself as much as possible.

Does anyone know the OOS interviewed # / accepted #? Thanks so much.
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It used to be around 400 but they have apparantly increased it to 600 interviews last year. 80 students enroll at the end but they accept more...so it is good to have some more interviews at different schools. 😉
 
silversurfer said:
Does anyone think scheduling an interview in January will place you at a disadvanage getting an acceptance?
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not necessarily. If you have good stats then, you can rest assured. However, if your stats are not good, then, it becomes more competetive i guess. But many people get accepted after January.
 
leftmid said:
Is Radisson the hotel on West Franklin Street? That hotel is about a mile from Zanker Hall.One way cab fare to the airport costs about $25. I don’t know if the hotel provides airport shuttle service.

The stops for the Campus Connector bus that run between the VCU undergrad campus and MCV locate only 100-200 feet away from the Radisson Hotel. The map of the route is available on the school site. It can help you hunt for a hotel or an apartment.

I know of someone who spent $50 a night for Quality Inn on Cary St and $25 a day for a mid size rental car from Thrifty for an interview in Mid December. But that was four years ago.

BTW, don’t feel intimidated during the interview. Even though it is about a hot topic that has made headlines on every newspaper (in the country everyday for the past few weeks) but you don’t know anything about it at all. There’s no need to be panic. Just ask the interviewer to brief the story for you. This has been done before.

Good luck
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Thanks for all the great info and advice! I have a few things to mention in response to your post.

First of all, it's Sanger Hall, not "Zanker Hall." :laugh: It took me a second to figure out what you were referring to.

Also, the Campus Connector is great, but unless you have a student or employee ID you have to pay to ride it. I think it's only like $1.25, but if I had to choose I'd take the free airport shuttle. Plus, the bus can get really crowded and is generally a little gross - I wouldn't want to risk it wearing formal attire. Here are the campus transit schedules and routes if you must use them. Make sure you are at the bus stop EARLY - the buses are often late. For example, there are supposed to be 3-4 Campus Connectors running at a given time (so there is service every 10 minutes). Every once in a while they'll only have one bus running, which means you could be waiting for 30 minutes for the bus, and it'll be SUPER crowded.

Finally, what event are you talking about? I hadn't heard anything about this before. Are you referring to the recent NY Times article regarding VCU's policy on industry-sponsored research?
 
Heard it directly from the mouth of a lucky horse. And the hot topic was about Terri Schiavo in Florida.

There are a lot more good things about this school but we all know that past performance does not always guarantee anything in future, right?

Good school picks good students.
 
Got the "may" message yesterday. Wonder what the chances are of getting an interview...
 
majahops said:
I got the "MAY" message, and in hindsight, my chances were 100%.

I'm pulling for you!
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It seems that the May message is the best message so far. I think the "very interested message" is an error in typing or something😉
 
majahops said:
I got the "MAY" message, and in hindsight, my chances were 100%.

I'm pulling for you!
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Thank you! I'm complete at all my schools, and it was such a relief to hear something, anything, from a school, even if it wasn't an actual interview invite.
 
MedSchoolMan said:
It seems that the May message is the best message so far. I think the "very interested message" is an error in typing or something😉
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i doubt it was a typing error. i think the people who got the very interested messages probably received interview invites as well, but there were fewer of them. i think schoolsucks was one of them?
 
I recently received the "would like to consider your file further" message, along with a notice that there is a hold on my application for grades. Has anyone else gotten this? I requested that a transcript be sent out from the classes I took this summer, but do they change the application page to remove the "hold for grades" notice when they receive it?
 
chad5871 said:
Thanks for all the great info and advice! I have a few things to mention in response to your post.

First of all, it's Sanger Hall, not "Zanker Hall." :laugh: It took me a second to figure out what you were referring to.

Also, the Campus Connector is great, but unless you have a student or employee ID you have to pay to ride it. I think it's only like $1.25, but if I had to choose I'd take the free airport shuttle. Plus, the bus can get really crowded and is generally a little gross - I wouldn't want to risk it wearing formal attire. Here are the campus transit schedules and routes if you must use them. Make sure you are at the bus stop EARLY - the buses are often late. For example, there are supposed to be 3-4 Campus Connectors running at a given time (so there is service every 10 minutes). Every once in a while they'll only have one bus running, which means you could be waiting for 30 minutes for the bus, and it'll be SUPER crowded.

Finally, what event are you talking about? I hadn't heard anything about this before. Are you referring to the recent NY Times article regarding VCU's policy on industry-sponsored research?
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Chad,
Thanks for the information. What is the closest hotel, or even motel, to MCV? How much walking distance do you think it is to the school?
Also, i am going to be there one day earlier, and i am planning on renting a car and going around. I am paying for the ticket so i might as well act like i am tourist. What do you think? Any nice places to see in the city? Any nice beaches closeby and things to that extent?😕
 
I got the crappy "consider further" message. I'm writing a letter of interest now. VCU is too high on my list not to.
 
UVAbme2009 said:
I got the crappy "consider further" message. I'm writing a letter of interest now. VCU is too high on my list not to.
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I thought that means you still have a pretty decent shot at an interview... 😕 Hm, how does a letter of interest pre-interview look to schools?
 
justapremed said:
I thought that means you still have a pretty decent shot at an interview... 😕 Hm, how does a letter of interest pre-interview look to schools?
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I'm pretty sure that's the worst message to get. I think now is a good time to send a LOI for me. I don't want to be rejected knowing I didn't get to tell them everything I wanted to.
 
Have OOSers started to receive interviews yet?

Maybe you could start a list of interview invitations, etc.?😕😕

(I haven't gotten one, otherwise I would myself 😛)
 
MedSchoolMan said:
Chad,
Thanks for the information. What is the closest hotel, or even motel, to MCV? How much walking distance do you think it is to the school?
Also, i am going to be there one day earlier, and i am planning on renting a car and going around. I am paying for the ticket so i might as well act like i am tourist. What do you think? Any nice places to see in the city? Any nice beaches closeby and things to that extent?😕
Click to expand...

I am staying at the Marriott. I think it is only few blocks away if not next to the medical campus
 
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