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

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AHHHH! SWEEET

I got my interview invite today!!!!!

I had the "may" message since 8/22 after being "complete" on 8/21 (I'm in state). The earliest interview date I could pick (and I did) was Oct 28th.
 
Has anyone that took the August 15th MCAT had their MCAT scores uploaded into the VCU application? I'm on pre-secondary hold b/c my MCAT scores haven't been released and it says it may take them 4-6 weeks for the scores to be updated! Has anyone found a way to have these updated faster?
 
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ahhhh! Sweeet

i got my interview invite today!!!!!

I had the "may" message since 8/22 after being "complete" on 8/21 (i'm in state). The earliest interview date i could pick (and i did) was oct 28th.

awesome!!!
 
Acceptances don't start to come out until Oct. 15.

I guess I am too impatient right now.
Does anyone know how important the interview is compared to the rest of the application? What I am trying to say is if you leave an excellent impression on the interviwer but your stat are not stellar, then, does anyone have any ideas as to which one takes precedence over the other in the committee?
Some schools weigh interviews more heavily wheras some other just care about the stats...
 
I guess I am too impatient right now.
Does anyone know how important the interview is compared to the rest of the application? What I am trying to say is if you leave an excellent impression on the interviwer but your stat are not stellar, then, does anyone have any ideas as to which one takes precedence over the other in the committee?
Some schools weigh interviews more heavily wheras some other just care about the stats...

I can't give you a final word on it, but here's the impression that I've always had about interviews at MCV: If you got an interview, you're good enough academically to be accepted. The interviews at VCU tend to be pretty laid back and if you do well it will help you quite a bit, but you're really ranked based on the whole package. If I remember correctly (its been 2 yrs now, wow, that seems like ages ago) Dr. WC told me that they have your stats in front of everyone while your interviewer gives his impression to the committee. Then they vote and give you a rank. So your final ranking and ultimate acceptance/waitlist/rejection is based on the whole picture.

🙁 I guess I should go back to studying micro. We've got test 3 tomorrow and the Shelf on Friday, and here I am on SDN.😳
 
I guess I am too impatient right now.
Does anyone know how important the interview is compared to the rest of the application? What I am trying to say is if you leave an excellent impression on the interviwer but your stat are not stellar, then, does anyone have any ideas as to which one takes precedence over the other in the committee?
Some schools weigh interviews more heavily wheras some other just care about the stats...


OMG! You are not alone...
I interviewed way back in the beginning of this month, and I'm dying to find out what's going on!😱
 
nka1985, do you know when the adcom members have these meetings (i.e. how soon after the interview)? I have an interview at VCU in about a month, and depending on how it goes, I might consider writing a letter of interest that would need to get there before the post-interview assessment.

I can't give you a final word on it, but here's the impression that I've always had about interviews at MCV: If you got an interview, you're good enough academically to be accepted. The interviews at VCU tend to be pretty laid back and if you do well it will help you quite a bit, but you're really ranked based on the whole package. If I remember correctly (its been 2 yrs now, wow, that seems like ages ago) Dr. WC told me that they have your stats in front of everyone while your interviewer gives his impression to the committee. Then they vote and give you a rank. So your final ranking and ultimate acceptance/waitlist/rejection is based on the whole picture.

🙁 I guess I should go back to studying micro. We've got test 3 tomorrow and the Shelf on Friday, and here I am on SDN.😳
 
nka1985, do you know when the adcom members have these meetings (i.e. how soon after the interview)? I have an interview at VCU in about a month, and depending on how it goes, I might consider writing a letter of interest that would need to get there before the post-interview assessment.

If nothing has changed, they meet Mondays to discuss the previous weeks interviews. If it overlaps holidays they might get a little behind and not get to you during that meeting, but in general I think they try to stay caught up each week. So if you decide to write one I would get on it pretty quick after your interview. I would also write a thank you to your interviewer right away.😉
 
I can't give you a final word on it, but here's the impression that I've always had about interviews at MCV: If you got an interview, you're good enough academically to be accepted. The interviews at VCU tend to be pretty laid back and if you do well it will help you quite a bit, but you're really ranked based on the whole package. If I remember correctly (its been 2 yrs now, wow, that seems like ages ago) Dr. WC told me that they have your stats in front of everyone while your interviewer gives his impression to the committee. Then they vote and give you a rank. So your final ranking and ultimate acceptance/waitlist/rejection is based on the whole picture.

🙁 I guess I should go back to studying micro. We've got test 3 tomorrow and the Shelf on Friday, and here I am on SDN.😳

Is that something new at MCV, that you have shelf exams in MS2 year?
 
Is that something new at MCV, that you have shelf exams in MS2 year?

This is the second year that they've used one for M2 microbiology. I don't know of any other course that uses one. The Micro shelf is only 10% of your grade though, so if you do well on the first 3 tests then your score on the shelf doesn't matter much.
 
hi all,
I've seen you guys talking about the LOI but I don't really know what it is and when I have to submit it. Would anyone mind tell me more about the LOI?
I completed my application on August 13th, got the "further" message on September 21th... So now I'm just sitting here and waiting for an interview invitation (if there's one) 🙂.
 
So I've been complete at VCU since Aug 8th, and I'm still "complete". I called and they said they are just backed up and I'm still in line to be reviewed. It's just frustrating...it doesn't seem like they are that backed up with everyone. Maybe it's because I'm OOS? Anyways, just thought someone may have some insight!
 
So I've been complete at VCU since Aug 8th, and I'm still "complete". I called and they said they are just backed up and I'm still in line to be reviewed. It's just frustrating...it doesn't seem like they are that backed up with everyone. Maybe it's because I'm OOS? Anyways, just thought someone may have some insight!

It's probably because your OOS. IS applicants at VCU are given a higher priority in the application process.
 
Does anyone know how we should handle the SAT question if we don't remember our exact score?
 
i think it should be on your college transcript. at least is is at my school.

Unfortunately it's not on mine and I am quite a few years removed from my undergrad days. I know the general vicinity of my score +/- 30 points, but Im not 100% certain. I guess I'll call them on Monday to find out what I should do. Did anyone simply estimate?
 
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Unfortunately it's not on mine and I am quite a few years removed from my undergrad days. I know the general vicinity of my score +/- 30 points, but Im not 100% certain. I guess I'll call them on Monday to find out what I should do. Did anyone simply estimate?

I was able to access mine on the College Board website. You might want to try that.
 
I was able to access mine on the College Board website. You might want to try that.

Lol, I tried that, mine are archived and Id have to pay like $28 for them to pull the file since they are so old. I've been awar from undergrad for quite a few years.
 
I wouldn't estimate unless they specifically instruct you to do so, and even then get the name and contact info of the person at VCU who told you that was alright.
You don't want them accusing you of falsifying information later on and revoking an acceptance or contacting AMCAS or whatever else they do if they think you lied on an application.
Personally, I would just pay the $28. You will probably need it again in the future/for other applications anyway 🙂
 
I wouldn't estimate unless they specifically instruct you to do so, and even then get the name and contact info of the person at VCU who told you that was alright.
You don't want them accusing you of falsifying information later on and revoking an acceptance or contacting AMCAS or whatever else they do if they think you lied on an application.
Personally, I would just pay the $28. You will probably need it again in the future/for other applications anyway 🙂

Estimation is OK for SAT. It even says in the directions. They aren't going to look it up and they know people may not know, especially us older applicants.
 
Estimation is OK for SAT. It even says in the directions. They aren't going to look it up and they know people may not know, especially us older applicants.

I thought that estimation was OK for SAT scores because several other secondaries indicated that, but I can't find where it says its OK to estimate on VCUs secondary.
 
In the past, what percentage of interviewees get accepted on Oct 15? Is it a different chance for IS vs OOS? So let's say 20 IS and 80 OOS interviewed before the Oct 15 decision. How many of each are accepted?
 
In the past, what percentage of interviewees get accepted on Oct 15? Is it a different chance for IS vs OOS? So let's say 20 IS and 80 OOS interviewed before the Oct 15 decision. How many of each are accepted?

They said at the interview that about 1/4 of the available acceptance spaces are given out per notification date, which makes sense given that there are four dates: October 15, December 15, February 1 and March 15. I think they accept around 400 people total in order to eventually fill a class of 184 people. So I think about 100 people must get accepted per notification date.

They interview around 750 applicants each year, so if they are equally divided throughout the interview season, about 188 people are interviewed between each notification date and 100 people are offered admission. Slightly over 50% of interviewed applicants get accepted overall and out of that number, about 55% are IS and 45% are OOS, so I guess about 55 IS and 45 OOS applicants are accepted per notification wave. However, since there are thousands of OOS applicants and many fewer IS applicants, the overall percentage of OOS applicants that get accepted is very low when compared to IS applicants.

After October 15, I think it gets more complicated to predict acceptances from each pool because the people who weren't offered acceptance in the first round still remain on the list, which is organized by priority score. So if the first group happened to have particularly good applicants while the next group happened to have worse applicants, people from the first group would still be accepted at the second notification date and so on. It could also be confounded by whether they interview more in-state applicants early in the season and more out-of-state applicants later in the season.

I don't really know how to predict, because according to the admissions dean, they simply organize the list by priority score and take the desired number of people from the top of the list down. I'm not sure if there are separate IS and OOS lists or not and whether the IS/OOS factor is included in the priority score or not. If anyone has other ideas, feel free to chime in, but that's how I read it from the admissions website and what they said at the interview.
 
They said at the interview that about 1/4 of the available acceptance spaces are given out per notification date, which makes sense given that there are four dates: October 15, December 15, February 1 and March 15. I think they accept around 400 people total in order to eventually fill a class of 184 people. So I think about 100 people must get accepted per notification date.

They interview around 750 applicants each year, so if they are equally divided throughout the interview season, about 188 people are interviewed between each notification date and 100 people are offered admission. Slightly over 50% of interviewed applicants get accepted overall and out of that number, about 55% are IS and 45% are OOS, so I guess about 55 IS and 45 OOS applicants are accepted per notification wave. However, since there are thousands of OOS applicants and many fewer IS applicants, the overall percentage of OOS applicants that get accepted is very low when compared to IS applicants.

After October 15, I think it gets more complicated to predict acceptances from each pool because the people who weren't offered acceptance in the first round still remain on the list, which is organized by priority score. So if the first group happened to have particularly good applicants while the next group happened to have worse applicants, people from the first group would still be accepted at the second notification date and so on. It could also be confounded by whether they interview more in-state applicants early in the season and more out-of-state applicants later in the season.

I don't really know how to predict, because according to the admissions dean, they simply organize the list by priority score and take the desired number of people from the top of the list down. I'm not sure if there are separate IS and OOS lists or not and whether the IS/OOS factor is included in the priority score or not. If anyone has other ideas, feel free to chime in, but that's how I read it from the admissions website and what they said at the interview.

God bless you for that answer. It is very well written, logically organized, and understandable. I bet you rocked your interview. You will make a good doctor I know 🙂 What do you want to specialize in?

What you said makes a lot of sense. It's less of a chance to NOT be accepted if you are IS . There were many OOS state people in my interview. What is it, like 9x OOS applicants to IS? In the second round, after Oct 15, then there will be approx 84 people left over that are added to the next 184 people as possible students. The 100 Dec 15 acceptances will come from a pool of 268 people. Right? This is higher compared to the original 184 for the Oct 15 date. So is it you have the best percentage chance of acceptance for this Oct 15 date?

I wonder how much power your interviewer has on 'convincing' the committee to give you a good priority score. Can they make everyone vote a '1' because they had a really good interview and the person is really promoting you as a good asset to the school? and vice versa.
 
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Sooo...with all of this in mind...is it harder or easier to get in on the Oct. 15th date? I realize you are competing against less people, but I also understand that they are probably more conservative with who they accept in the first batch.

I am trying to ease my mind as VCU is hands down my number one choice...I really love this school and Richmond too!!!
 
Sooo...with all of this in mind...is it harder or easier to get in on the Oct. 15th date? I realize you are competing against less people, but I also understand that they are probably more conservative with who they accept in the first batch.

I am trying to ease my mind as VCU is hands down my number one choice...I really love this school and Richmond too!!!

Looking at your MdApps, it will be surprised if you dont make the first cut! You excelled at the PostBacc there so you are ready for medical school, i believe. I am IS too and crossing my fingers that my interview went well enough to make the Oct 15 cut! Waiting is hard.
 
Looking at your MdApps, it will be surprised if you dont make the first cut! You excelled at the PostBacc there so you are ready for medical school, i believe. I am IS too and crossing my fingers that my interview went well enough to make the Oct 15 cut! Waiting is hard.

Hey thanks a lot!!! I really hope so! Good luck to you too...lets hope for some in state love!😍
 
I just rode by MCV campus en route to my hotel. I know it's wrong to judge a book by its cover, but I love the campus already! Anyone else in Richmond today?

😀
 
Has anyone that has interviewed so far stayed w/ a student host? If so, did you just pick a name off the Student Hosts list and call them? I definitely want to stay w/ a host, but I don't want to be randomly calling people if that isn't the correct way. Thanks!
 
I was verified on 9/15 and still have not received a secondary - how long does the screening process typically take?

Thanks
 
I just had my interview! I would be SO happy to go here! I am crossing my fingers and toes for good news on October 15th!!!!!!

:soexcited:
 
I just had my interview! I would be SO happy to go here! I am crossing my fingers and toes for good news on October 15th!!!!!!

:soexcited:

Glad you liked the school, and good luck.:luck:
 
I just got this update on my status page.

The Admissions Committee has met to discuss your file. Your application is being placed on hold for action at a later date. We anticipate making offers October 15, December 15, February 1, and March 15.

You will receive no further communication from us concerning your hold status. The next status change will be to offer you a position in the class, to notify you that you have been placed on the alternate list in mid-March, or to notify you that the Committee will no longer be considering your file.

We thank you for your interest in our school.


What does it mean?? Other than the obvious I'm on hold...😕
 
I just got this update on my status page.

The Admissions Committee has met to discuss your file. Your application is being placed on hold for action at a later date. We anticipate making offers October 15, December 15, February 1, and March 15.

You will receive no further communication from us concerning your hold status. The next status change will be to offer you a position in the class, to notify you that you have been placed on the alternate list in mid-March, or to notify you that the Committee will no longer be considering your file.

We thank you for your interest in our school.


What does it mean?? Other than the obvious I'm on hold...😕

I remember Dr. WC saying that everyone will get a hold message before the Oct 15 date...but I havent gotten one yet. I dont think it means you definitely wont get accepted on Oct 15, but it sure is written that way. Are you IS? When did you interview? First week of Sept? I interviewed mid Sept so maybe that's why I havent gotten that status change.
 
I'm OOS. I figured it would be really difficult to get accepted on the first round. My interview was on September 18th. I don't remember her saying that, but I was probably pretty wound up that day.
 
I'm OOS. I figured it would be really difficult to get accepted on the first round. My interview was on September 18th. I don't remember her saying that, but I was probably pretty wound up that day.

I was looking at old MCV threads from last year http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=446625&page=2

and people got the exact same message as you and were accepted on Oct 15, so there is still hope! It seems they give you that message if they've made a decision on your file, and is a good thing because you arent out right rejected (aka have a score of above 3.5). So it looks like the message simply means they have made a decision... good luck!
 
I was looking at old MCV threads from last year http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=446625&page=2

and people got the exact same message as you and were accepted on Oct 15, so there is still hope! It seems they give you that message if they've made a decision on your file, and is a good thing because you arent out right rejected (aka have a score of above 3.5). So it looks like the message simply means they have made a decision... good luck!
I got the same message. Also OOS, but I'm glad to hear that I may still find an acceptance in my inbox on the 15th.
 
I also got that message today. I definitely remember hearing that everyone will get this message, and it doesn't mean anything (other than the fact that we won't hear anything else until at least October 15th). I'm in-state and interviewed on September 2nd.
 
VCU is a nice school..its just Ridiculously Expensive for OOSers..like 66K??? or something
 
I just got this update on my status page.

The Admissions Committee has met to discuss your file. Your application is being placed on hold for action at a later date. We anticipate making offers October 15, December 15, February 1, and March 15.

You will receive no further communication from us concerning your hold status. The next status change will be to offer you a position in the class, to notify you that you have been placed on the alternate list in mid-March, or to notify you that the Committee will no longer be considering your file.

We thank you for your interest in our school.


What does it mean?? Other than the obvious I'm on hold...😕

She told us that this means your file has been reviewed. It does NOT mean you will or will not get an acceptance on 10/15.

I'm OOS. I figured it would be really difficult to get accepted on the first round. My interview was on September 18th. I don't remember her saying that, but I was probably pretty wound up that day.

Don't be too surprised if you do get an offer in the first round, though. They told us they send about 100 acceptances each round. They started interviewing the first week in September IIRC, so there will be about 5 weeks worth of interviewees "eligible" to receive an acceptance on 10/15. They interview 4 days per week, and there are probably 8-10 interviewees per day. So that's about 200 applicants, and about 100 of them will receive acceptances on 10/15. This is JUST speculation, but stay optimistic!

VCU is a nice school..its just Ridiculously Expensive for OOSers..like 66K??? or something

Where are you getting your numbers? VCU is one of the cheaper state schools for OOS students - tuition is about $39,000 for OOS students right now. Total cost of attendance is around $68,000. At Uninversity of Vermont, tuition alone is something like $47,000.
 
Where are you getting your numbers? VCU is one of the cheaper state schools for OOS students - tuition is about $39,000 for OOS students right now. Total cost of attendance is around $68,000. At Uninversity of Vermont, tuition alone is something like $47,000.

They said something in the low 40's today. 43 maybe. But that's pretty much in the ballpark of most places I've applied.
 
does VCU still send out those good/mediocre/bad emails or were those only for early applicants?

I've been complete since early September and haven't heard anything...no status page changes either.
 
does VCU still send out those good/mediocre/bad emails or were those only for early applicants?

I've been complete since early September and haven't heard anything...no status page changes either.

I haven't received any e-mails from them and I've been complete since 8/16, but OOS
 
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