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

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ChaSiuBao said:
so does this mean that the people that received the message stating that a final decision will be sent on october 15, december 15, etc. are guaranteed an acceptance or waitlist?
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No, it simply means that their priority scores were above the threshold for automatic rejection post-interview (3.5 on a 1-5 scale). As the post-interview hold message states, either an acceptance will be forthcoming on one of the upcoming offer dates, or, after the final offer date (3/15 I believe), the remainder of individuals who were on hold but not offered a seat will either be placed on the waitlist or rejected at that point.

Essentially, after the last batch of offers are made, the waitlist is formed from the remainder, with some people with the lowest of priority scores not making it to the waitlist.
 
luckyducky87 said:
Hm, I thought the term "final decision" included rejections. So I assumed they periodically sent out rejections, while they give even more rejections on those dates in addition to other final decisions... but not sure why they'd do that - unless they're being "nice" and letting you know if you're not accepted as soon as they can so that you don't keep waiting for so long. 😳
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No. There are only three points where you may receive a rejection: 1. immediately after your file is reviewed post-interview if your priority score is too low. 2. When the waitlist is formed after the last set of acceptance offers are made in March. 3. When matriculation is complete in 2009 and those remaining on the waitlist are ultimately rejected since school has begun.
 
ChimpanzeeMinky - do you happen to know if it's true that the Feb 1 acceptance batch is bigger than the Dec 15 or if you have any insight on how close VCU is to filling up its class?
 
luckyducky87 said:
ChimpanzeeMinky - do you happen to know if it's true that the Feb 1 acceptance batch is bigger than the Dec 15 or if you have any insight on how close VCU is to filling up its class?
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Unfortunately I'm not privy to that information, but I'll post if I hear something.
 
ah I see. Thanks for the thorough explanations. I'm really hoping for an acceptance here...I really liked the school, and the area it's located in is amazing. I come from a suburban area in Florida...so Richmond would be a nice, welcome change.
 
ChaSiuBao said:
ah I see. Thanks for the thorough explanations. I'm really hoping for an acceptance here...I really liked the school, and the area it's located in is amazing. I come from a suburban area in Florida...so Richmond would be a nice, welcome change.
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I came from the suburban Washington DC area, and I know exactly what you are talking about. I absolutely love it here, as I can ride my bike most places I need to go, leaving my car sitting idle. It's a fantastic change, and I plan to never return to the suburbs.

Best of luck!
 
I'm going to preface this post saying that I understand that noone REALLY knows anything for certain, and that some would say that this whole process definitely has an element of luck in it... but if anything I need a little encouragement.

I have an interview at MCV on March 3, and basically right now it's my only shot. I just got rejected at UVa, I'm in-state and I'm sure it's because my MCAT is sub-par (29- 9B, 10V, 10P) even though my GPA is 3.85 (4.0 for my last two years). I'm still on hold at all the other schools I applied to, including GW, NYU, Temple, SUNY-Downstate and Penn-- but I am not holding my breath. So right now my eggs are all in the MCV basket, which is honestly perfectly FINE because I would absolutely love to go there.

Unfortunately, that puts a lot of pressure on the interview, and I'm scared that it's simply scheduled too late in the cycle and on paper I'm not special enough to make a big impression. I thought that with my ATC certification and extensive clinical hours (over 1600 in 4 years) along with a music minor and working a job through college combined with various other ECs, my application would stand out a little bit... but I'm not getting very much love and basically I'm feeling pretty much like I suck. 🙁

Do I stand a chance at MCV? Does anyone know if they will still out-right accept someone with an interview in March without putting them on a wait list? And is a higher emphasis placed on any one part of a person's application- including their interview?

Thanks to anyone who might reply... I know there are a lot of other people who are in the same or similar situation as me. We just have to keep the faith that everything will turn out like its supposed to...right?
 
seizethedee said:
I have an interview at MCV on March 3, and basically right now it's my only shot. I just got rejected at UVa, I'm in-state and I'm sure it's because my MCAT is sub-par (29- 9B, 10V, 10P) even though my GPA is 3.85 (4.0 for my last two years).

...

Unfortunately, that puts a lot of pressure on the interview, and I'm scared that it's simply scheduled too late in the cycle and on paper I'm not special enough to make a big impression. I thought that with my ATC certification and extensive clinical hours (over 1600 in 4 years) along with a music minor and working a job through college combined with various other ECs, my application would stand out a little bit... but I'm not getting very much love and basically I'm feeling pretty much like I suck. 🙁

Do I stand a chance at MCV? Does anyone know if they will still out-right accept someone with an interview in March without putting them on a wait list? And is a higher emphasis placed on any one part of a person's application- including their interview?
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Obviously I don't really understand MCV's application process either (I interviewed back in October but haven't heard back either) but I would start coming up with an alternate plan. I'm starting to do that myself :-/ I think the only obvious lowpoint of your application is the MCAT score, so why don't you retake it in the next few months and reapply in the upcoming cycle??

Easier said than done, I know. And it sucks imagining going through this process again but... meh. BUT! do your best on the interview 🙂 I'm super-prepping for my remaining interview (haha I'm interviewing on Duke's very last day of interview offers... hopefully that does not equate to: interviewing for waitlist spots), and I'm determined to impress them on the interview. In that sense, do your best and hope for the best 🙂

Good luck :luck:
 
seizethedee said:
I'm going to preface this post saying that I understand that noone REALLY knows anything for certain, and that some would say that this whole process definitely has an element of luck in it... but if anything I need a little encouragement.

I have an interview at MCV on March 3, and basically right now it's my only shot. I just got rejected at UVa, I'm in-state and I'm sure it's because my MCAT is sub-par (29- 9B, 10V, 10P) even though my GPA is 3.85 (4.0 for my last two years). I'm still on hold at all the other schools I applied to, including GW, NYU, Temple, SUNY-Downstate and Penn-- but I am not holding my breath. So right now my eggs are all in the MCV basket, which is honestly perfectly FINE because I would absolutely love to go there.

Unfortunately, that puts a lot of pressure on the interview, and I'm scared that it's simply scheduled too late in the cycle and on paper I'm not special enough to make a big impression. I thought that with my ATC certification and extensive clinical hours (over 1600 in 4 years) along with a music minor and working a job through college combined with various other ECs, my application would stand out a little bit... but I'm not getting very much love and basically I'm feeling pretty much like I suck. 🙁

Do I stand a chance at MCV? Does anyone know if they will still out-right accept someone with an interview in March without putting them on a wait list? And is a higher emphasis placed on any one part of a person's application- including their interview?

Thanks to anyone who might reply... I know there are a lot of other people who are in the same or similar situation as me. We just have to keep the faith that everything will turn out like its supposed to...right?
Click to expand...

You stand a chance. There are definitely still seats available even for someone interviewing as late as you - that's the nice thing about how MCV makes offers. They offer in relatively equally sized blocks each offer date, the last of which will be 3/15.

As for emphasis on any one part - I guess you could say it's a pretty holistic, subjective, non-quantitative system for evaluating candidates at the stage you're at. At this point, as I understand it (and the actual inner workings of the committee meetings are, as expected, kept pretty tightly under wraps), your single interviewer will present you to the committee after your interview. Your stats and other pertinent data will be projected onto a screen, and the other members of the committee will go about trying to find shortcomings in your application. Your interviewer then plays the role of your advocate, responding to identified shortcomings with your strengths.

I think the excellent rapport I developed with my interviewer was crucial to my acceptance, as I suspect she was a pretty strong advocate for me. So, in that light, the interview can be considered extremely important, and for those of us with less-than-stellar applications, a potential lifesaver.

Best of luck to you.
 
luckyducky87 said:
Obviously I don't really understand MCV's application process either (I interviewed back in October but haven't heard back either) but I would start coming up with an alternate plan. I'm starting to do that myself :-/ I think the only obvious lowpoint of your application is the MCAT score, so why don't you retake it in the next few months and reapply in the upcoming cycle??

Easier said than done, I know. And it sucks imagining going through this process again but... meh. BUT! do your best on the interview 🙂 I'm super-prepping for my remaining interview (haha I'm interviewing on Duke's very last day of interview offers... hopefully that does not equate to: interviewing for waitlist spots), and I'm determined to impress them on the interview. In that sense, do your best and hope for the best 🙂

Good luck :luck:
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You're definitely right-- I've been thinking about plans B and C for a long time now. I know my MCAT is lower than it should be (besides that C in gen chem from sophomore year...:-/) and I will take that again if I really don't get in anywhere. I know I will reapply- I'm thinking about doing a 1 year masters program in nutrition and then trying again. What a miserable thing to think about though.

I'm sorry to hear you've been waiting for so long from MCV- but if you're a VA resident then I don't see why you wouldn't get it! And good luck with your Duke interview- that's great that you got asked to interview with them, it's a great school. Thats where the orthopedist I interviewed with went and he loved it.

I told myself I wouldn't get upset if I got another rejection or ultimately didnt' get accepted at all, because in the end things will be OK. Somehow thats a lot easier to say when you don't have a piece of paper in your hand that crosses off yet another way to get to your goal...!
 
seizethedee said:
I'm going to preface this post saying that I understand that noone REALLY knows anything for certain, and that some would say that this whole process definitely has an element of luck in it... but if anything I need a little encouragement.

I have an interview at MCV on March 3, and basically right now it's my only shot. I just got rejected at UVa, I'm in-state and I'm sure it's because my MCAT is sub-par (29- 9B, 10V, 10P) even though my GPA is 3.85 (4.0 for my last two years). I'm still on hold at all the other schools I applied to, including GW, NYU, Temple, SUNY-Downstate and Penn-- but I am not holding my breath. So right now my eggs are all in the MCV basket, which is honestly perfectly FINE because I would absolutely love to go there.

Unfortunately, that puts a lot of pressure on the interview, and I'm scared that it's simply scheduled too late in the cycle and on paper I'm not special enough to make a big impression. I thought that with my ATC certification and extensive clinical hours (over 1600 in 4 years) along with a music minor and working a job through college combined with various other ECs, my application would stand out a little bit... but I'm not getting very much love and basically I'm feeling pretty much like I suck. 🙁

Do I stand a chance at MCV? Does anyone know if they will still out-right accept someone with an interview in March without putting them on a wait list? And is a higher emphasis placed on any one part of a person's application- including their interview?

Thanks to anyone who might reply... I know there are a lot of other people who are in the same or similar situation as me. We just have to keep the faith that everything will turn out like its supposed to...right?
Click to expand...

did you call and try to change the interview to an earlier date? other than that i don't have any advice to give you but i can wish you good luck!!!!:luck::luck::luck: just hope for the best.
 
bluesmd said:
did you call and try to change the interview to an earlier date? other than that i don't have any advice to give you but i can wish you good luck!!!!:luck::luck::luck: just hope for the best.
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...no, but that's a darn good idea. I didn't know that you could really do that- although I guess anything is possible. Persistence can sometimes pay off, right? 🙂
 
seizethedee said:
...no, but that's a darn good idea. I didn't know that you could really do that- although I guess anything is possible. Persistence can sometimes pay off, right? 🙂
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that's the spirit! remember to be yourself in the interview. don't prepare too much, just relax, be truthful be yourself! good luck.
 
Chemist0157 said:
Now you're just being needy. Hah, jk. 🙂

OOS Stats (da, dadada, daah)

Applied: 4,887
Interviewed: 383
Accepted: 205
Attended: 80
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So I was just reading over the thread and I came across these stats posted from the 2007 application cycle. My question doesn't necessarily have to do with OOS people, but I'm curious about the stats regarding the number of students Accepted. Do they count the number of waitlisted people in this number? Or is that the specific number of students that they sent a straight up acceptance to with the prediction that there will be many students attending other medical schools than VCU. Thanks
 
oh okay, thanks chimp! so does it include those accepted from the waitlist?
 
bluesmd said:
oh okay, thanks chimp! so does it include those accepted from the waitlist?
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Sure does. They don't over-accept here, anticipating people will go elsewhere. They accept enough only to fill the class, and then make additional offers from the waitlist. 205 offers for out of staters would have to account for waitlist movement as well.
 
ChimpanzeeMinky said:
Sure does. They don't over-accept here, anticipating people will go elsewhere. They accept enough only to fill the class, and then make additional offers from the waitlist. 205 offers for out of staters would have to account for waitlist movement as well.
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okay, cool! i've heard great things about VCU really looking forward to my interview!!!
 
seizethedee said:
I'm going to preface this post saying that I understand that noone REALLY knows anything for certain, and that some would say that this whole process definitely has an element of luck in it... but if anything I need a little encouragement.

I have an interview at MCV on March 3, and basically right now it's my only shot. I just got rejected at UVa, I'm in-state and I'm sure it's because my MCAT is sub-par (29- 9B, 10V, 10P) even though my GPA is 3.85 (4.0 for my last two years). I'm still on hold at all the other schools I applied to, including GW, NYU, Temple, SUNY-Downstate and Penn-- but I am not holding my breath. So right now my eggs are all in the MCV basket, which is honestly perfectly FINE because I would absolutely love to go there.

Unfortunately, that puts a lot of pressure on the interview, and I'm scared that it's simply scheduled too late in the cycle and on paper I'm not special enough to make a big impression. I thought that with my ATC certification and extensive clinical hours (over 1600 in 4 years) along with a music minor and working a job through college combined with various other ECs, my application would stand out a little bit... but I'm not getting very much love and basically I'm feeling pretty much like I suck. 🙁

Do I stand a chance at MCV? Does anyone know if they will still out-right accept someone with an interview in March without putting them on a wait list? And is a higher emphasis placed on any one part of a person's application- including their interview?

Thanks to anyone who might reply... I know there are a lot of other people who are in the same or similar situation as me. We just have to keep the faith that everything will turn out like its supposed to...right?
Click to expand...

One of my best friends (in-state female) received an acceptance this cycle on October 15th with an MCAT of 26 and a GPA of 3.9 (4.0 for the last two years as well). You definitely stand a chance! Good luck! :luck:
 
seizethedee said:
I'm going to preface this post saying that I understand that noone REALLY knows anything for certain, and that some would say that this whole process definitely has an element of luck in it... but if anything I need a little encouragement.

I have an interview at MCV on March 3, and basically right now it's my only shot. I just got rejected at UVa, I'm in-state and I'm sure it's because my MCAT is sub-par (29- 9B, 10V, 10P) even though my GPA is 3.85 (4.0 for my last two years). I'm still on hold at all the other schools I applied to, including GW, NYU, Temple, SUNY-Downstate and Penn-- but I am not holding my breath. So right now my eggs are all in the MCV basket, which is honestly perfectly FINE because I would absolutely love to go there.

Unfortunately, that puts a lot of pressure on the interview, and I'm scared that it's simply scheduled too late in the cycle and on paper I'm not special enough to make a big impression. I thought that with my ATC certification and extensive clinical hours (over 1600 in 4 years) along with a music minor and working a job through college combined with various other ECs, my application would stand out a little bit... but I'm not getting very much love and basically I'm feeling pretty much like I suck. 🙁

Do I stand a chance at MCV? Does anyone know if they will still out-right accept someone with an interview in March without putting them on a wait list? And is a higher emphasis placed on any one part of a person's application- including their interview?

Thanks to anyone who might reply... I know there are a lot of other people who are in the same or similar situation as me. We just have to keep the faith that everything will turn out like its supposed to...right?
Click to expand...

You definitely have a chance, especially since you're in-state. Stats for instate students average a little lower than OOS and your GPA is good. Do well in your interview and write them a letter of intent the minute you get back. I do think you should have a back-up plan in place just in case but definitely don't give up yet. VCU DOES NOT interview for the waitlist-you will be seriously considered for an acceptance.:luck:
 
i have an interview coming up and i was wondering did anyone stay with a host? how was it. which motel/hotels have people stayed at?
 
thanks for all the encouragement!! now i just have to stay sane for the next two months... it's ok, i'm going snowboarding for the first time in a few weeks and maybe i'll knock all sense out of myself while i'm falling on my face for 3 days straight.
 
Still hope for an interview?

So I recieved the "may" message about 2 months ago... wrote a letter of interest about a month after that...

31/3.3 IS

Do I have any hope of an interview?
 
Here's an announcement from the VCU SOM applicant website (shows up at the login screen):

12/16/2008 The VCU School of Medicine currently has no interview slots available. A new message will be posted if new interview slots open. The seven day rule will not apply for those who have tried to schedule an interview unsuccessfully due to lack of space.
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I would take that to mean that they aren't giving out any more interviews unless someone cancels a previously scheduled interview.
 
i just canceled my interview that was scheduled for 2/2, hopefully it'll go to one of you guys, good luck!
 
Interviewing this Wed (1/21). Anybody else going to be there? And for those that have already interviewed, how was the cab fare from the airport to the school?
 
tbucky said:
Interviewing this Wed (1/21). Anybody else going to be there? And for those that have already interviewed, how was the cab fare from the airport to the school?
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It's about 25 bucks.
 
good luck for your interivew tbucky. anyone going to be there 1/22?
 
Since the 1st is a Sunday, will they actually send out acceptances on that date or will they go out on Monday instead? Anybody know?
 
Lucylu123 said:
Since the 1st is a Sunday, will they actually send out acceptances on that date or will they go out on Monday instead? Anybody know?
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I'm guessing that 2/1 will be the day... otherwise they would have said 2/2, I'd think 😳 I've also gotten "status update" emails on a Saturday evening, so I don't see why not? :xf:
 
Do they send the next round of acceptances on February 15? (i.e. should I expect no word from them until then 🙁)
 
OK I didn't read the posts above, what is this talk of acceptances being sent out on 2/1? Is this true for people who interviewed mid-january, seems to be an awfully short turnaround.
 
Your file is typically reviewed the Monday after you interview (they review a week's worth of files at a time) so unless they are backlogged or your interviewer couldn't make it to the adcom meeting, you should be have a chance for an offer on 2/1.

Also, they set their system to electronically update itself (rather than keying things in manually), so 2/1 should indeed be the day to expect communication despite the fact that it's a Sunday.
 
Anyone receive the "hold" message a week after the interview? What does this mean? Should I not expect anything on February 1st?
 
so anyone going to be there 1/22. i want to meet some SDNers!!!
 
As I gather, everyone who is reviewed is placed on "Hold" right after the review and acceptances are handed out on those special 4 days. Can anyone verify this?
 
chessodoc said:
As I gather, everyone who is reviewed is placed on "Hold" right after the review and acceptances are handed out on those special 4 days. Can anyone verify this?
Click to expand...

It's all detailed multiple times in this thread.
 
True, but there are 25 pages in this thread, asking is much simpler 🙂
 
Okay, here it is:

After your interview your file is reviewed in the admissions committee meeting. Your file will be displayed on the wall and your interviewer will present the file to the committee. Your file reviewer will also comment in case the interviewer left anything out. Each member of the admissions committee will rank you from 1 to 5. A score of "1" is given to the most desirable candidates - a score of 5 is given to the least desirable candidates. At the end of the meeting the score from all the adcom members is averaged together (I think the highest and lowest are thrown out, like in the Olympics) which creates your priority score. At this point (once your file has been assigned a priority score in the applicant system) your file will be placed on "post-interview hold" until the next release date of acceptances. Also, post-interview rejections are typically released as soon as the priority score is updated in the system (anything in the range of 3.5 to 5.0 warrants an automatic rejection).

So everyone who is on hold is vying for an acceptance on February 1st. VCU determines how many acceptances to offer per each acceptance dispatch date, and the highest-ranked (by priority scores) applicants will receive these applicants. If you're not offered an acceptance on 2/1 then you'll have to wait until the next (and final) batch of acceptances is released on 3/15. Once these acceptances are released, the waitlist is formed, which is ranked according to priority score. As acceptees withdraw from VCU, admissions will select the next priority score on the waitlist and call them to see if they're interested in attending VCU. Also, the waitlist is divided between IS/OOS. I hear the OOS waitlist typically has decent movement and the IS waitlist doesn't.

Hope this helps. I'm not answering this question in this thread again. 🙂
 
Haha thanks Chad. I've been keeping up with most of the 25 pages but the explanation (again) helped! 🙂

Hopefully I will hear back on 2/1 with some happy news. I need some right now!!
 
Just want to let everyone know that make sure you check your status page frequently- even if you already have an interview invitation!! Mine was scheduled on March 3, and then yesterday I just randomly checked the status site (even though I haven't received any emails- yes I check my spam folder religiously!!!) and the first sentence was as follows...

Congratulations. Your interview with our school is now scheduled for Feb 17, 2009 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM.

I did a double take. Yeah. Needless to say, I'm very happy it got bumped up, but geez! Thanks for the heads up, guys.
 
seizethedee said:
Just want to let everyone know that make sure you check your status page frequently- even if you already have an interview invitation!! Mine was scheduled on March 3, and then yesterday I just randomly checked the status site (even though I haven't received any emails- yes I check my spam folder religiously!!!) and the first sentence was as follows...

Congratulations. Your interview with our school is now scheduled for Feb 17, 2009 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM.

I did a double take. Yeah. Needless to say, I'm very happy it got bumped up, but geez! Thanks for the heads up, guys.
Click to expand...

The same thing happened to me. They told me to call a week after I got my interview invite to see if there would be available slots. I checked online the next day and found one open.

The interview seems easy to handle. It's 1-on-1 for 1 hour or so. After we were done with the usual questions (why medicine? why VCU? what have you done to prepare for medicine? etc.. ), my interviewer and I ended up chatting about random things from Obama to day laborers to (oddly enough) German cars, especially VW/Audi.

Also, I saw your earlier post with your stats. I've heard that VCU heavily favors VA residents, so it looks like you're in a good position. I'm from MD, and I have pretty poor stats, so I'm really doubting my chances (even with my interviewer helping me out).

Good luck on your interview.
 
just had my interview. LOVED RICHMOND , really nice city, hopefully more of you guys will get to check out VCU. great school. hoping for good news on feb 1
 
Hey all,
Sorry if this sounds a little dumb ..

How do you guys get the MDapps profile thing under your profile?
 
bluesmd said:
just had my interview. LOVED RICHMOND , really nice city, hopefully more of you guys will get to check out VCU. great school. hoping for good news on feb 1
Click to expand...

Sweet! I'm so glad you like the school and city! It's a great program and a great place to live!

JaDud6PG said:
Hey all,
Sorry if this sounds a little dumb ..

How do you guys get the MDapps profile thing under your profile?
Click to expand...

Under the "Quick Links" on the blue toolbar at the top of the forums, click on "Edit Your Details." Then just put in your MDApps profile number where indicated.
 
I had a fire alarm go off during my interview at VCU, and it was cut short about 30 mins. Probably for the best though, our conversation wasn't going anywhere. 😛
 
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