2009-2010 Vanderbilt University Application Thread

[shemarty]

PROMPT

Autobiography: Write a brief autobiography. As completely and precisely as possible, give a picture of yourself, your family, and events you consider important to you. In doing so, identify the values that are of greatest importance to you. If you have completed your undergraduate education, please comment on what you have done or have been doing since graduation. (1200 word limit)

Contribution: The learning environment of the medical school is enhanced by the inclusion of students with a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences prior to medical school. What in your background or your experiences will uniquely contribute to this learning environment? (500 word limit)

Challenge: Please discuss a challenging situation that you faced in the past. Why was it challenging? How did you handle it? Knowing what you know now, would you do anything differently? What did you learn? (500 word limit)

LOR REQS

If your school has a faculty advisory committee, please provide their evaluation. Otherwise provide three (3) letters of recommendation, two (2) of which must be from science faculty.

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[ksmi117]

Hey fellow Vanderbilt Applicants!

So I did some research on secondaries this morning and here is what I found:

Vanderbilt's secondary is available via snail mail. There is a screen for applicants. Any applicant receiving a secondary will also get an interview. More info can be found here. Just for reference, last year someone posted the secondary prompts on August 3rd. Post whenever you hear anything.

Best of luck this year.

 

[Appless]

Ill post so you have company . I wish more schools did what vanderbilt did. Instead of stealing our money and wasting our time they give interviews to all who gets 2ndaries its awesome . Im applying but i know i have no realistic shot...

 

[shemarty]

Vandy also interviews more people per spot than other "top" med schools. I think it's only a 1:8 chance of getting accepted, after the interview. I could be wrong, though. I'm not sure where I got that number from.

I recommend submitting a primary to Vandy if you're remotely interested because they won't waste your time by giving you a secondary unless they're genuinely interested in you. You also don't have to pay the secondary application fee until you've decided for sure that you want to interview there. It's only a $30 cost up to that point.

 

[ksmi117]

Vandy also interviews more people per spot than other "top" med schools. I think it's only a 1:8 chance of getting accepted, after the interview. I could be wrong, though. I'm not sure where I got that number from.

I recommend submitting a primary to Vandy if you're remotely interested because they won't waste your time by giving you a secondary unless they're genuinely interested in you. You also don't have to pay the secondary application fee until you've decided for sure that you want to interview there. It's only a $30 cost up to that point.

$31

 

[howabout]

Did some hw for vandy.. here's the breakdown

4439 applied, 872 interviewed, 257 were accepted, 85 enrolled for OOS
so 19.6% interviewed.. out of those 29% offered

so if you get an interview, seems like you have a fair shot at a spot

 

[shemarty]

Did some hw for vandy.. here's the breakdown

4439 applied, 872 interviewed, 257 were accepted, 85 enrolled for OOS
so 19.6% interviewed.. out of those 29% offered

so if you get an interview, seems like you have a fair shot at a spot

Oh, I guess the piece of data that I remembered was 8:1 Interviewed:Class Size

 

[ButImLETired]

Hey guys!

Just wanted to wish you all good luck, and I hope to be able to meet some of you this year when you interview!! I'll be starting there in a couple of months (*shudder*) and I'll try to be a fly in the wall in the admission office since I found those to be so useful last year when I was applying. Feel free to ask any questions about the school or the process of applying (only the latter for now, but hopefully I'll be able to answer some of the former soon! ).

For now, I agree with Shemarty- do apply if you think you might have a shot and are remotely interested in the school, because they'll only send you a secondary if they're going to interview you, which is kinda great. So they won't take your money unless they really care to meet you.

If things go the way they did last year, you'll get an email in a bit (beginning of July, maybe?) saying that they received your primary. The first secondaries were sent out in the beginning of August last year. It's actually not a snail mail secondary- only the "congratulations! We want to interview you" letter is snail mail. By the way, it's in a small thin envelope (as are rejections) so don't freak out until you read the letter. In that letter will be your username and password, and the URL for the online secondary system. It'll have some basic "fill in courses here" stuff and a couple of LONG essays . Once you have officially submitted your secondary, you'll get to schedule an interview online, and you'll get the name of your interviewer (one interviewer, one-ish hour) and a link to the interviewer's profile online so you can check out his/her resume and see if you have anything in common. Interviews start super early, I think mid or late August if I'm not mistaken. I BELIEVE they read your secondary and LORs only after you've interviewed as part of your total application.

Ok, so that's all the logistical stuff as far as I remember it. Feel free to ask anything else! Goooooood luck!

ps- I can't believe you guys are already applying. I feel like it was yesterday that I was freaking out about getting an interview...

 

[Steeler7588]

I wish more schools did what vanderbilt did. Instead of stealing our money and wasting our time they give interviews to all who gets 2ndaries its awesome .

Word. EDIT: ButImLETired clarified the process. Interesting they don't look at your secondary until after you interview.

Two of my friends got accepted this past year, loved it, and are matriculating. Hopefully Vandy shows me at least a little interview love, it seems like an amazing school!

 

[tjluke25]

Important Question: It says to only send letters of recommendation if you receive a secondary request...should I look into this for every school I am applying to? I had planned on just sending them to every one...kind of annoying.

 

[alphagojo]

Important Question: It says to only send letters of recommendation if you receive a secondary request...should I look into this for every school I am applying to? I had planned on just sending them to every one...kind of annoying.

I wouldn't really worry about it.

If they don't send me a secondary, then they are not going to admit me. And if they are not going to admit me, I am not really going to worry about them receiving my letter packet.

 

[ksmi117]

Important Question: It says to only send letters of recommendation if you receive a secondary request...should I look into this for every school I am applying to? I had planned on just sending them to every one...kind of annoying.

Generally, this is the rule. I really can't think of any school that wants them until after you get the secondary. However, a lot of schools don't screen for secondaries, so you should eventually be sending them anyway. But I'd suggest going to the websites of all the schools you are applying to. If not, just wait until you are asked to send them. That's safer.

 

[ksmi117]

I wouldn't really worry about it.

If they don't send me a secondary, then they are not going to admit me. And if they are not going to admit me, I am not really going to worry about them receiving my letter packet.

I think the thing in question here is preemptively sending letters to schools that may have given you a chance. With all the applicants, I wouldn't be surprised if schools threw out an application for failure to follow directions. But what do I know? This is me being super paranoid about doing everything exactly as I am supposed to.

 

[Steeler7588]

I think the thing in question here is preemptively sending letters to schools that may have given you a chance. With all the applicants, I wouldn't be surprised if schools threw out an application for failure to follow directions. But what do I know? This is me being super paranoid about doing everything exactly as I am supposed to.

But is that even a possible annoyance for schools this year?

I understand under previous years' systems where we had to mail letters to schools, they wouldn't want all these letters coming in from people they weren't going to interview. But now they're using the AMCAS system and control when they access our letters, right? If they don't want to read our letters yet, then they just won't download them.

Unless I'm confused about how this year's system works, I'm pretty sure that's just an outdated sentence on the website.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Boooo vandy..they waitlist almost everyone!

 

[doopdidoop]

does vandy accept ap credit? i think i read somewhere they dont....i could be wrong though

 

[rockaction]

I sure hope I can get an interview here. Their campus is beeeeeee-utifil!

I definitely like the screened applicants part. I just feel nervous because I'm sitting at their average (which is better than sitting below, I suppose.)

 

[twoinone]

does vandy accept ap credit? i think i read somewhere they dont....i could be wrong though

They don't

 

[ksmi117]

But is that even a possible annoyance for schools this year?

I understand under previous years' systems where we had to mail letters to schools, they wouldn't want all these letters coming in from people they weren't going to interview. But now they're using the AMCAS system and control when they access our letters, right? If they don't want to read our letters yet, then they just won't download them.

Unless I'm confused about how this year's system works, I'm pretty sure that's just an outdated sentence on the website.

Good point. I keep getting all my schools confused. Vandy, it shouldn't matter, because they'll get the letters from AMCAS. I have 3 schools that don't use AMCAS. Sigh. So many different things going on.

 

[ButImLETired]

Ok, so about LORs (this counts for both Vandy and the schools that screen):

don't worry about it. Schools realize that LORs are often just sent straight from your undergrad's premed advising people, so they don't think you're presumptuous for sending them early. The way it works is that whether you send your LORs through the AMCAS system, or through Interfolio, or through virtualevals, all the med schools get (as far as I understand) is just a little icon that says "download LORs here" and they can download them if they want to. So, if you have to send them by hand, then wait to get an interview (or as far as the screener schools are concerned, until you get the secondary). But if you send them electronically, then don't worry.

 

[Appless]

Ok, so about LORs (this counts for both Vandy and the schools that screen):

don't worry about it. Schools realize that LORs are often just sent straight from your undergrad's premed advising people, so they don't think you're presumptuous for sending them early. The way it works is that whether you send your LORs through the AMCAS system, or through Interfolio, or through virtualevals, all the med schools get (as far as I understand) is just a little icon that says "download LORs here" and they can download them if they want to. So, if you have to send them by hand, then wait to get an interview (or as far as the screener schools are concerned, until you get the secondary). But if you send them electronically, then don't worry.

thanks for the info!!! hopefully ill se you at vandy next year lol...but sadly that is probably only a fantasy

 

[deano5709]

Hello, fellow applicants! I will be applying this year, although my chances aren't the best. Hopefully I'll get an interview, good luck to everyone!

 

[NoMoreAMCAS]

I think the thing in question here is preemptively sending letters to schools that may have given you a chance. With all the applicants, I wouldn't be surprised if schools threw out an application for failure to follow directions. But what do I know? This is me being super paranoid about doing everything exactly as I am supposed to.

Do you go through VE? My school works through Virtual Evals and I have no control over when my letters are sent out. My school submits them to virtual evals and bam, they're sent to all of the schools you apply to.

Is there a way i can control when each individual school gets the letters from VE?

 

[NoMoreAMCAS]

Ok, so about LORs (this counts for both Vandy and the schools that screen):

don't worry about it. Schools realize that LORs are often just sent straight from your undergrad's premed advising people, so they don't think you're presumptuous for sending them early. The way it works is that whether you send your LORs through the AMCAS system, or through Interfolio, or through virtualevals, all the med schools get (as far as I understand) is just a little icon that says "download LORs here" and they can download them if they want to. So, if you have to send them by hand, then wait to get an interview (or as far as the screener schools are concerned, until you get the secondary). But if you send them electronically, then don't worry.

Cool, thanks for the info.

 

[ksmi117]

Do you go through VE? My school works through Virtual Evals and I have no control over when my letters are sent out. My school submits them to virtual evals and bam, they're sent to all of the schools you apply to.

Is there a way i can control when each individual school gets the letters from VE?

Yeah, my school uses VE. Students have zero access to VE, but the schools have to download them from VE so they'll get them when they want them.

 

[trueBelief]

I just read about them not accepting AP credits. I pretty much skipped out of first year courses in P C B and Calc with my AP's. I do have some advanced coursework in bio, chem and orgo but not in Phy. Do you guys think that would be a big disadvantage? I have a few electrical engineering courses which could have a little physics component but not much.

 

[rockaction]

You'd probably need to take another year of advanced physics. I'm pretty sure engineering classes won't count unless they are taught by the physics department. Engineering classes aren't in the BCMP gpa.

You won't be at a disadvantage probably, but you'd have to fulfill those requirements before matriculating.

 

[Lukkie]

i like the whole pre-secondary screen... excited!!

 

[JasonE]

are they strict about the required courses / not accepting AP's?
i'm a chem/bio major and have taken tons of science courses/labs, but pretty much no physics other than 8credits from the ap

 

[ksmi117]

are they strict about the required courses / not accepting AP's?
i'm a chem/bio major and have taken tons of science courses/labs, but pretty much no physics other than 8credits from the ap

I have a friend who didn't take the general chem lab, and he had to take another chemistry class.

 

[JasonE]

what doesnt make sense is that they require 8 semester hours of inorganic. ive taken an upper level inorganic and am going to take an upper level inorganic lab, but they are both 3 credits at my university, so you think they won't accept that?

 

[ksmi117]

what doesnt make sense is that they require 8 semester hours of inorganic. ive taken an upper level inorganic and am going to take an upper level inorganic lab, but they are both 3 credits at my university, so you think they won't accept that?

I'm pretty they accept upper level stuff for regular requirements. But I'm not sure about number of hours. Maybe call them and ask.

 

[JasonE]

ya i'll call them. i am a chemistry major. it seems silly if they said i needed to take more chem classes, lol

 

[neuromcdoctor]

Do we know what the cut-offs for the secondary screen are? I am driving myself crazy with all of this waiting for secondaries to come in

 

[Appless]

Do we know what the cut-offs for the secondary screen are? I am driving myself crazy with all of this waiting for secondaries to come in

All who get a secondary also get an interview...meaning this probably isnt a normal cut off where its based on GPA and MCAT. Id assume its based on the entire app meaning if you are at a 30 mcat or something else low you may not get screened out immediatly.

 

[neuromcdoctor]

All who get a secondary also get an interview...meaning this probably isnt a normal cut off where its based on GPA and MCAT. Id assume its based on the entire app meaning if you are at a 30 mcat or something else low you may not get screened out immediatly.

Hmm ok. I am really hoping for a secondary...

 

[ButImLETired]

Do we know what the cut-offs for the secondary screen are? I am driving myself crazy with all of this waiting for secondaries to come in

There really aren't strict cutoffs (otherwise I wouldn't have made it ). They look at your whole primary when deciding whether to give you the secondary and interview. I believe they have 3 people individually screening your application, and each gives a score or vote or something, and then the three are put together and a decision is made. As I said, LORs aren't taken into account at this point, so it's all based on your transcript, MCAT, PS, and EC's. I know someone with pretty much exactly your same stats who got an interview and was eventually accepted, so you can be assured that your stats are high enough to pass through any strict cutoffs, if they do exist.

!

 

[neuromcdoctor]

There really aren't strict cutoffs (otherwise I wouldn't have made it ). They look at your whole primary when deciding whether to give you the secondary and interview. I believe they have 3 people individually screening your application, and each gives a score or vote or something, and then the three are put together and a decision is made. As I said, LORs aren't taken into account at this point, so it's all based on your transcript, MCAT, PS, and EC's. I know someone with pretty much exactly your same stats who got an interview and was eventually accepted, so you can be assured that your stats are high enough to pass through any strict cutoffs, if they do exist.

!

That is really reassuring. Thanks!

 

[witness23]

i heard they are starting to give out interviews starting june 26th

 

[Appless]

i heard they are starting to give out interviews starting june 26th

its true i got the conformation email.

 

[witness23]

its true i got the conformation email.

did you print out your complementary JetBlue e-tickets yet? make sure you ask for window seats and mileage rewards

 

[ksmi117]

i heard they are starting to give out interviews starting june 26th

Stop trying to make people crazy in my school threads.

 

[bamtuba]

Stop trying to make people crazy in my school threads.

Exactly.

 

[rockaction]

But in all seriousness...mid July right

 

[ksmi117]

But in all seriousness...mid July right

More like beginning of August the past two years.

 

[itsalovestory]

I hate Vanderbilt for getting me all excited with an email that starts with, "We are so excited that you are an applicant to Vanderbilt's 2010 First Year Class!"

Bah, more waiting!

 

[caniac]

just got an email from Vandy saying they received my primary and they're in the process of screening.

"You can expect to hear from us regarding your application four to eight weeks from the date of transmission of your verified AMCAS application to Vanderbilt. Final decisions about admissions are made on a rolling basis."

 

[SportingMD54]

just got an email from Vandy saying they received my primary and they're in the process of screening.

"You can expect to hear from us regarding your application four to eight weeks from the date of transmission of your verified AMCAS application to Vanderbilt. Final decisions about admissions are made on a rolling basis."

Same...

 

[JJMrK]

just got an email from Vandy saying they received my primary and they're in the process of screening.

"You can expect to hear from us regarding your application four to eight weeks from the date of transmission of your verified AMCAS application to Vanderbilt. Final decisions about admissions are made on a rolling basis."

Got this also.

 

[pitt1166]

I just got that same email reminder, which is good.

But it says we'll only be notified if we get an interview/secondary by snail mail, no email or anything.

That makes me a little worried because my mail service sucks and loses stuff all the time. I hope most schools let you know about interviews electronically as well.