2009-2010 Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Application Thread

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you should apply. VCU is awesome, students always mention superb faculty and a really effective curriculum. Pretty clearly seems like an underrated and underexposed university.

👍

Honestly, when I applied I knew nothing about the school and just tossed it on my list as a "what the heck, why not?" school. I ran into Dr. Whitehurst-Cook (Dean of Admissions) on the elevator this morning and thanked her again for all her help getting accepted back when I applied. I love the school and the hospital has such a diverse population that you get to see all sorts of rare things you never expected to see.
 
I got the #2 "may" message today as well. Complete toward the end of July. Hopefully they'll show some love and have time to interview all of us with this status!
 
with respect to the application essay, as anyone noticed that you can punch in way over 600 words? what is the exact limit here?
 
currently i'm at 599 words, but i'm not sure if i should cut down or not. i don't notice VCU cutting away at any word limit
 
nm. i've just submitted with 599. i have another question though. has anyone had any luck with arguing for letters of recommendation changes? i had one written by a lab coordinator under whom i worked. i'm pretty sure that constitutes as science.
 
nm. i've just submitted with 599. i have another question though. has anyone had any luck with arguing for letters of recommendation changes? i had one written by a lab coordinator under whom i worked. i'm pretty sure that constitutes as science.

the one my research supervisor wrote was classified specifically as "Research"
 
really? i wonder why they labeled it as non-science. has anyone else had problems with letter labels?

under the instructions they said letters by lab coordinators under whom you worked would count as science. strange
 
are there 'sub-priority' lists to the priority score? meaning... is there any additional info I can get by calling them? It would be nice to know if I'm towards the top of the #3 scores or towards the bottom. *sigh. don't want to get my hopes up TOO much.
 
nm. i've just submitted with 599. i have another question though. has anyone had any luck with arguing for letters of recommendation changes? i had one written by a lab coordinator under whom i worked. i'm pretty sure that constitutes as science.

I dunno much specifically about VCU but I always thought science letters meant you took a course from that particular science professor...? I would still call and try to see if it can be changed though.
 
are there 'sub-priority' lists to the priority score? meaning... is there any additional info I can get by calling them? It would be nice to know if I'm towards the top of the #3 scores or towards the bottom. *sigh. don't want to get my hopes up TOO much.

after you get the priority score it pretty much goes with your completion date and when you got that further msg!
 
rejection came in today... way to ruin my weekend =(

Sorry to hear about that. At least you heard something from VCU. I was completed on July 10th and I'm still waiting. It will suck if I'm waiting all this time and end up with a rejection.
 
Sorry to hear about that. At least you heard something from VCU. I was completed on July 10th and I'm still waiting. It will suck if I'm waiting all this time and end up with a rejection.

You probably ended up with the same reviewer as myself, ruiner and scooter02. Took us forever to get a status update. But, chances are that if you haven't heard anything yet, it's not a rejection. They seem to be pretty quick with those.
 
You probably ended up with the same reviewer as myself, ruiner and scooter02. Took us forever to get a status update. But, chances are that if you haven't heard anything yet, it's not a rejection. They seem to be pretty quick with those.

I agree with that, it seems like they send rejections within a couple days but getting a better status takes quite a while so hopefully it's a good sign for you🙂
 
Woohoo! Interview on Nov. 10! I was kind of suprised to recieve an email on Sunday.
 
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D.
 
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Man need to get this may message advanced haha
 
WOW.
Super speedy turnaround, less than 48 hours, in-state with mediocre stats. Will be interviewing in late Sept.
 
Woot, just got my first rejection! Kinda excited! 😀

I had that #4 status btw. 🙂 Good luck everyone!

So, apparently I wasn't rejected? I just received an e-mail stating that it was a system error. 😕
 
WOW.
Super speedy turnaround, less than 48 hours, in-state with mediocre stats. Will be interviewing in late Sept.

mind if you share a range around your stats? i'm in-state...mediocre stats but also waiting for another MCAT score to come out. I've been on perpetual hold and all I want to do is get/submit their secondary. Thanks
 
Is anyone still like me--complete for about a month or longer and still no status change?
 
has anyone gone from "Further" to "rejection" or "very interested" or "interview invite"?
 
has anyone gone from "Further" to "rejection" or "very interested" or "interview invite"?

i know me and a bunch of others on the thread have gone from very interested to interview invite but im not sure about further to rejected

edit: oops sorry i misread your question i dont know whats happened to those who originally received the further status
 
mind if you share a range around your stats? i'm in-state...mediocre stats but also waiting for another MCAT score to come out. I've been on perpetual hold and all I want to do is get/submit their secondary. Thanks

MCAT <33
GPA ~3.5
Lots of extracurrics, leadership, strong recs

Good luck!
 
MCAT <33
GPA ~3.5
Lots of extracurrics, leadership, strong recs

Good luck!

congrats!🙂
so they have september dates now? last week the first date was november 2nd! do you know if they save specific dates for in-staters?!
 
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I just got the #4 status. I'm OOS with a 34mcat and 3.9gpa. Is there still hope for an interview?
 
congrats!🙂
so they have september dates now? last week the first date was november 2nd! do you know if they save specific dates for in-staters?!

Not sure whether they reserve certain slots for in-staters, but when I signed up, there were a few dates left in Sept, a bunch in early October, and plenty from Nov onward.
 
That's weird because i was only offered dates in January and I signed up 2 weeks ago. I think they are saving spots.

Also, does anyone know what the number interviewed is relative to the number offered an acceptancce?
 
That's weird because i was only offered dates in January and I signed up 2 weeks ago. I think they are saving spots.

Also, does anyone know what the number interviewed is relative to the number offered an acceptancce?

Like I tried to tell you before, you needed to change the dates on the system to check for each month - the online deal was set to January when I logged on, and I changed the month to find spots available in, what was then, September.

You should call them and try to get a new date, or ask for another shot at the online deal, if it matters to you. This is a rolling school, and there could be a big diff in your chances between an October interview and one in January...
 
Like I tried to tell you before, you needed to change the dates on the system to check for each month - the online deal was set to January when I logged on, and I changed the month to find spots available in, what was then, September.

You should call them and try to get a new date, or ask for another shot at the online deal, if it matters to you. This is a rolling school, and there could be a big diff in your chances between an October interview and one in January...

when i signed up the earliest offered was nov (i scrolled down and everything). i think either some dates just randomly open up as people withdraw or switch when their interviewing, or they must reserve some sept/oct dates just for in-staters.
 
when i signed up the earliest offered was nov (i scrolled down and everything). i think either some dates just randomly open up as people withdraw or switch when their interviewing, or they must reserve some sept/oct dates just for in-staters.

that is exactly what i think! people could have rescheduled oh well it gives us more time to prepare 😉
 
when i signed up the earliest offered was nov (i scrolled down and everything). i think either some dates just randomly open up as people withdraw or switch when their interviewing, or they must reserve some sept/oct dates just for in-staters.

This could be the case, because it was all instaters on my interview day.
 
I just got the #4 status. I'm OOS with a 34mcat and 3.9gpa. Is there still hope for an interview?

#4 as in "sub-committee"? I got that, then got moved to "Further" (#3), and my stats are much lower than yours. I'm wondering if any of the the #3 status people have moved up or down that status list recently.
 
you already interviewed?! 🙂 how was it????

Yup - very low stress interview, more of a conversation. Seemed to hit it off with my interviewer - our conversation ranged far afield from the standard question list...I wish I knew if that was good, or bad...put it this way, I felt good afterwards, so I am going with that feeling for now.

Very nice school. I could be quite happy here.
 
#4 as in "sub-committee"? I got that, then got moved to "Further" (#3), and my stats are much lower than yours. I'm wondering if any of the the #3 status people have moved up or down that status list recently.

How long did it take to change from a #3 to #4 status?
 
I can't afford secondary fees for schools I'm not likely to get into. I got my secondary for VCU on 8/29; should I pay up and submit?

Out of State
MCAT: 27N
GPA: 3.8
non-traditional - military medic & research xp

Be honest, please.
 
I can't afford secondary fees for schools I'm not likely to get into. I got my secondary for VCU on 8/29; should I pay up and submit?

Out of State
MCAT: 27N
GPA: 3.8
non-traditional - military medic & research xp

Be honest, please.

I'm sure you realize the MCAT is a concern, but VCU tries to look at students who have interesting backgrounds. It seems like you fit the bill, so I'd give it a shot.
 
Did your interview write down a lot of notes while you were talking or did they scribble a fewthings down as you went along? I imagine if it is an hour long interview it would be a pain in the butt to write the whole time.

More just occasional scribbles...the hour was much more conversational than I expected, not a rigid "go down the list" questioning...I would say something in response to a question, and the interviewer would then ask a follow up question, and then we would venture fairly far afield from the standard questions...the hour really flowed well, and he seemed genuinely interested in aspects of my background which are pretty doggone non traditional, so maybe that helped me - at least I hope it "helped" me in terms of his presentation of my file to the committee.

It would be interesting and useful to hear from other people. For the most part, however, the interview questions that people listed on the feedback for VCU are very indicative of the types of questions I was asked...if you look at those, most of the respondents called this a low stress interview, and I certainly agree with that. I would rate this as the lowest possible score on the stress meter.

Good luck to everyone. VCU is really a great school.
 
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More just occasional scribbles...the hour was much more conversational than I expected, not a rigid "go down the list" questioning...I would say something in response to a question, and the interviewer would then ask a follow up question, and then we would venture fairly far afield from the standard questions...the hour really flowed well, and he seemed genuinely interested in aspects of my background which are pretty doggone non traditional, so maybe that helped me - at least I hope it "helped" me in terms of his presentation of my file to the committee.

It would be interesting and useful to hear from other people. For the most part, however, the interview questions that people listed on the feedback for VCU are very indicative of the types of questions I was asked...if you look at those, most of the respondents called this a low stress interview, and I certainly agree with that. I would rate this as the lowest possible score on the stress meter.

Good luck to everyone. VCU is really a great school.


Thanks for the input. My interview is coming up soon, is there anything you would recommend flip26? I'm a pretty outgoing guy, but I'm more anxious about the healthcare and ethics questions....
 
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