2009-2010 Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine Application Thread

[not so calm now]

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I just got the packet of info in the mail. Turns out that they're making the PPI optional, or "strongly recommended." The reason given was it's delaying people's secondary applications. Very interesting.

 

[flip26]

I just got the packet of info in the mail. Turns out that they're making the PPI optional, or "strongly recommended." The reason given was it's delaying people's secondary applications. Very interesting.

So they took my advice and dropped the PPI requirement - my prediction was that they wouldn't get very many secondaries and they evidently started sweating it with school starting back up and people getting interview invites elsewhere...this change could be too little, too late, but I guess "better late than never" applies, too.

I got the letter, too, and it could have been a little more explicit, but the bottom line appears to be that the PPI is not required. It would be swell if the VTC admin dude would come on here and confirm this interpretation of the weasely worded letter.

Looks like I have another secondary to do now. Can someone explain the essay "upload" function - can you write it in Word and upload that?

 

[not so calm now]

So they took my advice and dropped the PPI requirement - my prediction was that they wouldn't get very many secondaries and they evidently started sweating it with school starting back up and people getting interview invites elsewhere...this change could be too little, too late, but I guess "better late than never" applies, too.

I got the letter, too, and it could have been a little more explicit, but the bottom line appears to be that the PPI is not required. It would be swell if the VTC admin dude would come on here and confirm this interpretation of the weasely worded letter.

Looks like I have another secondary to do now. Can someone explain the essay "upload" function - can you write it in Word and upload that?

I'm pretty surprised that you're deciding to apply - after all, you have been saying nothing but pretty strong criticisms of this school's whole process, not just the PPIs. What interests you about this school that's worth writing two reasonably difficult secondary essays about but not worth asking a few people over for something that only required a very short amount of time on their part?

 

[flip26]

I'm pretty surprised that you're deciding to apply - after all, you have been saying nothing but pretty strong criticisms of this school's whole process, not just the PPIs. What interests you about this school that's worth writing two reasonably difficult secondary essays about but not worth asking a few people over for something that only required a very short amount of time on their part?

Good luck to you!

Now can somebody explain the upload thing?

 

[not so calm now]

Good luck to you!

Now can somebody explain the upload thing?

Write in word or convert to pdf; upload; submit. Just like an email attachment.

 

[flip26]

Write in word or convert to pdf; upload; submit. Just like an email attachment.

Thanks, and seriously, good luck to you.

 

[not so calm now]

Thanks, and seriously, good luck to you.

Thank you. And to you too. It's kind of a crazy process.

 

[Generic Student]

I just got the packet of info in the mail. Turns out that they're making the PPI optional, or "strongly recommended." The reason given was it's delaying people's secondary applications. Very interesting.

It is definitely delaying mine. I am waiting on my third and strongest PPI.

 

[NontradatBeach]

Yesterday I got a packet (fat envelope) in the mail from VTC, apologizing for the delays and issues with the ETS PPI, and it also included a few brochures. Did everyone receive this?

 

[n618ft]

Yesterday I got a packet (fat envelope) in the mail from VTC, apologizing for the delays and issues with the ETS PPI, and it also included a few brochures. Did everyone receive this?

Nope not yet but I'm in FL.

 

[not so calm now]

Yesterday I got a packet (fat envelope) in the mail from VTC, apologizing for the delays and issues with the ETS PPI, and it also included a few brochures. Did everyone receive this?

I think everyone who was sent a secondary received one. There's some speculation as to whether everyone received secondaries or they were screened.

 

[VTCAdm]

VTCSOM uses the Personal Potential Index (PPI) electronic evaluation process developed by Educational Testing Service (ETS) for personal recommendations, along with traditional letters of recommendation. Letters of recommendation, Pre-health committee evaluations, and centralized reference letter packages are also accepted electronically via VirtualEvals or Interfolio.
However, it has come to our attention that some applicants have experienced considerable delays in getting their ETS PPI evaluations completed through no fault of their own. ETS has identified some functionality problems that have occurred by evaluators using older computer systems, and has implemented a number of improvements and technical fixes.
Therefore, in order to encourage a secondary application from all applicants interested in coming to VTC, we have modified our policy on the ETS PPI evaluation process. Applicants can now choose to send the ETS PPI report, traditional letters, or both. (NOTE: This is a change to our earlier policy requiring an ETS PPI summary report as part of the secondary application.)

VTCSOM encourages the use of the ETS PPI as one source for personal recommendations, along with traditional letters of recommendation. If you choose to complete the ETS PPI process, we request three (minimum) to five (maximum) evaluations, including one from a science or math faculty member with significant contact with the applicant. You are free to choose your other evaluators. It is NOT necessary to use the same evaluators as the faculty members who wrote your standard letters of recommendation. In fact, this is an opportunity to get evaluations from people that you have interacted with outside of academia. For example, in your AMCAS application you have the opportunity to list up to 15 experiences that include employment, volunteer service, teaching, research, publications, leadership, athletics, avocations, artistic endeavors, etc. We would encourage you to include evaluations from some of these people, including past and present employers, volunteer service coordinators, coaches, mentors, former scoutmasters, pastors, etc., in order to learn more about you as a “whole person.”

Thank you for your interest in Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. Please call us if you need additional information or further clarification.


VTC Admissions Office
(540) 581-0136
http://www.vtc.vt.edu

 

[ramzax]

i'm not sure if i want to put my professors through the arduous process of filling one out if it's not necessary. does anyone now how long it takes for people to fill out?

moreover, with the option of traditional letters of recommendation, are we allowed to send in individual letters? or just prehealth advisor and committee letters? or just committee letters?

 

[n618ft]

Just when I thought the wheel was reinvented... I actually didn't mind the ETS system. It let the people that actually KNOW the professors stand out. I had no problem requesting it and having them complete it within a few days because they know me very well.

 

[Nafis64]

Life Experience Essay

Describe an experience in your life that was instrumental in shaping you as a person and will help you contribute as a student at VTCSOM.


Life Experience Essay File Name:
Life Experience Essay File Type:

Innovation Essay

Considering the mission of VTCSOM, describe your experience in a project that used innovation and creativity.


Innovation Essay File Name:
Innovation Essay File Type:

Update Essay (optional):

Use this optional essay opportunity to update the information you provided in your AMCAS application on your recent experiences, such as medical volunteering, shadowing, community service, research experience, leadership or teamwork experience, and work experience. Please do not repeat information already reported in your AMCAS application. For the optional essay below, please limit your responses to about 3500 characters (1 page, 1-inch margins, 12-point, single-spaced) and leave one blank line between paragraphs.

What is the word count for the first two essays? Also, for the innovation essay: are they referring to a research project? I'm not sure what to write about this. Is it like Case Western's essay, "describe a research experience"?

 

[ramzax]

are we supposed to submit individual letters too with the PPI though?

 

[not so calm now]

Just when I thought the wheel was reinvented... I actually didn't mind the ETS system. It let the people that actually KNOW the professors stand out. I had no problem requesting it and having them complete it within a few days because they know me very well.

I'm not sure how a quick survey indicates more "knowledge" of an applicant than a well-written rec letter.

 

[n618ft]

I'm not sure how a quick survey indicates more "knowledge" of an applicant than a well-written rec letter.

It's more than just a survey. There's blanks that can be filled in for written comments. Most LOR's that go through committees are generic from what I've seen... not saying all.

 

[Freezer]

a lot of the roanoke discussions i am involved in are based on the following statement from the VTC website:

"Our research program is fully integrated throughout four years of study and requires the student to produce a hypothesis-driven research project of publishable caliber as a requirement of graduation"

what we all should all be asking is

1. Do we need to fund our own research? Are we allowed to fund our own research?

2. Do we receive authorship credit for our research? It says "publishable caliber" but says nothing about us actually publishing. So if we don't publish the results, who does? Some schools will allow research faculty to use students to do the work for them and then take full credit(or at least first authorship) in the published article. This is especially true if the research faculty puts forth the money for the project through their own grants.

3. Who decides if our research project is of publishable caliber? In graduate school, you have a committee who judges your thesis/dissertation. If they do not sign off on your project, you do not graduate until they do. This isnt a problem for people in a PhD/MD program because their tuition is usually payed for through a research stipend for up to 8 years or more. But VTC has no such stipend. So what happens for the MS4 student who has a committee not willing to sign off on a project? Do they have to pay for another year of school? Do they get kicked out of school?

4. Not all research is perfect. It may have a strong begining but through unforseen circumstances, the project may fall apart. It may lose funding or it may even become illegal (eg some forms of stem cell research). It may have had a strong initial hypothesis but was not practical in its results. A 2 year project in reality can take up to 6 or more years. Results cannot be rushed. Its the essence of good science. How does VTC plan on treating these situations?


i could care less about the application process... its these types of questions that concern me...

so after attending a presentation on VTCSOM, i had a lot of these questions answered and i want to share here with anyone interested...

1. We do not need to fund our own research. It sounds like our research projects will be funded through the school. However, we will still be taught how to write up grant proposals.

2. They have no intention of stealing our work. If we can publish our research, we will be given authorship rights.

3 and 4. You will have a committee that works with you on your project. You will be required to meet certain goals in a specific time frame. The idea is that if you project starts to stumble, they will be there to help you catch and fix the situation. Ultimately, I came away from the presentation feeling very confident in their ability to successfully guide their students through their research project in the given 4 year period.

other notes of interest:

-even though they only have preliminary accredidation, their will be no problem for students seeking financial assistance through the usual channels... apparently the idea that stafford doesnt give financial assistance to preliminary accredited schools is a misconception...

- approximately 4 to 5 interviews will be given per seat available

-acceptances are planned to be given out between november and may

- they will be using patient actors to train students in simulated patient rooms... thought that was pretty cool... i have heard of other schools doing this as well... probably pretty common and i am just naive... ha!

- every block, they will have a portion of their curriculum geared towards interprofessionalism in which students will be trained how to interact with RNs, PAs, social workers, etc... wish more schools did this...

- research is interest driven... they give you a lot of freedom with your research project... if you want to look into musical therapy or if you want to look into cardiac pathology, you will have that freedom...


anyways, hope all is well... good luck everyone!

 

[Compass]

Wow, those two essay questions... right up my alley! I already have them ready to go from another application 😱

I'm not sure about this PPI thingy, but it is an area school, so I guess I'm adding it to my list of schools today, to test the waters at least.

 

[n618ft]

Just got a complete... fingers crossed for Roanoke!

 

[bamtuba]

Just got a complete... fingers crossed for Roanoke!

same here. Guess we'll be hearing back soon (hopefully).

 

[medmannamdem]

I believe I got this same message a couple weeks ago. Maybe they were waiting on the PPI. Still, guess this means they're looking at the apps now.

 

[n618ft]

I believe I got this same message a couple weeks ago. Maybe they were waiting on the PPI. Still, guess this means they're looking at the apps now.

This one said PPI and/or letters are in.

 

[Nafis64]

Where do we send our Letters of evaluation to? anybody know the correct address. It seems they only want it via interfolio, but I do not use interfolio.

 

[Freezer]

Where do we send our Letters of evaluation to? anybody know the correct address. It seems they only want it via interfolio, but I do not use interfolio.

i would assume you could send them to the contact address on their website... but it would probably be safest to confirm that before you send anything...

Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
Office of Admissions <---- i just added that... not on website address.
1 Riverside Circle Suite 102
Roanoke, VA 24016

VTCSOM Phone: (540) 581-0130

 

[mooshooblue]

for the innovation essay, I'm have a few options, and I was wondering if you guys could tell me which you think is best:

1) Research project that I spent a year on, got a publication/conference, etc. However, this is in my AMCAS application, so I'm not sure I should write about it again.

2) I took this really cool surgical engineering class my senior year where I worked with a group developing a cardiac pump - we had to go shadow a cardiologist, etc. It took a lot of creativity and ingenuity b/c we had to design this pump from scratch, and develop all the blueprints and stuff for it.

I'm just afraid that if I don't talk about my research that I spent a whole year on, vs. just one semester in a class, that might look bad. Plus, this school seems to be really research-oriented, so maybe it's better to talk about my research project?

 

[obgyn_kt]

I have been denied 🙁

 

[not so calm now]

I have been denied 🙁

Thanks for posting this. It's very helpful for other applicants to know the timeline of the school. Good luck with other schools.

Did you get the complete email yesterday too? Mind sharing a couple ballpark stats with us?

 

[not so calm now]

for the innovation essay, I'm have a few options, and I was wondering if you guys could tell me which you think is best:

1) Research project that I spent a year on, got a publication/conference, etc. However, this is in my AMCAS application, so I'm not sure I should write about it again.

2) I took this really cool surgical engineering class my senior year where I worked with a group developing a cardiac pump - we had to go shadow a cardiologist, etc. It took a lot of creativity and ingenuity b/c we had to design this pump from scratch, and develop all the blueprints and stuff for it.

I'm just afraid that if I don't talk about my research that I spent a whole year on, vs. just one semester in a class, that might look bad. Plus, this school seems to be really research-oriented, so maybe it's better to talk about my research project?

I'd write about 2. It just sounds more interesting, and like you said, they already have your research in AMCAS.

 

[iloveboloties]

Did anyone else get this who hasn't filled out the secondary. I was sort of apprehensive to fill out the secondary because it's expensive and I'm not making my reccomenders fill out PPI after they've been nice enough to write a whole reccomendation so I thought this might exclude me in a way ...

Dear VTCSOM AMCAS Applicant:
Your AMCAS Application has been reviewed by the Admissions faculty team at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, and a few weeks ago we sent you an invitation to complete our online secondary application. This is the website link to create your account and complete your secondary application:
https://www.applyweb.com/apply/vtcarlsa/
Our review of your GPA and MCAT scores show that you are a competitive candidate. We hope that you will take the time to complete and submit our online secondary application and two essays. We are currently preparing to send out our invitations for our first round of interviews scheduled for October and November.
- A note about the ETS PPI personal evaluations:
VTCSOM uses the Personal Potential Index (PPI) evaluation process developed by Educational Testing Service (ETS) for personal recommendations, along with traditional letters of recommendation. Letters of recommendation, Pre-health committee evaluations, and centralized reference letter packages can be sent to VTCSOM electronically via VirtualEvals or Interfolio. Applicants can choose to send the ETS PPI report, traditional letters, or both. (NOTE: This is a CHANGE to our earlier policy requiring an ETS PPI summary report as part of the secondary application.)
VTCSOM uses the ETS PPI as one source for personal recommendations, along with traditional letters of recommendation. If you complete the ETS PPI process, we request three (minimum) to five (maximum) evaluations, including one from a science or math faculty member with significant contact with the applicant. The applicant is free to choose their other evaluators. It is NOT necessary to use the same evaluators as the faculty members who wrote your standard letters of recommendation. We would encourage you to get PPI evaluations from some of the supervisors, mentors, or employers that you listed in the Work/Activities section of your AMCAS application.
The minimum criteria to be considered for an interview at VTCSOM include the following:
1. Completion of the AMCAS online application process with documented MCAT scores, and
2. Completion and receipt of the VTCSOM secondary application, and
3. Receipt of an ETS PPI evaluation report and/or traditional letters sent electronically via VirtualEvals or Interfolio, and
4. AMCAS application listing personal experiences in several of the following areas: patient care experience, research experience, scholarship, leadership, plus behavioral evidence of a strong interest in medicine, and
5. No felony convictions

Does this mean fill this out and as long as you put some effort in we'll give you an interview??

Or did everyone who hasn't turned in the secondary get this?

Thanks Guys!

 

[itsneverlupus]

yeah, i got that too...i don't consider my stats particularly competitive, though.

 

[Black Adder]

I got that email too and I am definitely not a competitive applicant. It was nice to hear though. I think the school might be getting desperate for more secondaries? It worked on me though, since now I'll probably fill out their secondary since I wasn't aware that they changed their policy on the PPIs.

 

[premed3122]

For those of you that successfully submitted your ETS PPI reports and got the application complete e-mail, did you have to designate a department after selecting VTCSOM as the recipient?

 

[n618ft]

For those of you that successfully submitted your ETS PPI reports and got the application complete e-mail, did you have to designate a department after selecting VTCSOM as the recipient?

Other.

 

[premed3122]

Other.

And that got it into the right hands?

 

[umw2010]

hey
Does anyone know if they are fully accredited yet?

 

[Black Adder]

hey
Does anyone know if they are fully accredited yet?

I don't think a medical school can be fully accredited until they graduate their first class. They are provisionally accredited.

 

[umw2010]

meaning you can spend 4 years learning everything and still be screwed.

 

[ramzax]

so i've been waiting for the ETS PPI from my science professor for two weeks now. he hasn't responded as to whether he'd even received it either, and i have very few ways to contact him. i do have one from another professor, but apparently tech won't accept it unless there's three. does that make sense to anyone?


should i just submit my app with just my regular letters? this is overly frustrating.

 

[sjcp2005]

So has anyone received an interview yet?

 

[dancindoc85]

interview invite! C: 9/11, I: 10/17 ........ hallelujah!!!!

😀😀

 

[bamtuba]

Got the invite!

everybody~!

 

[not so calm now]

Interview invite! Really excited about this school by now! congrats to the other two folks above me 😀

 

[dancindoc85]

Interview invite! Really excited about this school by now! congrats to the other two folks above me 😀

lol, your mdapplicants silhouette made me chuckle (at least based on your stated demographics )
yay, congrats!

 

[not so calm now]

Ok so I'm really pumped about this interview by now. How awesome is it to have the first interview day of the first class of a new med school??

What's amusing about this all is that I come from a family of people who went to Tech or are infatuated with Tech, and I'm the only one who went to UVA. Now I have no love so far from UVA for med school, but both of Tech's affiliated schools are interviewing me. Ahhh, this process is driving me insane.

 

[medmannamdem]

Got the invite on Friday.
I was complete 2/3 in to August. (sorry, no exact dates)

Gotta say I'm psyched - Tech pulling off that win at home over Nebraska in the last minute of the game was a nice touch...

Go Hokies.

 

[Tiss229]

Invite today!

I am really excited about this interview... only problem is getting there and finding a place to stay. I am coming all the way from Rochester, NY and my 1998 Mazda sure won't be making that drive. How is everyone else getting there/ where are you guys staying?

 

[LAS10886]

Interview Invite!

 

[LAS10886]

I wonder how many people will be interviewing on Oct 17th