2014-2015 Virginia Commonwealth University Application Thread

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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chromealt said:
Is there any way we can still use the old prompt? I spent a lot of time and effort on mine and am really happy with my essay...
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Maybe we can just send it and pretend not to notice the update lol?
 
mikeywaho0 said:
I submitted my secondary before the prompt was changed. I called them this morning and they said they noone would be penalized for doing that, in case people are wondering.
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When did you submit yours? Does anyone know exactly when the prompt changed? I submitted mine yesterday and am 99.9% sure that it was the original prompt, but now I'm quite worried!
 
chromealt said:
But the character limit changed... Unless you answered the CAM topic in 1500 chars or less
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I mean, I don't think I could have entered my response since it was about 4000 characters if I had received the new prompt. Oh man!
 
Yet another hoop to jump through I guess...
 
investmentdoc said:
Just talked to VCU. They said the alternative medicine prompt was apparently a glitch, and the new prompt is now uploaded on the portal. My guess is that they will still honor the other essays.....
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Thats awful, I hope they do honor, I spend a lot of time on that...
 
mikeywaho0 said:
I submitted my secondary before the prompt was changed. I called them this morning and they said they noone would be penalized for doing that, in case people are wondering.
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Good deal, at least I got bang for my buck using all the space, now hopefully they don't get mad that mine is almost 5 times longer than the new ones...
 
Would anyone with the new prompt mind commenting on whether or not they can enter greater than 1500 characters? I would sincerely appreciate it! Thanks in advance 🙂.
 
kjw1024 said:
Would anyone with the new prompt mind commenting on whether or not they can enter greater than 1500 characters? I would sincerely appreciate it! Thanks in advance 🙂.
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Earlier today it "said" 1500 max, but when you started typing it only showed a 1000 max. I called them about it and it looks like they've since changed it to say 2000 characters. I typed in the box and it looks like it also reflects 2000 characters as well.
 
chromealt said:
Earlier today it "said" 1500 max, but when you started typing it only showed a 1000 max. I called them about it and it looks like they've since changed it to say 2000 characters. I typed in the box and it looks like it also reflects 2000 characters as well.
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Thanks for the prompt response and information 👍!
 
Oh my gosh! That's so crazy! They were probably reviewing secondaries that have come in already, and were like, "Wha...? This isn't the essay we agreed on!"

I still haven't gotten a secondary though BTW.
 
sunflower18 said:
Oh my gosh! That's so crazy! They were probably reviewing secondaries that have come in already, and were like, "Wha...? This isn't the essay we agreed on!"

I still haven't gotten a secondary though BTW.
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Hang in there, I'm sure it'll come in soon 👍 . I have so many secondaries on my plate right now that I wouldn't mind a break from this onslaught! Having to redo this one doesn't make things any better.
 
Yeah I submitted my secondary with the new prompt this morning and the character limit of 1000 characters. Hopefully they are understanding about why it is short haha.
 
chromealt said:
Hang in there, I'm sure it'll come in soon 👍 . I have so many secondaries on my plate right now that I wouldn't mind a break from this onslaught! Having to redo this one doesn't make things any better.
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Oh man, I'm jealous! I have none to do right now. I wish I had something to work on; instead I'm just twiddling my thumbs and refreshing SDN constantly! Well, that and doing research haha.
 
sunflower18 said:
Oh man, I'm jealous! I have none to do right now. I wish I had something to work on; instead I'm just twiddling my thumbs and refreshing SDN constantly! Well, that and doing research haha.
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Enjoy your break from secondaries lol. I have 3 to do right now, and I just finished a 9 hr scribe shift that began at 6:30am. I'm still waiting for VCU, but I'm glad I didn't prewrite that 8000 character essay lol. Wow, I didn't know a glitch this bad could happen!
 
Ace Khalifa said:
Enjoy your break from secondaries lol. I have 3 to do right now, and I just finished a 9 hr scribe shift that began at 6:30am. I'm still waiting for VCU, but I'm glad I didn't prewrite that 8000 character essay lol. Wow, I didn't know a glitch this bad could happen!
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Woohoo 6:30am scribe shifts! 🙂

Yeah, I am glad that I didn't prewrite that either. Oh my gosh. Although I knew how to write the previous prompt much better than this one.
 
sunflower18 said:
Woohoo 6:30am scribe shifts! 🙂

Yeah, I am glad that I didn't prewrite that either. Oh my gosh. Although I knew how to write the previous prompt much better than this one.
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Idk, I think the new one's not too bad.
 
I just got a rejection letter from VCU a few minutes ago. I turned in my secondary last night with the old prompt. I believe it hadn't changed yet because my essay was 5,000 characters and it didn't raise any red flags. I had no idea until I got the email from them today. I am not quite sure how I could be rejected so quickly? Thoughts? Should I ask them if it was because the essay?
 
RachieRach said:
I just got a rejection letter from VCU a few minutes ago. I turned in my secondary last night with the old prompt. I believe it hadn't changed yet because my essay was 5,000 characters and it didn't raise any red flags. I had no idea until I got the email from them today. I am not quite sure how I could be rejected so quickly? Thoughts? Should I ask them if it was because the essay?
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Wow that was really fast. I'm wondering if maybe they started reviewing applications today and noticed that everyone was submitting an essay on cancer and CAM that they realized the essay wasn't what they intended it to be.

I would call and e-mail them just to be sure the essay wasn't the issue. You should at least have a chance to write the new one if that was indeed the case.
 
RachieRach said:
I just got a rejection letter from VCU a few minutes ago. I turned in my secondary last night with the old prompt. I believe it hadn't changed yet because my essay was 5,000 characters and it didn't raise any red flags. I had no idea until I got the email from them today. I am not quite sure how I could be rejected so quickly? Thoughts? Should I ask them if it was because the essay?
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What were your stats?
 
have any Early Decision applicants gotten their secondaries yet?
 
Boy am I glad I didn't start the original prompt.
 
Is anyone's application showing as complete? My primary application was verified early June, my LOR's were all in by the third week of June, and I submitted my secondary on July 6th. Some of the schools that I am applying to show my LOR's as received, however, a few (including VCU) indicate they haven't gotten them yet and show my file as incomplete.
 
SynapticDoctah said:
@RachieRach
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I really don't think it is the stats. I'm OOS, non-trad. They could not like me for a lot of reasons. Just seemed a little quick to me. I am wondering if, because I had my secondary open all afternoon, my prompt didn't update and it looked like I ignored the directions. I'll let you know what they say. I just sent an email.
 
SynapticDoctah said:
Great. So now the prompt is about the young girl and sex and I have a finished essay regarding cancer in front of me. Awesome. @kjw1024
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Ah man, I'm sorry-- that's rough 🙁. Can you apply anything from your original to the new one to save some writing?

Edit: Oops, and I just realized I misread your original post, I'm sorry!
 
SynapticDoctah said:
Great. So now the prompt is about the young girl and sex and I have a finished essay regarding cancer in front of me. Awesome. @kjw1024
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I know the feeling. I was pretty upset at first as I spent a lot of time on my cancer one too, but after starting the new one, I've found the new prompt to be not too bad. Much lower character limit too!
 
BioEngMD said:
Is anyone's application showing as complete? My primary application was verified early June, my LOR's were all in by the third week of June, and I submitted my secondary on July 6th. Some of the schools that I am applying to show my LOR's as received, however, a few (including VCU) indicate they haven't gotten them yet and show my file as incomplete.
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same boat as u. emailed them and they said they would get back to me but havent yet. did u try contacting them? is anyone marked as complete?
 
RachieRach said:
I really don't think it is the stats. I'm OOS, non-trad. They could not like me for a lot of reasons. Just seemed a little quick to me. I am wondering if, because I had my secondary open all afternoon, my prompt didn't update and it looked like I ignored the directions. I'll let you know what they say. I just sent an email.
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I think there is def something off on their end. I would call- if they really are going to reject you, then you have nothing to lose. Your stats are above what their average matriculant entails. I pray that you didn't just randomly get shafted and they give you another chance with the new essay. Otherwise- sorry in advance. Bigger and better things are coming your way, I'm sure.
 
SynapticDoctah said:
So send in the essay about cancer even though the prompt is the new one?
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Erm I don't think that would be wise- I spoke to admissions and they said that if you haven't already submitted, you should do the new one. But it wouldn't hurt you to call them tomorrow and ask! Sorry that happened to you 🙁
 
SynapticDoctah said:
So send in the essay about cancer even though the prompt is the new one?
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That's what I'm planning to do. I'll just add a note at the beginning saying that the associate dean of admissions said it was ok. It would be great if someone else could ask and confirm
 
RachieRach said:
I really don't think it is the stats. I'm OOS, non-trad. They could not like me for a lot of reasons. Just seemed a little quick to me. I am wondering if, because I had my secondary open all afternoon, my prompt didn't update and it looked like I ignored the directions. I'll let you know what they say. I just sent an email.
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That's sad. I am sorry to here that as I am OOS, non trad, and don't have nearly the mcat you do.
 
BioEngMD said:
Is anyone's application showing as complete? My primary application was verified early June, my LOR's were all in by the third week of June, and I submitted my secondary on July 6th. Some of the schools that I am applying to show my LOR's as received, however, a few (including VCU) indicate they haven't gotten them yet and show my file as incomplete.
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mine's showing as incomplete as well 🙁.
 
so how exactly did the prompt change? is it a different question? I already submitted early on so idk and cant see it.
 
Is anyone here marked as complete on the status page?

I'm still incomplete, and I assume it's my LOR that are holding me back but just wanted to see what everyone else's status is given the number of glitches.
 
rjo101 said:
Is anyone here marked as complete on the status page?

I'm still incomplete, and I assume it's my LOR that are holding me back but just wanted to see what everyone else's status is given the number of glitches.
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I am also incomplete. I can see that I have done 2/3 things (i.e. I paid the app and submitted, but my LoR haven't been processed yet) .
 
chromealt said:
Is there any way we can still use the old prompt? I spent a lot of time and effort on mine and am really happy with my essay...
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I sure hope so. I literally just finished mine up and signed onto SDN to see this. What crap
 
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