2014-2015 Virginia Tech Carilion Application Thread

BU Medical Sciences
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OOS, received a secondary. cGPA ~3.2 and MCAT less than 34. Non-traditional student with strong upward trend (from a freshman GPA of around 1 to 3.6 in subsequent years). Current graduate student at a large Midwestern medical school.
 
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OOS, received a secondary. undergrad cGPA and sGPA <3.3, MCAT<31. upward trend in grad school, but not amazing, LOTS of clinical research and volunteer work.
 
MrLogan13 said:
OOS, received a secondary. cGPA ~3.2 and MCAT less than 34. Non-traditional student with strong upward trend (from a freshman GPA of around 1 to 3.6 in subsequent years). Current graduate student at a large Midwestern medical school.
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readingrl said:
OOS, received a secondary. undergrad cGPA and sGPA <3.3, MCAT<31. upward trend in grad school, but not amazing, LOTS of clinical research and volunteer work.
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gives me hope!!
 
Eek submitted today! Out of state, 3.91/32 going into senior year of undergrad. I hope I get an interview, this is definitely a top pick 🙂
 
How long are people's responses to the required secondary questions? 600 max words is a lot!
 
Hopeful-to-be-a-doctor said:
How long are people's responses to the required secondary questions? 600 max words is a lot!
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I'm glad they removed the question about what what makes you innovative/leader, I thought that was my weakest one when I pre-wrote, albeit my longest. I was hitting around 480-550 words between the two. Just use as much as you think you need, but don't fluff it and waste their time haha.
 
shishy said:
I'm glad they removed the question about what what makes you innovative/leader, I thought that was my weakest one when I pre-wrote, albeit my longest. I was hitting around 480-550 words between the two. Just use as much as you think you need, but don't fluff it and waste their time haha.
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Do you think 300 words for the first question would be too short or okay if it answers the question?
 
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Hopeful-to-be-a-doctor said:
Do you think 300 words for the first question would be too short or okay if it answers the question?
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Honestly if you absolutely can't add anything to it that adds more to what you discuss/responds to the question then there isn't much you can do... maybe someone else can chime in but it really depends haha. If you want me to look over your response by sometime tomorrow I can probably give you more feedback but in general, quality > quantity
 
shishy said:
I'm glad they removed the question about what what makes you innovative/leader, I thought that was my weakest one when I pre-wrote, albeit my longest. I was hitting around 480-550 words between the two. Just use as much as you think you need, but don't fluff it and waste their time haha.
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Haha I was the opposite, I thought I really nailed the "thought leader" one in the pre-write! But oh well.
 
TheLionheart said:
Haha I was the opposite, I thought I really nailed the "thought leader" one in the pre-write! But oh well.
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Me too 🙁 I was so bummed. But i saved it so if I get an interview, I can use it for talking points!


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So regarding the secondary questions... is it OK to borrow elements from my primary (specifically a portion of a most meaningful short-essay)? My primary app was pretty detailed, so I used some of that in my secondary when I was talking about a time I made a difference in someone else's life. It wasn't a cut-paste job (though a sentence was directly lifted from it) . If I was to describe it, the description of the activity I had in my primary was the trailer and my secondary essay was the movie. Thoughts?
 
Could someone please post the secondary prompts? Is it the same as last year but without the innovation and leadership question? Thank you! 🙂
 
erure said:
Could someone please post the secondary prompts? Is it the same as last year but without the innovation and leadership question? Thank you! 🙂
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Yes, the other two essays are the same. There is also an optional essay that you can use to update the Admissions Committee on activities/happenings since your primary.
 
Both my essays were under 300 words.

I figured I should spare the adcoms the pain of reading 600 words of drivel if I can get my point across in half that number.

Submitted yesterday, received secondary on Monday.

P.S
3.83 c and s GPA
32 MCAT
Very strong research and community service (especially with a big project that ended in a first author publication).

This is a top choice for me. Hope to get the opportunity to state my case in an interview!
 
TheLionheart said:
Yes, the other two essays are the same. There is also an optional essay that you can use to update the Admissions Committee on activities/happenings since your primary.
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Thank you!
 
Submitted today. Both of my essays were at 590-600 words... I like to tell stories :happy: 32 MCAT, 3.80 cGPA, 3.70 sGPA, strong EC's on my MDapp. Also one of my top schools.
 
Corvid said:
So regarding the secondary questions... is it OK to borrow elements from my primary (specifically a portion of a most meaningful short-essay)?
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I borrowed one of my "most meaningful" experiences from my AMCAS as well to answer one of the secondary questions. I tried to describe the experience through a different perspective in order to give them a more well rounded view.
 
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So am I the only that still hasn't received a secondary? If you didn't receive it Monday, is that a silent rejection?
 
Whew. Thought I was the only one. Good luck to you guys. I submitted in mid-June, was complete before 6/27. However, maybe they are sending out the secondaries in batches (that's what I'm hoping at least!)
 
Durbic said:
Whew. Thought I was the only one. Good luck to you guys. I submitted in mid-June, was complete before 6/27. However, maybe they are sending out the secondaries in batches (that's what I'm hoping at least!)
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I was verified on 7/8 so yeah if they decide to send me one it probably won't be any time soon. This is one of my reach schools though so I'm not making any bets lol but good luck to you guys!
 
Just got the "we are deciding whether to send you a secondary" email. I wonder if they will wait to see the score of my new MCAT that I took a week ago. Anyone know?
 
rugger4 said:
Just got the complete email too. Turn up.
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I got the: "we got your secondary, now we're checking for LORs" email.

...My LORs won't be ready until next week; I feel the need to reply and be like, could you please wait until next week so I don't look like a total slacker?!

Too neurotic? Maybe so...
 
What is the allowed length of the additional info question?
 
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tuftofwool said:
I got the: "we got your secondary, now we're checking for LORs" email.

...My LORs won't be ready until next week; I feel the need to reply and be like, could you please wait until next week so I don't look like a total slacker?!

Too neurotic? Maybe so...
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Just a little neurotic. I highly doubt they're gonna think you're a slacker cuz of something that is partially out of your control lol
 
Are you guys including the prompt when you upload your essays?
 
rugger4 said:
I borrowed one of my "most meaningful" experiences from my AMCAS as well to answer one of the secondary questions. I tried to describe the experience through a different perspective in order to give them a more well rounded view.
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If you want to borrow an experience from your AMCAS application, I think that is the proper way to do it. Imagine reading one AMCAS application and then picking up the same applicant's secondary only to find the same story relatively unchanged (pretty "meh"). This is just my opinion, but reframing a story into a different perspective is a nice way of showing you are able to analyze a situation from multiple points of view--a characteristic that is nice to display. I would just refrain from taking the same story and adding/subtracting fluff to/from it.

That being said...it's going to be better to think of something new and fresh.
 
Finally submitted this secondary! Thank God, only $50...
 
Out of close to 3000 applications received, Vtech offers about 230 interview invites (according to MSAR). How many secondaries do you guys think are given out?
 
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They are sending out the secondary invitations in batches. Just received the secondary invitation! 🙂 AMCAS verified on 7/10.
 
Just got the secondary invite too, the committee informed me that they had looked over my AMCAS application. For those that are curious, I'm still waiting on my most recent MCAT score so I guess that isn't something they wait on. I'm curious, has anyone heard what the actual screening stipulations are? Just a certain GPA/MCAT cutoff?
 
orangeman25 said:
Out of close to 3000 applications received, Vtech offers about 230 interview invites (according to MSAR). How many secondaries do you guys think are given out?
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Im really curious about this too. Also, did you go to Cuse?
 
Ginred said:
Just got the secondary invite too, the committee informed me that they had looked over my AMCAS application. For those that are curious, I'm still waiting on my most recent MCAT score so I guess that isn't something they wait on. I'm curious, has anyone heard what the actual screening stipulations are? Just a certain GPA/MCAT cutoff?
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Their website says they do a holistic screen/review before sending out secondaries.
 
Bilboraggins said:
Their website says they do a holistic screen/review before sending out secondaries.
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I'm curious what this entails. By the way, your profile picture is awesome! I laughed out loud when I first saw it!
 
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