2015-2016 Virginia Commonwealth University Application Thread

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Porcn said:
II, just via portal no email. Looks like there are a lot of dates left including 10/7 at the earliest so don't stress! OOS complete since 7/13 LizzyM 75+
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If you dont mind me asking, what was you status before your II? Was it "will be reviewed" or one of the other 4?
 
I got the "will be reviewed" status for quite a while then it changed to the "consider your app further" status about two weeks ago. No email when that status change happened either.
 
Porcn said:
II, just via portal no email. Looks like there are a lot of dates left including 10/7 at the earliest so don't stress! OOS complete since 7/13 LizzyM 75+
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Congrats! No news yet for me but it sounds like there are many early interview dates left so I'll try not to stress out too much.
 
Almighty Saguaro said:
I remember @Goro saying VCU is one of those schools that practices yield protection, so your high stats might actually explain WHY you got rejected; they figure even if they offer you a seat, based on your stats, you'll probably receive and accept a better offer.

Either way, bummer!
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That's interesting. My GPA isn't egregiously high, but my MCAT score is pretty high over their average. Sucks cause I really liked VCU but what can ya do I guess. Being OOS prob didn't help either
 
badooda said:
For those of you who have already interviewed at VCU: I interviewed the first week of September and shortly after my interview date, my status changed to the one with the post-interview survey they'd like us to take. I completely the survey and logged out, but just realized I haven't had a status change since then. When I log back in, I still see the same post-interview survey status.......for some reason, I was expecting our status to change to "under review" or something like that once after our interviewer presents our case to the committee? It's been a few weeks since my interview so I thought my interviewer would have done that already..... Are people still on the post-interview survey status or do you guys have a "under review"-type status now (if so, how long after your interview did you get this "under review status"?

Thanks 🙂
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I kept the scheduled interview summary page on the portal until today (which I was told is when the committee was meeting to review my interview date), at which time the post-interview survey showed. Don't really expect any further status updates until decisions are released in a couple weeks, but who knows.
 
Almighty Saguaro said:
I remember @Goro saying VCU is one of those schools that practices yield protection, so your high stats might actually explain WHY you got rejected; they figure even if they offer you a seat, based on your stats, you'll probably receive and accept a better offer.

Either way, bummer!
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This is what I'm afraid of. My GPA isn't that much higher than their average, but my MCAT is quite a bit higher. Wish schools didn't do this honestly, but I can understand why they do...
 
Anomandaris said:
This is what I'm afraid of. My GPA isn't that much higher than their average, but my MCAT is quite a bit higher. Wish schools didn't do this honestly, but I can understand why they do...
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I mentioned this merely to offer a different perspective to think about; it may or may not have anything to do with why any particular applicant gets rejected.

I think if a school does this, they should at least offer a spot on the secondary for "Why XSOM" so applicants who have genuine, compelling reasons for being interested in the school, despite their high stats, can fully articulate this.

Just my $0.02, though; I'm sure they know what they're doing.
 
Almighty Saguaro said:
I mentioned this merely to offer a different perspective to think about; it may or may not have anything to do with why any particular applicant gets rejected.

I think if a school does this, they should at least offer a spot on the secondary for "Why XSOM" so applicants who have genuine, compelling reasons for being interested in the school, despite their high stats, can fully articulate this.

Just my $0.02, though; I'm sure they know what they're doing.
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Yeah, their secondary wasn't particularly involved (compared to some other schools). I just wish schools would be a little more transparent if they practice yield protection. Would save applicants a fair amount of money and would save their admissions office some time, too.

Either way, fingers are being crossed, wood is being knocked on, and salt is being thrown over the shoulder. Hoping for an interview here...
 
Anomandaris said:
Yeah, their secondary wasn't particularly involved (compared to some other schools). I just wish schools would be a little more transparent if they practice yield protection. Would save applicants a fair amount of money and would save their admissions office some time, too.

Either way, fingers are being crossed, wood is being knocked on, and salt is being thrown over the shoulder. Hoping for an interview here...
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Lol, I wonder how exactly you would work that "out-of-state applicants with MCAT and GPA above X are ineligible for admission"

That just sounds really bad, so I can kind of appreciate the problem with the kind of transparency I imagine you and I would like to see.
 
Almighty Saguaro said:
Lol, I wonder how exactly you would work that "out-of-state applicants with MCAT and GPA above X are ineligible for admission"

That just sounds really bad, so I can kind of appreciate the problem with the kind of transparency I imagine you and I would like to see.
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I don't think it would need to be a hard and fast rule, but more like "to protect the interests of the school and our mission to the surrounding area, OOS applicants are encouraged to critically examine their interest in our school. OOS applicants may be subjected to different standards of admission than that of IS students due to the fact that our school is publicly funded". Honestly the fact that they practice yield protection would be leaked out fairly quickly, but they could spin that however they wanted to avoid any possible PR issues. Just a thought is all. Not even 100% sure they do practice yield protection, but there's just so many ambiguous factors surround med admissions that pretty much any transparency a school provides is another +1 in my book.
 
Anomandaris said:
I don't think it would need to be a hard and fast rule, but more like "to protect the interests of the school and our mission to the surrounding area, OOS applicants are encouraged to critically examine their interest in our school. OOS applicants may be subjected to different standards of admission than that of IS students due to the fact that our school is publicly funded".
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Well, their FAQ does say, "The school is supported with about 7 percent of its budget coming from the Commonwealth of Virginia each year. Consequently, we do give preference to in-state residents." This seems to imply that standards of admission are NOT uniform across all applicant categories.

Anomandaris said:
Honestly the fact that they practice yield protection would be leaked out fairly quickly, but they could spin that however they wanted to avoid any possible PR issues.
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Of course, people would know. But it's one thing to do it; it's another thing to post it on your website as the policy. I'm sure every school has things that go on behind the ad com curtain that aren't really publishable on the website.

Anomandaris said:
Just a thought is all. Not even 100% sure they do practice yield protection, but there's just so many ambiguous factors surround med admissions that pretty much any transparency a school provides is another +1 in my book.
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Ha! Try applying to med school in Ontario! No real information about the evaluation process, no calling in the off-season to discuss why you weren't accepted, no portal for neurotically checking status updates, no calling the school to even find out if your documents have all been received...nothing but a big ol' black box. In comparison, even VCU looks like a paragon of transparency 😛
 
Almighty Saguaro said:
Ha! Try applying to med school in Ontario! No real information about the evaluation process, no calling in the off-season to discuss why you weren't accepted, no portal for neurotically checking status updates, no calling the school to even find out if your documents have all been received...nothing but a big ol' black box. In comparison, even VCU looks like a paragon of transparency 😛
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In Ontario you purchase your annual lottery ticket with a good GPA/MCAT then wait to see which schools want you. You can be waitlisted one year and rejected pre-interview the next, completely unknown and arbitrary. Takes 2-3 years for most people.
 
Almighty Saguaro said:
Well, their FAQ does say, "The school is supported with about 7 percent of its budget coming from the Commonwealth of Virginia each year. Consequently, we do give preference to in-state residents." This seems to imply that standards of admission are NOT uniform across all applicant categories.

Of course, people would know. But it's one thing to do it; it's another thing to post it on your website as the policy. I'm sure every school has things that go on behind the ad com curtain that aren't really publishable on the website.

Ha! Try applying to med school in Ontario! No real information about the evaluation process, no calling in the off-season to discuss why you weren't accepted, no portal for neurotically checking status updates, no calling the school to even find out if your documents have all been received...nothing but a big ol' black box. In comparison, even VCU looks like a paragon of transparency 😛
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Mmm. I see your point, but perhaps someone more eloquent than I could word it so that it alludes more to the fact that there is yield protection rather than differing standards for OOS/IS. The two things are separate in my opinion.

Are you applying in Ontario? Are you in Canada? My cousin is about to start her undergrad at UBC and is interested in pursuing medicine. All the posts about the difficulty of getting in Canada make me pretty scared for her. Would love an insider's perspective on the application process in Canada, if possible 🙂
 
NotASerialKiller said:
In Ontario you purchase your annual lottery ticket with a good GPA/MCAT then wait to see which schools want you. You can be waitlisted one year and rejected pre-interview the next, completely unknown and arbitrary. Takes 2-3 years for most people.
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Lol, I always chuckle internally when I hear our American colleagues talk about school "fit" and mission statements and all that.
In Ontario, you "fit" in whatever med school happens to draw your name out of their hat, lol.

OK, now I'm done derailing this thread.
Let's get back to more relevant complaining, shall we?
 
Anomandaris said:
Are you applying in Ontario? Are you in Canada? My cousin is about to start her undergrad at UBC and is interested in pursuing medicine. All the posts about the difficulty of getting in Canada make me pretty scared for her. Would love an insider's perspective on the application process in Canada, if possible 🙂
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Tell her to go to premed101.com but avoid the Ontario accepted/rejected/waitlisted section, makes you think you can't get in without a 3.98 GPA. Ontario is a nightmare but every other province is a lot better. Unfortunately BC only has UBC so she should get very familiar with UBC's med school requirements as that will be her best chance.

edit: Yeah sorry I can respond to PMs about Canada forgot what thread I was on haha
 
anichols8 said:
I have been waiting for this!!!!! Yyyyyyyeeeesssss!!!!
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Hahaha and thank you for not quoting my post until after I edited it! Much appreciated lol. I hope if they're going to interview me, they do it quick
tumblr_mcbjodbDhz1r0tlefo1_500.jpg
 
SweetFast said:
I'm only 2 hours away so I drove in the morning of my interview and parked in a local lot ($7 for the day if you get there by 9 am) My interview was from 10-11am. They have big signs in the lobby of the building that lead you to the waiting room. When you come in they give you a name tape and tell you who will interview you. It's either a faculty member or a 4th year student, it seemed like my 8 person interview day was split 50/50 between the two. They also give you a folder with info about the curriculum and about Richmond. The interviewer will come pick you up in the waiting room and then take you someplace for your interview, which was really nice to make small talk and break the ice in a less formal manner before we sat down with a desk/table between us. The interview was open file and my interviewer (a MS-4) had definitely gone through everything. She asked the basic interview questions (tell me about yourself, why medicine, biggest obstacle, time I had to apologize, time I was chosen to be a leader, biggest influence, questions about my specific activities, why VCU) then asked me if I had any questions which eventually turned into chatting about life in Richmond. She then escorted me back to the waiting room. Then she and Dr. Whitehurst-Cook went over the curriculum, told us about the admissions process, and fielded questions. We then had lunch (chicken wraps and tortilla chips from a local food cart) with two MS-2s who answered questions in a more informal way. This was followed by a brief financial aid presentation. Then we had a tour of the campus and I was done (those that had afternoon interviews stayed).

I was extremely impressed by the facilities, the open and frank attitude of everyone who spoke to us, and the I2CRP program. This school is definitely at the top of my list. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
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Hi, back from my interview day and wanted to second everything SweetFast said. I was also interviewed by a fourth year and fielded the same sorts of questions, minus the ones about my specific activities (which I did talk about in my answers to the other questions, so that might be why). The interview itself was very conversational and - dare I say it - fun! I was struck by how much everyone at the school seems to genuinely love it (really got the sense that they don't just say they're one big family - they actually are!), the facilities are top notch, new curriculum has some cool facets - overall amazing vibes!! If you can't already tell, I've fallen very hard for VCU as well as Richmond (SO MANY HIPSTER COFFEE SHOPS), so really hoping to hear some good news in the future. :xf:
 
yaaaay @rachiie01! i think we were complete around the same time so barring any trouble hopefully i'll get some news soon too!

really happy for you, thanks for being the voice of the early july crew throughout all this 🙄
 
I got an II here over the weekend! I'm so ecstatic 🙂 there were sooooo many dates open when i scheduled my interview over the weekend, with the first week of october being the earliest date. so even if they're slow with handing out IIs, they seem to at least have tons of room left for interviews 🙂
 
hopeful418 said:
yaaaay @rachiie01! i think we were complete around the same time so barring any trouble hopefully i'll get some news soon too!

really happy for you, thanks for being the voice of the early july crew throughout all this 🙄
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I hope they get to you soon!!
Just to clarify confusion that may have resulted from...erm...previous posts...If you are "complete" you have not been passed up! They just haven't completed a review of your file yet. It is not the case that they've reviewed your app, decided they weren't interested and then tossed you aside lol. You will receive a status update when they review your application, which will give you a priority score, and they'll go from there. It looks like they're wrapping up the July applications so I hope everyone hears something soon! If you have confusion about the status of your application please call or email the school to receive clarification, do not try to make sense of the speculation on this thread.
 
wavvvvvves123 said:
I got an II here over the weekend! I'm so ecstatic 🙂 there were sooooo many dates open when i scheduled my interview over the weekend, with the first week of october being the earliest date. so even if they're slow with handing out IIs, they seem to at least have tons of room left for interviews 🙂
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Congratulations! May I ask which status you received prior to the II and how long ago you received it? Thanks!
 
rachiie01 said:
SWEET BABY JESUS IN THE SKY I HAVE BEEN REVIEWED!!
Edited to retain any shred of anonymity that I still have lol. Received one of the first two statuses.
@mehc012 did they get to you yet?
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Congrats!! Complete mid-July... Hope that means something will come soon!
 
So, my file status on my VCU website changed to COMPLETED. Does that mean that the committee is done reviewing my secondary?
 
Ahh I got a status update (one of the first two as well)! It was so surprising after seeing the same thing for so long. I was also expecting an email, given that I've received all emails (for secondaries, etc) so far, but none. So, if you haven't checked the portal, looks like a status update doesn't trigger any email.
 
So I was verified 07/10 and got the standard email. But I just barely got the secondary on 09/26. Did this happen to anyone else? I feel like this is kinda weird.
 
flyer04 said:
So I was verified 07/10 and got the standard email. But I just barely got the secondary on 09/26. Did this happen to anyone else? I feel like this is kinda weird.
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I was verified around mid July and didn't get my secondary until 8/31. I called them that morning and got it later that evening. It was strange but just fill it out now that you have it!
 
flyer04 said:
So I was verified 07/10 and got the standard email. But I just barely got the secondary on 09/26. Did this happen to anyone else? I feel like this is kinda weird.
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They screen the primary application before releasing the secondary invitation. And it is possible that they do this in a non chronological order.
 
I checked the portal but I still haven't received a status update. Complete mid-July. Fingers crossed for something soon. Congrats to everyone who has received an update/II!
 
candielike said:
Hi, back from my interview day and wanted to second everything SweetFast said. I was also interviewed by a fourth year and fielded the same sorts of questions, minus the ones about my specific activities (which I did talk about in my answers to the other questions, so that might be why). The interview itself was very conversational and - dare I say it - fun! I was struck by how much everyone at the school seems to genuinely love it (really got the sense that they don't just say they're one big family - they actually are!), the facilities are top notch, new curriculum has some cool facets - overall amazing vibes!! If you can't already tell, I've fallen very hard for VCU as well as Richmond (SO MANY HIPSTER COFFEE SHOPS), so really hoping to hear some good news in the future. :xf:
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I shall go ahead and chime in on this too - I had a faculty member and it was kind of scary, but it was clear that my file had been read over, reviewed, and noted on ALL OVER THE PAGE. It was nice that the interviewer had taken the time to get to know me on paper before facing me in person.
I think what I loved the most was that the MS2s who showed us around seemed like they had LIVES OF THEIR OWN and do other things from studying... Such as pursue their own individual passions within medicine, whether it's teaching or leading service trips.
It was sticky and rainy, but who cares? It was really fun and I hope everyone hears good news back.
And even if you don't - chin up. It's still early in this (long-winded, torturous, serpentine) game. I'd like to think that given the circumstances, we're in this together, so might as well support each other and cheer each other on, right?
 
I'm still waiting on secondaries... mcat score was released last week, but my status still says on hold for MCAT. Anyone the same?
 
flyer04 said:
So I was verified 07/10 and got the standard email. But I just barely got the secondary on 09/26. Did this happen to anyone else? I feel like this is kinda weird.
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I never got a secondary (verified mid august). My LizzyM is somewhere around a 75 so i figured I had a shot even as an OOS. Oh well. maybe they're just too backed up to send any more out.
 
Gracie_1984 said:
I never got a secondary (verified mid august). My LizzyM is somewhere around a 75 so i figured I had a shot even as an OOS. Oh well. maybe they're just too backed up to send any more out.
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I called their office last week and basically what's happening is that your primary is assigned to one person, and different reviewers process them at different speeds. So the people whose primaries were verified after ours but who are getting their secondaries earlier just had a faster reviewer. It's a crappy system (IMHO) but we haven't been rejected (yet?).

My primary was verified 8/13--still waiting on a secondary!
 
Gracie_1984 said:
I never got a secondary (verified mid august). My LizzyM is somewhere around a 75 so i figured I had a shot even as an OOS. Oh well. maybe they're just too backed up to send any more out.
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Have you tried simply signing in to the portal? I received no communication at all from VCU after I sent in my primaries, so I decided to go to the portal and follow the instructions to sign in. A secondary was waiting for me there. I still have yet to receive any emails but have called and they have stated a number of applicants simply get lost in the noise. So try that out!
 
SoonToBeDrG said:
Have you tried simply signing in to the portal? I received no communication at all from VCU after I sent in my primaries, so I decided to go to the portal and follow the instructions to sign in. A secondary was waiting for me there. I still have yet to receive any emails but have called and they have stated a number of applicants simply get lost in the noise. So try that out!
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Not who you quoted, but I think most of us have been checking the portal diligently. My status since August 14th:

"Your application has been received by the VCU School of Medicine and now will begin the process of evaluation. There will be a preliminary review of your application prior to receipt of a supplemental application. Please be aware that all applicants are not invited to complete a supplemental application. You may check the status of your application at any point during this process using the applicant website. Please be aware of the following if you submit your letters electronically through AMCAS please note that your letters ARE NOT automatically linked to your file. Therefore it takes up to 21 days from the time we receive your letters before they are processed. After 21 days if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call 804-828-9629."
 
mcatjelly said:
Not who you quoted, but I think most of us have been checking the portal diligently. My status since August 14th:

"Your application has been received by the VCU School of Medicine and now will begin the process of evaluation. There will be a preliminary review of your application prior to receipt of a supplemental application. Please be aware that all applicants are not invited to complete a supplemental application. You may check the status of your application at any point during this process using the applicant website. Please be aware of the following if you submit your letters electronically through AMCAS please note that your letters ARE NOT automatically linked to your file. Therefore it takes up to 21 days from the time we receive your letters before they are processed. After 21 days if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call 804-828-9629."
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I love grammatical errors in important statements from universities. Note how what they meant to say is that not all applicants are invited to complete secondaries. What they actually said, that all applicants are not invited to complete secondaries, actually means that no one gets a secondary. Pretty harsh policy, some some standards are just too high 🙂
 
NotASerialKiller said:
I love grammatical errors in important statements from universities. Note how what they meant to say is that not all applicants are invited to complete secondaries. What they actually said, that all applicants are not invited to complete secondaries, actually means that no one gets a secondary. Pretty harsh policy, some some standards are just too high 🙂
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Try the "Do to a high number of applications..." for grammar error lol.
 
SoonToBeDrG said:
Have you tried simply signing in to the portal? I received no communication at all from VCU after I sent in my primaries, so I decided to go to the portal and follow the instructions to sign in. A secondary was waiting for me there. I still have yet to receive any emails but have called and they have stated a number of applicants simply get lost in the noise. So try that out!
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mcatjelly said:
Not who you quoted, but I think most of us have been checking the portal diligently. My status since August 14th:

"Your application has been received by the VCU School of Medicine and now will begin the process of evaluation. There will be a preliminary review of your application prior to receipt of a supplemental application. Please be aware that all applicants are not invited to complete a supplemental application. You may check the status of your application at any point during this process using the applicant website. Please be aware of the following if you submit your letters electronically through AMCAS please note that your letters ARE NOT automatically linked to your file. Therefore it takes up to 21 days from the time we receive your letters before they are processed. After 21 days if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call 804-828-9629."
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Yeah I check regularly. 🙂
 
I interviewed here recently and they told us that their current system isn't really designed for the number of applications they're getting and that they're going to have to come up with a new system for next year.
 
rachiie01 said:
SWEET BABY JESUS IN THE SKY I HAVE BEEN REVIEWED!!
Edited to retain any shred of anonymity that I still have lol. Received one of the first two statuses.
@mehc012 did they get to you yet?
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Can you tell us when you were complete? And if you are OOS vs. IS?
 
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