For anyone waiting on VCU, I just spoke to Dr. Whitehurst-Cook in person and she gave a few pieces of valuable information which I hope will make some of you less anxious. Basically, VCU tries their hardest to interview every single VA applicant they think is competitive. She said that they unfortunately cannot do the same with out-of-staters, because they get like 7000 apps. Also, she mentioned they currently have ~9000 apps, and the school is experiencing a backlog. That could be why it is taking so long for II invites. Dr. Cook likes to read all essays for herself before II are offered, so she is very busy! In addition, I asked her what MCAT is deemed competitive at their school and she mentioned that VCU considers a 506-507 to be an old 30, and that if an applicant had a 510, they are good to go for their school. They also require SAT scores and she mentioned that if you have a strong SAT score, but a lower MCAT score, it kind of compensates in a way for the low MCAT because at least adcoms know you can handle standardized tests. Also, this school is BIG on clinical experience. They expect their average accepted applicant to have a minimum of ~200 hrs. of hands-on clinical experience and shadowing combined. Apparently, hospice is not considered clinical unless you are actually caring for patients (taking vital signs, feeding, dressing, etc.) instead of simply playing games or chatting with them. Also one thing I found interesting is that when you designate on AMCAS the number of hours spent per week for an activity, it shows up as ZERO on VCU's system. So Dr. Cook said to make sure you write the number of hrs/week in the activity description on your primary so they know for sure.
Hope this helps!
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