2017-2018 Vanderbilt University

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I got the "we've received your application" 7/21 and the actual secondary invite 7/22
3.85/518, Verified 6/19
I'm a student at Vandy with a mentor in the med school - he said the autoscreen has been 3.8+ GPA/98+ percentile MCAT (520+) in the past and below that they look holistically. So I was pretty sure I'd fall into the holistic side of things but I don't see how they could have done that in 24 hours, unless they had been reviewing since verification.
 
swgadoo said:
I got the "we've received your application" 7/21 and the actual secondary invite 7/22
3.85/518, Verified 6/19
I'm a student at Vandy with a mentor in the med school - he said the autoscreen has been 3.8+ GPA/98+ percentile MCAT (520+) in the past and below that they look holistically. So I was pretty sure I'd fall into the holistic side of things but I don't see how they could have done that in 24 hours, unless they had been reviewing since verification.
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When were you verified?
 
swgadoo said:
I got the "we've received your application" 7/21 and the actual secondary invite 7/22
3.85/518, Verified 6/19
I'm a student at Vandy with a mentor in the med school - he said the autoscreen has been 3.8+ GPA/98+ percentile MCAT (520+) in the past and below that they look holistically. So I was pretty sure I'd fall into the holistic side of things but I don't see how they could have done that in 24 hours, unless they had been reviewing since verification.
Click to expand...

I think that's possible. They were like 2-3 weeks behind due to technical difficulties. The same thing happened to me with a <3.6 GPA and 520+ MCAT
 
I got it within 2 days of verification though and my MCAT is below the average. Maybe they lowered the screening numerically?
 
deep-House M.D. said:
bump
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I wrote around 700 words for mine. I feel like adcoms notice when people write more just for the sake of filling up their word count. I just said what I felt was necessary without adding too much fluff.
 
maedae17 said:
I wrote around 700 words for mine. I feel like adcoms notice when people write more just for the sake of filling up their word count. I just said what I felt was necessary without adding too much fluff.
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Thank you! I'll follow your lead!
 
Based on this thread, thus far, the only people who have gotten secondaries have a 3.5+ AND 515+. One person may have gotten one with 513 and 4.0, but unclear.

Did anyone receive a confirmation or app complete email after submitting? Or does it say somewhere on the portal if LORs were received?
 
desr3 said:
Based on this thread, thus far, the only people who have gotten secondaries have a 3.5+ AND 515+. One person may have gotten one with 513 and 4.0, but unclear.

Did anyone receive a confirmation or app complete email after submitting? Or does it say somewhere on the portal if LORs were received?
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I got a secondary with a 513 and 3.9. I didn't get an email confirming that I was complete and would also like to know if we can get a confirmation that our letters were received.
 
Has anyone received secondaries lately? It's been quiet so it seems like they either sent all their secondaries out (unlikely since people are still being verified) or they send them in batches? I'm assuming I will not get one this year, but I'd be interested in knowing if anyone has received one this week.
 
DBC03 said:
Has anyone received secondaries lately? It's been quiet so it seems like they either sent all their secondaries out (unlikely since people are still being verified) or they send them in batches? I'm assuming I will not get one this year, but I'd be interested in knowing if anyone has received one this week.
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I was very surprised and honored to have gotten one on Friday! Only hours after I got an email saying they were screening me. A tad below 3.8 and 98th percentile MCAT (but with retake), so I don't think it was the auto-screen of the past. Verified on 8/3, OOS

Keep your head up! They're still sending them out. I didn't think I would get one either.
 
DBC03 said:
Has anyone received secondaries lately? It's been quiet so it seems like they either sent all their secondaries out (unlikely since people are still being verified) or they send them in batches? I'm assuming I will not get one this year, but I'd be interested in knowing if anyone has received one this week.
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I honestly think they're still in the "auto screen" stage - the screen threshold just seems to be quite a bit lower this year. Your very high MCAT will probably get you one soon when they move into the more holistic review like in past years!
 
CaffeineJunkie said:
I was very surprised and honored to have gotten one on Friday! Only hours after I got an email saying they were screening me. A tad below 3.8 and 98th percentile MCAT (but with retake), so I don't think it was the auto-screen of the past. Verified on 8/3, OOS

Keep your head up! They're still sending them out. I didn't think I would get one either.
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Thanks! I received the "we have your application" email a while back. MCATs fine, but I knew that my GPA (just over 3.4, really strong upward trend) would be a big issue. And my age - they don't seem to take many applicants over 30. I just wasn't sure if anyone was even receiving secondaries any longer. Good luck!!
 
desr3 said:
I honestly think they're still in the "auto screen" stage - the screen threshold just seems to be quite a bit lower this year. Your very high MCAT will probably get you one soon when they move into the more holistic review like in past years!
Click to expand...

Interesting thought - I'm happy that I have time to focus on other secondaries, but I definitely want a chance to send one to Vanderbilt. On the other hand, perhaps it will be just a donation...
 
I think I'm the weakest stats-wise on this thread who has received a secondary. LizzyM around 71.

However, I am URM and my EC's are pretty solid. So I don't know; it sounds like they either sent me a secondary based on holistic metrics or they lowered their standards.
 
Saw this press release today: The 2017 incoming class was selected from a pool of 6,412 applicants and came to Vanderbilt from 34 states, three foreign countries and 59 undergraduate schools with 23 majors. The class GPA range is 3.1 – 4.0 and the MCAT range is 70th -100th percentile. The median GPA is 3.9, while the median MCAT is in the 98th percentile.

Article here with White Coat Ceremony photos.
 
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I'm realizing I never received a "complete" email after I submitted my secondary. Did other people receive one?
 
Joining the fray: submitted the secondary just now! Congratulations to those with IIs!
 
Finally submitted my secondary today - this was a really tough one for me to write!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app
 
Medico2018 said:
So you were complete within a day of secondary submission? would you mind sharing your stats please? Thanks
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Well, I guess I should say I submitted the Secondary app the day it was received (July 21)...I know all my stuff was also already in place. Looking back through emails I can't seem to find where I received an email communicating "complete" status (perhaps I deleted it). Lizzie score is around 80.
 
for those with II, did your status ever change to "under review"? I've been green for my secondary, but not yet under review, for over 10 days :/
 
med2018ihope said:
for those with II, did your status ever change to "under review"? I've been green for my secondary, but not yet under review, for over 10 days :/
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If it did, I never saw it. I believe I just went directly to II from submitted/complete/whatever word they use for that.
 
med2018ihope said:
for those with II, did your status ever change to "under review"? I've been green for my secondary, but not yet under review, for over 10 days :/
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Yea, my AMCAS app and secondary app boxes are green with checkmarks, then the under review box has a clock by it. If I hold my cursor over the under review box it says "your app is currently under review." Pretty sure it's been like this since the day I submitted the secondary (I think that was 3 weeks ago).
 
DBC03 said:
I would - The infographic shows that they have accepted 70th percentile MCAT scores and yours is above that.

Has anyone with a low GPA (<3.5) gotten a secondary? I realize the infographic shows 3.1 as the lowest they accepted last year, but I still have very little hope of getting a secondary from them.
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3.4/3.5 518 secondary
 
DBC03 said:
I'm around your numbers - slightly lower sGPA. Still no secondary... I'm hoping they will eventually send out a rejection letter.
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I lied it was actually the notice email +pity+ I hadn't opened it yet
 
enchantediris said:
Got this email as well 😳 It was so nice that I kind of felt bad about it! Luckily, two of my Duke essays fit quite nicely in the autobiography so it wasn't as bad as I was anticipating.
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That's what I'm hoping. I put this one on the back burner so I could work on Duke because it had more essays and because I got it first but I'm so burned out I don't even want to start the autobiography
 
dhovaking said:
That's what I'm hoping. I put this one on the back burner so I could work on Duke because it had more essays and because I got it first but I'm so burned out I don't even want to start the autobiography
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I totally feel you on that front! Vanderbilt was my last secondary and it is a doozy. To be fair, parts of their autobiography prompt overlap with Duke's first and second prompts (where you grew up, values you gained, identity, etc.). I heavily drew upon those, and only really wrote one paragraph of completely new material. Vanderbilt's second prompt is a challenge essay, so that's easy enough! 🙂 Duke was much worse imo

Edit: Also, my first prompt from Duke was cobbled together from a previous written diversity essay and passion essay that happened to piece together nicely. I have definitely got more shameless at recycling material as time has gone on... 😳
 
Does passing the Vanderbilt secondary mean much, or should we not be that optimistic?
 
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stayhopeful1 said:
haha, that is not a low GPA at all! You're going to be fine. Stellar MCAT too...
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I hope you are right, but for schools like Vandy that like to keep their average around a 3.9 its definitely not a strong point in my app.
 
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