2018-2019 Virginia Commonwealth University

[mariposas905]

1. LOIs can be sent to Dr. Cook and/or to the [email protected] email address.
2. see above answer
3. yes. It depends on the money that supplies the scholarship. Some are specifically categorized by interests as specified by the donor, other monies are less restricted and can be used on candidates that the School of Medicine deems meritorious.
4. Yes.

Thank you @Dean Mission! When you say meritorious awards, do you mean they are mainly offered based on applicant's MCAT/GPA? I know some schools tend to look more at service, leadership for merit scholarship as opposed to MCAT so curious if VCU does this too.

Some other questions I have are:

1. Is it possible to know which rank we are currently on in the WL?
2. Do you expect more IS or OOS waitlist acceptance offers in the coming weeks?
3. Who do we email/contact for feedback and will it be possible to book an appointment to meet with someone in person or speak with them over phone call for this feedback?

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[Dean Mission]

How many interviewees were there this cycle? How many acceptances from the waitlist were given last year? Thanks @Dean Mission

1. 703 interviewees
2. I actually don't know how many applicants were offered of fthe waitlist off the top of my head. Probably around 100, but that is a guess.

 

[HL94]

All seats are currently filled.

Does that mean that everyone with an acceptance has already confirmed his attendance? If yes would not that potentially lower the waitlist movement then, as all have already decided?

And thank you very much for your answers.

 

[ppushpak]

@Dean Mission When do you expect the orientation packet for accepted students to be released? The portal says end of March but not sure if the release date has been pushed back. Would greatly appreciate it if you could provide the dates for the White Coat Ceremony Date and First Day of Orientation. Thanks

 

[DilNyethescienceguy]

How many applicants were on the Waitlist last year? 250+ as well?

 

[Dean Mission]

Thank you @Dean Mission! When you say meritorious awards, do you mean they are mainly offered based on applicant's MCAT/GPA? I know some schools tend to look more at service, leadership for merit scholarship as opposed to MCAT so curious if VCU does this too.

Some other questions I have are:

1. Is it possible to know which rank we are currently on in the WL?
2. Do you expect more IS or OOS waitlist acceptance offers in the coming weeks?
3. Who do we email/contact for feedback and will it be possible to book an appointment to meet with someone in person or speak with them over phone call for this feedback?

1. No. That information is never released.
2. Currently heavy on out of state, so there is likely to be balancing.
3. You can email the [email protected] email address.

 

[DentED1]

Is there some point at which applicants accepted from the waitlist will need to respond in an abbreviated period of time? When will that be and what will the abbreviated response time be?

 

[shark bait hoo ha ha]

1. No. That information is never released.
2. Currently heavy on out of state, so there is likely to be balancing.
3. You can email the [email protected] email address.

What do you mean heavy on out of state?

 

[blnk]

Hello Dean, how many people have gotten off the waitlist so far?

 

[Dean Mission]

@Dean Mission When do you expect the orientation packet for accepted students to be released? The portal says end of March but not sure if the release date has been pushed back. Would greatly appreciate it if you could provide the dates for the White Coat Ceremony Date and First Day of Orientation. Thanks

Orientation packet supposed to come out next week. White Coat is Friday, August 2nd, 2019. Roll call is Monday, July 29, 2019.

 

[Dean Mission]

What do you mean heavy on out of state?

More than half. Shoot for 50/50.

 

[Dean Mission]

Hello Dean, how many people have gotten off the waitlist so far?

10 or so.

 

[mariposas905]

More than half. Shoot for 50/50.

So if an OOS acceptee drops their seat, is that seat strictly be offered to another OOS candidate on the WL? and vice versa for IS?

 

[HL94]

10 or so.

They are mostly OS or IS so far?

 

[Dean Mission]

Does that mean that everyone with an acceptance has already confirmed his attendance? If yes would not that potentially lower the waitlist movement then, as all have already decided?

And thank you very much for your answers.

Not certain what you mean, but applicants have a right to not come to school at any time. Suffice it to say, there is still going to be a lot of movement at almost every institution going forward.

 

[Dean Mission]

How many applicants were on the Waitlist last year? 250+ as well?

Yes.

 

[Dean Mission]

Is there some point at which applicants accepted from the waitlist will need to respond in an abbreviated period of time? When will that be and what will the abbreviated response time be?

Around the June timeframe, only 1 week will be given to respond to offers.

 

[Dean Mission]

So if an OOS acceptee drops their seat, is that seat strictly be offered to another OOS candidate on the WL? and vice versa for IS?

Not necessarily, especially if balance is off. As balance gets to desired level, then that is the way it usually works.

 

[Dean Mission]

They are mostly OS or IS so far?

I haven't the faintest idea.

 

[DentED1]

Sorry I'm so dense...are you saying that the class as of right now is heavily weighted with out of state acceptances such that you have more room for in state wait list offers? or the opposite?

 

[mariposas905]

Considering applicants who have made it this far to the WL, do stats hold much weightage at this point? For example, could WL’ed applicants still be denied solely for lower MCAT scores even if other aspects of their app were good?

 

[Dean Mission]

Currently heavy on out of state seats filled.

 

[Dean Mission]

Considering applicants who have made it this far to the WL, do stats hold much weightage at this point? For example, could WL’ed applicants still be denied solely for lower MCAT scores even if other aspects of their app were good?

EVERYTHING IS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT WHEN CONSIDERING OFFERS.

 

[shark bait hoo ha ha]

Have OOS students been accepted off the waitlist or was it just in state to try and even out the class? @Dean Mission

 

[Dean Mission]

Have OOS students been accepted off the waitlist or was it just in state to try and even out the class? @Dean Mission

Yes, I personally emailed a few of them to congratulate them.

 

[simplest_sisi]

What is the M1 class size, give or take, that you are aiming for this year? (i.e. how many seats are there)

 

[rams601]

@Dean Mission I just tried emailing the [email protected] email and it came back as address not found. Am I misspelling it?

 

[Dean Mission]

@Dean Mission Would you be able to tell us if the ranking that has been done for waitlist is the same as the 1-5 scale that was done by the selection committee (I think 5 being auto-acceptances, 1+2 being auto-rejects, 3+4 being may get acceptance offer soon) for the 4 acceptance dates or was everyone re-ranked and other factors were taken into consideration when ranking waitlist?

You have the scale backwards, but the waitlist priority list is entirely determined by the selection committee score, which takes into account your interview and file review score.

 

[Dean Mission]

@Dean Mission I just tried emailing the [email protected] email and it came back as address not found. Am I misspelling it?

My BAD it should be [email protected]

 

[mariposas905]

You have the scale backwards, but the waitlist priority list is entirely determined by the selection committee score, which takes into account your interview and file review score.

Is this score fixed? Or can it be changed based on new significant updates?

 

[Dean Mission]

What is the M1 class size, give or take, that you are aiming for this year? (i.e. how many seats are there)

184 seats.

 

[Dean Mission]

Is this score fixed? Or can it be changed based on new significant updates?

Selection scores are unchangeable.

 

[DentED1]

If the selection scores are unchangeable how are the LOIs (if read) factored in to waitlist position?

 

[DentED1]

*LOIs and updates factored in?

 

[Dean Mission]

If the selection scores are unchangeable how are the LOIs (if read) factored in to waitlist position?

They are read. Notes are added to scores.

 

[shark bait hoo ha ha]

Do acceptances come out any day of the week from now on? @Dean Mission

 

[Dean Mission]

Do acceptances come out any day of the week from now on? @Dean Mission

Any day. There is no standard protocol going forward during waitlist phase.

 

[DentED1]

Thanks again, Dean Mission. This was so very helpful and unprecedented in my experience. Can we do it again soon after 4/30?

 

[masterflex8899]

I was late to the Q/A session, but I still had a question if you are able to answer it @Dean Mission!

When can we expect merit/institutional scholarships to be awarded? I am deciding between a couple of schools and any information regarding financial aid would allow me to make my decision faster.

 

[deleted859689]

He goneee

 

[shark bait hoo ha ha]

Does anyone know what the exam schedule is like for VCU? Are they once every couple of weeks? Also does anyone know about how many hours of mandatory classes and meetings there are during a week here?

 

[El Kabong]

Just withdrew my acceptance this morning (I'm IS incase anyone cares). Best of luck to those on the WL, hopefully my spot goes to one of you!

 

[rockersoccer]

People like Dean Mission and El Kabong are the real MVPs

 

[JMUMedicalNerd]

@Dean Mission Thank you so much for answering these questions yesterday. We all really appreciate it. A question recently crossed my mind after the session. If historically the OOS waitlist moves more than the IS because of proximity and financial reasons as stated earlier does that mean that the OOS waitlist is larger than the IS waitlist? Or are the two waitlists equally populated with the same number of students. In other words if there are 250 people on the waitlist does that mean there are 125 OOS and 125 IS or is it more like 175 OOS and 75 IS to account for a faster moving OOS waitlist?

Again thank you for your time throughout this entire application cycle answering our questions here on SDN.

 

[Raavenclaw]

Anyone else discouraged to hear there are 250+ people on the waitlist? Dean mission also mentioned there were 250+ people last year too, but I thought MSAR said 100.

 

[blnk]

Anyone else discouraged to hear there are 250+ people on the waitlist? Dean mission also mentioned there were 250+ people last year too, but I thought MSAR said 100.

The entire Q&A session discouraged me lol

 

[mariposas905]

Anyone else discouraged to hear there are 250+ people on the waitlist? Dean mission also mentioned there were 250+ people last year too, but I thought MSAR said 100.

Yeah, the MSAR said 75 out of 100 were accepted off the waitlist I believe. I know Dean Mission mentioned more people would likely be WL'ed this year, but a 150+ increase is a lot :/

 

[mariposas905]

Sometimes I really wish VA state schools were more into us IS candidates, like Texas or West Virginia I guess the 50/50 distribution helps qualified OOS candidates a lot too, but I feel like it makes these schools tougher to get into as IS compared to others

 

[rockersoccer]

Yeah that was pretty discouraging but at least we know the reality of the situation now. I remember hearing that VCU extends usually a little more than 300 offers of admission. That leaves about 125 spots for the 250-ish on the WL, so it's still decent odds.

 

[medicalone]

I think I'm a less anxious/less neurotic applicants than most but I'm more discouraged that the first two people to post about getting off the waitlist here have LizzyM's of 73 lol. That is hiiiiiigh