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Talldoctor96 said:
It's not broken, you just haven't received the secondary yet. That email everyone is receiving is allowing you to access the portal and confirming that they have received the primary. VCU does a holistic screen before they sound out secondaries. Receiving the portal email and receiving a secondary are two separate things. You have to wait for them to screen you first. Does that make sense?
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You da best!!
Thanks so much for explaining.
Guess I was super eager to click links that I didn't read/digest the entire email.
 
orthosurghopeful said:
Quick question about this part of VCU's secondary: "Please briefly explain any lapses in your undergraduate education; include any in enrollment during your undergraduate education and/or any gaps between undergraduate education and applying to medical school. (example: poor grades, multiple withdraws, health reasons, etc.)"

Are they just referring to breaks during undergrad? I didn't take any breaks during undergrad but I took a gap year after graduating and am in grad school now. I feel like I should leave this blank but just want to be sure.
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I personally am going to use the opportunity to discuss what I did during my gap year. But you could also leave it blank.
 
shadow12345 said:
did you guys make your response pretty generic or try to use experience if you have it?
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I used what I would do and then experience but I now feel like my experience took over answering the hypothetical question.
9 vs 12 lines.
 
anyone else having formatting issues with the supplemental essay question? I keep correcting it but when I go to look at it on the printable version of the app the formatting issues keep coming back, not sure if it just won't re-save
 
momoot said:
anyone else having formatting issues with the supplemental essay question? I keep correcting it but when I go to look at it on the printable version of the app the formatting issues keep coming back, not sure if it just won't re-save
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I wouldn't worry about it too much. Tbh - they might print it in a way or read it on a computer that formats it differently than we see it.
 
momoot said:
anyone else having formatting issues with the supplemental essay question? I keep correcting it but when I go to look at it on the printable version of the app the formatting issues keep coming back, not sure if it just won't re-save
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I tried multiple times to make my response two separate paragraphs, but every time I checked the printed version, it made it one big block text so I think the answer can only save as one large response??? not really sure, but honestly I think it's fine either way.
 
orthosurghopeful said:
Quick question about this part of VCU's secondary: "Please briefly explain any lapses in your undergraduate education; include any in enrollment during your undergraduate education and/or any gaps between undergraduate education and applying to medical school. (example: poor grades, multiple withdraws, health reasons, etc.)"

Are they just referring to breaks during undergrad? I didn't take any breaks during undergrad but I took a gap year after graduating and am in grad school now. I feel like I should leave this blank but just want to be sure.
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I had the same thought process. I'm just taking one gap year between undergrad and med school and I'm not sure if they want to know what my plans for the gap year are or if they just want to hear about the kind of stuff they put in the parenthesis... anyone else care to weigh in?
 
Anyone else having confusion with submitting the supplemental app? When I hit submit, it brings me back to the initial page, but doesn't give any confirmation that it's been submitted; and then when I go back to it, it gives me the option to submit again. I paid the fee and filled everything out, so not sure what I'm missing...
 
obscurecomplimenter said:
Anyone else having confusion with submitting the supplemental app? When I hit submit, it brings me back to the initial page, but doesn't give any confirmation that it's been submitted; and then when I go back to it, it gives me the option to submit again. I paid the fee and filled everything out, so not sure what I'm missing...
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It's an issue with their system. Just wait like 24-48 hours and you will receive an email that its complete and it will reflect it in the portal.
 
obscurecomplimenter said:
Anyone else having confusion with submitting the supplemental app? When I hit submit, it brings me back to the initial page, but doesn't give any confirmation that it's been submitted; and then when I go back to it, it gives me the option to submit again. I paid the fee and filled everything out, so not sure what I'm missing...
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orthosurghopeful said:
I'm having the same problem. And for some reason, it keeps adding apostrophes to my essay. I typed "the child's parent", hit save, and when I go back to review it looks like "the child''''''''''s parent"
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This exact issue has already been discussed previously in this thread..
 
M4 here. Don’t worry about the apostrophe. We know it’s a system error so we usually ignore it.
 
I say this is every thread I am in, but if you have a question call the admissions office that is why they are there !! Ms. Gale is so sweet and always answers questions. I just spoke to her and she said you SHOULD talk about your gap year if there is any time between graduation and matriculation. For example: I graduated in 2018 so she told me to write about what I did during the past year during my gap year. She said if you JUST graduated to leave it blank.
 
Talldoctor96 said:
I say this is every thread I am in, but if you have a question call the admissions office that is why they are there !! Ms. Gale is so sweet and always answers questions. I just spoke to her and she said you SHOULD talk about your gap year if there is any time between graduation and matriculation. For example: I graduated in 2018 so she told me to write about what I did during the past year during my gap year. She said if you JUST graduated to leave it blank.
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This is still confusing to me because I JUST graduated, but there will still a one year gap between graduation and matriculation in which I will be working as a scribe/volunteering etc. that I feel like is worth mentioning. Sorry if I'm being nit-picky but is essentially what you're saying that you should only put something down if your gap is for more than one year?? I will call the office if there is still confusion
 
Jhepp23 said:
This is still confusing to me because I JUST graduated, but there will still a one year gap between graduation and matriculation in which I will be working as a scribe/volunteering etc. that I feel like is worth mentioning. Sorry if I'm being nit-picky but is essentially what you're saying that you should only put something down if your gap is for more than one year?? I will call the office if there is still confusion
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Okay sorry that my response confused you. I think this will clear anything up: what she told me is that a person in your shoes would not HAVE to write something there, but if you WANT to you can talk about your plans for this upcoming year. They are not going to penalize you for bringing more clarity to your application.

BUT caveat-- people on SDN are wrong all of the time, it is always better to call and confirm yourself 🙂
 
Talldoctor96 said:
Okay sorry that my response confused you. I think this will clear anything up: what she told me is that a person in your shoes would not HAVE to write something there, but if you WANT to you can talk about your plans for this upcoming year. They are not going to penalize you for bringing more clarity to your application.

BUT caveat-- people on SDN are wrong all of the time, it is always better to call and confirm yourself 🙂
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How dare you say SDN is not the ultimate source of knowledge in the universe... banhammer for your treason
 
Jhepp23 said:
This is still confusing to me because I JUST graduated, but there will still a one year gap between graduation and matriculation in which I will be working as a scribe/volunteering etc. that I feel like is worth mentioning. Sorry if I'm being nit-picky but is essentially what you're saying that you should only put something down if your gap is for more than one year?? I will call the office if there is still confusion
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If you feel like it’s worth mentioning, briefly just state so but keep in mind, this information is already listed on your AMCAS so you don’t want to repeat that. A simple, “I will be working as a scribe prior to my matriculation” will suffice.
 
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mackkdad said:
If you feel like it’s worth mentioning, briefly just state so but keep in mind, this information is already listed on your AMCAS so you don’t want to repeat that. A simple, “I will working as a scribe prior to my matriculation” will suffice.
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Yeah I get that, in my case I actually hadn't gotten the scribe job until after I had turned in my AMCAS, so I felt it was especially necessary to mention-- but thank you for the clarification!
 
Is anyone else having issues when you try to upload a picture? I keep getting a 500- internal server error when I try to upload.
 
mspam3440 said:
Anyone having trouble with the 'print application' feature? When I click on it, it brings up all the questions but none of my answers are there
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having the same issue. also, i submitted and received no confirmation.
 
Submitted last night and got complete email 45 minutes ago!

The portal is weird, when I submitted it just took me back to main page without telling me anything. If you can’t open up your secondary again and submit it, it means you’re submitted and you should just wait for the complete email.
 
Am I at a disadvantage if I don't apply fmstat? I'm assuming it's easier to get in via fmstat but I'm not trying to shoot myself in the foot by limiting my residency options to only family medicine. While I likely will go FM and am very much interested in FM my interests might change in med school.

Edit: Okay after reading the expectation of fmstat that candidates are expected to apply to a FM residency I cannot in good conscience apply via fmstat.
 
mspam3440 said:
Anyone having trouble with the 'print application' feature? When I click on it, it brings up all the questions but none of my answers are there
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Yep, I had exactly the same problem, not sure what it means. The "print application" just had my prerequisites listed, but almost nothing else.
 
I made mine pretty specific to my personal experiences! Any idea when II come out? I'm waiting on MCAT scores that come on July 16th so I know if I get one it will be delayed.
 
kmari3 said:
I made mine pretty specific to my personal experiences! Any idea when II come out? I'm waiting on MCAT scores that come on July 16th so I know if I get one it will be delayed.
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The secondaries are seen via portal. I got my secondary on the 10th I think. I added the school to my list on the 9th.

Edit: actually got my secondary on the 9th. Secondaries are sent right away. Probably just a computer screen initially.
 
Sunbodi said:
The secondaries are seen via portal. I got my secondary on the 10th I think. I added the school to my list on the 9th.

Edit: actually got my secondary on the 9th. Secondaries are sent right away. Probably just a computer screen initially.
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"II" Stands for "interview Invite", not secondary. As far as I can tell, the first II rolled out July 29th last year and they continued through August/September.
 
iluvpandas said:
I tried multiple times to make my response two separate paragraphs, but every time I checked the printed version, it made it one big block text so I think the answer can only save as one large response??? not really sure, but honestly I think it's fine either way.
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Anyone able to fix this? I also try and create spaces/gaps for separate paragraphs but on the print view it's just one big block of text. Technically shouldn't be that big a deal but it might be less readable.
 
Lawyer101 said:
Anyone able to fix this? I also try and create spaces/gaps for separate paragraphs but on the print view it's just one big block of text. Technically shouldn't be that big a deal but it might be less readable.
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It’s been a known thing for years — nothing u do will fix it. They know. It is in no way a big deal.
 
Anyone else a reapplicant? How did you answer the "If yes, what additional qualifications do you have? Limit 150 Characters." question in ONLY 150 characters?!
 
enoughcharacters said:
Anyone else a reapplicant? How did you answer the "If yes, what additional qualifications do you have? Limit 150 Characters." question in ONLY 150 characters?!
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Yep, verrrry briefly. I just wrote 1 sentence saying very succinctly what I’ve done in the last year.
 
I'm having a hell of a time with this secondary. I want to submit it, but I cannot for the life of me write an eloquent response.
 
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enoughcharacters said:
Anyone else a reapplicant? How did you answer the "If yes, what additional qualifications do you have? Limit 150 Characters." question in ONLY 150 characters?!
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This is only if you're a reapplicant to this school specifically right?
 
If we haven’t received a secondary within 2.5 weeks of submitting a verified primary, does that most likely mean we will not be receiving one?
 
Hi there! Quick question- Has anyone else already been rejected? I'm in-state with pretty competitive scores and extracurriculars (MCAT 518+, GPA >3.9, did a research fellowship in the UK, etc). I submitted my secondary on Thursday, and on Friday I got rejected. I'm a little weirded out by that. I feel like there's no way they could have fully reviewed my application in 24 hours. Has anyone else had this happen? Or has anyone else heard of something like this? Just trying to understand if I did something wrong/how worried I should be haha.
 
cdg4dq said:
Hi there! Quick question- Has anyone else already been rejected? I'm in-state with pretty competitive scores and extracurriculars (MCAT 518+, GPA >3.9, did a research fellowship in the UK, etc). I submitted my secondary on Thursday, and on Friday I got rejected. I'm a little weirded out by that. I feel like there's no way they could have fully reviewed my application in 24 hours. Has anyone else had this happen? Or has anyone else heard of something like this? Just trying to understand if I did something wrong/how worried I should be haha.
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Congrats on the great stats homie, but there is more to it than just that. Maybe they were yield protecting, maybe you didn't fit their mission, maybe your secondaries weren't great in their eyes. No way to know, best to just control what you can and let go what you can't!
 
cdg4dq said:
Hi there! Quick question- Has anyone else already been rejected? I'm in-state with pretty competitive scores and extracurriculars (MCAT 518+, GPA >3.9, did a research fellowship in the UK, etc). I submitted my secondary on Thursday, and on Friday I got rejected. I'm a little weirded out by that. I feel like there's no way they could have fully reviewed my application in 24 hours. Has anyone else had this happen? Or has anyone else heard of something like this? Just trying to understand if I did something wrong/how worried I should be haha.
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What were you volunteer hours like? VCU is very mission driven.
 
HighYieldOnly said:
Congrats on the great stats homie, but there is more to it than just that. Maybe they were yield protecting, maybe you didn't fit their mission, maybe your secondaries weren't great in their eyes. No way to know, best to just control what you can and let go what you can't!
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Haha thanks! Yeah, it could be any of that I guess... It's just the speed that surprised me. I totally could have messed up the secondary or not fit their mission, but I feel like it'd be difficult to even read it that quickly.

It could be the mission though? I guess I only had like 160 hours of pure volunteering on my AMCAS, but most of my research is public health/ underserved populations focused. I wrote my personal statement about it too.

Thanks for the advice though, y'all. Much appreciated. It's the first one so there's a part of me that worries I REALLY messed something up on my app.
 
cdg4dq said:
Haha thanks! Yeah, it could be any of that I guess... It's just the speed that surprised me. I totally could have messed up the secondary or not fit their mission, but I feel like it'd be difficult to even read it that quickly.

It could be the mission though? I guess I only had like 160 hours of pure volunteering on my AMCAS, but most of my research is public health/ underserved populations focused. I wrote my personal statement about it too.

Thanks for the advice though, y'all. Much appreciated. It's the first one so there's a part of me that worries I REALLY messed something up on my app.
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If you look at old threads a rejection that fast was probably automatic. I’m sure they’re looking for more than 160 volunteering hours.
 
Talldoctor96 said:
If you look at old threads a rejection that fast was probably automatic. I’m sure they’re looking for more than 160 volunteering hours.
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Ehh, I don’t think that’s it. I had under 150 volunteering hours and didn’t get an R yet.
 
HighYieldOnly said:
Ehh, I don’t think that’s it. I had under 150 volunteering hours and didn’t get an R yet.
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I was just using an example. A rejection that quickly makes me think they didn’t hit a minimum requirement.
 
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