2020-2021 Virginia Commonwealth

[TheDataKing]

Please tag a pre-allo moderator when the secondary prompt is posted.

Good luck to everyone applying!

Interview Feedback: Virginia Commonwealth University

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[roosebolton99]

On MSAR it says that VCU accepts international students on a case-by-case basis. Does anyone know what the criteria are ?

 

[deleted944833]

They tend to change their secondary prompts each year, right? Trying to prewrite but I think I should wait on this one.

 

[yogi4lyfe]

They tend to change their secondary prompts each year, right? Trying to prewrite but I think I should wait on this one.

I would wait because it seems as though they do change it. Luckily, each year it is only one question so there isn't too much to write in comparison to other secondaries.

 

[Hellogoodbye90]

I would wait because it seems as though they do change it. Luckily, each year it is only one question so there isn't too much to write in comparison to other secondaries.

Do they also have a "Why VCU" prompt? I can't seem to find consensus on this

 

[Jhepp23]

Do they also have a "Why VCU" prompt? I can't seem to find consensus on this

Last year they did not, just one prompt that posed a specific ethically ambiguous scenario and asked what you would do. Can't speak to previous years.

 

[DoctorAstronaut]

Did anyone get the email about access to the portal this morning? I did, but my login credentials are not working.

 

[Vanilla96]

Did anyone get the email about access to the portal this morning? I did, but my login credentials are not working.

same here

 

[grandepike]

Technically we’re in the 2021 application cycle so maybe they haven’t added it yet or something

 

[saipraram]

Did anyone get the email about access to the portal this morning? I did, but my login credentials are not working.

Same. Yeah I assume it's because we're the 2021 cycle. I hope they'll give an update when it's active?

 

[Bada Bing]

Same. Yeah I assume it's because we're the 2021 cycle. I hope they'll give an update when it's active?

I've had emails from a few other schools saying they've "received" my application, but without any link to a secondary portal. I think it's just their way of saying "keep an eye out for the secondary."

 

[purplebourdain]

Same my login credentials are not working!

 

[huntbrotherspizza]

I was able to log into the VCU portal just now with the instructions given and choosing the year 2021.

 

[Hellogoodbye90]

I was able to log into the VCU portal just now with the instructions given and choosing the year 2021.

Could you post the prompt, please?

 

[premiepremie]

I was also able to successfully log in. Is the only essay the Covid one?

 

[premiepremie]

You are living in a world experiencing the ravages of the Corona Virus which has impacted millions of people since December 2019. Please discuss how the COVID 19 pandemic has affected you personally. What have you learned from your experiences? Please discuss what you perceive may have been some realities that others may have experienced. How has COVID 19 experience influenced your desire to become a physician? (2000 characters)

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.)

 

[Rusino]

When filling out the coursework section of the secondary, should we ONLY put the minimum number of credit hours in the fields, or can we add more? For example, for the writing intensive course section, I have one English course for sure, but also 2 potential courses and I am not sure which is more likely to count. So I want to add both. But that would be 9 credit hours, and more than their 1 year listed in the directions. Thoughts?

 

[micro_glia]

"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.)"

For the part about gaps between undergrad education and applying to medical school, if I just graduated do I talk about my gap year plans or leave this blank?

 

[Rusino]

For the part about gaps between undergrad education and applying to medical school, if I just graduated do I talk about my gap year plans or leave this blank?

I do not think you need to speak extensively about gap year plans here. It is becoming very much standard to take a gap year and this question seems to really focus on weird circumstances. If you want, you can maybe add in a few short sentences about what you are doing (research, scribe, etc) without going too far into it and say something to the effect of, "I wanted to pursue this exciting experience to better myself, improve my status as a candidate for medical school, and expand my horizons."

That should be like 4 sentences max.

 

[micro_glia]

I do not think you need to speak extensively about gap year plans here. It is becoming very much standard to take a gap year and this question seems to really focus on weird circumstances. If you want, you can maybe add in a few short sentences about what you are doing (research, scribe, etc) without going too far into it and say something to the effect of, "I wanted to pursue this exciting experience to better myself, improve my status as a candidate for medical school, and expand my horizons."

That should be like 4 sentences max.

Thank you!!

 

[annperkins]

Secondary received, OOS

 

[yallwild]

IS Secondary received!

 

[sports215]

Secondary received, OOS

+1 OOS

 

[Smareo]

I still get an error when trying to sign in even after entering in 2021 for the year. Anyone else have this problem?

 

[yallwild]

I still get an error when trying to sign in even after entering in 2021 for the year. Anyone else have this problem?

I'm having trouble submitting my secondary. It doesn't take me to a payment screen. I do have FAP so idk if thats why

 

[banana_milk]

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.)


If I took gap years but not for the reasons listed as examples, should I talk about what I did during my gap years?

 

[deleted1040408]

Did anyone get a confirmation email after submitting it?

 

[yallwild]

Did anyone get a confirmation email after submitting it?

Negative, they said wait 48 hours. So I'll start freaking out after then. I was looking at the thread from two years ago and it seems it was the same way.

 

[GameOfZones]

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.)


If I took gap years but not for the reasons listed as examples, should I talk about what I did during my gap years?

that's what im gonna do. it says "any gaps" between undergrad and applying. figure it should be fair game to talk about gap year activities/why you did those activities

 

[GameOfZones]

When filling out the coursework section of the secondary, should we ONLY put the minimum number of credit hours in the fields, or can we add more? For example, for the writing intensive course section, I have one English course for sure, but also 2 potential courses and I am not sure which is more likely to count. So I want to add both. But that would be 9 credit hours, and more than their 1 year listed in the directions. Thoughts?

Following. For now i've just put what was needed to satisfy the requirement. But may change this before i submit

 

[Hellogoodbye90]

Are there other people who are still waiting for a secondary? I submitted my primary 6/1 so a little concerned!

 

[strugglebussing]

Are there other people who are still waiting for a secondary? I submitted my primary 6/1 so a little concerned!

I wouldn't worry too much - VCU does a holistic screen of their applications before sending out secondaries (it's not an auto-send like at some schools), so it's likely that they haven't gotten to your application yet!

 

[yallwild]

Are there other people who are still waiting for a secondary? I submitted my primary 6/1 so a little concerned!

my stats aren't too hot and I got a secondary so I'd not be worried lol. I secretly think I got one because I am instate

 

[deleted964256]

I wouldn't worry too much - VCU does a holistic screen of their applications before sending out secondaries (it's not an auto-send like at some schools), so it's likely that they haven't gotten to your application yet!

Do you know more or less what this details? Do they have numbers on how many applicants get secondaries?

 

[yallwild]

Do you know more or less what this details? Do they have numbers on how many applicants get secondaries?

As I told someone else, my stats aren't too hot and I got a secondary so I'd not be worried lol. I secretly think I got one because I am instate
I'm right at 3.00 for my sGPA so hope that helps

 

[deleted964256]

As I told someone else, my stats aren't too hot and I got a secondary so I'd not be worried lol. I secretly think I got one because I am instate
I'm right at 3.00 for my sGPA so hope that helps

I received one earlier today, but I was just curious. Just surprised I would get one so quickly if they pre-screen holistically especially since I'm OOS

 

[rockersoccer]

Yeah they *usually* pre-screen holistically, but I'm not sure if covid is affecting how they do it (maybe they want to know if covid has prevented people from doing ECs/volunteering, etc.). I think their screen is also much lighter at the beginning of the cycle. I had a friend who does not have an MCAT yet who got the secondary, so who knows.

 

[musicmed26]

OOS, no MCAT (score comes out tomorrow!), got a secondary!

 

[annperkins]

Submitted app but somehow it still lets me go in and edit it? Anyone else experiencing this?
The instructions say that the application won't be visible to me anymore nor will I be able to make any changes after I submit, but it seems like I am either unable to submit successfully or there's a technical glitch.

 

[clumsy.md]

You are living in a world experiencing the ravages of the Corona Virus which has impacted millions of people since December 2019. Please discuss how the COVID 19 pandemic has affected you personally. What have you learned from your experiences? Please discuss what you perceive may have been some realities that others may have experienced. How has COVID 19 experience influenced your desire to become a physician? (2000 characters)

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.)

Is the character limit for the second prompt the same?

 

[qwertyjuice]

Submitted app but somehow it still lets me go in and edit it? Anyone else experiencing this?
The instructions say that the application won't be visible to me anymore nor will I be able to make any changes after I submit, but it seems like I am either unable to submit successfully or there's a technical glitch.

+1, will try to submit again tomorrow. I think I hit submit twice lol, nothing comes up on the update page though.

 

[annperkins]

+1, will try to submit again tomorrow. I think I hit submit twice lol, nothing comes up on the update page though.

Oh man I might've submitted 4+ times lol, I was paranoid it was something technical on my end. Will try again tomorrow too

 

[annperkins]

Was finally able to submit!

 

[purplebourdain]

Was finally able to submit!

How did you know it was submitted? Mine keeps sending me back to the same page so I am not sure

 

[yallwild]

How did you know it was submitted? Mine keeps sending me back to the same page so I am not sure

I submitted yesterday afternoon (PST) and got an email today saying it was submitted. Intially it kept taking me back to the same page too but I just left it alone and now it's fine

 

[rocinan]

Does anyone know how where to upload green card photo? They say it's on Applicant Portal (Item #6) on the instruction, but I think that's where to upload headshots?

 

[deleted1040408]

Anyone else having a 404 error message when they try to open the portal?

 

[Hellogoodbye90]

Anyone else having a 404 error message when they try to open the portal?

Yes

 

[rocinan]

Anyone else having a 404 error message when they try to open the portal?

same

 

[annperkins]

How did you know it was submitted? Mine keeps sending me back to the same page so I am not sure

I got an email saying my status changed and when I logged in, I couldn't see my supplemental app anymore and said it was submitted