2020-2021 Virginia Commonwealth

[JadedJiroveci]

For IS it is about 45%. For OOS it is about 66%.

for international it was 100% last year LOL

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[FracturedPhalanx]

how do u know this?? wow!!!

I saw it on this google sheet!

 

[xjitfire]

Hopefully those rates are the same during this cycle. I worry that schools are more lenient with handing out interviews due to the accessibility of doing things online.

 

[Tacocalifornia]

Status went from committee to subcommittee yesterday. Got a email today informing me of a status update. Got rejected. F. Peace out VCU, grateful for informing me though early in the cycle.

 

[rep_the_don]

Status went from committee to subcommittee yesterday. Got a email today informing me of a status update. Got rejected. F. Peace out VCU, grateful for informing me though early in the cycle.

I'm sorry to hear you got rejected by VCU. Best wishes with the other schools you've applied to this cycle!

 

[breezys16]

Does VCU send a complete email? Or should I just go on what’s in the portal

 

[TheMCATWorther112]

On hold for a possible A/WL post II, Interviewed 08/27! OOS, LM 83. Absolutely loved VCU and the faculty/students I met at my interview

My first II!!! Got the email about a status update yesterday while at work but completely missed it until now

EDIT: The earliest interview dates available to me were in 2021... but there's no way all the slots were taken for the rest of this year already, right? Does VCU offer different interview dates depending on the applicant (for example, IS vs. OOS)? Sorry if it's an ignorant question, this is my first time applying and I'm new to SDN, so I'm not super familiar with what's "typical" or common practice. Either way I'm extremely grateful to have received an II and would love to attend this school Wishing everyone the best this cycle!

mine was only a member of the committee and then the II! So I don't think there's a structure to it

For those of you who have received IIs, did you leave the supplemental questions about lapses in undergrad education and explaining low grades/gpa blank?
Just realized on the instructions it says if any questions are left unanswered, your app won't be processed. I'm not sure if this applies to the lapses/low grades questions though, especially if we didn't have any lapses/ low grades to explain...

 

[TheMCATWorther112]

Received an email today extending me an II and giving me an upcoming date for September 16th with two different time options. Portal was not updated though and was not sent a link by email. I was instead told to respond back and that this is a first come first serve opportunity.

Edit: Was initially thinking there was a mix up but now that I confirmed I got the II thought I'd give everyone their favorite info haha. OOS/ORM/518 MCAT/ 3.93 GPA/ Complete 7/27

Just received an email confirming my interview scheduled on September 16th but I never received an II via email or portal update and never scheduled an interview, so I'm confused?? Just checked my portal and it looks strange, there are multiple messages that seem to contradict each other - it says I have an interview scheduled but also says the admissions committee will review my application and that my app is being held for new MCAT scores and grades but I don't have any pending MCAT scores/grades. I'm guessing this is all a mistake lol. Did this happen to anyone else?

Edit: this was a strange mix up that would take too long to explain, but I did receive an II! 516, 3.96, OOS, ORM, complete on 7/28.

Submitted 7/20, complete 7/27. "Member of the committee" as of 8/3, "subcommittee" on 8/11, and then II invite. I didn't ever see the "your file review is complete," but I may have just missed it. Good luck! You've got this!

II just now!! I'm so happy! This is my dream school!

For those of you who have received IIs, did you leave the supplemental questions about lapses in undergrad education and explaining low grades/gpa blank?
Just realized on the instructions it says if any questions are left unanswered, your app won't be processed. I'm not sure if this applies to the lapses/low grades questions though, especially if we didn't have any lapses/ low grades to explain...

 

[thunderstorm1824]

For those of you who have received IIs, did you leave the supplemental questions about lapses in undergrad education and explaining low grades/gpa blank?
Just realized on the instructions it says if any questions are left unanswered, your app won't be processed. I'm not sure if this applies to the lapses/low grades questions though, especially if we didn't have any lapses/ low grades to explain...

Yep, left them blank (though I think the question about lapses in education includes if you took any gap years and I misread the question and forgot to mention that) and got an II.

 

[babygreenbeans]

Yep, left them blank (though I think the question about lapses in education includes if you took any gap years and I misread the question and forgot to mention that) and got an II.

there was a weird situation in which they changed the prompts for people who got secondaries later in order to clarify these vague questions

 

[TheMCATWorther112]

Yep, left them blank (though I think the question about lapses in education includes if you took any gap years and I misread the question and forgot to mention that) and got an II.

Ok, that's good to hear.

there was a weird situation in which they changed the prompts for people who got secondaries later in order to clarify these vague questions

Yeah, lapses in UNDERGRAD education would not include gap years, the way I interpreted it. That would only include lapses DURING undergrad. I talked about gap year activities in the section asking about current activities.

 

[flutacious]

got a status update today that I was rejected. kind of confused about it. in-state ORM

 

[TheMCATWorther112]

got a status update today that I was rejected. kind of confused about it. in-state ORM

I'm sorry to hear about that. They are sending rejections early. Would you mind sharing your stats? Maybe they are rejecting based on volunteer hours. When did you submit the secondary?

 

[flutacious]

I'm sorry to hear about that. They are sending rejections early. Would you mind sharing your stats? Maybe they are rejecting based on volunteer hours. When did you submit the secondary?

3.82, 518, complete 7/20

 

[LetMeINNNNNN]

3.82, 518, complete 7/20

Dang, sorry to hear that bud, you would seem like a good pick considering in-state status and very high stats, I’m sure you’ll have better luck at another school

 

[lovepickles]

For those of you who have received IIs, did you leave the supplemental questions about lapses in undergrad education and explaining low grades/gpa blank?
Just realized on the instructions it says if any questions are left unanswered, your app won't be processed. I'm not sure if this applies to the lapses/low grades questions though, especially if we didn't have any lapses/ low grades to explain...

I left those questions blank!

 

[GameOfZones]

I was complete in mid July, but still have this status: "Your M.D. file is now complete. The admissions committee will now do a review of your application. Once this review is complete, you will receive a status update regarding your profile." Anyone else in the same boat? Been at this status for at least 5-6 weeks i think. I was at "member of the committee" and "subcommittee" before this.

(underline was my doing, not on the portal)

 

[LetMeINNNNNN]

I was complete in mid July, but still have this status: "Your M.D. file is now complete. The admissions committee will now do a review of your application. Once this review is complete, you will receive a status update regarding your profile." Anyone else in the same boat? Been at this status for at least 5-6 weeks i think. I was at "member of the committee" and "subcommittee" before this.

(underline was my doing, not on the portal)

From this and previous threads no one seems to know, but considering you’re application has been reviewed multiple times perhaps that’s a good thing

I’ve been on subcommittee since I submitted a month and a half ago lol

 

[queenbeee]

From this and previous threads no one seems to know, but considering you’re application has been reviewed multiple times perhaps that’s a good thing

I’ve been on subcommittee since I submitted a month and a half ago lol

I've been on "a member of the committee" for ages lol it's all a crap shoot it seems

 

[Smareo]

I was complete in mid July, but still have this status: "Your M.D. file is now complete. The admissions committee will now do a review of your application. Once this review is complete, you will receive a status update regarding your profile." Anyone else in the same boat? Been at this status for at least 5-6 weeks i think. I was at "member of the committee" and "subcommittee" before this.

(underline was my doing, not on the portal)

I've had these same messages and same progression. Not sure what it means

 

[Removed 982794]

So PSA VCU does not send an invite to do a secondary. i had to check the website and just saw that this secondary was waiting in my inbox this whole time

 

[LetMeINNNNNN]

So PSA VCU does not send an invite to do a secondary. i had to check the website and just saw that this secondary was waiting in my inbox this whole time

Check your spam/junk folder in your email you’ll find it there homie, they send an email for secondaries and status changes

 

[Removed 982794]

Check your spam/junk folder in your email you’ll find it there homie, they send an email for secondaries and status changes

I swear spam is empty too

 

[rep_the_don]

I swear spam is empty too

This happened to me too. There was a direct link to VCU's secondary website earlier on in this thread that I used to check if I had a secondary or not.

 

[breezys16]

I swear spam is empty too

This happened to me too. I just logged into the portal from Google and it was there.

 

[LiteralLungs]

"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?

Is this prompt appearing differently for anyone else? On my application is just says:

Please briefly explain any lapses in your undergraduate education that are not explained in your application.

EDIT: I just saw that there was some switching up that happened early on, and they changed the prompt. I guess I should just answer it as it is now, and not worry about talking about why I took time off after undergrad?

 

[JadedJiroveci]

Is this prompt appearing differently for anyone else? On my application is just says:

Please briefly explain any lapses in your undergraduate education that are not explained in your application.

EDIT: I just saw that there was some switching up that happened early on, and they changed the prompt. I guess I should just answer it as it is now, and not worry about talking about why I took time off after undergrad?

Yea I think that’s good. I didn’t write about my gap year and still got an II

 

[thunderstorm1824]

For anyone who has already interviewed or has an upcoming interview: all of the emails I received say to log onto Zoom at 10:30 am EST. But Richmond is currently on EDT, which is one hour later than EST (10:30 EST is 11:30 EDT/current VA time). So which one should I go by? I don't want to log in at the wrong time haha

 

[Hellogoodbye90]

For anyone who has already interviewed or has an upcoming interview: all of the emails I received say to log onto Zoom at 10:30 am EST. But Richmond is currently on EDT, which is one hour later than EST (10:30 EST is 11:30 EDT/current VA time). So which one should I go by? I don't want to log in at the wrong time haha

EDT is EST since daily light savings affects the entire time zone at the same time. So 8:30 pm est would be 8:30 pm richmond time. Hope that helps

 

[thunderstorm1824]

EDT is EST since daily light savings affects the entire time zone at the same time. So 8:30 pm est would be 8:30 pm richmond time. Hope that helps

Weird, when I Google EST vs EDT I get two different times an hour apart!

 

[deantrblssmile]

Weird, when I Google EST vs EDT I get two different times an hour apart!

yes, bc daylight savings changes the hour by 1 hr. So est= standard time edt=daylight saving time but as stated above the entire area changes time so its 830 for u

 

[morgMD]

someone who has interviewed for VCU or other MMI format interviews before:

For their MMI format, they say about 7 minutes spent speaking about the topic. I am only hitting about 3.5-4 minutes in my responses...do i need to add some more depth and length regarding this or is this ok because they would like to ask follow-up questions?

 

[mountainman15]

someone who has interviewed for VCU or other MMI format interviews before:

For their MMI format, they say about 7 minutes spent speaking about the topic. I am only hitting about 3.5-4 minutes in my responses...do i need to add some more depth and length regarding this or is this ok because they would like to ask follow-up questions?

They ask plenty of follow up questions, I wouldn't recommend going on for too long unless it's natural for you

 

[CK1212]

They ask plenty of follow up questions, I wouldn't recommend going on for too long unless it's natural for you

Did they use any acting scenarios or just discussion topics? I was always worried about having to act in an MMI, and doing it over Zoom seems even more intimidating.

 

[LiteralLungs]

Does anyone know how to format the secondary essays so that there are divisions between paragraphs?

 

[deleted1040408]

got changed to sub-committee review after being on the initial one for 7+ weeks!

 

[yhnmoyase]

any advice for the interview?

Don't over-prepare or rote memorize a speech. In my experience, the interviewers seemed to want to converse with me about my intuitions about the MMI questions

 

[happythoughtss]

anyone stuck on "your MD file is complete."

 

[neurofanatic213]

anyone stuck on "your MD file is complete."

Yes and I applied MD/PhD

 

[grizz411]

any advice for the interview?

Be yourself! I was nervous at first but the staff makes it so clear that they really just want to get to know you, your values, and thought processes. Go with your gut and they'll always work with you to form a two-way conversation. Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[CK1212]

is the tradiitonal part open file?

From what I saw, yes. Anyone know if it's one traditional question being asked multiple times? The email makes it sound like there is one traditional question that will be asked of us seven total times (once by one interviewer then once by each MMI station interviewer).

 

[sevenout]

I just got a straight up "R" from VCU. Little surprised honestly but hey, I have two II's elsewhere so far so it's all good. LM 68. Really don't remember "complete by" date but it was a long time ago shortly after July 10th I'm sure.

 

[wysdoc]

From what I saw, yes. Anyone know if it's one traditional question being asked multiple times? The email makes it sound like there is one traditional question that will be asked of us seven total times (once by one interviewer then once by each MMI station interviewer).

Don't worry, it's not going to be the same question 7 times!

 

[happythoughtss]

Does VCU take updates? I started working at VCU last week and would like to update my app!

 

[hpitt412]

Has anyone not received a secondary yet? Sent my primary august 7th & still haven't heard anything back (I meet all their criteria)

 

[StayHealthy2020]

Should I message the office of admissions? My status is on sub-committee for 7 weeks now.

 

[CK1212]

Just finished interviewing, it’s a very low stress interview with a lot of fun and engaging questions.

 

[flightless_bird]

Just finished interviewing, it’s a very low stress interview with a lot of fun and engaging questions.

Agreed. They did a great job with it, and the interviewers were very nice!

 

[flightless_bird]

Does VCU take updates? I started working at VCU last week and would like to update my app!

They accept post-II updates only

 

[Removed 982794]

how do we know our secondary is complete? My application status page is just blank