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Applying to Med School? Get In Or Your Money Back
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hannahbobanna said:
how do we know our secondary is complete? My application status page is just blank
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I had the same issue for a couple days. I'd wait for a few days and it should update your application status soon!
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does anyone know if we are allowed to take notes in the 2 min period we read the prompt before our 7-min MMI interview?
 
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grizz411 said:
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!
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did you introduce yourself at the beginning of each station?
 
pinkhighlighter said:
does anyone know if we are allowed to take notes in the 2 min period we read the prompt before our 7-min MMI interview?
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No, they specifically mention not to.

pinkhighlighter said:
did you introduce yourself at the beginning of each station?
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Yes, the interviewers generally introduced themselves so I introduced myself in those situations. I only did not do so once because the interviewer said she was writing my name down off her screen so it felt weird to introduce myself when they were trying to figure out how to spell my long last name lol
 
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CK1212 said:
No, they specifically mention not to.



Yes, the interviewers generally introduced themselves so I introduced myself in those situations. I only did not do so once because the interviewer said she was writing my name down off her screen so it felt weird to introduce myself when they were trying to figure out how to spell my long last name lol
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thank you sooo much! this was super helpful :)
 
After checking my portal today, I now have the hold for review information below the previous status. Considering I graduated in 2019 and completed the MCAT in July, I know this hold is a mistake but just wondering if anyone else has had this happen?
 

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Dr. Hokage said:
After checking my portal today, I now have the hold for review information below the previous status. Considering I graduated in 2019 and completed the MCAT in July, I know this hold is a mistake but just wondering if anyone else has had this happen?
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I've had this for a few weeks but I don't think it's a hold? Not sure though
 
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atharsenal said:
I've had this for a few weeks but I don't think it's a hold? Not sure though
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No, I understand it's not a hold for an interview but rather a hold to have my application reviewed due to their records showing I have unfinished coursework or new MCAT, neither of which are true for me. And they even state that if this isn't the case to reach out to them immediately, which I'm going to do but just didn't know if anyone else experienced this.
 
Dr. Hokage said:
No, I understand it's not a hold for an interview but rather a hold to have my application reviewed due to their records showing I have unfinished coursework or new MCAT, neither of which are true for me. And they even state that if this isn't the case to reach out to them immediately, which I'm going to do but just didn't know if anyone else experienced this.
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It doesn't say you are on hold. It says you may be placed on hold. I had this for a few days before getting my ii.
 
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FracturedPhalynx said:
It doesn't say you are on hold. It says you may be placed on hold. I had this for a few days before getting my ii.
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Interesting. I just found it strange that it was added on later. Congrats on the II!
 
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pinkhighlighter said:
Does anyone know if we can send thank you notes to our interviewers?
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I don't recall them forbidding it. I was planning on sending a general thank you letter to the admissions office for organizing the virtual interview.
 
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CK1212 said:
I don't recall them forbidding it. I was planning on sending a general thank you letter to the admissions office for organizing the virtual interview.
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This is probably a good move. I don't think I'm going to send a thank you but if I did I would just send one to the admissions office and not to the individual interviewers, just because the interactions were so brief with the MMI.
 
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TheMCATWorther112 said:
I am afraid that, because I didn't stretch the truth for my hours for activities on AMCAS, I am a disadvantage... All applicants seem to be stretching the truth for their hours, and here I am actually counting hours and putting down 55 hours for a couple activities, while others "estimate" 100 hours for an actual 30 hours. How much does this matter? Do adcoms focus more on the meaning of the experience anyways?
Did people who got IIs from VCU have a lot of non clinical volunteering hours?
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I had a lot of clinical hours (over 2000 total) but only about 70-80 hours of non clinical volunteering listed on my app.
 
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TheMCATWorther112 said:
I am afraid that, because I didn't stretch the truth for my hours for activities on AMCAS, I am a disadvantage... All applicants seem to be stretching the truth for their hours, and here I am actually counting hours and putting down 55 hours for a couple activities, while others "estimate" 100 hours for an actual 30 hours. How much does this matter? Do adcoms focus more on the meaning of the experience anyways?
Did people who got IIs from VCU have a lot of non clinical volunteering hours?
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I got an II, but I don't think I had all that much non-clinical volunteering. I had 200 hours over four summers (not even recent, like 2014-2017) for an inner city camp. I also had 1000 hours over 10 years with my church but it was mainly internal service, not exactly direct community service. No exaggeration of hours, but I was able to make what I believe to be meaningful connections to medicine, so maybe that helped.
 
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Has VCU basically finished out sending IIs? It seems like all new II dates are in end of November or 2021
 
mr.adroit said:
Has VCU basically finished out sending IIs? It seems like all new II dates are in end of November or 2021
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Didn't they just start sending IIs like a month ago or less? Would they really be done that quickly?
 
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For people that received IIs, how long did your status say “file review complete, you will be notified of an II via an update”?
 
Do you guys think sending an update in a couple of weeks about accumulating over 100 hours for a meaningful clinical volunteering experience is worth it? Or will that reflect poorly? (got the position after submitting amcas but listed in secondary)
Also, I realized I actually miscalculated hours for one activity (listed about 30 hours less than what I actually had done over 2 years). Would it be worth it at this point to send an email correcting this or would it reflect poorly?
 
Loves puppies said:
Great thanks!! Did you get an email for the II or just an update on the portal?
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Initially got a voicemail message from the admissions office then received an email after missing the call
 
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CK1212 said:
Initially got a voicemail message from the admissions office then received an email after missing the call
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Thanks everyone for responding!! I almost missed my deadline for file complete because I hadn’t uploaded some document :(
 
For those that got an interview did your status change to subcommittee or did it stay as "a member of the committee"?
 
TheMCATWorther112 said:
Do you guys think sending an update in a couple of weeks about accumulating over 100 hours for a meaningful clinical volunteering experience is worth it? Or will that reflect poorly? (got the position after submitting amcas but listed in secondary)
Also, I realized I actually miscalculated hours for one activity (listed about 30 hours less than what I actually had done over 2 years). Would it be worth it at this point to send an email correcting this or would it reflect poorly?
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Don’t do this. VCU doesn’t love updates unless they’re really significant. Dean whitehurst cook told me last year update after 3 months at a new position. I would reach out and ask.
 
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Those of us who interviewed last week should be getting a portal update sometime this week notifying us that we've either been rejected or placed on hold for an acceptance, right?
 
thunderstorm1824 said:
Those of us who interviewed last week should be getting a portal update sometime this week notifying us that we've either been rejected or placed on hold for an acceptance, right?
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Yup, they told us that we should get that update on our portal by Wednesday/Thursday
 
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According to MSAR, 75 out of 100 waitlisted applicants get in so getting that hold notification is a really good sign. The anticipation is killing me.
 
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CK1212 said:
According to MSAR, 75 out of 100 waitlisted applicants get in so getting that hold notification is a really good sign. The anticipation is killing me.
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Same! :nailbiting: it's good to hear that a WL is not a death sentence though!
 
thunderstorm1824 said:
Same! :nailbiting: it's good to hear that a WL is not a death sentence though!
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Definitely. They emphasized during the interview that around 40% of the matriculating class is composed of applicants taken from the waitlist. Based on a class size of 184, it lines up almost perfectly with the MSAR data. Wishing you good luck! Let's get this.
 
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I am still under sub committee and I was completed July 27th... Should I be scared?
 
elrm257 said:
I am still under sub committee and I was completed July 27th... Should I be scared?
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I've been on "a member of the commitee" since 7/24 lmao. We just need to wait it out
 
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Hey guys just wanted to check in about the waitlist information / information about post II acceptance. Everything you guys are seeing is not up to date. In the 2018-2019 cycle they interviewed about 700 applicants and gave out about 300 ish acceptances. Last year and the year before there were 250 people put on the waitlist, and they only give about 100 Acceptances on the waitlist. I believe last year they gave a little less.
 
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Talldoctor96 said:
Hey guys just wanted to check in about the waitlist information / information about post II acceptance. Everything you guys are seeing is not up to date. In the 2018-2019 cycle they interviewed about 700 applicants and gave out about 300 ish acceptances. Last year and the year before there were 250 people put on the waitlist, and they only give about 100 Acceptances on the waitlist. I believe last year they gave a little less.
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Did you guys hear that? That was my hopes and dreams crashing and burning
 
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Wait list applicants have about a 35-40% chance of getting off according to Dean Mission's report in previous year's cycle. Most of the current M1s that I know did not get waitlisted, but some did, so don't lose hope if that happens!
 
Portal updated to show that I'm on hold for an acceptance! I interviewed on 9/16
 
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finally moved to subcommittee today lol
 
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Did anyone that interviewed 09/15 receive a portal update yet?
 
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