2021-2022 Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM-Carolinas)

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I got this a week ago:
"We thank you for taking the time to submit an application to the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine. Your application is scheduled to be reviewed by committee. The purpose of the committee meeting is to determine whether or not to invite you to submit a Secondary Application along with letters of recommendation.

Please be advised: considering the volume of applications we receive, the review process may take a few months. As soon as the committee has had the opportunity to review your file, we will be certain to notify you by email."

This is pretty much a R right?
 
jsat said:
I submitted my application and it says my LOR references are not there, but they are on my AACOMAS application. Do they seriously actually want me to upload them to their application also? Or will they go and check that box off eventually when they look at the application?
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I don't want to sound rude but did you actually read the instruction written just above the LOR section you filled in?

If these letters were already submitted through AACOMAS, you do not need to resubmit them with your Secondary Application, but we do ask you to fill out the form below so we can verify the correct letters have been received with your AACOMAS application.
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According to this part it's clear that they don't want you to upload the letters again and that they will later verify them checking the box.
 
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doctorhopefulstressed said:
For those who have gotten or are pre-writing secondaries, are you using the full 500 words? I feel like I can answer the question in ~250.
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This is the same dilemma I'm dealing with, I've answered all the prompts pretty thoroughly yet they're only around 250-300 words. Would it be better to add more information until the 500-word maximum is reached?
 
No, never try to pad the answers - it’s a maximum and not a recommendation. If you try it will show you’re trying to just make it longer and at the end of the day it may hurt your writing.
 
Anyone have suggestions for the CV? Their office told me to be brief in my description of what I did. How are others approaching this?
 
That section from what I was told is there to only show a simple timeline for them to follow. They have all descriptions and stuff in the AACOMAS. That's why they ask for literally a one-liner for each entry.
 
hathi10 said:
Anyone have suggestions for the CV? Their office told me to be brief in my description of what I did. How are others approaching this?
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I quite honestly chose to go fully minimal here, provided the date, location, and my official title for these entries. The fact they bolded to keep it short means they wanted just a glanceable timeline

Edit: after submitting you will see that the CV section only asks to "List college name, work, etc" and its present within an ease to navigate table.
 
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Bart101 said:
I quite honestly chose to go fully minimal here, provided the date, location, and my official title for these entries. The fact they bolded to keep it short means they wanted just a glanceable timeline

Edit: after submitting you will see that the CV section only asks to "List college name, work, etc" and its present within an ease to navigate table.
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Yeah I think that's a fair approach. I ended up adding a very minimal description for my roles, only because the admissions office said that I could. But I think just adding titles makes sense, given the instructions on their site.
 
Can someone please post the secondary question prompts and word counts? My app won't open for some reason and it''s freaking me out
 
no-sleep-ever said:
Can someone please post the secondary question prompts and word counts? My app won't open for some reason and it''s freaking me out
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First of all: e-mail them. They have a problem with importing some of the AACOMAS data into the new system implemented this year. I had the same issue and they fixed it and let me know after.

Essay prompts below:
  1. Describe a significant challenge you have experienced in your life, share the strategies you employed to overcome the challenge, and what you learned from the experience. [500 words]

  2. Professionalism and respect in the community in which you live is of utmost importance in medical school and as a physician. What three professional qualities do you believe a Student Doctor must demonstrate and describe how you will demonstrate these qualities as a medical student at VCOM? [500 words]

  3. How do your professional ambitions align with osteopathic medicine? [500 words]

  4. What influenced your decision to apply to VCOM? (e.g., personal or medical experiences; influences of friends/family/physicians/mentors; etc.) [500 words]

  5. In the event you submitted an application to VCOM last year, what improvements have you made to your application? [no limit, optional]

  6. If you have not completed all the prerequisite coursework, please state how you intend on completing it prior to matriculation. [no limit, optional]

  7. Have you had any lapse of 2 years or greater in taking full time college-level coursework? [no limit, optional]

  8. Have you attended any VCOM Virtual or In Person Event including a Virtual Physician Event, Alumni Events, Diversity Events. If so, please list the event and what you gained from the experience. [no limit, optional]
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There's way more to fill in so let me know if you need any more details. I didn't post all questions as it has maaany sections:
1627073063146.png
 
It may also depend on your state of residence. See posts from #13 in the Loui thread: #13
 
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doctorhopefulstressed said:
Is yours still like this? I submitted July 2nd but didn't have my MCAT transferred to AACOMAS officially. I fixed that last week but mine still says this
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That's just a peculiarity of their system. I confirmed that my app has all the required components in place and it says "Your application is incomplete." with "Your application is at screening.". This means that someone went through and verified that all the required things are there but the committee deciding about interviews didn't go through it yet. So, it's incomplete in a sense it's still being worked on (i.e. you're not rejected/accepted) and not that it's missing something 😀
 
minipiano said:
I got this a week ago:
"We thank you for taking the time to submit an application to the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine. Your application is scheduled to be reviewed by committee. The purpose of the committee meeting is to determine whether or not to invite you to submit a Secondary Application along with letters of recommendation.

Please be advised: considering the volume of applications we receive, the review process may take a few months. As soon as the committee has had the opportunity to review your file, we will be certain to notify you by email."

This is pretty much a R right?
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I got this and I dont see it as an R at all. I think it is just their way of saying we got your application and will start the review process
 
passion4embryology said:
I got this and I dont see it as an R at all. I think it is just their way of saying we got your application and will start the review process
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It's nice to hear that other people have received this! I'm just only waiting on WCU and this school at this point, so I hope to hear back soon.
 
I spoke with the VCOM admission today and they informed me that I can share some links with you guys. They have plenty of legitimately good events for applicants to VCOM as well as Virtual Physician's Experience (aka panel with different physicians) which can be useful for applying to any medical school.

  1. Signup form to directly get into summer events
  2. Information/future events mailing list signup
  3. If you have any specific questions regarding e.g. MCAT/GPA combos, ECs or anything regarding admissions which is not really cut-and-dry with procedures Danielle Foutz is the person to contact: dfoutz [at] vcom.edu
Honestly? If the whole administration of that school works like the admission does I'm sold 😉
 
anyone having issues with their LORs? i submitted my secondary a few weeks back and got an email from admissions saying they're missing one of my LORs even though there's a checkmark next to LORs on the application checklist. emailed and called and no response. worried my application will stay incomplete and get passed over...
 
For those of you who are waiting on a secondary, I just called today and was told that I was screened out, because my MCAT isn't 505~507. You guys should call and ask, and they'll specify!
 
And even their site specifies that they consider a 500 competitive but that

VCOM considers the GPA most important, and the MCAT score in the decision process is balanced with the GPA
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Also OOS for all campuses, but I am in the target states and Appalachia target region.
 
minipiano said:
For those of you who are waiting on a secondary, I just called today and was told that I was screened out, because my MCAT isn't 505~507. You guys should call and ask, and they'll specify!
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I thought they just require higher then like a 495
 
They're not using an algorithm - they legitimately manually look at each candidate during screening before secondary. That means there's a substantial difference between 500 & 3.0 vs 500 & 4.0 vs 520 & 3.0. VCOM is not cut-and-dry but look truly holistically from the beginning.

It also depends where that GPA comes from in terms of classes. Looking at a transcript it's obvious for a person if the candidate tried to pad their GPA or was truly taking upper level science classes and stayed consistent. Ultimately I believe their process makes sense but it takes a lot of time. This is why they stress during every event to apply earlier and give a discounted 2° rate for those who do so that they can have that time to review apps manually.

During an event today they mentioned they've got around a half of usual number of apps (~4.5k/9k).
 
Plus last years thread said they calculate your gpa in the most recent 120 hours as they place an emphasis on recent coursework.
 
docemmettbrown said:
Also OOS for all campuses, but I am in the target states and Appalachia target region.
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I'm not, unfortunately. I have relatives (including a sibling) who live in one of the target states, PA. I didn't really see any place to mention ties to the target states but not really sure if they care more about actually coming from there vs "ties", though.
 
Phil O'Viridae said:
I'm not, unfortunately. I have relatives (including a sibling) who live in one of the target states, PA. I didn't really see any place to mention ties to the target states but not really sure if they care more about actually coming from there vs "ties", though.
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From what they were saying they want to recruit people from these areas or with any "ties" to these areas to increase the statistical likelyhood of people actually staying in the region. The whole campus preference is another thing which is done to support that goal. This is why they try to match students the closest to their preferred place or family they have so again they will more likely stay in the area.

I think it's not so much about coming from the place or having firm ties but having a REASON to stay there. Obviously this is a school with a strong emphasis on addressing the need of the region. While having students from, say, Cali (random far place) is beneficial there's a greater chance they will leave to live in a region similar to Cali for the residency and practice.


Also, to add something to what VCOM stresses: they don't want to milk candidates. During every event they say they're not happy with people applying to multiple campuses via AACOMAS because it's a waste of money. Also, that's why they integrate the secondary for all campuses into one under a single fee. They follow up with doing $25 secondary fee for earlier applicants. This is also probably why they do a manual review and don't send 2° to people who they think will be out-screened by the main committee to prevent them from wasting money and time on filling the secondary.

I'm sure there are MANY more criteria they use for screening. They're not public so that people don't try to artificially game them.
 
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TheWaldonator said:
I just called and they said my app is still under review to determine if I will receive a secondary. They were also extremely nice and polite, for whatever that's worth.
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I actually meant to post what I said to the WCU thread. So sorry everyone!!
 
Russell1202 said:
Mine isn't like that yet. Maybe because I don't have my letters in yet?
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yes I emailed them about the incomplete on my application. that mean's they haven't finished reviewing your app yet
 
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docemmettbrown said:
That’s interesting… I don’t have an mcat that high and have a secondary and it’s marked complete.
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I didn't have an mcat score when I submitted my app but they sent me a secondary. However, my GPA is 4.00.
 
Mica45 said:
I

I didn't have an mcat score when I submitted my app but they sent me a secondary. However, my GPA is 4.00.
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I didn't have an mcat but now I have one but still no secondary.
 
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guestuser5300 said:
I didn't have an mcat but now I have one but still no secondary.
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hold you head high. If you have a good GPA you'll get a secondary. They emailed me and said they are very busy and it takes them months to review apps. I submitted mine early that's why I got secondary pretty early. I wish you best of luck.
 
guestuser5300 said:
I didn't have an mcat but now I have one but still no secondary.
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You should receive one soon then since you have a score. They do screen for sGPA 3.2 and mcat 494 minimum + being from the southeastern region since it is their target region. It might take some time to get the secondary since they already received +4,000 apps. But don't worry it is very early in the cycle!
 
For the CV section on the secondary app what makes something a "college" experience vs. a "work/volunteer" experience. Many of my experiences were during college and I was wondering what to classify them as.

Also, for the experience section, what counts as healthcare volunteering? Would shadowing, research in cancer labs, or premedical clubs in college count? (I'm worried I might not have true healthcare volunteering) (I have worked in a nursing home but that was compensated)

Any input is appreciated!
 
Asparaginedoc said:
For the CV section on the secondary app what makes something a "college" experience vs. a "work/volunteer" experience. Many of my experiences were during college and I was wondering what to classify them as.

Also, for the experience section, what counts as healthcare volunteering? Would shadowing, research in cancer labs, or premedical clubs in college count? (I'm worried I might not have true healthcare volunteering) (I have worked in a nursing home but that was compensated)

Any input is appreciated!
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As the admission for all campuses is the same the answer from Virginia applies here as well: 2021-2022 Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM-Virginia)
 
Hey ya'll! I also had a question in regards to the CV. I've seen different things in regards to listing experiences, but are we also listing the achievement portion from our AACOMAS app as well?
 
TRP23 said:
Hey ya'll! I also had a question in regards to the CV. I've seen different things in regards to listing experiences, but are we also listing the achievement portion from our AACOMAS app as well?
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Looking at the instruction which says: "Please account for all periods of time since high school graduation to the present, even if these experiences are listed on your AACOMAS application. List your educational experiences, military service, volunteer positions, or other experiences. A short title/description ONLY is needed." it highly depends.

They want to know what you did since high school in terms of time, but I wouldn't list like a second major there. Remember that they DO HAVE your full app from AACOMAS and use it. This is meant to be a short summary/timeline of things and not a every little blip in your history.
 
curiouscatmed said:
Any word on when invites for interviews will start being sent out?
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They stated during their virtual event that they start interviews 2nd or 3rd week of September (depends on the campus) so II most likely sent out end of August.

Edits: Someone got II today from the Louisiana campus
 
greg129 said:
Looking at the instruction which says: "Please account for all periods of time since high school graduation to the present, even if these experiences are listed on your AACOMAS application. List your educational experiences, military service, volunteer positions, or other experiences. A short title/description ONLY is needed." it highly depends.

They want to know what you did since high school in terms of time, but I wouldn't list like a second major there. Remember that they DO HAVE your full app from AACOMAS and use it. This is meant to be a short summary/timeline of things and not a every little blip in your history.
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Thank you! I'm just going to keep the 'experiences' I've listed and leave it at that.
 
On their website, it says they don't require a physician letter, but on the secondary you need to fill out the physician letter form in in order to submit the secondary?

Anyone know how I should go about doing this?
 
koalaty said:
On their website, it says they don't require a physician letter, but on the secondary you need to fill out the physician letter form in in order to submit the secondary?

Anyone know how I should go about doing this?
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I submitted a letter from MS. but it says if you get accepted you need to get a letter from a DO as well.
 
Mica45 said:
I submitted a letter from MS. but it says if you get accepted you need to get a letter from a DO as well.
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From their website:
Is a letter of recommendation required from a physician for the 2021-2022 cycle? - No, but encouraged. We recommend attending one of our Virtual Physician Experiences if invited for a Secondary Application, particularly if you do not have a letter.
 
koalaty said:
On their website, it says they don't require a physician letter, but on the secondary you need to fill out the physician letter form in in order to submit the secondary?

Anyone know how I should go about doing this?
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I emailed them about this yesterday. They said that if you plan on getting a letter and know where it is going to come from, fill out the information accordingly. Otherwise, fill in the blanks with "N/A" and you should be able to submit.
 
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