2024-2025 Virginia

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2024-2025 Virginia Secondary Essay Prompts: (wording of essay 2 has changed since last year)

2 short answer questions & 3 Essays:
Questions:
1. Please briefly describe how the pandemic impacted your ability to pursue experiences like clinical work, shadowing, research, or community service. (No apparent limit)

2. Please list any and all future activities in clinical work, shadowing, research, or community service that you plan to pursue in the upcoming year. (No apparent limit)

Essays:
1. Why are you interested in attending the University of Virginia School of Medicine? What factors will be most important to you in choosing a medical school? (350 word limit)

2. What about your individual background, perspective, or experience will serve as a source of strength for you or those around you at UVA? Feel free to write about any past experience or part of your background that has shaped your perspective and will be a source of strength, including but not limited to those related to your community, upbringing, educational environment, race, gender, or other aspects of your background that are important to you. (350 word limit)

3. Tell us about a challenge or obstacle you experienced. How did you manage it? (350 word limit)


Good luck to all applying!
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Incoming M1 here. Just wanna drop some advice and useful information that I wish I had when I was applying.

Virginia is known to be a stat-***** but don't be discouraged if you are a strong fit with low stats. I personally was below their 10th percentile for MCAT but due to my ECs and mission-fit, I got in. I also think they are trying to slightly pull away from the high-stat reputation and becoming more holistic—in the recent MSAR, their 10th/25th percentiles were lowered (rest of the curve stayed the same though). So they are definitely recruiting applicants with amazing backgrounds/ECs/stories even if they don't have like a 524 MCAT. Only thing is that you'll get a II later on in the cycle so be prepared for that.

UVA is truly the one of the "most chill" of all the T20s and T30s that I applied to and this was evident in my interview. They prioritize health and lifestyle (exams are online over the weekends and there is so so much student support). If you get an II, their post II rate is crazy high so you're pretty much gonna get in at that point. The interview is mostly a vibe check and another way for them to educate you about UVA.

There is also a pretty heavy emphasis on research and most M1s have a dedicated time over the summer where they do a research project. But also a surprisingly strong emphasis on social justice and just caring for Virginia's underprivileged populations. There is a social issues in medicine course with mandatory community service for one semester.

IMO, you get the best of both worlds with this school (research and service). I chose it over a bunch of other schools (including VCU, GW, EVMS, VT) because of this reason primarily but also because it offered me the best prestige, really good scholarships, and a very supportive community of students and professors.
 
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thefirerisen said:
Virginia is known to be a stat-***** but don't be discouraged if you are a strong fit with low stats. I personally was below their 10th percentile for MCAT but due to my ECs and mission-fit, I got in. I also think they are trying to slightly pull away from the high-stat reputation and becoming more holistic—in the recent MSAR, their 10th/25th percentiles were lowered (rest of the curve stayed the same though). So they are definitely recruiting applicants with amazing backgrounds/ECs/stories even if they don't have like a 524 MCAT. Only thing is that you'll get a II later on in the cycle so be prepared for that.
Click to expand...
+1 to this part -- I'm also an incoming M1 that had stats on the lower end for UVA (515/3.8)
 
Let me be the first to say that a late interview here is significantly different from the early and mid-cycle interviews described above in terms of acceptance yield. Suddenly, somewhere around the middle of February, the admissions committee began placing the vast majority of interviewees on the waitlist. Waitlist yield is also low, with around 10-12 applicants selected from a waitlist that starts at around 150. No WL movement whatsoever as of now.

Wishing all you 2024-2025 applicants an early interview and acceptance!
 
slapchop said:
Let me be the first to say that a late interview here is significantly different from the early and mid-cycle interviews described above in terms of acceptance yield. Suddenly, somewhere around the middle of February, the admissions committee began placing the vast majority of interviewees on the waitlist. Waitlist yield is also low, with around 10-12 applicants selected from a waitlist that starts at around 150. No WL movement whatsoever as of now.

Wishing all you 2024-2025 applicants an early interview and acceptance!
Click to expand...
I've seen this too but it makes sense since they likely filled their class at that point. FYI, I received my II in mid December (lower stats for UVA) and interviewed in late January. Folks were being accepted up till February.
 
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thefirerisen said:
Incoming M1 here. Just wanna drop some advice and useful information that I wish I had when I was applying.

Virginia is known to be a stat-***** but don't be discouraged if you are a strong fit with low stats. I personally was below their 10th percentile for MCAT but due to my ECs and mission-fit, I got in. I also think they are trying to slightly pull away from the high-stat reputation and becoming more holistic—in the recent MSAR, their 10th/25th percentiles were lowered (rest of the curve stayed the same though). So they are definitely recruiting applicants with amazing backgrounds/ECs/stories even if they don't have like a 524 MCAT. Only thing is that you'll get a II later on in the cycle so be prepared for that.

UVA is truly the one of the "most chill" of all the T20s and T30s that I applied to and this was evident in my interview. They prioritize health and lifestyle (exams are online over the weekends and there is so so much student support). If you get an II, their post II rate is crazy high so you're pretty much gonna get in at that point. The interview is mostly a vibe check and another way for them to educate you about UVA.

There is also a pretty heavy emphasis on research and most M1s have a dedicated time over the summer where they do a research project. But also a surprisingly strong emphasis on social justice and just caring for Virginia's underprivileged populations. There is a social issues in medicine course with mandatory community service for one semester.

IMO, you get the best of both worlds with this school (research and service). I chose it over a bunch of other schools (including VCU, GW, EVMS, VT) because of this reason primarily but also because it offered me the best prestige, really good scholarships, and a very supportive community of students and professors.
Click to expand...
Any chance you'd read my secondary? It's prewritten and I obviously don't have the official questions yet, but I'm mostly hoping to see if my "why us" essay is on the right track. No worries if you can't!
 
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Please briefly describe how the pandemic impacted your ability to pursue experiences like clinical work, shadowing, research, or community service. (No apparent limit)

Please list any and all future activities in clinical work, shadowing, research, or community service that you plan to pursue in the upcoming year. (No apparent limit)

Why are you interested in attending the University of Virginia School of Medicine? What factors will be most important to you in choosing a medical school? Please answer the question in 350 words or less.

What about your individual background, perspective, or experience will serve as a source of strength for you or those around you at UVA? Feel free to write about any past experience or part of your background that has shaped your perspective and will be a source of strength, including but not limited to those related to your community, upbringing, educational environment, race, gender, or other aspects of your background that are important to you. (350 words)


Tell us about a challenge or obstacle you experienced. How did you manage it? Please answer the question in 350 words or less.


@wysdoc
 
MSTP has those questions plus:
Below please discuss the areas of biomedical research and clinical specialty that interest you the most. Please answer the question in 350 words or less.

@wysdoc
 
+1 OOS

Anyone else having trouble accessing the secondary? It wont email me to set up my password after putting in my AMCAS id
 
Last edited:
ecobio said:
+1 OOS

Anyone else having trouble accessing the secondary? It wont email me to set up my password after putting in my AMCAS id
Click to expand...
I had to do it couple times before I got the email to set up my password. Maybe just try inputting it again
 
I haven't gotten the secondary yet. Have I been screened out or is it too early to tell? Sorry if this is too neurotic its my first time applying so don't really understand how it all works.
 
bluearrow30 said:
I haven't gotten the secondary yet. Have I been screened out or is it too early to tell? Sorry if this is too neurotic its my first time applying so don't really understand how it all works.
Click to expand...
No they don't screen! Don't worry I haven't gotten a secondary either yet.
Use this link for the official secondary screening/standards for most AMCAS schools. Its saved me a lot of sanity. https://students-residents.aamc.org/media/7011/download
 
choppastyle said:
No they don't screen! Don't worry I haven't gotten a secondary either yet.
Use this link for the official secondary screening/standards for most AMCAS schools. Its saved me a lot of sanity. https://students-residents.aamc.org/media/7011/download
Click to expand...
Second this. You should not worry at this point, or at all until you hear something from UVA indicating anything is wrong. It's not a stretch to say there might be a single person working in a back room, sending out secondaries based on a list of people whose AMCAS primaries were released to the school. It's not all automated, there are still actual people processing these things, and it means it can be slow (methodical).
 
Do y'all know if UVA is OOS friendly, specifically for TX residents?
 
For question 2, would you all reccomend actually listing in bullet point format the activites that you are planning to do? I'm assuming they are not wanting you to include any description/impact, correct?
 
Do any VA residents have any info on filling out the Virginia In-state Educational Privileges form that is required after submitting the secondary?
 
Does anyone know what they mean by "source of strength" (secondary essay #2)? Like strength as in something that's unique/strong about you, or strength as in how will you support yourself or your classmates?
 
flowfish said:
Does anyone know what they mean by "source of strength" (secondary essay #2)? Like strength as in something that's unique/strong about you, or strength as in how will you support yourself or your classmates?
Click to expand...
Also wondering this
 
anyone know if the "Please briefly describe how the pandemic impacted your ability to pursue experiences like clinical work, shadowing, research, or community service." is mandatory?
 
filmtomd said:
anyone know if the "Please briefly describe how the pandemic impacted your ability to pursue experiences like clinical work, shadowing, research, or community service." is mandatory?
Click to expand...

I was told by a recently admitted student to try and fill it out. I did a short paragraph and was told to flesh it out more 🤷‍♂️
 
RunnerDad said:
It's possible, but last year there weren't reported IIs until beginning August 8, so people shouldn't get too worried if there's no action in the next 2-3 weeks.
Click to expand...
That's good to know!
 
For this question:

2. Please list any and all future activities in clinical work, shadowing, research, or community service that you plan to pursue in the upcoming year. (No apparent limit)

Is everyone doing a bulleted list of each activity or more focused on a story?
 
kpeter said:
For this question:

2. Please list any and all future activities in clinical work, shadowing, research, or community service that you plan to pursue in the upcoming year. (No apparent limit)

Is everyone doing a bulleted list of each activity or more focused on a story?
Click to expand...
I listed like a list
 
According to MSAR, the first interview invites were supposed to go out yesterday, but no one reported any on Cycle Track or here on SDN!
 
Is anyone having trouble with their payment system? It won’t take the card I use for everything. Waiting on their finance team to get back to me.
 
wysdoc said:
2. What about your individual background, perspective, or experience will serve as a source of strength for you or those around you at UVA? Feel free to write about any past experience or part of your background that has shaped your perspective and will be a source of strength, including but not limited to those related to your community, upbringing, educational environment, race, gender, or other aspects of your background that are important to you. (350 word limit)
Click to expand...
This seems somewhat distinct from a traditional diversity prompt, I have identity and community experiences that fit this topic, but I discus them at length in my PS, meanwhile my canned diversity statement focuses on experiences I've had through work. I think this seems to specifically be asking for identity factors rather than experiential, would it be reasonable to talk about those identity factors again in response to this or should I talk about work even though it is a little off target given the specific wording?
 
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