University of Virginia Secondary

[deez4life]

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overall, i don't think the uva secondary is all too bad, albeit lengthy. three standard essays, and not too much paperwork.

one question though... does anyone know the max character count for the essays? the lady at admissions said the max was 1500 characters and then the text box wouldn't fill anymore, but i've been able to fit an infinite amount in the text box without any warnings. i'm sorta scared to press the finish button on my secondary to see what happens...

anyone know for sure?

 

[daphnia]

when did you receive the secondary and how (snail mail or email)?

 

[exmike]

Originally posted by daphnia
when did you receive the secondary and how (snail mail or email)?

I received it both ways

 

[deez4life]

i got an email about a week ago with the link to the website.

so.... nobody has turned this thing in yet?

 

[SonGoku]

I only got it in the mail.

 

[Megalofyia]

I must say I was rather impressed with UVA and the fact that they sent both snail mail and e-mail.

 

[aquaboy]

The reason they tell you to only fill out the text box is because you mail the secondary in and they will only see what is in the text box (you can't scroll down on paper). Atleast that is how it was done last year. Good luck to all applying to UVA this year, it's an awesome school.

 

[SonGoku]

Actually you just mail the check in (as well as your LORs) and everything else is submitted online. I sent mine off yesterday. YAY!

 

[judoka]

uh, the application submits itself electronically and the text box didn't stop. I didn't read about any limits to length either...i mean, between all the secondaries and everything, i feel so rushed right now. Anywya, i submitted things and you would have to scroll down to read it...i hope that is ok.

 

[deez4life]

Originally posted by judoka
uh, the application submits itself electronically and the text box didn't stop. I didn't read about any limits to length either...i mean, between all the secondaries and everything, i feel so rushed right now. Anywya, i submitted things and you would have to scroll down to read it...i hope that is ok.

yeah the text box keeps expanding, but the admissions office said strictly 1500 characters, so i've been trying hard to pare down my essays. it'd be kinda crappy to send them in with 2000 characters and then not have them see a chunk of my essay.

 

[judoka]

did they say that on a website or something, or did you have to contact them? thanks.

 

[cather]

Does each short response have to be 1500 characters or should all the responses combined be 1500 characters?

 

[deez4life]

i called the admissions office twice yesterday to double-check. it's 1500 chars per essay... which is more than enough space, but not as much as i'd like.

 

[avhart]

man, I didn't even check the character count...if there is a limit, they should put it somewhere! my essays weren't too long, though, so hopefully I'll be okay.

 

[Steinway]

can someone please post the essay questions?
thanks..

 

[deez4life]

Originally posted by Steinway
can someone please post the essay questions?
thanks..

1. Why are you interested in attending the University of Virginia School of Medicine?

2. Briefly describe yourself and your medical career as you see it ten years from now.

3. What do you think will be your greatest personal challenge as a physician, and how will you address this?

 

[AlternateSome1]

Just to let you know...I looked at the source code for the webpage and the boxes are limited to 1600 characters rather than 1500 as suggested (probably to get a little leeway if someone doesn't count spaces or something). Hope that helps your essay-cutting woes.

~AS1~

 

[sanoge7]

crap -- where did you see that? i didn't see anything anywhere about characters. my essays were DEFINITELY cut off. what shoul d I do? am i alone here?

 

[AlternateSome1]

Right click on the web page and click view-source. It can be a lot of trouble trying to find it if you don't know HTML though, so you can just take my word for the 1600 character limit.

~AS1~

 

[calebho501]

My essays were way over the limit, like 2500 characters for each essay. I wonder why they didn't post up any character limit info??

Now that I have submitted the secondary, I think I'll have to call them

 

[sanoge7]

calebho -- can you please let me know what yhey say. i'm in the same boat. thanks!

 

[calebho501]

I called up UVA and asked about the secondary. The lady verified that the limit is 1500 characters each essay. However, when she pulled out my file and look at what's transmitted and printed out, none of my essays (about 3000 characters each) was truncated. So yay, I don't have to resubmit it.

By the way, my app was completed on 8/12, according to the lady on the phone, but I never got any email or snail mail about it. You guys may wanna call admissions just to verify that your file is completed.

Cheers,
Caleb