6 to 8 credit hours)I mean I have taken the necessary classes but they told me I have to take additional ones for some reason even though I have already been accepted.From the admissions requirements page on their website:
"The required undergraduate courses for entry are:
They will accept you without them, but it is a condition that must be met for matriculation.
- Biological Sciences: One year with laboratory (8 credit hours/12 quarter hours)
- Physics: (6 to 8 credit hours)
- General or Inorganic Chemistry
- Organic Chemistry: (6 to 8 credit hours)
- English: (6 credit hours)
- A requirement for 6 additional biomedical science credit hours at the 300 level or above is required for matriculation (Faculty recommend courses inAnatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Immunology, Microbiology, Virology, or Genetics to enhance the student’s success in medical school)."
Yea. Which I think is the strange part. I keep hinting at them I graduated already but they said I still need to take them. I really liked the school so I'm going to suck it up if I need to take them but I think it would just be redundant.
Yeah I get that they want courses labeled as 300-level or above but my school that I did post-bac at offers anatomy, genetics, & micro at a 200-level but not above 300. If it is as simple as having a 300-level bio, I can take fire ecology or Ichthyology to satisfy the 300 -level course requirement.
Yea I think it has to be 300 or above. When I compiled a list of courses and sent it to VCOM to see which ones I could take to fulfill those 2 contingency classes, they crossed off the ones that were not 300 (like anatomy, etc).
I have been trying to get them to look back at my file because I was thinking they forgot I graduated. But when I talked to admissions they told me that when the committee met they decided that they would accept but because my mcat was crappy, they wanted me to take 2 more upper level classes to show that I know what I am doing. They basically told me that my GPA, application and interview were perfect but my mcat was sucky.
In undergrad, the 300 and above biology classes I took where cell and molecular bio and biochem. The two other classes that VCOM wants me to take are like a contingency for my acceptance because my mcat was low
Ahh I see. I suppose they are pretty black and white on the 300-level courses.
If you don't mind me asking, what were your stats?
how low is low? <25 or <30? I too am interested in VCOM
They did say that. At my school I took two anatomy courses; zoo 250 and z00 490. Zoo 490 is an upper level class, zoo 250 is a sophomore level class. It doesn't matter if you're taking a neurosurgery class, if the course number is below 300, it is a lower level class. Universities know what they're doing when they assign numbers to these courses.
My MCAT was a 21 (not so good). I majored in experimental psychology and graduated with honors with a 3.7 cumulative GPA and a science GPA of 3.5. I also had a lot of community service, shadowing experiences, and some research. So my grades and application are perfect for most medical schools that I applied too. My interview also went very well and was told it really was my saving grace. I had no trouble with any of the questions and felt really comfortable talking with the people who were interviewing me. I decided to go D.O. because the more research I did on the field, the more I thought it aligned with my views of how medicine should be practiced. I also think D.O. schools have better insight into the qualities needed to be a great physician more than most medical schools do.
VCOM is arguably one of the DO schools that are not number driven these days. I believe they really look at the totality of your application--not only GPAs and MCAT score. I got to look at my transcript again to see if I meet that 3000-4000 upper division science requirement since VCOM is my top choice since they are mission medicine oriented.
Yea I really do not understand the whole numbering system because in order to take 300 and above anatomies, physiologies, etc, you have to take the prereq's which are lower numbered but still called "physiology" and they are still tough classes. I am still planning on going to VCOM but I was put in a pretty tough position finding these 2 classes to take. I have already graduated and live in a different state than my undergrad school. So I had to find classes in my home state. I had to register as a non degree seeking student and had a late registration date and the enrolled students understandingly had priority when it came to registering. But I got lucky and am taking a genetics class at NC State and microbiology online through the University of New England.This is some what frustrating, as I have taken anatomy and physiology I and II, which were 204-206; they were pretty difficult to say the least. I've also taken microbiology which at my school got a puny 150? So In order to matriculate into VCOM, I would have to take genetics, zoology, and something else? That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but I'm just the lowly pre-med
Does your acceptance letter say that?
Yes. But when they called they told me that I was not the only one that had to do this.
That is a small price to pay for an acceptance at VCOM IMO... I hope to join the VCOM family soon... GL
Sent in the deposit last week! Can't wait to start
Congratulations! Do you plan to attend VCOM?
Thank you! Actually, I declined because I'll be going to OU-HCOM instead.
You're correct but I understand that they look at what county you live in, and the part of the state I live in is definitely not Appalachian. I could be wrong about that, but I think anyone has a shot at VCOM even though there is a preference.
