VCOM Spartanburg, SC Discussion Thread 2010-11

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Does VCOM screen a lot more heavily than other schools? i'm still waiting for secondary and hoping that I get it, they told me they were waiting for summer grades but I sent those a while ago.
 
gatewasani said:
does vcom screen a lot more heavily than other schools? I'm still waiting for secondary and hoping that i get it, they told me they were waiting for summer grades but i sent those a while ago.
Click to expand...
if it was me i would call to make sure they got the update. They do seem to screen pretty heavy on primaries but i like that. Don't take my money and run if you don't like me
 
gatewasani said:
Does VCOM screen a lot more heavily than other schools? i'm still waiting for secondary and hoping that I get it, they told me they were waiting for summer grades but I sent those a while ago.
Click to expand...
They do not screen secondary very heavily. though there is some screening. This is what I fee.
best bet is to contact them.
 
The interview started at about 8:30 Bill King which is the director of student services gave a brief overview of the school their mission blah blah blah...it was like 8 of us and we was divided into like 2 groups the first group had their 3 one on one interviews btw 8:30 and 10 and the second group had theirs between 10-11:30 the interviews was not bad at all it was really really laid back it was like you were having a good conversation with your professor...I was so excited they mainly asked me questions from my aacomas application and questions about my volunteer experience...specific questions I remember is like which class was your most/least favorite,why DO, why VCOM, what are your strength and weakness..do you have any questions for me...Out of 3 of my interviews we was in there for like 30 min but it really felt like 10 min that is how laid back it was....after that we all rejoined and Mattie (Admissions Director) and Lindsey (Director of Student Services/ Finanical Aid) took us on a tour around Spartanburg and we got to see the landscape of the school which is really beautiful by the way...afterwards we had lunch from Jimmy Johns and a 4th year that was doing rotations at Spartanburg Regional came adn talked to us and then we had a Financial aid speeh...everything ended at about 2pm...All in All we were the first batch it was 8 of us we were all excited, the faculty especially Mattie was excited and I hope ALL 8 of us get excepted the admissions commitee meets TOMMOROW....so wish us all luck
SOrry so Long
 
Crosspoint thanks so much for the info. Was Mattie part of the individual interview also? I'm interested in who conducted the individual interviews because it doesn't look like they've hired any faculty yet.
 
crosspoint said:
The interview started at about 8:30 Bill King which is the director of student services gave a brief overview of the school their mission blah blah blah...it was like 8 of us and we was divided into like 2 groups the first group had their 3 one on one interviews btw 8:30 and 10 and the second group had theirs between 10-11:30 the interviews was not bad at all it was really really laid back it was like you were having a good conversation with your professor...I was so excited they mainly asked me questions from my aacomas application and questions about my volunteer experience...specific questions I remember is like which class was your most/least favorite,why DO, why VCOM, what are your strength and weakness..do you have any questions for me...Out of 3 of my interviews we was in there for like 30 min but it really felt like 10 min that is how laid back it was....after that we all rejoined and Mattie (Admissions Director) and Lindsey (Director of Student Services/ Finanical Aid) took us on a tour around Spartanburg and we got to see the landscape of the school which is really beautiful by the way...afterwards we had lunch from Jimmy Johns and a 4th year that was doing rotations at Spartanburg Regional came adn talked to us and then we had a Financial aid speeh...everything ended at about 2pm...All in All we were the first batch it was 8 of us we were all excited, the faculty especially Mattie was excited and I hope ALL 8 of us get excepted the admissions commitee meets TOMMOROW....so wish us all luck
SOrry so Long
Click to expand...
thanks for sharing and all the best.
 
Timothy Kowalski, D.O., Vice Dean, Carolinas Campus
Michael Mahalik, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Medical Education, Carolinas Campus
Ron Janukowski, D.O., Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, Carolinas Campus
Bill R. Price, Associate Vice President for Operations
THese four people I know interviewed it may have been one or two more people but I don't have my paper in front of me....and No Mattie did not interview she was kind of just guiding us to the right area and just making everyone feel comfortable...Her and lindsey mainly took us on the bus around Spartanburg which was really nice because everyone just finished with their interview and presentation. But in my opinion PLEASE do not be afraid they use this day to really get to know you they want to know who you are why DO and Why VCOM they obviously invited you to an interview and they like what they see on paper now they just want to see who you are..so be yourself and be honest and truthful and KNOW your application
 
I was one of the eight that interviewed yesterday as well. Interview day was far better than my greatest expectations! The faculty at VCOM are unlike any other, you can definitely tell they are in it for all of the right reasons. I stayed at the comfort suites and tried to eat a muffin before I left, however, i couldn't bring myself to eat b/c I was so nervous. I arrived at 8:00 and all eight EDP students had a little seat with boo-koos of information sitting in front of us. I was in interview group two so we had a VCOM presentation by Bill Price (so excited about this place) and Dr. Kowalski as well as Mattie Bendall chatted with us too. After the VCOM presentation we had a little break and they took our pictures. Then, INTERVIEW TIME! Like crosspoint, I had three interviews each lasting ~ 30 minutes, but they really did feel like 6 or 7 minutes to me! They were fun and I felt that I had a really good opportunity to get to know my interviewers better (Dr. Mahalik (love this man) Bill Price (super nice, like him too) and Dr. Kowalski (awesome guy, loved chatting with him). After the interviews we hopped in the VCOM van and took a tour of Wofford, which has a beautiful campus filled with extravagant old-time houses. Spartanburg impressed me as well. It's a fairly large city filled with PLENTY to do! It's ranked as the #1 place to live in SC and #48 in the entire U.S. We then drove down to the construction site of the new building. It's going to be an absolutely immaculate place! Jimmy Johns lunch awaited us when we returned. We ate with a 4th year med student who is doing his rotations at Spartanburg Regional ( a level 1 trauma center). After lunch we talked with Lindsey regarding financial aid. Then, I began my eight hour journey back to Henderson, TN for school.

VCOM Rocks!!
 
crosspoint said:
Timothy Kowalski, D.O., Vice Dean, Carolinas Campus
Michael Mahalik, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Medical Education, Carolinas Campus
Ron Janukowski, D.O., Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, Carolinas Campus
Bill R. Price, Associate Vice President for Operations
THese four people I know interviewed it may have been one or two more people but I don't have my paper in front of me....and No Mattie did not interview she was kind of just guiding us to the right area and just making everyone feel comfortable...Her and lindsey mainly took us on the bus around Spartanburg which was really nice because everyone just finished with their interview and presentation. But in my opinion PLEASE do not be afraid they use this day to really get to know you they want to know who you are why DO and Why VCOM they obviously invited you to an interview and they like what they see on paper now they just want to see who you are..so be yourself and be honest and truthful and KNOW your application
Click to expand...

Thanks fors haring the info. Hope to hear good news from you soon.

trauma12 said:
I was one of the eight that interviewed yesterday as well. Interview day was far better than my greatest expectations! The faculty at VCOM are unlike any other, you can definitely tell they are in it for all of the right reasons. I stayed at the comfort suites and tried to eat a muffin before I left, however, i couldn't bring myself to eat b/c I was so nervous. I arrived at 8:00 and all eight EDP students had a little seat with boo-koos of information sitting in front of us. I was in interview group two so we had a VCOM presentation by Bill Price (so excited about this place) and Dr. Kowalski as well as Mattie Bendall chatted with us too. After the VCOM presentation we had a little break and they took our pictures. Then, INTERVIEW TIME! Like crosspoint, I had three interviews each lasting ~ 30 minutes, but they really did feel like 6 or 7 minutes to me! They were fun and I felt that I had a really good opportunity to get to know my interviewers better (Dr. Mahalik (love this man) Bill Price (super nice, like him too) and Dr. Kowalski (awesome guy, loved chatting with him). After the interviews we hopped in the VCOM van and took a tour of Wofford, which has a beautiful campus filled with extravagant old-time houses. Spartanburg impressed me as well. It's a fairly large city filled with PLENTY to do! It's ranked as the #1 place to live in SC and #48 in the entire U.S. We then drove down to the construction site of the new building. It's going to be an absolutely immaculate place! Jimmy Johns lunch awaited us when we returned. We ate with a 4th year med student who is doing his rotations at Spartanburg Regional ( a level 1 trauma center). After lunch we talked with Lindsey regarding financial aid. Then, I began my eight hour journey back to Henderson, TN for school.

VCOM Rocks!!
Click to expand...
Great experience. Thanks for sharing and hope to hear good news from you.

thanks again
 
Thanks so much for sharing guys. I'm glad to hear that the interview was laid back. Hope u guys receive the good news soon.
 
Just got a call from the director of admissions! Accepted for the class of 2015!!! Woooo hoooooo!!!
 
trauma12 when did you get the call
 
trauma12 said:
Just got a call from the director of admissions! Accepted for the class of 2015!!! Woooo hoooooo!!!
Click to expand...

Congrats Trauma!!!! Im so happy for you. It's great to hear about acceptances. 😀
 
I just got an interview invite to VCOM and I am so excited!! Mattie was so sweet on the phone!
 
Hey all,
I interviewed on Monday and I would just like to reiterate what everyone has been saying about the interviews... they were fantastic. everyone was very very nice. Obviously be prepared but it's not worth stressing about. Good luck!
 
nikster1217 said:
Hey all,
I interviewed on Monday and I would just like to reiterate what everyone has been saying about the interviews... they were fantastic. everyone was very very nice. Obviously be prepared but it's not worth stressing about. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Glad to hear they went well Nikster!
 
nikster1217 said:
Hey all,
I interviewed on Monday and I would just like to reiterate what everyone has been saying about the interviews... they were fantastic. everyone was very very nice. Obviously be prepared but it's not worth stressing about. Good luck!
Click to expand...

All the best for your result.
would you like to share some more details of the interview?

thank you.
 
Sure,
The interview day started at 8:15. Dr. Kowalski gave a short speech about VCOM. Then, half the group went to their interviews. The other half listened to a presentation by Mattie, the Admissions Director and then had their interviews after. Each person had three individual interviews back-to-back that were one-on-one with a faculty or staff member. The interviews were very laid back, and they were about as much explaining VCOM's mission as they were asking questions to get to know us. No one asked me anything off-the-wall or anything that wasn't on my application. I would say that you should just know what you're talking about when you speak about the difference between osteopathy and allopathy, because that was what most questions were about. Also, they seem big on volunteering, so I got a lot of questions about that. After the interviews/presentation in whatever order, we went on a tour of Spartanburg and then had lunch with two students from the Virginia campus who were doing rotations at Spartanburg Regional.

Spartanburg Regional is really great. It's huge for such a small city. Also, everyone has been saying that the school is in a bad area, but I really didn't notice anything bad... my neighborhood I live in now seems more run-down than the street that the school is on, haha. I think it must be people who aren't from cities who are saying that. Also, all of the buildings will be swipe-card access, so they should be safe. Bonus: they gave us an apartment finder for the area... SOOOO AFFORDABLE!!! I want to move down now just because rent is so cheap haha.

Hope this helps. if you have any other questions, feel free to pm me. Best of luck at your interviews!
 
nikster1217 said:
Sure,
The interview day started at 8:15. Dr. Kowalski gave a short speech about VCOM. Then, half the group went to their interviews. The other half listened to a presentation by Mattie, the Admissions Director and then had their interviews after. Each person had three individual interviews back-to-back that were one-on-one with a faculty or staff member. The interviews were very laid back, and they were about as much explaining VCOM's mission as they were asking questions to get to know us. No one asked me anything off-the-wall or anything that wasn't on my application. I would say that you should just know what you're talking about when you speak about the difference between osteopathy and allopathy, because that was what most questions were about. Also, they seem big on volunteering, so I got a lot of questions about that. After the interviews/presentation in whatever order, we went on a tour of Spartanburg and then had lunch with two students from the Virginia campus who were doing rotations at Spartanburg Regional.

Spartanburg Regional is really great. It's huge for such a small city. Also, everyone has been saying that the school is in a bad area, but I really didn't notice anything bad... my neighborhood I live in now seems more run-down than the street that the school is on, haha. I think it must be people who aren't from cities who are saying that. Also, all of the buildings will be swipe-card access, so they should be safe. Bonus: they gave us an apartment finder for the area... SOOOO AFFORDABLE!!! I want to move down now just because rent is so cheap haha.

Hope this helps. if you have any other questions, feel free to pm me. Best of luck at your interviews!
Click to expand...
Thanks nikster1217 for detailed posting. It is a great help and I hope that you will post the acceptence news soon.
Take care
 
Hi Everyone,

Congratulations on everyone's interviews and acceptances! I was wondering - did VCOM send an e-mail as well as call you for the interview? I've been out of town a lot recently...just hoping I didn't miss the call!

Thanks!
~Tarun
 
srivatarun said:
Hi Everyone,

Congratulations on everyone's interviews and acceptances! I was wondering - did VCOM send an e-mail as well as call you for the interview? I've been out of town a lot recently...just hoping I didn't miss the call!

Thanks!
~Tarun
Click to expand...

I received a call, followed by an email, followed by an actual letter.
 
Hey guys quick question, do you think that the CC will be slightly easier to get into compared to Blacksburg. My MCAT is 7VR 9BS 9PS 25Q and my sGPA is 3.2. Would i have a good shot at getting in here? Im asking cause I have to specify a campus and I figure you guys that interviewed or applied would already have some good insight. Thanks alot everyone.
 
ScarletKnights said:
Hey guys quick question, do you think that the CC will be slightly easier to get into compared to Blacksburg. My MCAT is 7VR 9BS 9PS 25Q and my sGPA is 3.2. Would i have a good shot at getting in here? Im asking cause I have to specify a campus and I figure you guys that interviewed or applied would already have some good insight. Thanks alot everyone.
Click to expand...

I'd say you do have a slightly better shot at this campus due to the near fact that not as many people applied here. When it comes down to it though, I think you have a good shot at either campus. Get that thing submitted though, you want to be early in the game! Let me know if you have any questions about the process, etc. I just got accepted here.
 
trauma12 said:
I'd say you do have a slightly better shot at this campus due to the near fact that not as many people applied here. When it comes down to it though, I think you have a good shot at either campus. Get that thing submitted though, you want to be early in the game! Let me know if you have any questions about the process, etc. I just got accepted here.
Click to expand...

Thanks alot trauma12. Man I'm kinda on the fence on what to do, I think I would rather go to the Blacksburg campus but I feel like having a better shot at CC I should apply there. I guess I need to think this over lol.
 
ScarletKnights said:
Thanks alot trauma12. Man I'm kinda on the fence on what to do, I think I would rather go to the Blacksburg campus but I feel like having a better shot at CC I should apply there.
Click to expand...

One the secondary I'm pretty sure you can indicate "Either" campus.

ScarletKnights said:
I guess I need to think this over lol.
Click to expand...

Uh its getting late in the application cycle, the longer you delay, the worse your chances at getting an interview. A lot of us were invited back in August and completed our interviews in September or will be there next month. They'll send out more invites but with all the AACOMAS delays, processing delays at the schools themselves and the fact that the class is already filling (they've already begun accepting students), I wouldn't wait another day.
 
ScarletKnights said:
Thanks alot trauma12. Man I'm kinda on the fence on what to do, I think I would rather go to the Blacksburg campus but I feel like having a better shot at CC I should apply there. I guess I need to think this over lol.
Click to expand...

No prob!

Like cbrons said. I would go ahead and make a decision quick. Just check either on the app.
 
Filling out my secondary now, thanks for the input guys. Hope to have it submitted by tonight.
 
i just got called yesterday morning to schedule an interview! i'm down for oct 11th 🙂 anyone else interviewing on this day? i'll be driving down from indiana (~9 hours, according to google maps). i'm pretty pumped about the new school and getting the opportunity to interview. this application cycle is off to a nice start.

i know some of you prob want to know my stats... i'll work on making an mdapplicants profile soon! i'm just pretty bogged down with grad school midterms and work right now! check back.
 
socaldrewski said:
i just got called yesterday morning to schedule an interview! i'm down for oct 11th 🙂 anyone else interviewing on this day? i'll be driving down from indiana (~9 hours, according to google maps). i'm pretty pumped about the new school and getting the opportunity to interview. this application cycle is off to a nice start.

i know some of you prob want to know my stats... i'll work on making an mdapplicants profile soon! i'm just pretty bogged down with grad school midterms and work right now! check back.
Click to expand...

Congrats and good luck! I'm sure you'll love it here!
 
trauma12 said:
Congrats and good luck! I'm sure you'll love it here!
Click to expand...

thanks trauma12! i've been on the school's website almost constantly since i got the call. i take it you're interested in trauma, and i see spartanburg regional has a level 1 trauma center... do you know if that's where you/we would do our ER rotation? and what in the area justifies the level 1 trauma center? gunshots, racecar races, etc? i'm just curious since i work in an ER now
 
socaldrewski said:
thanks trauma12! i've been on the school's website almost constantly since i got the call. i take it you're interested in trauma, and i see spartanburg regional has a level 1 trauma center... do you know if that's where you/we would do our ER rotation? and what in the area justifies the level 1 trauma center? gunshots, racecar races, etc? i'm just curious since i work in an ER now
Click to expand...

Hey socal, I got an interview coming up too and I am really excited as well. I currently been working in a level 1 trauma center for a year. Injuries that qualify as penetrating, blunt, and also burns are immediately ushered into level 1s. From what I witnessed the usual rotation for medical students to be situated in the trauma unit is for there surgery rotation (keep in mind most of the physicians are critical care/general surgeons). I believe though that VCOM has trauma as an elective in there course catalog. Hope this helps and good luck on your interview.
 
For anybody who interviewed on Sept 20th, do you guys know when the admissions committee is going to make its decision?

Thanks
 
JayONOle said:
Hey socal, I got an interview coming up too and I am really excited as well. I currently been working in a level 1 trauma center for a year. Injuries that qualify as penetrating, blunt, and also burns are immediately ushered into level 1s. From what I witnessed the usual rotation for medical students to be situated in the trauma unit is for there surgery rotation (keep in mind most of the physicians are critical care/general surgeons). I believe though that VCOM has trauma as an elective in there course catalog. Hope this helps and good luck on your interview.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the well wishes, and best of luck at your interview too! do you know if spartanburg regional is where most of the rotations are that are associated with VCOM? or do they spread them out across several hospitals? I'm definitely excited to interview and think since it's a new campus there will be lots of talking points!
 
socaldrewski said:
Thanks for the well wishes, and best of luck at your interview too! do you know if spartanburg regional is where most of the rotations are that are associated with VCOM? or do they spread them out across several hospitals? I'm definitely excited to interview and think since it's a new campus there will be lots of talking points!
Click to expand...
Im sure they go into that detail at the interview but it would make sense that if we do any rotations besides spartanburg that we would participate within the neighboring south carolina and north carolina affiliated hospitals (found on website). Yeah definitely a new school that is a branch of an already established home school (blacksburg) is a great opportunity. So many pluses!
 
Any recent interview experiences?

Hope everyone is doing well and people who interviewed in last weeks are hearing good news.

thanks
 
socaldrewski said:
thanks trauma12! i've been on the school's website almost constantly since i got the call. i take it you're interested in trauma, and i see spartanburg regional has a level 1 trauma center... do you know if that's where you/we would do our ER rotation? and what in the area justifies the level 1 trauma center? gunshots, racecar races, etc? i'm just curious since i work in an ER now
Click to expand...

Yeah. We could definitely do our rotation there. Spartanburg is the 3rd largest city in SC. With that comes a lot of people and will a lot of people comes trauma!
 
Ace00 said:
For anybody who interviewed on Sept 20th, do you guys know when the admissions committee is going to make its decision?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I interviewed then... they said the meeting is Oct 4 (this Monday!!!). I suppose it will depend on how close to campus you live to determine when you get your letter. Hopefully it makes it to Pennsylvania quickly!!!
 
hey guys, this may sound silly but for the "your top 5 qualities" question (on the secondary), i assume you backed these things up with examples/experiences etc. I just want to make sure I'm filling everything out correctly!!

Thanks and congrats to all the people already interviewing/accepted!!!
 
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