Vcom Students

[Lauviah84]

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i just want some feedback about VCOM .... can anyone give me a yah/nah ; pros and cons
Thanks

 

[sayoc]

i just want some feedback about VCOM .... can anyone give me a yah/nah ; pros and cons
Thanks

I visited the place with a firend of mine. Here is what we throught

Pro: very very friendly staff... since it is new place, it is easy to get in. I think average mcat is 21... students are very nice. honor, and respect is strong within the student body.

conc. small place in the back yard of va tec. not sure how solid is their program. little reserach. no infor on the match.

 

[cyclegirl]

Just to correct the previous post, their average MCAT is not 21. I was told at my interview that it was either 24 or 26, I can not remember which one but I know for a fact that it was not below 24.

I have my own reasons of attending VCOM but I think what you are looking for is what current students have to say.

 

[sayoc]

Just to correct the previous post, their average MCAT is not 21. I was told at my interview that it was either 24 or 26, I can not remember which one but I know for a fact that it was not below 24.

I have my own reasons of attending VCOM but I think what you are looking for is what current students have to say.

I will take cyclegirl's correction. she could be right about the mcat. average mcat has jumped for the school. i visited vcom when it was first build but mcat was lower then. i do know some one with very low mcat from my school got in and now attending vcom.

 

[surfnvb7]

mcats dont make or break a good doctor. i know of people there that got 28's, and 30's. i also know of people who had 3.8gpa and scored 29 on mcats that got turned down from VCOM.

they simply dont place much emphasis on MCATs. and instead place higher emphasis on other things.

as for their research, they dont have much research going on at the actual building. by definition of their charter, as far as research goes they are affiliated with VT. therefore 80% of their research is on the main VT campus. and you probably just arent aware of it going on. in just about all cases, a faculty member of VCOM is the co-primary investigator with a faculty/research member of VT.

threre are alot of connections b/w the main campus, veterinary school, and osteopathic school. they share faculty, buildings, labs, grants etc.

people may have thought of them as a "safe" school the first year or two they were operating. but they are becoming highly competitive in admissions. if you live in an rural appalacian region during highschool, or were a student at VT you have a MAJOR advantage over the rest of the applicants.

 

[cee]

how bad is blacksburg? is it more of a collegetown or more of just a small town? i figured, if its a collegetown, it cant be so bad.. college towns usually have everything you need (food, nightlife, cheap housing, groceries, etc) but not everything you need.. is blacksburg a collegetown or just a small rurual town?

 

[TarHeelBorn]

how bad is blacksburg? is it more of a collegetown or more of just a small town? i figured, if its a collegetown, it cant be so bad.. college towns usually have everything you need (food, nightlife, cheap housing, groceries, etc) but not everything you need.. is blacksburg a collegetown or just a small rurual town?

I love Blacksburg... my grandfather was a math professor at VT so I spent a lot of time there when I was younger. It's got a really cool small-town downtown with little shops and stuff, but it's also got a Super Wal-mart for when you actually need useful things. My point is, it's a good mix of old-timey small town and a more modern midsize town.

The food in Blacksburg isn't terrific, but you get to know the places you can count on for a good meal. Backstreets is tops for Italian, El Guadalupe for Mexican. Since I just turned 21 last year, I can't say much for the nightlife, although my older cousins always seemed to have a good time when they'd go out. Housing is expensive in some parts of town (Preston Avenue and the like), but cheaper in the (admittedly fairly unattractive) student-dominated parts.

I'm still a ways from deciding where I'm going to apply, but if I apply to any osteopathic school, it'll be VCOM, solely because of Blacksburg (and of course VT- the Hokies are second only to my Tar Heels). Of course, I'm biased- not only did I spend a large part of my childhood there, but I'm predisposed to college towns anyway (Chapel Hill!). My advice is to check the town out for yourself- if you don't like small towns, you probably won't like Blacksburg; if you do, there's a good chance you will.

 

[cee]

if you don't like small towns, you probably won't like Blacksburg; if you do, there's a good chance you will.

well, i dont like small towns too much, but i do like college towns, for what its worth.. lets put it this way, i'd rather live in a small town that caters to a majority out of town students (a collegetown) rather than a small town that caters to local townies

i'm from a small swamptown myself that developed into a suburb of tampa.. although florida isnt the true "south", i went to college in a very small town in georgia and the very second i hear a southern accent, my minority ass is headin for the hills

 

[surfnvb7]

well, i dont like small towns too much, but i do like college towns, for what its worth.. lets put it this way, i'd rather live in a small town that caters to a majority out of town students (a collegetown) rather than a small town that caters to local townies

i'm from a small swamptown myself that developed into a suburb of tampa.. although florida isnt the true "south", i went to college in a very small town in georgia and the very second i hear a southern accent, my minority ass is headin for the hills

Blacksburg IS virginia tech. without the campus blacksburg wouldn't be much. and blacksburg is rated population wise, as a "town". that number obviously doesn't include students.

but make no mistake, its not that small. the university has over 25,000 students, biggest school in the state. everything you would need is close by. only annoying thing I can think of is if you have to go to a big mall, or go to a Best Buy, or PetSmart etc, you have to drive about 45min to Roanoke city. there is a smaller mall close by in Christiansburg, bout 10min away (w/ american eagle, victoria's secret, you know all the essentials). There is also a super walmart, target, lowes, homedepot, barnes and noble, outback steakhouse, red lobster etc. So as you can see its not that small. Radford city is also about 15min closeby, another college town.

As for the southern thing. well, all the places in southwest virginia are pretty much considered "nascar country". there is not much of a minority population in blacskburg at all, that is actual living residents. you can consult www.vt.edu for more specifics, but i know our largest minority group is indians & other internationals (7.2%), asians (6.3%), african americans (4.7%), whites (71.5%)

most of the minorities are graduate students, and student athletes. from my experience, the university has set up some nice international organizations to bring together those specific minority groups with others like them.

the only other frustrating things i can think about living here,

1) sometimes you have to deal with locals (born and raised families), whether in dealing with construction, retail, auto repair etc...they aren't the brightest apples that fell off the tree. most of them have barely made it through highschool. but they are very very nice people, and love the college town. just have to be patient when dealing with them sometimes.

2) some years, it can get VERY VERY VERY cold. i'm talking about below zero with the wind chill. we have had 2 very mild winters in the last 2 years. but that just means the big one is coming.

if you are into outdoorsy type stuff (like me), you will love this town. white water rafting, kayaking, canoeing, rock climbing, caving, REAL mountain biking, cycling, cross country running, and i'm sure i'm leaving out alot more.

i honestly cant say i've met a single person who came to this school, and didnt like it.

i'm just finishing my 7th year here, did my undergrad and masters here. so if you have any specific questions let me know. like i said before, i knew the first medical school staff before the building was even built, and i do work in conjunction with grants from the medical school also. I have been over there many times to work with some docs and sit in on lectures and conferences etc.