VCU/MCV secondary question

[enigma85]

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Sorry to start another VCU thread, but does anyone know what's up with question 5 of the supplemental application?

"The School of Medicine has a geographically separate campus at the Inova Fairfax Hospital. Beginning in 2005, 24 students will do all of their third year clinical rotations at this busy Northern Virginia Hospital. In order to best judge the number of interested students we request that you indicate agreement next to the single best answer for you:
a. I am interested and willing to commit to my 3rd and 4th year only at Fairfax.
b. I am interested and willing to spend my 3rd and 4th year at either Fairfax or MCV Hospitals.
c. I am interested and willing to commit to my 3rd and 4th year only at MCV Hospitals.

If more than 24 students indicate choice #1, a lottery will be held to select only 24 students at the end of your 2nd year in medical school. If fewer than 24 students indicate choice #1 or #2, a lottery will be held among the other students at the end of your 2nd year in medical school to assign students to Fairfax. Once you check off your choice you are committed to that choice and will be assigned as space allows."

I don't know much about the area or hospitals to be honest. Why don't they ask this question after accepting a student? Anyway, does anyone know anything about these 3 options? Thanks!

 

[Bre]

Wow I can't believe they are asking you to make a binding decision like that now, before you've even experienced either hospital or area. I guess my advice is to google the hospitals and see if you can find anything on them. What a terrible thing to put on the secondary though.

 

[Carmenita79]

I think they just want to know if there are people out there with a strong preference for one or the other. After getting accepted, you are asked this same question again and can change the answer you put in your secondary.... if you don't know about either site, just select B.

Sorry to start another VCU thread, but does anyone know what's up with question 5 of the supplemental application?

"The School of Medicine has a geographically separate campus at the Inova Fairfax Hospital. Beginning in 2005, 24 students will do all of their third year clinical rotations at this busy Northern Virginia Hospital. In order to best judge the number of interested students we request that you indicate agreement next to the single best answer for you:
a. I am interested and willing to commit to my 3rd and 4th year only at Fairfax.
b. I am interested and willing to spend my 3rd and 4th year at either Fairfax or MCV Hospitals.
c. I am interested and willing to commit to my 3rd and 4th year only at MCV Hospitals.

If more than 24 students indicate choice #1, a lottery will be held to select only 24 students at the end of your 2nd year in medical school. If fewer than 24 students indicate choice #1 or #2, a lottery will be held among the other students at the end of your 2nd year in medical school to assign students to Fairfax. Once you check off your choice you are committed to that choice and will be assigned as space allows."

I don't know much about the area or hospitals to be honest. Why don't they ask this question after accepting a student? Anyway, does anyone know anything about these 3 options? Thanks!

 

[boo-yeh]

Inova's an awesome hospital with a great reputation. It might be a good option for people that are less than enthusiastic about being in Richmond for four years.

 

[Vizsla]

Sorry to start another VCU thread, but does anyone know what's up with question 5 of the supplemental application?

"The School of Medicine has a geographically separate campus at the Inova Fairfax Hospital. Beginning in 2005, 24 students will do all of their third year clinical rotations at this busy Northern Virginia Hospital. In order to best judge the number of interested students we request that you indicate agreement next to the single best answer for you:
a. I am interested and willing to commit to my 3rd and 4th year only at Fairfax.
b. I am interested and willing to spend my 3rd and 4th year at either Fairfax or MCV Hospitals.
c. I am interested and willing to commit to my 3rd and 4th year only at MCV Hospitals.

If more than 24 students indicate choice #1, a lottery will be held to select only 24 students at the end of your 2nd year in medical school. If fewer than 24 students indicate choice #1 or #2, a lottery will be held among the other students at the end of your 2nd year in medical school to assign students to Fairfax. Once you check off your choice you are committed to that choice and will be assigned as space allows."

I don't know much about the area or hospitals to be honest. Why don't they ask this question after accepting a student? Anyway, does anyone know anything about these 3 options? Thanks!

there are a large # of students at VCU from northern Virginia, so these people are usually the ones who select "spend 3rd/4th only at Fairfax". If you are not sure, pick "Fairfax or MCV". During orientation of your first yr, there are presentations on the Inova campus that provide a more detailed look. If there are more than 24 students who chose "Fairfax only", then a fairfax waitlist is made. During 1st/2nd yr, some people decide they would rather stay at MCV so spots become available and students on the fairfax waitlist are added. I believe those students who chose "fairfax only" are added first from the waitlist, and then those students who chose "fairfax or mcv" are added afterwards. The list fluctuates A LOT during 1st/2nd yr so even if u dont get on the list during first yr, its probable that you will get on it during second yr as more people drop their spots. its a tough choice to make and most people decide on fairfax mainly due to location (closer to family or they like the Northern VA/DC area). Both Inova and MCV hospitals have great reputations and students who have graduated after doing rotations at either hospital have matched very well. things to consider are Northern VA is a lot more expensive than richmond, also you will be moving away with only 24 of your classmates so you wont be seeing much of your class anymore unless you come back to richmond to visit or for an elective rotation. then again, you dont really have time too much time to hang out with classmates during 3rd yr anyways

 

[armybound]

when VCU asks for your pre-reqs, do you think it matters what the bio courses are?

I made some good grades in my upper level bios like immunology, behavioral neuroscience, etc.. but that's not general biology, it's more like advanced level biology.

Should they care, or should I go with what I did best in?

Oh, and is statistics considered "college level math"?

 

[87138]

Oh, and is statistics considered "college level math"?

That's what I'm wondering too. I've taken Calc I and then a statistics class. So, whether or not I've completed a year of college math depends on their definition of college math.

 

[armybound]

That's what I'm wondering too. I've taken Calc I and then a statistics class. So, whether or not I've completed a year of college math depends on their definition of college math.

I've taken calc 1 and 2 stats courses, both of which I did better in than calc 1. so I'd really prefer to use my 2 stats courses 🙂

plus if only calc completes the requirement, we're screwed..

 

[Daydreamer2008]

when VCU asks for your pre-reqs, do you think it matters what the bio courses are?

I made some good grades in my upper level bios like immunology, behavioral neuroscience, etc.. but that's not general biology, it's more like advanced level biology.

Should they care, or should I go with what I did best in?

Oh, and is statistics considered "college level math"?

Ya, I have that question too. i want to put down my Cell biology and cell biology lab courses b/c I got an A- and A in them. But I dont want to put my lower division bio classes cuz i did not do as well 😉

 

[armybound]

Ya, I have that question too. i want to put down my Cell biology and cell biology lab courses b/c I got an A- and A in them. But I dont want to put my lower division bio classes cuz i did not do as well 😉

same here 😉

I bet a lot of people do this..

 

[FlowLimited]

Inova's an awesome hospital with a great reputation. It might be a good option for people that are less than enthusiastic about being in Richmond for four years.

Agreed. Inova Fairfax is amazing. Although, I'll admit I'm a bit biased since I was born there. 😀

 

[ssquared]

Agreed. Inova Fairfax is amazing. Although, I'll admit I'm a bit biased since I was born there. 😀

Haha nice. I've shadowed a bunch of doctors out of that hospital, and I'll agree that it's pretty awesome. Nice new cardiac center, building a separate children's hospital, and everything else. It's also cool that they take on students from 4 med schools. I did rounds one day with students from VCU, UVA, and Georgetown in the same group.

 

[rachitdoshi]

It doesn't matter what you put down now, they'll let you change your selection if they accept you

Sorry to start another VCU thread, but does anyone know what's up with question 5 of the supplemental application?

"The School of Medicine has a geographically separate campus at the Inova Fairfax Hospital. Beginning in 2005, 24 students will do all of their third year clinical rotations at this busy Northern Virginia Hospital. In order to best judge the number of interested students we request that you indicate agreement next to the single best answer for you:
a. I am interested and willing to commit to my 3rd and 4th year only at Fairfax.
b. I am interested and willing to spend my 3rd and 4th year at either Fairfax or MCV Hospitals.
c. I am interested and willing to commit to my 3rd and 4th year only at MCV Hospitals.

If more than 24 students indicate choice #1, a lottery will be held to select only 24 students at the end of your 2nd year in medical school. If fewer than 24 students indicate choice #1 or #2, a lottery will be held among the other students at the end of your 2nd year in medical school to assign students to Fairfax. Once you check off your choice you are committed to that choice and will be assigned as space allows."

I don't know much about the area or hospitals to be honest. Why don't they ask this question after accepting a student? Anyway, does anyone know anything about these 3 options? Thanks!

 

[Daydreamer2008]

same here 😉

I bet a lot of people do this..

I just spoke with the admissions office at VCU, they said it would be ok to list a Cell biology course (my case) for the biology prereq requirement. 🙂

 

[armybound]

I just spoke with the admissions office at VCU, they said it would be ok to list a Cell biology course (my case) for the biology prereq requirement. 🙂

thanks, I had gone ahead and submitted it with 1 semester of general bio and 1 semester of physiology.

good to know I won't be rejected for it.. haha.

you didn't ask about the math requirement, did you?

 

[xxbruinxx]

while i'm in a similar situation as some of the other posters, where I've done better on upper-div courses, I'm going to play it safe and stick with the basic bio. They specifically state "pre-reqs" and since I'd imagine they want to compare applicants across the board, I'm going with those lower-div courses. All the other courses are on the AMCAS anyway, so I hope they pick up on trends from that.

btw, Any thoughts on the somewhat open-ended essay?

 

[armybound]

I wrote about something I thought would really help them understand who I am.. so it's a personal subject, but gives them a little taste of what I care about.. and it has a splash of my sense of humor in it.

 

[whateva07]

So I'm a reapplicant...and I have to fill out the question

what additional qualifications do you have? (limit of 150 characters)

ahhh 150 characters is no space to explain anything. Anyone understand this question?

 

[armybound]

"better grades, more experience"

 

[whateva07]

"better grades, more experience"

When they say qualifications...can things like motivated, persistant be used...or those more so characteristics?

 

[Jolie South]

When they say qualifications...can things like motivated, persistant be used...or those more so characteristics?

I don't think those would be the same thing.

For me, qualifications = more volunteer experience, better grades, higher mcat, etc.

or in other words, things that you would put on a resume.

 

[whateva07]

I don't think those would be the same thing.

For me, qualifications = more volunteer experience, better grades, higher mcat, etc.

or in other words, things that you would put on a resume.

Ok gotcha. Thanks🙂

 

[whateva07]

Ok guys I'm having trouble with getting the format to work on secondary. Like when I preview my app, all my paragraphs are together. Any of you able to fix that? Or am I going to have to turn it in as it is.

 

[armybound]

Ok guys I'm having trouble with getting the format to work on secondary. Like when I preview my app, all my paragraphs are together. Any of you able to fix that? Or am I going to have to turn it in as it is.

it says on the webpage that when you preview it the formatting will be all screwed up, but when you submit it they will receive the properly formatted version.

 

[whateva07]

it says on the webpage that when you preview it the formatting will be all screwed up, but when you submit it they will receive the properly formatted version.

Oh sweet. Thanks....and whats this abt text format vs word format. I dont see how it will make a difference.

 

[armybound]

Oh sweet. Thanks....and whats this abt text format vs word format. I dont see how it will make a difference.

I didn't read that part, sorry.

 

[whateva07]

If u click the link it says

If you are pasting an essay from a word processor, please remove all formatting. The best technique would be to save the file as a text (.txt) file and then paste into the form. Failure to do so may cause problems with your application

 

[armybound]

Hmm, all I can really think of is Word will automatically add some characters, like instead of fiancee it does fiancée, and those special characters won't show up when you paste them into the box.

Other than that, I don't know.. I wouldn't be too worried about it, though.

 

[whateva07]

Ok sorry totally hogging up this thread, but anyways...

Please briefly explain any lapses in your undergraduate education

This is optional right??

 

[armybound]

yeah. if you don't have any, don't answer it.

 

[whateva07]

Thanks armybound 🙂 you've been really helpful! Best of luck to you.

 

[armybound]

thanks, you too.