VCU School of Pharmacy

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Hello,

I got an invitation to the supplemental but I was wondering if they mail it to you or email it to you? She called me today! I thought I wasn't going to get an invite at this time, but how cool :)
They send it in the mail. She verified my address on the phone, and then I got it about a week later. Congrats on the interview!

Members don't see this ad.
 
They send it in the mail. She verified my address on the phone, and then I got it about a week later. Congrats on the interview!


Thanks for the response! Can I ask you where you stayed/transportation/ and which airport you flew into? I am already interviewing on the 30th in Illinois, so I'm trying to figure it out quickly. THank you!
 
Hello,

I got an invitation to the supplemental but I was wondering if they mail it to you or email it to you? She called me today! I thought I wasn't going to get an invite at this time, but how cool :)
Congrats! They mailed me my supplementals and got it around a week later. Good Luck and don't stress, the process isn't as bad as you think!
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Thanks for the response! Can I ask you where you stayed/transportation/ and which airport you flew into? I am already interviewing on the 30th in Illinois, so I'm trying to figure it out quickly. THank you!

Richmond International Airport is the closest one and the Richmond Marriot a couple of streets down.
 
Richmond International Airport is the closest one and the Richmond Marriot a couple of streets down.


Oh thank you! Also, did you handwrite your supplemental in the lines they give you? Or are we supposed to write more and attach a typed version of it? Sorry for the late questions, I really just found out Monday that I was going :) thanks!
 
Oh thank you! Also, did you handwrite your supplemental in the lines they give you? Or are we supposed to write more and attach a typed version of it? Sorry for the late questions, I really just found out Monday that I was going :) thanks!

I just hand written mine. I don't think they care really :)
 
Anyone from March 17th interviews heard anything back yet?
 
Let me clarify a few things before you all ask for your deposits back...


New schools have a lot of issues to iron out that I think are self-evident, but even established colleges have a lot going on behind the scenes because of the new accreditation standards. - but it happens, and the bumps are ironed out with time and time alone.
.
I agree with this that the bumps will be "ironed out with time"
But the currently at this "time" the bumps have not been ironed out. Why should you want to pay your hard earned money and spent your time and effort and wait for issues to be ironed out. The issues at this school will be fixed in 2-3 yrs. Which means if you are coming in next year, you will face problems that you should not have to deal with. Pharmacy is challenging enough without you having to take on extra bumps. Our class has lost some great students/people due to these "bumps"
 
I agree with this that the bumps will be "ironed out with time"
But the currently at this "time" the bumps have not been ironed out. Why should you want to pay your hard earned money and spent your time and effort and wait for issues to be ironed out. The issues at this school will be fixed in 2-3 yrs. Which means if you are coming in next year, you will face problems that you should not have to deal with. Pharmacy is challenging enough without you having to take on extra bumps. Our class has lost some great students/people due to these "bumps"

How is the camaraderie between students? Are you all friends and hang out together outside of studying?
 
^^third this

(for what it's worth, if i end up here I plan to do my part to make it that way. I think having peer support will be an important part of the next 4 years. :) )
 
Has anyone who interviewed on March 17th hear back yet?
 
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I interviewed March 31 and haven't heard anything yet, but seeing as you haven't heard back yet, I guess they're just still working on it :(

Yeah, I guess we just have to be patient, although it's hard. I'll keep you all updated if I receive a call or an e-mail, and hopefully everyone reading this will do the same for us :)
 
I interview March 17th and haven't heard anything back...I was worried that others heard and I didn't....guess they are just sloww.....did they say anything about chances of being accepted to you all?
 
How is the camaraderie between students? Are you all friends and hang out together outside of studying?

To say the least, you will get to know most of your classmates very well while you're here. I see them more than I see my own family and we do a lot more than just study. VCU has intramural sports that a lot of my classmates participate in as well as many social events planned by the class social chairs. I've gotten to be very close to everyone I met here and out of my class of 140, I pretty much know everyone, some more than others, but nonetheless I'm acquainted with everyone. No need to worry, you'll make a LOT of good friends....guaranteed!
 
Would I be correct in assuming interviews are done this year? If so I guess I'm going to have to look at something else because this is the second year that nothing has happened (haven't even gotten a call for an interview).
 
Would I be correct in assuming interviews are done this year? If so I guess I'm going to have to look at something else because this is the second year that nothing has happened (haven't even gotten a call for an interview).

When they called me for the interview, they said the 3/31 date was the last and I had no choice but to take it if I wanted to go. So as of that phonecall, I think it was the last date. I'm sorry. I hope that I am wrong though.
 
When they called me for the interview, they said the 3/31 date was the last and I had no choice but to take it if I wanted to go. So as of that phonecall, I think it was the last date. I'm sorry. I hope that I am wrong though.
I interviewed on 3/17 the wait is agonizing......
 
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I interviewed on 3/17 the wait is agonizing......

Yeah, I feel like they should have told us by now...unless we are on the alternate list or we didn't get in? :( I'm just hoping they're still looking at the applications because it's so late!
 
^^I feel for you guys who are still waiting! Maybe since it is near the end of the admissions cycle they are being really careful about making final decisions so it is taking longer? :shrug:

Anyway, I keep checking here to see if anyone has any good news. Good luck and I hope you hear what you want to hear. :thumbup:
 
^^I feel for you guys who are still waiting! Maybe since it is near the end of the admissions cycle they are being really careful about making final decisions so it is taking longer? :shrug:

Anyway, I keep checking here to see if anyone has any good news. Good luck and I hope you hear what you want to hear. :thumbup:
When I spoke to Dr Ballentine he said that the commitee was meeting again and to expect letters to go out in the next 2 to 4 weeks....this was over 2 weeks ago...I wonder if others already found out from the same dates...then again I'm puzzled b/c my interview went very well so I was told so idk what's the hold up...
 
Does anyone know what VCU's policy on deferred entry is?
 
Does anyone know what VCU's policy on deferred entry is?

I am by no means an authority on this; I just checked their school page from PharmCAS. This is what was posted there:

"Are requests for deferred entrance considered? No"
http://schoolpages.pharmcas.org/publishedsurvey/496

That being said, I don't have any personal idea and maybe they will consider individual circumstances. So it might depend on whether or not you have a legitimate reason. Anyone else have better information than this?

Sorry, wish I could help. :oops: I hope you are ok!
 
When I went to my interview, there was one girl who said she was going to defer entry to the Fall of 2013 if she got in. Although, she might not have known VCU does not allow that, but I have a feeling she would have researched it before she tried. So my guess is that they do, but I'm not 100% either.
 
I am waitlisted; does anyone know how the alternate list works (if they rank you or just keep you in the dark about it all)?
 
I am waitlisted; does anyone know how the alternate list works (if they rank you or just keep you in the dark about it all)?

Ive been placed on alternate list too..... this sucks

Oh no...I'm sorry. :( At least it isn't rejection!

There's still time before school starts...maybe you will still be offered a seat sometime down the line.
 
Oh no...I'm sorry. :( At least it isn't rejection!

There's still time before school starts...maybe you will still be offered a seat sometime down the line.
Hopefully! I really want to go here.....
 
I just got pulled off the alternate list! They actually mailed me the letter on memorial day weekend!

Does anyone know anything about getting in state tuition fees if you live in VA for 2 years or so? Some states let you do that but I'm not sure about VA .
 
hi guys.
I'm new to this forum and just wanted to see if anyone is applying to VCU for the fall of 2013.
And for the ones already accepted..
what was your GPA & PCAT score (if u dont mind sharing) =) thanks!
 
hi guys.
I'm new to this forum and just wanted to see if anyone is applying to VCU for the fall of 2013.
And for the ones already accepted..
what was your GPA & PCAT score (if u dont mind sharing) =) thanks!
Same!
 
Good luck on your application process!
I will be at VCU pharmacy school in the fall.
For my GPA: 3.29 PCAT: 58
graduated from VT with a bachelor's in biology. If you have any questions feel free to ask away! :)
 
Good luck on your application process!
I will be at VCU pharmacy school in the fall.
For my GPA: 3.29 PCAT: 58
graduated from VT with a bachelor's in biology. If you have any questions feel free to ask away! :)
SO many Techies. lol

What did your extracurriculars look like? Because I have a PCAT similar to yours and I'm debating whether to retake it or not before I apply. I'm also wondering if applying early decision will effect my chances of getting in or not.
 
SO many Techies. lol

What did your extracurriculars look like? Because I have a PCAT similar to yours and I'm debating whether to retake it or not before I apply. I'm also wondering if applying early decision will effect my chances of getting in or not.

Well I had scattered interests. But i was in leadership in my campus ministry for two years and in res life for a year, but that is really all.
 
Well I had scattered interests. But i was in leadership in my campus ministry for two years and in res life for a year, but that is really all.
thank you so much. Also, good luck!
 
Good luck to all applicants who are taking the PCAT today or tomorrow!

FYI: The VCU School of Pharmacy considers an applicant's highest score (percentile) in each section of the exam, with major emphasis on the biology, chemistry and quantitative sections. The average score in each section is around the 70th percentile.
 
It's now only 6 weeks until the PharmCAS deadline (9/4/12) for Early Decision applications.

If you are a good student planning to apply for Pharmacy School during 2012-13, you have completed 60 or more hours of prerequisite courses, and you know that VCU is the right School of Pharmacy for you; VCU Admissions encourages you to apply for Early Decision.
 
It's now only 6 weeks until the PharmCAS deadline (9/4/12) for Early Decision applications.

If you are a good student planning to apply for Pharmacy School during 2012-13, you have completed 60 or more hours of prerequisite courses, and you know that VCU is the right School of Pharmacy for you; VCU Admissions encourages you to apply for Early Decision.
Thanks VCU!
 
VCU, do you guys look mostly at grades or the whole package? I ask this because I would LOVE to go to Pharmacy school in Virginia, however my science GPA is not strong. My PCAT is high and so are my ECs, LORs and PS. I'll be e-submitting for regular decision in weeks. Just wondering if you could give me any insight. Thanks.
 
VCU, do you guys look mostly at grades or the whole package? I ask this because I would LOVE to go to Pharmacy school in Virginia, however my science GPA is not strong. My PCAT is high and so are my ECs, LORs and PS. I'll be e-submitting for regular decision in weeks. Just wondering if you could give me any insight. Thanks.

The VCU Admissions Committee tries to look at a student holistically, considering not only grades and PCAT scores, but letters of reference, extracurriculars, leadership experience, community service, work experience, academic workload, the rigor of their pre-pharmacy/undergraduate experience, and the interview (if invited). If a student's grades and/or PCAT scores are so low that it appears that the student would be unsuccessful in our program, they would most likely not be admitted, no matter how strong other parts of the application may be.
 
The VCU Admissions Committee tries to look at a student holistically, considering not only grades and PCAT scores, but letters of reference, extracurriculars, leadership experience, community service, work experience, academic workload, the rigor of their pre-pharmacy/undergraduate experience, and the interview (if invited). If a student's grades and/or PCAT scores are so low that it appears that the student would be unsuccessful in our program, they would most likely not be admitted, no matter how strong other parts of the application may be.


If you are currently on the alternate list and have applied for early decisions next cycle....do you have a better chance of acceptance or will have to be re-interviewed???
 
If you are currently on the alternate list and have applied for early decisions next cycle....do you have a better chance of acceptance or will have to be re-interviewed???

Generally, students that were placed on the alternate list exhibited qualities that the Admissions Committee saw as beneficial; otherwise they would not have made the alternate list. Often, students who did not clear the alternate list reapply "Early Decision" the next year and are admitted to our program. Those students may have taken additional courses, raised their PCAT scores, worked in a pharmacy, or had other accomplishments that made them a better candidate this time around. In fact, our Supplemental Application asks reapplicants the question: "What have you done to enhance your application since your last application?" Students who reapply, but do nothing to improve their application, may still not be accepted. The Admissions Committee may or may not require another interview based upon the results of the applicant's prior interview.
 
I applied for early decision and last week got the interview set up for next saturday on the 22nd. Is anybody else going?
 
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First ofall, I would like to congratulate all of you for picking such an excellent career. This is a great career choice. As a someone who is about to graduate from this school at the end of the school year, I think it is my responsibility to give you one piece of sound advice: DO NOT GO TO THIS SCHOOL, especially If you have other options. This school changed the way its curriculum was set up the year before I entered and it has done a terrible job with the new curriculum. It is slowly fixing the bugs year by year, but it is no where near finished even now. Administratively speaking, this school is extremely poorly run. Policies change drastically on a yearly basis. The administration is hyper-reactionary in its response to what it views as problems. My P-2 year, most of my classmates got almostall A's in most of the classes. The school freaked out and said "oh no we cannot have this many students getting an A grade, what will it look like" . SO the following year in all the classes the grading scale was changed from a B being>80 my year, to being >85 for the class after mine. And what it took toget a A and C were also increased. And the school changed how much your group work grade was worth when calculatingyour overall grade, from a 40% down to ~17%. The year before me, the group grade was worth nearly 50% of the course grade. Fact is, when you work in agroup, your grade will go up almost every time as 4 heads are better than 1 usually.
Also, from the class I started with we have lost nearly 20% of the students we started with for various reasons, some were unfairly kicked out for not being able to keep up inthe school's eyes, others became disabled, and death was also another cause. One was kicked out merely for accusing the staff of being racially biased in grading their paper. So, when the student's grade dipped they threw the student out and posted "Wanted" signs in the professor's offices that read "call thepolice if this person is seen in the building." This is VERY unprofessionalbehavior to say the least. I could go on as there are many other stories like this.
Most of the professors that had been working here for years and whom had placed a intricatepart in giving this school such a good reputation as a education institutionare gone. There is a heavy influx of new and young professors who are knowledgeable about the material they teach. Unfortunately these people have little to no background in actually "TEACHING" their material to you or how to properly test you. I am lucky that I made it this far, but, I do I have my fair share of scars from going through this program. If you know for sure that you want to be a clinical pharmacist, then this school may be an option for you. If you are able to make it through the rigors of this program, then you will be ready for a job in clinical pharmacy. But, I can't promise that you will have the requisite grades to compete for admission into a top quality residency program. If you are not sure that you wish to be a clinical pharmacist, do not waste your time going through the Pharm.D program at VCU. All in all, if you have no choice but to go here as this is the only place you got into, then go ahead andaccept the admission and hang on tight as it will be a VERY bumpy ride. Otherwise, if I were you I wouldgo to another school even if you have to pay out-of-state tuition. Going to another school may cost more, but you will get a much better level of education.
 
First ofall, I would like to congratulate all of you for picking such an excellent career. This is a great career choice. As a someone who is about to graduate from this school at the end of the school year, I think it is my responsibility to give you one piece of sound advice: DO NOT GO TO THIS SCHOOL, especially If you have other options. This school changed the way its curriculum was set up the year before I entered and it has done a terrible job with the new curriculum. It is slowly fixing the bugs year by year, but it is no where near finished even now. Administratively speaking, this school is extremely poorly run. Policies change drastically on a yearly basis. The administration is hyper-reactionary in its response to what it views as problems. My P-2 year, most of my classmates got almostall A's in most of the classes. The school freaked out and said "oh no we cannot have this many students getting an A grade, what will it look like" . SO the following year in all the classes the grading scale was changed from a B being>80 my year, to being >85 for the class after mine. And what it took toget a A and C were also increased. And the school changed how much your group work grade was worth when calculatingyour overall grade, from a 40% down to ~17%. The year before me, the group grade was worth nearly 50% of the course grade. Fact is, when you work in agroup, your grade will go up almost every time as 4 heads are better than 1 usually.
Also, from the class I started with we have lost nearly 20% of the students we started with for various reasons, some were unfairly kicked out for not being able to keep up inthe school's eyes, others became disabled, and death was also another cause. One was kicked out merely for accusing the staff of being racially biased in grading their paper. So, when the student's grade dipped they threw the student out and posted "Wanted" signs in the professor's offices that read "call thepolice if this person is seen in the building." This is VERY unprofessionalbehavior to say the least. I could go on as there are many other stories like this.
Most of the professors that had been working here for years and whom had placed a intricatepart in giving this school such a good reputation as a education institutionare gone. There is a heavy influx of new and young professors who are knowledgeable about the material they teach. Unfortunately these people have little to no background in actually "TEACHING" their material to you or how to properly test you. I am lucky that I made it this far, but, I do I have my fair share of scars from going through this program. If you know for sure that you want to be a clinical pharmacist, then this school may be an option for you. If you are able to make it through the rigors of this program, then you will be ready for a job in clinical pharmacy. But, I can't promise that you will have the requisite grades to compete for admission into a top quality residency program. If you are not sure that you wish to be a clinical pharmacist, do not waste your time going through the Pharm.D program at VCU. All in all, if you have no choice but to go here as this is the only place you got into, then go ahead andaccept the admission and hang on tight as it will be a VERY bumpy ride. Otherwise, if I were you I wouldgo to another school even if you have to pay out-of-state tuition. Going to another school may cost more, but you will get a much better level of education.

At first I was concerned when I read this posted a year ago. Now that you've posted again, under a different username, I'm starting to wonder if you're just a troll. Or one random person who has a problem with the university.

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