Congrats! Are you guys IS or OOS?
2013-2014 Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
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As a current first year medical student here at VCU, I want to share my thoughts of the new curriculum and current situation at this school to anyone considering coming here. Please private message me because I do not feel comfortable expressing these thoughts completely publicly.
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If @poormedstudent2013 is an actual student, s/he may have some complaints about the new curriculum. As their class is the first to go through the entire new curriculum from MS1 forward (and mine is the first to go through it from M2 forward), there have certainly been some kinks to be worked out. Unfortunately for current and very nearly upcoming medical students, most schools are in the midst of a transition period (due to LCME requirements). That means that no matter where you attend, you are likely to run into some curriculum kinks. My suggestion would be to look for schools that have completed that transition and are at least a year or two into a new curriculum.
In MCV's case, you will be our 3rd class going through the new curriculum. That means things will be largely smoothed over (although some things are always going to need work). I suspect this individual – if an actual student – has found certain courses difficult. For example, they recently finished their longest block so far – a 5-week combination integrated GI path/phys/anatomy/biochem block. The students struggled and it was their lowest exam grade yet. Rumors (which were stated as fact) were flying that the average was going to be in the low 70s (however, the students could not have known that as scores were not released until a couple of days ago). The actual average was a 78% (per the Dean's Office), putting them 3% percentage points below our own average of 81% last year on the equivalent exam. IMO, for trying a new method and doubling the interval between exams, a 3% drop in average is really not so bad (esp. seeing as some years have scored that low on the old system for that material anyway).
In MCV's case, you will be our 3rd class going through the new curriculum. That means things will be largely smoothed over (although some things are always going to need work). I suspect this individual – if an actual student – has found certain courses difficult. For example, they recently finished their longest block so far – a 5-week combination integrated GI path/phys/anatomy/biochem block. The students struggled and it was their lowest exam grade yet. Rumors (which were stated as fact) were flying that the average was going to be in the low 70s (however, the students could not have known that as scores were not released until a couple of days ago). The actual average was a 78% (per the Dean's Office), putting them 3% percentage points below our own average of 81% last year on the equivalent exam. IMO, for trying a new method and doubling the interval between exams, a 3% drop in average is really not so bad (esp. seeing as some years have scored that low on the old system for that material anyway).
You seem pretty immature to brush someone off as a "hater" for not being satisfied with how they are being taught while in the midst of receiving a new curriculum. The fact is there are many issues and problems when changing to a new curriculum, and that can make it quite unpleasant for the people unlucky enough to be the guinea pigs during that time. It is perfectly reasonable for pormedstudent to be dissatisfied with the education he/she is receiving, as well as very appropriate and helpful for them to be willing to share what they may dislike about a school. Many people are making hard choices between schools, and it is great to hear the bad things that the school won't tell you upfront so that they can make the best decision for them. You have made up your mind and don't care about the flaws VCU may have? Great. But don't act like a douchebag towards someone who is usefully contributing to SDN when you aren't contributing anything helpful yourself.
I hope you act like less of an abrasive and rude person in real life, and for everyone at VCU's sake, don't say "U just a hater" in person...
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If you or others have questions about students' perspectives, I would strongly suggest emailing the tour guide you had while you were here (or the Office of Admissions if you do not have one of our email addresses). S/he/they can quickly put you in contact with current M1s who can provide a balanced perspective. I would probably be cautious about trusting someone you don't know posting on the school's thread, as his/her agenda is clearly to dissuade people (for whatever reason). You can also go on the VCU SOM c/o 2018 Facebook page and message any of the current students that post there. Either of those options is more likely to get you in touch with someone who has a more balanced view and is engaged in the curriculum (and consequently can offer a more representative response to your questions) as opposed to someone who may be disenfranchised and disengaged.
(Of course, my disclaimer would be that I worked for Admissions as a tour guide and clearly like my school; however, that position is over and it was entirely volunteer. There will always be things I would change, but I am quite happy here, as are the vast majority of my colleagues, including quite a few who turned down places like UColorado and UVa to come here.)
Thanks, I definitely felt like all the students I interacted with during the interview day were pretty happy about their choice and with the new curriculum for the most part, but as I'm sure you can know, even with the students being very honest about their experiences, it is always helpful to hear more perspectives and about any potential issues. Of course, always taking any perspective/opinion with a grain of salt since no two experiences are the same.
I know EmergeNC was just accepted off WL and is obviously very excited, especially if this is their top choice/only acceptance, but I wouldn't like to see someone who is offering to contribute perspective on some of the shortfalls of the school in their mind be intimidated off just because EmergeNC may disagree (even though he doesn't even go to VCU yet).
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I don't think this has any influence on whether or not they extend an offer. However, I can say that on average, it is more likely that a person who already has acceptances will be offered more acceptances – which is simply due to the fact that that person is clearly a more desirable candidate. Sure, a school might "yield protect," but I haven't really heard of VCU SOM doing that. I know of students who received offers from both top 20 programs and MCV/VCU and chose us over them. I've also received frantic emails from students trying to decide between the higher ranked program and the one they liked better on interview day.
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My financial aid info was posted to the myVCU account today. No scholarships. Boo.
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deleted573103
Hi all! Accepted off the waitlist on Monday evening also (IS) . Very excited to be starting school. I am near the top of the waitlist at EVMS and will be taking my spot off there if anyone else was in the position of hoping to get into either.
Cheers!!
PS .. Anyone else freaking out about finding a place to live? I know nothing about the neighborhoods.
Cheers!!
PS .. Anyone else freaking out about finding a place to live? I know nothing about the neighborhoods.
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Congratulations!!
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YES. I am from a small town and it'll be such a big transition to a big city!! I just want to be sure to live in a safe neighborhood.. But I've heard there's good and bad parts to every neighborhood so I'm a little overwhelmed!!
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If anyone is interested in a little info on Richmond, feel free to message me. I've been in grad school here at VCU on the MCV campus for the past two years.
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Yeah so this is anything but a big city. But that means different things to different people. There are parking garages in my hood bigger than richmond.
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I'm coming from a town with a population of 2,000 to a population of 200,000! It's scary to me... I don't even want to imagine anything even bigger!
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Good luck with all that
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With a metro area of over 1.2 million people, I wouldn't exactly call Richmond a small or even medium-size city. Not a "megalopolis," but definitely a major metro area (~90th percentile) at #44 largest in the U.S. (and #3 in Virginia after NOVA/DC-metro and VA Beach). Downtown RVA is pretty chill, though. It definitely doesn't feel like a "big city" and most students rarely drive, so there isn't a whole lot you'll have to adjust to in terms of your new home. The big adjustments will be more on the academic side of things.
From the research I've done and talking to some current students, I found that the best fit for me was the fan area. It's the safest area (which is a huge concern of mine!), close to the social scene/night life that Richmond has to offer, and is just overall, a really nice place to live. The cons are that it's a bit farther from MCV and that it's pretty pricey. To me, it's worth it for the safety and for the overall environment that the fan provides. That's just me. I got advice from students living all over downtown and picked what I thought was best and went from there so try talking to some students as well as the SDN users above who have offered their advice!
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... 
The fan is nice, but I wouldn't exactly call it the safest area. Second to the West End (i.e., the suburbs), that award would probably go to the financial district (capitol police presence + fewer UGs) or the museum district (further out from low SES areas than the Fan). The Fan, being near/surrounding the VCU UG campus and Monroe Park, is actually probably quite a bit more dangerous than Church Hill (because it's where the wealthy hipster kids live and if someone is going to make a random pass at robbing someone they want to do it in a convenient place not too close but not too far from home that is likely to have people carrying money or valuable items around). Living in Church Hill (which is where much of that crime is likely coming from), you become part of the community so problems are rare.
Still, the Fan is nice and it does have some cheap housing. (Look further from the VCU UG campus – it's also going to be safer a little further out. Across the two campuses, nearly 100% of the crime occurs within about a mile of Monroe park and probably 50-60% occurs within a block of Monroe Park. We have had exactly one crime report on or near the MCV campus in the past two years vs. several per week on the VCU UG campus or in close proximity to it. Since we have a sprawling campus, you'll get text notifications of crime basically anywhere downtown or in the Fan, so we do get quite a few.)
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Probably. RVA overall isn't particularly dangerous these days (it once was), but you are coming to a medical school that is located downtown in a major metro area. Crime happens, but it's generally predictable and avoidable with some common sense. I know a couple of UG women who live right next to Monroe park and even a few classmates who live just a few blocks from there and they've never had a problem.
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Withdrew my acceptance. Hope it goes to one of you!
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The fan is nice, but I wouldn't exactly call it the safest area. Second to the West End (i.e., the suburbs), that award would probably go to the financial district (capitol police presence + fewer UGs) or the museum district (further out from low SES areas than the Fan). The Fan, being near/surrounding the VCU UG campus and Monroe Park, is actually probably quite a bit more dangerous than Church Hill (because it's where the wealthy hipster kids live and if someone is going to make a random pass at robbing someone they want to do it in a convenient place not too close but not too far from home that is likely to have people carrying money or valuable items around). Living in Church Hill (which is where much of that crime is likely coming from), you become part of the community so problems are rare.
Still, the Fan is nice and it does have some cheap housing. (Look further from the VCU UG campus – it's also going to be safer a little further out. Across the two campuses, nearly 100% of the crime occurs within about a mile of Monroe park and probably 50-60% occurs within a block of Monroe Park. We have had exactly one crime report on or near the MCV campus in the past two years vs. several per week on the VCU UG campus or in close proximity to it. Since we have a sprawling campus, you'll get text notifications of crime basically anywhere downtown or in the Fan, so we do get quite a few.)
This. Also, I fell into the "I want to be able to walk to class" mindset during my first year here...so I lived in the Shockoe area. The convenience of being able to walk to class is nice, but you pay a lot for that convenience. I was paying $1100/month plus utilities for a glorified studio.
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Fair. I still live down in Shockoe and enjoy it. Living with a roommate, I have a fairly nice apartment within 10 minutes walk of campus and pay about $650/mo. I also don't drive hardly at all, which saves about $100-150/mo in gas costs. Keep in mind that your actual rent bill isn't the only number involved.
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Fan vs Downtown?
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Saw this a few pages back and wanted to see if anyone has tried emailing Dr. WHC? I understand the official stance on not disclosing waitlist positions, but a generalization would be nice to know. A "you have a good chance" would be better than not knowing anything...
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If you haven't heard anything by June 1, you should definitely begin the process of reapplying. If you hadn't gotten an acceptance by March 30, you should have begun preparing for the next cycle. Bothering her about whether or not you "have a good chance" is really just annoying and a waste of both her time and yours. Take a deep breath and if you don't hear back by the opening of AMCAS for next cycle and have no other offers, go ahead and submit your significantly updated & improved application. (If you haven't been doing anything all year that will make your application better this time around, you may want to think seriously about whether or not you are ready to begin your professional training.)
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Thanks for the response and advice.... I was already accepted to Temple in November, but was curious about VCU.
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I would take any comment of a student on this forum with a grain of salt. You don't know if that student is in the bottom quartile of the class and lacks in performance mainly due to their own study habits but puts the fault on the school.
As music2doc stated it's best to contact the school tour guides if you need to meet with students. Try your best to meet the average students at VCU they will give a more of an unbiased opinion compared to the bottom or top quartile in regards to the school.
Personally I am an average student at VCU and I can tell you that this school has given me every single opportunity to do well. The curriculum even though new and challenging has still provided my class with a good knowledge base for boards, 3rd year etc..
As music2doc stated it's best to contact the school tour guides if you need to meet with students. Try your best to meet the average students at VCU they will give a more of an unbiased opinion compared to the bottom or top quartile in regards to the school.
Personally I am an average student at VCU and I can tell you that this school has given me every single opportunity to do well. The curriculum even though new and challenging has still provided my class with a good knowledge base for boards, 3rd year etc..
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I got antsy and set up a phone appointment with her maybe a month/month and a half ago. I thought it was only marginally helpful, but that may have been my fault for setting up an appointment prior to late May when she would be able to give you a better view of your chances.
But she told me what the biggest problem with my app was and tipped me off that I would be on the waitlist about a week before waitlist decisions came out, so that was nice. She also said that they had extended acceptances to people with my waitlist rank in the past with the insinuation that it was a long shot but not impossible. So, here's to dreaming!
I would say wait until late May to make an appointment so that she could give you a better understanding of your position on the waitlist.
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For budgeting purposes, typically when does VCU give out the financial aid money leftover after tuition is paid?
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Thanks for sharing your experience!
Where was it posted on your account?
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I found mine in http://www.eservices.vcu.edu under financial aid. It only has the federal unsubsidized loans. Doesn't include Grant plus or scholarships.
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Do we all have myVCU accounts set up? Or am I missing something... Haha
Are we supposed to have already applied for the Graduate Plus loan? I thought we had to wait to see what we received first?
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deleted573103
Hey Jl1! I can answer that. I had a long convo with them about this last week. here's my spiel on financial aid.
You need to fill out the FAFSA and NeedAccess both as soon as you can. Once you are admitted, the committee reviews your package and decides on your award. The FAFSA is used for all the loan options. The unsubsidized stafford loan (no more subsidized loans for grads ) is awarded at a maximum for everybody. Then Grad Plus loans are considered (there is no separate application to my knowledge) in a similar fashion. In this same meeting, they consider you for scholarships and grants by reviewing your needaccess form. The scholarships are really the only variable portion of what they consider. It is then up to you on how much of the loans you decide to take.
They do this meeting every Monday after you have been formally matriculated and given a VCU email address and ID. This is normally around 5 business days after you pay your deposit. It took me about 6.
I hope that helps! I have info on payment deadlines too if anyone's interested.
You need to fill out the FAFSA and NeedAccess both as soon as you can. Once you are admitted, the committee reviews your package and decides on your award. The FAFSA is used for all the loan options. The unsubsidized stafford loan (no more subsidized loans for grads
) is awarded at a maximum for everybody. Then Grad Plus loans are considered (there is no separate application to my knowledge) in a similar fashion. In this same meeting, they consider you for scholarships and grants by reviewing your needaccess form. The scholarships are really the only variable portion of what they consider. It is then up to you on how much of the loans you decide to take.They do this meeting every Monday after you have been formally matriculated and given a VCU email address and ID. This is normally around 5 business days after you pay your deposit. It took me about 6.
I hope that helps! I have info on payment deadlines too if anyone's interested.
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deleted573103
Also could do for some housing advice! I feel like I'm wanting a million things at once and am having a hard time narrowing it down. Definitely a little clueless right now. I'm driving down next week to check places out, but would love to hear some input.
I'm looking at the downtown and fan areas. I'm looking for something within walking and/or biking distance to school and near some town life (cafes, bars, restaurants). I also want to make sure though that I live somewhere quiet enough to study when I need to but also around other med students so I'm not isolated. I'm not too concerned about amenities or size - just somewhere clean enough with a good location. Thoughts?
I know there's an arts district of some sort too but haven't found much on craigslist yet. Thanks in advance!
I'm looking at the downtown and fan areas. I'm looking for something within walking and/or biking distance to school and near some town life (cafes, bars, restaurants). I also want to make sure though that I live somewhere quiet enough to study when I need to but also around other med students so I'm not isolated. I'm not too concerned about amenities or size - just somewhere clean enough with a good location. Thoughts?
I know there's an arts district of some sort too but haven't found much on craigslist yet. Thanks in advance!
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Shockoe Bottom or Commons for close to school, restaurants, bars, etc. Church Hill if you want it a little quieter and don't mind being about a mile further away. Fan is a long bike ride to do every day, but there are people who do it. I would keep in mind that RVA isn't exactly a bike-friendly city. Being from out of state, I definitely expected to bike to class and was advised against bringing a bike out here. I'm glad I was, to be honest, as it's just not a particularly safe place to bike. You can certainly try it, but there's a reason few people do.
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You should have recieved your VCU email and ID about 5 business days after paying your deposit!
You can then log into eservices with your ID and password
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You should have recieved your VCU email and ID about 5 business days after paying your deposit!
You can then log into eservices with your ID and password
Found it! I emailed financial aid and they said info might not be out before may 15 :/
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I have no clue what the thesis of your post is.
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Yeah, so, considering how half this city is hipster-cool with bikers of all types, I have no idea how you make this assertion. Not to mention Richmond just hosted a pretty legit bicycle race/competition.
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There are a lot of cyclists, that is true. but it's still a stretch to call it a bike-friendly city in many ways. The streets are fairly rough for the most part and lack bike lanes. I used to bike from the Fan to MCV a few times a week and definitely had to watch the drivers like a hawk.
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I totally agree with you. And no matter what city one bikes in, you should always be cautious of crazy drivers.
I just think music2doc likes to throw around statistics and attempts being assertive in his/her posts.
