2016-2017 Virginia Commonwealth University Application Thread

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Imagine that you are at a social gathering and your neighbor comes over to congratulate you on your acceptance to medical school. She goes on to ask you about your opinion on childhood vaccinations. She is worried about vaccinating her baby because of some of the things that she has read about vaccines. How would you respond to her? (You may use any resources for your answer)

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I know that VCU has a specific prompt each year for their secondary, but does anyone know when/where that is made available?
 
If they send you a secondary, you'll get the prompt then.
 
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Seems like its always some kind of ethical situation question (like an MMI question), but yeah, it tends to change.
 
Huggy said:
Secondaries were sent out starting July 3rd last year. They do screen applicants so not everyone will receive a secondary. I'm assuming nobody else is pre-writing?
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I was hoping to pre-write since I have more free time now than I will in July or August. It kind of stinks that they change the prompts every year.
 
The name of this school is showing up on my AMCAS .pdf as:

"Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicin" (missing the -e at the end)

This also happened with USUHS. Is this happening for anyone else?
 
OOS here too. Any one else interested/know more details about the year-out program?
 
Hey.....would you guys consider submitting my AMCAS at the end of July too late?
 
fizzle_22 said:
Hey.....would you guys consider submitting my AMCAS at the end of July too late?
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It is a BIT late. but that being said, it is not like you will not be considered. your case would be helped if you have good stats
 
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yellowbottlesippin said:
It is a BIT late. but that being said, it is not like you will not be considered. your case would be helped if you have good stats
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AHHHHHH. I hope I still have a pretty good shot. I won't have my 90 credits until my summer classes are over. That's what I'm waiting on.
 
fizzle_22 said:
AHHHHHH. I hope I still have a pretty good shot. I won't have my 90 credits until my summer classes are over. That's what I'm waiting on.
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You don't have to wait on that, do you??? I think it as long as you have it by matriculation time!
 
fizzle_22 said:
I could have sworn I had to have at least 90 credits to apply!!! That's what I have been waiting on!
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Oh, please check before you apply!! I may be totally mistaken.

From what I can see, it says admission. Their office is probably closed tmw for July 4th, but I would check Tuesday to see what is going on.
 
Hey y'all! Also applying here this cycle :) Can anyone comment on the MS I and MS II schedule? Are all classes mandatory? If not, are lectures recorded and how much time/days do you spend on campus if you attend mandatory lectures/labs only? I'm more of a self-study kind of gal ;)
 
MrsSheperd said:
Hey y'all! Also applying here this cycle :) Can anyone comment on the MS I and MS II schedule? Are all classes mandatory? If not, are lectures recorded and how much time/days do you spend on campus if you attend mandatory lectures/labs only? I'm more of a self-study kind of gal ;)
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Irrelevant to your post but are you IS or OOS?
 
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MrsSheperd said:
No problem lol I'm OOS! According to their website they admit a good chunk of OOS applicants
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I'm new to this so i don't check it often lol. But cool. Guess you'll be one of my struggle buddies
 
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fizzle_22 said:
I'm new to this so i don't check it often lol. But cool. Guess you'll be one of my struggle buddies
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haha yeah, I will most definitely be struggling through this process...let the sleepless nights and neurotic times begin :laugh:
 
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MrsSheperd said:
Hey y'all! Also applying here this cycle :) Can anyone comment on the MS I and MS II schedule? Are all classes mandatory? If not, are lectures recorded and how much time/days do you spend on campus if you attend mandatory lectures/labs only? I'm more of a self-study kind of gal ;)
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Most lectures are recorded, although I hear some are mandatory!
 
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Did anyone get a secondary yet? I'm dying to know the prompt
 
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meridethgrey said:
yeah lol...in my opinion at least
try to submit it by this week if you haven't already
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I don't have any choice but to wait at this point. I'm just hoping my stats are strong enough to get me through. Plus I've seen a lot of cases where people that submitted in June were still waiting for interviews after people that submitted early August based on priority score. It seems as though submitting early is helpful at any school but the bottom line is VCU values priority scores and best fit. So prayers
 
fizzle_22 said:
I don't have any choice but to wait at this point. I'm just hoping my stats are strong enough to get me through. Plus I've seen a lot of cases where people that submitted in June were still waiting for interviews after people that submitted early August based on priority score. It seems as though submitting early is helpful at any school but the bottom line is VCU values priority scores and best fit. So prayers
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Adding on to this, last cycle VCU apparently had way more applicants than anticipated, and because they (apparently) thoroughly screen their applicants, this created a huge backlog of applications. Add on the fact that some primary reviewers were not obligated to adhere to any sort of timeline, and you have someone like me whose primary was verified in August... but my primary wasn't reviewed until January. I got my secondary early January. I was still fortunate enough to interview in February, but this was my top school at the time so I was pretty upset.
 
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mcatjelly said:
Adding on to this, last cycle VCU apparently had way more applicants than anticipated, and because they (apparently) thoroughly screen their applicants, this created a huge backlog of applications. Add on the fact that some primary reviewers were not obligated to adhere to any sort of timeline, and you have someone like me whose primary was verified in August... but my primary wasn't reviewed until January. I got my secondary early January. I was still fortunate enough to interview in February, but this was my top school at the time so I was pretty upset.
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Did you end up getting into VCU? Also, are you in-state?
 
mcatjelly said:
I did not, and I am IS.
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Sorry to hear that :(
Any idea why it didn't work out? Did VCU offer any feedback? I'm also in-state and VCU is my top choice. I'll be verified in August as well, so this is concerning.
 
bluepeach9 said:
Sorry to hear that :(
Any idea why it didn't work out? Did VCU offer any feedback? I'm also in-state and VCU is my top choice. I'll be verified in August as well, so this is concerning.
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It's okay! Technically there's still a a chance haha, but EVMS is actually a better fit for me. :) Felt better when I interviewed there, but that's going off-topic.

I don't think they offer feedback unless you meet with them in person, so I haven't done that. The dean said on interview day that they tend to pick higher vs lower MCATs off the waitlist first and I'm sure that played some factor, as I'm on the lower end (508) with 125s in both C/P and B/B (so I'm thankful I got in anywhere haha).

To assuage your concerns, though, I want to reiterate that different primary reviewers worked at different speeds. There were people who were verified a month or two after me who got status updates (secondaries or rejections) 2-4 weeks after submitting. I just got stuck with someone who had too much on their plate. It was such a disaster that I'm sure they've rectified for this upcoming cycle. I wouldn't be worried. :)
 
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Hey guys! I applied last year (2015-2016 cycle) and got in. Let me know if you have any questions or if I can help anyway! I was in your shoes not long ago, and just want to say I'm here for you :)
 
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DrAloe said:
Hey guys! I applied last year (2015-2016 cycle) and got in. Let me know if you have any questions or if I can help anyway! I was in your shoes not long ago, and just want to say I'm here for you :)
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Would you mind sharing your stats? When were you complete at VCU? Also, are you IS or OOS? Thanks :)
 
bluepeach9 said:
Would you mind sharing your stats? When were you complete at VCU? Also, are you IS or OOS? Thanks :)
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Sure! I had a 3.34 undergrad, 3.77 post-bacc, 3.89 masters degree. I took the MCAT 3X: 25, 25, and 27. I also worked directly with patients 6mo+ at a clinic and did 3+ years research both undergrad and as a job. The list goes on..

I'm in-state and was a re-applicant last cycle. I finished my primary by June 11th, received my VCU secondary July 2nd, completed two weeks later on July 16th, and had an interview September 17th. Accepted on October 16th.
 
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DrAloe said:
Sure! I had a 3.34 undergrad, 3.77 post-bacc, 3.89 masters degree. I took the MCAT 3X: 25, 25, and 27. I also worked directly with patients 6mo+ at a clinic and did 3+ years research both undergrad and as a job. The list goes on..

I'm in-state and was a re-applicant last cycle. I finished my primary by June 11th, received my VCU secondary July 2nd, completed two weeks later on July 16th, and had an interview September 17th. Accepted on October 16th.
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Wow, congrats! SDN makes it seems like people who take the MCAT 3X have no chance at MD, so this is good to hear :) You mentioned you were a reapp at VCU? What did you do differently the second time around to get accepted?
 
Still no secondaries?
 
DrAloe said:
Sure! I had a 3.34 undergrad, 3.77 post-bacc, 3.89 masters degree. I took the MCAT 3X: 25, 25, and 27. I also worked directly with patients 6mo+ at a clinic and did 3+ years research both undergrad and as a job. The list goes on..

I'm in-state and was a re-applicant last cycle. I finished my primary by June 11th, received my VCU secondary July 2nd, completed two weeks later on July 16th, and had an interview September 17th. Accepted on October 16th.
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So encouraging! Did you do the post-bacc program at VCU?
 
bluepeach9 said:
Wow, congrats! SDN makes it seems like people who take the MCAT 3X have no chance at MD, so this is good to hear :) You mentioned you were a reapp at VCU? What did you do differently the second time around to get accepted?
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Yup. I did a couple of things differently.
1. First, though I had awesome internships and experiences, I had very little direct patient interaction the first time around. Therefore, right before I applied, I spent 6 months volunteering in a clinic full-time. There, I took vitals (including spiro tests, EKGs, stress tests). built relationships with patients, conducted clinical research and shadowed the doctor.
2. Second, I took 6 months of my life to study full-time for the MCAT. I moved to the middle of nowhere to live with family so I wouldn't be distracted. Not gonna lie, it was pretty devastating when my score was only a 27 after dedicating so much time to studying. But you just got to power through with what you have.
3. Probably the most important tip I have is APPLY EARLY! I applied extremely early this cycle. The first time around, my primary was done in September, secondary in November, and I had an interview in February! This time, my entire application was done by mid-July and I had my interview on September 17th.

That's all that's coming to me now. I'll write more when I remember!
 
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I called the admissions office today and they said secondaries were going to go out next week!

Apparently I got a secondary last year, but I never got the email. Whole time, I thought I wasn't getting one until I realized I never got a rejection :dead:
 
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Ayy_MadScientist said:
I called the admissions office today and they said secondaries were going to go out next week!

Apparently I got a secondary last year, but I never got the email. Whole time, I thought I wasn't getting one until I realized I never got a rejection :dead:
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Thank you for checking! I was worried I'd maybe just been silently rejected :)
 
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Ayy_MadScientist said:
I called the admissions office today and they said secondaries were going to go out next week!

Apparently I got a secondary last year, but I never got the email. Whole time, I thought I wasn't getting one until I realized I never got a rejection :dead:
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Strange...I called today and they said the next 24-48 hours...
 
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