2018-2019 Virginia Commonwealth University

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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simplest_sisi said:
No email notification yet, but checked my portal just now. It shows a new box called File Status with the following headers: Official Transcripts, VCU Information and In-State Tuition Eligibility. Does anyone know what this means?
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Congrats you're in! IS or OOS and stats?
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I was accepted instate off of the waitlist. I might (not sure yet) be dropping though so maybe one of you instate peeps will get lucky!
 
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dream surely is alive. Accepted off the waitlist today. OOS.
amcas hasn’t updated yet though-is there a lag?
 
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Congrats to those of you guys accepted today, can we please get some of those IS acceptances now :rofl:
 
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Just withdrew from the waitlist. Good luck to the rest of y’all!
 
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medschoolzombie said:
Just withdrew from the waitlist. Good luck to the rest of y’all!
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May I ask where you're going/ what you're doing? Wherever it is, best of luck to you! I know you are at least a one time reapplicant, so I hope the journey is finally over for you.
 
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Greysgal said:
dream surely is alive. Accepted off the waitlist today. OOS.
amcas hasn’t updated yet though-is there a lag?
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After you pay $100 to save the seat, you will be able to see AMCAS update.
 
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What are the tabs that many people talked about? Thanks
 
medicalone said:
May I ask where you're going/ what you're doing? Wherever it is, best of luck to you! I know you are at least a one time reapplicant, so I hope the journey is finally over for you.
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Thanks man! I'm over vcu putting me on a WL twice in a row lol. Plus I got a better offer than what VCU will be able to give me. Check my post history for deets
 
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Long time lurker here, still keeping fingers crossed for that A. The DO school I've been accepted to is requiring a CTE by June 1st, and it has my stomach in knots because I REALLY don't want to give up my VCU waitlist spot. These different CTE deadlines don't seem fair, but I guess that is life. Does anyone have any advice?
 
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sayhitoyourdogforme said:
Long time lurker here, still keeping fingers crossed for that A. The DO school I've been accepted to is requiring a CTE by June 1st, and it has my stomach in knots because I REALLY don't want to give up my VCU waitlist spot. These different CTE deadlines don't seem fair, but I guess that is life. Does anyone have any advice?
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I have a CTE deadline of May 20th at my school and really hate the idea of pulling myself off the WLs, but I emailed the schools I am waitlisted at letting them know of the upcoming CTE deadline. I think that's really all you can do.
 
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sayhitoyourdogforme said:
Long time lurker here, still keeping fingers crossed for that A. The DO school I've been accepted to is requiring a CTE by June 1st, and it has my stomach in knots because I REALLY don't want to give up my VCU waitlist spot. These different CTE deadlines don't seem fair, but I guess that is life. Does anyone have any advice?
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I don't think there is a need to withdraw the VCU WL spot, AMCAS and AACOMAS are two separate entities and do not communicate amongst each other. You should be fine to go ahead and select CTE for the DO school.
 
sayhitoyourdogforme said:
Long time lurker here, still keeping fingers crossed for that A. The DO school I've been accepted to is requiring a CTE by June 1st, and it has my stomach in knots because I REALLY don't want to give up my VCU waitlist spot. These different CTE deadlines don't seem fair, but I guess that is life. Does anyone have any advice?
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I wouldn't give it up. MD schools can't see which DO schools you've CTEd and vice versa. If you do get in off of a WL past that date, that would be called poaching I believe which is apparently allowed starting this cycle
 
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sayhitoyourdogforme said:
Long time lurker here, still keeping fingers crossed for that A. The DO school I've been accepted to is requiring a CTE by June 1st, and it has my stomach in knots because I REALLY don't want to give up my VCU waitlist spot. These different CTE deadlines don't seem fair, but I guess that is life. Does anyone have any advice?
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I'm in a similar boat, but thankfully the DO school I've been accepted to has a very late CTE date. I'll keep positive thoughts for you to get that A before you have to make a decision. I agree, I wish there were more nationally recognized guidelines across the board but, thems the cards we are dealt with. Best of luck to you.
 
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Accepted off the waitlist yesterday, but I'll be withdrawing! OOS and LM ~75. Best of luck to you all!
 
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What's the feel among applicants and students here about VCU versus EVMS?
 
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Cadbery said:
What's the feel among applicants and students here about VCU versus EVMS?
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I interviewed at both schools and felt much better about VCU than evms. There were a few things I definitely liked more about vcu such as 1.5 years pre clinical, more dedicated step 1 prep time, and what current students had to say about vcu. There was also a certain vibe I felt at evms that made me feel like it wasn’t the right school for me. Idk how to describe it but those are my feelings.
 
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Cadbery said:
What's the feel among applicants and students here about VCU versus EVMS?
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You know whichever thread you ask on you’re going to get a biased response. Most people on here LOVE vcu and I’m sure the same can be said on the EVMS page. I’ve had friends go to both, love both so I think you can’t go wrong.
 
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Major congrats!! This is my dream school... IS or OOS?
 
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Accepted on Monday! That's it, my cycle is done. This is the school I always wanted to go to. Do we get a follow up email after paying our deposit and filling out the matriculation form? Haven't received anything like that yet. Also anyone have that facebook group link?
 
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Yes! After you've paid the deposit, you will get a email to confirm. Yes, there is a facebook group
 
rasputinc said:
Accepted on Monday! That's it, my cycle is done. This is the school I always wanted to go to. Do we get a follow up email after paying our deposit and filling out the matriculation form? Haven't received anything like that yet. Also anyone have that facebook group link?
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Stats? IS/OOS?
 
For the accepted applicants, I see they offer a 4-week summer program in June - is there any feedback about the value of doing this? Elsewhere on the Forum? (Struggling with the seach function, sorry!)
 
Angus Macgyver said:
For the accepted applicants, I see they offer a 4-week summer program in June - is there any feedback about the value of doing this? Elsewhere on the Forum? (Struggling with the seach function, sorry!)
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My friend who did it last year said she didn't find it that beneficial.

To play devil's advocate, if you are someone who has been out of school it may be a nice re-introduction to medical school caliber coursework. They also do provide you free housing and pay you a stipend. You get to meet some of your future classmates. It also may be a good way to get adjusted to the area if you are new to Virginia/Richmond.
 
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JackFlack said:
Just graduated from VCU. I can only speak based on my experience because I know some things have changed since I've gone through it...... for instance, there is now a structured ultrasound experience in the curriculum that we did not have and as mentioned previously, they have moved to P/F for preclinical (which I can see as a positive and a negative). There will no doubt be changes between now and when you are there so I would try not to fixate on minor things.
Major positives: the city itself (Richmond is a good small to midsize city with a diverse patient population, relative affordability, and access to a lot of stuff), preclinical attendance being mostly optional (I believe still the case), medical education building is relatively new and nice, the Veterans Hospital is one of the best in the country with major transplants, legit research goes on in some areas. (some love working at VA's and some do not enjoy it, I'm one of the former), food carts by the hospital are a nice lunch option despite there being limited choices in the hospital itself (they are currently opening a panera), standardized patient encounters are pretty good and they now do a nice simulation prep/practice session to get you ready for Step 2CS, M4 schedules are pretty good/flexible/chill (plenty of Step prep and vacation time, and only need 7 blocks of clinical rotations).

Negatives: During my time there was a good bit of turnover within administration (dean, curric office, etc.) that caused some mild turbulence but I don't think it was a huge deal in the end and they seem more stable at the moment; despite structured feedback systems by class reps it didn't usually seem like the higher-ups were very responsive to concerns/complaints and were always quick to dangle the "professionalism misconduct" threat over students to get what they wanted (although I can understand how annoying medical students can be); the hospital is pretty old by modern standards and could use a lot of renovation, with little natural light and team rooms that can be crowded (there is a new outpatient facility that should be nice, and the critical care hospital is actually fine); Clinical grades are inherently subjective outside of the shelf exams and there are some occasions where I found my grade being signicantly impacted by feedback from a person who I only spent 1 day with and interacted with only briefly (the feedback system has changed and I don't know what it will be when you get there, but many people were annoyed with the new way they started doing it that requires you to send frequent evaluation requests to residents and attendings through an online system); and one of the biggest problems I felt was the de-emphasis of research ---- there are exceptions and I know some people had great mentors ---- in a place that has a great deal of diverse pathology and significant data at their fingertips (especially when including the VA system). If you want to do something competitive (as I did) it can be tougher than at other bigger name programs and you may have to find the extra motivation to seek out projects or outside mentors to make yourself a strong candidate. Having said that, however, we did just have an excellent match that was probably one of the best ever for the school. Basically all but 1 or 2 out of ~220 matched post-SOAP, and a lot in competitive fields.

Clinical rotations are very much a mixed bag so I hesitate to list this as a negative in general. As an example, I loved my Family Medicine rotation where I was sent to a rural solo practice for a month and had a great experience; but some people were less pleased and had a totally different experience. I found my Ob/Gyn rotation to be mostly miserable with very tense team rooms and stressed residents that didn't lead to a positive learning environment. Some people really enjoyed Ob/Gyn but most of them I found had done it at INOVA (which is no longer an option for 3rd years) or did L&D nights as opposed to days. Some surgery teams are better (Surg Onc) than others and in the end, a great deal depends on who you click with and what you enjoy. Medical school is challenging in the sense that you're constantly low man on the totem pole, fighting feelings of incompetence, and feeling like you always need to catch up. This is going to be the case anywhere. I think people overestimate the warm fuzzy feeling they get from one or two people when they interview or visit a place. Certainly as a preclinical student, you'll get out what you put in and you'll basically learn the same thing everywhere to prepare you for Step 1.
I think most people find it easier to tease out the bad things and looking at my comments it's true for me as well. Still, VCU is a pretty solid school with some great professors and opportunities. You shouldn't really have a hard time doing anything you want if you come in with the right attitude and put the legwork in. One of my biggest complaints about medical school is how limited your exposure is to specialties during rotations, as you only interact with a limited number of docs/team members and see primarily the academic setting. Don't get too jaded by a bad clinical experience if you think you may still like the field. Seek out more opportunities and talk to the attendings to help get a more accurate impression of what your career options might be down the road. Best of luck
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Amazing response. Could you answer a few more questions?

1.) Do you do rotations with other health professions students (PA, NP, etc.)?
2.) How many of the required rotations will be done at MCV/Richmond vs outside of Richmond?
3.) Do you prefer staying in one place for rotations or doing rotations in different communities?
4.) Did you feel like you had enough time to do elective rotations / away rotations?
5.) What did you think about the scut work as an M3 / M4?
 
JackFlack said:
Cold Storage. 10 minute walk up the hill to MCV. There's also a shuttle that runs q15min from an adjacent parking lot
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I am thinking about living at Cold Storage. What are pros and cons you can share? I was told some apartments there are no windows in the bedrooms. Is it true for apartments at Cold Storage? Where do you do shopping for groceries? Do you normally walk to MCV? Do I need a car for the first 2 years ? Many thanks
 
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Cold Storage: I didn't live there but I checked it out when I was looking for apartments a few years ago and I remember the units I looked at had some of the bedrooms without windows. Cold storage is a group of renovated factory buildings but relatively nice

Grocery Store: Farm Fresh is on like 24th and Main

Transportation: I don't know if you need a car for the first two years but Sanger Express runs from A Lot (16th St between Broad and Marshall) which is right next to Cold Storage/Cedar Broad. Takes about 7 minutes in peak hours to get to campus and runs frequently enough during 9-5.
 
I would like to know if anyone has lived in the dorm on VCU main campus and takes the shuttle to MCV. Just want to know all the options. Thanks
 
Reaally hoping for acceptances this week. For no particular reason other than it being another week closer to orientation, I think my hope is going to mostly die after this one
 
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medicalone said:
Reaally hoping for acceptances this week. For no particular reason other than it being another week closer to orientation, I think my hope is going to mostly die after this one
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Imo this dance is over for us. Especially if your race or demos doesn't match up. If it does it's a stroke of luck.
 
Do any current students have any insight as to how the AOA at VCU selects its students?

What kind of longitudinal leadership and community service opportunities are available for students, and are they easy to juggle with your courseload?
 
Thinking I need to give up on this school. The Facebook keeps growing and it’s starting to get really sad to see people being accepted without me
 
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