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Haha what does the interview mean?!
VCU Cert Program 2016-2017
- Thread starter yankeesfan721
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got so nervous i called them today and asked about my status. they said it's being voted on and i'll hear back next week. sigh. patience is not a virtue of mine.
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Accepted today!
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Applied in March and just received my acceptance for 16-17 CERT !!!
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Accepted yesterday afternoon! soooooo relieved and pumped
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Accepted! Anyone looking for roommates? PM me!
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I just recently got accepted and am also a pre-dental student. Do you think this program helped your chances of getting into dental school? In other words, is it worth it? Also, how related to their dental school is it?
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Hey, yes, it really will help you get into dental schools ONLY IF you perform well in the program.
Pre-dental students in this program does not get a guaranteed interview with VCU School of Dentistry, instead they get priority review. The admissions committee will review your file first over other applicants. I have not yet accepted into dental schools. I am applying this cycle.
I thought the program was a little expensive.
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does anyone know if we should be applying to mcv while we're doing post bac? i heard they guarantee interviews for gpa 3.5+, but is that only after you finish the program or do they consider first semester grades when picking people to interview?
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You can apply in conjunction with doing CERT this year. Not everyone makes it. I think about 8 of my friends applied to MCV and only two got in when doing cert concurrently.
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What are your general opinions of the program and if it was worth the cost? I will be attending while simulatenously applying this cycle
How difficult was it to do well, say like 3.7+?
How's the area around vcu been? I heard some spots are kind of sketchy :/
And lastly, any idea on how many students have gotten accepted to dental school either during the program (I'm applyong alongside it)or after the program? Or any that are accepted at vcu? The site has stats from like 2014 but I wanted to see some more recent stuff haha
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I honestly think this program was very expensive. You can probably find a cheaper one... fall semester was very tough, be ready to study full time, i mean like literally studying will be like the only thing you do. Spring semester compared to fall was very manageable as many student take only 12 credits so they can do some EC activities. Richmond has been alright so far, I got nothing to complain about that. I know a few that has already been accepted into med school and personally know only one person that was accepted into VCU dental school right after the fall semester. if you want to save time and money, pull off 4.0 GPA during fall semester. The statistics on VCU CERT's website is just a BS because those numbers include people who continued into M.S. program and got accepted a year or two later. Those numbers also don't show how many people started the program and how many survived. I believe there are quite a few that gets eliminated.
EDIT: After finishing CERT, I myself is currently in M.S. and have already received one interview this current cycle, so I guess the program works..
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FWIW, I am a historical figure on the boards these days but can say I did the program back in it's early days (started in Fall 2003, when on to finish MS in 2005). After a quick glance of the current website, it appears that the program has come a long way in terms of organization and opportunity. When I did it, we all applied to certificate programs in different areas, such as physiology, biochem, don't remember the others. There was no mention of offering clinical rotations, Kaplan courses, etc. It was strictly a matter of putting your head in the books and getting a high GPA. I don't remember any of the stats regarding my class, but one thing I can say for sure is that it worked out for me. Granted, I put in a ton of work, improved my MCAT score (the amount of material on the MCAT feels like nothing after completing this program) and applied after completing the certificate and while working toward my MS. Long story short, I ended up as a medical student at VCU and was inducted into AOA - the first year of medical school is eerily similar to the certificate program. I recently finished residency and fellowship and am now a board-certified surgeon. Don't worry too much about the program stats - it's what you make of it.
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Thanks for your input in this thread! As a prospective pre-dental student in this program, (I will applying by next week), how many pre-dental students were there in your class and is it competitive among those pre-dental students to seize interview spots for VCU? Also, does VCU CERT only accept 10 to 20 students per class since this program is mainly for pre-medical? Did you have to go into 2nd year into the master's before getting accepted into dental schools? Thank you in advance.
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My class had 20 pre-dent and 80 pre-med. About 65 people survived and graduated. I mean, as long as you maintain 3.5+ and 20AA, I'm sure you will receive an interview at VCU, but does not guarantee an acceptance into dental school. Not many continue into M.S., but IMO it's definitely better to continue into your M.S. Even people who achieved 4.0 from CERT continue into M.S. to increase their chances.
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Do people continue into MS because they applied concurrently to vcu dental school at the time they matriculated into CERT and didnt get admissions year after? Did you have to do MS to gain admission to dental school yourself? Do you think theres a chance for people to gain admissions to other dental schools if they applied concurrently with CERT doing acadmeic update after fall semester?
I can't speak to dental schools specifically but I would highly suggest not doing CERT and applying concurrently. I did that with medical schools this year and it made the program significantly more difficult. It is certainly not impossible, but my grades fall semester would have been much better had I not had interviews and other things to worry about at the same time.
The fall semester is extremely difficult and you have very little room to have an off week and still achieve the grades you want.
Feel free to message me if you have any other questions. I have loved the program and the classes have been everything I could ask for.
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I know there are a few people that have been accepted to dental school while in CERT. I personally didn't apply while I was in CERT so I can't tell you in that regard. One thing I can tell you is that many pre-dental students continue into M.S. regardless of their GPA from CERT, including those that achieved 4.0
Idk why, but dental schools will tell you to get your M.S. as they highly prefer it.
If you could, I would apply somewhere else like @idkwhatdo said. This program IMO is uncessarily extremely difficult.
I've heard many people were successful from GMU-Georgetown CERT program, and that they were relatively not difficult to maintain a great GPA.
I want to be clear, I never said to not apply here. I have enjoyed my last year here and would recommend it to anyone who is looking to improve their application.
Is the program difficult, it certainly is. So is medical and dental school, going to a program to get a free 4.0 does not help develop translation skills to succeed in medical or dental schools. That is at least my opinion.
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I don't believe that CERT is any harder than most other respected SMPs, and in fact, is probably easier than the big name ones like Georgetown's. However, it's definitely not easy, and for that reason, most people don't apply concurrently. Also, the program doesn't recommend applying concurrently because med/dental schools typically like to be able to evaluate your CERT grades. Just being enrolled in CERT isn't really adding anything to your application. Getting a 3.5+ (preferably a 3.8+) in CERT definitely does add to your app, however.
In regards to the MS degree afterwards, I would suggest it, especially for dental students. It seems that the dental school at VCU really likes their students to continue on and do research. I've also heard rumors about an MS in Oral Health getting started, but I don't really know too much about it or if it's even a thing.
I will say that the people working in the office are extremely nice and if you reach out to them, they will definitely take the time to meet with you or chat with you on the phone about any of your questions/concerns
In regards to the MS degree afterwards, I would suggest it, especially for dental students. It seems that the dental school at VCU really likes their students to continue on and do research. I've also heard rumors about an MS in Oral Health getting started, but I don't really know too much about it or if it's even a thing.
I will say that the people working in the office are extremely nice and if you reach out to them, they will definitely take the time to meet with you or chat with you on the phone about any of your questions/concerns
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thanks so much for your inputs guys. I'm trying to look for housing and I was wondering which apt you recommend and which apt you don't recommend? Also, do cert students take more classes from Monroe park campus? or MCV?
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All classes are on the MCV campus. People rarely go to the Monroe Park campus unless they're going to the gym, honestly (there's also a gym on the MCV campus).
As for apartments, I recommend against anything in Shockoe Bottom, even though it's very convenient to the school. It's close to the bars/clubs, so it can get rowdy at night, and I wouldn't say that it's the safest place in Richmond. A lot students live in the Fan area though this can get pricey, and I definitely recommend getting a roommate to keep down costs. There's also an apartment down Broad St. from the MCV campus called Cedar Broad that you may want to look into. It's mostly students as I understand it, so the noise levels should be okay.
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Cedar Broad sucks imo! Walls are super thin. My neighbors played a lot of loud music or smoked weed which would waft into my apt. There are a lot of hidden costs CB has. However, it is a nice apartment. If you can find cheaper housing towards Monroe Campus and don't mind the walk or biking, I think that's your best bet.
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Thanks for your input again. As parking permit purchasing days are coming up, I looked at the campus map and is the K deck my best option for commuter option you think? Where do most of students park their car?
Hey prospective students:
As applicants very well know, there are hundreds of possible schools you can apply to for medicine.
Overall, all schools look for certain numbers: MCATs and GPA... along with your extracurricular hours.
However, they also look for certain qualities in the prospective students as well.
Yes, all med schools are training you to be the same thing: physicians. But there are many qualities a physician must possess and certain schools value specific ones more than others. Some focus more on the academics while others focus more on the character or the passions an individual carries. Rumor is that some schools mix it up every other year
So I don't quite think it fair to say that VCU is a "clusterfvck" just because of the experience one individual has had.
Maybe the above student competed with many others with similar qualities for that one spot in the class. Maybe he is someone who is to succeed in a different community than the one we have here. Who knows...
Unless you're in admissions, no one really knows the complex process it takes to make up a class of 200+ students that can represent the diversity of our community as well as create a well-rounded learning environment for all.
Our admissions staff is great, but they recently had some transitions happen this past year so I hope what the above student experienced was a one-time error that the office can learn from. As an applicant, I can understand how frustrating such a circumstance could have been. However, if you want to be in medicine, one thing you MUST understand is that we are all human. We make mistakes and many of them can be fixed and learned from.
Now as for CERT:
CERT is for you to prove what you are capable of to prospective schools. Yes some of the material can be outdated…if you’ve studied sciences before though, you know that many things become outdated quickly in this field. However, the professors try their best to be relevant and to stay with the topics we can gain the most out of. Of course that is not to say that there isn’t mindless memorization involved in certain blocks as well. But I feel that it is a great way to prove your ability to handle a tough course load if you need a GPA boost and/or if you have been out of school for long enough. It is also great for establishing connections to professors in the SOM for LORs.
For many of my friends, as long as they put in the work, they have had very successful outcomes in terms of acceptances to schools.
VCU SOM is a great institution that is very selective about the qualities they want to see in future physicians. CERT helped me to prove one of those.
So yes, please apply at your own risk. Only if you believe you can challenge and prove yourself through this program.
Btw, I am currently an M1 at VCU SOM and former CERT 2014-2015 student who was accepted into the SOM after my first semester.
I know this post was a while ago, but I have a quick question if you're still available. You did the CERT program in 2014-2015 and matriculated into medical school in 2016? Meaning you got into med school the year after you completed the program?
