VCU: Pre-Medical/Basic Health Sciences Certificate in Physiology

[askadds]

Does any1 have any information on this program? How hard is to get acceptance to the program? BTW, im a predent student with a 3.0gpa (bio degree) and dat: 18, 20, 17.

I'm really considering this program and if anyone has any info, I would greatly appreciate it.

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[lala83]

i'm in their program right now. unfortunately, they don't post what the stats are for admitted students, but i have friends that had 3.0s who got in (some people below a 3.0 were also admitted, sometimes on a probationary basis). some of the concentrations are easier to get into than others. anatomy's the hardest, physiology seems to be the second hardest, and i know that biochem is a little more slack.
PM me if you have any more questions about the specific programs, classes, etc. i'd be happy to help

 

[Instatewaiter]

Does any1 have any information on this program? How hard is to get acceptance to the program? BTW, im a predent student with a 3.0gpa (bio degree) and dat: 18, 20, 17.

I'm really considering this program and if anyone has any info, I would greatly appreciate it.

I did the program last year. I am in med school at MCV now. I know a lot about the program and also about MCV admissions. PM me if you have questions.

In terms of admissions to the Post-bac Cert program it is really very easy to get in. Generally they want above a 2.8 and 24 MCAT (or I'm sure the equivalent score in DAT) so you should have no problem getting into one of the programs, especially biochem.

Anatomy and phys are a bit harder than Biochem to get into and those programs definately do more for you in terms of mentoring. I did biochem and got into med school.

One thing that they do not tell you though is that most people from the program DO NOT get into med school/dental school. There are a lot of reasons for this: First there are a lot of freaking *****s that do the program with unreal goals of getting into med/dental school. People who come in w/ a sub 3.0 and sub 27 MCAT after working their tail off in college are not going to cut it. About 1/3 of my Certificate class did not finish.

Of those that did only about 11 got into MCV med school (it was a low year, usually around 16 get in). This also includes the people who finished a masters. The deceptive thing that they tell you is that if you don't get in the first year you can finish a masters. The thing is, though, the next year (while you do the masters) you are still competing w/ the other Certificate students finishing a masters and also with the new students in the program. Just know that finishing a masters is no gaurantee.

Now with all the above negative things said, the Certificate program is PERFECT for people who are smart but slacked off in college. It is a good way to make up for poor Ugrad GPA since very few SMPs or 1 year grad programs will take a risk on people with around a 3.0 GPA. The VCU certificate program is an excellent way to prove you are capable of doing well in med/dent school without having to waste 4 more years of your life taking Ugrad classes to raise a crappy Ugrad GPA to competitive range.

So for those kids that are borderline to get in, it is probably not the best program. However, for those that need a real second chance it is an excellent program.

 

[nanaschool2000]

Can someone tell me when the application deadline is for fall 2007? What was the deadline for fall 2006?

 

[askadds]

thanks for all the replies guys. pretty much Ive made up my mind that Im going to apply to the physio program. my gpa is right around 3.0 and my DAT score in the science section was in the top 94% percentile so im not too worried about the acceptance. i was the typical partier at the start and then got serious. I have an evergrowing passion to learn more biology (geek) and I feel I have to take this step and prove I can survive and excel in dental school. that said, I have a couple of other question and maybe both of you can reply answer:

1. are the classes held on the VCU campus or the MCV campus. I want to live close to campus.

2. how do the graduate classes compare to the undergrad classes. i've taken or will have taken the majority of the core requirements before I would start (human physio, cell physio, immuno, biochem, micro). Pretty much getting As thus far in the upper level bio classes. Will that help significantly? I'm just trying to figure out how 1/3 of the class did not finish? slackers? intesive program? can you elaborate on this?

 

[Instatewaiter]

thanks for all the replies guys. pretty much Ive made up my mind that Im going to apply to the physio program. my gpa is right around 3.0 and my DAT score in the science section was in the top 94% percentile so im not too worried about the acceptance. i was the typical partier at the start and then got serious. I have an evergrowing passion to learn more biology (geek) and I feel I have to take this step and prove I can survive and excel in dental school. that said, I have a couple of other question and maybe both of you can reply answer:

1. are the classes held on the VCU campus or the MCV campus. I want to live close to campus.

2. how do the graduate classes compare to the undergrad classes. i've taken or will have taken the majority of the core requirements before I would start (human physio, cell physio, immuno, biochem, micro). Pretty much getting As thus far in the upper level bio classes. Will that help significantly? I'm just trying to figure out how 1/3 of the class did not finish? slackers? intesive program? can you elaborate on this?

The program is through the MCV graduate school thus it is on the MCV campus (Right around 11th street and Marshall).

The classes were no question a lot harder than the average Ugrad classes. I thought the exams were more straight forward than Ugrad (UVA for me) but this is more likely a function me doing a lot more work than I did in Ugrad and the fact that classes in the cert program were graded on a 10 point scale. Even though the tests were relatively straight forward it was still pretty hard to get an A just from the sheer volume of info. For example, in physiology last year, of all the people in the class (~150), only about 20 got As. In terms of work, I would guess that I did between 2-5 hours of work on an average day.

The classes you have taken will definately help but I would expect you will need to still do a significant amount of studying. The program was pretty intense. There is a lot of pressure on each test because you know if you don't get an A in the class you will most likely not get into med/dental school. I have to say, I think that there was more pressure in the Cert program than in medical school.

Like I said before, there were a lot of people who were not prepared for the program. They either did not come ready to work and thus got demolished on the first set of exams or just weren't able to keep up. Of that 1/3 there were also people who made it to the second semester but did not finish with a 3.0 and thus were not given the certificate or the option to continue with the masters. I don't know what the stats are for this year but I suspect there was a relatively high attrition rate as well.

 

[ssquared]

Thank you, Instatewaiter, for being honest! I didn't know most of the stuff you mentioned in your posts. I have a quick question: I was contemplating applying to the program, but with a focus on microbiology instead of physiology. Is the microbio program as good/hard/ridiculous/whatever as physio?

Your post scares me a bit because I feel like I've worked pretty hard as of late in college, but I do attend a school that's pretty notorious for grade deflation, if anything. Do think that if someone can really focus and put in the time they can succeed in the program? FWIW, I did score pretty well on the MCAT (higher than MCV's average score).

 

[Instatewaiter]

I would apply to all 6 that way you don't have to put your eggs in one basket. I think you can actually use one application to apply to all 6 and then your application will be forwarded (with separate personal statements) to each of the programs.

The microbio program is also pretty good but I feel that most of the people who wanted to go to med/dental school were in biochem, phys or anatomy. The genetics people, and to a lesser extent microbio people, were usually trying to get into a masters or PhD program. Most kids who get in to med school come from the anatomy program, but it is also hardest to do well in that program (histology is really very difficult). So while more people get in from the anatomy program, their stats are higher going into the program and they also excell in harder classes (which is known by the med school). IMHO I think that the anatomy program will not give you any added benefit (interms of admission) just because taking histo makes it that much more difficult to do well in the Biochem and physiology courses first semester. The adcom is looking for you to get an A in the phys and biochem courses. If you do that you will get in no matter what program you came from.

Also remember that the Adcoms will really only see your 1st semester grades before they make a decision on you. Thus you need to do really well the first semester.

I think all of the 6 Certificate programs end up taking the Biochem 'supercourse' and Mammalian phys the first semester. Then depending on the program you will take another course (histo for anatomy, drug dependence for phys etc). So the microbio program will also be quite hard.

Honestly the program will take a lot of work to do well in. That said, most people who put in the work will be able to do pretty well in it. I would say that most people who did well also came from a pretty tough Ugrad institution and came in with a decent MCAT (~30).

MCV's average MCAT score is a bit misleading. They post it between a 29 and 30 but unlike many schools they like to let in people with very sub-par MCAT scores who have 'been through a lot.' I know of multiple people with low 20's and even one person with a 20! So while your MCAT may be 'above their average' you really need to rely on doing well in the Cert program to get in.

 

[Instatewaiter]

To find my earlier posts regarding the Cert program just search for "VCU/MCV Physiology" in the post-bac forum. The post is called Official: VCU/MCV Physiology Class of 07

So in last year from biochem 2 people got in out of about 10-15 in the beginning. Genetics I think had 1. The anatomy program had about 6 or so (but 2 were masters students) out of about 20-30. I have counted about 11 from Cert program/masters, mostly from the Cert program (ie didn't have to finish a masters) but I could have missed some masters students that I didn't meet.

The thing about last year was that MCV decided to give out 300 more interviews than normal (650 is normal, last year it was almost 950) so it was much harder to get in. I was waitlisted and subsequently accepted (hence my screen name) but was told by the old dean that in any other year I would have gotten in w/o being waitlisted. It was a very tough year for applicants.

This year I have heard they are going back to the 650 interview slots which should make the numbers of acceptances go back up.

In terms of studying, SGMD is right; you will have to every day. If you treat it like a job (4 hours of class and 3-4 hours of studying) you should be fine. There is no possible way to cram, there is just way too much material. The material is not all that hard but there is just a lot of it. If you keep up it will be fine. Despite being hard, the program is excellent prep for med school. The biochem class in med school was a joke compared to the depth of material and how it was asked in the cert program. Granted, the Cert program course lasted 1 year while the med school one lasted only 2 months. I have pretty much been cruising through the first year (at least until we hit anatomy which I have never had).

The Cert program also gets you in gear for med school. Cert kids hit the ground running and traditionally do very well during the first year. Others tend to stumble since med school is such a step up from Ugrad. Med school is not that much of a step up from the Cert program (if one at all). By the end of the cert program you will have taken most of the 1st year medical curriculum with one notable exception, anatomy.

Remember the most important thing (whether at MCV or any other SMP) is to do really well 1st semester (4.0 or close). VCU/MCV is a bit weird since it does not give out pluses and minuses. Thus an 89 is a B while a 90 is an A. This is a big jump in GPA but can really work to your advantage if you are on the other side of the cusp. Really only your 1st semester grades will be seen. You will most likely get an interview in January or Febuary and then go to the committee by Late feb/March. You will hear by March 15th. 2nd semester grades do not come out until Middle of May, so they essentially don't count unless you bomb them. DO WELL 1ST SEMESTER!

 

[Boujie_PA23]

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