<p>hello,</p>
<p>the requirements to VCU gMEd are: * New SAT combined score of 1910 or higher, obtained in a single sitting, with no score below 530
* Unweighted GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale
* Students must be admitted to VCU and to the Honors College</p>
<p>So if you have those rankings you ARE gauranteed into Medical School???</p>
<p>If you have the grades, your in- no questions asked?</p>
<p>no, those are the requirements to apply to the program. out of everyone who applies, about 60 people are given interviews and around 30 of those are accepted. after being accepted, you have to keep up the requirements such as GPA and medical hours in order to stay in the program and keep your guaranteed admit into MCV.</p>
<p>Drechie, there is nothing guaranteed in life. We only know what happen today!!</p>
<p>"(1) well the fact is it's hard for anyone to get into those schools, and just because they're harvard and yale doesn't mean they have the best medical schools. generally, the people who are in the gmed programs (and most combined programs) are looking to become doctors, and those are the type of people these programs aim to get. schools like harvard and yale are, if you pay close attention, known as top tier <em>research</em> schools. the best schools in primary care are schools that aren't in constant limelight, such as the university of washington. i also doubt that very many people in gmed even applied to harvard/yale. MCV is a school that is more focused on primary care and people in the program who apply out apply to programs that are focused on primary care. also, how prestigious a program isn't parallel with how good it is."
----------It is indisputable that yale/uva/georgetown etc are better than VCU-mcv even if it was primary care- I know that med students who graduate out of these schools get top residency spots.
---Secondly, the advisor herself told me that quite a few GMed students apply out and end up getting rejected by these top schools.
---prestige = good= competition = leads to success.</p>
<p>" i don't completely agree with this. i would understand this more VCU did not have a good science program, but it does. however, when you're applying to graduate schools what would you rather be? average at an ivy league school or stand out in a lesser known school like VCU? schools will notice you more if you're applicant who's done better and more with with where they went. the bias may be there, but its more significant in some cases (such as two applicants who're similiar from different schools) than others. "</p>
<p>-i would rather be TOP in an ivy league school than top in low-tier school.
high ambition, and competition coupled with a motivation to work hard would even put you at the top
---Secondly, you GMed students do not want to take risks. If one really wants to be a doctor, then one should get the best undergraduate experience which VCU unfortunately does not provide.
---also, schools notice more if an applicant strives to do their best in a very competitive school- Take for example MIT and Cornell- medical schools appreciate and like the candidates who have tried to do their best- A candidate who has 3.7 or 3.8 GPA at MIT or Cornell will be much more sought by med schools/grad schools than a candidate who has a 4.0 GPA at VCU (which a lot of people can do).</p>
<p>"(4) True, if you're smart enough and worked hard enough to get into a combined program you can most certainly get into medical school the regular way. there're are plenty of reasons for going to a combined program and if none of them apply to you, then its very well you choose you go to a regular undergraduate. my reason is that i have other interests than medicine and this way i can focus on more than one thing (medicine, business, and international studies) without the extra stress of ensuring that i get into medical school."</p>
<p>--If you had other interests besides medicine, then you had better not applied to this program because here, you are tied to medicine even if you want to do business or engineering. Of course, you can opt out of the guarantee, but then you will just be like the average students who go to vcu and apply for grad programs like MBA etc.(of course you can do the MD/MBA combined program but VCU does not have that- It DOES have MD/MPH and MD/PhD)
- ALso, i would like to have freedom. I was selected an Echols and Science scholar so had i gone to UVA (which I am not)- i would have the freedom todesign my own path which would include Human biology, global health policy, BME, etc.. which is geared towards medicine. Even engineering is geared towards medicine- but Business certainly is NOT. (Cornell program is also flexible)</p>
<p>I have nothing against VCU or the Guaranteed Program- It is a very selective and fine program- I think that people have just inflated its actual caliber and the quality of students.
(initially i was all about this program but i have realized that it is not challenging enough and the prestige is not that great.)</p>
<p>-Also, even in the VCU medical school itself: More UVA undergrads are enrolled in MCV than VCU students.(that includes students from BME)</p>
<p>"I think that people have just inflated its actual caliber and the quality of students."</p>
<p>...hahahahahahaha, don't you think that its a mistake to state that the "quality of students" is "inflated" on this thread? :P</p>
<p>you get the point that the actual caliber- people have just increased it.</p>
<p>lol bro, i know absolutely nothing about vcu or the ppl that it has, i'm in another program, but still...that's pretty damn hilarious...
but seriously man, i'm talkin to abnime right now, she's a friend of mine, and she pretty much hates you rofl.</p>
<p>so there's really no point in arguing with you about VCU's credibility considering that you have got it set in your mind that a perfectly good program is complete crap because it doesn't have as much prestige as another. </p>
<p>but your opinion on prestige=success? well what does success mean to you, getting a really "good" residency out of a really "good" medical school (god forbid, people from medical schools that aren't given as high endorsements from the NIH get "good" residencies). success to me means becoming a good doctor, and being good at what i do, and doing something with my life. my life, which is not centered around academics and getting the highest possible GPA. you assume that kids enter the gmed program because they lack motivation and don't take risks? well, you also seem to think that every person is motivated by the same thing as <em>you</em>; that is, competition. </p>
<p>there are people who don't need to be pressured with getting into medical school in order to do well, some of us INHERENTLY care about doing well... you know, for the sake of LEARNING. also, i said i'm interested in business meaning i want to take business classes, and i'm interested in international studies... so that means i'm not sure about medicine? it can't possibly be that i want to set up my own practice or practice overseas in programs such as doctors without borders. or that i'm not the typical stereotype doctor who doesn't have any other interests or the capacity to follow through with those interests/passions.</p>
<p>back to the success bit... for me, being successful is not getting the most prestigious residency program there or getting into the top ranked medical schools. being successful means becoming a sincere and dedicated and GOOD doctor. none of these traits involve prestige, they involve knowledge and experience. compared to this, where i get my residency is nothing and where i go to medical school is even less.</p>
<p>oh yeah, and being in a guaranteed program allows you to do more such as study abroad or volunteer where you're needed in medical missions such as the mother teresa organization or even the peace corps. </p>
<p>there's this thing called life experience which involves SO much more than academics and prestige, and in the end what you experience in life and take part in is what matters.</p>
<p>oh, and sorry if this was rude, you kind of asked for it. what, with directly insulting the people you were arguing with. good move kid, and way to completely miss tofu's calling you out on that. smart, real smart.</p>
<p>tofu, seriously, the hot and sour soup is screaming your name =P</p>
<p>nah sour don't work fer me, sweet all the way. Is there a hot n sweet soup?</p>
<p>btw...what exactly is an "abnime." Some powerful stuff up there ^</p>
<p>I don't think that people have inflated the caliber and quality of the students by any means. Dr. Chandler and the gmed students I met on campus are some of the most down to earth people I have ever met. If I wasn't going to HPME I would be going to VCU in a heartbeat.</p>
<p>someone needs to post "i love vcu post". Compared HPME and VCU, my parents can save at least $52k, enough for one year of medical school. i have my other reasons, but let just say VCU is my school.</p>
<p>i got into the vcu gmed program and i am on the wait list for some ivy leagues and i got into northwestern. I just would like to know how possible it is to get into an ivy league med school if i choose to leave vcu (you can apply out for med school from the gmed program)</p>
<p>very possible, uconn5050. many untapped resources.</p>
<p>highflyer, elaborate?</p>
<p>hey guys i was reading up on VCU's preferred applicant program, and i was wondering if anyone has heard any rumors, or knows on average how hard it is to get in. if anyone could give me any information on it at all i would appreciate it. thank you very much in advance</p>
<p>Whats a good set of scores to have to get in? Also, is there a mcat req?</p>
<p>how hard is it to get into VCU. i have a 3.4 gpa and 1820 on my SAT. Is it hard to get into VCU's Honors College after you're a student there?</p>
<p>and is it really true that undergrads from VCU don;t get accepted into a good medical school?</p>