<p>Hey I got an invitation to interview for VCU GMED, but I am wondering if it's worth going to. It's not considered as one of my top choices, and I have interviews lined up for Penn State, Boston U, and Miami. Is anyone familiar with this program? I would like their opinions. From the overall consensus, I am seeing that it's a good program, but there are definitely some better ones out there. If I had heard from some of my top choices yet, I probably would not consider this program too heavily.</p>
<p>stop being lazy and go to the interview
if you don’t get into the other programs and only end up getting into this one,
you’ll be glad i told you to go to the interview</p>
<p>yea seriously, are u just bragging? u dont have to post in 5 threads to say that u got an interview.</p>
<p>like â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– said, go to the interview.</p>
<p>I’m sorry I don’t mean to brag- that was not my intention at all. It’s just that my school district is being very unforgiving for these interviews, and I don’t want a truancy case (a person who was in a similar situation as me got that last year). I am kind of freaked out by that, and that’s why I posted that I got the interview. I wanted a diverse group of opinions and I thank you for yours. Again, I apologize for bragging.</p>
<p>how many program did you apply to? if u have get a lot of interview offers, then you might consider not going to GMED interview. i heard VCU’s campus is not very safe.</p>
<p>you are actually pretty lucky to get so many interview offers. right now i have only psu/jeff and UMKC. still waiting so many others…</p>
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<p>Yes, it sucks that schools only allow you to miss only a certain number of school days in a semester, or you lose final exam exemptions if your school has those, which sucks when you have to fly out (Day 1) and go the next day for the interview (Day 2). Personally, I would go to the interview. I don’t think the VCU is really a low tier medical school as it even has many of the very competitive residency programs. You may want to contact emiratesfan01 though to see why he said what he said about the program: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063881343-post15.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063881343-post15.html</a></p>
<p>But, yes, you should go to the interview.</p>
<p>Is VCU Gmed worth it?</p>
<p>I think it depends on a few factors.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If you are from Virginia, it is definitely worth it! This is the cheapest and most efficient way of getting the MD.</p></li>
<li><p>If you are from other states, it depends on whether or not you get a scholarship to come to VCU and how expensive your other options are. It also depends on how hard you want to work in undergrad because if you are willing to work as hard as you did in high school, you will have a good chance of getting into some medical school.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>For me, VCU undergrad w/scholarship is a little less than my state school for undergrad. However, VCU medical school = 3 times more expensive than state medical school. I am working hard so I will be in position to apply out when the time comes.</p>
<p>I am not sure if it was worth it though in my case, but I don’t mind it…</p>
<p>this guaranteed MD program is not worth it</p>
<p>I still am trying to understand the point of this program making students take upper-level science courses, beyond the minimal requirments needed for VCU medical school of one year of general biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics… with those upper level science courses (while any major is acceptable), it kinda forces students to become biology majors as those upper level science courses fulfill degree requirements</p>
<p>There are MANY MANY MANY students who go through normal admissions having taken only the minimal science requirements and pursue a major of their interest… And honestly, med schools dont care about whether an applicant has done upper level science courses… this is not like college admissions, where the course curriculum is also looked at… Med schools ONLY care about grades in general bio, chem, orgo, physics, MCAT, and EC’s… in fact, I believe non-science majors who have taken only a year of bio,chem, orgo, and physics and did well in MCAT get preference over science majors (who have done tons of upper-level science and math courses) because they are able to prove they are well-rounded students</p>
<p>And this program defeats the ultimate purpose of guaranteed admission programs… to allow a student to explore his/her interest having all ready been admitted to med school… but this program essentially forces students to become bio majors :/</p>
<p>Secondly, VCU med school is not a ranked med school. both UVA and EVMS are regarded better med schools in VA. UVA is nationally ranked… EVMS has a smaller class size and has I believe slightly higher MCAT than VCU</p>
<p>VCU undergrad is on the fourth tier of US News I think.</p>
<p>Honestly, there are many many many better guaranteed admission programs than VCU… And if you can’t get in those, I would take a higher ranked college than this guaranteed program and apply through regular admissions</p>
<p>this program just doesnt appeal to me… I went through normal admissions in college and got into med school… and i only did a year of general bio,chem,orgo, and physics
did well on MCAT
had good amount of EC’s</p>
<p>and did not have trouble getting into med school… and I had nowhere as good high school stats as you guys did, so if you get into say Brown/Brown Med GO!! Or any ranked medical school program say. But VCU/MCV… I would recommend going to a good 4 year college over this program and applying through regular admissions</p>
<p>I am saying this as a premed who has gone through college. I dont think high school seniors really know this, as they all just get attracted to this program because of all the horror stories they hear about how hard it is to get into medical school and this program gives you a guaranteed admission from day 1… if you do well people in college, and apply broadly, chances are you will get in…</p>
<p>And BTW, what is the GPA requirement to stay in this program? Because with your stats you can get into really get into great colleges, and if you get a 3.3 + GPA assuming you did well on MCAT, you can apply to just zillions of med schools…</p>
<p>that is my recommendation</p>
<p>Emiratesfan01 is very much against VCU GMED. I guess either he is not confident to get accepted to VCU GMED or he was not invited to the interverview.</p>
<p>I think Emiratesfan01 just has a grudge against VCU. Probably applied and did not get in. Who else would post the same info on five different threads and its the only thing he ever posted.</p>
<p>A fellow lurker on this thread for a long time, but finally decided to post my first thread.</p>
<p>Its nice to get a guaranteed admission, but I have decided to attend UCLA, USC, or Harvey Mudd if I don’t get accepted to any other BA/MD programs. I know of a cousin that went to the program, and she did not like one second of the program, and discouraged me from attending. She herself is now a med student, but she did know some people who had to leave the program either because of failing to meet academic requirements or decided medicine was not for them after all (and this really happens about a loss of interest towards medicine in college she emphasized). She told me that the medical school is okay (she didn’t sound too enthusiastic about this either), but the undergraduate was just very unresponsive to her needs and wasn’t a supporting environment at all. The program is just a sieve, like many normal premedical atmospheres, where the purpose is to allow a selected group within the GMED group to matriculate into the med school. Often times, she said her fellow gmed students would complain about being at such a school with such harsh requirements. She tells me the program is structured to be a marathon, and she felt really burned out at the end of the program, compared to some of her classmates at the med school who really, despite having taken the MCAT, had a much higher quality of life in undergrad and went through college with no where near the restrictions she had.</p>
<p>She was not too keen to live in Richmond. She complained a lot about Richmond and especially its safety, saying the year she was an undergrad it was up there with Flint and Baltimore in terms of crime rate. Regardless after her undergrad, she decided to apply to some other medical schools in VA and around the country, but failed to gain admission to ANY med school. She is not sure whether it was the applicant quality the year she applied, or whether it was her own application, coming from VCU which made it difficult. </p>
<p>While she did say she had A LOT of friends (and the social life is great depending on how involved a person wants to get), the academic requirements often times made what she calls a more stressful environment then the traditional premedical atmosphere found on most campuses. She had recommended that I look into other colleges, as she would not recommend going through this program because of her own experiences and because of Richmond.</p>
<p>Just wanted to share this all with you. There is definitely the benefit of having a guaranteed admission, but at the same time there are comparable benefits at other institutions you simply don’t get with this program.</p>
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<p>withdrawing my acceptance. Accepted to West Virginia University program!! Good luck to you all still waiting for the program. I am VA IS if it helps any.</p>
<p>Congrats! I withdrew my acceptance. I am really hoping I get into BU program or UC San Diego program (but I highly doubt it)!. But either way, good luck to everybody. OOS.</p>
<p>Does VCU GMED have a waitlist?</p>
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