VCU Pre-Health Advisory Committee (PHAC) Process

A resource and service for VCU students and alumni who are applying to Medical and Dental Schools. PHAC is provided by VCU Pre-Professional Health and STEM Career Advising.

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Letter of Recommendation (LOR) Packet Transmission Process

General Information for 2021 Admissions Cycle

Centralized application services (AMCAS, AACOMAS,TMDSAS, AADSAS) will open their application for the 2021 admissions cycle in the beginning of May 2020 and begin accepting applications in late May/early June.  Submission of letters of recommendation is not required to submit to your centralized application.

In your application, you should provide the name and contact information for your assigned pre-professional health advisor for your LOR packet ONLY.  Do not provide the names of your other letter writers in the application if they have submitted your letters to our office through VECollect.  Your application will appear incomplete to medical and dental schools and delay the processing of your application.

Transmission Information

  • We will begin transmitting letters on Monday, June 8, 2020. Requests will be processed in the order that they are received.  
  • If you are applying to two separate programs (i.e. both M.D. and D.O. schools), you must submit two separate requests.
  • Letter packets will be transmitted within five (5) business days if credentialing fee has been received by Cashier’s Office and processed by VCU Pre-Professional Health and STEM Career Advising.
  • Application services – AMCAS, AACOMAS, AADSAS will send you electronic notification verifying receipt of your letter packet.

Students Applying Medical Schools

You must release your MCAT scores and your AMCAS/AACOMAS/TMDSAS application to your advisor. Please complete advisor release statement in the Colleges Attended section, under Virginia Commonwealth University. This information is used for data collection only and is completely confidential.

Students Applying to Dental Schools

You must release your AADSAS/TMDSAS application to your advisor.  Please complete advisor release statement. This information is used for data collection only and is completely confidential.

Steps to Request Letters of Recommendation Transmission to Application services

  1. Update VECollect account with your AMCAS/AADSAS/AACOMAS/TMDSAS ID and AMCAS letter ID for your assigned advisor, if applicable.  
  2. Finalize your letters in VECollect and create your quiver. You may create more than one quiver if you are applying to multiple program types (i.e. a D.O. quiver AND an M.D. quiver, or an M.D. quiver and an M.D./Ph.D. quiver).
  3. Complete the following transmissions request form, found HERE. (Link will go live on Monday, June 1, 2020 at 8:30am). Mistakes in completing this form will result in a delay of processing of your request.
  4. In your AMCAS/AADSAS/AACOMAS/TMDSAS application, make sure you have entered the correct name and contact information for your assigned pre-professional health and stem career advisor as your evaluator.
    • Students with the last name A-G, V and Z are assigned to Mr. William Burke (wburke2@vcu.edu)
    • Students with the last name H-N and Kuwaiti Pre-medical and Pre-dental students are assigned to Mr. Brian Cone (coneb2@vcu.edu)
    • Students with the last name O-T, WXY, Post Baccalaureate, Alumni and Non-degree students assigned to Mrs. Sonya Barnes (slbarnes@vcu.edu)

Contact Information:
VCU Career Services – Pre-Professional Health and STEM Career Advising
907 Floyd Avenue, Room 143
Richmond, Virginia 23284-2007

NEW APPLICANTS:  A few reminders about VECollect and your quiver

  • Before we can transmit your letters of recommendation, you must have a locked quiver in VECollect.
    • If your quiver is unlocked, we will assume that you are still waiting to receive letters and WILL NOT transmit your letters even though you have submitted a transmission request.
  • Please name your quiver to indicate the program to which you are applying (i.e. MD quiver, DO quiver, DDS quiver).
  • You can not update a quiver once it is locked.

RE-APPLICANTS:  A few reminders about VECollect and your quiver

  • We are aware of the problem with being unable to see the difference between letters from previous years and 2020 letters in VECollect.
  • Re-applicants DO NOT need to lock their quiver.
  • You must fill out the letter transmission request form.

If you have questions or concerns, please contact your assigned pre-professional health and STEM career advisor via email or call VCU Career Services (804) 828-1645. Please allow at least 1 business day for a response.