UPenn c/o 2020 applicants!

Veterinary Science Graduate Certificate from UofI
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Looks like I'll be joining you guys on January 8!

Holy tits, indeed! :clap:
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Good luck guys! @Jilary summed it up pretty well. Don't stress about it, ask questions, talk to people and come to happy hour afterwards for a drink or two. There's usually dogs!
 
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Pre_Eq_Surgeon said:
They offer every week from now through February. Why give up after the first day they invite people?
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Because I visited and I was told my GRE scores wouldn't make the cut. I'm just not getting my hopes too high. I know my first post was super cynical but I'm also very sarcastic. :)
 
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PittPreVet said:
Because I visited and I was told my GRE scores wouldn't make the cut. I'm just not getting my hopes too high. I know my first post was super cynical but I'm also very sarcastic. :)
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Do you mind me asking around where you were?
 
mgp11001 said:
Do you mind me asking around where you were?
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Let's just say I broke 300 but barely with even scores in Q & V. A few points higher in the Quant. If I had to retake them I'd study a lot more than I originally did (virtually not at all, lol).
 
I know someone who was told the same thing by admissions, and goes there now.
 
congrats to all that have been invited to interview! can any of you tell me the email address which the invite came from? I've been having difficulties with my email account and penn emails specifically and want to make sure I add the address to a safe sender list so it doesn't accidentally get blocked!
 
How do you think a school like upenn perceives athletes some schools were thrilled to know I'm a division I athlete and have won two national championships but it is so hard to tell because it takes away from some of my other experiences as well
 
I feel that usually being an athlete is looked at highly. If you can show that you can keep up with academics and be a collegiate athlete, that is an achievement in itself. Additionally, there are a lot of great character traits that are associated with being involved with sports. I have brothers who played college sports and it was definitely a positive thing for them when they were involved in the job search.
 
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orca2011 said:
Good luck guys! @Jilary summed it up pretty well. Don't stress about it, ask questions, talk to people and come to happy hour afterwards for a drink or two. There's usually dogs!
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Forgot to ask, but where's the happy hour?
 
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So excited for you guys :) :) If anyone is coming in from afar and needs a place to stay super close to the school, doesn't mind sleeping on a couch...let me know!
 
Jilary said:
Usually in the student lounge area. There will be people around that will help you find it.
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Damn, and here I was thinking it'd be at the city tap house haha.
 
Jilary said:
Nah, beer is WAY cheaper at the penn vet happy hour! And people bring their dogs too or even the occasional snake.
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Aaaand the possibility of seeing snakes just made my day. I have a bad habit of jumping out of moving vehicles when I see a snake in the road, so it's safe to say that I'm a herp enthusiast :D
 
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OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!! I'm so excited I'm interviewing January 15th!!!
 
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Ugh, how many weeks of torture must I endure from this school before I know what my status is?!!:arghh:
 
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WOOO see you guys on the 15th!!! so excited right now!! :D :D
 
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did anyone on this feed apply for Penn's VMD/PhD program?
 
cavy_crazy said:
did anyone on this feed apply for Penn's VMD/PhD program?
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I'm considering applying after first year classes (if I get in)! My first up-close and personal look at the school will be on Jan 8th for my interview, so I'm definitely planning to wander around in their research buildings if I'm allowed to do so. Did you already finish the application for the PhD program? If so, do you already have an advisor/dept in mind, etc...?
 
jcc3sa said:
I'm considering applying after first year classes (if I get in)! My first up-close and personal look at the school will be on Jan 8th for my interview, so I'm definitely planning to wander around in their research buildings if I'm allowed to do so. Did you already finish the application for the PhD program? If so, do you already have an advisor/dept in mind, etc...?
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I applied for the PhD at the same time as my VMD (so I'd start them both this coming Fall if I get in) - I lived in Philadelphia this summer (loved UPenn!) & spoke with the head of the program, Dr. Atchison, and applied just last month for the combined program. I applied under the genetics/gene regulation department (I majored in genetics for undergrad & have done genetic research), but don't have a particular advisor in mind. Dr. Atchison said the program is super competitive & my GRE scores weren't the greatest, but I have a strong GPA and research experience, so I was curious if anyone had heard back about interviews for the combined program yet.
Overall, it sounds like a really great program & it seems really well structured!
 
I'd have to agree with the "seems really well structured" comment. But the best part of the whole gig is the free vet school + graduate stipend. Rather than sinking into ~$300k of debt, you'll be collecting a salary. That's a hard deal to beat. My main concern, as of now, is the extra time it will take to complete school. I'm already 25 (I've been working full time in cell bio/neuro sci research for the past several years), so the prospect of 8 more years of school is pretty daunting. And yeah, it's obviously obscenely competitive from what I've read. My GRE scores were very competitive, but I saw that the average composite gre for the program is a 330! That's absurd, given that it's just their "average". At the end of the day, though, the most important aspect of applying is your research experience and motivation, as well as rec letters from previous PIs. Best of luck applying; I hope it turns out well!
 
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Btw, do they have a special VMD/PhD interview day, to your knowledge? I would think so, since they mentioned you'll be interviewing with the grad program as well.
 
jcc3sa said:
Btw, do they have a special VMD/PhD interview day, to your knowledge? I would think so, since they mentioned you'll be interviewing with the grad program as well.
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Thank you! And I know what you mean about 8 more years sounding daunting - it feels like I might be in school forever! But yes they do have a separate interview day - I believe you would interview on a Thursday for the PhD program, and then Friday for veterinary admissions (or something along those lines).
 
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jcc3sa said:
Btw, do they have a special VMD/PhD interview day, to your knowledge? I would think so, since they mentioned you'll be interviewing with the grad program as well.
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They do, it's January 20-22
 
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I'm interviewing on the 15th too!!!!
 
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Does anyone know if what people said on here previously about the first interview dates being more likely to get in is still true for this year? Someone told me they've changed up their interview process in the last few years, so I'm hoping that's still true. I'm interviewing on the 8th and could not be more excited so I'm hoping it is!
 
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vethopeful93 said:
Does anyone know if what people said on here previously about the first interview dates being more likely to get in is still true for this year? Someone told me they've changed up their interview process in the last few years, so I'm hoping that's still true. I'm interviewing on the 8th and could not be more excited so I'm hoping it is!
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You and me both haha ;)
 
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vethopeful93 said:
Does anyone know if what people said on here previously about the first interview dates being more likely to get in is still true for this year? Someone told me they've changed up their interview process in the last few years, so I'm hoping that's still true. I'm interviewing on the 8th and could not be more excited so I'm hoping it is!
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I'm pretty sure that hasn't been true for at least a couple years, if it ever was true.
 
will there be a happy hour on the 15th as well? Or is that just a first interview day activity? The email said to plan to be at the school until about 4:30, just wondering if I should plan to stay even later or not :)
 
vethopeful93 said:
Does anyone know if what people said on here previously about the first interview dates being more likely to get in is still true for this year? Someone told me they've changed up their interview process in the last few years, so I'm hoping that's still true. I'm interviewing on the 8th and could not be more excited so I'm hoping it is!
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They have been changing the way they conduct interviews in the past year or two, so I honestly would take anything from previous years with a grain of salt.

In all honesty, try not to worry about what's going on with anyone else (obviously easier said than done). If you're invited to interview, your invite will come when it comes and then it's up to you to show them the best you on that day. They wouldn't be interviewing people if they still didn't have spots to fill, therefore there isn't really a reason to panic over what day you get. And if they want you, you'll get offered a spot, no matter which day you have.
 
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vetmedflutist said:
will there be a happy hour on the 15th as well? Or is that just a first interview day activity? The email said to plan to be at the school until about 4:30, just wondering if I should plan to stay even later or not :)
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Happy hour happens basically every Friday unless the students in charge of running it (usually the first years, sometimes other years depending on exam schedules) or if there is some other major event going on.
 
fabulous, thank you! can't put into words how excited I am!
 
@orca2011

You wouldn't happen to have some insight on clinical rotations, would you? It looks like you're probably in the middle of clinicals at this point (c/o 2016), and I was just hoping to find out what the rotation options are and how much freedom and choice availability there is. Also, do you know anyone who's pursuing a disease/epidemiology route with the hope of going into academic, government/military, or corporate research of some sort?
 
Sorry about all of the questions :D
 
jcc3sa said:
@orca2011

You wouldn't happen to have some insight on clinical rotations, would you? It looks like you're probably in the middle of clinicals at this point (c/o 2016), and I was just hoping to find out what the rotation options are and how much freedom and choice availability there is. Also, do you know anyone who's pursuing a disease/epidemiology route with the hope of going into academic, government/military, or corporate research of some sort?
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Sure, I'll type up some stuff this weekend when I have a bit more free time. I will say availability and what rotations are available often depends a bit on how you track and how many electives you take, but I'll go into more detail in that post. It also the whole scheduling aspect of it and what's available tends to make more sense once you're in the middle of planning it, but I'll do my best to explain it to you.

As for the research side of things, I don't know a ton because that's not my interest, but a lot of my classmates have participated in various research programs throughout the years and one of my classmates is a VMD/PhD student and I think another has the whole Army scholarship thing but I can't think of someone wanting to do epidemiology.
 
orca2011 said:
Sure, I'll type up some stuff this weekend when I have a bit more free time. I will say availability and what rotations are available often depends a bit on how you track and how many electives you take, but I'll go into more detail in that post. It also the whole scheduling aspect of it and what's available tends to make more sense once you're in the middle of planning it, but I'll do my best to explain it to you.

As for the research side of things, I don't know a ton because that's not my interest, but a lot of my classmates have participated in various research programs throughout the years and one of my classmates is a VMD/PhD student and I think another has the whole Army scholarship thing but I can't think of someone wanting to do epidemiology.
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Great, thank you! Looking forward to hearing more.
 
orca2011 said:
Sure, I'll type up some stuff this weekend when I have a bit more free time. I will say availability and what rotations are available often depends a bit on how you track and how many electives you take, but I'll go into more detail in that post. It also the whole scheduling aspect of it and what's available tends to make more sense once you're in the middle of planning it, but I'll do my best to explain it to you.

As for the research side of things, I don't know a ton because that's not my interest, but a lot of my classmates have participated in various research programs throughout the years and one of my classmates is a VMD/PhD student and I think another has the whole Army scholarship thing but I can't think of someone wanting to do epidemiology.
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@orca2011 also hoping to go into disease/epidemiology research, so any more information you have on options for that at penn would be greatly appreciated!
 
I got an invite as well for January 22nd
 
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cavy_crazy said:
did anyone on this feed apply for Penn's VMD/PhD program?
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Yea, I applied to their vdm/phd program....still no word. Only received confirmation that they had all of my application material. Best of luck to you tho!!!! :D
I'm so nervous. Do you know what field you are interested in doing research in?
 
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Christiangurl16 said:
Yea, I applied to their vdm/phd program....still no word. Only received confirmation that they had all of my application material. Best of luck to you tho!!!! :D
I'm so nervous. Do you know what field you are interested in doing research in?
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Best of luck to you too!! I've been nervously checking my email every hour, haha :eek:
I'm interested in genetics and gene regulation - what about you?
 
cavy_crazy said:
Best of luck to you too!! I've been nervously checking my email every hour, haha :eek:
I'm interested in genetics and gene regulation - what about you?
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Sweet. I'm interested in the developmental, stem and regenerative biology program.
I completely feel you, I've been checking my email and this site to see if anyone else has heard back. I wonder if they send out rejection letters the same time too, at least that will give me an answer haha
and you'll do great! Have you worked in a lab focused on that field??
Ohh, and did you apply to any other DVM/PhD programs too?
 
Christiangurl16 said:
Sweet. I'm interested in the developmental, stem and regenerative biology program.
I completely feel you, I've been checking my email and this site to see if anyone else has heard back. I wonder if they send out rejection letters the same time too, at least that will give me an answer haha
and you'll do great! Have you worked in a lab focused on that field??
Ohh, and did you apply to any other DVM/PhD programs too?
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Very cool! I worked in a lab all last summer that did genetic research (humans though, haha) but I've shadowed at Penn Vet & talked to some people about their research there.
I didn't end up applying to any other DVM/PhD programs, so I'm really hoping Penn works out!
 
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