UPenn Post Bacc Program

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QuentinT88 said:
I've heard that students who do well in the Penn program get into pretty solid medical schools. Even if they don't link. For example, I was talking to my brother the other day. He said one of his classmates had a 3.1 in undergrad, did very well in the Penn program, and is now a first year student with him at Columbia University Medical School in NY.

For those who have gone through the program and done well, have you found most adcoms receptive about going through Penn? How much do you believe it helped with your chances of getting into a good medical school?
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People will say the name doesn't matter, but personally I think it did. Adcoms seemed very impressed with it.

I went to a Top 30 private undergrad and I think to go from that to Penn and getting a 3.9 there looked way better than if I were to go to my local state school.
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How long does it usually take to hear back from them regarding an interview after you submitted your app? My app was under review on 6/24 and as of 6/30 I still didn't hear anything back...a little nervous as I applied so late to this program! I don't have an MCAT for them but I'm 22 and my cGPA was 3.38 from my state college in NJ, SAT score was 2170 but I do have pretty good research experience (publication) and other awards/shadowing and such. Curious as to how they'll perceive my app...
 
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Hey all,

Just got an interview invite for the SSP. App submitted last week of May, completed first week and half of June.

Excited for sure! Any tips? Seems like the interview is not as intense as the email makes it seem from what I have gathered from this thread. :)
 
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My sGPA is below 3.0, would you recommend attending this program?
 
I just got accepted to the program and will likely be heading there as a SSP for Fall of 2014. Any fellow SSP/Core incoming students here?
 
Hey everyone, just a question for the accepted students to UPENN. What was your undergrad GPA and what major did you do?
 
Eaf said:
Not sure if you would know this, but was your brother's classmate URM, and were his ECs above average?
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I am not sure if he was a urm or not. But he went to a top undergraduate school and had a high MCAT
 
AequitasEquitas said:
I just got accepted to the program and will likely be heading there as a SSP for Fall of 2014. Any fellow SSP/Core incoming students here?
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When did you have your interview and when did you find out you were accepted if you dont mind me asking?
 
I had my interview scheduled on July 7th, since I live around 60 miles away, I decided to make the drive down. I found out my results on July 10th.
 
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Hey all,

I was just accepted into the SSP program and I'm looking to move to Philly on August 1st! Is anyone looking for a roommate or know of someone who is? I haven't gotten my Pennkey yet so I can't search on the University's off campus housing website and I need to lock down an apartment ASAP! Message me if you need to move or know of anyone who might!
 
berries_aed said:
Hey all,

I was just accepted into the SSP program and I'm looking to move to Philly on August 1st! Is anyone looking for a roommate or know of someone who is? I haven't gotten my Pennkey yet so I can't search on the University's off campus housing website and I need to lock down an apartment ASAP! Message me if you need to move or know of anyone who might!
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How did you find out and when did you interview? I'm getting kinda nervous bleh.
 
I interviewed on 6/27 and found out on 7/10 via email notification that my decision was available online.
 
berries_aed said:
Hey all,

I was just accepted into the SSP program and I'm looking to move to Philly on August 1st! Is anyone looking for a roommate or know of someone who is? I haven't gotten my Pennkey yet so I can't search on the University's off campus housing website and I need to lock down an apartment ASAP! Message me if you need to move or know of anyone who might!
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Do you mind sharing what your GPA was and also EC?
 
berries_aed said:
I interviewed on 6/27 and found out on 7/10 via email notification that my decision was available online.
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THEY INTERVIEW???? I didn't read anything that would allude to that (applying for SSP). I completed my app in late June, still haven't heard anything :eek:
 
gilly168 said:
THEY INTERVIEW???? I didn't read anything that would allude to that (applying for SSP). I completed my app in late June, still haven't heard anything :eek:
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clearly you've barely looked at this thread - its everywhere in it.
 
Hi all! I've been secretly reading all your responses and decided to make an account so I could thank you all! You guys have been very helpful with this process :)

I also had an interview and was notified of the committee decision maybe three days later. Interviewed on the phone on a Monday and heard by Wednesday or Thursday. I had also applied to some Caribbean schools and was thinking of going there instead but was encouraged to stay in the states and give it another try. My sGPA was about about a 3.2 (keeping it to one decimal point) and when it came time to do the MCAT, I completely flopped. I'm hoping that attending SSP will allow me to strengthen my sGPA and study for the MCAT so I can take the last one this January. But from what I've read on here, MCAT will be prep on my own...again. Do they provide us access to Kaplan/Princeton or is that something we do on our own as well?

And I have some questions about the classes. They seem to be offered mostly at night, from what I can tell here, but I've also read things on here about the courses being on the weekends...so are they offered at night time on the weekends, or am I confusing the two? Maybe things will be clearer once I get a PennKey, but that won't come for another week I suppose...

Congrats to everyone again and thank you for any help/guidance :)
 
Hey everyone-thanks a lot for sharing your input on this topic. I just spoke with my premed advisor and she just decided to tell me to calculate my science gap alone at the 4-year (University of Virginia) college instead of both comm college and the 4-year. combined:3.7, 4 year alone is 3.29. I did a research on post bacs and of course most of them are filled and I have to wait for next year but I have been out of school for 2 years and I want to apply next summer so I am considering applying to the spring SSP at Penn or just take upper level courses on my own at my local 4 year institution (George Mason university). There is also an online university of Colorado post bacc program. I'd like to hear your input on these options. I took the MCAT but didn't do well. I will be taking it again by the end of this year. I work as a scribe and a medical interpreter and I have extensive research/volunteering/shadowing/internships experience. I have a BS in engineering science too. Thanks and appreciate the help!
 
afnprincess said:
Hi all! I've been secretly reading all your responses and decided to make an account so I could thank you all! You guys have been very helpful with this process :)

I also had an interview and was notified of the committee decision maybe three days later. Interviewed on the phone on a Monday and heard by Wednesday or Thursday. I had also applied to some Caribbean schools and was thinking of going there instead but was encouraged to stay in the states and give it another try. My sGPA was about about a 3.2 (keeping it to one decimal point) and when it came time to do the MCAT, I completely flopped. I'm hoping that attending SSP will allow me to strengthen my sGPA and study for the MCAT so I can take the last one this January. But from what I've read on here, MCAT will be prep on my own...again. Do they provide us access to Kaplan/Princeton or is that something we do on our own as well?

And I have some questions about the classes. They seem to be offered mostly at night, from what I can tell here, but I've also read things on here about the courses being on the weekends...so are they offered at night time on the weekends, or am I confusing the two? Maybe things will be clearer once I get a PennKey, but that won't come for another week I suppose...

Congrats to everyone again and thank you for any help/guidance :)
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Classes are offered at night but you can take during the day if you petition the school with an exceptional reason. I think only immuno was offered Saturday mornings or something, but that might have changed

MCAT prep is on your own. They offer their own class but its useless. just sign up for Kaplan/whomever
 
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Amar2014 said:
Hey everyone-thanks a lot for sharing your input on this topic. I just spoke with my premed advisor and she just decided to tell me to calculate my science gap alone at the 4-year (University of Virginia) college instead of both comm college and the 4-year. combined:3.7, 4 year alone is 3.29. I did a research on post bacs and of course most of them are filled and I have to wait for next year but I have been out of school for 2 years and I want to apply next summer so I am considering applying to the spring SSP at Penn or just take upper level courses on my own at my local 4 year institution (George Mason university). There is also an online university of Colorado post bacc program. I'd like to hear your input on these options. I took the MCAT but didn't do well. I will be taking it again by the end of this year. I work as a scribe and a medical interpreter and I have extensive research/volunteering/shadowing/internships experience. I have a BS in engineering science too. Thanks and appreciate the help!
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do not do the online one - either of the other two will be fine
 
robflanker said:
Classes are offered at night but you can take during the day if you petition the school with an exceptional reason. I think only immuno was offered Saturday mornings or something, but that might have changed

MCAT prep is on your own. They offer their own class but its useless. just sign up for Kaplan/whomever
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*Microbiology is offered on Saturdays, I think it was lecture Friday and lab Saturday.

Also, I took plenty of undergraduate courses without petitioning, though it costs more money. Not sure if robflanker meant that you would have to petition if there is a post-bacc AND an undergrad section of the same course (usually Molecular Bio/Genetics, Cell Bio/Biochem), that I don't know, you probably would have to have a valid reason.
 
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SixStringPsych said:
*Microbiology is offered on Saturdays, I think it was lecture Friday and lab Saturday.

Also, I took plenty of undergraduate courses without petitioning, though it costs more money. Not sure if robflanker meant that you would have to petition if there is a post-bacc AND an undergrad section of the same course (usually Molecular Bio/Genetics, Cell Bio/Biochem), that I don't know, you probably would have to have a valid reason.
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The bolded part. It was true of like physics as well. The post-bac class was at night and if you wanted to take it during the day you had to petition the school to let you do it, just as the undergrads had to petition to get into the night class.
 
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robflanker said:
The bolded part. It was true of like physics as well. The post-bac class was at night and if you wanted to take it during the day you had to petition the school to let you do it, just as the undergrads had to petition to get into the night class.
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Is there an enrollment deposit? Penn seems to be very "all over the place" regarding this... I called the office regarding this matter and in order to schedule the advising appt. but I'm guessing the main person is on vacation atm.. so I'm kind of confused... I just made my email and enrolled after receiving my pennkey so... any advice would be appreciated thanks!
 
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BornSinner said:
Is there an enrollment deposit? Penn seems to be very "all over the place" regarding this... I called the office regarding this matter and in order to schedule the advising appt. but I'm guessing the main person is on vacation atm.. so I'm kind of confused... I just made my email and enrolled after receiving my pennkey so... any advice would be appreciated thanks!
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Ive no clue
 
robflanker said:
Classes are offered at night but you can take during the day if you petition the school with an exceptional reason. I think only immuno was offered Saturday mornings or something, but that might have changed

MCAT prep is on your own. They offer their own class but its useless. just sign up for Kaplan/whomever
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for that info robflanker and SixStringPsych! It has cleared things up for me a bit.

And I don't know if this helps BornSinner, but I also haven't seen anything about an enrollment deposit. I'm in the middle of trying to schedule meeting with the advisors too. I think it's getting in the way of me being able to sign up for classes and figure out my tuition costs...

As for classes, Immunobiology seems to be the only one that I'm a little attached to. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions about which classes to take/professors to avoid? (If they are already mentioned in this thread, sorry for the repetition.)
 
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afnprincess said:
Thanks so much for that info robflanker and SixStringPsych! It has cleared things up for me a bit.

And I don't know if this helps BornSinner, but I also haven't seen anything about an enrollment deposit. I'm in the middle of trying to schedule meeting with the advisors too. I think it's getting in the way of me being able to sign up for classes and figure out my tuition costs...

As for classes, Immunobiology seems to be the only one that I'm a little attached to. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions about which classes to take/professors to avoid? (If they are already mentioned in this thread, sorry for the repetition.)
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Are you having a problem even like... you know... having them pick up? Must be on vacation -_-
 
BornSinner said:
Are you having a problem even like... you know... having them pick up? Must be on vacation -_-
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Hahaha I've been calling this number (215) 898-7326 and they will pick up and re-direct me to an advisor who seems to be on some sort of break at the moment...
 
AequitasEquitas said:
I had my interview scheduled on July 7th, since I live around 60 miles away, I decided to make the drive down. I found out my results on July 10th.
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Just wondering how long it took before you got notification for invitation to interview. Did they mention that they were still looking to fill many more seats for the fall? Still waiting to hear back
 
My application was marked complete on the ninth of July, I got an email on the fifteenth inviting me to interview on the 18 and just got accepted on the 28 so I wouldn't worry too much.
 
Yolanda said:
My application was marked complete on the ninth of July, I got an email on the fifteenth inviting me to interview on the 18 and just got accepted on the 28 so I wouldn't worry too much.
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Okay thanks a lot
 
Is anyone else trying to line up some type of research gig for the fall? I've looked at some positions at CHOP but they are all full-time and I can't check out any of the resources on the Penn Portal since I don't have my accounts set up yet. Figured I'd try to gather some info from you guys before I begin deluging professors with e-mails.

Also, has anyone who submitted their application around the deadline (July 15) heard about an interview yet? My sister is waiting to hear.
 
For everyone in the program...how are you guys financing your education? I received subsidized+unsubsidized loans of 12.5K but I need almost 15K more to pay for a full year of school...is the rest supposed to be provided via private loans?
 
AequitasEquitas said:
For everyone in the program...how are you guys financing your education? I received subsidized+unsubsidized loans of 12.5K but I need almost 15K more to pay for a full year of school...is the rest supposed to be provided via private loans?
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Correct. I paid for it all out of pocket
 
Yea she interviewed me...I'm really nervous about that course, seems like the wildcard out of the ones I've enrolled for so far.
 
Think they offer biochem in the spring? I rather not take it in the fall due to scheduling problems... ugh
 
How does everyone's schedules look? I have my schedule (basically) finalized...any future classmates on here?
 
@BornSinner I hope they do. I wanted to take that course but it didn't work out for this term :/

@AequitasEquitas What courses are you taking? So far I'm signed up for Cancer Cell Biology, Cell Signalling, Judgement & Decisions, and Immunobiology + MCAT :)
 
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You all think taking 4 classes and studying for the MCAT is doable? Or do you think taking 3 classes this fall and 5 in the spring is a better idea?

Right now I'm at Biochem, Physiology, Immunobiology, Microbio + MCAT

I'm thinking of dropping Microbio since it's a long lab course on Saturdays...
 
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BornSinner said:
You all think taking 4 classes and studying for the MCAT is doable? Or do you think taking 3 classes this fall and 5 in the spring is a better idea?

Right now I'm at Biochem, Physiology, Immunobiology, Microbio + MCAT

I'm thinking of dropping Microbio since it's a long lab course on Saturdays...
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Definitely doable but it will suck a lot. Probably better to take 3 courses.

Btw vert physiology or autonomic physiology?
 
Does anyone know if there is a website with course reviews from past students?
 
@afnprincess - we have 3 classes together! I'm in Cancer cell biology, Cell signaling, Immunobiology and Vertebrate physiology and MCAT...but I am considering only taking 3 courses + MCAT-ing and taking 5 courses in the spring...guess I'll have to see if that is a doable plan.
 
@AequitasEquitas I was speaking with Jackie McLaughlin recently and she said you can still get the committee letter if you take 3 fall 4 spring and 1 in the summer, I'm planning on doing that to fit in MCAT prep this fall
 
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