===Penn State Class of 2011===

i wish i could say for sure, but i'm really torn between pitt and penn state. i got a phone call from a second year at penn state last week and that was soooo nice. i absolutely love the school, but im waiting before committing to either right now.

penn state is amazing though

I was accepted, and I am strongly considering attending Penn State. I loved the school and the people, but the location is kind of iffy for me.

I will be going for sure...even if my state school accepts me. I loved the school, and my wife has already coordinated a post-doctoral position out there, so Hershey, here we come!!! Can't wait to meet you guys if you decide the same!! P.S. Do you guys know when traditionally the second look takes place?

Where are you guys at? I know there has to be at least one other person out there that is going to be attending this wonderful institution with me.

Eat some chocolate for me! I'm a native of Central Pennsylvania (and grew up near Hershey) so if any of you future students want the low-down on something/things to do, fee free to ask.


Congrats on getting in!

nubbey24 said:

I will be going for sure...even if my state school accepts me. I loved the school, and my wife has already coordinated a post-doctoral position out there, so Hershey, here we come!!! Can't wait to meet you guys if you decide the same!! P.S. Do you guys know when traditionally the second look takes place?

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Congratz!!! Last yr, the 2nd look day is in early April. Hope to see u then!

I will be coming to visit around that time, if not specifically at the time of the second look. Can't wait to move out there/meet you!! Are you really enjoying your experience out there?

nubbey24 said:

I will be coming to visit around that time, if not specifically at the time of the second look. Can't wait to move out there/meet you!! Are you really enjoying your experience out there?

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I love it here. The people are really nice and I love my classmates. My favorite part is being able to go in and observe surgeries. It's amazing!!!

Hey to all future 2011ers. Not sure yet, but we may be classmates! Just wanted to say hello!

Hello MaiPenRai!!!

Welcome to the club!! Where are you from? I am coming all the way from Oregon! Anyway, look forward to meeting you if you decide to go!

Nubbey

Jillibean...

So you are in Portland huh...it is a great city. I am guessing you are also interviewing/applying to OHSU? Is that your first choice? Originally it was mine until after I interviewed at both it and Penn State. The location of OHSU was really the only thing I liked better about it then Penn State. I felt that the people at Penn State were much warmer, and supportive of the students AND my wife has been offered a good job already at Hershey Medical Center. I was just curious to see what you thought of OHSU, or if it was just me. Anyway, I hope you make the decision that is best for you, and if Penn State is where you go then I can't wait to meet you and be a classmate of yours! Good luck in your decision making process.

Nubbey

From Minnesota, but living in Thailand :0). So, we don't have to send in money until May, right?

I'm from California. I hope to see more CA residents in this thread.

Just curious...did any of you interview on October 16th?

nubbey24 said:

Just curious...did any of you interview on October 16th?

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nope. september

Found out this week I got into Penn! Did anyone get scholarship offers with their acceptances or is that only after your turn in your FAFSA next year?

Y-Marker

I think only after your turn in your FAFSA...and aren't most of them need based? I was curious about the same thing. Anwway, congrats. It looks like you have been accepted to a bunch of other schools as well...are you even considering Penn State as an option seeing as it would probably be unbelievably cheaper to go to school in Texas I would imagine. Nonetheless, congratulations and if you choose Penn State, I will look forward to meeting you.

Nubs

nubbey24 said:

Y-Marker

I think only after your turn in your FAFSA...and aren't most of them need based? I was curious about the same thing. Anwway, congrats. It looks like you have been accepted to a bunch of other schools as well...are you even considering Penn State as an option seeing as it would probably be unbelievably cheaper to go to school in Texas I would imagine. Nonetheless, congratulations and if you choose Penn State, I will look forward to meeting you.

Nubs

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I have family in PA. Certainly TX schools would be less expensive, but the right amount of scholarships/financial aid would diminish that advantage. Anyone remember if the curriculum is system based?

If you guys decide to attend PSU, will you be living in the on-campus housing or elsewhere?

From what i have been able to price online, there doesn't seem to be much difference. I am going to check out both options in the spring when I go out to revisit the campus. I am going for sure though, so I have already been checking out places on line. It is nice that living costs are really cheap.

zimmie256 said:

I would probably not live on-campus (but would live very nearby). I have friends at Hershey so I got to tour the apartments when I was there. They're not bad, but the kitchen was like a tiny little hallway, and I really like to cook, so that probably wouldn't work out for me... The overall size of the apartments was decent though.

Nubbey, did you find any good options (either apartments or renting part of a house) off-campus?

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Zimmie...

I have found a couple of pretty nice places while searching apartments.com. There is one place called the Briarstone Apartments. If you got a roomate there and a 2 bedroom, you can live in an apartment just as cheap as on campus, and it is only a mile away, and you get laundrey inside the apartment. This sounds small, but is something I really want. Hope this helps,

Nubs

Zimmie...

Where are you coming from Zimmie? What other schools are you strongly considering in addition to Penn State?

Nubs

congrats to all on getting in!

i'm currently a first year (from CA) and would be willing to answer any questions you have about the school/area/whatever. it might take a couple of days to get back to you as i don't frequent these boards like i used to but i'd be happy to help...

as for financial aid, don't count on much at all, i don't think much of anyone received aid this year. i'm not saying it's impossible, just improbable.

the people here, from the students to the administration, are amazing- definitely something to consider when making decisions about schools! best of luck and i'll see some of you next year!

jillibean said:

LT2--
Do any of your classmates live in Harrisburg? I currently commute pretty far to work so the drive doesn't seem bad to me and the cost of living is a lot cheaper (I would like to buy a place, which would be doable in Hbg, but probably not in Hershey... at least for me). However, I don't want to be super separated from my classmates either... any comments?

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people live all over the place...including harrisburg. if you want to buy a place, definitely look in and around hershey as there are a lot of developments opening up. with regards to being separated from your classmates, it's totally dependent on you. the people i know that live in hburg spend most of their time studying in hershey...and when the class goes out, we tend to go to harrisburg anyway which would be easier for you.

LT2...

I am coming to PSU-COM for sure. I was just curious what the average day was like there. Any insight would be appreciated. I look forward to coming out there in the spring.

Nubs

nubbey24 said:

LT2...

I am coming to PSU-COM for sure. I was just curious what the average day was like there. Any insight would be appreciated. I look forward to coming out there in the spring.

Nubs

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hi nubs-

the schedule varies quite a bit. your first 11 weeks will fly by with anatomy and embryology. for the most part, you'll have one hour of anatomy lecture per day and 3 hours of lab. the class is so large, they split it in half and half will have lab in the morning, half will have it in the afternoon. if you have afternoon lab, some mornings you'll have an embryology lecture (and if you have morning lab, embryo will be in the afternoon). after an exam, the groups flip flop (ie the morning lab group will have afternoon lab and vice versa).

after anatomy is over, you'll have class on average 3 h/day. i was worried about the class schedule when we started (i don't like spending the whole day in class) but i haven't had any problems so far. also, with the second block (CMBMP), the schedule varies even more as they throw in PBL and humanities. hope this helps some...

LT2...

Thanks for the info...I am really excited to move out there.

Thanks,

Nubs

Where is everyone at here? Is no one else for sure going here? Just thought I would get the thread up and going again, and curious to get to know any of my future classmates. Will any of you be going to the second look weekend, and if so do you know when it is? Hope to see some activity on this thread soon!!

Nubs

Did anyone receive an email confirmation for receipt of official transcripts? PSU emailed me when I submitted my acceptance letter and again for my deposit, but nothing for my transcripts so far. Also, did you just submit the transcript from the institutions that granted you your degree? I took a couple summer courses at state schools, but I'm not sure if I need to submit those transcripts.

Hello everyone!

I have also been accepted and I LOVED Penn State. The only thing keeping me from fully committing is that as an Illinois resident, I could go to UIC/SIU/etc for half the price...

If I do end up in Hershey, though, I would love to meet you all! The students there are really nice!

DrAverageJoe said:

Did anyone receive an email confirmation for receipt of official transcripts? PSU emailed me when I submitted my acceptance letter and again for my deposit, but nothing for my transcripts so far. Also, did you just submit the transcript from the institutions that granted you your degree? I took a couple summer courses at state schools, but I'm not sure if I need to submit those transcripts.

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Joe...

I think you should probably cover your butt, and have the transcripts submitted as well. I have not done that yet, but need to. Do you know or have you asked about when the second look weekend is going to be? Talk to you later,

Nubs

So I just got an email from Penn State Admissions regarding my question to them of when the second look weekend would probably be, and they said that it will most likely be weekend of April 28th. Just thought I would let you guys know. Also, how many of you think that you would try and make it out there? I know I am going to try and make it.

Nubs

Hi Guys,

Thanks to LT2 for picking this up earlier than I did! I've been sort of incognito from the boards here for a while. But, I'm back! Soooooo, for anyone who has questions about PSU, about living in areas, etc, let me know. If it's a more specific/personal question you can always PM me. BTW-- I'm more of a nontrad-- married, bought a house up here last summer-- so I might be able to provide some insight into options for those with more complex living situations.

Sadly, about Fin Aid, unless you rock the house with grades or eat ramen noodles in your cardboard house, you will probably not get a whole lot. There are more options for in-staters, but they are still limited. Our Fin Aid person (er, now it's two of them again, I think) is a bit overwhelmed all the time, so basic questions could be fielded by students in similar situations. Name of the game is get those tax returns done ASAP (or get estimated) and be ready for the ridiculousness of them requiring parental info, too. It was frustrating for me last year to deal with all of the uncertainty of what the financial aid package would look like (I'm an incessant planner, having been on my own financially for a while). So, you can vent to me. I think the only thing I probably can't answer about it is the international student situations-- I thought (from what I heard) that you have to have a gurantee of funding for all 4 years before they let you attend. Kind of a bear, huh?

OK, back to studying I guess. It's exam week.

Congrats to all who've gotten the happy letters, and best of luck to all those still waiting for letters or interviews.

FD

If I buy a house in PA, will I be able to qualify for PA residency after a year?

DrAverageJoe said:

If I buy a house in PA, will I be able to qualify for PA residency after a year?

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Ah, the age-old question. The answer is probably not, maybe not, or somewhere in between. There is an appeals process, but if you ask the Fin Aid people here, they roll their eyes and say forget it, it will never happen. I say, well, there's an appeals process for a reson, right?

It will also depend on the rest of the case you can make. It's tougher here than most states to establish residency after you start school. The only thing you can do is try... things counting on your side would be:
`official change in residence (license, paying taxes here, etc)
`voting record in PA (just that you did!)
`spouse having residence here and working here
`word of intent to remain in PA for an extended time after your graduate (I fall just short of saying verbally committ to practicing here-- they're not stupid, they know residency could potentially take you away)
`parents state of residence could play a large role

I haven't heard much from people who have done this successfully in the past, but I haven't heard much about anyone even trying. I'm not sure why this is, since surely some do try. And in some cases it must be granted but I bet it's not an easy battle.

Sorry the news is (at best) bleak. Unless you're bringing your parents with you!!

Hey...I have a question regarding your comments and financial aid...by you saying that financial aid is bleak, do you mean that getting loans are not easy to do, or that any type of grant or scholarship is difficult?

Aren't we pretty much gauranteed the maximal stafford loans and then can't we get private loans to cover beyond that? Any insight would be helpful, because from you said it sounds like this will not even be available to cover expenses. Thanks,

nubs

getting loans isn't a problem. getting scholarships, on the other hand, is practically impossible (unless you want a military scholarship).

the financial aid office (at least from my perspective) is pretty helpful. they have a binder of scholarships and as they receive new ones, they'll let you know about them if you qualify. also, from what it sounds like, after MSI, there are little scholarships available from the alumni association that you can apply for.

hey FD, good to see you around again! good luck friday.