2010-2011 University of Pennsylvania Application Thread

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RB93 said:
Brainbuff and skyhyp - I don't disagree with you, but I was just wondering if something happened to specifically make you feel that way? Or just a general feeling? I also think that something like that is happening, but I wonder why they would interview 3X+ the number they accept if that were the case...
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I don't have any "solid" proof but I have some anecdotal "evidence" (if you can call it that) that shows interviews are a very small fraction of the total equation unless you count some of my interviewers telling me the interview doesn't really make or break you.

One of my friends had an interviewer call her a liar and question her character & commitment to medicine (and no, apparently it wasn't a stress interview as the interviewer was just insulting her the entire time and didn't even give her a chance to explain anything - she broke down in tears and the interview lasted only about 15 minutes before she got kicked out of the interview) - she has a 3.9+ and 38 MCAT with pretty strong ECs - Oct. 15 acceptance with full scholarship [EDIT] AT that particular school. So clearly, a bad interview doesn't break you...
 
RB93 said:
Brainbuff and skyhyp - I don't disagree with you, but I was just wondering if something happened to specifically make you feel that way? Or just a general feeling? I also think that something like that is happening, but I wonder why they would interview 3X+ the number they accept if that were the case...
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It is the only thing that makes sense. There are too many students who leave the interview feeling great just to be waitlisted or rejected later. In addition, if out 1000 they only took 300, how "bad" could those 700 have interviewed? How "unfit" for the particular school could they be? So many?

I really believe most of the interviewers end up giving the applicants a positive review and then the Committee just goes back to follow their original preinterview ranking (if there is such a thing). Craazzzyyy.
 
BrainBuff said:
It is the only thing that makes sense. There are too many students who leave the interview feeling great just to be waitlisted or rejected later. In addition, if out 1000 they only took 300, how "bad" could those 700 have interviewed? How "unfit" for the particular school could they be? So many?

I really believe most of the interviewers end up giving the applicants a positive review and then the Committee just goes back to follow their original preinterview ranking (if there is such a thing). Craazzzyyy.
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If it's any consolation...I think interviews are important at Penn but more from an elimination standpoint. From what I've been told, both your faculty and student interviewers give you a numerical score on you as a person. The student deals much more with the social aspect of you and whether or not you'd fit into the Penn culture. If you don't get above a certain level on either factor you won't seriously be considered for admission.

If you do, it likely means another "check point", in which your scores, uniqueness, geography, race, background, etc. are compiled in comparison to the rest of qualified applicants in molding a class they think will be diverse and also have a high MCAT/GPA average for rankings.
 
RB93 said:
Hi Sentinel, by this statement, do you mean that Penn only looks at the interview after the interview? Do they longer consider grades, LORs, ECs, MCATs, etc. for admissions decisions? Or do you mean that coming from a state school or something won't hold you back at that point?

Penn's interviews were really laid back. Seems like it would be hard to differentiate off of only an interview.
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What I mean is if you get the interview, whatever your stats / ECs etc. are have put you on a level playing field against someone from an ivy. I don't think Penn interviews people just to interview people.

Your grade MCATs etc. definitely still matter - not DURING the interview, but it will matter again during the admissions decisions.

thebillsfan said:
I read in the SDN interview feedback section that U Penn has group tests--any current Penn students want to elaborate on what that means and when that happens?
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Yup, we've had one already - for biochemistry. There's things called learning teams - a bunch of people you'll be with for the next 4 (or more) years. We have 1 case / bunch of problems to work on, and we take that test as a group. We turn in 1 answer sheet. It's up to your team to figure out how to handle it (split up the test into small parts and make smaller groups, or all of you go through each question etc.). We'll have something similar for the practical portion of the second anatomy exam.

Group tests are scattered through the curriculum and I don't want to give you a hard and fast number, but it seems like maybe 20% of the exams are group tests?

Dr Gerrard said:
so this happened. it got me really excited, but maybe it doesnt mean much. what do you guys think?

interviewer: second look weekend you will see ____
me: isn't that for accepted students only?
interviewer: oh is it? i think you are right
interviewer: well you will probably get in anyways

i have been really excited about this but i dont know if i should be lol.
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don't read too much into this - I'm happy you are excited by what the interviewer said, but the interviewer doesn't make the final decision. Their review does have a huge say in the final decision though. I mean, your interview obviously went well - so I'd be excited that I kicked ass on the interview... not nesc. that it's in the bag.
 
BrainBuff said:
It is the only thing that makes sense. There are too many students who leave the interview feeling great just to be waitlisted or rejected later. In addition, if out 1000 they only took 300, how "bad" could those 700 have interviewed? How "unfit" for the particular school could they be? So many?

I really believe most of the interviewers end up giving the applicants a positive review and then the Committee just goes back to follow their original preinterview ranking (if there is such a thing). Craazzzyyy.
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It's what they say during the interview - Penn wants to see what kind of a person you are. I don't think they are really looking for holes in your story etc. - it's pretty laid back. I'm sure there are some really bad duds that get knocked out - but yea, for the majority of interviewees it probably means the adcomm has a hard decision to make when all the feedback comes back.

So yes, your ECs, grades etc. still matter (not that anything can be done about them anymore)

I know it's addictive to try and piece together the whole process and figure out the nuts and bolts of it - but I doubt any of us know for sure, and no one's going to tell. If someone knew how to "work" the system, I'm sure the secret would be out already. People on SDN go through this every year :laugh:, you've done your best - now ride it out!
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone. Penn was really incredible, gonna be hard to wait until March for this one.
 
RB93 said:
Thanks for the feedback everyone. Penn was really incredible, gonna be hard to wait until March for this one.
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I remember that wait...

it sucked. 👎
 
Posting in here to mark the thread

That is all 🙂
 
Sentinel said:
Yup, we've had one already - for biochemistry. There's things called learning teams - a bunch of people you'll be with for the next 4 (or more) years. We have 1 case / bunch of problems to work on, and we take that test as a group. We turn in 1 answer sheet. It's up to your team to figure out how to handle it (split up the test into small parts and make smaller groups, or all of you go through each question etc.). We'll have something similar for the practical portion of the second anatomy exam.

Group tests are scattered through the curriculum and I don't want to give you a hard and fast number, but it seems like maybe 20% of the exams are group tests?
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The group exam is a component of:
biochem
musculoskeletal anatomy (this one includes costumes and skits before the exam)
head and neck anatomy (at least ours was. Not sure if this is team again, which would be a shame because The Amazing Face was one of my favorite mornings of med school. Yes, they named the exam)
In Mod 2
MDTI: an open book 100 question "midterm" that was worth 10% of the final grade
Brain and behavior part 1: Neuroanatomy identification/clinical relevance
Brain and behavior part 2: Psychiatry questions
Repro/endocrine -none
GI -none
cardio -none
Renal: case based questions covering the second part of the course. Worth 1/3 of your overall grade
Pulmonary: none

In general, the group exams are more of clinical vignettes where you have to work through a story and answer questions. There is almost always an individual portion of the exam as well. Even in the classes without a group exam, you are working with your learning team almost every day in small group to go over cases that reinforce the topics being lectured. Learning teams started about five years ago, so they are still working on how to integrate the team emphasis on exams. My guess is that the percentage of organ systems that have some sort of group component will continue to increase. All of my team exams have been really positive experiences, which I think is indicative of the fact that my learning team experience overall has been really great.
 
Just got a Penn invite a minute ago...Incredibly happy. Complete 7/28.
 
WOOHOO! Invite 🙂

oh, and complete ON JUNE 30th!!! so don't lose hope if you were complete a long, long time ago...
 
dpekerholm said:
Invite here too!!! Complete mid-September.
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congrats to everyone who received II! Quick Question: Did you guys receive a "complete" email? It says that my application is complete online but i never received an email...I submitted end of August.
 
I actually never received a complete email; I just sent the secondary in on 7/28.
 
Interview invite just now!! Complete email first week of september. Good luck everyone!
 
I also received an interview invite today. Never got a complete email but I believe I submitted sometime early/mid August? Regardless, I am STOKED!
 
Oh and btw - anyone done the happy hour thing the night before or sat in on any of the activities/classes listed on the side? Comments? Suggestions?
 
NeuroKidd said:
Oh and btw - anyone done the happy hour thing the night before or sat in on any of the activities/classes listed on the side? Comments? Suggestions?
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my opinion's obviously biased - but it's awesome. If you can do the happy hour the night before, I highly recommend it
 
Does anybody know if Penn does student hosting for Friday nights? I'm coming from LA and I'm having difficulty finding a reasonable flight out of Philadelphia on Friday night after 6pm.

Related question -- would it be reasonable at all to book a 6pm flight? It looks like you can catch a train from campus to the airport and it takes a little less than an hour...the interviews go from 2-4, an that sounds a little too close for comfort. Has anybody else tried to catch a flight out of PHL with that short of a turnaround?

Thanks in advance.
 
dpekerholm said:
Does anybody know if Penn does student hosting for Friday nights? I'm coming from LA and I'm having difficulty finding a reasonable flight out of Philadelphia on Friday night after 6pm.

Related question -- would it be reasonable at all to book a 6pm flight? It looks like you can catch a train from campus to the airport and it takes a little less than an hour...the interviews go from 2-4, an that sounds a little too close for comfort. Has anybody else tried to catch a flight out of PHL with that short of a turnaround?

Thanks in advance.
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The train comes through the station at :06 and :36. From any where on the med areas of the campus, it could take between 4 and 12 min to walk to the station. It then takes about 18 min to get to the airport (or less depending on the terminal). If you caught the 4:06 pm train, you would be more than fine. If you caught the 4:36, it would probably be ok, but the trains often are late, so there is no guarantee.
 
dpekerholm said:
Does anybody know if Penn does student hosting for Friday nights? I'm coming from LA and I'm having difficulty finding a reasonable flight out of Philadelphia on Friday night after 6pm.
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It's not really up to Penn - it's more up to the students who host. It's rare-er, I do know of kids who've stayed for 2 nights instead of 1. I forget the process, but make the request through their system / email penn and see what happens.

Just a heads up though - if you stay w/ a student friday night, there's a good chance you'll have to come out and party with us (assuming it's not exam weekend etc.) You've been warned :laugh:
 
dragonbush said:
The train comes through the station at :06 and :36. From any where on the med areas of the campus, it could take between 4 and 12 min to walk to the station. It then takes about 18 min to get to the airport (or less depending on the terminal). If you caught the 4:06 pm train, you would be more than fine. If you caught the 4:36, it would probably be ok, but the trains often are late, so there is no guarantee.
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Sentinel said:
It's not really up to Penn - it's more up to the students who host. It's rare-er, I do know of kids who've stayed for 2 nights instead of 1. I forget the process, but make the request through their system / email penn and see what happens.
QUOTE]

Thanks for the advice, folks! I will be taking a red-eye flight and get in to Philly early Friday morning. I'm either going to have to take the train to Newark on Friday to catch a late enough flight back to LA, or I may request a student host and leave Saturday instead. I'm awkwardly flying back out to Nashville for Vanderbilt on Sunday...wish I would have known about Penn before I bought my tickets!

Thanks again for the input -- I appreciate it!

Sentinel said:
Just a heads up though - if you stay w/ a student friday night, there's a good chance you'll have to come out and party with us (assuming it's not exam weekend etc.) You've been warned :laugh:
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Sounds great! I want to make sure I get the "whole experience" when I interview, and I will be missing the happy hour on Thursday!
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Interview invite today!! Finally, an interview to one of my top-choices. Today was a good day.
 
phltz said:
Congrats! When did you submit your secondary/get complete?
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Thanks! Submitted secondary 9/6. Never received a "complete" email though. Status just switched to complete at some point.
 
gogoplata said:
If you don't mind posting, what were your stats?
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35Q, 3.95 sGPA, 3.88 cGPA
I'm a non-trad though. Graduated in '09 as a mechanical engineer. Only a little research but a decent amount of medical device industry experience along w/ typical ECs.
 
Interviewed here today. The place is freakin' awesome! Definitely my top choice.
 
Interview invite today! So pumped. I've been complete for a while, don't know the exact date. Secondary submitted 9/8.
 
I'm thinking about my travel plans for visiting Penn. Can anyone who's interviewed earlier this cycle and attended the happy hour comment about their thoughts on it and whether it's worth missing even more class to get to Philadelphia in time for the happy hour?
 
Dear Penn,

You kept me waiting for three months after completing my application until deciding that you did indeed liked me enough to interview me. I had entirelly given up on you, so this was extremely unexpected. And you're going to keep me waiting another 3 months until you decide to let me know if you like me enough to let me in. That's okay. You can play hard to get all you want. You're so awesome and I'll always love you. I'm curious to see where you're taking me to happy hour. I'm choosing to picture the bar on Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Can this please be the case?

love always,
PrettyFishy

ps the fat lady hasn't sung yet :luck: to everyone waiting to hear back! Don't write yourselves off as also-rans just yet!
 
Thanks Fishy, and congrats! I've been complete there since the end of July. Hope is dwindling.
 
FlowRate said:
Also got a nice surprise in my inbox this morning =). Gonna spend two nights in Philly--Friday interview--this is also the weekend after I turn 21 lol!
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Congrats! Definitely go for the happy hour the night before the interview then. You'll have a good time and it will definitely give you a leg up in your interviews.
 
PrettyFishy said:
Dear Penn,

You kept me waiting for three months after completing my application until deciding that you did indeed liked me enough to interview me. I had entirelly given up on you, so this was extremely unexpected. And you're going to keep me waiting another 3 months until you decide to let me know if you like me enough to let me in. That's okay. You can play hard to get all you want. You're so awesome and I'll always love you. I'm curious to see where you're taking me to happy hour. I'm choosing to picture the bar on Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Can this please be the case?

love always,
PrettyFishy

ps the fat lady hasn't sung yet :luck: to everyone waiting to hear back! Don't write yourselves off as also-rans just yet!
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can I hug you because optimism?
 
This time last year, applicants who had the "complete" status got "deferred." Deferred is basically the equivalent of GW's "hold" status from what I've heard. Does anyone know if this will be occurring on Nov 15 this year?
 
No idea, but as of now I am still "Complete." Last year, was that everyone that was complete that didn't have an interview invite yet?
 
Geekchick921 said:
No idea, but as of now I am still "Complete." Last year, was that everyone that was complete that didn't have an interview invite yet?
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no, it didn't happen to everyone but a good handful of the applicants who were "complete" but were not yet invited to an interview.
 
premed0205 said:
This time last year, applicants who had the "complete" status got "deferred." Deferred is basically the equivalent of GW's "hold" status from what I've heard. Does anyone know if this will be occurring on Nov 15 this year?
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So what does "deferred" mean in UPenn terms? I'm not familiar with GW's "hold".
 
rhesuspieces said:
So what does "deferred" mean in UPenn terms? I'm not familiar with GW's "hold".
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from last year's thread:

Originally Posted by mdeast
Good luck guys! If you look from last year's thread, Penn usually updates early applicants on November 15th (or around that...so sometime next week), which for a portion of people means a 'deferred' status.... that's essentially a pre-interview hold, or an indication that your file has been reviewed but not yet granted an interview. There were definitely people complete in July last year who got interview invites in December, so it's completely normal. While less likely, there were also people were taken off the hold status, re-reviewed, and granted interviews. So it's definitely not a death sentence. The official interview season ends January 22nd at Penn so if you don't hear anything by Christmas or the latest early January then it might be a bad sign.
 
Well I'm complete, and it's 11/15 and I'm not deferred. So...that's a good sign!

(Right?)
 
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