2010-2011 University of Pennsylvania Application Thread

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drugsarefun said:
I'm on tier 1 waitlist, but have been invited to Penn Preview. My status page says "Waitlist Tier 1" big at the top. Then this below:

"The Committee on Admissions has a very strong interest in your application, and you are one of the few candidates on the waitlist who is invited to visit during Penn Preview. Please click on the "Visit" tab above for more details. This is an exciting time and you have many decisions to make. We hope you remain interested in Penn."

Hope this helps. Anyone know how many waitlisters get the invite?
Click to expand...

Congrats! It sounds like up to 20 get the invite. With the minimum acceptances being 12 this year, maybe only 12 will be invited, but who knows?

Again- congratulations!
 
So tier 1 without an invite to second look pretty much means its over for others?
 
OoEeOoAhAh said:
Congrats! It sounds like up to 20 get the invite. With the minimum acceptances being 12 this year, maybe only 12 will be invited, but who knows?

Again- congratulations!
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how did you come up with 20?
 
jusgeo89 said:
I got this invite too. I'm really praying to get in here I would definitely go. Its so hard to say yes to go to the second look though- Seeing how the majority of people there are already accepted and there is a good possibility you will not be =(.
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Definitely a tough call. Not sure what your situation is, but having an acceptance i'm happy with isn't making it easier to buck up the money and take another couple days off of work (the weekend is thursday - saturday). Good luck with whatever you decide!
 
Dr Gerrard said:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=614187

nevermind, looking at this thread, the linguini applicant was regular and got in. don't give up hope!
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Absolutely don't give up. I read that whole thread, and there were more than just him off of regular tier 1. I think 3 or 4 is what I remember. All depends on what the accepted people do (please, take one of your other amazing acceptances and withdraw from Penn so we can sneak in). 🙂
 
drugsarefun said:
Absolutely don't give up. I read that whole thread, and there were more than just him off of regular tier 1. I think 3 or 4 is what I remember. All depends on what the accepted people do (please, take one of your other amazing acceptances and withdraw from Penn so we can sneak in). 🙂
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Whoa- I just realized a serious error I made in an earlier comment. I forgot that not everyone would accept their spot on the waitlist (you can tell I'm interested in Penn by that assumption!). If as few as 100 people are on the waitlist by May and 20-30 get in, as described in the FAQ, then obviously chances go up significantly.

It would seem that there's still more chance of no acceptance rather than getting an acceptance, but there is definitely a chance of a happy ending! Sorry if I worried anyone.
 
1/5 isn't so bad though, considering acceptance rate before this was 1/4 anyways
 
Accepted!! definitely going. still in disbelief...
 
Kind of surprised that more people haven't posted their status in this thread.

Anyway, I'm on the Tier 1 Waitlist, as well. Super disappointing, but totally unsurprising given how insanely competitive it is. Anyway, congrats to those who have been accepted, I'm sure you all have a tough choice since most have also probably been accepted to every other Top 10 😀.


Question:

Anyone know how the waitlist is handled? I have a hard time understanding the workings of the unranked waitlist. If it's unranked, how are applicants chosen? Is based on trying to fill the place of someone who withdrew with a "similar" person (e.g., take an African American female interested in yodeling off the WL because another AAF yodeler just withdrew)?



-
 
Waitlisted Tier 1. Not surprising, but still, le sigh.
 
Regular Tier 1. Disappointed but expected...
 
Hi everyone,
I'm a Penn MS2 that wanted to say congrats to everyone that was accepted. I can answer questions about the preclinical curriculum, life in clinics (my class is two weeks away from being 1/4 of the way done with rotations), and whatever I can ramble about for Penn/Philly in general.

My one disclaimer is that I have no idea about how the waitlist works, nor will I be able to get any info given that I don't spend time in Stemmler anymore. Any other topic is fair game.

And most importantly, I love it at Penn. I am absolutely positive that I made the best choice for myself.
 
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Waitlisted tier 1, no second look, so hard to accept...!!! Really liked PENN...
 
Waitlisted tier one.... I'm going to try to do everything to get in
 
Also waitlisted, tier 1. I felt pretty good about it until I checked this thread and saw that there seem to be near 0 tier 2 waitlists. Oh well, congrats to all those accepted! 😀
 
Hey guys,

Penn 4th year here, just wanted to say congrats to all of those who were accepted, Penn is truly an exceptional school. To those who were waitlisted, take heart, I was also waitlisted (Tier 1, no Penn Preview) and was accepted off of the list. If Penn is truly your first choice and you have other (multiple) top 10 acceptances, it is worth emailing the director of admissions to let them know that you are willing to drop other places to go. Unfortunately at this stage of the game, you need to have multiple bargaining chips. Be persistent, and send in any updates you have. I remember not hearing anything after sending in multiple emails reiterating my interest until the day I was told I would likely be accepted. Also, the waitlist says nothing about your potential, I was waitlisted and still graduated at the top of the class. Penn knows that everyone on this list is as qualified as the people who were accepted and this works in your favor. For those going to preview on a waitlist, if Penn is your first choice and you make this clear during Preview, you will be accepted. Good luck!
 
CourageKid said:
Hi everyone,
I'm a Penn MS2 that wanted to say congrats to everyone that was accepted. I can answer questions about the preclinical curriculum, life in clinics (my class is two weeks away from being 1/4 of the way done with rotations), and whatever I can ramble about for Penn/Philly in general.

My one disclaimer is that I have no idea about how the waitlist works, nor will I be able to get any info given that I don't spend time in Stemmler anymore. Any other topic is fair game.

And most importantly, I love it at Penn. I am absolutely positive that I made the best choice for myself.
Click to expand...

I wanted to echo the MS2's sentiment. I'm an MS1 and would be happy to answer your Qs as well.

Congrats to everyone who got in! Make no mistake - this is a great achievement for all of you and you should all be super proud (and super excited). I'm obviously biased, but Penn Med = awesome. You'll definitely see this at preview.

Good luck to those on the wait list. I haven no idea how it works, but I do know it'll take some work - but it ain't over yet.
 
DancingQueen said:
Hey guys,

Penn 4th year here, just wanted to say congrats to all of those who were accepted, Penn is truly an exceptional school. To those who were waitlisted, take heart, I was also waitlisted (Tier 1, no Penn Preview) and was accepted off of the list. If Penn is truly your first choice and you have other (multiple) top 10 acceptances, it is worth emailing the director of admissions to let them know that you are willing to drop other places to go. Unfortunately at this stage of the game, you need to have multiple bargaining chips. Be persistent, and send in any updates you have. I remember not hearing anything after sending in multiple emails reiterating my interest until the day I was told I would likely be accepted. Also, the waitlist says nothing about your potential, I was waitlisted and still graduated at the top of the class. Penn knows that everyone on this list is as qualified as the people who were accepted and this works in your favor. For those going to preview on a waitlist, if Penn is your first choice and you make this clear during Preview, you will be accepted. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Is this really the scenario? Is it reasonable to assume (seems really dangerous) that waitlisted people invited to second look are just needing to commit to attending if accepted in order to earn a spot at this point? Anyone who has insights on this, please chime in!
 
I realize there probably isn't much that can be done, but I just thought I'd check to see if anyone had any ideas. I got waitlisted tier 1 (no invite). Penn is absolutely my top choice by far and away, but the decisions process has been made much murkier by the fact that I'm trying to end up in the same city as my long-time boyfriend. He is going to law schools and is choosing between Harvard (which is number 2 for them, and I did get into a Boston school I'm happy about) and Penn (which is a lower ranked law school, but he got a full ride scholarship). I've been trying to convince him to take the Penn scholarship (he is torn between that and Harvard), and if there is any way we can end up at Penn I'd really like to. However, he has to decide about his scholarship by mid-April, and there is no way to accept the scholarship and keep his place at Harvard.

I do realize that it seems like at this point we are going to have to make our decisions more independent of each other than we would have liked, so that we can both end up with what's best for us. I was just wondering if there is anything I can do. I initially thought about calling them or writing a LOI to explain the situation, the problem is that since there is still a chance he would choose Harvard in which case I might choose the Boston school, so I can't in all honesty say that I'll 100% definitely come. I also realize that there probably isn't any way to get a decision or anything before his April deadline.

What should I do? I love Penn so much and it kills me to think that I might get accepted off the waitlist after he'd given up his scholarship and I'd have to turn them down to be with him...
 
Contradiction said:
I realize there probably isn't much that can be done, but I just thought I'd check to see if anyone had any ideas. I got waitlisted tier 1 (no invite). Penn is absolutely my top choice by far and away, but the decisions process has been made much murkier by the fact that I'm trying to end up in the same city as my long-time boyfriend. He is going to law schools and is choosing between Harvard (which is number 2 for them, and I did get into a Boston school I'm happy about) and Penn (which is a lower ranked law school, but he got a full ride scholarship). I've been trying to convince him to take the Penn scholarship (he is torn between that and Harvard), and if there is any way we can end up at Penn I'd really like to. However, he has to decide about his scholarship by mid-April, and there is no way to accept the scholarship and keep his place at Harvard.

I do realize that it seems like at this point we are going to have to make our decisions more independent of each other than we would have liked, so that we can both end up with what's best for us. I was just wondering if there is anything I can do. I initially thought about calling them or writing a LOI to explain the situation, the problem is that since there is still a chance he would choose Harvard in which case I might choose the Boston school, so I can't in all honesty say that I'll 100% definitely come. I also realize that there probably isn't any way to get a decision or anything before his April deadline.

What should I do? I love Penn so much and it kills me to think that I might get accepted off the waitlist after he'd given up his scholarship and I'd have to turn them down to be with him...
Click to expand...

I think it's a pretty simple situation. If you are going to marry this kid, and you will follow him where he goes to law school no matter what, then you HAVE to go to boston. You will not know if you can live in Philadelphia until mid May (unless you are very lucky). He will have to commit to taking or leaving the scholarship at Penn before then. If you want to guarantee your being in the same city, you have to go to Boston. Straight up. Not sure what you have there, but BU and Tufts are both great places. If you are rockstar enough to interview and get tier 1 waitlist at Penn, you are rockstar enough to dominate at either of those places, rock step 1 and get a great residency. Not to mention, Harvard Law is a huge deal. Certainly as huge as Penn Med. If you can handle being a part for at least 3 years (Assuming he will move to you after he graduates), then push as hard as you can for Penn and tell him to take the scholarship at Penn. But that could land you in Boston with him in philly. And it would leave him stuck at a school he only attended in the hopes that you would join him. Sounds like Boston is the smartest bet to me. Good luck with your decisions 🙂
 
david06 said:
Can any current students comment on their personal views on Center City vs. University City?
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If you want to live near yuppies, go to Center City. If you want to live near drunken college students or hipsters, parts of West Philly may be right for you. If you don't want to live near too many black people, go to Center City. If you have money to spend, Center City is better. If you like high-rise apartments, Center City is better. If you like sitting on the front porch, West Philly is better. If you wanna have a farm share and belong to an organic grocery coop, West Philly is probably for you. Center City has more wine bars. West Philly has more brew pubs and dive bars.
 
Here's what I think:
Your boyfriend should probably go to HLS. See this article for why:

http://www.usnews.com/education/bes.../07/law-firm-recruiters-rank-best-law-schools

I think the prestige of the school matters a lot in law, much more than in medicine (or so my friends who graduated from law school tell me).

Did you get the invitation to Penn Preview weekend? That'll give you some indication of how high you are on Penn's Tier 1 waitlist.

As for what you should do: that's a really tough call and a lot depends on exactly how your relationship w/ your boyfriend is. You guys aren't engaged yet? Why not? (As a married, older person, it's been my expereince that the general rule for relationships that turn out well is that people usually know right away. Everybody's different, but all the people I know who are married or who have definitively committed to each other for the long term -- all of them knew pretty quickly after they started dating. Whereas, many people who had solid long-term relationships but who werent' 100% committed to each other then went on to breakup. That's been my experience.) No matter how close you think you are to each other, you may break up...and then you would feel resentful and depressed for the rest of your life that you chose an (ex) boyfriend over your own future. So if I were you, I would either get engaged and decide that you'll stay together no matter what, in which case it might be worth it for you to sacrifice some prestige and just focus on doing really well at the Boston school you go to. Or else, if you and him can't say for sure that you are willing to put your relationship above all else in your life, and get married sometime in the future and potentially have children together, if you're not ready to take that step, then focus on getting into Penn and let him do what he feels he needs to for his career and see what fate decides for you guys.

Just my two cents' worth.
 
drugsarefun said:
I think it's a pretty simple situation. If you are going to marry this kid, and you will follow him where he goes to law school no matter what, then you HAVE to go to boston. You will not know if you can live in Philadelphia until mid May (unless you are very lucky). He will have to commit to taking or leaving the scholarship at Penn before then. If you want to guarantee your being in the same city, you have to go to Boston. Straight up. Not sure what you have there, but BU and Tufts are both great places. If you are rockstar enough to interview and get tier 1 waitlist at Penn, you are rockstar enough to dominate at either of those places, rock step 1 and get a great residency. Not to mention, Harvard Law is a huge deal. Certainly as huge as Penn Med. If you can handle being a part for at least 3 years (Assuming he will move to you after he graduates), then push as hard as you can for Penn and tell him to take the scholarship at Penn. But that could land you in Boston with him in philly. And it would leave him stuck at a school he only attended in the hopes that you would join him. Sounds like Boston is the smartest bet to me. Good luck with your decisions 🙂
Click to expand...

Don't deny your BF of an opportunity to attend HLS. Law school really matters (especially in this job market) and he will have more opportunities least ease of opportunities at HLS than he will at Penn. Whereas, your choice of medical school isn't as much of a big deal in the long run. Where in Boston are you accepted?

As for now, you're not into Penn anyway and they took barely anyone off the Tier 1 waitlist last year. Might as well feel bad about this situation once you actually have an acceptance.
 
Thanks for the replies guys - I appreciate the advice a lot! The other school I'm considering is Tufts. And I realize that I may have misrepresented things a bit. First of all and for the record, we're actually quite serious - we just want to wait to get married until after we finish school. And I am certainly not stopping him from making his own decision - he's torn between the full ride and HLS without my influence. I'm also going to make my own decision, which is probably going to be to stay on the waitlist but plan on going to Tufts (or maybe NYU). I was really just wondering if anyone thought that calling or writing a letter of intent would help at all, or whether it would maybe be a detractor since I can't figure out a way to present the situation without sounding like I'm making a poor life choice by choosing based on where he goes...
 
david06 said:
Can any current students comment on their personal views on Center City vs. University City?
Click to expand...

Here are some long-winded pros/cons of each:

West Philly
Drawbacks
-You are going to have to take a cab/bus/ride your bike etc to many social gatherings/events/dinners/movie nights etc
-If you live close to school (major reason a lot of people choose W. Philly), you may also live around a bunch of fratty undergrads.
-It's much less of a city feel and the area around Penn is clearly geared toward college kids with lots of chain restaurants etc. It certainly has it's charms (in a neighborhood-y sort of way, especially a little farther from campus)

Advantages
-You could have a yard/porch etc
-you are (marginally) closer to school
-somewhat cheaper (depending on how close you want to live)
-If you have a family/dog etc or if you like living in a house vs. an apartment- I think this would be the best choice

Center City
Drawbacks
-It's father from school. But I don't think it's that much farther (maybe 15 min more of a walk?). The buses are generally reliable and go right to the med school/hospital area so if you don't like walking/biking or want to live farther east you could take the bus everyday. There is also a free shuttle that runs to Center city starting at 5pm (there's one for West Philly too).
-More expensive. This is the big one. Most people I know pay around $900/mo in center city and more like $650 in west philly. But that's not always true. The places closest to campus in w. philly can easily hit $900 and you can certainly find center city housing for $700ish if you are willing to live a little farther south or north and/or with several roommates.

Advantages
-It feels more like a city and, to me, feels more charming (although I agree that you might not agree if you lived in a highrise).
-Things are more centrally located in terms of shopping, restaurants, gyms etc so you have lots to choose from
-More people live in center city. This is the biggest advantage in my opinion. For what it's worth, some of my classmates who live in w. philly are planning to move to center city and as far as I know, no one is going the other way but I could be wrong.

Verdict for me: center city all the way! But it really does depend on what you want. You'll be fine either way- most people are really happy with where they live. If you can, come and look at the places in person so you can decide what works best for you!
 
did anyone actually get Tier 2 or is Penn just trying to make all the regular Tier 1's not feel bad?
 
md2010hopeful said:
If you can, come and look at the places in person so you can decide what works best for you!
Click to expand...


During Penn Preview, they usually set it up so you can visit a few of the current students' places - in W.P and CC. I really recommend checking it out if you can!
 
Tier 1 waiting list ... I like the school a lot, but I think I'll be giving a lot of attention to the great schools I have an acceptance at!
 
Can anyone speak to living in Philly but spending lots of time in NYC? My girlfriend lives in NYC and will be there as a student for a few more years. Love love love Penn, and don't think I could turn it down, but interested in some native northeasterners' opinions of making that trip with regularity. Also don't want to be the kid who is always out of town and doesn't get to know fellow classmates well, etc. Thoughts?
 
drugsarefun said:
Can anyone speak to living in Philly but spending lots of time in NYC? My girlfriend lives in NYC and will be there as a student for a few more years. Love love love Penn, and don't think I could turn it down, but interested in some native northeasterners' opinions of making that trip with regularity. Also don't want to be the kid who is always out of town and doesn't get to know fellow classmates well, etc. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I guess it depends on your motivation and how often you want to see each other. I have friends in NYC but rarely go up there. The Amtrak train from Philly directly to NYC is expensive (anywhere from $48 - +$90 rt) but is your fastest option (75-90 min). You could take regional rail (SEPTA) from Philly to Trenton and switch and ride NJ transit to NYC, but that trip probably takes the better part of 3 hours, depending on the train schedules. You can also take the Bolt bus from Chinatown, which is probably your cheapest option ($20 round trip), but again, the traffic between Philly and NYC can be horrific. It can take you anywhere from 2.5 to 5 hours to get there, depending on the time of day you leave. It once took me 6 hours to get to JFK (shudder). Not trying to be discouraging, just want to point out that you don't want to underestimate traffic in the metropolitan north east. That and America needs better mass transportation!
 
Eponymous said:
I guess it depends on your motivation and how often you want to see each other. I have friends in NYC but rarely go up there. The Amtrak train from Philly directly to NYC is expensive (anywhere from $48 - +$90 rt) but is your fastest option (75-90 min). You could take regional rail (SEPTA) from Philly to Trenton and switch and ride NJ transit to NYC, but that trip probably takes the better part of 3 hours, depending on the train schedules. You can also take the Bolt bus from Chinatown, which is probably your cheapest option ($20 round trip), but again, the traffic between Philly and NYC can be horrific. It can take you anywhere from 2.5 to 5 hours to get there, depending on the time of day you leave. It once took me 6 hours to get to JFK (shudder). Not trying to be discouraging, just want to point out that you don't want to underestimate traffic in the metropolitan north east. That and America needs better mass transportation!
Click to expand...

Thanks a ton. My other option would be to live in New Haven, CT. I assume the commute from there to NYC is more consistent and maybe just easier because as you head north out of NYC its gets less and less urban. Having choices is a good problem to have, but I am feeling a bit stuck.
 
drugsarefun said:
Thanks a ton. My other option would be to live in New Haven, CT. I assume the commute from there to NYC is more consistent and maybe just easier because as you head north out of NYC its gets less and less urban. Having choices is a good problem to have, but I am feeling a bit stuck.
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My partner used to commute from Philly to NYC 4 days a week. He had his firm paying for the Acela tickets, but it's still do-able. My old boss actually used to commute from Delaware to NYC everyday for 6 years.

I remember interviewing at Penn and meeting a first year student who lived in Manhattan his first year and commuted down 2-3 times a week for the required stuff. The process isn't terrible...in fact, they're the two closest of the 4 major NE cities. But, as a med student I could see this getting a bit exhausting and entirely impractical once you enter clinics.
 
drugsarefun said:
Can anyone speak to living in Philly but spending lots of time in NYC? My girlfriend lives in NYC and will be there as a student for a few more years. Love love love Penn, and don't think I could turn it down, but interested in some native northeasterners' opinions of making that trip with regularity. Also don't want to be the kid who is always out of town and doesn't get to know fellow classmates well, etc. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I live in West Philly. My neighbor across the street works in Manhattan, and does the commute every day by discount bus. I work at Penn. One of my coworkers lives in Manhattan, and commutes to Philly most days by discount bus. It's a grueling commute. While I wouldn't recommend it, it's possible to live in one city and work/attend school in the other. As far as just seeing your girlfriend goes, yeah, it should be very doable. You two should be able to spend every weekend together if you really want to, without even making any serious compromises in your sleep schedule.
 
phltz said:
You two should be able to spend every weekend together if you really want to, without even making any serious compromises in your sleep schedule.
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I think the whole idea is to "compromise" the sleep schedule when they get together 😉
 
Was anyone on here initially waitlisted and invited to attend Penn Preview and subsequently accepted? Or does anyone know more about this particular situation? Is any time given to speak to the Dean of Admissions?
 
jusgeo89 said:
Was anyone on here initially waitlisted and invited to attend Penn Preview and subsequently accepted? Or does anyone know more about this particular situation? Is any time given to speak to the Dean of Admissions?
Click to expand...

I would also like to know about this. I've heard some of both - that invited waitlisters will almost 100% receive an acceptance if they commit, and also that it's still a toss up.
 
Waitlist tier 1, no invite for second look. Sounds like there are a ton of qualified people who are also on tier 1 and not much hope of an acceptance for lil ol' me. I could cry. :cry:
 
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