2011-2012 Penn State Application Thread

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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Just got the complete email today, submitted and paid July 30th.

That's like a 43 day period to marked complete after submitting.
 
Nymphicus said:
Just got the complete email today, submitted and paid July 30th.

That's like a 43 day period to marked complete after submitting.
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This one is an abnormally long wait time. I received the secondary 7/29 and turned it back around 8/1. Judging from others' responses, maybe in a few days I'll finally hear a complete from this one? Maybe?

Bueller? Bueller?
 
Members don't see this ad :)
yup, got the complete email today too. submitted late july.
 
Just had my interview at the school today. Very stress-free and conversational for the most part.
 
Received 9/1
Complete 9/6
OOS

I'm sorry so many of you had to wait to long. It seems like quite a random process. However, despite the relative quickness of this specific completion, I haven't been so lucky at other schools. I think in the end it evens itself out.
 
I submitted mine beginning of August too and still haven't gotten a complete email yet. Why does it take so long to get complete status? I called the admissions office and she says it takes 8-10 weeks to get complete status!
 
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justoneplease said:
Just had my interview at the school today. Very stress-free and conversational for the most part.
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Congrats & good luck! I have my interview next Wednesday. Can you remind me of the format - I know I read it in last year's thread, but don't feel like going through to find it again. :laugh: I'm in the 10:30 group. If my memory serves me right, I'll have the tour first, then lunch, then my interviews??

Glad to know it was stress free and conversational - though I imagine there are still the standard questions: "why would you be a good doctor?" "why would you be a good fit for our school?" etc.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Submitted secondary over a month and a half ago, still not complete
 
Would you mind sharing the type of questions that you were asked? Were they standard (why do you want to be a doctor, why penn state, strengths/weakness), ethics based (who would you give an organ to, what is a current ethical problem in medicine), or related to health care (HMO, biggest health care issue in the U.S, where do you see health care 10 years from now).

My interview is on 10/12 - I'm in the morning group (8:30 am)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated - Thanks!

justoneplease said:
Just had my interview at the school today. Very stress-free and conversational for the most part.
Click to expand...
 
Sunshinegl11 said:
Would you mind sharing the type of questions that you were asked? Were they standard (why do you want to be a doctor, why penn state, strengths/weakness), ethics based (who would you give an organ to, what is a current ethical problem in medicine), or related to health care (HMO, biggest health care issue in the U.S, where do you see health care 10 years from now).

My interview is on 10/12 - I'm in the morning group (8:30 am)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated - Thanks!
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The questions that I got asked were very general in nature. I got asked the usual, "tell me about yourself", "can you tell me more about so and so activity?", "what are your strength and weaknesses", etc. I didn't get any ethical questions and from talking to another interviewee, she didn't get one either. They were very straightforward so don't stress out too much (Yes I've heard this one a million times too but the first one is always stressful haha).


ARE83 said:
Congrats & good luck! I have my interview next Wednesday. Can you remind me of the format - I know I read it in last year's thread, but don't feel like going through to find it again. :laugh: I'm in the 10:30 group. If my memory serves me right, I'll have the tour first, then lunch, then my interviews??

Glad to know it was stress free and conversational - though I imagine there are still the standard questions: "why would you be a good doctor?" "why would you be a good fit for our school?" etc.
Click to expand...

Yes I was in the morning session. Morning sessions have interviews first, then first and second group meet up for a presentation, lunch, tour, and then the first group gets to leave while the second group has their interviews. I've read that the second interview group is more advantageous but from my experience (I might be bias however), I liked the morning group more since I could relax during the presentation and whatnot. Getting the interview done early in the morning allows you to actually pay attention during the other events and it wasn't like you had information that couldn't be found online.
 
Just submitted my secondary today :/ Jealous of all of you who have interviews!
 
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As far as pre-reqs are concerned, I have all except Math. I was placed directly into Calculus I my freshmen year and I never took a second math class as it was not required by my major or pre-med curriculum. Is that fine?

I also never took biology in college as i took AP classes in high school and got credits towards my degree in college. anyone else in similar situation? so do i click yes or no?

Thank you!!
 
I was referring to secondary application above ^

Also does anyone know if pennstate sends out secondary apps to everyone or do they send it out based on amcas apps?
 
sjohn07 said:
As far as pre-reqs are concerned, I have all except Math. I was placed directly into Calculus I my freshmen year and I never took a second math class as it was not required by my major or pre-med curriculum. Is that fine?

I also never took biology in college as i took AP classes in high school and got credits towards my degree in college. anyone else in similar situation? so do i click yes or no?

Thank you!!
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Well it's fine to mark down that you haven't completed the requirement but you need to have a plan to complete the math requirement prior to matriculation. What's going to happen if you get an II in Feb. after you've already started all your classes and you're about to graduate? You're going to be scrambling to take the class over the summer or you'll have to turn down going to Penn State.

AP credits are fine since you have credit on your transcript. Read the instructions where it answers this question.
sjohn07 said:
I was referring to secondary application above ^

Also does anyone know if pennstate sends out secondary apps to everyone or do they send it out based on amcas apps?
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They send them to everyone. Check the MSAR
 
sector9 said:
Well it's fine to mark down that you haven't completed the requirement but you need to have a plan to complete the math requirement prior to matriculation. What's going to happen if you get an II in Feb. after you've already started all your classes and you're about to graduate? You're going to be scrambling to take the class over the summer or you'll have to turn down going to Penn State.

AP credits are fine since you have credit on your transcript. Read the instructions where it answers this question.

They send them to everyone. Check the MSAR
Click to expand...


Thank you! i really appreciate it. I already graduated from college and working full time now. I will double confirm with admissions committee and if i have no other way out, i might have to consider squeezing in a math class at a local community college! ughh.. fml.
 
sjohn07 said:
Thank you! i really appreciate it. I already graduated from college and working full time now. I will double confirm with admissions committee and if i have no other way out, i might have to consider squeezing in a math class at a local community college! ughh.. fml.
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I see. Well any offer of admission will be contingent on you completing the prereqs at that school, but feel free to contact them of course
 
sjohn07 said:
Thank you! i really appreciate it. I already graduated from college and working full time now. I will double confirm with admissions committee and if i have no other way out, i might have to consider squeezing in a math class at a local community college! ughh.. fml.
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Yes - definitely double check with the admissions dept. My understanding is that *all* pre-reqs must be completed in the calendar year prior to matriculation - which would mean you would need a second math course completed by December 31, 2011. I could be wrong, but I don't think I am.

I also do not believe they will accept community college courses as part of the pre-reqs. I'm pretty sure that is on the MSAR, and it's why I'm taking Calc and Stats at my college, even though my advisor strongly recommended taking them at the local community college to get a better grade since our math dept is notoriously poor at actually teaching math to those who aren't math majors.
 
sjohn07 said:
Thank you! i really appreciate it. I already graduated from college and working full time now. I will double confirm with admissions committee and if i have no other way out, i might have to consider squeezing in a math class at a local community college! ughh.. fml.
Click to expand...

Hmm... "Applicants are requred to have fulfilled all academic prerequisites by the end of the calendar year prior to matriculation."

That does seem vague. I wonder if they meant calendar or academic year. I'm pretty certain a summer class would be fine, but contacting their office would seem like the best bet.
 
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How long have people been waiting to hear back about an interview after their app was marked as complete?

Submitted 8/4
Completed 9/19
 
lovecereal said:
How long have people been waiting to hear back about an interview after their app was marked as complete?

Submitted 8/4
Completed 9/19
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a little longer than you.... and still waiting.

submitted 8/22
complete 8/30
 
Are interview invites delivered by mail instead of email?
 
Well, at least I know I will have mail today when I get home.
 
Looking at last year's thread (around this time period), there seems to be somewhat of a correlation between getting an interview invite and increasing lateness in being marked as "complete". For those of you who have taken a while to be complete, I'd personally take that as a good sign (unlike me, who was complete in 2 weeks). :)
 
RollTide22 said:
Looking at last year's thread (around this time period), there seems to be somewhat of a correlation between getting an interview invite and increasing lateness in being marked as "complete". For those of you who have taken a while to be complete, I'd personally take that as a good sign (unlike me, who was complete in 2 weeks). :)
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I just got marked complete today, probably took 5-6 weeks. why do you say this is a promising sign?
 
bvand086 said:
I just got marked complete today, probably took 5-6 weeks. why do you say this is a promising sign?
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It seemed like most of the people who took forever to get marked complete ended up getting interview invites shortly after being marked complete. Those of us who get marked complete early and don't hear anything for awhile seem to get the infamous "continue to review" snailmail.
 
RollTide22 said:
It seemed like most of the people who took forever to get marked complete ended up getting interview invites shortly after being marked complete. Those of us who get marked complete early and don't hear anything for awhile seem to get the infamous "continue to review" snailmail.
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I hope you're right. I submitted 8/1 and wasn't marked complete until 9/14...:xf:
 
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yeah i was complete 9/9 even though i was submitted 7/29......i pray that an invite is coming up :).....the weird thing btw was that even though i was complete on 9/9 the staff person said i had been marked complete 9/2....thus the email was sent out a week after i was really complete.
 
To add to the late completeness theory, here are my stats:

Submitted: 7/31
Complete: 9/9

I will update on the status of my app as soon as I know
 
I do not snikkers... but your avatar is cracking me up!
 
I feel that an email stating that I will be in the "Continue to Review" category would have been fine. There was no need for snail mail.
 
For the rest of you, I really hope my "late completeness theory" turns out to be true! :xf:

Ah, a second straight year of getting the ol' "Continue to Review" letter for me. If anyone is curious, this letter is basically a rejection... you'll get the official rejection in April. I'd say the chances of getting an interview off this list (which I've never heard of) is probably around 1%. Good luck with the rest of our applications!
 
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Haha thanks fizzgig

RollTide22 said:
For the rest of you, I really hope my "late completeness theory" turns out to be true! :xf:

Ah, a second straight year of getting the ol' "Continue to Review" letter for me. If anyone is curious, this letter is basically a rejection... you'll get the official rejection in April. I'd say the chances of getting an interview off this list (which I've never heard of) is probably around 1%. Good luck with the rest of our applications!
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and that's disheartening :(
 
Do people receive this "continue to review" update after being complete? Or is it in place of receiving a complete email?
 
bvand086 said:
Do people receive this "continue to review" update after being complete? Or is it in place of receiving a complete email?
Click to expand...

I submitted 8/31, got the complete email 9/6, and got the "continue to review" letter today :/
 
Snikkers said:
I submitted 8/31, got the complete email 9/6, and got the "continue to review" letter today :/
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Well that sucks. I was just marked complete today. I am really hoping not to receive that letter.
 
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