2014-2015 Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Application Thread

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CTU Surgeon said:
Anyone know if when Penn flaunts 35 full tuition scholarships on their website they are including the scholarships for MSTPs in that number?
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I asked this on interview day and was told that there were 35 excluding MSTP. However, these are most likely chopped up all kinds of different ways and administered to acceptees in full, 3/4, half etc.
 
Willy38 said:
I asked this on interview day and was told that there were 35 excluding MSTP. However, these are most likely chopped up all kinds of different ways and administered to acceptees in full, 3/4, half etc.
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:xf::xf::xf::xf::xf:
 
CannedPineapple said:
This may be a strange question, but does the Fin. Aid office require FAFSA/tax documents to award merit scholarships? Or are those separate from the need aid?
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I can't really remember. My inclination is no, but don't take my word for it. Give financial aid a call. They're extremely nice!

As for the merit scholarships, I know a significant amount of people who got one. I don't know the inner workings of merit aid, but Penn has A LOT of money to give out, even into summer. If you have any reservations about money or are comparing offers, I highly encourage you to give Gaye (admissions director) a call

Edit: the money does run out sooner or later, so be proactive about this. During/after second look and before the May deadline is a good time
 
trino said:
I can't really remember. My inclination is no, but don't take my word for it. Give financial aid a call. They're extremely nice!

As for the merit scholarships, I know a significant amount of people who got one. I don't know the inner workings of merit aid, but Penn has A LOT of money to give out, even into summer. If you have any reservations about money or are comparing offers, I highly encourage you to give Gaye (admissions director) a call

Edit: the money does run out sooner or later, so be proactive about this. During/after second look and before the May deadline is a good time
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It's an April deadline now 🙁 🙁
 
ProbablyAPenguin said:
It's an April deadline now 🙁 🙁
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This makes me feel old already, and I'm only 1 year removed. Dang AMCAS

At second look you'll have a chance to talk face to face with financial aid. That's the best time to bring this up. Otherwise a phone call is perfectly fine
 
trino said:
This makes me feel old already, and I'm only 1 year removed. Dang AMCAS

At second look you'll have a chance to talk face to face with financial aid. That's the best time to bring this up. Otherwise a phone call is perfectly fine
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The only thing that I'm worried about is that second look is after April 10th (when merit scholarships are released-ish) and only 5 days before the April 30th deadline!

Do you think that calling financial aid and discussing comparing admissions offers would be better to do before or after April 10th?
 
ProbablyAPenguin said:
The only thing that I'm worried about is that second look is after April 10th (when merit scholarships are released-ish) and only 5 days before the April 30th deadline!

Do you think that calling financial aid and discussing comparing admissions offers would be better to do before or after April 10th?
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Fair point, this time line is a lot different from last year. If that's the case then I definitely think it's fine. I would be completely open with them about your situation. They're here to help you

Edit: misread your question. There is no harm in letting them know your other offers before April 10th. You worked hard to get here, and Penn will work hard to bring you here
 
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Does Penn send a snail mail acceptance letter as well or do it all through the portal?
 
Juldarus said:
@trino I know most students tend to live in University City or West Philadelphia. Is there a big difference between these two areas besides proximity to downtown? I've been to Philadelphia exactly once and don't think I'll be able to stay for the housing tour included in Penn Preview!
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I would disagree with this statement. Most everyone I know lives in center city or graduate hospital! There are quite a few people who live in West Philly too, though.
 
I know you can't say much about a school given a single year's match list, but wow. Just looking at the internal medicine, peds and gen surgery list is hella impressive. I also really like how while there is some in-breeding, tons of people go elsewhere (In IM, BWH took more Penn students than Penn did, with a very nice mix of other great programs JHH, UCSF, MGH etc.).
I have now been found out as an obsessive match list analyzer :laugh:
 
QuantumFlame said:
I know you can't say much about a school given a single year's match list, but wow. Just looking at the internal medicine, peds and gen surgery list is hella impressive. I also really like how while there is some in-breeding, tons of people go elsewhere (In IM, BWH took more Penn students than Penn did, with a very nice mix of other great programs JHH, UCSF, MGH etc.).
I have now been found out as an obsessive match list analyzer :laugh:
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Its not just this year 😉 Every year looks very similar to this. It's very nice knowing you don't have to be "top of the class/270/AOA/50 pubs" to get what you want at Penn
 
QuantumFlame said:
I know you can't say much about a school given a single year's match list, but wow. Just looking at the internal medicine, peds and gen surgery list is hella impressive. I also really like how while there is some in-breeding, tons of people go elsewhere (In IM, BWH took more Penn students than Penn did, with a very nice mix of other great programs JHH, UCSF, MGH etc.).
I have now been found out as an obsessive match list analyzer :laugh:
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You are absolutely right, but if you look at previous lists, this is always the case. This year we had more Brigham than MGH, but in terms of the mix our lists are fairly consistent year after year. Also, this was a very tough year for IM because the number of applicants from Penn doubled compared to previous years, and yet we did awesome! In some of the surgical specialties, I know of students who only honored the specialty rotation and had average step 1s....yet they got into top programs. The fact they were from Penn made all the difference.... we are convinced!

Good luck to you guys!!
 
mTORC said:
Just a teaser of the new med school (a small portion of it and the view from a study room) 🙂

View attachment 188989View attachment 188990
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Ha ha, I just realized I had never looked at this post from back in January. Before decisions were out, I averted my eyes. Didn't want to get my hopes up.

The new building looks beautiful. Worth the wait.
 
Can someone please post (or send me) a link to the application portal login? I want to read info about second look weekend. But my computer crashed, and I am having a hard time locating it without my bookmark..... maybe I'm just lazy.
 
Zacharia said:
I asked if I could attend but was rebuffed. Knew it was a long shot, just figured I'd try. They said because of space limitations this year, only current matriculated students can attend. I guess they're feeling confident 🙁
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My bet is they have a better yield this year than in previous years; Penn/Philly is awesome already but add in that shiny new med school...
 
Willy38 said:
My bet is they have a better yield this year than in previous years; Penn/Philly is awesome already but add in that shiny new med school...
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They gave us the number of accepted students this year and it's pretty darn close to the expected number of matriculants. I didn't realize they expected such a high yield, not that I know what these numbers have been in past years.
 
mTORC said:
They gave us the number of accepted students this year and it's pretty darn close to the expected number of matriculants. I didn't realize they expected such a high yield, not that I know what these numbers have been in past years.
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What were the numbers if you don't mind me asking?
 
mTORC said:
They gave us the number of accepted students this year and it's pretty darn close to the expected number of matriculants. I didn't realize they expected such a high yield, not that I know what these numbers have been in past years.
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FriendlyFH said:
Waitlisters don't give up. Apparently because they are super concerned with over enrollment this year, they might have been extra extra cautious. There is still hope!

And big congrats to those who are accepted to such a phenomenal school. Please take me with you~~~
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claimed source:
FriendlyFH said:
A current student who's involved in the admission process here and there.
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Additional good news for us waitlisters: there has been merit awards given to students accepted off waitlist in the past.
 
Oh right, sorry! I didn't mean to worry the waitlisters. I think they just don't know what to expect in terms of yield so they're being careful. There's usually significant movement on the waitlist because getting onto the waitlist I understand is very selective as well 🙂
 
mTORC said:
They gave us the number of accepted students this year and it's pretty darn close to the expected number of matriculants. I didn't realize they expected such a high yield, not that I know what these numbers have been in past years.
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Well they accepted 229, and a typical class size is ~165, right? So it's not toooo close. But props to them if they manage to get a 2/3 yield, that's remarkable.
 
Does anyone have anything listed on their financial aid page? If you haven't looked yet, go to the portal, then the Financial Aid tab, and click Your Financial Aid Page. All of my documents are received, but under Financial Aid Award, I only see the total student budget listed. It's a hefty sum just dangling there...:greedy::greedy::greedy:
 
breakintheroof said:
Does anyone have anything listed on their financial aid page? If you haven't looked yet, go to the portal, then the Financial Aid tab, and click Your Financial Aid Page. All of my documents are received, but under Financial Aid Award, I only see the total student budget listed. It's a hefty sum just dangling there...:greedy::greedy::greedy:
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mine is similar.... I think we aren't supposed to hear anything at all until after april 10th.
 
ProbablyAPenguin said:
mine is similar.... I think we aren't supposed to hear anything at all until after april 10th.
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Good to know, Penguin. I looked and last year about a half-dozen people reported getting scholarship notifications simultaneously around then. The silence on this thread makes me feel better about not having heard anything. (I heard a rumor IRL that someone did get a scholarship, but I am going to ignore it on the balance of evidence.)
 
The announcements on the front page were updated late last week to say that financial aid will be announced the week of April 13. Not sure if that includes the merit scholarships (they came out around this time last year).
 
Juldarus said:
I wrote down during the PP presentation during the interview day that we would be informed of merit scholarships and need-based aid in mid April. I wonder if the merit scholarships are redistributed if the original recipient decides to matriculate someplace else? I hope Penn does not use merit scholarships purely as a recruiting tool.
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No idea, though I think it's interesting to note that the merit scholarships used to be awarded in May instead of April (which suggests to me that they are more of a recruiting tool than they used to be).
 
ImageUploadedBySDN Mobile1428492776.122077.jpg

Took this last night. Thought I'd share 🙂
 
breakintheroof said:
Last year, it looked like scholarship recipients at least got an email. My guess is that we all will, just going on how they have operated so far.
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Good point, and it appears that they came out on a Wednesday, perhaps that is the day of the week that we will be informed.
 
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