2016-2017 Pennsylvania State University Application Thread

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Do the track options have additional essays if you click yes?
I tried clicking yes/no and no additional text boxes came up other than the one for regional campus 4-year track? Don't know if my computer is just being slow or not?!
 
judb16 said:
Interview day was really really laid back. They had a tour of the medical center/school, a presentation, lunch with students and 2 interviews. I believe both the interviews were closed file (not 100% sure on this though). Interviews were like 95% conversational. There were very few structured questions and it was more of a back and forth get to know you. One we talked a ton about our research and the other I think we barely said anything about my application. I think they just want to give you the chance to explain who you are. I would know answers to the standard questions.. (why do you want to do medicine, why penn state, blah blah) and then know your application and experiences really well so you can give them a great idea of who you are as a person.
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wonderful! thank you
 
do you guys think I have a chance here with a 504 mcat and 3.6 gpa, awesome ECs and lots of research? I'm OOS and debating whether or not to apply :/
 
medbunny56 said:
do you guys think I have a chance here with a 504 mcat and 3.6 gpa, awesome ECs and lots of research? I'm OOS and debating whether or not to apply :/
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You have a 0% if you don't apply. That being said, according to MSAR your MCAT is at their 10th percentile and compared to the applicant pool to this school from last cycle, over half of the applicants had a better MCAT score than you. Your GPA is also below average (3.6 vs their average 3.8).
 
medbunny56 said:
do you guys think I have a chance here with a 504 mcat and 3.6 gpa, awesome ECs and lots of research? I'm OOS and debating whether or not to apply :/
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This process is chaotic and full of surprises. One of the laziest people I know is now in residency at a top 10 hospital in a highly desirable specialty...which was well deserved after performing wonderfully at a school with a Lizzy M of ~73 (his was 62). Do you have great life experience? Do you have a unique story? Excellent EC's? People will always tell you that these are exceptions to the rule...but a tour around any state school will give you a plethora of examples.

Simply put, there are countless factors that can offset/explain what I may add are decent numbers (it's not like you are grasping at straws). Give it a shot and believe in yourself. I would play the lotto every night if I had a 10% chance of winning (if those are your odds at any given school). Plus, always pay attention to accepted vs. matriculant average...anyone who has worked in education knows that these numbers can differ drastically. Best of luck!
 
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medbunny56 said:
do you guys think I have a chance here with a 504 mcat and 3.6 gpa, awesome ECs and lots of research? I'm OOS and debating whether or not to apply :/
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MeltingIceCube said:
Do you have great life experience? Do you have a unique story? Excellent EC's? People will always tell you that these are exceptions to the rule...but a tour around any state school will give you a plethora of examples.

Simply put, there are countless factors that can offset/explain what I may add are decent numbers (it's not like you are grasping at straws). Give it a shot and believe in yourself. I would play the lotto every night if I had a 10% chance of winning (if those are your odds at any given school). Plus, always pay attention to accepted vs. matriculant average...anyone who has worked in education knows that these numbers can differ drastically. Best of luck!
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I would actually just add that of all the schools, Penn State is exceptional at considering life experiences that you bring to the table. You are more than a GPA and MCAT score and that is clearly reflected in our class. We have people who did undergrad from Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Duke, Yale all the way to people who graduated from tiny liberal arts schools with less than 1500 total undergraduate students.
 
SuperSaiyanMD said:
II! First one, OOS as well! Anyone interviewed here before who would be willing to answer a few questions? 🙂
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I interviewed here last year (not sure how much has changed) and would be willing to answer anything I can. I've kind of been keeping my eye on this forum anyway 😛
 
judb16 said:
I interviewed here last year (not sure how much has changed) and would be willing to answer anything I can. I've kind of been keeping my eye on this forum anyway 😛
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Can you just give a general overview of how your interview went? Thanks!


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Missneuro412 said:
Can you just give a general overview of how your interview went? Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
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So I don't remember the exact order of events, but I can get the basics. They do half day interviews, so I didn't get there until like 10:30. This gave me some good time to wake up, relax, get to the school on time and walk around. There was a little presentation on the curriculum/opportunities at Penn State and then I think after that was lunch with students. This was a nice chance to informally ask questions about the school and relax a little bit. There was a hospital/college tour and then 2 interviews. One was with a PhD and the other was a practicing physician. I think they were both open-file. But they were definitely more conversational and low-stress. Then I think that was it. Everyone was really easy to work with and the whole day was relatively relaxed.
 
judb16 said:
So I don't remember the exact order of events, but I can get the basics. They do half day interviews, so I didn't get there until like 10:30. This gave me some good time to wake up, relax, get to the school on time and walk around. There was a little presentation on the curriculum/opportunities at Penn State and then I think after that was lunch with students. This was a nice chance to informally ask questions about the school and relax a little bit. There was a hospital/college tour and then 2 interviews. One was with a PhD and the other was a practicing physician. I think they were both open-file. But they were definitely more conversational and low-stress. Then I think that was it. Everyone was really easy to work with and the whole day was relatively relaxed.
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Thank you! I was curious if either you or anyone else on here are OOS and where'd you stay there? I dont think they are hosting anyone, what were good hotel options nearby/shuttle available? Sorry, I can PM you if that works. Don't want to flood this forum out for everyone.
 
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judb16 said:
I interviewed here last year (not sure how much has changed) and would be willing to answer anything I can. I've kind of been keeping my eye on this forum anyway 😛
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Just wondering how soon after you interviewed you found out?
 
Anyone else having trouble copy and pasting their essays into their app's website?
 
Is there a unique aspect of your application that should be considered by the admissions committee? (Maximum 75 words)

I dont really understand this question, I'm not disadvantaged so I dont really have anything else to add
should i just write: N/A
 
medbunny56 said:
Is there a unique aspect of your application that should be considered by the admissions committee? (Maximum 75 words)

I dont really understand this question, I'm not disadvantaged so I dont really have anything else to add
should i just write: N/A
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That's what I put and I got an II!


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Has anyone else had a problem with their secondary when they are entering their essays? The word count meter is really off on mine for some reason. I will type it up in microsoft word to ensure the word count but then when I put paste it into the box it says it is 5-7 words over. Been struggling with this for a while :bang:
 
crzy4socr72 said:
Has anyone else had a problem with their secondary when they are entering their essays? The word count meter is really off on mine for some reason. I will type it up in microsoft word to ensure the word count but then when I put paste it into the box it says it is 5-7 words over. Been struggling with this for a while :bang:
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I had that issue too, but I set that deadline for myself so I had to hack away at some flowery language
 
NYdoctobe said:
I had that issue too, but I set that deadline for myself so I had to hack away at some flowery language
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Glad to see I'm not alone. I want it submitted by today as well so I'll chop it down a little. Just frustrating when you have a response flowing perfectly and then you have to reorganize it to make it work.
 
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crzy4socr72 said:
Glad to see I'm not alone. I called their admissions office and they were useless. Claimed they never heard of anyone else having this problem. I want it submitted by today as well so I'll chop it down a little. Just frustrating when you have a response flowing perfectly and then you have to reorganize it to make it work.
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You're definitely not alone. I had this happen with maybe 3-5 schools. Can't remember which, specifically, but I know it was an issue.
 
sav5716 said:
You're definitely not alone. I had this happen with maybe 3-5 schools. Can't remember which, specifically, but I know it was an issue.
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If you have hyphens, it usually counts those as 2 words in the textbox but not in Microsoft Word

Sent from my LGMS631 using SDN mobile
 
robotfinches said:
II just now, OOS, complete 7/29, LizzyM 72

Does anyone know how to get here/where to stay? I'm coming from NYC so is there a bus?

also only available dates are 9/26, 28, 30 and 10/5 (they probably have more after but email says interview date must be within 6 weeks of invitation)

note to self: learn2drive
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There's a bus I hear- I'm interviewing on September 30th, I'm driving out from NJ on the 29th and leaving at 2:00 PM after the morning interviews finish, I wouldn't be opposed to having company in the car, you can message me if you're interviewing the same day/ interested!
 
Does anyone know how strict they are about their requirements? I want to apply here but I never took a Behavioral science
 
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