2016-2017 Pennsylvania State University Application Thread

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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HopefulMD35 said:
Did anyone receive the U.Loan-J.V. Dyer?
If you did any idea what the terms are? I have no idea what it is lol
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I believe the name of the loan isn't of importance as mine is something else but still a university loan. They are probably are all institutional loans with a fixed interest rate by the school. Not sure if interest is subsidized or not but it seems to be offered as needs-based. Usually with an interest rate lower or comparable to that of federal loans.

EDIT: This is what's posted when I click on the specific university loan in the portal.

"University Loans are typically awarded to students who demonstrate financial need based on the information submitted on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The interest rate is fixed at six percent and there are no origination fees. Loan repayment begins after you graduate, leave school, or drop below half-time enrollment. You will have a nine-month grace period before you are required to begin repayment. University loan repayments are made to Penn State through ECSI, a third party loan servicer."
 
SirCardiac said:
I believe the name of the loan isn't of importance as mine is something else but still a university loan. They are probably are all institutional loans with a fixed interest rate by the school. Not sure if interest is subsidized or not but it seems to be offered as needs-based. Usually with an interest rate lower or comparable to that of federal loans.

EDIT: This is what's posted when I click on the specific university loan in the portal.

"University Loans are typically awarded to students who demonstrate financial need based on the information submitted on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The interest rate is fixed at six percent and there are no origination fees. Loan repayment begins after you graduate, leave school, or drop below half-time enrollment. You will have a nine-month grace period before you are required to begin repayment. University loan repayments are made to Penn State through ECSI, a third party loan servicer."
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Thanks! I will call them tomorrow and ask if its subsidized or not.
 
I got my financial aid packet including loans. The Stafford loan seems a bit too high for me. Is there a way to tweak it so that we are taking out less loans?
 
a_person1234567 said:
I got my financial aid packet including loans. The Stafford loan seems a bit too high for me. Is there a way to tweak it so that we are taking out less loans?
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Yes, when you go into accept/decline loans you can submit the amount you wish to take out.
 
yellowbottlesippin said:
What's the Stafford Loan?? Mine just says "Direct Unsubsidized Loan U1". That's it.


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I'm not 100% on this, so if anyone knows for sure please chime in. From the amount that I've been given, I'm assuming that is the federal stafford loan. It does not require the student to demonstrate financial need, but is unsubsidized, so you start accumulating interest while you're in school.
 
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Do we need to fill out a Master Promissory Note for these federal loans? Or would accepting it on the portal suffice?
 
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rjkbuny said:
I'm not 100% on this, so if anyone knows for sure please chime in. From the amount that I've been given, I'm assuming that is the federal stafford loan. It does not require the student to demonstrate financial need, but is unsubsidized, so you start accumulating interest while you're in school.
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So is there a difference between what I got and you got? Or is mine a loan provided by the school?
 
yellowbottlesippin said:
So is there a difference between what I got and you got? Or is mine a loan provided by the school?
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The "Direct Unsubsidized Loan U1" is the Federal Stafford Loan that is not based on need. If you have a "_______ University Loan", that is the fixed interest rate loan offered by the school and only granted on a needs-based basis.
 
Can anyone give any details on the Dean's University Scholarship? is it a 1-year award, or does it renew all 4 years if you continually meet academic standards?
 
harambediedforoursins said:
Can anyone give any details on the Dean's University Scholarship? is it a 1-year award, or does it renew all 4 years if you continually meet academic standards?
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Depends on the amount you received. Your best bet is giving a call to the Financial Aid office and asking what your particular scholarship is.
 
Look at last year's posts, people who interviewed in mid-to-late March already had decisions at this time. But this year, they only gave out decisions in early Feb interviews. So why? And is there any chances for late March interviewers to receive their first post II decisions after May?
 
I got an email saying my financial aid was updated. My loan has been reduced by 4K. Why is that? I needed that money...


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harambediedforoursins said:
Can anyone give any details on the Dean's University Scholarship? is it a 1-year award, or does it renew all 4 years if you continually meet academic standards?
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I think it can be both, depending on the amount you received. It should also tell you in the financial aid award notification letter you receive. If the letter requests your signature and return to Penn State, then it is for 4 years. Otherwise, it is a one time thing.
 
Nomtastic said:
But don't they need to replace that money from somewhere else...so wouldn't that be replaced by another loan? Did they reduce the University or Stafford loan?
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My university loan and scholarship is unchanged. The Stafford Loan dipped a bit but not by 4k or so like others mentioned.
 
Does anybody know if tuition includes health insurance? How much extra is the school's health insurance?
 
a_person1234567 said:
Does anybody know if tuition includes health insurance? How much extra is the school's health insurance?
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It does not include the cost of insurance. However, you can talk to the financial aid office and they can add the cost of insurance into the loan amount.
 
bobbyn said:
48$ is low -- maybe monthly?
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upload_2017-4-24_12-11-7.png

Not sure. I attached a screenshot.
 
Getting closer to May 1..Any recent acceptance offers?? especially for mid-to-late March people?
 
Just to clarify, is penn state true P/F the first 2 years with no internal ranking?
 
jcasella said:
What's happening on May 1st? Is that the deadline for decisions?

I interviewed 3/15 ... anxiously waiting.


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So I'm actually confused about that as well; either they have to offer at least a number of acceptances matching their estimated class size or they have to give everyone a decision by then. I'm sure not which one.
Hang in there!
 
Eurus_Holmes said:
So I'm actually confused about that as well; either they have to offer at least a number of acceptances matching their estimated class size or they have to give everyone a decision by then. I'm sure not which one.
Hang in there!
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They had to send out enough acceptances to fill the class by March 15th. This does not mean all of those will be filled because people could have declined an acceptance and so they send additional acceptances between March 15th and the end of April. As of last year they notified everyone by May 1st of their status and then started pulling from the wait list. This may or may not follow the same suit this year.

May 1st is the last date they allow you to hold multiple acceptances, which means people that have more than one have to pick one. This obviously creates more open seats thereby causing a domino effect that results in a large amount of wait-list acceptances through May.
 
Eurus_Holmes said:
So I'm actually confused about that as well; either they have to offer at least a number of acceptances matching their estimated class size or they have to give everyone a decision by then. I'm sure not which one.
Hang in there!
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During my interview on March 10th the admissions person said they would have our decisions by the May 1st deadline (by 4/30 at 11:59 pm is how he phrased it). I am expecting some sort of update on 4/28 since that is the last week day before the deadline, but who knows for sure!
 
I think this may have been brought up before, sorry if this is redundant. Penn State recently changed their schedule, so we would be taking the step 1 after our third year, did I get that right? If so, since it's so close to residency applications, depending on if the scores match the possible residency interests of the student, does it make it very hard to change career courses if need be or even just get applications ready?
 
So my application is still Continue to Review. Haven't received an II. I'm guessing I should move on? Is their interview process over by now?
 
MD95 said:
So my application is still Continue to Review. Haven't received an II. I'm guessing I should move on? Is their interview process over by now?
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Unfortunately, they are done interviewing. Hope you had luck elsewhere.
 
Does anyone know how to withdraw an acceptance? There's no way that I can see to do it on the portal
 
This may be a silly question. But when I try to apply for grad PLUS loan it says that the form cannot be submitted for PSU until June 24. Is that also true for the med school? I'm assuming so since to the same financial aid code? Anyone else having this issue?


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tssj12 said:
This may be a silly question. But when I try to apply for grad PLUS loan it says that the form cannot be submitted for PSU until June 24. Is that also true for the med school? I'm assuming so since to the same financial aid code? Anyone else having this issue?
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Yeah I called about it and they said to just wait to apply until June 24th, that's the earliest they'll accept those applications. It seems kind of late to me, but that's all said.

Also, for those of us wondering about the lowered Direct loan $ amount, the system first gave us the loan awarded to third year students. So they went in and changed it to the correct year, lowering the amount awarded.
 
rjkbuny said:
I think this may have been brought up before, sorry if this is redundant. Penn State recently changed their schedule, so we would be taking the step 1 after our third year, did I get that right? If so, since it's so close to residency applications, depending on if the scores match the possible residency interests of the student, does it make it very hard to change career courses if need be or even just get applications ready?
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Would anyone possibly have an answer for this? Sorry to bring up the same question, but I'm a bit concerned about how late the step 1 would be if I had the correct info.

Does anyone know the deadline for accepting financial aid btw?
 
rjkbuny said:
Would anyone possibly have an answer for this? Sorry to bring up the same question, but I'm a bit concerned about how late the step 1 would be if I had the correct info.

Does anyone know the deadline for accepting financial aid btw?
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Yes, I definitely remember that being the case on my interview day. There's both pros and cons to it.
 
rjkbuny said:
Would anyone possibly have an answer for this? Sorry to bring up the same question, but I'm a bit concerned about how late the step 1 would be if I had the correct info.

Does anyone know the deadline for accepting financial aid btw?
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This was also a concern of mine, but many people have addressed several positives. Your concern is a con, but there are many pros too. You get to apply your knowledge in the clinical fields and that has led to people being able to understand the material better. Many of the bigger schools have trended toward a Step 1 exam after the first clinical year as well.
 
swans3 said:
Yes, I definitely remember that being the case on my interview day. There's both pros and cons to it.
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yellowbottlesippin said:
This was also a concern of mine, but many people have addressed several positives. Your concern is a con, but there are many pros too. You get to apply your knowledge in the clinical fields and that has led to people being able to understand the material better. Many of the bigger schools have trended toward a Step 1 exam after the first clinical year as well.
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Thanks so much for your guys' response! Yeah, I am a bit concerned because I have talked to people who took their step 1 after having some clinical experience, an extremely small sample size that is, and most of them said they didn't find it helpful and would have rather had it done. Regardless, if schools are starting to convert, there's probably good reason for it. Would either of you know around when and for how long during the third year they give study time for the step 1?
 
rjkbuny said:
Thanks so much for your guys' response! Yeah, I am a bit concerned because I have talked to people who took their step 1 after having some clinical experience, an extremely small sample size that is, and most of them said they didn't find it helpful and would have rather had it done. Regardless, if schools are starting to convert, there's probably good reason for it. Would either of you know around when and for how long during the third year they give study time for the step 1?
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I did not get to attend second look so I am not entirely sure. I would like to know as well.
 
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