2018-2019 University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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deweystrontium said:
Should we send in financial aid stuff to the office before decision date? I have the FAFSA ready and was wondering if I should add this school.
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That sounds about right to me. Since it's free, might as well send FAFSA to every school you have interviewed or will interview at
 
For those who have interviewed, is it too late to send a letter of update? When do you think decisions will come out?
 
Can anyone comment whether it is too late to send a LOI+updates at this stage after interviewing? Has the committee already begun meeting? Or should I just wait to see my decision and go from there? Any input would be appreciated! :)
 
zimzamzoop said:
Can anyone comment whether it is too late to send a LOI+updates at this stage after interviewing? Has the committee already begun meeting? Or should I just wait to see my decision and go from there? Any input would be appreciated! :)
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+1 also wondering this!
 
tanbrucewayne said:
+1, the students were the happiest and most chill I met!
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Yikes - concerns me that yall got this impression yet I see them every day and they are probably the most stressed/unhappy group of people I've ever met. Not trying to be dramatic I'm just concerned
 
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lalalallala said:
Yikes - concerns me that yall got this impression yet I see them every day and they are probably the most stressed/unhappy group of people I've ever met. Not trying to be dramatic I'm just concerned
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I did not get this impression either (that they were happy/stress-free).
 
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lalalallala said:
Yikes - concerns me that yall got this impression yet I see them every day and they are probably the most stressed/unhappy group of people I've ever met. Not trying to be dramatic I'm just concerned
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My impression was mainly from my student hosts, who were very chill and went out that night, and the diversity breakfast thing so probably biased in who I interacted with
 
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meronebib said:
I did not get this impression either (that they were happy/stress-free).
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Maybe the group that goes to the admissions events includes the more social people in the class. But on the whole they are described as nerdy/less social
 
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lalalallala said:
Maybe the group that goes to the admissions events includes the more social people in the class. But on the whole they are described as nerdy/less social
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Interestingly, the group that went to the whole pre-dinner thing was mainly where I developed an impression of the students. It's probably futile to infer anything from it though.
 
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I definitely got the info from my prior upperclassmen at my undergrad that the students who go to Penn, on average, tend to be a lot more studious then those at other schools. But it seems like it's mainly a function of the way the school functions and the way the curriculum is arranged. In comparison to Penn students, Yale med students seem to be way more chill mostly cause they aren't tested as much (Yale doesn't even have shelf exams). Penn students are tested more consistently.

I was told that this translates to Penn students being prepared for boards without feeling the need to cram, whereas Yale kids have to kinda get their act together the weeks prior to boards. Well, at least that's what my upperclassmen who go to these schools now have told me.
 
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deweystrontium said:
I definitely got the info from my prior upperclassmen at my undergrad that the students who go to Penn, on average, tend to be a lot more studious then those at other schools. But it seems like it's mainly a function of the way the school functions and the way the curriculum is arranged. In comparison to Penn students, Yale med students seem to be way more chill mostly cause they aren't tested as much (Yale doesn't even have shelf exams). Penn students are tested more consistently.

I was told that this translates to Penn students being prepared for boards without feeling the need to cram, whereas Yale kids have to kinda get their act together the weeks prior to boards. Well, at least that's what my upperclassmen who go to these schools now have told me.
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What is the testing schedule for Penn?
 
medhope516 said:
What is the testing schedule for Penn?
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Can't say for sure, but according to my upperclassmen it's definitely not as flexible or stress-free as the one at Yale. And I've been told that for some students this is good, because it forces you to stay on top of things, whereas with a more lax system it's easy to fall behind and play catch up. Then again, I guess it all depends on personality too.
 
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deweystrontium said:
Can't say for sure, but according to my upperclassmen it's definitely not as flexible or stress-free as the one at Yale. And I've been told that for some students this is good, because it forces you to stay on top of things, whereas with a more lax system it's easy to fall behind and play catch up. Then again, I guess it all depends on personality too.
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It’s difficult to compare to the Yale System because they have by far the most lax curriculum of any T20 medical school. Very few medical schools will be as stress-free as Yale because they have anonymous and at-times optional exams. UPenn students may be more stressed compared to Yale students, but I’m sure one can say the same of any medical school as compared to Yale.
 
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noscrubs96 said:
It’s difficult to compare to the Yale System because they have by far the most lax curriculum of any T20 medical school. Very few medical schools will be as stress-free as Yale because they have anonymous and at-times optional exams. UPenn students may be more stressed compared to Yale students, but I’m sure one can say the same of any medical school as compared to Yale.
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Yah Yale is a bit of an outlier in this regard. From my couple of interview days at Penn the MSTP students we met, gave us tours, and went out with us in the evening (when ppl were more apt to be honest) did not seem like they were unhappy, bitter, or super stressed and many said they felt the med school curriculum was good. That said it’s just a couple of days and my experience has been that MSTP students are in general a lot more lax about school than MD.
 
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I'm pretty sure all decisions have to be out by 3/15 (AAMC rules)
 
echogecko said:
any thoughts on when the big day will be this year?
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Last year, MD decisions came out the second week of March, so it's very possible that March 15th (or even a few days earlier than that) might be the magic day this year.
 
I interviewed back in October and they told us anytime between March 1-15, so in a shocking turn of events it could be tomorrow
 
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medhope516 said:
I interviewed back in October and they told us anytime between March 1-15, so in a shocking turn of events it could be tomorrow
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Do you remember if they said call or email? I blacked out all my interviews so I can’t.
 
StanleyYelnats said:
Do you remember if they said call or email? I blacked out all my interviews so I can’t.
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It's all through email and the portal. From previous years, it seems that the portal goes down temporarily prior to decisions being released, and then you can find out
 
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medhope516 said:
I interviewed back in October and they told us anytime between March 1-15, so in a shocking turn of events it could be tomorrow
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That would be really nice, but I've just been telling other people I'll hear back on the 15th to not get my hopes up
 
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Huh, weird. I still can't get mine up. Sorry for false alarm, it seems!
 
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anonymous94 said:
Is there any reason to think they might be releasing decisions today? Seems pretty early for them.
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Nah, I don't think so, I've still got my money on the 12th. I just decided to check today and got a LIL excited lol.
 
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I interviewed mid January and they told us we can expect decisions around March 13th-14th.
 
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Last year the portal went down a couple days before decisions were released
 
MSTP applicants received an email saying mid-March which lines up with what some of the January interviewers are reporting they were told for MD-only, so that's probably the best bet for those who can't stand the thought of not having some idea of when decisions may come out :p
 
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do you think it is too late to send an update that you just received?
 
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raysearch said:
do you think it is too late to send an update that you just received?
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Personally I do think it's too late. My thinking is either you're in or you're not by now. If anything, save it for a post WL update, but hope it does not come to that! This is not backed with any data or specific knowledge, but I'm doubtful the committee is receptive to new updates at this time
 
Any chance decisions drop this upcoming week? I need to mentally prepare myself :rofl:
 
They have usually released them past March 10th, where did you hear that it'll be this upcoming week?
 
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diazonium said:
They have usually released them past March 10th, where did you hear that it'll be this upcoming week?
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Lol from another interviewee who has a friend at the school. But I’m not gonna hold my breath til it’s the end of this week.
 
Who wants to bite the bullet and call?
 
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