2019-2020 Pennsylvania State

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Mmm5777 said:
I'm sorry if this isn't the right place to to post this but I have a question about letters of rec.

They require 2 from science profs, 1 non-science. I reached out to them to see if I could have a health research prof write the non-science one (they said ok.) This is the response I receieved:

"If the course was not given by the core sciences or the departments of Chemistry, Biology, Math, and/or Physics, then it would be considered a non-science discipline. In regards to the science letter of recommendation letter it will need to fall under chemistry, physics, math, or astronomy. We require a minimum of 4 letters of recommendation which is stated on our website."

I asked them to clarify how a biology letter wouldn't count as non-science, but also wouldn't as a science letter and all they said was "correct" lol.

Has anyone applied with biology letters? I majored in bio and then did my masters of health science. I'm not able to get a letter from a chemistry, physics, math, or astronomy prof. They did say "If you are not able to obtain that letter, we recommend to send in the letters that you are able to obtain and if we require additional letters we will let you know. Please let us know what else we can do to help and thank you for your interest in Penn State College of Medicine." but if I'm going to be penalized for not sending in a chem, phys, math, or astrom letter...I don't think there's a point in applying.

Thanks in advance!
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I used a committee letter. It was much easier. I went to a small school so I had to go around the bio/chem department and ask but finally found someone who was acting as the prehealth committee chair. The 4 letters only applies if your school does not have a pre health committee. Even if your school doesn’t be persistent go to the dean and ask if they will write a “committee letter” please feel free to PM me if you need any help
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Mmm5777 said:
I'm sorry if this isn't the right place to to post this but I have a question about letters of rec.

They require 2 from science profs, 1 non-science. I reached out to them to see if I could have a health research prof write the non-science one (they said ok.) This is the response I receieved:

"If the course was not given by the core sciences or the departments of Chemistry, Biology, Math, and/or Physics, then it would be considered a non-science discipline. In regards to the science letter of recommendation letter it will need to fall under chemistry, physics, math, or astronomy. We require a minimum of 4 letters of recommendation which is stated on our website."

I asked them to clarify how a biology letter wouldn't count as non-science, but also wouldn't as a science letter and all they said was "correct" lol.

Has anyone applied with biology letters? I majored in bio and then did my masters of health science. I'm not able to get a letter from a chemistry, physics, math, or astronomy prof. They did say "If you are not able to obtain that letter, we recommend to send in the letters that you are able to obtain and if we require additional letters we will let you know. Please let us know what else we can do to help and thank you for your interest in Penn State College of Medicine." but if I'm going to be penalized for not sending in a chem, phys, math, or astrom letter...I don't think there's a point in applying.

Thanks in advance!
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A biology letter counts as a science letter. I used two and they were fine with it
 
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Has anyone received radio silence since their interview? I interviewed at the end of January and I have heard nothing. Checked the portal and there are no updates there either. Probably not a good sign, I imagine. Should I send an email for a status update?
 
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AG__ said:
Has anyone received radio silence since their interview? I interviewed at the end of January and I have heard nothing. Checked the portal and there are no updates there either. Probably not a good sign, I imagine. Should I send an email for a status update?
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I interviewed on 2/26/2020 and haven't heard anything. I emailed them and all they said was when a final decision was made we would be contacted
 
dpatrick40 said:
I interviewed on 2/26/2020 and haven't heard anything. I emailed them and all they said was when a final decision was made we would be contacted
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I interviewed feb 3 and haven't heard back either. I called about two weeks ago and they said the same thing. Sigh
 
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Dani5055 said:
Anyone know if the Commit to Enroll date is April 30th here?
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Nope, their commit to enroll date is June 22nd. But they do require you to start using the “choose your medical school” tool and to withdraw all acceptances but one by April 30th.
 
Just withdrew, good luck to those of you still waiting
 
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Does anyone know how to withdraw? It wont let me in to my admissions portal anymore
 
Ghost372 said:
Does anyone know how to withdraw? It wont let me in to my admissions portal anymore
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I don't think there's an option in the portal, I would just send a nice email to the admissions office email address
 
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Does anyone know when people on the hold list will start to hear about decisions? Do you think they will start taking people off the hold list as early as the first week in May? Maybe not May 1st since that's this friday, but maybe next week?
 
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Oh my apologies, this is Penn State right? I got off the waitlist at another medical college.
 
For those of us that haven’t heard anything post-interview, is it reasonable to assume we have to hear something (even just a WL placement) by tomorrow with the Apr 30 PTE deadline?
 
mnhdt09 said:
For those of us that haven’t heard anything post-interview, is it reasonable to assume we have to hear something (even just a WL placement) by tomorrow with the Apr 30 PTE deadline?
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I think so
 
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greatjoyousday said:
I don't think there's an option in the portal, I would just send a nice email to the admissions office email address
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Withdrew via email this morning. Best of luck to everyone still waiting to hear!
 
ctpremed said:
I think so
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I interviewed first week of march and called them last week to ask when we could expect to hear back and the dude said 10-12 weeks which puts me well into May... I hope you are right because it would be nice to hear back tomorrow tho.
 
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mnhdt09 said:
For those of us that haven’t heard anything post-interview, is it reasonable to assume we have to hear something (even just a WL placement) by tomorrow with the Apr 30 PTE deadline?
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I interviewed the second week of March and given the 10-12 week timeline, I am not expecting to hear tomorrow. Being in PTE status elsewhere still allows you to be viable for post-II acceptance/WL, I believe.
 
I did hear that Penn State does take updates starting from May 1st. So we should be able to submit updates, letters of intent/interests then right? If so, do we just email admissions or upload it on our portal?
 
looking at the forum from last year it sounded like everyone received a decision (wl vs. a vs. r) before April 30th, but this year might be different with everything going on
 
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I called yesterday and specifically asked if we will find out before April 30. They said no because you only have to narrow decisions received prior to April 30 down to one, but Schools can still give decisions after April 30.
 
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When I interviewed in March, they said it would be 8-10 weeks, but I guess it's going to take longer :(
 
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openstage said:
We’re you March 6? Isn’t 10 weeks next week?
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I was interviewed the first week of March, and it will be 9 weeks as of next week. I think it'll take longer based on all these people who have called. Seems like they are basically telling us it's going to take longer than I expected.

What're the chances of getting accepted past April 30th anyway. I'm trying to look into living options for another school if I don't get accepted to Penn.
 
They did confirm over the phone a few weeks ago that decisions might take longer than the 8-10 weeks because of the pandemic. And according to traffic rules, the schools aren't obligated to send us a decision before April 30th because we can still receive post-II acceptances or waitlist decisions after that point.

Also, I believe they mentioned that we could only submit a letter of interest after May 1st, not an update. I could have interpreted that incorrectly though.
 
JustTryinToMatriculate said:
They did confirm over the phone a few weeks ago that decisions might take longer than the 8-10 weeks because of the pandemic. And according to traffic rules, the schools aren't obligated to send us a decision before April 30th because we can still receive post-II acceptances or waitlist decisions after that point.

Also, I believe they mentioned that we could only submit a letter of interest after May 1st, not an update. I could have interpreted that incorrectly though.
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I emailed them on 4/27 with a letter of intent in the evening and they got back to me 12 hrs later just saying it had been attached to my application. I just asked if they would added it to my file so I think* if you email them and send any sort of update/letter document and just ask for it to be added they'll do it! *n=1 though so not sure. :)
 
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jbuch08 said:
I emailed them on 4/27 with a letter of intent in the evening and they got back to me 12 hrs later just saying it had been attached to my application. I just asked if they would added it to my file so I think* if you email them and send any sort of update/letter document and just ask for it to be added they'll do it! *n=1 though so not sure. :)
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Can you please advise which email address you used? I am getting ready to do the same. Thanks.
 
Just got placed on the "hold list". Is this different than the waitlist or are they the same thing?
 
I got put on hold now aka waitlist too. Interviewed 02/28.

Now I am officially waitlisted from three medical schools. I saw a lot of applicants were accepted from Jan interview but not so much from Feb and march interviews. I think most of us who interviewed in Feb and march was put on hold. I saw somewhere MSAR data was 25/70 off the waitlist. Can anyone confirm if that is correct? also, look from other years if anyone has access to MSAR. Also has anyone gotten post-interview rejection ?
 
Has anyone been accepted that interviewed in March? Interviewed early March also put on Hold
 
visits4 said:
Has anyone been accepted that interviewed in March? Interviewed early March also put on Hold
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I interviewed in early March and was accepted just now, but I already committed to another school just yesterday. Would have been nice to have had more than a day to mull this decision over since I really liked Penn State, but I get how adcoms could be swamped in light of COVID19. Anyway, hopefully my acceptance goes to you!
 
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DopeAmine95 said:
I interviewed in early March and was accepted just now, but I already committed to another school just yesterday. Would have been nice to have had more than a day to mull this decision over since I really liked Penn State, but I get how adcoms could be swamped in light of COVID19. Anyway, hopefully my acceptance goes to you!
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Did they email or call you for an acceptance?
 
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