2019-2020 University of Pennsylvania

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
A_Sentient_Ape said:
What is the general consensus on Latin honors (e.g. summa cum laude), National Honor Society appointments, and Dean's list for the honors/awards section for Penn's secondary? I would assume no for honor societies or dean's list-- but think latin honors might qualify and want to see what others think
Click to expand...
Something like pbk or junior pbk would be worth putting down. Or like a national research fellowship/award.
Members don't see this ad.
 
A_Sentient_Ape said:
What is the general consensus on Latin honors (e.g. summa cum laude), National Honor Society appointments, and Dean's list for the honors/awards section for Penn's secondary? I would assume no for honor societies or dean's list-- but think latin honors might qualify and want to see what others think
Click to expand...

I listed National Merit and a grant I won for my research.

I would say yes to PBK, no to dean’s list and Latin honors.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
sadpremed121 said:
National merit from high school? Rip I didn’t include this in my secondary. Hopefully not a big deal.
Click to expand...
Probably not a big deal. I went back and forth about whether or not to include it. Decided to because in my reviews for my grant, actually, they seemed impressed by it for some reason.
 
Still haven't received a secondary - OOS, do they screen?
 
For global activities, I travel to my parents home country often. I once visited a children’s hospital, which was deplorable really.
Should I write about it or just leave it?
 
Would anyone be willing to read my global activities secondary quickly? I just want to make sure I'm taking a good approach with the question.
 
zeerabiscuit said:
For global activities, I travel to my parents home country often. I once visited a children’s hospital, which was deplorable really.
Should I write about it or just leave it?
Click to expand...
I feel if it had a impact on you and the kind of physician you want to be then yes, otherwise no.
 
Noticed an inconsistency between Penn's website and its secondary: the website says the letter requirement is "A minimum of three (3) letters from faculty members who know the applicant well; at least one must come from a science faculty member with whom the applicant has taken courses."
The secondary application says the requirement is "A minimum of 3 letters from faculty members who taught you and who know you well; at least one of whom is a science faculty member."

I sent Penn letters from three faculty members, only two of which taught me (the other is supervisor/research mentor). This meets the requirement on the website but not the one on the portal. I have another letter from a professor who taught me but I'm sure it's mediocre and I want to avoid sending it if I can. Any thoughts?
 
olayalas said:
Noticed an inconsistency between Penn's website and its secondary: the website says the letter requirement is "A minimum of three (3) letters from faculty members who know the applicant well; at least one must come from a science faculty member with whom the applicant has taken courses."
The secondary application says the requirement is "A minimum of 3 letters from faculty members who taught you and who know you well; at least one of whom is a science faculty member."

I sent Penn letters from three faculty members, only two of which taught me (the other is supervisor/research mentor). This meets the requirement on the website but not the one on the portal. I have another letter from a professor who taught me but I'm sure it's mediocre and I want to avoid sending it if I can. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Are you marked complete?

You can just email and ask if you satisfy the requirements...I did this for other schools and found they were all really flexible and loose with the "requirements"
 
Members don't see this ad :)
I read through this thread and I know this question has been asked, but for:

Are there any special, unique, personal, or challenging aspects of your personal background or circumstances that you would like to share with the Committee on Admissions, not addressed elsewhere (siblings/relatives at Penn, applying as a couple, educational environment, culture, ethnicity, etc.)

would a "diversity" essay work here? I'm a non-traditional applicant, and my diversity essay is centered around my experience in a non-medical field that I believe is highly applicable to medicine, and my current experience as a scribe in a unique (literally) medical practice. However, by the "aspects" they listed in parenthesis, it seems that's not what they're looking for... would be appreciative of your thoughts.
 
thespitfire said:
I read through this thread and I know this question has been asked, but for:

Are there any special, unique, personal, or challenging aspects of your personal background or circumstances that you would like to share with the Committee on Admissions, not addressed elsewhere (siblings/relatives at Penn, applying as a couple, educational environment, culture, ethnicity, etc.)

would a "diversity" essay work here? I'm a non-traditional applicant, and my diversity essay is centered around my experience in a non-medical field that I believe is highly applicable to medicine, and my current experience as a scribe in a unique (literally) medical practice. However, by the "aspects" they listed in parenthesis, it seems that's not what they're looking for... would be appreciative of your thoughts.
Click to expand...

I think it would count as a "unique/personal aspect of your personal circumstances"!
 
Anyone still have their letter requirement listed as incomplete? The document status shows all 4 of my letters being submitted.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Student189045 said:
"Are there any special, unique, personal, or challenging aspects of your personal background or circumstances that you would like to share with the Committee on Admissions, not addressed elsewhere (siblings/relatives at Penn, applying as a couple, educational environment, culture, ethnicity, etc.)"

Is it cool to say no to this? I'm hesitant because most schools say "most applicants don't need to answer this" or something, and Perelman doesn't, which leads me to believe they want you to put something. It's also a bit more broad than Harvard's question of this style.

The problem is the the thing that makes me unique is my experience watching my parent die of cancer, however I already addressed how this motivated me towards medicine in my personal statement. If I were to write something here it would be more on the lines of how having to take my parents role and care for my younger siblings greatly developed my character (I didn't get to address this side of the story in my personal statement). However, I'm wondering if they'd still consider this "already addressed" in my primary application. This also doesn't apply to any of their examples.
Click to expand...
I think expanding on this here is appropriate. Good luck!
 
Student189045 said:
How are y'all handling the super short why Perelman essay? a broad overview of general things (ex. I like your values and curriculum) or a specific dive into one particular aspect (Ex. something you like about Abramson Cancer Center).
Click to expand...

I specifically identified two unique aspects of Perelman that I liked, which I felt tied to my experience or my goals.
 
Student189045 said:
Is it safe to assume the person reading my secondary also read my primary? I ask because I'm wondering If I have to explain my research when talking about a specific aspect of Penn that aligns with what I do, or if I can just briefly say that it aligns well with the work I'm doing with X. Character limit is tight!
Click to expand...
Secondary seems to be primarily a scoring mechanism that Penn is using to make a decision for either a II or final cut.
 
texasvandy said:
Secondary seems to be primarily a scoring mechanism that Penn is using to make a decision for either a II or final cut.
Click to expand...
Could you explain this a bit? Isn’t this true at pretty much all schools (i.e. the secondary is evaluated to help them make a decision on your app), otherwise what would be the point?
 
xkcd6330 said:
Could you explain this a bit? Isn’t this true at pretty much all schools (i.e. the secondary is evaluated to help them make a decision on your app), otherwise what would be the point?
Click to expand...
Most of the other schools ask for more essays. Penn is one of the few not giving you more essays but instead wants as limited information as possible from you for the questions they are asking (1000 char) and if you said no, you don't even get to write those 1000 characters. It seems to be pretty much recognitions, leadership, affiliation in a broad sense.
 
texasvandy said:
Most of the other schools ask for more essays. Penn is one of the few not giving you more essays but instead wants as limited information as possible from you for the questions they are asking (1000 char) and if you said no, you don't even get to write those 1000 characters. It seems to be pretty much recognitions, leadership, affiliation in a broad sense.
Click to expand...
Maybe they do a more comprehensive review of both primary and secondary, but they do not like the way most recognitions, leadership etc. is organized by AMCAS. Those aren't necessarily what they value most.
 
Student189045 said:
If you knew my EC’s, you probably wouldn’t think I’m such a hot applicant to this tier of schools, unfortunately.
Click to expand...

Dude
You'll be fine. I'd give my left testicle for your stats (not really but you get my meaning).
You'll have interviews coming out your a** .
 
MemeLord said:
On a separate note, I applied to schools where my GPA was <10% and I have an interview at one of them...I have other things going for me and MCAT and GPA are evaluated differently...but just because one is <10% does not mean you are out of the running.
Click to expand...
This!

Will be starting here in 2 weeks. Was at 10% for both GPA and MCAT, which was also a retake. Am also ORM and do not have crazy ECs. Almost didn’t submit this secondary because I was so certain it was a waste of money. Ended up being the only T-20 school I got into too.

Shoot your shot. You never know
 
Do y'all think it's too late to add this school to my list?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

chilly_md
2023-2024 Pennsylvania State
11 12 13 14 15
Replies
711
Views
211K
Syllabub
S
wysdoc
2023-2024 Pennsylvania (Perelman)
12 13 14 15 16
Replies
752
Views
201K
ejyg777
E
wysdoc
2023-2024 University of Washington
12 13 14 15 16
Replies
750
Views
169K
mango1567
M
TheDataKing
2020-2021 University of Pennsylvania
12 13 14 15 16
Replies
759
Views
392K
tatharel
T
wysdoc
2023-2024 University of Chicago (Pritzker)
12 13 14 15 16
Replies
763
Views
207K
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
Top