2020-2021 University of Pennsylvania

[TheDataKing]

Please tag a pre-allo moderator when the secondary prompt is posted.

Good luck to everyone applying!

Interview Feedback: University of Pennsylvania

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[bluefreckles]

For the "Have you been nominated for or received an award from any state, regional, or national organization?" question, are you guys including scholarships awarded by your state or outside organizations (I'm assuming school-sponsored scholarships don't apply)?

Also, at the end of high school, I earned my Gold Award through Girl Scouts (equivalent to an Eagle Scout, perhaps even a little more work). I know normally high school awards are not recommended--but in general Eagle Scout/Gold Award continues to be considered important. Thoughts on what I should do there?

 

[squids82]

For the "Have you been nominated for or received an award from any state, regional, or national organization?" question, are you guys including scholarships awarded by your state or outside organizations (I'm assuming school-sponsored scholarships don't apply)?

Also, at the end of high school, I earned my Gold Award through Girl Scouts (equivalent to an Eagle Scout, perhaps even a little more work). I know normally high school awards are not recommended--but in general Eagle Scout/Gold Award continues to be considered important. Thoughts on what I should do there?

That would be interesting to include! Just make sure it doesn’t dominate over the other ones you put that are more recent

 

[anxiete]

Looking at #5 from last year's prompts [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 it be appropriate to answer with a diversity essay on being part of the LGBTQ+ community and its influence on my journey if Penn also asks applicants to self-identify in a different checkbox but no essay question?

 

[HouseJC]

I think your situation as part of LGBTQ community will be a good answer here given there is no space elsewhere for you to put it

 

[HouseJC]

About the "Have you been nominated for or received an award from any state, regional, or national organization?", can someone clarify what is meant by "state, regional or national organization"?

I'm pursuing my PhD and have been fortunate to win a lot of scholarships during my PhD which are given by my university (at times in conjunction with funding from the government). So, I really want to put these in there, but not sure if I'm following instructions if I proceed. Thoughts on this?

 

[squids82]

About the "Have you been nominated for or received an award from any state, regional, or national organization?", can someone clarify what is meant by "state, regional or national organization"?

I'm pursuing my PhD and have been fortunate to win a lot of scholarships during my PhD which are given by my university (at times in conjunction with funding from the government). So, I really want to put these in there, but not sure if I'm following instructions if I proceed. Thoughts on this?

If there were (potentially competitive) requirements set by the govt for these and not just block funding from an institutional grant, I believe those would work.

 

[HouseJC]

If there were (potentially competitive) requirements set by the govt for these and not just block funding from an institutional grant, I believe those would work.

Hello wiswal, thanks for replying! I'm from Canada, so Perelman staff might not know what my award is. Obviously, they can google, but given the large volume of apps they receive, the adcom might not. Do you (or others in the post, to be inclusive) think it's appropriate to give a brief description of my award (i.e. where the money comes from etc)?

 

[squids82]

Hello wiswal, thanks for replying! I'm from Canada, so Perelman staff might not know what my award is. Obviously, they can google, but given the large volume of apps they receive, the adcom might not. Do you (or others in the post, to be inclusive) think it's appropriate to give a brief description of my award (i.e. where the money comes from etc)?

For mine that may not be readily known, I am including a brief description. It can't hurt to build yourself up a little bit with it to stand out!

 

[HouseJC]

For mine that may not be readily known, I am including a brief description. It can't hurt to build yourself up a little bit with it to stand out!

Thank you, I'll do that too! Any idea on what is the character limit for that question?

 

[YoungBuck1414]

Hey all, I just found this out so wanted to share! On Penn's website ( Home | MD Admissions | Admissions | Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania ) they state:

"The Perelman School of Medicine Office of Admissions has decided to hold on the release of our supplemental application in light of continued delays in the verification process at AMCAS. We hope that this will allow AMCAS more time to resolve the current verification issues prior to the start of application review."

So just as a heads up, you can expect this secondary to come a bit later and maybe prioritize it differently with this information.

 

[Penn2022IHope]

Current student here, happy to answer questions in my DMs! Good luck!

 

[deleted883100]

Also, sorry to bombard this thread, but what are you guys talking about in your Why Penn secondary? I'm trying to include unique points other than the usual "interdisciplinary" and other commonplace stuff that all applicants talk about.

Why did you say Penn is the only school you would go to this cycle? There’s your essay.

 

[bananabeauxt]

Anyone got a secondary/ know when they are sending them out?

 

[prufrock2891]

Hey! If any current students are available to answer questions I'd appreciate it!

1. Can you expound a bit on the preclinical curriculum? What is the typical weekly schedule like? What is the division between PBL & lecture? How many mandatory sessions / hours are there per week?

2. Any thoughts on the facilities for the school (preclinical) or affiliated hospitals?

3. How is Philly? What are some misconceptions about it? What are some of the negative aspects about it? Is it possible to live outside the city easily?

 

[electr!c]

Just listened to an info session for Perelman and they confirmed that secondaries will go out either later this week or early next week for those with a verified AMCAS application.

 

[xyzh96]

Just listened to an info session for Perelman and they confirmed that secondaries will go out either later this week or early next week for those with a verified AMCAS application.

Thank you for sharing~

 

[Hzreio]

Secondary received OOS

 

[californiaquail]

Secondary received OOS

Could you please post the prompts?

 

[somuchscience!]

Secondary Received OOS.
Prompts:
1. Were there changes to your academic work and/or personal circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic that you would like to share with the committee? Y/N
If Y, Please describe these changes during this time in 500 characters or less.

2. . If you were offered an option to continue courses with a standard grading system or switch to Pass/Fail, and you chose Pass/Fail, please describe the reason(s) for your decision here. (500 Char)

3. Have you taken any online courses for credit? (not due to the COVID-19 pandemic) (lets you list the courses)

4. Have you been nominated for or received an award from any state, regional or national organization? (allows you to list them)

5. Have you taken or are you planning to take time off between college graduation and medical school matriculation? If so explain in 500 characters or less

6. Have you participated in any global activities outside of the U.S. prior to submitting your AMCAS application? If so, explain in 1,000 characters or less

7. 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.)
YesNo
Please explain and limit your response to 1,000 characters.

8. Have you or your family experienced economic hardships? Y/N then 1,000 characters again

9. Have you been employed at the University of Pennsylvania Health System or Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and worked with a Penn faculty mentor? If yes, please indicate name, department, phone number of faculty, and start/end dates

10. Please explain your reasons for applying to the Perelman School of Medicine and limit your response to 1,000 characters:

11. Anonymous sexual and gender identification questions for diversity data

 

[Homunculus150]

Secondary received OOS

OOS. Also just received!

 

[yellowranger]

Secondary Received OOS.
Prompts:
1. Were there changes to your academic work and/or personal circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic that you would like to share with the committee? Y/N
If Y, Please describe these changes during this time in 500 characters or less.

2. . If you were offered an option to continue courses with a standard grading system or switch to Pass/Fail, and you chose Pass/Fail, please describe the reason(s) for your decision here. (500 Char)

3. Have you taken any online courses for credit? (not due to the COVID-19 pandemic) (lets you list the courses)

4. Have you been nominated for or received an award from any state, regional or national organization? (allows you to list them)

5. Have you taken or are you planning to take time off between college graduation and medical school matriculation? If so explain in 500 characters or less

6. Have you participated in any global activities outside of the U.S. prior to submitting your AMCAS application? If so, explain in 1,000 characters or less

7. 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.)
YesNo
Please explain and limit your response to 1,000 characters.

8. Have you or your family experienced economic hardships? Y/N then 1,000 characters again

9. Have you been employed at the University of Pennsylvania Health System or Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and worked with a Penn faculty mentor? If yes, please indicate name, department, phone number of faculty, and start/end dates

10. Please explain your reasons for applying to the Perelman School of Medicine and limit your response to 1,000 characters:

11. Anonymous sexual and gender identification questions for diversity data

OOS +1 i am in the springtime of youth

 

[Idahomie]

+1 Secondary OOS.

I really enjoyed my 30 min break without any secondaries to write.

 

[deleted1065184]

+1 Secondary OOS.

I really enjoyed my 30 min break without any secondaries to write.

I'm tagged in this post and I don't like it lol

 

[Homunculus150]

For the question "Have you or your family experienced economic hardships?", is it worth talking about experiences that were a while back?

My family was very poor up until I was around 10 but we were lower-middle class after that and upper-middle class around the time I graduated high school.

 

[Irultop]

+1 secondary received OOS

 

[Lawlify]

secondary received! OOS verified 07/09

 

[Havelock Vetinari]

Secondary received!

 

[lebjames2313]

^

 

[music-medicine]

Secondary received! submitted 5/29, verified 6/10

 

[bright01]

Secondary received! OOS verified 7/19

 

[onelysosome]

Do people typically receive secondaries through their e-mails? I am in state and have not received anything.

Um yes.. Not really sure how else you'd get secondaries... check your spam also

 

[Abcdefghijklmno1]

Secondary Received OOS.
Prompts:
1. Were there changes to your academic work and/or personal circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic that you would like to share with the committee? Y/N
If Y, Please describe these changes during this time in 500 characters or less.

2. . If you were offered an option to continue courses with a standard grading system or switch to Pass/Fail, and you chose Pass/Fail, please describe the reason(s) for your decision here. (500 Char)

3. Have you taken any online courses for credit? (not due to the COVID-19 pandemic) (lets you list the courses)

4. Have you been nominated for or received an award from any state, regional or national organization? (allows you to list them)

5. Have you taken or are you planning to take time off between college graduation and medical school matriculation? If so explain in 500 characters or less

6. Have you participated in any global activities outside of the U.S. prior to submitting your AMCAS application? If so, explain in 1,000 characters or less

7. 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.)
YesNo
Please explain and limit your response to 1,000 characters.

8. Have you or your family experienced economic hardships? Y/N then 1,000 characters again

9. Have you been employed at the University of Pennsylvania Health System or Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and worked with a Penn faculty mentor? If yes, please indicate name, department, phone number of faculty, and start/end dates

10. Please explain your reasons for applying to the Perelman School of Medicine and limit your response to 1,000 characters:

11. Anonymous sexual and gender identification questions for diversity data

Should question 7 be treated as a diversity essay or should it be reserved for instances similar to the examples given?

 

[katty213]

Should question 7 be treated as a diversity essay or should it be reserved for instances similar to the examples given?

I felt that it should be reserved for examples like the ones given, so I left it blank. I also know that I could not write a convincing diversity essay in only 1000 characters.

 

[onelysosome]

Yep, got the secondary. Do you guys know when interview invites and rejections occur typically?

MSAR says september

 

[superapps]

For the Pass/Fail question, my university changed to optional P/F (you could choose to change, as the prompt states). I have three classes my spring semester that I took P/F, but two of them are only offered P/F (teaching assistant and research credit) and the other I chose the take P/F before COVID-19 (an Italian language class I was semi-worried about). Should I state this or just say no to the prompt? I am nervous about just saying no because you can clearly see three P grades from my last semester.

 

[Havelock Vetinari]

For the Pass/Fail question, my university changed to optional P/F (you could choose to change, as the prompt states). I have three classes my spring semester that I took P/F, but two of them are only offered P/F (teaching assistant and research credit) and the other I chose the take P/F before COVID-19 (an Italian language class I was semi-worried about). Should I state this or just say no to the prompt? I am nervous about just saying no because you can clearly see three P grades from my last semester.

Just explain. It sounds cliché, but honestly really is almost always the best policy.

 

[soccerplayerjc5]

CA resident here, got 2° today. For #4 (state/regional/national award), does anyone know if a Regents Scholarship counts?

 

[Havelock Vetinari]

CA resident here, got 2° today. For #4 (state/regional/national award), does anyone know if a Regents Scholarship counts?

Does Phi Beta Kappa count? National Merit Scholarships?

 

[4573890]

Does Phi Beta Kappa count? National Merit Scholarships?

I'm gonna include PBK.

 

[hopper98]

If you were offered an option to continue courses with a standard grading system or switch to Pass/Fail, and you chose Pass/Fail, please describe the reason(s) for your decision here. (500 Char)
should we even answer this if our school switched all students to pass-fail???

 

[Havelock Vetinari]

If you were offered an option to continue courses with a standard grading system or switch to Pass/Fail, and you chose Pass/Fail, please describe the reason(s) for your decision here. (500 Char)
should we even answer this if our school switched all students to pass-fail???

No. If your school moved to mandatory pass/fail, the question does not apply to you. Your school's registrar's office will likely have printed an explanation on your transcripts. Mine reads:

Due to the Coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak, mandatory alternate grades (CT/NC) in effect for spring 2020.

 

[futuremd25!]

What do they mean by global activities outside of the US?

 

[onelysosome]

What do they mean by global activities outside of the US?

Activities outside the United States of America..

 

[Havelock Vetinari]

What do they mean by global activities outside of the US?

Volunteer work or internships abroad, study abroad, &c.

 

[deleted1039724]

What do they mean by global activities outside of the US?

i would say anything outside of the US aside from vacations

 

[Havelock Vetinari]

The 1000-character limit is frustrating me. This is essentially a list of activities, without the opportunity to contextualize or connect them.

 

[Havelock Vetinari]

I would say just write that down, because they don’t get your actual transcript all they see is the one from amcas so it’s prob a good idea to clarify it for them

I disagree. The question is worded fairly explicitly. Even if a school doesn’t receive your transcripts (though my pre-health advisors say that AMCAS attaches them to the delivery), if they see P/F in the final term and you haven’t answered that question, they’ll conclude it was not an option you elected.

 

[mindstirfry]

is anyone else having a glitch for the "If you were offered an option to continue courses with a standard grading system or switch to Pass/Fail, and you chose Pass/Fail, please describe the reason(s) for your decision here." question? I save progress but when I click on a different section of the supplemental and go back, it does not save..

 

[ice cheems]

I felt that it should be reserved for examples like the ones given, so I left it blank. I also know that I could not write a convincing diversity essay in only 1000 characters.

+1, that's how I saw that question too. If you want to talk about your unique qualifications, you could probably throw it into the "Why UPenn" essay somehow.