2022-2023 Pennsylvania (Perelman)

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wysdoc

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Please feel free to tag a pre-medical moderator once the secondary prompt has been posted.

Good luck to everyone applying!

Interview feedback:

Members don't see this ad.
 
+1

Also is anyone else having trouble filling stuff out on the portal?
 
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Members don't see this ad :)
Yes. In the instructions & deadlines section, It says the Secondary application opens on June 30.
 
[mention]wysdoc [/mention]

Prompts:

1) The Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM) is deeply committed to recruiting a diverse class to enrich an inclusive team-based learning experience. How would you and your experiences contribute to the diversity of the student body and/or how would you contribute to an inclusive atmosphere at PSOM?
Please explain and limit your response to 1,000 characters.


2) We are all navigating through challenging times, and physicians and physician-scientists must contend with many instances of uncertainty. Describe a time when you faced a situation that was ambiguous, confusing, or uncertain, and how you navigated making a decision without complete information (3000 characters)

3) Please explain your reasons for applying to the Perelman School of Medicine and limit your response to 1,000 characters:
 
I received an e-mail stating that "The problem with completing the secondary application has been resolved." However, I did not previously receive the link to the application portal and my login details. Anyone in the same situation?
 
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For the question "Have you been nominated for or received an award from any state, regional or national organization?", would I include a research award that my public state university gave me? Or do awards from my university not count?
 
For the question "Have you been nominated for or received an award from any state, regional or national organization?", would I include a research award that my public state university gave me? Or do awards from my university not count?
In my opinion a state university giving you an award is a state award but it needs to be something more distinctive than a research grant - like excellence in research for the year or something like that.
 
I received an e-mail stating that "The problem with completing the secondary application has been resolved." However, I did not previously receive the link to the application portal and my login details. Anyone in the same situation?
Same thing has happened to me.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Do they still have the prompts from last year about global activities and switching courses to pass/fail and whatnot or did they take those out?
 
Do they still have the prompts from last year about global activities and switching courses to pass/fail and whatnot or did they take those out?
I don't see them but also their portal has been whack I'll check back in a few days and see what it looks like. Assuming the prompts were right the first time, it seems like they took those two essays out and added a new unique one about making decisions in a challenging situation...
 
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Do they still have the prompts from last year about global activities and switching courses to pass/fail and whatnot or did they take those out?
From the portal:

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

6. Have you participated in any global activities outside of the U.S. prior to submitting your AMCAS application? (If yes, it gives you 1000 characters).

Some other questions asked other than the main prompts Adrenaline Junky posted:

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? (If yes, Please describe these changes during this time in 500 characters or less.)

(2 is the P/F question)

3. Have you taken any online courses for credit? (not due to the COVID-19 pandemic). (If yes, asks you how many then asks you to list all science courses taken online.)

4. Have you been nominated for or received an award from any state, regional or national organization? (If yes, let's you name the award and upload a document.)

5. Have you taken or are you planning to take time off between college graduation and medical school matriculation? (If yes, gives you 500 characters.)

(6 is the global activities question.)

(7 is the diversity prompt.)

(8 is the prompt about navigating uncertainty.)

9. Do you identify as a first-generation college graduate and/or having a low-income background?
We recognize that the definition of “low income” can vary based on geographic location and size of your household, but there are other factors that may be consistent with low-income, such as having qualified for free/reduced lunch in middle/high school, having received Pell grants or work-study aid during college, having qualified for Medicaid/Social Security benefits, or having attended a high school with low per capita funding or title 1 designation and/or a low percentage of seniors receiving a high school diploma. (Does not ask for any elaboration if you say yes.)

10. Have you or your family experienced economic hardships? (If yes, gives you 1000 characters).

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

(12 is the "Why Us?" prompt.)
 
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for question 11, if we have done research with a faculty member but without pay, would it be appropriate to answer it still?
 
for question 11, if we have done research with a faculty member but without pay, would it be appropriate to answer it still?
The only requirement is that you worked with a Penn faculty member around the university setting. Many do work without pay just to gain research experience at a renowned university.

In order to work, you should have been issued an ID etc.
 
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So, would it be acceptable to use the abbreviated "UPenn" in my essays to save characters? It's hard to write an essay of 1000 characters about why I want to attend when the school's name is close to 60 characters!
 
So, would it be acceptable to use the abbreviated "UPenn" in my essays to save characters? It's hard to write an essay of 1000 characters about why I want to attend when the school's name is close to 60 characters!
I used PSOM since it is what they used in their questions to refer to the school. It's also 1 less character! Granted, I used the full name the first time a mentioned it.
 
I'm really confused on the second prompt. It reads like an adversity essay but the "navigated making a decision without complete information" is throwing me off. Anyone have any ideas or examples of what these situations could be?
It shouldnt be considered an adversity essay. What is happening with the essay topic is pretty much what they are asking you to write about. :) you dont know what the essay wants you to talk about, you have to come up with a scenario that might or might not meet the requirements, dont know if it is going to be any good but you still have to write it!

It is essentially about a decision making process you would utilize to make decisions knowing you dont have the information you need, you will not get it in time but a decision must be made to follow an approach to solve your problem like taking a cruise in April of 2020 not knowing whether people will be allowed back on land if they catch covid or people who travelled abroad not knowing when they can get back or how during the travel ban in 2020.
 
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Anybody here not able to submit the secondary without the letters of rec being in
 
Do you need 3 additional letters for your research experience (MSTP app)? I only have worked in 1 lab. The PI letter is included in my primary, I can ask for other letters but I don't know if they will carry any weights. Am I screwed? Also how do you even split up your research exp?
 
Did anyone here get the email about the secondary problem being resolved, but never received an email about the secondary itself?
 
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For the "Have you taken or are you planning to take time off between college graduation and medical school matriculation?" question, how should this be interpreted?

My college graduation was more than a few years ago, and I graduated from my postbac in 2021. Should I be addressing everything undergrad onward, or just from postbac-completion onward? I'm inclined to do the latter, since AMCAS activities covers everything up to about a month ago. I could easily fill 500 words with 06/2021-09/2023 (or even 06/2022-09/2023). Thoughts?
 
For the "Have you taken or are you planning to take time off between college graduation and medical school matriculation?" question, how should this be interpreted?

My college graduation was more than a few years ago, and I graduated from my postbac in 2021. Should I be addressing everything undergrad onward, or just from postbac-completion onward? I'm inclined to do the latter, since AMCAS activities covers everything up to about a month ago. I could easily fill 500 words with 06/2021-09/2023 (or even 06/2022-09/2023). Thoughts?
Did you go straight from undergrad to post bac?

The question is about non educational years. So if you graduated in 2019, worked 2 years, did post bac for an year and been doing something else since, they want you to cover all years not in college. If you went straight from undergrad to masters to PhD and you are applying in the middle of the PhD, they dont need you to discuss your masters or PhD. Postbac is considered being in school.
 
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Did you go straight from undergrad to post bac?
No, I graduated from undergrad in 2007 and from my postbac in 2021.
Undergrad, four years work, two year masters degree, four years work, one year paramedic school, three years work, one year postbac, one year work, and now working through the application year. I currently have it written very briefly to cover everything nonacademic from undergrad onward, but much of this is covered by my work/activities or is semi-redundant with other questions on the application.
My inclination is to only cover what my AMCAS doesn't or only cover from postbac onward.

I might just reach out to the admissions office. If I do, I'll report back. Thanks for the help!
 
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No, I graduated from undergrad in 2007 and from my postbac in 2021.
Undergrad, four years work, two year masters degree, four years work, one year paramedic school, three years work, one year postbac, one year work, and now working through the application year. I currently have it written very briefly to cover everything nonacademic from undergrad onward, but much of this is covered by my work/activities or is semi-redundant with other questions on the application.
My inclination is to only cover what my AMCAS doesn't or only cover from postbac onward.

I might just reach out to the admissions office. If I do, I'll report back. Thanks for the help!
Good luck! It is a very complex resume for admissions and I am sure they are the only ones who can tell you what all you are expected to cover for the gap year question. I am certain it is not meant for someone like you since it is primarily for you in 2010 for example or even 2014 for that matter.
 
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Has anyone else not gotten a secondary? Verified 6/27 GPA and MCAT wouldn't have gotten an auto-screenout, but I haven't heard anything.
 
I haven't, verified 6/10, shouldn't have been screened out either
 
Has anyone else not gotten a secondary? Verified 6/27 GPA and MCAT wouldn't have gotten an auto-screenout, but I haven't heard anything.
I haven't, verified 6/10, shouldn't have been screened out either
I had this problem too and I figured out a solution yesterday. I searched up "perelmon som portal" online and clicked the second link (titled Amp, link pennmed-admissions.med.upenn.edu). Then I hit forgot password. Turns out my secondary invitation had been created 7/3 but I didn't get an email notification for some reason.
 
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I had this problem too and I figured out a solution yesterday. I searched up "perelmon som portal" online and clicked the second link (titled Amp, link pennmed-admissions.med.upenn.edu). Then I hit forgot password. Turns out my secondary invitation had been created 7/3 but I didn't get an email notification for some reason.
Yep me too, thanks for the solve.
 
For everyone else who never got an invite email, how long did the "forgot password" thing take? I'm also in the "shouldn't be auto-screened" range (LM 81), but it's been a few hours since I tried that and I never got anything in my regular email or spam.
 
It didn't work the first time for me, but I tried it the next morning and it worked.
 
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I'm not getting any emails from them at all, even though I've whitelisted their domain... Notifications show up on the communication status under my portal, but I don't get any actual emails (except the one where I reset my password). Any idea what's going on?
 
I'm not getting any emails from them at all, even though I've whitelisted their domain... Notifications show up on the communication status under my portal, but I don't get any actual emails (except the one where I reset my password). Any idea what's going on?
Which emails were you expecting to get from them besides the "reset password" email?
 
Which emails were you expecting to get from them besides the "reset password" email?
Besides the secondary invitation which I didn't receive, it looks like there was one about a portal error and another that was supposed to have been sent after my secondary was submitted
 
Besides the secondary invitation which I didn't receive, it looks like there was one about a portal error and another that was supposed to have been sent after my secondary was submitted
Yikes okay I am in the same boat as y'all. I was verified June 30th but never received an email. I hope they don't hold this delay against us :(
 
verified 6/30, been waiting for the secondary invite email for a few weeks now. just tried the "forgot password" method and it looks like i was supposed to get the invite the same day i was verified. sigh...
 
I emailed admissions and they said they are aware of the issue and are working on it. I'd assume that means they won't hold it against us since we literally never got notified.
 
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For anyone who has yet to turn in the secondary application:

Under relationship information, for the bit regarding “Associate’s degree,” was there something detailing whether or not the degree was earned in the US?

I have already submitted and am panicking on whether I chose correctly or not. Pls help this dying soul.

Thank you!
The question is specifically, "Has this parent earned an associate's degree or higher in the US?"

I don't think this will be a make or break for your application in any case.
 
The question is specifically, "Has this parent earned an associate's degree or higher in the US?"

I don't think this will be a make or break for your application in any case.
A question about parent's education points to the school determining whether you are a "first gen" student so they can add points for admission. It is much harder to reach this level when parents have not attended college.

Would be a good idea to ensure the answer is correct.
 
@itskatniss thank you so much for taking the time to answer my post!

@texasvandy I was worried about this question because although my parents have degrees, these degrees are not from the US. I was wondering if I had read and answered incorrectly!
If I remember correctly the school actually requests you to load that information in terms of where the parents got their degrees if they did?

Penn reports about 15% as first gen these days based on whether a parent attended college and got some degree. I believe they also add browny points to the application for such candidates.
 
Should I bother applying with a 516?
 
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