2022-2023 Pennsylvania State

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Withdrew my application today. Best of luck everyone!

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I emailed admissions asking about an LOI and a few other things about transcripts. This was last week, and I haven't received anything back. Should I start drafting my LOI even though I haven't had full clearance (only saying this because they're super foggy with what is and isn't permitted)
When were you waitlisted if you don’t mind me asking? When I emailed them last week (was just put on committee hold last Thursday) they said LOI after April 30 is accepted as long as no updates contained.

However it says only if my application remains on the waitlist/ active after April 30 but I did not know how to know if my application is active or not. I am still confused. If I do not get rejected this week I will draft mine is the plan.
 
I spoke with admissions today and they said that if we are waitlisted/on hold list, we can send LOIs today (just no updates). I emailed my LOI to Adcoms email. Good luck everyone! Fingers crossed.
 
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I spoke with admissions today and they said that if we are waitlisted/on hold list, we can send LOIs today (just no updates). I emailed my LOI to Adcoms email. Good luck everyone! Fingers crossed.
Did they already sent out rejections then? I just did not know if they will finalize the waitlist after April 30 that is why they said if the application is active after April 30 in the hold email

Maybe I should just send a LOI
 
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Did they already sent out rejections then? I just did not know if they will finalize the waitlist after April 30 that is why they said if the application is active after April 30 in the hold email

Maybe I should just send a LOI
I'm not sure if they already sent out rejections. I'm currently on the hold list and she said I was all set to email LOI today so I did. I would send the LOI asap too!
 
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I'm not sure if they already sent out rejections. I'm currently on the hold list and she said I was all set to email LOI today so I did. I would send the LOI asap too!
Thanks good luck to you and to everyone waiting still!
 
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Thanks! That was my impression too but during second look day, our student rep had said they shifted away from lecture-based questions and adopted a more NBME approach for the upcoming class with no more essay-like ones.
They're not NBME, they're made in-house. They are styled similarly to NBME, but they are written by lecturers. I also gave tours that day and that is what I explicitly told my group.

They are about 75% MCQ and 25% FRQ now. All written in-house.
 
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They're not NBME, they're made in-house. They are styled similarly to NBME, but they are written by lecturers. I also gave tours that day and that is what I explicitly told my group.

They are about 75% MCQ and 25% FRQ now. All written in-house.
Thank you for the clarification!

Do you think Step materials can adequately prepare you for the in-house exams, or do both require independent studying? My student rep said he used to use only third-party materials and found it didn't work for him and then he started studying the lectures and did better. My concern is that if the in-house exams aren't NBME-based, does that put you at a disadvantage for Step? Also sorry for the additional question but are lectures mandator and/or recorded?
 
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I'm not sure if they already sent out rejections. I'm currently on the hold list and she said I was all set to email LOI today so I did. I would send the LOI asap too!
What is everyone putting into LOI? Is it just a few sentences?
 
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They're not NBME, they're made in-house. They are styled similarly to NBME, but they are written by lecturers. I also gave tours that day and that is what I explicitly told my group.

They are about 75% MCQ and 25% FRQ now. All written in-house.
Do you feel like you will be prepared for the Step exams ? Do you find that third party resources are adequate for studying? or is it a 50:50 mix of lecture & third party? Curious to hear your thoughts since some students I spoke to on second look day expressed some concern with non-NBME questions.
 
Has anyone succesfully withdrawn from this school recently? I emailed them but no one has gotten back to me and it's not updated on my AMCAS.
 
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Who did you guys address the LOI to? I am stuck between Marc Lubbers and Dr. Bernadette Gilbert.
 
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Has anyone received any info about scholarships/university loans?
 
Has anyone received any info about scholarships/university loans?
Scholarships have been given (about 50% as of two weeks ago, need based awards are priorities). FinAid loan packages went out at the end of March
 
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I would address it to Dr. Gilbert!
I met with Dr. Gilbert during the second look day... she was very adamant about the fact that they don’t accept any sort of letters at all and said whoever I spoke to about this contradicting information must’ve been mistaken. I asked for my other friend who was waitlisted where he got this information from and he said SDN and one time he called admissions and they said he’s good to send one by April??

This whole situation is so hazy, but there are a few clear indicators from my perspective:
1. The website says no. (This is written down)
2. The Dean said no. (Verbal)

So he’s holding off on sending a LOI to PSU. Does anyone have written communication from the admissions team to confirm that they take LOI?
 
Screenshot 2023-05-02 at 10.32.32 AM.png

I got this response back and heard from multiple people from last year who sent in LOIs after May 1.
 
I spoke with admissions today and they said that if we are waitlisted/on hold list, we can send LOIs today (just no updates). I emailed my LOI to Adcoms email. Good luck everyone! Fingers crossed.
did you get a response?
 
I guess only a LOI will hold any weight right? Are you guys writing letters to them in the email?
 
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Has anyone gotten a confirmation email about their LOI being received? People I talked to who have sent in a LOI *earlier this year (this was for MD/PHD admissions so they could send a LOI earlier) said they got a confirmation email but I have yet to and it's been over 24 hours. I called the admissions office and they said the person who maintains the email was out recently but they should've been back already.
 
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Has anyone gotten a confirmation email about their LOI being received? People I talked to who have sent in a LOI previous year said they got a confirmation email but I have yet to and it's been over 24 hours. I called the admissions office and they said the person who maintains the email was out recently but they should've been back already.
I haven’t received a confirmation email myself and it’s been over 24 hours.
 
Has anyone gotten a confirmation email about their LOI being received? People I talked to who have sent in a LOI previous year said they got a confirmation email but I have yet to and it's been over 24 hours. I called the admissions office and they said the person who maintains the email was out recently but they should've been back already.

I sent mine Monday and still no reply.
 
Update: I just called admissions and the nice lady said they don't plan on sending confirmation emails to people who sent in a LOI but maintains that as long as we sent it to the correct admissions email they will add it to our file! If anyone hears anything differently please let us know but I believe all we can do at this point is play the waiting game.
 
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Update: I just called admissions and the nice lady said they don't plan on sending confirmation emails to people who sent in a LOI but maintains that as long as we sent it to the correct admissions email they will add it to our file! If anyone hears anything differently please let us know but I believe all we can do at this point is play the waiting game.

We are all something of an expert in the waiting game ourselves…
 
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Those who contacted admissions regarding LOI did they tell you if it helps your application to send one? So is it something very favorable and can increase chances or is it just something not necessary to do or more neutral? I know Penn State is my top choice but I am afraid sending one can hurt instead of helping if I do not write a good one & not sure if it really matters to send one. If we send it what things to include? Thanks everyone in advance
 
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Those who contacted admissions regarding LOI did they tell you if it helps your application to send one? So is it something very favorable and can increase chances or is it just something not necessary to do or more neutral? I know Penn State is my top choice but I am afraid sending one can hurt instead of helping if I do not write a good one & not sure if it really matters to send one. If we send it what things to include? Thanks everyone in advance
It’s prolly more on the neutral end—especially if you don’t have any other A’s. I wrote mine as if I was answering “Why Penn State?” and added that if extended an A, they don’t have to worry about me declining lol.
 
It’s prolly more on the neutral end—especially if you don’t have any other A’s. I wrote mine as if I was answering “Why Penn State?” and added that if extended an A, they don’t have to worry about me declining lol.
Thanks I am sending mine today that is all I can do!
 
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Has anyone succesfully withdrawn from this school recently? I emailed them but no one has gotten back to me and it's not updated on my AMCAS.
Did this end up working for you? I sent my withdrawal email to admissions on Monday and I still haven't seen a change on AMCAS.
 
Does anyone know when the CTE deadline is? MSAR only has the 2024 dates available.
 
Judging from last year's SDN, there was no movement until June. Is that reporting bias, or do we think we'll fall into that same hole?
 
Judging from last year's SDN, there was no movement until June. Is that reporting bias, or do we think we'll fall into that same hole?
It looks like some students have tried to withdraw but still see Penn State appearing in their CYMS. Until that’s resolved, I’m not sure we will see WL movement.
 
Judging from last year's SDN, there was no movement until June. Is that reporting bias, or do we think we'll fall into that same hole?
I know someone personally that got off the waitlist May 17 last year. They weren’t on sdn
 
It looks like some students have tried to withdraw but still see Penn State appearing in their CYMS. Until that’s resolved, I’m not sure we will see WL movement.
Yea, if you check out the waitlist thread for the cycle on sdn, you’ll see that individuals on admissions committees let us know about the cyms tool basically being down
 
Has anyone gotten off the waitlist this week? I’m mainly asking cause I want to know if the AMCAS glitch is affecting Penn States WL movement roo or not.
 
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So is is supposed to show on AMCAS if we are on the waitlist?

Im not sure tbh. I read somewhere if you have As, you’ll also see waitlists but if you don’t have any As, you won’t see your waitlists on AMCAS either. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
 
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