Any rejection, acceptance from Penn State

[luckymed]

Please post it with the date you hear from them and when your application is completed as well as interview date if applicable.

thank you

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[Dr. Kermit]

My application was complete at PSU at the end of July. I received an interview offer from them in the beginning of October and had an interviewed scheduled for the end of November, but I withdrew my application. I'm a PA resident, if that makes any difference. Good luck.

 

[irongirl]

I'm an out of state resident, interviewed in mid October and was accepted around Thanksgiving.

 

[gower]

Despite its name, Penn State College of medicine is a private institution and does not give preference to Pennsylvania residents.

 

[Dr. Kermit]

Gower-

Straight for the 2001-2002 AAMC Guide.

"In accord with the historical committment of this institution, applications from women, students brought up in small towns or rural areas, those who come from Pennsylvania, students interested in a career as a generalist physician, and minorities are particularly encouraged."

Number of Applicants
Applicants/Interviewed/New Entrants-Instate (885/299/90)
Applicants/Interviewed/New Entrants-Outstate (6,453/1080/147)

Yes, PSU does accept many out of staters, but compared to the number of instate residents that applied, a smaller percentage of out of state applicants are interviewed. All PA schools are pretty similar, they don't get a terrible amount of state funding and therefore schools such as Pitt and Temple, only accept 50-60% of their residents to schools because many will choose to go to another state and pay 5K more in tuition or even just go to a private school.

 

[gower]

To my everlasting chagrin, I learned early in life that I am not infallible and so I am always open to correction.

However, I have been looking in the 2002-2003 edition of the MSAR and find no such statement. I confess that my eyesight and brain are not what they used to be. Can you direct me any more specifically to the statement you quote? Or is it on the Penn State web site; I haven't yet looked.

The MSAR table you quote misleads almost everyone who reads it. The numbers of applicants, in-state and out-of-state, and the numbers interviewed are accurate. But the bottom line entry does NOT give the numbers accepted in and out, but only the number of NEW ENTRANTS. That number is of those offered a place in the class only the number of those who chose to ATTEND Penn State, a number smaller than the number accepted.

2001 entering class (From MSAR)

in-state out-of-state total
Applicants: 945 (16%) 4925 (84%) 5870
Interviewed: 258 (27%) 492 (10%) 750
New Entrants: 58 (47%) 66 (53%) 124

We are not told the ratio of in-state, out-of-state ACCEPTEES. 47% of the 27% Pennsylvania residents INTERVIEWED chose to attend Penn State, while 53% of the 10% non-residents INTERVIEWED did so. It may well be that a higher proportion of residents were in fact accepted, but the data is not there to support the assumption.

Even the fact that only 10% of non-resident applicants were interviewed does not support the assumption of bias toward residents. The large number of non-residents may have had weaker credentials and were broadcasting applications like buckshot from a shotgun, hoping they would hit something. That is common.

My information about residency not being a factor in admission came from a 1999 edition of a reference manual available only to premedical advisors. The much more detailed information in that manual was provided by the medical schools to help in advising students. A new edition will probably appear this year.