PCOM Discussion thread 2008-2009

[rc4ch]

So how did you receive ur acceptances? was it by mail or email? Some say they got email and other say snail mail, which is it?

Thanks

By snail mail.

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[235750]

So how did you receive ur acceptances? was it by mail or email? Some say they got email and other say snail mail, which is it?

Thanks

I got both, but the email was very soon after my interview. The letter came later

Good luck!!

 

[rc4ch]

Anyone figured out how to access our emails using Email programs such as Outlook or Thunderbird?

Would be great to access it via my Ipod touch.

 

[Viridian]

Bah, not this monday morning....

Still waiting!

 

[Viridian]

Did anyone submit their application after the new year and have since gotten an interview invite or decision?

I'm trying to figure out if I'm just flat out screwed or if I'm just behind in the application pile. I sent mine in sometime in early Jan but havent heard a peep since aside from that my file was complete.

So yea, any january 2ndary applicants rejected? Called for interviews?

I think the stress from this is going to give me an ulcer. Good thing PPI's are OTC now, hah.

 

[235750]

I sent mine in sometime in early Jan but havent heard a peep since aside from that my file was complete.

You sent your secondary in early January? Or you sumitted ACCOMAS in Jan? When were you verified?

Either way that is pretty late. But, I'm sure they wouldn't still take secondaries in Jan if they wouldn't offer interviews to those people. Obviously your chances would have been better had you applied earlier, but there's nothing you can do about that now. All you can do is wait

If there is a next time for you (and I hope there isn't), get your applications in as soon as possible. Good luck

 

[Viridian]

My aacomas was submitted in early October.

My secondary was submitted in Jan.

I'm in a post-bac program at the moment. I have a 31T mcat, but my undergrad GPA was weak, and I wanted to wait to send my secondary until I had improved grades to show. I got all A's and B's in my postbac first semester, and i'm doing great right now.

Perhaps it was a bad choice to wait. I just didn't want to be reviewed and rejected because of my weak undergrad GPA before I even had a chance to show my improvement in this Post-bac.

Thats why i'm kind of stressing. I'd hoped to have heard something by now, but the silence is killing me.

 

[Viridian]

Ha, I wonder if schools read SDN and see us here lamenting our struggles.

It would be kind of embarrassing to have your posts presented to you at an interview.

 

[nevinleiby]

Ha, I wonder if schools read SDN and see us here lamenting our struggles.

It would be kind of embarrassing to have your posts presented to you at an interview.

Lets just say that they don't hate SDN =)

In my mind, at least it shows your interest level in their program.

Hmmm.....maybe I should bold that =)

 

[235750]

So I installed the Groupwise client on my PC (which of course required me to uninstall Outlook) and I still can't get it to work. Anyone had any luck???

 

[235750]

You won't believe this, but I found our PCOM tech support guys by searching the help forums at Novell...I guess they don't get Groupwise either...so I emailed them directly for help on this issue. I'll let you know if I find anything!

 

[235750]

OK last post on the subject for me..

There is no way to access PCOM email except from the PCOM webiste. There is no POP3 access and and you can't even use GroupWise client on your PC at home. Here's what a tech support guy told me:

"Unfortunately, the GroupWise client can't be used to access the email system remotely. It only works on campus. You'll have to go to pcommail.pcom.edu using a web browser, or go in through Nucleus."

So, it looks like we just have to be like every other student at PCOM and use Nucleus to look at our email.

Sorry guys/gals!

 

[becool5]

OK last post on the subject for me..

There is no way to access PCOM email except from the PCOM webiste. There is no POP3 access and and you can't even use GroupWise client on your PC at home. Here's what a tech support guy told me:

"Unfortunately, the GroupWise client can't be used to access the email system remotely. It only works on campus. You'll have to go to pcommail.pcom.edu using a web browser, or go in through Nucleus."

So, it looks like we just have to be like every other student at PCOM and use Nucleus to look at our email.

Sorry guys/gals!

I spoke with one of the tech guys earlier this semester. He said they are working changing the email system so you can access it through a program like Outlook and sync with a PDA. He said it should be available starting in August for the Fall term. Did the person you spoke to say something different?

 

[235750]

I spoke with one of the tech guys earlier this semester. He said they are working changing the email system so you can access it through a program like Outlook and sync with a PDA. He said it should be available starting in August for the Fall term. Did the person you spoke to say something different?

I pasted his email above, he did not mention it. But that doesn't mean it's not in the works. Have hope!

 

[Viridian]

Has anyone gotten an interview invite recently?

Also, do they ever accept people at the last minute who were not interviewed, or is that only reserved for candidates who had been interviewed?

My file is competitive, but just was submitted in january... I feel like I'm not going to get the chance to be interviewed.

Sigh...still waiting

 

[rc4ch]

Has anyone gotten an interview invite recently?

Also, do they ever accept people at the last minute who were not interviewed, or is that only reserved for candidates who had been interviewed?

My file is competitive, but just was submitted in january... I feel like I'm not going to get the chance to be interviewed.

Sigh...still waiting

I'm pretty sure that your only going to be accepted if you interviewed. There's no way they would give that seat to someone who didn't interview when there's a waitlist of people who interviewed. Good luck.

 

[phillypd]

Very true.....you must get interviewed first.

 

[Viridian]

Yea, I applied last year to their post bac, was waitlisted, then later accepted, but they dont interview for that. I ended up going somewhere else as they'd only let me know days prior to the actual start of class.

I guess I'm just kind of hoping for the miracle interview invite at this point, sorry to be a downer on the boards.

 

[DrMaz]

Got the mail today and saw a letter from PCOM, drum roll began in my head, and then WAITLISTED! Every expletive came out of my mouth, and my right hand is now swollen. After settling down and realizing I already have an acceptance to another school and it's not the end of the world, I'm now thinking more clearly and wondering what's the chances of me being accepted off the waitlist? About how many students actually do this and do they evaluate those on the waitlist and accept the best, or accept them in order? Has anyone else been waitlisted?

 

[237696]

Got the mail today and saw a letter from PCOM, drum roll began in my head, and then WAITLISTED! Every expletive came out of my mouth, and my right hand is now swollen. After settling down and realizing I already have an acceptance to another school and it's not the end of the world, I'm now thinking more clearly and wondering what's the chances of me being accepted off the waitlist? About how many students actually do this and do they evaluate those on the waitlist and accept the best, or accept them in order? Has anyone else been waitlisted?

Well, I posted this in the LECOM thread too but it's an interesting story. My cousin applied a couple years ago to PCOM and got waitlisted, got accepted to LECOM so she took it, moved to Erie and got an apartment, and started classes there. She never thought to contact PCOM and let them know she'd enrolled elsewhere, and a week and a half into her classes she was notified by PCOM that she'd made it off the waitlist and was invited to join their class. She packed her life back up, moved out of Erie the next day, and started over at PCOM 48 hours later.

I can also say that in the mid-90's my mom was waitlisted in May at PCOM, got in in June, and told me that new people were rolling in off the waitlists all through the first two to three weeks of class that fall.

 

[Bacchus]

That'd be the most badass way to leave. Why are you leaving? "PCOM, peace mofos."

 

[phillypd]

Wow!!!! Waitlisted is not what i want to hear.........so the wait continues......

 

[Bacchus]

Computers.

I get the impression that a laptop is not needed while on campus. Everyone I saw had binders with typed syllabi. What are you all planning on getting? Current students, what do you recommend?

I wanted to get a desktop because I miss the processor power and graphics experience. I know I won't be having a lot of free time, but when I do I'd love to be able to pull up to a first person shooter and relieve some tension. So, what is it? Laptop or desktop?

I have a laptop now, maybe I'll use it for the first year and if necessary, get a new one second year.

 

[nevinleiby]

That'd be the most badass way to leave. Why are you leaving? "PCOM, peace mofos."

That's the way to do it...lol I feel bad for lecom tho. Pcom had the same happen to them, too

Wooooottt!!!!!! PCOM acceptance from 2/10 interview!!!!

On a related note, my LECOM Erie slot opened up! Glad I didn't rush to get my deposit in!!

 

[nevinleiby]

Computers.

I get the impression that a laptop is not needed while on campus. Everyone I saw had binders with typed syllabi. What are you all planning on getting? Current students, what do you recommend?

I wanted to get a desktop because I miss the processor power and graphics experience. I know I won't be having a lot of free time, but when I do I'd love to be able to pull up to a first person shooter and relieve some tension. So, what is it? Laptop or desktop?

I have a laptop now, maybe I'll use it for the first year and if necessary, get a new one second year.

When I shadowed a student oms2, about half typed in ppt or Onenote. I'm planning on laptop and desktop/server. Laptop typing lectures and using a VPN tunnel to save all of my stuff on my desktop/server/crysis machine. PC guy myself

U?

 

[Bleurberry]

Computers.

I get the impression that a laptop is not needed while on campus. Everyone I saw had binders with typed syllabi. What are you all planning on getting? Current students, what do you recommend?

I wanted to get a desktop because I miss the processor power and graphics experience. I know I won't be having a lot of free time, but when I do I'd love to be able to pull up to a first person shooter and relieve some tension. So, what is it? Laptop or desktop?

I have a laptop now, maybe I'll use it for the first year and if necessary, get a new one second year.

Keeping or upgrading my laptop (to a smaller screen size, broke as all hell), and then if my girlfriend is feeling generous, a display for my home desk to plug into. I can't see how bringing a laptop to lecture isn't going to be indispensible, especially since they have the setup for it.

 

[dsjar]

is it pretty safe to say that pcom gives priority to PA residents...I'm from Florida and I was told only 4 out of the 280 seats for the 2012 class are from Florida.

 

[Bacchus]

The class is probably going to be around 260 seats, not 280, from the numbers in the past. That said, if all states are represented equally, 4 seats for FL isn't too far off. I'm sure there is preference given to PA, NY, NJ, and surrounding states, but not so much that a good applicant is going to get the shaft.

 

[235750]

Wooooottt!!!!!! PCOM acceptance from 2/10 interview!!!!

Congrats!! I know you had been waiting in agony for news. see you at PCOM!

Got the mail today and saw a letter from PCOM, drum roll began in my head, and then WAITLISTED!

I'm sorry to hear you didn't get an acceptance right away. Did they mention where you stand on the waitlist, eg top 1/3 or 'high priority' or something?

I hope more of you hear good news soon!

 

[tallgal0523]

is it pretty safe to say that pcom gives priority to PA residents...I'm from Florida and I was told only 4 out of the 280 seats for the 2012 class are from Florida.

They do give priority to PA residents but that doesn't mean you don't have a good chance of getting in. I'm from Oklahoma and I got in.

 

[JonnyG]

is it pretty safe to say that pcom gives priority to PA residents...I'm from Florida and I was told only 4 out of the 280 seats for the 2012 class are from Florida.

delaware gets priority were apparently the state osteopathic school of delaware. You get money from DE to lower your tuition.

 

[nevinleiby]

Got the mail today and saw a letter from PCOM, drum roll began in my head, and then WAITLISTED! Every expletive came out of my mouth, and my right hand is now swollen. After settling down and realizing I already have an acceptance to another school and it's not the end of the world, I'm now thinking more clearly and wondering what's the chances of me being accepted off the waitlist? About how many students actually do this and do they evaluate those on the waitlist and accept the best, or accept them in order? Has anyone else been waitlisted?

Sorry to hear that DrMaz , but I would think that you will still have an great chance of being accepted. PCOM has its next batch of deadlines coming up on April 15th if I recall, so their initially low class deposit may free up some students for 2013.

Any idea why you could have been waitlisted? How did your interview go? Who did you interview with? How many prior interviews did you have? How much OMM experience and did you try to squeeze it in? DO letter(s)? How much did you know about PCOM? What questions were you asked/responses? Do you provide a good "adcom's summary" to your applicant that they could remember and present to the committee? How was your "Tell me about yourself" answer?

For the past 2 weeks I've been re-living my interview wishing that I had said something else or said something that might have made me a more competitive applicant. I think that my commitment to PCOM was evident. I'm pretty sure that I went overkill with mine…

Two of my LORs were from PCOM grads (I had shadowed one of them for 2 years). I had shadowed a PCOM grad who utilizes OMM and incorporates acupuncture (further qualifying my ambitions to "think outside of the box") to treat her patients. I worked with and trained PCOM grads - two were said to have been "the best residents" that the ED director had ever worked with. I can't count how many other PCOM grads I had worked with in the past 3 years. I followed a PCOM OMSII student (graduate of my alma mater) around to her classes (including OMM) for two days and dug for any questions from her or her friends at dinner. I live < 1.5 hrs from PCOM. I went to the Spring 07 and Fall 08 open houses at PCOM - both times I had approached my interviewer with questions regarding my application. I'm also a non-traditional applicant (married, ~3 career changes, -kids) with half decent stats (3.80 comp sci, 3.96 post-bacc, 26P), 8/26 primary, 9/30 secondary. All of this was included somewhere in my primary, secondary, or interview.

Don't give up...we're all rooting for a fellow SDN'er in the class

 

[phillypd]

ok.....i'm staring at the mail box and waiting for the mail man.........WHERE IS HE!!!!!

 

[phillypd]

wow i'm in the same boat you are in.......and i stated all of that in my personal statement.... i am a career changer, married, and have a bad ass teenager. I grew up in the very neighborhood that PCOM is in. i got a letter from a grad of the school and some other good letters...hopefully it works out.....

 

[237696]

delaware gets priority were apparently the state osteopathic school of delaware. You get money from DE to lower your tuition.

You're talking about the DIMER program. Delaware has no med schools so they subsidize 20 seats at Jefferson and 5 seats at PCOM. But tuition isn't any cheaper for those students- they just get their loans repayed if they return to DE and work in primary care or in an underserved area.

But really, I imagine that even without the DIMER money PCOM would be accepting at least 5 out of 280 students from Delaware anyway. It's a very close state and a lot of PCOM's clinical sites (like Christiana Hospital) are there. So it doesn't seem like it would particularly boost your odds for acceptance as a DE resident.

 

[gorgi]

I interviewed 2/4 and haven't heard anything yet. They said to expect to hear back by the first week of March. But now that I'm hearing people from 2/10 interviews have already heard back should I be nervous? Do they send out acceptances, waitlists, rejections at the same time for people who interviewed on the same day?

I wish I told PCOM to send the letter to my apartment, it's going to my home address and I have to decide if I'm going to let my parents open it or if I want my family to mail it to me, wait another day, and experience the excitement / disappointment while holding the actual letter in my hands.

 

[gorgi]

nevermind. i jumped the gun. got the letter today. waitlist. ugh ugh ugh.

 

[Batman20]

I interviewed 2/9 and received a letter yesterday. The letter said they enjoyed meeting me and loved how much I was interested in PCOM, they want me to send them a copy of my final transcript upon graduation to ensure I do well in Ochem 2 lecture and lab. They said they would keep my app. active until they hear from me. What exactly does that mean? It didn't say waitlist anywhere? Any ideas?

 

[235750]

nevermind. i jumped the gun. got the letter today. waitlist. ugh ugh ugh.

sorry to hear that But it's not a 'no', right? Look on the bright side

Does it tell you a rank, eg top 1/2 or top 1/3???

 

[Chuck's Right Foot]

Is Waitlist the same as delay on action till after interviews are completed?

 

[onearmsteve]

I emailed the helpdesk a few weeks ago about this and got a phone call back. Basically they told me (as JohnnyG) said they are working on it. He told me they believe PCOM students will be able to sync their email with Outlook and with PDA Phones starting in the Fall 09 term. The email I used was: [email protected].

Hello-

First year student here. I've managed a PCOM groupwise workaround via gmail, which I access via Apple Mail Client. Here's what I did:

1. create a dedicated gmail account for your PCOM email
2. In Groupwise, Under Options > Rules, Set your PCOM account to forward all messages to your gmail account
3. Under Gmail settings:
A. Enable IMAP
B. Go to account settings, and add your PCOM address to the "send mail as:"
gmail option
C. on the same little pop-up, add your pcom address to the "reply to"
box
4. Configure your email client. ENTER YOUR PCOM ADDRESS during the set-up process, then enter the gmail imap addresses:
Outgoing: imap.gmail.com
Incoming: smtp.gmail.com

5. Send a test message or two. Make sure to try sending to someone with a pcom address, as groupwise has high security settings, and tends to filter off email from outside addresses (I know, it sucks, but hey...)

Good Luck, and congrats on your acceptance.

 

[JonnyG]

You're talking about the DIMER program. Delaware has no med schools so they subsidize 20 seats at Jefferson and 5 seats at PCOM. But tuition isn't any cheaper for those students- they just get their loans repayed if they return to DE and work in primary care or in an underserved area.

But really, I imagine that even without the DIMER money PCOM would be accepting at least 5 out of 280 students from Delaware anyway. It's a very close state and a lot of PCOM's clinical sites (like Christiana Hospital) are there. So it doesn't seem like it would particularly boost your odds for acceptance as a DE resident.

ummm NO, they actually get money every year to pay for medical school based upon the number of students who are from DE. I had a roomate for a year who got it.unless its changed in the last two years they get the money as long as they continue to live in DE, which he did on the weekends.

 

[Nnik484]

so i got my letter today and it sats the committe is going to "delay a decision on my application." They apparently are going to interview through the end of March and then decide What does this meannnn? Is this worse or better than waitlist? I seriously am so crushed. PCOM is my absolute number 1 choice. Everywhere else I interviewed at I was accepted except the only school I wanna go to. wowww, this is horrible. I mean, I guess it's not a rejection but still I feel like my chances of acceptance are getting slimmer and slimmer.

Anyone have thoughts on letters of intents? Would that be a good thing to do right now? Just to let the school know that this is where I wanna be next year?

Thanks for any advice. and congrats to the accepted people.

 

[Chuck's Right Foot]

so i got my letter today and it sats the committe is going to "delay a decision on my application." They apparently are going to interview through the end of March and then decide What does this meannnn? Is this worse or better than waitlist? I seriously am so crushed. PCOM is my absolute number 1 choice. Everywhere else I interviewed at I was accepted except the only school I wanna go to. wowww, this is horrible. I mean, I guess it's not a rejection but still I feel like my chances of acceptance are getting slimmer and slimmer.

Anyone have thoughts on letters of intents? Would that be a good thing to do right now? Just to let the school know that this is where I wanna be next year?

Thanks for any advice. and congrats to the accepted people.

Yup got the same letter... !!!

 

[gorgi]

Is Waitlist the same as delay on action till after interviews are completed?

I think so, that's what my letter said, a delay on action until after interviews, and I assumed waitlist... I could be wrong though... it said I would be notified by April 15th about any change in my status. More waiting

I'm not sure about ranking for the waitlist etc... I just had my mom open the letter and when I realized it was not an acceptance I told her to fax it and send it to me later. Does anyone know if PCOM ranks the waitlist?

 

[gorgi]

so i got my letter today and it sats the committe is going to "delay a decision on my application." They apparently are going to interview through the end of March and then decide What does this meannnn? Is this worse or better than waitlist? I seriously am so crushed. PCOM is my absolute number 1 choice. Everywhere else I interviewed at I was accepted except the only school I wanna go to. wowww, this is horrible. I mean, I guess it's not a rejection but still I feel like my chances of acceptance are getting slimmer and slimmer.

Anyone have thoughts on letters of intents? Would that be a good thing to do right now? Just to let the school know that this is where I wanna be next year?

Thanks for any advice. and congrats to the accepted people.

I definitely feel your pain. PCOM is my #1 too and I am soo disappointed. As soon as I found out (a couple hours ago) I sat down and wrote a letter of intent. I'm not sure if it's going to help, but it will make me feel better to know that I'm reminding the admissions committee once again how much I want to go to PCOM. It can't hurt, right?

Congrats to everyone who's been accepted.

 

[Nnik484]

yea gorgi,

I think im going to do the same thing. hmm ive never written one of these before so wish me luck haha Is there a limit of length/amount of detail you should go into for these things?

I don't think this is a waitlist tho, because it seems like they are just merely undecided about our apps. maybe they want to see if they like any of the upcoming interviewers more, but who knowss. either way it sucks!

The class just seems sooo full already which is why I was so worried about getting accepted. I also am not from PA so I figured that was a strike against me and nowww that they will be filling more spaces before deciding on my app it's just so stressful (not to mention that I'm going to have to put down another huuge deposit on a school). I also feel like PCOM is soo amazing who is going to withdraw or not go if they are acceppted? haha

sighhh, I'm going to go for a run (use this horribleness in a positive way) as opposed to going to the supermarket and buying every ounce of junk food in sight which is what i really want to do haha good luck everybody!

 

[235750]

First year student here. I've managed a PCOM groupwise workaround via gmail

You get an A+ for effort! We appreciate you working on this.

Unfortuantely what you just described is basically forwarding your mail from GroupWise which messes up the sender email, and then spoofing your email address using gmail. A lot of servers are smart, and when they see the header "from [email protected]", they recognize that it's really a Gmail server, so it gets marked as spam. I've had that happen before using my undergrad .edu mail system. I don't think its a good thing to do

Getting POP3 access to our accounts is the only way we're going to be able to around these problems. And according to the PCOM IT guys, it may be a little while

Good luck to all those being waitlisted or having their decisions delayed

 

[237696]

ummm NO, they actually get money every year to pay for medical school based upon the number of students who are from DE. I had a roomate for a year who got it.unless its changed in the last two years they get the money as long as they continue to live in DE, which he did on the weekends.

Then it must have changed. Possibly due to budget cuts. Because I am applying right now through DIMER to PCOM and my documents clearly state that I am responsible for paying the full cost of tuition to PCOM directly; that the money paid by DE to PCOM is just for the priviledge of holding five seats for DE residents and giving them preferential admission status. My monetary reward comes into play later if I agree to return to Delaware and do primary care either in inner city Wilmington or downstate in a rural community. There's no up-front tuition break. Actually, correct me if I'm wrong, but there's no cheaper in-state tuition rate for PA residents either, right- even though they get preferential admissions? I think DE is just putting their kids on the same plane as PA residents.

 

[237696]

yea gorgi,

I think im going to do the same thing. hmm ive never written one of these before so wish me luck haha Is there a limit of length/amount of detail you should go into for these things?

I don't think this is a waitlist tho, because it seems like they are just merely undecided about our apps. maybe they want to see if they like any of the upcoming interviewers more, but who knowss. either way it sucks!

The class just seems sooo full already which is why I was so worried about getting accepted. I also am not from PA so I figured that was a strike against me and nowww that they will be filling more spaces before deciding on my app it's just so stressful (not to mention that I'm going to have to put down another huuge deposit on a school). I also feel like PCOM is soo amazing who is going to withdraw or not go if they are acceppted? haha

sighhh, I'm going to go for a run (use this horribleness in a positive way) as opposed to going to the supermarket and buying every ounce of junk food in sight which is what i really want to do haha good luck everybody!

Well, if it makes you feel any better in regards to "who is going to withdraw from PCOM?"... unfortunately there are a lot of people in the Philly area who apply to all five schools because they want to be in that city and PCOM ends up being their allo backup. I'm sure there are some people who will drop PCOM in a second if they get a late acceptance or waitlist acceptance to Drexel, Jeff or Temple. As far as people applying only osteopathic- yeah, PCOM is top-notch and would be hard to turn down.