PCOM (Philadelphia) Discussion Thread 2010-2011

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How long has it taken you all to receive a secondary from PCOM? I've gotten secondaries from everywhere that I have applied thus far except for them. AACOMAS went in ~3 weeks ago. Is this normal?
 
VeeTeeHokies said:
How long has it taken you all to receive a secondary from PCOM? I've gotten secondaries from everywhere that I have applied thus far except for them. AACOMAS went in ~3 weeks ago. Is this normal?
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PCOM just started sending out their secondaries this week. It may be that they are backed up and sending them out in order of who was sent out by AACOMAS first. I wouldn't worry about not receiving it yet, but you can take the time to write the essays to you can send it in the day you get it.
 
FutureDoc1988 said:
PCOM just started sending out their secondaries this week. It may be that they are backed up and sending them out in order of who was sent out by AACOMAS first. I wouldn't worry about not receiving it yet, but you can take the time to write the essays to you can send it in the day you get it.
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Thanks! Already started the secondary. 👍
 
sedaniel said:
If you attend a larger institution, you may contact your career services department and inquire about a letter service. If they indeed have one, you may send all of your letters to them. They will package the letters together, and it will resemble something like a pre-health committee packet. We will accept this as the letter requirement.

To me that sounds like it's okay. Did I mis-interpret?
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you know wut, after I posted this, I reread that part of the email and I see what you mean. i emailed them right away inquiring about this but have not received an email back.

but based on the response they gave u, thats good to hear because im definitely sending a packet of letters. kinda sneaky tho, this piece of information would definitely save a lot of people some panick i think
 
How long was everyone's essays. Mine was around 2 pages in Microsoft Word, 12 point font, single spaced....around 1,000 words. I hope that is not too big. I have a lot of reasons for going DO and why I want to attend PCOM.
 
It said brief, so i tired to eliminate any repetitiveness that was in my essay, and still get everything across. My PCOM essay ended up being 1830 characters including spaces. My PCOM-GA was 2109 characters with spaces. Hopefully, that gives you an idea of how long mine are.

I dropped both PCOM and PCOM-GA off at the post office last night before i went to bed. 🙂
 
jayjay489 said:
So I am still not clear....
For sure they want an attached summary...I would guess One page for why you would like to enter PCOM
But do we add another attachment for activities or use the three lines on the PDF
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I assumed the three lines because it does not say to attach for the healthcare experiences while it did for the brief statement
 
for the dean LOR requirement,

"you may have your dean send a letter written from your academic file, and in addition, send letters from faculty, employers, and physicians."

I think I have read about this from previous year threads. Can I just a letter from the dean's office saying basic stuff that can be found on the transcript like the student attended xx-xx years, graduated with good gpa, didnot get into any academic misconduct... I think thats what they really mean by letter written from an academic file. i.e. - The dean doesn't really have to comment on any of my personal qualities...
 
paintballswimgu said:
My PCOM essay ended up being 1830 characters including spaces.
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That's pretty close to the length of mine.


Once the secondary is submitted, will I receive some sort of confirmation of receipt via email? Or do I need to call/email to check on the status?
 
I'm going to call and ask but has anyone been allowed to send a post-bac committee letter? I've done all my prerequisite coursework after graduating undergrad 6yrs ago.. and I have a pretty nice committe letter and letter packet from the school where I took the pre-reqs.
 
weird question, but I'm trying to optimize my chances at PCOM as it is a top 3-4 choice for me.

So, I got the secondary saying they review you once you send in your LoRs and secondary, and that they recommend a DO letter but review the file if it is not there. I'll have a good DO letter in two weeks. Do y'all recommend I submit the secondary now, or after I have the DO letter?
 
Kevin Baker said:
weird question, but I'm trying to optimize my chances at PCOM as it is a top 3-4 choice for me.

So, I got the secondary saying they review you once you send in your LoRs and secondary, and that they recommend a DO letter but review the file if it is not there. I'll have a good DO letter in two weeks. Do y'all recommend I submit the secondary now, or after I have the DO letter?
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Chances are if they get your secondary in a few days your file won't be reviewed within the next two weeks. They'd probably get your letter and add it to your file before they review.
 
traitorman said:
We will require a letter from either a dean, academic advisor, or pre-health committee from your undergraduate college that has or will grant your bachelor's degree. If you have been removed from your undergraduate for some time, you may have your dean send a letter written from your academic file, and in addition, send letters from faculty, employers, and physicians. We will not waive this required letter for any applicant, and it cannot be substituted. You may send letters from graduate school/post-bacc programs to supplement the application, but they will not meet our letter requirement.
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This is exactly why I decided not to apply here. I am a nontrad and received my BA in 1993. I absolutely cannot see the reason why I have to try to get a person from an institution I have not attended in 17 years write a few generic sentences to apply to PCOM. I hate to be a complainer but this process is difficult enough without extra hoops to jump through...

Good luck to everyone applying here. It's a very good school.
 
LOL, I forgot to attach the additional page "why I want to attend PCOM & study DO" My baaad. Emailing admissions office now...
 
does anyone know when we should be expecting interview invites??
 
jeffro1080 said:
does anyone know when we should be expecting interview invites??
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I don't think anyone has even posted on here as having their file complete yet, lol, but looking through last years thread I saw that the earliest interview invites were around mid-September.
 
sedaniel said:
I don't think anyone has even posted on here as having their file complete yet, lol, but looking through last years thread I saw that the earliest interview invites were around mid-September.
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good to hear...
 
FuturePittMed said:
This is exactly why I decided not to apply here. I am a nontrad and received my BA in 1993. I absolutely cannot see the reason why I have to try to get a person from an institution I have not attended in 17 years write a few generic sentences to apply to PCOM. I hate to be a complainer but this process is difficult enough without extra hoops to jump through...

Good luck to everyone applying here. It's a very good school.
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Yeah I've emailed them to see if they'll take my post-bac committee letter because that's what the woman on the phone at the admissions office recommended I do... I called my undergrad deans office to see if I could just get a generic "graduated in good standing, no academic problems etc" and they said they don't write letters like that. So... great.
 
sedaniel said:
Yeah, I am a reapplicant to med school in general. I wonder if I can still attach a statement... because I think I've done a great deal to improve since I applied two years ago and I think it shows my dedication.... whata you guys think?
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:hello: Has anyone happened to call PCOM about this question yet? I'm in the same boat as sedaniel (reapplicant to med school in general but not to PCOM) and am wanting to turn the secondary in tomorrow. The last thing left to do is address this question.

If no one has called yet I will tomorrow and post the answer then.
 
Sponk said:
:hello: Has anyone happened to call PCOM about this question yet? I'm in the same boat as sedaniel (reapplicant to med school in general but not to PCOM) and am wanting to turn the secondary in tomorrow. The last thing left to do is address this question.

If no one has called yet I will tomorrow and post the answer then.
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I didn't call, but I did include a statement addressing this question. The application says "Are you a reapplicant", not "Are you a reapplicant to PCOM" so I just started off my statement by saying that I did not apply to PCOM specifically but that I have applied previously and here are all the things I did to improve my app.
 
I like the way you handled it, I'm going to do it that way also. Thanks for the reply and best of luck to you this time around.
 
easy for you to say! we are desperate though. haha
 
Hey guys!

Looks like PCOM just cashed my check so..they definitely got it/are opening our secondaries at this point!
 
jmr86 said:
Hey guys!

Looks like PCOM just cashed my check so..they definitely got it/are opening our secondaries at this point!
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They cashed mine on Friday for both campuses. They're definitely opening its a matter if they are processing yet though.
 
they said they arent able to scan letters yet, and we should expect email confirmation of a complete app.
 
I think (but could be mistaken...). First day of interviews last yr was September 21. I would go and look at last years thread but I'm on my iPod.
 
I called the admissions office yesterday of PCOM-PA and they said they rec'd my entire application with letters and such. Here's hoping to an interview invite.
 
TallScrubs said:
I called the admissions office yesterday of PCOM-PA and they said they rec'd my entire application with letters and such. Here's hoping to an interview invite.
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Interesting, I'll have to call them again tomorrow. Add them to the list of schools :laugh: They told me last time they hadn't started scanning. I wanna make sure my dean's letter got there for both campuses.
 
Has anyone else received an email to login to bannerweb to check on their status? I just received this email. Everything looks fine except it doesn't say that they received my recommendation letters. They should have received them a few weeks ago. Wondering if I should call them or just wait a week or two. Anyone else have the same? Really excited about PCOM!
 
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yep! everything is in for me... I'd give it the 10 days they say in the email I guess?? or at least a couple? its kinda scary how psyched I am for this school 🙂
 
got the email too. it says "all of your required credentials are on file" but when i log in it says that my letters aren't in yet. maybe i should wait out the 10 days?
 
Yea, I recieved it about an hour ago. Though it says my lor's have been recieved.
 
SNS said:
got the email too. it says "all of your required credentials are on file" but when i log in it says that my letters aren't in yet. maybe i should wait out the 10 days?
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Ya thats exactly what I have for PCOM Philly. For PCOM -GA I don't have that line in the email although I sent them exactly the same material at the same time.
 
Yet another person whose letters is missing - ill wait a week and then call them
 
SNS said:
got the email too. it says "all of your required credentials are on file" but when i log in it says that my letters aren't in yet. maybe i should wait out the 10 days?
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i am in the same boat..got the acknolwedgement letter today and samething with the rec letters missing status..but i sent in those like more than 2 weeks ago. maybe they just need some time to update the system, i will wait a few days and see what happens.
 
They have one of my letters, but not the other. I'll give it a few more weeks (after Labor Day, I'll call -- they say they review starting in September).
 
same here, no LOR on file, even though they were sent out in July
 
Does it actually say 'no LOR on file' or is it just blank?
 
It has a grid box, like an excel sheet with received dates for other items and the box for LOR is blank.
 
It is also blank for my letters of rec which were sent 2 weeks ago. I think they are just taking their time.
 
I thought it said something in the email about that grid being an internal thing? I have the same issue right now, where the letters aren't listed as in, but could just mean they haven't added it to the grid yet I guess.

Mine were sent by my premed advisor through VirtualEvals I believe.
 
twocentnews said:
I thought it said something in the email about that grid being an internal thing? I have the same issue right now, where the letters aren't listed as in, but could just mean they haven't added it to the grid yet I guess.

Mine were sent by my premed advisor through VirtualEvals I believe.
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Does your grid look like this?



Requirements
Requirement Received Note Status
Application Fee Aug 03, 2010
College Ltr of Recommendation Aug 10, 2010
MCAT Scores Jul 22, 2010 TEST DATE: 5/1/2009
Supplemental Application Aug 03, 2010

Additional Information Received
Document Received Note Status
College Transcript Aug 18, 2010 Cali State Univ -Sacrament
Letter of Recommendation 1 Aug 10, 2010

We shouldn't see "status" as they said it is internal. Also, did everyone receive this paragraph within the email?
"All of your required credentials are on file. Once your application has been reviewed and the Committee determines that you are qualified, you may be invited to PCOM for a personal interview. Interview invitations are extended via email, so it is important that you check your email account on a regular basis. We will use the address provided on your AACOMAS application. "

Because by my interpretation, translation to French then Spanish and back into English reveals that all my required credentials are on file..
 
mmikey said:
Does your grid look like this?



Requirements
Requirement Received Note Status
Application Fee Aug 03, 2010
College Ltr of Recommendation Aug 10, 2010
MCAT Scores Jul 22, 2010 TEST DATE: 5/1/2009
Supplemental Application Aug 03, 2010

Additional Information Received
Document Received Note Status
College Transcript Aug 18, 2010 Cali State Univ -Sacrament
Letter of Recommendation 1 Aug 10, 2010

We shouldn't see "status" as they said it is internal. Also, did everyone receive this paragraph within the email?
"All of your required credentials are on file. Once your application has been reviewed and the Committee determines that you are qualified, you may be invited to PCOM for a personal interview. Interview invitations are extended via email, so it is important that you check your email account on a regular basis. We will use the address provided on your AACOMAS application. "

Because by my interpretation, translation to French then Spanish and back into English reveals that all my required credentials are on file..
Click to expand...
Yes, I got that paragraph. And our LOR's were entered the same date (even though they had to have received mine earlier than that) and our MCATs were entered the same date... although my actual test date was different lol. I presume I'm complete based on that paragraph -- I am assuming those whose LOR's weren't entered yet don't have that paragraph... ??
 
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