Penn status change message

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

appleplshr

awesome member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2004
Messages
72
Reaction score
0
Has anyone else received this message recently? Has anyone received this message and then had an interview offer?

Application Update
The Committee on Admissions reviewed your application but has deferred an interview decision. Additional reviews will occur between now and March 2008 to see if your status changes within our applicant pool.

ALL ADMISSIONS DECISIONS WILL BE ANNOUNCED AFTER MARCH 15.
 
Has anyone else received this message recently? Has anyone received this message and then had an interview offer?

Application Update
The Committee on Admissions reviewed your application but has deferred an interview decision. Additional reviews will occur between now and March 2008 to see if your status changes within our applicant pool.

ALL ADMISSIONS DECISIONS WILL BE ANNOUNCED AFTER MARCH 15.

Yes, mine got updated today and says the same thing
 
I just checked my status page, and I got the same message today. 🙁
 
same here...this is like my 6th preinterview hold
 
I still have the "screening process". When were you guys complete?
 
I didn't get that message...can't decide if thats a good thing or a bad thing
 
it took a while. I think I was complete in beginning of September
 
I was complete in late August. The first time I noticed the message was in the last 20 minutes.
 
I didn't get that message...can't decide if thats a good thing or a bad thing

I think it is a good thing...than again my stats are certainly not competitive there and I did not get that message so maybe I am just delusional?
 
I didn't get the message either, my page still says "being reviewed," which it has been saying since September.
 
drizzt3117, you have some pretty good interviews...maybe the people who got the defer made it past a pre-interview screen?
 
Yowza, yeah looking at drizzt3117's MDapps makes me think that the "deferred" message might be the better of the two situations.
 
drizzt's post was a little ambiguous. is he saying that his message said "deferred" or was he speculating about the meaning of the other message everyone else was getting?
 
also deferred.
 
please enlighten. there was a change to your status page and it now says: "deferred?"

If so, is that like a hold which is like a rejection?
 
Yeah, I think they're saying they got the "defer" message that the OP got. It looks like a "put it back in the pile and come back to it later" type of thing, like Loyola does a billion times. Not sure why some people's pages, like mine, haven't changed though. Rejection in the mail? Application still actually being reviewed? Admissions staff felt like leaving early and finishing tomorrow? Not really sure yet.
 
please enlighten. there was a change to your status page and it now says: "deferred?"

If so, is that like a hold which is like a rejection?

If you read the OP's post, it says the committee "deferred" their decision until after March 15th. I do not know if this is a hold or a moved-to-a-smaller-pool or whatever.
 
Additional reviews will occur between now and March 2008 to see if your status changes within our applicant pool.

I love these little admissions office mysteries. They make the waiting slightly, slightly more tolerable.
 
University of Pennsylvania.
 
Shoot. Based on previous threads, looks like this message forebodes formal rejection in March. Oh well, it was a big reach for me anyway.
 
Has anyone else received this message recently? Has anyone received this message and then had an interview offer?

Application Update
The Committee on Admissions reviewed your application but has deferred an interview decision. Additional reviews will occur between now and March 2008 to see if your status changes within our applicant pool.

ALL ADMISSIONS DECISIONS WILL BE ANNOUNCED AFTER MARCH 15.


I got that message too, and am also curious if anyone has gotten an interview after getting this message
 
I just checked and saw the same message on my status page. They didnt email me or anything though. I only noticed it because y'all mentioned it. This sure looks a lot like a very straightforward pre-interview hold. No one has been rejected from here yet, right?
 
i have no data or any particular info, but it just seems to me that this message basically means a rejection for us.
 
Yep, me too. Honestly, I'm not getting my hopes up on ANYWHERE I get the "we'll review you when we run out of other people we think are better" message.
 
I got this message as well, but i have to say that i honestly wasn't as disappointed as i expected to be. At this point in the game, that's exactly how i feel about penn; you're not my top choice, but if i run out of other options i'd look at you again later. It's funny because three months ago it was my top choice. I moved to philadelphia and did a post-bacc there just to improve my chances and make sure that it was for me. From my experiences there i learned that it wasn't in fact, for me. I think from the penn students that i've met, that they do a fantastic job of selecting students who fit in there. However, from the people that i've gotten to know over the past few months, i'm actually kinda glad/relieved that i don't fit in there. I'm not saying anything terrible about the school, the facilities are great and the people that go there are extremely intelligent. Just, not my kind of people.
 
Did not receive the "hold" message at Penn or UMich. This seems to be a bad thing at UMich (no interview + no hold = thin envelope w/o status change) but a good thing at Penn? Can anyone link past threads or speak from experience about whether or not this status change is good or bad at Penn?

Thanks!
 
Did not receive the "hold" message at Penn or UMich. This seems to be a bad thing at UMich (no interview + no hold = thin envelope w/o status change) but a good thing at Penn? Can anyone link past threads or speak from experience about whether or not this status change is good or bad at Penn?

Thanks!
I just answered my own question, I think. Looking at posts and MDapplicants from last year, 11/15 was the date that many were put on pre-interview hold and it doesn't seem like anyone received an invite/acceptance after that. As to whether or not this is a good thing not to have been placed on hold, I can't really tell. Last year, they gave holds to people with craaazy stats (3.8/38+) and similarly hard-to-get interviews, so go figure...
 
and what is this type?

Well it's kinda hard to say without offending people that go there, but my opinion of the 15-20 penn med students i know is a group of very booksmart people who are sure that they are better than everyone else they meet and like to use their status as penn med students to prove that. also, one of the drs that i work under wasn't too impressed with their bedside manner and communication skills and he works with 20-30/year. It may just be the certain individuals that i've met/come in contact with that give me that wierd feeling, but that's about all we have to go on at a school before matriculating so what can you do?
 
Well it's kinda hard to say without offending people that go there, but my opinion of the 15-20 penn med students i know is a group of very booksmart people who are sure that they are better than everyone else they meet and like to use their status as penn med students to prove that. also, one of the drs that i work under wasn't too impressed with their bedside manner and communication skills and he works with 20-30/year. It may just be the certain individuals that i've met/come in contact with that give me that wierd feeling, but that's about all we have to go on at a school before matriculating so what can you do?

Wow. When things are "kind of hard to say without offending someone" it is usually better to not say that thing unless it is absolutely necessary. Can't wait to until some current Penn students stumble upon this post.
 
haha, yeah its time for someone to break out those smart little popcorn-eating smiley faces...
 
I just answered my own question, I think. Looking at posts and MDapplicants from last year, 11/15 was the date that many were put on pre-interview hold and it doesn't seem like anyone received an invite/acceptance after that. As to whether or not this is a good thing not to have been placed on hold, I can't really tell. Last year, they gave holds to people with craaazy stats (3.8/38+) and similarly hard-to-get interviews, so go figure...

So even if we didn't get the defer message we're screwed? :scared:
 
Looking at last year's thread, it seems that there were one or two who got the message and then received an interview in January. Apparently the message means you were passed over for the first round of interviews.

My guess is that getting the message is better than no change, but that might depend on your completion date. I have a somewhat early completion date and no message change. I am betting that means I was passed over for the first round of interviews and won't be considered for the second round.
 
So even if we didn't get the defer message we're screwed? :scared:
I've no idea. With your stats/activities, I opt to take hope from the fact that I did not get a hold message either. From the searches/reading I did, the pre-interview hold seemed to be synonymous with rejection. But anyone's guess is as good as mine.

Just judging from the response on SDN, it seems like too many people were placed on hold for there to be reasonable hope of getting an interview at a later date. It does not seem to be the case (like Pritzker, UMich, etc.) that the holds are very limited in number. That's just my thoughts though, admissions committees work in mysterious ways.
 
Add me to the list. I was complete at Penn in late August/early September; got the deferred interview update yesterday. In case it's helpful to anyone, numbers-wise, I do NOT have competitive stats, but my LORs, personal experiences and extracurriculars are pretty significantly above-average. Wishing everyone good luck!
 
totally deferred too...oh well 🙁

Philly has been deemed killadelphia because they average >1 homicide/day. Scary eh? Now who still wants go to to Penn?!

TAKE THAT UPENN...:hardy:
 
Hm... what's better, a Pritzker style slap in the face, or a Penn hold?
 
I just answered my own question, I think. Looking at posts and MDapplicants from last year, 11/15 was the date that many were put on pre-interview hold and it doesn't seem like anyone received an invite/acceptance after that. As to whether or not this is a good thing not to have been placed on hold, I can't really tell. Last year, they gave holds to people with craaazy stats (3.8/38+) and similarly hard-to-get interviews, so go figure...


So the consensus is that this message = rejection? Sad. Hopefully someone from a previous app cycle will post and refute this...
 
drizzt's post was a little ambiguous. is he saying that his message said "deferred" or was he speculating about the meaning of the other message everyone else was getting?

I was saying I was deferred... here's what the status page looks like.

holdnw1.jpg


As far as what it means, I don't think it's a good thing. I'm not sure if it's better than having no message after being complete for awhile, but I don't think either case is particularly good. I'm not too worried, I have had some good interviews and an acceptance and it's still relatively early. I think a lot will happen after Jan 1, as schools have been rather cautious. Who knows, though.
 
Hopefully, the Pritzker slap in the face. I'm hoping to still interview sometime next year.

I meant this from Pritzker:

The Admissions Committee will not be continuing your application further in our admissions process. We are anticipating close to 7,000 applications this year, and are unfortunately having to make tough decisions regarding who we will be able to bring on campus for one of our 600 interview slots. In April of 2008 interested applicants may call our office to set up an appointment to talk with one of our Directors of Admissions and Financial Aid to discuss the reasons for this decision and possible suggestions for improvement.
 
Didn't get a deferral. Academic record above average, MCAT slightly below. Lots of unique experiences, strong PS. Complete early Sept. Not expecting much, though.
 
Top