Penn Vet c/o 2026

Veterinary Science Graduate Certificate from UofI
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emantis2 said:
was really hoping we’d hear something today :’)
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I’m hopeful for next Wednesday. Does anyone know of a place where we can look at how many people applied to penn? WSU had over 2k apps and CSU had over 4K!!
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thoffman1496 said:
I’m hopeful for next Wednesday. Does anyone know of a place where we can look at how many people applied to penn? WSU had over 2k apps and CSU had over 4K!!
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Last year they at like 1190, my guess would be 1500ish this cycle. The area and price of penn deter people from applying so i’m sure they had a jump in applicants because everywhere has! They interview about 300 people
 
thoffman1496 said:
I’m hopeful for next Wednesday. Does anyone know of a place where we can look at how many people applied to penn? WSU had over 2k apps and CSU had over 4K!!
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No idea but based on most of the schools I've heard back from it sounds like there was another big overall increase in the number of applications received again this year.
 
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lis1127 said:
No idea but based on most of the schools I've heard back from it sounds like there was another big overall increase in the number of applications received again this year.
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Yeah it’s actually insane. Penn is my #1 school and I’m IS so I’m still keeping hope for an acceptance.
 
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futuredogtor26 said:
I’m really surprised nobody has heard anything this week. Last cycle they were releasing one batch a week. Guess they gotta keep the mystery alive for each cycle!
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Maybe today? Something could have delayed them a bit for the week between Covid, weather, and other stuff - who knows
 
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good luck to everyone interview today!!!
 
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charleyhorse said:
Interesting that they sent emails at different times....are your interviews both for 1/28?
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Yeah, I was going to say that at least now we know that they don't send out interview invites all at once.
 
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any interview tips for OOS? if anyone can share their experience that would be so appreciated!
 
nettarod00 said:
any interview tips for OOS? if anyone can share their experience that would be so appreciated!
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Actually just finished my interview and will say the SDN questions were SO helpful and a game changer. That’s all I looked at for preparation and all I needed. The interview was so relaxed and my interviewers were incredibly friendly. Great experience. Good luck!
 
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Does Upenn give preference to who they invite for interview first? Does it mean that the earlier you can an invite, the better your chances ? I am just curious, I am guessing they invite people with great stats and experiences first? Any thoughts?
 
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faye said:
Does Upenn give preference to who they invite for interview first? Does it mean that the earlier you can an invite, the better your chances ? I am just curious, I am guessing they invite people with great stats and experiences first? Any thoughts?
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I have the same question! I’m getting nervous that I havent heard anything yet… Penn is my #1 and now I feel like I should be considering other schools
 
faye said:
Does Upenn give preference to who they invite for interview first? Does it mean that the earlier you can an invite, the better your chances ? I am just curious, I am guessing they invite people with great stats and experiences first? Any thoughts?
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To add on to Faye's question, how many waves of interviews usually are there/when do they stop sending interview invites?
 
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futuredogtor26 said:
Yes, that’s definitely true. You normally get a call within a week that you’re accepted from here on out because they interview in order of candidates they want.
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well this made me feel less confident ✨ LOL
 
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The SDN questions can be very helpful for the interview so definitely look over them! Otherwise everybody is super friendly and it's as lowkey as a vet school interview can be lol! They said there would be almost 300 interviews this cycle, and they had ~1500 applicants total.
 
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dogsandcoffee said:
well this made me feel less confident ✨ LOL
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i’ve known so many people who interviewed the last wave or two and were still accepted!! I’m not sure how true that statement truly can be because you have an equal chance of acceptance no matter what wave you’re in !!
 
I had a meeting with admissions sometime last year and they said the timeline of who they invite to interview is completely random
 
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emantis2 said:
i’ve known so many people who interviewed the last wave or two and were still accepted!! I’m not how true true that statement truly can be because you have an equal chance of acceptance no matter what wave you’re in !!
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yay thank u :’) this made me feel better the waiting can just be so painful
 
faye said:
Does Upenn give preference to who they invite for interview first? Does it mean that the earlier you can an invite, the better your chances ? I am just curious, I am guessing they invite people with great stats and experiences first? Any thoughts?
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futuredogtor26 said:
Yes, that’s definitely true. You normally get a call within a week that you’re accepted from here on out because they interview in order of candidates they want.
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So I can't speak for exactly how they select their candidates and interview order, that process is kept under wraps (as it should be). However I will say that no matter when you interview, be it the first round of interviews or the last, your chances of getting in are the same. I have some classmates who were interviewed and accepted first round and some who were interviewed and accepted last round. There were people rejected in each round as well. We were told last year that they accept ~50% of the people they interview each round (This could vary year to year and interview round to interview round, or be complete BS, but it's what we were told so 🤷‍♀️). If you get an interview, it means they want you and think you'll be successful at Penn, regardless of when you receive that interview (I cannot stress this enough).

The fact that they call within a week is just because that's how they do things. They like to let people know as soon as possible. It shouldn't change who they subsequently select for an interview because let's not forget - you don't need to accept right away. So when they call has no bearing on the remaining candidates they want because you aren't expected to accept right away. Do people accept or decline quickly? Sure. That just means they might be able to accept additional people in the next round of interviews or pull people off an interview waitlist that they *probably* have (purely speculation, but I'm sure they have one in case people decline interviews or acceptances right away). They have a specific number of spots that they want to fill and each round of interviews they accept a certain number of students that goes toward filling that.

So are the people that were interviewed first the people they wanted the most? Maybe, maybe not? It's probably random. I do not know whether or not they accept more people in those first few rounds of interviews. I will say that while there are certainly people with a more impressive application that got in in the first couple of rounds of interviews, but there were also people interviewed in the last round who had equally as impressive applications. If you're curious you can go back to last year's thread and snoop around on those who were accepted and check out their stats - remember that stats (grades, experience, etc.) aren't solely what admissions committees are basing their acceptances on - they factor in LORs, personal statements, and the interview as well.

Remember these are just my personal thoughts and theories based on my experiences with Penn. Maybe one of my fellow PennVet peers will chime in with some more thoughts.

Summer Thompson said:
To add on to Faye's question, how many waves of interviews usually are there/when do they stop sending interview invites?
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Last round of interview invites were sent out on 2/12 last year, last interviews were conducted on 2/26. I believe they sent out interviews weekly, so 7-8 waves sounds right (I'm not going back to check, sorry). I would expect it to be similar this year. They will more than likely continue to send out batches every week - just keep in mind that only a small population of people who applied to Penn are on this forum so even if only one or two people receives an interview invite that doesn't mean they are sending out less invites, it just means that the people they are sending invites to are not on SDN.

As they say, no news is good news, so if you haven't heard anything yet, I would remain hopeful until you do! Best of luck to everyone the remainder of this cycle!
 
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dogsandcoffee said:
yay thank u :’) this made me feel better the waiting can just be so painful
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oh i know the waiting is kill me, but just as someone said above it’s completely random so don’t get in your head to much!! 💛
 
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emantis2 said:
i’ve known so many people who interviewed the last wave or two and were still accepted!! I’m not how true true that statement truly can be because you have an equal chance of acceptance no matter what wave you’re in !!
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I second this! They release the acceptances, rejections, and holds quickly after each interview date so as they go along they will conduct interviews until they feel they have filled the class.. Which is why they don’t know specifically how many interview days they’ll have. All of this to say every group of interviews has a good shot at acceptance! I hope that makes sense and encourages people!
 
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BlackCatsRuleTheWorld said:
You're an angel for all of this info and advice - thank you!!
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Of course! I was in your shoes last year, I remember how nerve-wracking this process is and the feeling of relief you get once you get interviews/acceptances!

My inbox is always open if anyone has any questions about Penn, vet school in general, the application process, life, etc. I understand the need to just talk to someone during this time!
 
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futuredogtor26 said:
I don’t think I explained my thought process well. So sorry! I didn’t mean it in the sense that we don’t have an equal chance of getting in if we get a later interview date. They wouldn’t interview seven waves of people if they didn’t want us to be apart of the class. I was told that for interview selection it wasn’t random though and that it was based on how much they liked your application/stats. Once you get the interview, you’re opportunity is the same!
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Thanks for clarifying - I would agree that interview selection isn't random overall. I'm just not sure if they put the people they like the most in the first interviews because I don't really see the point of it if they're just going to wait until April to get an answer? Although other schools do do this (like Tufts), so I suppose it's not entirely out of the realm of possibilities, Penn has just never overtly come out and said that they do this.

It would make more sense (ok at least in my head it does) that they select 280-300 people that they feel would be successful at Penn, then interview them randomly because at the end of the day, when they are accepted doesn't matter as they have until Decision Day to commit and they seem to accept the same amount of people during each round of interviews. Unfortunately, they remain very tight-lipped (at least to us) about how they select the order in which they interview candidates.

Ultimately I think trying to pick apart Penn's (as well as other school's) admissions process and how they select candidates can cause unnecessary stress for everyone. We all do it, I certainly did it last year, I'm not trying to be hypocritical here! As long as you (directed at the collective applicants, not you personally) submitted the best application you could with the opportunities you had and did your best as far as academics, experiences, research, LORs, personal statements, etc. you have just as much of a shot as the next person. Unfortunately it seems the application pool is only getting more and more competitive, and it's so easy (especially on forums like this) to compare yourself to everyone else, so I understand how it can be disheartening and frustrating for everyone waiting on interviews and acceptances. Especially when schools like Penn aren't consistent on times and days they send out their interviews and are very ambiguous when you ask for more information.

futuredogtor26 said:
Also sorry if the tone was negative - it has been a rough cycle personally but everyone is right and no news is good news!
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I'm sorry to hear it's been a rough cycle - hopefully it will get better! If you need anything or just need to vent, my inbox, as well as the inbox of many others on here, is open. This is a great community to have support you as we all have different experiences and different paths to getting into vet school. No matter what, I know you'll get there and I know you'll be a great doctor!
 
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sheepcowdoghorse23 said:
Thanks for clarifying - I would agree that interview selection isn't random overall. I'm just not sure if they put the people they like the most in the first interviews because I don't really see the point of it if they're just going to wait until April to get an answer? Although other schools do do this (like Tufts), so I suppose it's not entirely out of the realm of possibilities, Penn has just never overtly come out and said that they do this.

It would make more sense (ok at least in my head it does) that they select 280-300 people that they feel would be successful at Penn, then interview them randomly because at the end of the day, when they are accepted doesn't matter as they have until Decision Day to commit and they seem to accept the same amount of people during each round of interviews. Unfortunately, they remain very tight-lipped (at least to us) about how they select the order in which they interview candidates.

Ultimately I think trying to pick apart Penn's (as well as other school's) admissions process and how they select candidates can cause unnecessary stress for everyone. We all do it, I certainly did it last year, I'm not trying to be hypocritical here! As long as you (directed at the collective applicants, not you personally) submitted the best application you could with the opportunities you had and did your best as far as academics, experiences, research, LORs, personal statements, etc. you have just as much of a shot as the next person. Unfortunately it seems the application pool is only getting more and more competitive, and it's so easy (especially on forums like this) to compare yourself to everyone else, so I understand how it can be disheartening and frustrating for everyone waiting on interviews and acceptances. Especially when schools like Penn aren't consistent on times and days they send out their interviews and are very ambiguous when you ask for more information.


I'm sorry to hear it's been a rough cycle - hopefully it will get better! If you need anything or just need to vent, my inbox, as well as the inbox of many others on here, is open. This is a great community to have support you as we all have different experiences and different paths to getting into vet school. No matter what, I know you'll get there and I know you'll be a great doctor!
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Your words of advice have been therapeutic. My anxiety has been through the roof during this cycle. Thank you!
 
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Hey guy, I saw a bunch of topics and wanted to give my input on some things in case it helps anyone!!

I saw someone say they send 7-8 rounds of invites - which in theory means maybe 50 invites a week based on the total number people have said they interview BUT they will also email people and invite them for an interview if someone would cancel their interview and open a spot up (so pray we are all in flexible situations in life that we can make it work if there is a last minute invite with short notice)

I saw a lot regarding if they invite the “top” candidates first for interviews or not. Considering they do a lot more smaller interview days, I would say no based on trends in other schools. For example, last cycle LIU did 2 or 3 interview days, essentially filled the class well sent enough offers to fill the class with the first round of interviewed people and the rest of the interviews were basically to fill rejected seats and waitlist. Opposite of this places like Ross review applications as they come in and do frequent interviews and they review quickly and offer admission decisions usually within a month, and as someone who interviewed there in September and got accepted there are still people getting accepted for the same starting term. So do not tell yourself that a later interview means less chance to get in.

Any school is competitive. They all look at different things, some grades, some experiences. If it makes anyone feel better I have lower cumulative and science GPAs but a high last 45 GPA and I was rejected last year from Penn but during my file review I was told it was competitive and should focus on gaining more experience and using it more in my essays to make them more personal.
 
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bryanna said:
I saw a lot regarding if they invite the “top” candidates first for interviews or not. Considering they do a lot more smaller interview days, I would say no based on trends in other schools. For example, last cycle LIU did 2 or 3 interview days, essentially filled the class well sent enough offers to fill the class with the first round of interviewed people and the rest of the interviews were basically to fill rejected seats and waitlist. Opposite of this places like Ross review applications as they come in and do frequent interviews and they review quickly and offer admission decisions usually within a month, and as someone who interviewed there in September and got accepted there are still people getting accepted for the same starting term. So do not tell yourself that a later interview means less chance to get in.
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bryanna said:
Any school is competitive. They all look at different things, some grades, some experiences. If it makes anyone feel better I have lower cumulative and science GPAs but a high last 45 GPA and I was rejected last year from Penn but during my file review I was told it was competitive and should focus on gaining more experience and using it more in my essays to make them more personal.
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Excellent thoughts! I agree that the weekly interview days with smaller groups of people probably means that they don't select who they want most to interview first, but more likely they have a big list of people they think will be successful and randomly place them on a day. I'm sure some of their "top" applicants did interview first, I think it was probably a coincidence that they were also interviewed and accepted first by Tufts and Cornell - they probably just had a very competitive application. I have some classmates that were accepted early at Tufts but did not interview until later at Penn. Ultimately, we're never really going to know what they're looking for in a "top" applicant!

Penn looks a lot at diversity and experiences. One of the things that led me to choose Penn was the diversity of my class. I have classmates who had <3.5 GPA, classmates with a 4.0 GPA, classmates who have little vet clinic experience, classmates with thousands of hours.... small animal, large animal, research, etc. So I think it's great advice that if Penn isn't in the cards this year to keep getting diverse experiences and use these experiences next time around in essays and in the interview.
 
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Does anybody know when they will be sending out invites until? I’ve heard back from every school other than Penn (my IS) so far
 
mac502 said:
Does anybody know when they will be sending out invites until? I’ve heard back from every school other than Penn (my IS) so far
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They send invites out throughout February I believe. I’m also IS, and I think someone said they noticed a lot of this past wave seemed to be OOS invites, not sure if that’s the case or if it’s just what we saw on here 🤷🏼‍♀️
 
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bryanna said:
They send invites out throughout February I believe. I’m also IS, and I think someone said they noticed a lot of this past wave seemed to be OOS invites, not sure if that’s the case or if it’s just what we saw on here 🤷🏼‍♀️
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Thank you! I thought the same. Fingers crossed for this week!
 
mac502 said:
Thank you! I thought the same. Fingers crossed for this week!
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I’m telling myself this week will be a wave of IS interviews- depending what happens with all this snow if they don’t get in to work
 
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Anybody that interviewed on Friday heard anything yet?? I'm thinking we haven't because holiday but...
Years past if you're accepted they typically call that following Mon/Tues/Wed
 
Canecao said:
Anybody that interviewed on Friday heard anything yet?? I'm thinking we haven't because holiday but...
Years past if you're accepted they typically call that following Mon/Tues/Wed
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Guys I’m not sure what the weather is like out that way but on the other side of PA we got slammed with a bunch of snow that shut down a lot of things. If they got hit with it out that way, it may delay things a bit
 
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lynne8832 said:
I also interviewed on Friday and haven’t heard anything yet!!
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I also haven’t heard anything yet, but I missed a call from a Philly area code earlier today while I was at work. I am not sure if they would have left a voicemail or if it was possibly just a poorly timed spam call!
 
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lynne8832 said:
Maybe try to call the number back and see if it’s spam or if it actually goes to a voicemail box? Just a thought?
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I just called it back it was spam! A confused woman answered and said she never called me! 😂 Back to waiting
 
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I’m OOS in NJ but I’m hoping they’re gonna give out some interviews this week🤞
 
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