Penn

Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
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pupsforseeing said:
I certainly don't have any "insider" info, but here's what I was told by multiple people at the interview day (including the dean of admissions, one of my interviewers, and multiple students): When the adcomm meets, everyone talks, but the students and administrative people on the committee don't get to vote. So, I think the students' roles are to get the interviewees to relax, but also listen and see if they're complete whackjobs that they can alert the adcomm of 🙂 Same goes for the dean of admissions/secretary, etc. I was really impressed with Penn's interview process and it definitely moved way up in my book as a result.
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Couldn't agree more.

I interviewed too (same day as pupsforseeing, I'm sure) and got the same impression from the deans, administrators, and students - the students meet with the adcomm, but get no vote. However, I think it remains clear that their say can influence the vote of members of the adcomm.

I loved the interview Process at Penn - I won't lie, the school wasn't my first choice, but after interviewing, touring the school, and meeting all the wonderful people, I couldn't be happier that I was accepted. Penn has launched to number one in my book. Just waiting for the "official" letter before I withdraw my application from UMinn, Illinois, and Tennessee -- it still doesn't seem real!
 
I tried searching for this question, but couldn't find it in past threads. Maybe I missed it. Does anyone know the approximate number of interview invitations sent out by Penn? Thanks for any info!
 
So are there any other SA applicants out there that still haven't heard anything?
 
I still haven't heard anything and I put SA on the postcard.
 
I talked to the admissions office last week. They said there are the last 3 interview dates in Feb (which seem to be LA) and then there will be interviews on March 21 and 28. She said the only thing they pay attention to on the postcard regarding interest is if you are LA. Any other go with what we are calling SA. Invites go out 3 weeks before the date by email. Just some info straight from Penn.
 
Thanks Bobdog. I'm small animal and I've heard nothing from them either.
 
I'm SA and haven't heard anything either. Even though there are still interview dates left, I'm getting really worried that we haven't heard anything.

good luck everyone!
 
That seems strange to me that they only consider the postcard choices under LA and SA. Weren't there several choices on it? I know I put other.
 
VeganChick said:
That seems strange to me that they only consider the postcard choices under LA and SA. Weren't there several choices on it? I know I put other.
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I put other too. I am still anxiously waiting.
 
I am curious, what exactly did you say when you called? 🙂
 
This is all reassuring! SA, haven't heard anything....
Except I went back and forth with Rob DiMeo (the admissions counselor) 50 times trying to figure out if I would be a Virginia or PA resident... Did anyone else have these troubles with residency? I grew up in PA, went to college in VA and am now spending my "year off" in VA working full time.... None of the vet schools I applied to seemed to agree where I should be considered a resident. It was a real pain in the rear! haha.
 
had that problem last year. I own a house in florida, have my car registered there, have my driver's license there, etc but live in Philly. Neither PA or FL wanted to count me as a resident!!
 
hey guys, if you put small animal don't worry if you havn't heard from Penn yet. I (and about 8 other classmates of mine) were all interviewed on the last day of interviews at the end of March. One of the biggest worries that day was whether there were even any spots left, apparently there were!

So don't give up hope but don't drive yourselves crazy or its gonna be a loooong few months. Also maybe take this stressful time to figure out ways to get rid of the stress. Start a hobby or something b/c once your in vet school your gonna need these de-stressers to avoid going over the edge into crazytown.
 
oh and they let me know about the interview like a week or two before so dont worry, theres still plenty of time for SA
 
chipster said:
So don't give up hope but don't drive yourselves crazy or its gonna be a loooong few months. Also maybe take this stressful time to figure out ways to get rid of the stress. Start a hobby or something b/c once your in vet school your gonna need these de-stressers to avoid going over the edge into crazytown.
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So you're saying that biting our nails and pulling our hair out are not good hobbies to have?
 
Yeah, I'm already a resident of crazytown.
 
I was asked to share a few things about my Penn interview via PM, but I think this would be a good place to let everyone know what I've learned this weekend.

Anyway, apparently my group was the first group they exclusively emailed invites to, so start checking your mail! The day lasted from 11a-5p and overall was really great. Initially, some people from admissions come and talk to you for about half an hour to an hour and then you go on a student led tour of the campus. My tour guides were great and had great - but realistic - things to say about the school. Then from 1:30-5 you are scheduled for a half hour interview. Everyone stays around regardless of when the time is in a room with the rest of the applicants, the current students/tour guides, and some people from admissions. I had my interview in the middle of the chunk and when they asked "do you have any questions for us?" I honestly did not have any because the current students/facstaff were such a great resource.

The interview itself was really laid back. One interviewer (the "hot" one) has read your file, the "cold" interviewer has not. So the cold interviewer does most of the talking. It's extremely conversational/get to know you sort of interview and very stress free (not that I was free of stress when I had it, but it was MUCH better than the other interview I went on). Overall, the cold interviewer just wants to get to know you because they literally know nothing about you, so you're really just talking about yourself and what you could bring to the field and vice versa. The hot interviewer jumps in at times to either compliment what you are saying (he added something about my research that is a "big deal" but that I would never bring up myself - call it modesty) or occasionally asked a question.

I received a call saying I was in this morning, which was very nice.

Anyway, if you have any more questions feel free to ask!
 
chipster said:
hey guys, if you put small animal don't worry if you havn't heard from Penn yet. I (and about 8 other classmates of mine) were all interviewed on the last day of interviews at the end of March. One of the biggest worries that day was whether there were even any spots left, apparently there were!

So don't give up hope but don't drive yourselves crazy or its gonna be a loooong few months. Also maybe take this stressful time to figure out ways to get rid of the stress. Start a hobby or something b/c once your in vet school your gonna need these de-stressers to avoid going over the edge into crazytown.
Click to expand...

i thought last year i was out of luck too, but i got the very last interview date just like chipster. i'm SA too. we were interviewed feb 23rd, and i think i got my letter maybe a week before that.

they still had plenty of spots left for us in that group, as they take about 2/3rds of the students that interview it seems. i think they offered spots for somewhere around 120-130 people, interviewing a little less than double that from what i can remember.

so everything will be okay. i know its easy for me to say, right? but this time last year i was in your place, and now im fretting anatomy pracitcals and neuro exams. it'll all work out! 🙂

oh, and crazy funny story about me and chipster:

we both interviewed the same day and never met before. we took the tour together, sat at the same table, interviewed with the same people, and chatted it up like we knew each other forever. as we were leaving after that day, we were walking down the library steps and i asked if it would be awesome if next year we could be classmates. she was like "heck yeah!" and now every day when we go up those stairs and she's walking next to me, i just smile. great things happen when they're meant to be!
 
So true! this year has been so unreal and amazing!:laugh:

I hope you guys have the same experience when you get to vet school.

spikey said:
i thought last year i was out of luck too, but i got the very last interview date just like chipster. i'm SA too. we were interviewed feb 23rd, and i think i got my letter maybe a week before that.

they still had plenty of spots left for us in that group, as they take about 2/3rds of the students that interview it seems. i think they offered spots for somewhere around 120-130 people, interviewing a little less than double that from what i can remember.

so everything will be okay. i know its easy for me to say, right? but this time last year i was in your place, and now im fretting anatomy pracitcals and neuro exams. it'll all work out! 🙂

oh, and crazy funny story about me and chipster:

we both interviewed the same day and never met before. we took the tour together, sat at the same table, interviewed with the same people, and chatted it up like we knew each other forever. as we were leaving after that day, we were walking down the library steps and i asked if it would be awesome if next year we could be classmates. she was like "heck yeah!" and now every day when we go up those stairs and she's walking next to me, i just smile. great things happen when they're meant to be!
Click to expand...
 
chipster said:
So true! this year has been so unreal and amazing!:laugh:

I hope you guys have the same experience when you get to vet school.
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awwww, aren't we just one big happy family?? 😍 :meanie:

congrats, banditalfi!
 
Hello all;

I just called admissions -- I too am still waiting, with SA and research checked. They told me they had scheduled food animal and equine through the 15th, but not the later weekends in February, and there are still dates in March. Just thought I'd put that out there ... apparently if you haven't heard back we're "still under consideration -- so you're still in the running". And yes, that was a direct quote from the nice admissions guy.

Congrats to all who are in ... can't wait to (hopefully) see those of you still waiting at later dates 🙂
 
Congrats!! I am jealous (in a good way). You said you were the first group they exclusively emailed...so start checking your mail--do you mean email? Or the post office mail?

Thanks!

banditalfi said:
I was asked to share a few things about my Penn interview via PM, but I think this would be a good place to let everyone know what I've learned this weekend.

Anyway, apparently my group was the first group they exclusively emailed invites to, so start checking your mail! The day lasted from 11a-5p and overall was really great. Initially, some people from admissions come and talk to you for about half an hour to an hour and then you go on a student led tour of the campus. My tour guides were great and had great - but realistic - things to say about the school. Then from 1:30-5 you are scheduled for a half hour interview. Everyone stays around regardless of when the time is in a room with the rest of the applicants, the current students/tour guides, and some people from admissions. I had my interview in the middle of the chunk and when they asked "do you have any questions for us?" I honestly did not have any because the current students/facstaff were such a great resource.

The interview itself was really laid back. One interviewer (the "hot" one) has read your file, the "cold" interviewer has not. So the cold interviewer does most of the talking. It's extremely conversational/get to know you sort of interview and very stress free (not that I was free of stress when I had it, but it was MUCH better than the other interview I went on). Overall, the cold interviewer just wants to get to know you because they literally know nothing about you, so you're really just talking about yourself and what you could bring to the field and vice versa. The hot interviewer jumps in at times to either compliment what you are saying (he added something about my research that is a "big deal" but that I would never bring up myself - call it modesty) or occasionally asked a question.

I received a call saying I was in this morning, which was very nice.

Anyway, if you have any more questions feel free to ask!
Click to expand...
 
Has Penn sent any rejections out yet? It seems like there are an awful lot of people "still in the running".
 
I believe they sent out some rejections way back when they sent out the suppl. postcard.
 
Does anyone know if Penn still has any LA/equine interview weekends that they haven't notified about? Anyone else still waiting to hear on that front?
 
That is the current big question: is the last weekend in Feb a LA or not????? Any Penn students with inside info on this?
 
BobDog said:
That is the current big question: is the last weekend in Feb a LA or not????? Any Penn students with inside info on this?
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I'm not a Penn student, but I asked admissions about it over the phone and was told that Feb. 15 was the last day for interviews out at New Bolton but that they were still considering canditates (yeah yeah yeah). He was a little big vague and kind of hemmed and hawed about it saying that there were more interview dates in March, but they didn't know when the exact dates would be.
It seemed like he was saying that Feb. 15 was definately the last day out at New Bolton, but that that doesn't NECESSARILY mean that some LA applicants won't be interviewed in March... although he wasn't really clear 😕
 
I just interviewed at Penn on Friday (still haven't heard back 🙁...) but we were told that there wasn't going to be any interviews at New Bolton this year because of the biosecurity risk. Also, we were told that they interview everybody together, no LA day, SA day, etc. And that seemed true, my group of 30 was highly diversified.
 
Very Interesting....My hope is renewed. However, I do see some conflicting info 🙄
 
Friday Feb 22 is not a large animal interview day at Penn, or at least its not at New Bolton Center.

I know because I got an email interview invite for that day (yay!) and I put down research/public health as my interest.
 
TractorKid said:
Friday Feb 22 is not a large animal interview day at Penn, or at least its not at New Bolton Center.

I know because I got an email interview invite for that day (yay!) and I put down research/public health as my interest.
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Don't forget that public health is more often in the realm of farm animals...it's possible that they'll be taking you out to NBC
 
cyrille104 said:
Don't forget that public health is more often in the realm of farm animals...it's possible that they'll be taking you out to NBC
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It's possible, but there is no mention of NBC on the schedule I received from Ms. Herpen. That's why I assumed I was being lumped into a small animal group.

However, I would really like to see New Bolton Center for the exact reason you mentioned.
 
TractorKid said:
It's possible, but there is no mention of NBC on the schedule I received from Ms. Herpen. That's why I assumed I was being lumped into a small animal group.

However, I would really like to see New Bolton Center for the exact reason you mentioned.
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I have a 2/22 interview date and I am SA/research.
 
Does this mean that they, possibly, will be changing their itinerary to NOT include the NBC? I have an interview on 2/15 (equine focus) and they have us going to the NBC. I hope that we are still able to tour it. I'd love to see it, even though I understand that we may not be able to.
 
I was speaking with Mrs. Herpen today at lunch when I went upstairs to buy a soda. She was saying that every Friday, Hill was the place to be, meaning the new part of the school where SA days were last year. So from that statement, that may cement the thought that you guys were having that no one is going to NBC.

Good luck to everyone still going through for Penn! Don't give up hope. Oh, I don't envy being in your position anymore 😀
 
rosalind428 said:
Also, we were told that they interview everybody together, no LA day, SA day, etc. And that seemed true, my group of 30 was highly diversified.
Click to expand...

That's quite the opposite of what they told us on my interview day. They said there definitely were separate interview dates and that LA would be a few weeks later (I was on 1/11). They said the LA groups would be seeing the NBC, but not the small.

That being said, my interview group was also very diverse... including some LA people. But then there are the people who don't return their postcards or return them late... they seem to just kind of throw them in with SA.
 
guys, i'm going to stop these rumors right now: if your schedule says NBC, you're going to NBC. you meet in the city in the morning, we do abbreviated tours of the city campus, then bus you out to NBC for i think another tour, lunch, and interviews.
 
Emio said:
guys, i'm going to stop these rumors right now: if your schedule says NBC, you're going to NBC. you meet in the city in the morning, we do abbreviated tours of the city campus, then bus you out to NBC for i think another tour, lunch, and interviews.
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thanks Em.

isn't this time of the year fun? 😛 i don't miss worrying like this at all. now we get to just worry about cranial nerves!
 
Looking through the interview thread regarding University of Penn, I noticed that people were getting email notifications on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I am hoping that this week I will get an invite too.

I called Penn last week and right now there is the 29th of February and 2-4 weeks in March left. So I am getting a bit antsy. I know that my GPA in undergraduate is not competitive, so I expected NOT to be contacted until later in the batch. I am hoping that research work experience and business school will put me in the diversity category. We shall see...

For those of us still waiting to hear from Penn... there is still at least 3 more Friday interview days left according to my phone call last week. Cheer Up 🙂
 
I was just about to call and ask them this today, but you've answered the question for me. Thanks!
 
Tiger1 said:
I called Penn last week and right now there is the 29th of February and 2-4 weeks in March left. So I am getting a bit antsy. I know that my GPA in undergraduate is not competitive, so I expected NOT to be contacted until later in the batch.


For those of us still waiting to hear from Penn... there is still at least 3 more Friday interview days left according to my phone call last week. Cheer Up 🙂
Click to expand...

I am right there with you. I know my undergrad GPA was less competitive and so I didn't expect to hear right away, but it doesn't make waiting any easier! Good to know there is still something to hope for! Thanks for keeping us informed!
 
Penn is my IS, and I am also still hoping for an interview. For me, it's my GRE that's less competitive, so I'm not surprised if I don't hear until later...if at all. Good luck !!!
 
I'm OOS and still haven't heard from Penn either. I believe my GPA and GRE are both pretty competitive. The thing that might hurt me is my experience, I have only about 1200 hours but I was a D1 athlete while I compiled those hours. I'm really hoping to hear from them still.
 
I'm almost to the point of insanity over these vet schools! So for Penn, should we assume no news is good news, even if there are only a few more weeks of interviews left? I haven't heard a word from penn. Penn's my first choice...I want it so bad!!

last year my friend got her rejection letter at the end of april. It was the only correspondence she had from them aside from that supplemental postcard. I really hope some of us dont have to wait that long for any news!!
 
I am now tracking Penn interview emails obsessively per week...So far, no one on SDN has posted interview invites for Penn this week which I take it that no emails have been sent for the February 29th interview slots.

There is still the rest of today and tomorrow to wait for. According to the Penn section of the interview thread, emails are sent on Tuesdays and/or Wednesdays of each week. If some current student at Penn have more definite information concerning when emails for interview invites and how many more Fridays are open...please share.

Best of Luck to the rest of us still waiting 🙂
 
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