UPenn 2014 cycle updates!

[Ben and Me]

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HUGE congrats, aspiringDVM!

That means you'll be out at New Bolton! Hurray! It's definitely the most fun interview day. 😀

Let me know if you have any questions - I interviewed out there last year so I have a pretty good idea of what goes on and what to wear, though I think that's been discussed earlier in this thread.

 

[DickVetPlease]

That's so exciting! You'll be awesome

 

[nyanko]

So hopefully you guys won't hate me for this, but apparently someone declined their interview on the 12th and Penn called this afternoon and offered me the spot. I am SHOCKED and thrilled and 100% panicked about how I'm going to get everything done in time, but super excited. Looking forward to meeting some of you NEXT WEEK .

YAY! good luck!!!

 

[BlacKAT33]

Hi everyone! My interview is tomorrow and I was just wondering if there was anyone else on SDN who will be there. Im so happy to be traveling again during another snow storm HAH i have a feeling i will have to stay in phili longer while the roads get cleared up in DC.

congrats AspiringDVM!!

Ben and Me- I hope I can meet you at happy hr!! I also hope happy hour still happens lol i don't know if the storm will hit PA but in my area they are saying 12-20 inches!

 

[Ben and Me]

!!

Ben and Me- I hope I can meet you at happy hr!! I also hope happy hour still happens lol i don't know if the storm will hit PA but in my area they are saying 12-20 inches!

Oh, I'm sure happy hour will go on in spite of the "winter storm warning." The pup will have to sport her new booties (which she hates) and her pink plaid 3 sizes too big coat (which she tolerates).

I got seriously confused and thought you were interviewing last weekend, and almost introduced myself to a stranger. Would've been awkward. Glad I decided to be shy.

How are you getting up here (and, more importantly, home)? The train generally keeps running, though it will probably be 1) full and 2) delayed if we get as much snow as they're anticipating. If you don't already have train tickets and were planning on taking it home, you might want to go ahead and buy them. The 30th street station is walkable from your hotel.

Good luck tomorrow! Let me know if you have any last minute questions!

 

[BlacKAT33]

Oh, I'm sure happy hour will go on in spite of the "winter storm warning." The pup will have to sport her new booties (which she hates) and her pink plaid 3 sizes too big coat (which she tolerates).

I got seriously confused and thought you were interviewing last weekend, and almost introduced myself to a stranger. Would've been awkward. Glad I decided to be shy.

How are you getting up here (and, more importantly, home)? The train generally keeps running, though it will probably be 1) full and 2) delayed if we get as much snow as they're anticipating. If you don't already have train tickets and were planning on taking it home, you might want to go ahead and buy them. The 30th street station is walkable from your hotel.

Good luck tomorrow! Let me know if you have any last minute questions!

lol i bet ur dog will look super cute! and now you will REALLY stand out for me! so i guess ill be the brave one so you don't go through an awkward situation 😀

I do have train tickets! I am more worried about coming home to 2 feet of snow and getting stuck in DC because last time we had a blizzard here they stopped running the outside metro stations. and taxis here just desert you so then id have to ask my parents or just sit in DC over night lol. i called amtrak and they said i can switch tickets easily if i want so i feel like i will end up doing that, but i just gotta wait and see if it is as bad as they say!

 

[laitmanvet]

So no one has heard anything about interviews on the 19th and 26th of Feb?

 

[BlacKAT33]

So no one has heard anything about interviews on the 19th and 26th of Feb?

ill try to remember to ask tomorrow

 

[eventualeventer]

lol i bet ur dog will look super cute! and now you will REALLY stand out for me! so i guess ill be the brave one so you don't go through an awkward situation 😀

I do have train tickets! I am more worried about coming home to 2 feet of snow and getting stuck in DC because last time we had a blizzard here they stopped running the outside metro stations. and taxis here just desert you so then id have to ask my parents or just sit in DC over night lol. i called amtrak and they said i can switch tickets easily if i want so i feel like i will end up doing that, but i just gotta wait and see if it is as bad as they say!

If you can get back to near campus, you can always come hang out with my family for the weekend (plus, my car has AWD)! 🙂

 

[BlacKAT33]

If you can get back to near campus, you can always come hang out with my family for the weekend (plus, my car has AWD)! 🙂

LOL thanks eventualeventer! 😀 man i cant stop thinkin about VT its driving me crazzzzyyy. and i really hope all of us get in! It will be so sad if one of the four of us don't 🙁 I asked dickvet this, but if you could text me tomorrow when you get your VT email! so i'll know when to tell my bf to look it up for me lol

 

[Horsingaround31]

Congratulations AspiringDVM!

 

[aspiringDVM]

Thank you, everyone! 😍
Ben and Me, I know this has been discussed ad nauseum, but will we be walking around inside/on sidewalks or outside through paddocks? I have a super comfy pair of ballet flats that look great, but clearly don't do so well in mud or snowdrifts, and I wouldn't precisely categorize them as "farm appropriate footwear." Also, do you think that nice dark gray slacks and a black cardigan is sufficiently formal? Acquiring suitable apparel on such short notice has been infinitely more stressful than finding a flight and hotel .

 

[dgm]

AspiringDVM, regarding the hotel thing - I know the Equine Club sent out an email looking for people willing to host an interviewee on their couch... So you may not have to spring for a hotel if you don't want to. You could stay at my place, but I'm a little outside the city, so not sure how convenient that would be for you!

 

[aspiringDVM]

AspiringDVM, regarding the hotel thing - I know the Equine Club sent out an email looking for people willing to host an interviewee on their couch... So you may not have to spring for a hotel if you don't want to. You could stay at my place, but I'm a little outside the city, so not sure how convenient that would be for you!

Thanks so much, that would have been fantastic! Unfortunately, I just reserved a room at a B&B near campus 🙁. I really, REALLY appreciate the offer though. Hopefully I will get to meet some of you all soon -- and I am PSYCHED about getting to see New Bolton!

 

[BlacKAT33]

so im here on campus and trying to calm myself down before tomorrow. i'm supposed to meet at the Hill Pavilion on baltimore and 38th, my question is about which building it is exactly. on my map there are several buildings at that intersection, is there a big sign on the building that says Hill Pavilion? how will i know which building it is? I may walk down to the wawa and scout out the building tonight cuz im worried about not finding it

 

[Shanomong]

.

 

[BlacKAT33]

Awe, you'll be fine!! They never start on time anyway. I went early with breakfast and sat and ate while waiting to calm myself down. Idk if it worked... but by the time interviews roll around (after the waiting, the intro, the tour, lunch....), you should feel pretty relaxed.

The front of the building does say Vernon and Shirley Hill Pavilion in large letters. It's literally on the corner. If you're walking from Wawa way, just cross 38th, make a left (still on 38th), and walk until you pass the last food cart. It's the big new building on your right! You can also try an areal (sp?) view if you're really concerned haha.

Sadly in other news, there will be no happy hour tomorrow. It's not snow related... the SCAVMA crew that sets it up has opted for attending other functions from what I gather from the email. 🙁 Sorry your interview experience will not be graced with this tradition! But have fun!!

Oh and AspiringDVM, fyi, dgm is TOTALLY weird. I wouldn't stay there either! 😀

thanks for the detailed directions 😀 i feel much better now

and about happy hour... NOOOOOOO!!! i can't believe it 🙁 i have the worst luck with interivews. one is in a snow storm in VA and i get delayed, the other is in PA with another snow storm but it is something else that cancels the event. sighhhh i was REALLLY REALLYY looking forward to this awesome happy hour and talking to all the students with their dogs. so disappointed. ok time to put my happy face back on... at least im GOING to an interview!!

 

[laitmanvet]

thanks for the detailed directions 😀 i feel much better now

and about happy hour... NOOOOOOO!!! i can't believe it 🙁 i have the worst luck with interivews. one is in a snow storm in VA and i get delayed, the other is in PA with another snow storm but it is something else that cancels the event. sighhhh i was REALLLY REALLYY looking forward to this awesome happy hour and talking to all the students with their dogs. so disappointed. ok time to put my happy face back on... at least im GOING to an interview!!

Yeah, the Hill building is the only modern looking building at the vet school. Everything else is brick and clearly older looking. The front entrance is on 38th st.
Good luck tomorrow, I'm still crossing my finger for an end of Feb. interview!

 

[aspiringDVM]

Good luck tomorrow BlacKat!

 

[BlacKAT33]

thank you everyone! 😀

ps- for all the wawa lovers out there, I JUST GOT A SANDWICH! may sound silly, but the wawa at UMD closed and ive been craving their sandwiches for 3 yrs! i love this city so far!! and for the people who say it is grungy...i dunno maybe its a diff opinion depending where you live but this place looks nicer than DC!!

 

[Ben and Me]

BlackKat - if you want to pester us with questions, let me know. Prabs I can convince Shamanong and DGM to hang around for a bit after class?

I'm super bummed about happy hour as well. No way I'm going over to the dental school, haha.

Hill is the huge, modern building! If you can find Rosenthal, which is on 38th and Spruce (the corner) just keep on walking down 38th, towards the Veteran's hospital.

 

[Ben and Me]

Thank you, everyone! 😍
Ben and Me, I know this has been discussed ad nauseum, but will we be walking around inside/on sidewalks or outside through paddocks? I have a super comfy pair of ballet flats that look great, but clearly don't do so well in mud or snowdrifts, and I wouldn't precisely categorize them as "farm appropriate footwear." Also, do you think that nice dark gray slacks and a black cardigan is sufficiently formal? Acquiring suitable apparel on such short notice has been infinitely more stressful than finding a flight and hotel .

You won't leave concrete/asphalt. 🙂 I wore patent leather ballet flats last year and was fine. There was no snow on the ground though. I'm heading out to New Bolton Tuesday and Wednesday next week, so I'll let you know if there is snow all over the place out there. They do a pretty good job of salting it down out there though - hard to do a lameness exam/walk a horse recovering from surgery if it's all covered in snow!

Your outfit sounds fine - I wore black suit pants and a green cotton V-neck sweater (over a white button-down) last year and felt totally appropriate. Very similar to what you're planning on wearing!

 

[BlacKAT33]

I'll PM! 😀

 

[NittanyKitty]

Good luck BlacKAT and all the other Penn interviewees today! You're all going to do amazing jobs out there! Also, glad you got your Wawa fix, BlacKAT. As soon as I saw the one near campus on my interview day, I made a beeline for lunch. Nothing like a shorti and Wawa iced tea to put you at ease! 😀

 

[kootz]

So no one has heard anything about interviews on the 19th and 26th of Feb?

I'm still waiting to hear about an interview too. I hope I'm not rejected!

 

[BlacKAT33]

I LOVE PENN!! i had the most amazing day today. my interviewers were really nice and it was very conversational. the grad students are all great! i talked with so many of them about housing and money and they gave me the best feed back ever. i also managed to speak with a couple people interested in MPH and lab animal medicine which i wasn't expecting since it is a smaller field of interest and there are no duel MPH programs here. and finally....THE HAPPY HR WAS RESCHEDULED!! so i got to meet the doggies and all of their students in their normal setting. loved it!!!!

Large animal info- so one person mentioned briefly about the large animal interviews being at the new bolton center and i think it was mrs. herpen...she said that there was only one day for this interview and it was next week. 🙁 now, dont take this as 100% because who knows....but i guess i wouldnt keep ur hopes up if you are looking to go into large animals. also, this is super impt., she said that they only do this interview for people who wrote about ONLY LA medicine. there were a lot of people today who were mixed animal and wanted to see the new bolton campus but she said they only do it for the people who are specifically interested in LA only.

 

[gilch]

I'm so glad your interview went well, BlacKAT!

 

[Crazy Hippos]

Yay BlacKAT!

 

[Shanomong]

.

 

[BlacKAT33]

thanks gilch and crazyhippos! 😍

shanomong- yea i couldnt believe it!! i asked my tour guides about it because i had this lil glimmer of hope left and then they said it was back on! i stayed til about 630 i think, then went to Greek Lady and Sprinkles. This is the best week ever! 😀😀

 

[DickVetPlease]

Glad to hear it went well! Did you manage to make it back down to MD? Or have they stopped the transportation already?

 

[rileyroo]

glad to hear you had such a great experience blackat!!!

 

[turnbackhelly]

went to Greek Lady

sigh... i love Greek Lady. 🙁 I truly will miss you, Penn!!

And congrats on a successful interview, BlacKAT33!!

 

[Ben and Me]

thanks gilch and crazyhippos! 😍

shanomong- yea i couldnt believe it!! i asked my tour guides about it because i had this lil glimmer of hope left and then they said it was back on! i stayed til about 630 i think, then went to Greek Lady and Sprinkles. This is the best week ever! 😀😀

Haha, hope you liked Greek Lady!

I also can't believe you went to Sprinkles in the snow!

Let me know if you need any other suggestions while y'all are up here!

 

[BlacKAT33]

dickvet-Nope, staying in PA til sunday. I took the train so i know it usually always runs, but with this 2 ft of snow i'm not sure if they will cancel it. There was a girl who came from the west coast and her flight was scheduled for saturday at 6pm and they already canceled it!! they raised the snow accumulation so now it is 20 inches in PA and 30 inches in MD. Since i was stuck in VA last week, i remembered to bring my boots to PA!! now i can do lots of exploring in the snow!

ben and me- haha yea sprinkles was good! i got pomegranate icecream with fruit. It was cold!! i couldnt finish my strawberries because they froze in the icecream and were making me too cold lol Tomorrow we are going to Pod!! we walked passed it and i was like WOAH! def a must see spot! plus they have conveyor belt sushi!! awesome!

thank you rileyroo and turnbackhelly!!!

 

[turnbackhelly]

Tomorrow we are going to Pod!!

as long as you're sticking around for a little while, mad mex and new deck tavern (down the street from pod - sansom between 34th and 36th) are two of my favorite penn staples... although the rest of the city is cool too, if you wanna venture outside of ucity!

 

[badcats]

Large animal info- so one person mentioned briefly about the large animal interviews being at the new bolton center and i think it was mrs. herpen...she said that there was only one day for this interview and it was next week. 🙁 now, dont take this as 100% because who knows....but i guess i wouldnt keep ur hopes up if you are looking to go into large animals.

DREAMCRUSHER!!

Really glad you had a great experience, and good luck with Penn and VMRCVM!

 

[aspiringDVM]

DREAMCRUSHER!!

Really glad you had a great experience, and good luck with Penn and VMRCVM!

Did you list anything besides equine/LA/food animal on your supplemental? I listed 1. equine 2. mix 3. SA and when I spoke with the admissions office they really wanted to clarify what my main interest was. I said that I was definitely more interested in equine and really wanted to see New Bolton, and two days later I got a phone call. My point is not to give up if you listed anything else besides LA/equine, even if it was your second or third choice, maybe they're just trying to do the majority of interviews in Philly.
Glad you had such an awesome experience, BlacKat!

 

[badcats]

Well I was mostly joking, but I did put SA as #2, although my hours there are pitiful. Who ever knows with any of this admissions stuff?
But if I do hear any good news from them, it will most definitely be a surprise, although I suppose it isn't over until its over.

Good luck by the way, that must have been so exciting to get that call.

 

[BlacKAT33]

DREAMCRUSHER!!

Really glad you had a great experience, and good luck with Penn and VMRCVM!

lol sryyyy but honestly i dont think u even apply to this because she specifically said it was for LA ONLYYY so if u put mixed or LA and SA they still wouldnt put u in the new bolton interview group

 

[lyndaelyzoo]

Yay BlacKAT!!! Congratulations, but you're making me wish I had applied to Penn!!!! How did it compare to VMRCVM? I miss the snow already!!! Oh well, still hoping for VMRCVM, UF, and UTK!!!!!! 😀

 

[BlacKAT33]

Yay BlacKAT!!! Congratulations, but you're making me wish I had applied to Penn!!!! How did it compare to VMRCVM? I miss the snow already!!! Oh well, still hoping for VMRCVM, UF, and UTK!!!!!! 😀

it was realllly incomparable to vmrcvm. even besides the facilities being amazing, there was a HUGE diff between the attitudes of the grad students. Now, i was only able to talk to my one grad student at vmrcvm, so maybe its not a fair view. But my grad student admitted to not liking the school but just "accepting" it and she also gave the most general tour and we werent allowed to see the labs. At penn, all the students were full of excitement and couldnt stop talkin about all the great things about the campus and their classes. I saw multiple labs and the tour was 2 hrs! complete with an amazingly detailed description of everything from the rooms, the text books, how exams are taken, social groups, surgery etc We were even allowed in the anatomy lab while some people were doing dissections! it was so cool! Also, vmcrvm did the MMI thing to "get to know us" but im not sure how well that worked. At the penn interview not only do i know they got to know me well but i also got to know my interviewers well. It was really personal and they still got to see my "soft skills" while doing the in person normal interview.

good luck with all ur schools! im dying while i wait for mine. i was at least supposed to know VA by now! lol

 

[lyndaelyzoo]

Man, I really wish I applied to Penn now...good luck to you BlacKAT!!! You will have some tough decisions to make soon!!!! I can't believe that your "tour guide" said that about the school. Did she explain why she felt that way? PM me if you'd like. 😀

 

[DickVetPlease]

I have to agree with BlacKAT, I also got a much better vibe from Penn than VMRCVM during my interviews. Perhaps it was just the way the days were set up, but everyone at Penn seemed way more enthusiasitic. Again, its possible that this was because Penn's interview day setup allowed me to speak with far more current students than at VMRCVM, but I just got the feeling that people were happier to be at Penn.

it was realllly incomparable to vmrcvm. even besides the facilities being amazing, there was a HUGE diff between the attitudes of the grad students. Now, i was only able to talk to my one grad student at vmrcvm, so maybe its not a fair view. But my grad student admitted to not liking the school but just "accepting" it and she also gave the most general tour and we werent allowed to see the labs. At penn, all the students were full of excitement and couldnt stop talkin about all the great things about the campus and their classes. I saw multiple labs and the tour was 2 hrs! complete with an amazingly detailed description of everything from the rooms, the text books, how exams are taken, social groups, surgery etc We were even allowed in the anatomy lab while some people were doing dissections! it was so cool! Also, vmcrvm did the MMI thing to "get to know us" but im not sure how well that worked. At the penn interview not only do i know they got to know me well but i also got to know my interviewers well. It was really personal and they still got to see my "soft skills" while doing the in person normal interview.

good luck with all ur schools! im dying while i wait for mine. i was at least supposed to know VA by now! lol

 

[Shanomong]

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[gilch]

I also wish they had organized the VMRCVM day differently. I did not apply to penn, but I had another interview earlier and was kind of disappointed in V-M. My student was giddy about describing the school and people, but I wish we had been able to talk to more to get a fuller picture. The vet students (not ambassadors) and faculty in the cafeteria really just ignored us. Sounds like penn was cool...I thought about applying, but the idea of Philadelphia and that OOS tuition...yikes!

 

[BlacKAT33]

Spoken like a true PennWe 😀

lol ive seen this phrase before...what does that mean/stand for? i assume Penn student, but is this the nickname for penn students or is there an acronym for it? and yes, i reallly hope i get into penn. ill def be cryin if i get rejected, altho i will prollie be crying if i get accepted too hahaha


dickvet/gilch- i agree with both of you. only talking to one student didn't give a well rounded experience (especially my grad student lol) and the faculty also wasn't around to talk much. the only faculty i talked to was dr. pelzer for 10 seconds to ask about the MPH meeting in the evening, and then i talked to the MPH faculty at night. also, i saw about 20-30 grad students in the "commons" area but they were all talking to themselves!!! i thought they would rotate around our tables but nope. And it was a little embarrassing because at my Penn interview the director of admissions was like "so who were the people interviewing you there" and i was like uhhh i have no idea but i think they were faculty because i saw one of the guys was wearing a VT tie LOL and i asked penn in my interview what they thought of the MMI format and they said they want the students to get to know them as much as they want to get to know the students. after Penn I had talked to about 4 faculty and 15 students, all conversations more then 2 minutes and the grad students for 1.5 hrs! i loved the happy hr!

lyndaelyzoo- i asked my grad student how she adjusted to being in blacksburg since it is kinda in the middle of no where. she responded by saying "for the first 4 months i hated it here...but now ive gotten used to it, and im pretty happy" but of course, it she didnt really sound that happy. and then during the tour she was like "this is the lecture room, this is __ room, the necropsy room is uhhhh its somewhere in this hall i think" and i was like OMG how do u forget where a room is?? especially since she was giving us the tour! and then she said "ill admit our facilities arent good, but they do the job" which is true, thats all you need, but she really didn't even TRY to show off the school.

sry this is long! hope it is good feedback... maybe VT will read our feedback and try to change up the MMI format/tour guides to include more students and faculty next year

 

[gilch]

sry this is long! hope it is good feedback... maybe VT will read our feedback and try to change up the MMI format/tour guides to include more students and faculty next year

Did you see that someone did post an interview feedback for VT that was not so favorable? No questions, so I'd assume it would pass that thing we signed...but yeah, there were definitely some interviewing/tour problems, no doubt about it. I know the area/school pretty well, and the interview/tour did not do it justice.

Sorry for hijacking...esp since I am not an applicant!

 

[NittanyKitty]

The PennWe thing - haha! All of the vets at my practice are Penn graduates and have explained it to me several times over. Basically, UPenn is said to do things a little differently (prime example being the VMD and not the DVM degree that you earn). Supposedly Penn veterinarians in the field are easy to pick out because they often say things like, "But at Penn, we do this" or "Yes, but at Penn, we teach that". Thus, the PennWe's!

 

[Whyevernot55]

The PennWe thing - haha! All of the vets at my practice are Penn graduates and have explained it to me several times over. Basically, UPenn is said to do things a little differently (prime example being the VMD and not the DVM degree that you earn). Supposedly Penn veterinarians in the field are easy to pick out because they often say things like, "But at Penn, we do this" or "Yes, but at Penn, we teach that". Thus, the PennWe's!

Hilarious! I have never heard this before and I effing love it.