UPenn 2014 cycle updates!

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NittanyKitty said:
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!
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Exactly right... I work at a large emergency/referral practice just a bit outside of philly, and pretty much all of the doctors there either did their vmd, internship and/or residency at Penn. what's REALLY funny is that at my tufts interview this past thursday, one of my interviewers ended up being familiar with the practice i work at and said "oh, that place is FULL of PennWe's!" (she said it nicely, not condescendingly - i know that can be read either way!)
 
NittanyKitty said:
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!
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LOL omg now i totally get it and when i reread my last post it makes complete sense hahaha
 
im only an alternate for my IS school 🙁🙁🙁 plz plzzz penn pick me!
 
BlacKAT33 said:
im only an alternate for my IS school 🙁🙁🙁 plz plzzz penn pick me!
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Does this mean that Penn is done interviewing IS applicants? It's my IS school and I am FREAKING out that I haven't heard from them...I've already been accepted to Michigan State but of course I want my IS! I talked to one of the admissions directors about 2 weeks ago and he said they're not done interviewing IS...but soo nervous.

Good luck!
 
peachinator said:
Does this mean that Penn is done interviewing IS applicants? It's my IS school and I am FREAKING out that I haven't heard from them...I've already been accepted to Michigan State but of course I want my IS! I talked to one of the admissions directors about 2 weeks ago and he said they're not done interviewing IS...but soo nervous.

Good luck!
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no my IS school is vmrcvm. but im waiting to hear from penn
 
I know that a few people have called the admissions office and they've been told that Penn is continuing to do interviews....but why does it seem like there haven't been any invites for a couple of weeks?
 
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I just wanted to let you all know that I just got back from meeting with fin aid and admissions at Penn, and by the looks of it there are almost definitely (it seems) still reviewing applications for interviews. Dean Keiter even mentioned that they (in the admissions office) are preparing for this week's snow storm by divvying up applications to take home so they can continue working on reviewing them in the event that they're not able to make it into the office...

I know that's not really anything concrete, but I wouldn't lose all hope yet!
 
Turnback- I was wondering, is there any use in trying to negotiate some sort of grant with Penn if you have cheaper options as "leverage" 🙄 Or is it a hopeless endeavor?
 
Thank you turnbackhelly! A little glimmer of hope remains -- that's a much better feeling than the feeling of preparing to reapply next year.
 
Hey! How was your meeting with the financial aid people?

I tried to make an appt with them for Thursday but it may need to be pushed back until next week because of the upcoming snow storm.

Does penn have money to give out besides federal aid? I can't remember if you got a chance to go to the Tufts financial aid seminar but they seemed to have money for students besides federal loans. any such luck with penn?
 
DickVetPlease said:
Turnback- I was wondering, is there any use in trying to negotiate some sort of grant with Penn if you have cheaper options as "leverage" 🙄 Or is it a hopeless endeavor?
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Well now speaking from experience, I'd say it's pretty useless. I didn't have the balls to be too direct ("Any money you can give me? 😳") but I did tell them I have 4 offers (maybe soon to be 5, judging by what I was told by my interviewers at Tufts this past Thursday) and Penn is my clear top choice by a mile, but I need some convincing to make the extra $$ investment in OOS tuition. The answer was basically a) there's plenty of loan money to be borrowed, and/or b) you can accept a seat, and then defer it for a year in order to gain PA residency. It certainly couldn't hurt to try for yourself, but I wouldn't count on a response different from the one I got. If you want any more details do feel free to PM me.
 
DickVetPlease said:
Turnback- I was wondering, is there any use in trying to negotiate some sort of grant with Penn if you have cheaper options as "leverage" 🙄 Or is it a hopeless endeavor?
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that would be awesome lol

http://www.cnbc.com/id/35238807

sryyyy im assuming hopeless

but congrats on all ur schools! tough decision
 
Horsingaround31 said:
Thank you turnbackhelly! A little glimmer of hope remains -- that's a much better feeling than the feeling of preparing to reapply next year.
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I'm trying to feel as if there's hope left, pessimism is taking over however. I was thinking the same thing as tech2vet...no one on sdn as heard anything in 2 weeks?
 
GellaBella said:
Does penn have money to give out besides federal aid? I can't remember if you got a chance to go to the Tufts financial aid seminar but they seemed to have money for students besides federal loans. any such luck with penn?
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Ashra in fin aid told me that any institutional scholarships/grants/etc ("free money," as she put it) comes from admissions, and if they were going to award you any of that they would have included it with your acceptance letter. I was able to attend the fin aid session at Tufts, and although I have no facts to back this up, I definitely got the impression that Tufts has more "free money" to give out than Penn does (this does not necessarily surprise me) - how MUCH more, I don't have a feel for. I also confirmed with Dean Keiter that Penn is not able to give accepted/deposited students a financial aid package prior to the April 15th deadline, unlike Tufts (and Cornell) who both will give you a fin aid package sometime in March (provided you meet all their FAFSA etc. deadlines). Hope that answers your question... if not send me a PM. 🙂

So since I can't really see myself deferring a year to switch my drivers license from NY to PA (that's literally the only missing piece of my PA residency puzzle - I've been living/voting/paying taxes here since 2007...lame) - looks like Cornell it is.
 
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laitmanvet said:
I'm trying to feel as if there's hope left, pessimism is taking over however. I was thinking the same thing as tech2vet...no one on sdn as heard anything in 2 weeks?
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i know its hard 🙁 we're all waiting with anxiety but dont give up hope yet.... i never heard them say that they were done with interviews but they did say LA was this coming friday. im sure they are preparing for that and catching up on old decisions. im pretttty sure there are still more normal interview days. i didnt hear specifically from anyone, but i think i would have heard a grad student or faculty mention that last fri was the final day. i hope you guys hear from them soon!
 
Yeah I figured it was useless, but if you had no luck, I don't expect anything different for myself.

BlacKAT- I've been cheering so hard for Penn to come through for you. Its great how everyone on here supports each other, but it definitely becomes different after you've met someone in person!

Have they been making their calls recently on Mondays or Tuesdays?
 
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BlacKAT33 said:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/35238807

sryyyy im assuming hopeless
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yeeeeah... i saw that on friday. i didn't want to be so doom-and-gloom about it on here, but... it is good for all of us to be aware of. so thanks for posting!

not that penn is the only school struggling with money by any means - each of the 4 schools i've visited have addressed the impact of the economy on their own school - but it has been my perception that penn has been among the hardest hit. part of the reason i didn't outright ask for grants, etc. - i already knew what the answer was.
 
I was thinking about this whole 'defering a year/gaining PA residency thing' and I'm suprised to hear that they are still offering this as an option considering they've reduced the number of instate students they are accepting, it kind of seems like a potential way to beat the system now...apply oos and have a better chance of getting in, then defer a year and pay instate tuition anyways.


and yeah I agree with you, it definitely seems like Tufts has much more money to give to students. In my financial aid session the woman said they give an average of $12k per year but that since this year they have had some funding issues with the state it would probably be less.

I'll def let everyone know what I hear during my session with Ashra this week as well (not that I think it will be any different than turnbackhelly's experience)
 
DickVetPlease said:
Yeah I figured it was useless, but if you had no luck, I don't expect anything different for myself.

BlacKAT- I've been cheering so hard for Penn to come through for you. Its great how everyone on here supports each other, but it definitely becomes different after you've met someone in person!

Have they been making their calls recently on Mondays or Tuesdays?
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😀 ya i am glad i got to meet all of you. ive been super depressed today but im still hoping for penn and lechatnoir really cheered me up about IL.
Penn has been calling on mondays but with the snow fri/sat i have no clue when they will call because im not sure when they had time to discuss everyones interview. i have a feeling they did today, but im not sure if they will make calls tonight or tomorrow....and unfortunately there wasn't anyone else from SDN on my day so i have no clue if anyone else has heard!

im hoping ben and me or shanomong have some sort of update tonight lol
 
turnbackhelly said:
yeeeeah... i saw that on friday. i didn't want to be so doom-and-gloom about it on here, but... it is good for all of us to be aware of. so thanks for posting!

not that penn is the only school struggling with money by any means - each of the 4 schools i've visited have addressed the impact of the economy on their own school - but it has been my perception that penn has been among the hardest hit. part of the reason i didn't outright ask for grants, etc. - i already knew what the answer was.
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sry to be doom and gloom about it lol i just saw that today. dr. pelzer also slipped in that vmrcvm is low on money.

edit: well let me clarify, she said that "we spend 53,000$ on each student here, and you guys know thats not what you pay in tuition" and their way of dealing with the costs is to have transfer students come in from the island vet school to replace students who leave/fail out so someone still pays tuition in their spot instead of it being empty for the rest of the years that class has

thanks horsingaround!!! 🙂 good luck to u too!
 
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BlacKAT33 - I wish you the best of luck. I hope you hear good news soon!! Waiting is for the birds!
 
GellaBella said:
I was thinking about this whole 'defering a year/gaining PA residency thing' and I'm suprised to hear that they are still offering this as an option considering they've reduced the number of instate students they are accepting, it kind of seems like a potential way to beat the system now...apply oos and have a better chance of getting in, then defer a year and pay instate tuition anyways.
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in some ways yes, in others it may not be worth it. (per ashra) tuition (IS and OOS) increases by 5% each year, so by deferring for a year you will be paying a higher tuition (regardless of IS/OOS). also, that is one fewer year that you would be making a vet's salary "on the other side" of vet school. also, if you have any UG/previous grad school loans and you are not in school during that deferment year, you will likely need to start making payments on those loans.

i guess it really depends on your personal situation (amount of savings, job status, cost of living, etc.) but for me deferring doesn't make any sense for many of the reasons mentioned. also taking into account the possibility that my current part time job may not be able to take me on as full time/salaried with benefits - so that's another year that i'd be paying for health insurance out of pocket, etc.

in any case, i hope your meeting goes better than mine did! 😳
 
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turnbackhelly said:
in some ways yes, in others it may not be worth it. (per ashra) tuition (IS and OOS) increases by 5% each year, so by deferring for a year you will be paying a higher tuition (regardless of IS/OOS). also, that is one fewer year that you would be making a vet's salary "on the other side" of vet school. also, if you have any UG/previous grad school loans and you are not in school during that deferment year, you will likely need to start making payments on those loans.

i guess it really depends on your personal situation (amount of savings, job status, cost of living, etc.) but for me deferring doesn't make any sense for many of the reasons mentioned. also taking into account the possibility that my current part time job may not be able to take me on as full time/salaried with benefits - so that's another year that i'd be paying for health insurance out of pocket, etc.

in any case, i hope your meeting goes better than mine did! 😳
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Oh I totally agree with you! I meant more I was thinking about it just for the sake of thinking about it...it is not an option that I am actually considering for myself.

I do have substantial loans from undergrad and I was bad and took some out during grad school as well (totally not necessary but I didn't think I'd be spending more on vet school later) sooo...I'm already very broke.🙁

luckily for someone like me who is interested in research there are loan forgiveness programs and i'm hoping those will come through for me at the end of the day. :xf:
 
GellaBella said:
luckily for someone like me who is interested in research there are loan forgiveness programs and i'm hoping those will come through for me at the end of the day. :xf:
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as someone who also has an insane amount of UG and grad school debt, my fingers are crossed for you! as for me... i'm still looking for a rich guy to marry. 😉
 
GellaBella said:
it kind of seems like a potential way to beat the system now...apply oos and have a better chance of getting in, then defer a year and pay instate tuition anyways.
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Just FYI, you don't have a better chance of getting in out of state. While they take a larger percentage of the class from out of state, Penn has fewer in state applicants and therefore a higher admission percentage for them.

Example: 800 people apply from OOS and 200 people apply from in state. They take 70 people for the class from OOS and 30 people for the class from IS. That means an 8.75% chance of getting in OOS and a 15% chance of getting in IS, even though 70% of the CLASS is out of state and 30% is in state.

So I don't recommend your strategy if you want to have better odds of getting in.
 
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Good luck, BlacKAT. The way things have been going this year, I figure I might have a chance if you get in. 😛

Yeah, VMRCVM is definitely hurting for money, too; both VA and MD are being hurt badly by the economy, and higher education is taking it in the shorts as a result. I don't know specifics about the main campus, but due to reduction in caseload and lack of funding, they laid off some faculty at the Equine Medical Center, including their only anesthesiologist and one of my favorite surgeons. 🙁

P.S. I feel OK talking about this because every excruciating detail of the budgets of state-funded institutions is available to the public due to FOIA and similar legislation, although they don't exactly advertise it. (At UMCP, you have to go to their special collections library in person, but you can find where every dollar in the budget is going.)

ETA: Hmmm, for some reason a bunch of posts did not show up until after I posted, even though they should have been there before. In a way, if I get in anywhere, I will be less tortured about my decision of where to go WRT finances, since my IS school VMRCVM rejected me (well, waitlisted).
 
Shanomong said:
Gah BlacKAT I logged on just to see if you got in! Damn them for not calling you today!! Good luck, hopefully tonight or tomorrow!!
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lol i hope i hear from them tomorrow or i will start to worry big time. btw- were you the girl i met with ben and me? just curious 🙂

eventualeventer- i do agree with the OOS decision part!
 
Hi!

There are scholarships available for students once they are here at Penn - there is an Opportunity Scholarship program, which starts your 1st year and pairs you with a mentor and gives you (I think) $12,500. There are also private scholarships thru the AAEP, AKC, etc which might be available depending on your interests, experiences, etc. Of course, you have to be among the best and the brighest to get one of these, and unfortunately that isn't the case for me (haha) so I'm sorry I'm not much help with the details.

And by the way...if the average to educate a student at VMRCVM is $53,000 then, assuming it costs that at Penn (it probably costs more just due to the urban setting, 2 campuses, etc) then Penn is also subsidizing your education by around $13,000....so, same as Tufts. 😉

I think all of the vet schools are facing budget cuts, not just Penn. I also think it is a good thing for the students (less so for the staff 🙁 ) - I know that the clinicians out at New Bolton are already very excited that the students will be playing more of a role in managing their own cases, doing treatments, etc - stuff that was previously done by nurses. More hands on experience for the students = a very, very good thing, especially for large animal folks. They're also talking about opening a community clinic in the next few months, which will give students more hands on experience in a primary care setting - ie not stuff you usually see at the teaching hospital!

BlackKat, it was great meeting you. I hope you got home okay yesterday! Let us know when you hear anything - and it was dgm that was with me. 😛
 
eventualeventer said:
In a way, if I get in anywhere, I will be less tortured about my decision of where to go WRT finances, since my IS school VMRCVM rejected me (well, waitlisted).
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Yep, not having to make a decision is underrated in some regards! 😛
 
the financial aid situation is soooooo bleak i had resorted to praying on a couple of megamillion tickets a week for a whole year... well... i guess i wasn't that lucky... i blew my coffee money on it, but hey it bought me hope?

fyi, i finally realized that it wasn't worth it being the math wiz that i am :idea:


if i ever do win the jackpot sometime in the future when i can afford to buy tickets again... i will def be starting a vet scholarship program
 
ooooooooh i have a bright idea! Next time there is a HUGE jackpot, maybe we should have an SDN lotto party where we all contribute equal amounts to buy a huge number of tix, and if any of our tix win, all of our tuitions are paid for?

i mean, if we win the $400Million jackpot, that's ~$200Million in our pockets, and if we estimate $250,000/student, we can support 800 students!!! Actually, waaaay more if a lot of people go in state. :nod:

and no... i don't have a gambling problem in case anyone feels the need to direct me to help!
 
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Minnerbelle said:
ooooooooh i have a bright idea! Next time there is a HUGE jackpot, maybe we should have an SDN lotto party where we all contribute equal amounts to buy a huge number of tix, and if any of our tix win, all of our tuitions are paid for?

i mean, if we win the $400Million jackpot, that's ~$200Million in our pockets, and if we estimate $250,000/student, we can support 800 students!!! Actually, waaaay more if a lot of people go in state. :nod:

and no... i don't have a gambling problem in case anyone feels the need to direct me to help!
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count me 100% in
 
Maybe we should give some thought to starting up a pyramid scheme as well.
 
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I'll be Chairperson For Ripping Off Little Old Ladies.
 
Shanomong said:
FYI, the administrative offices are closed tomorrow. For those of you watiting for a phone call or planning to follow up on anything.
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thanks for the update! im still nervously waiting because it seems like OOS schools are my only hope now. i had really good vibes about penn's interview but i also had a good vibe about my IS and that didnt turn out well lol but at least i got to defend my gpa to mr. keiter 😀 thats why i love regular interviews more than MMI's!
 
blackkat--i was also at penn on friday for interviews. i haven't heard anything yet either...i figure you're going about as crazy as i am--checking my email every hour and glaring at my phone, willing it to ring
 
bamitsme said:
blackkat--i was also at penn on friday for interviews. i haven't heard anything yet either...i figure you're going about as crazy as i am--checking my email every hour and glaring at my phone, willing it to ring
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lol THANK GOD i found another SDNer!! took you long enough to post 😛 haha welcome!! well this is a big relief. i wasnt sure if everyone else had been called or not. and as much as the waiting is killing me, im more worried that as each day passes by they will forget me because i really need my personality to shine thru since my stats are just avg. thanks again for posting! such a relief 😍
 
hey guys! i was at the interview friday too...no news yet...im beginning to lose hope which sucks because i lovedd the school =( good luck everyone
 
hahaha no prob. i've actually been following this and some of the other threads for quite some time now... i'm not really sure why i've never posted.

anyway, looks like we're going to be waiting a few more days...boo
 
Does anyone know what the deal is with interview invites? Or can I assume rejection at this point...
 
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