What % of "hold for interview" are actually interviewed?

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Ciardeme

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Hey, does anyone out there have any statistics on this? Today, i received a letter stating i am "on hold for possible interview" from Penn State. I just about passed out at the mailbox! My heart is still pounding! Does anyone know hat my chances are of actually getting that interview?
This process is killing me, after 5 rejections I have resigned myself to the fact that it isn't going to happen this year. I've even been rejected from one of my state schools! I'm weeks into preparing for the April MCAT. My score seems to be what is holding me back....a big fat 22!
So, if i do get an interview it will be a miracle. If i do, this confirms that Penn state looks at your application as a whole! Pray for me people! :p

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I hope that it works out well for you! Good luck!
 
hey good luck! I got that letter today too. I think those letters are rude, cuz they're gonna interview everyonre better and then let us know where we stand. It's just not nice.
 
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Doctor Foxy, are you just plain CRAZY girl? I am so thrilled to get that letter! I almost couldn't breath!
I am resigned to the fact that my MCAT score is not competitive, but the rest of my application is VERY competitive. I know in my heart that if I could make it through the screening process to get an interview, I know they will see my motivation and perserverance.
I have worked so hard for so long. This has been a really long and difficult journey for me. I am finding that the harder the journey, the sweeter the feeling of success. I am not there yet, but this is what i needed to keep me going. The best of luck to all of you.
 
Before you pass out from excitement, be warned! I got that letter in November. It is now the middle of February and I am still on "hold for possible interview". Penn St can kiss my ass. Send my damn rejection and get it over with! :D Good luck to all of you who have gotten this letter, particularly you Ciardeme!
 
you're right...and I'm happy that I wasn't flat out rejected. Maybe they just send the letter cuz they have so many applicants to deal with, and this is better than not telling us anything.

People have read on interviewfeedback.com that people DO come off of interview holds, so there is definitely hope. I wish you the best of luck!
 
What the heck are these interview holds? For the schools that hand out these holds, do you have to go on hold before being invited to interview?
I keep hearing that people are getting tons of these holds, and yet I haven't seen one.
 
I also got that letter today. Not to dash any hopes, but I see that no one so far has been rejected from Penn State on this board, so I wonder if the "on hold for interview" pile is just everyone that hasn't interviewed. (As in, there isn't anything that makes us better than a rejection pile, because there isn't one.)
 
you're lucky otter. I just checked the acc/rej/wait list thread, and no one has posted any rejections from penn state. I'm guessing penn is procrastinating and putting everyone on hold until they make decisions. I think I'm on silent hold at 10 other schools......they just tell me nothing. At least penn (and albany) let us know where we are in the process.
 
Hi Foxy Doctor - I agree with you about the "silent hold." Of the 11 schools that have neither interviewed nor rejected me, none has put me on interview hold. But, based on past year's experience, I can tell you that many schools just keep you hanging until the end and then barrage you with rejection letters during March and April. I still believe that it's not too late at schools like OHSU and Loyola. But at places like Jefferson, BU, Mount Sinai and MCPH, I'm assuming that they've glanced through my stuff a long time ago and are holding on to you ("your file is still being reviewed") just in case there's an unexpectedly large number of unfilled spots a couple months from now. Asides from past experiences, the reason I say this is because my files have been complete at those schools since October and I know that those schools have been intervieweing August MCAT people since like December.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by otter:
[QB]For the schools that hand out these holds, do you have to go on hold before being invited to interview?
QB]••••Answering my own question! I got interviewed by Temple without ever getting this interview hold. Yet, I see that some people have been getting interview-held by Temple. So, there it goes...
Ok, this was a very clumsy post. Sorry...
 
I got the same letter from Penn State back in October and still have not interviewed with them.
 
My friend got the same letter from penn a couple of days ago, he also had a 22. There are lots of this board who are in the same situation.
 
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Ciardeme and others-

My friend from college got the "hold" letter from Penn State with a 3.2/26 MCAT in November. She has since been interviewed there, but was placed on their "hold" category again :( Unfortunately, she called the interviewer and he told her that while she scored well on the interview aspect of the application, her scores were too low and the admissions committee would have to wait and see how the class evolved.

So I guess I'm the bearer of good and bad news. Sorry!
 
Yes, still hoping for that interview. But ask yourself this....why would they waste all of that $ on postage to put everyone on hold? You're all right though, i haven't heard of a single rejection from Penn :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
What are people's numbers who were put on hold at Penn St? Are you a PA resident or not? I thought that I had a semi-decent shot there (3.6, 32P), plus close ties to the state. Apparently not. Maybe we could try and make a little more sense of this. I will call the admissions office tomorrow to find out what is happening with these "Hold" letters.
 
I'm on hold there too, but I think a lot has to do with being instate or out of state, since I got the same message from MCP Hahnemann. Otherwise, I don't get any brotherly love.
 
I got put on hold pre-int today from penn. I'm out of state and I have 3.67/27P (9,9,9)
 
are we talking about penn or penn state here?? :confused:
 
in that case, penn state put me in the same 'hold for possible interview' category way back in sept/oct or so, and i haven't heard zip ever since. not to be a pessimist here, but i think this category is just like a 'hold' designation at any other school, where you may possibly get an interview but they're not giving it to you at that moment--but by actually stating 'possible interview' it makes it sound better.

what 'hold' actually means depends on the school. at some, it legitimately means that you're being actively considered for an interview. at others, it's where they stick EVERYONE prior to sending out rejection letters. i suspect this is the case with penn state because i believe they get a huge number of applications.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by UCSFreak:
•What are people's numbers who were put on hold at Penn St? Are you a PA resident or not?.•••••Non resident. 3.70 GPA, 29 (9, 10, 10) MCAT.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by darkmatter:
•I'm on hold there too, but I think a lot has to do with being instate or out of state, since I got the same message from MCP Hahnemann. Otherwise, I don't get any brotherly love.•••••I don't think that this is the case. I have interviewed at both Temple and MCP, and an Oregonian on this site got accepted to Penn State (Irongirl). I am still going to call them today and find out what the dilly-o is.
 
33L same thing at penn state......out of stater
 
Last year I was put on "HOLD" at Morehouse in Atlanta and later rejected. Unfortunately, I just received a letter about 2 weeks ago saying I have been placed on their infamous pre-interview HOLD list again. I just hope its not one of those lists that "everyone" is placed on b/c they are behind in sending rejections. If anyone else got the same letter, feel free to post.

DOCTORSAIB
 
3.8 and a lousey 22...out of stater with no ties to the state. Beginning to think the "hold" was just a formality!
 
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