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PENN STATE 2015-2016 application cycle


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It was wonderful to meet some of you today!  We hope you enjoyed your interview experience and gained a good understanding of our program's unique approach to Team Based Learning (TBL).  If you think of any questions as you reflect on your day, please do not hesitate to ask.  Best of luck!!

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Hi there! I am very excited to be applying to Penn State's PA program.  My supplemental application was confirmed as received on August 10th.  How soon could one hope to hear if he/she is lucky enough to be invited for an interview?  

 

P.S. Good luck to everyone who has already interviewed! :)

 

 

Received an interview for 9/22!

 

Anyone else in this interview group?

Hi!  Thank you both for your interest in PSU!!!  Good Luck as you continue this tedious, stressful, and sometimes long process...I've been there!!!

 

To DieselGirl18....the program reviews each and every application on a rolling basis.  By reading through this thread, and the thread for last cycle, you can get a pretty good idea for the timing from others who have posted.  Interviews are also conducted on a continual basis through late winter.  

 

And to those who interviewed today, we hope you enjoyed your experience!!  I know at least a few of you got to see the end of our anatomy class as a few of us first years were meeting in a small group with one of our faculty to review for finals next week.  Feel free to post any questions you may think of as you reflect on your day.

 

Again, best of luck to all!  

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I was lucky enough to interview today, and it was a great time. Great to meet you Buckybrain. Very informative and the faculty do their level best to try and make sure you are comfortable. We were able to have lunch with first and second year students who answered our (many) questions.

 

In the afternoon, we poked our heads into the classroom, as ST@PSU mentioned. They apparently had a rather tough comprehensive final that morning, so the TBL exercise that all of us candidates were looking forward to didn't occur. But, in addition to briefly watching their radiology review, we were able to sit in on a class consisting of PA students and med students on their family medicine clinical rotation doing TBL work on different clinical cases they had seen.

 

It was a full day, but very worthwhile. Five of us were scheduled, but unfortunately, one had some unforeseen problems and couldn't make it, so there were four of us. (The topic of how many people were going to be interviewed was a topic amongst us that morning in the lobby.)

 

Best of luck to all.

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I was lucky enough to interview today, and it was a great time. Great to meet you Buckybrain. Very informative and the faculty do their level best to try and make sure you are comfortable. We were able to have lunch with first and second year students who answered our (many) questions.

 

In the afternoon, we poked our heads into the classroom, as ST@PSU mentioned. They apparently had a rather tough comprehensive final that morning, so the TBL exercise that all of us candidates were looking forward to didn't occur. But, in addition to briefly watching their radiology review, we were able to sit in on a class consisting of PA students and med students on their family medicine clinical rotation doing TBL work on different clinical cases they had seen.

 

It was a full day, but very worthwhile. Five of us were scheduled, but unfortunately, one had some unforeseen problems and couldn't make it, so there were four of us. (The topic of how many people were going to be interviewed was a topic amongst us that morning in the lobby.)

 

Best of luck to all.

Glad to hear you enjoyed your day on campus!!  Yes, we started finals on Friday and they go through this week so our schedule was a bit different last week.  But sounds like you still got to see something great!  Again, feel free to post questions and comments and we'll be happy to respond!

 

Best of luck to all!!

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Hey Everyone!

 

Okay so I took the GRE and received a 144 on verbal and a 154 on quantitative.  Obviously, I was not happy with these scores, so I signed up for the Magoosh study tips and retook the exam.  I ended up doing slightly better with a 146 on verbal and a 158 on quantitative.  I saw on the previous stats that noone was accepted with a verbal score lower than a 148.  Do I still have a chance at all in being accepted?  I have submitted caspa already and still have to do my supplemental.  My sGPA and cGPA are both around 3.63.  Any advice would be appreciated!

 

Thanks!

 

 

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I'm going to caveat this with the statement that I am an applicant, same as you. But, and I firmly believe this is true of the Penn State program, they do a truly holistic review of your application. If you meet their minimums, you will be looked at as a potential student. Whether one stat will make or break you: I think it is more about the whole you (life experience, HCE, GPA, GRE, personal statement, etc.).

 

Do your best, as that's all you can do. Best of luck.

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Hey Everyone!

 

Okay so I took the GRE and received a 144 on verbal and a 154 on quantitative. Obviously, I was not happy with these scores, so I signed up for the Magoosh study tips and retook the exam. I ended up doing slightly better with a 146 on verbal and a 158 on quantitative. I saw on the previous stats that noone was accepted with a verbal score lower than a 148. Do I still have a chance at all in being accepted? I have submitted caspa already and still have to do my supplemental. My sGPA and cGPA are both around 3.63. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

Thanks!

First, thank you for your interest in PSU!!!

 

Second, if PSU really is one of your top choices, I would encourage you to apply!! While things like GREs and GPAs are important (with a minimum for the latter required), they do not tell the whole story of who "we are" as Penn Staters. Both our program and the institution highly value diversity within the class. For instance, within our current first year class, we have students with backgrounds in everything from biology to English and experiences from Chinese medicine to cardiology. We have students who have lived and traveled around the world and those have lived their whole lives in or near Hershey.

 

So you never know!! Your unique talents and experiences may be just what are needed in the Class of 2018!!

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I'm going to caveat this with the statement that I am an applicant, same as you. But, and I firmly believe this is true of the Penn State program, they do a truly holistic review of your application. If you meet their minimums, you will be looked at as a potential student. Whether one stat will make or break you: I think it is more about the whole you (life experience, HCE, GPA, GRE, personal statement, etc.).

 

Do your best, as that's all you can do. Best of luck.

Thanks for commenting!!! We are all about transparency here at PSU; however, that being said, I believe applicants learn the most from each other. It's one thing for me as a current student to attest to the program's vision and strengths but it's even better when those who are in the application process share their experiences and first impressions. The goal of the forum is to be an open interaction among applicants which is also driven by the applicants.

 

And while the forum is followed by the program itself, the program is only monitoring content for accuracy (ie no one claiming to have interviewed on a day interviews were not conducted) and to occasionally comment in response to questions. Also, for full disclosure, current students (including those of us commenting here) do NOT weigh in on the selection process in any way.

 

So thank you again for sharing. Best of luck!

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Hi all,

I just submitted my application for Penn State, & I am excited to get the supplemental application.

I have to say, I decided to apply to this school based on the credentials, but also by reading through this thread. I think it's amazing that the students are so involved and have such a passion for the program that you get on here, answer our questions, give advice, and have nothing but great things to say about the Penn program! I'm excited to continue the application process, & I hope to get to meet some of you at interviews!

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Hi all,

I just submitted my application for Penn State, & I am excited to get the supplemental application.

I have to say, I decided to apply to this school based on the credentials, but also by reading through this thread. I think it's amazing that the students are so involved and have such a passion for the program that you get on here, answer our questions, give advice, and have nothing but great things to say about the Penn program! I'm excited to continue the application process, & I hope to get to meet some of you at interviews!

Thanks for your interest and best of luck!!
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Hey everyone! Is anyone else interested in making a facebook page for accepted students? It might make it easier to figure out housing and everything else in the months before we get to Hershey! :)

Congrats!! And great idea. Both current classes use FB a lot to communicate with each other...even when we are in side by side classrooms studying!

 

But also to let you know, the program will invite all accepted candidates for the incoming class to a private social media group later on (but not too late!) in the interviewing cycle (I think around January?) so that you all can begin to connect with each other and likewise the program with all of you. Since individual plans change throughout the decision cycle, just a suggestion that you may want to wait to form your formal group until the class is largely set and, in the meantime, connect individually through FB, email, or other media.

 

Again, CONGRATS on being accepted! Welcome to PSU!!

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Congrats!! And great idea. Both current classes use FB a lot to communicate with each other...even when we are in side by side classrooms studying!

 

But also to let you know, the program will invite all accepted candidates for the incoming class to a private social media group later on (but not too late!) in the interviewing cycle (I think around January?) so that you all can begin to connect with each other and likewise the program with all of you. Since individual plans change throughout the decision cycle, just a suggestion that you may want to wait to form your formal group until the class is largely set and, in the meantime, connect individually through FB, email, or other media.

 

Again, CONGRATS on being accepted! Welcome to PSU!!

Oh perfect! I will wait for that group to be set up then. Thank you!! 

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To those of you playing the waiting game....I have been in your shoes!!! Twice in fact. So I can really relate to how nerve rattling this part of the process is. What I can also share with you is that PSU keeps its commitment to keeping seats available through its application deadline. That being said, applicants who have interviewed usually hear of their decision pretty quickly. However, not always. Again, the application, interview, and decision process is very fluid.

 

Two cycles ago, I was waitlisted and learned of that decision in about 4 weeks. Last cycle, I was again waitlisted after about an 8 week wait. Since PSU was always my first choice (and actually my only choice my first time through CASPA), I did not request an earlier decision from the program. However, if you have interviewed and need a decision in order to consider offers from other programs, our program encourages you to contact them to see if a decision can be made sooner. That does not mean the decision will be an acceptance but it may give you the information you need a little sooner so that you can continue working through this CASPA cycle.

 

To those that may get waitlisted, and if PSU is really where you want to be, I strongly encourage you to accept it!!! As I keep saying, individual applicants plans change over the course of a year. There are at least 3 of us in off the waitlist this year. And my acceptance came just 2 days before the start of classes!! To be sure, acceptance off the waitlist is pretty rare, but they do happen. And, if it can happen for me, it could happen for you, too!!

 

In the meantime, stay strong and continue to work to improve your application and interviewing skills even as you may be still interviewing with other programs. You never know when preparation will meet opportunity, but without the former you will not be ready for the latter!! Wishing you all the best!!

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Hey everyone! Is anyone else interested in making a facebook page for accepted students? It might make it easier to figure out housing and everything else in the months before we get to Hershey! :)

Hi em873 - Congrats on your acceptance & choosing PSU! We will begin a yammer group (business version of facebook if you will) in October where all deposited students can interact, discuss housing options, talk with current students, and get questions answered from the program.  Be on the lookout for that in the coming weeks.

 

Caryn

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Thanks, Caryn, for clarifying when Yammer will be available to them!

 

Also, I received a question about how interviewed applicants are typically notified about their decision and wanted to share my response for the benefit of all. Typically, accepted students receive a personal phone call of an offer. When I was chosen off the waitlist, this is how I was notified and I am pretty certain all of us received word by a phone call (with the official paperwork sent later by mail, except in my case when I only had 2 days to complete everything). Usually, our director, Chris Bruce, calls you personally.

 

When I was first wait listed, I was notified by a letter in the mail. I cannot speak to how those who were denied acceptance or waitlist were notified.

 

Hang in there everyone!!

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Hi!

I am looking to apply to PSU, my GPA isn't that strong (3.3), and I have about 750 hours of patient contact experience. My current job is getting me more hours so every week I am receiving 40 additional hours. This is my second year applying and I'm just trying to get some advice on whether I have a shot at PSU or not. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

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Hi!

I am looking to apply to PSU, my GPA isn't that strong (3.3), and I have about 750 hours of patient contact experience. My current job is getting me more hours so every week I am receiving 40 additional hours. This is my second year applying and I'm just trying to get some advice on whether I have a shot at PSU or not. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

Thank you for your continued interest in PSU!

 

To answer your question, I'll first reference previous posts in this thread which discuss the importance PSU places on diversity. Every one of us truly brings something different to the class and this is an essential component for the team-based learning approach that our program emphasizes. With that said, not everyone is a 4.0 student or has thousands of hours of HCE. But we all have something that adds to the diversity of the class and compliments the strengths of the other 29 students. You may have just what the Class of 2018 needs!

 

So, if you meet the entrance requirements as specified on our program's website, it's always worth applying- especially if you feel strongly that it would be a good fit for you. You can also use our entrance stats for the current two classes to see if your qualifications are similar (be sure to note the ranges as, like I said, we are quite diverse groups).

 

As a re-applicant, however, I would also add that, before applying again, be sure you have done the work of assessing what may have been areas that needed strengthening the last time you applied and be sure you have demonstrated ways in which you have improved them. If you cannot come up with any quantitative areas (ie GREs, GPA, and HCE hours) that needed significant improvement, consider more subjective areas of your application that might need to be improved. If you interviewed last cycle, then it could be that you need to focus on your interviewing skills as getting invited to interview likely indicated that your application itself (including essay) is strong.

On the other hand, if you did not interview last cycle, you may also want to examine your personal statement and volunteer/community involvement activities as well.

 

Finally, as someone who also went through two CASPA cycles before being accepted, I will say that I found this forum (not just the thread for PSU but for all the schools to which I applied) very, very helpful. As people posted that they were being accepted (and you may very well see a trend that the same people are getting accepted to multiple programs), I would message them and ask them to share a little bit about themselves so I could see where I was "falling short". This is a very good way to figure out ways and areas to improve yourself as a candidate throughout the application cycle since most programs cannot provide feedback to unaccepted applicants until near the end of the CASPA cycle (in fairness to all applicants).

 

Hope this helps!! Good Luck!!

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