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Greetings from Hershey, PA and thank you to all the applicants who already have their CASPA applications underway for our May 2018 start!

 

I wanted to get the 2017-2018 cycle up and running for the program. As the Director of Admissions, I will be on here regularly enough, along with alumni and current students, to help field any questions and keep you informed about the admissions cycle at Penn State College of Medicine

 

We enroll 30 students each May into our 24-month master's program. The program is housed at the College of Medicine in Hershey, PA. We do not offer our program at any other campus or via an online option.

 

Registration will be open online shortly for two upcoming Online Information Sessions at http://med.psu.edu/physician-assistant/recruitment-events - Learn about our program from any location, online and easy!  I hope you will join me on one of these dates. 

 

I look forward to another exciting admissions cycle! 

 

Happy Applying! 

Caryn Stopper, M.Ed.
Director of Admissions

Penn State PA Program

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Hi everyone!

 

My name is Sue and I am a member of the recently graduated PSU PA Class of 2017.  I'm happy to answer any questions you may have from the student, and now alum, perspective.  Feel free to message me privately; however, I will post my responses publicly (while preserving anonymity) so that all may benefit.

 

Just a little bit about me.  I grew up in the Hershey area and plan to continue to live, and practice, nearby.  I was also a "non-traditional" student, having worked in cardiology (mostly as an exercise physiologist in cardiac rehab) for fifteen years prior to attending PA school.  I applied to CASPA two consecutive cycles with Penn State being my top choice school (and actually the only school to which I applied my first time through).

 

If you are new to the forum, or newly interested in Penn State, I encourage you to read through the thread from last admission cycle.  It will give you a great idea of the ebb and flow of our application and interview process as well as possibly answer some questions you may already have.

 

Again, feel free to post your questions!  All of us are happy to help.  Best of luck to all!

 

- Sue 

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Hello everyone! I am wondering if anyone has received the supplemental application yet. I submitted my CASPA application on 5/21 and my GRE scores on 5/28 and am currently waiting to get started on the supplemental. Just wanted to see where everyone else was at in this process :)

 

Thanks!

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Hi, again, all!

 

Please disregard my most recent post above. While PSU does accept students throughout its application cycle, it is not considered a rolling admission process. Our Director of Admissions, Caryn Stopper, will provide further clarification in a post in the very near future. My apologies for any confusion this has caused. Again, best of luck!

 

- Sue, PA-C

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Hello everyone! I am wondering if anyone has received the supplemental application yet. I submitted my CASPA application on 5/21 and my GRE scores on 5/28 and am currently waiting to get started on the supplemental. Just wanted to see where everyone else was at in this process :)

 

Thanks!

Hello pageburns22 - Thanks for applying to Penn State. Our secondary application will open shortly. We are in the final stages of testing and will have it live very soon.

 

A note on the Penn State Secondary Application to all prospective students: 

Invitations to complete the secondary application are sent to ALL CASPA-verified applications in batch format on a weekly basis. There is a lot of behind the scenes work to provide each applicant with a personalized secondary application and unique login. Typically the turnaround is anywhere between 2-10 business days from receipt of CASPA-verified application. 

The application is FREE to submit as we are very aware of the expenses you as the applicant already incur to apply through CASPA. 

 

Best wishes - 

Caryn Stopper

Director of Admissions

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Just received an email that I will be receiving the supplemental in a few days!

I graduated from Penn State and it said I have to use the LionPath so I just checked ahead but I am having a problem in locating the "Self-Servicing Portal."

I have searched everywhere and couldn't find it on LionPath. Could someone please provide me with further instructions of finding it?

I at least know that eLion had a "Self-Servicing" tab. 

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Just received an email that I will be receiving the supplemental in a few days!

I graduated from Penn State and it said I have to use the LionPath so I just checked ahead but I am having a problem in locating the "Self-Servicing Portal."

I have searched everywhere and couldn't find it on LionPath. Could someone please provide me with further instructions of finding it?

I at least know that eLion had a "Self-Servicing" tab. 

 

padream127 - as stated in the email you recently received, Penn State students/graduates will not have access to the Self-Service Portal for a few days, similar to non-Penn State applicants. There is nothing you can do in advance to access our secondary application until you receive proper authorization. Please allow our team 3-6 days - you will receive a second email from us when permission to access has been granted. 

 

Below is the statement regarding access to LionPATH as a Penn State affiliated applicant to our Program, 

  • **If you are currently enrolled as a Penn State student, you will have access in 3-6 business days by logging in to your LionPATH Student Portal-->selecting Self-Service using your current student login and password.**
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padream127 - as stated in the email you recently received, Penn State students/graduates will not have access to the Self-Service Portal for a few days, similar to non-Penn State applicants. There is nothing you can do in advance to access our secondary application until you receive proper authorization. Please allow our team 3-6 days - you will receive a second email from us when permission to access has been granted. 

 

Below is the statement regarding access to LionPATH as a Penn State affiliated applicant to our Program, 

  • **If you are currently enrolled as a Penn State student, you will have access in 3-6 business days by logging in to your LionPATH Student Portal-->selecting Self-Service using your current student login and password.**

 

I received another email for accessing into the supplemental but I will wait for a few days as you have mentioned to try again.

Thanks for the clarification, Caryn!

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I received another email for accessing into the supplemental but I will wait for a few days as you have mentioned to try again.

Thanks for the clarification, Caryn!

padream127 - this is not something I am able to handle in a forum setting as it involves your personal identifying information. Please contact me directly via phone or email so that I may assist you with proper access to the application. 

Caryn

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Hi all,

 

My name is John and I am a graduate of the 2017 class. Just wanted to stop in and say good luck to all of the applicants. You have chosen an amazing career. If you are questioning whether you are up to the challenge of PA school, know that I felt the same way. It is a difficult path but a rewarding one. Penn State is a particularly tough program, but you will graduate feeling like your degree is worth more for the experience. I couldn't be happier with my decision to attend (and I am still shocked they chose me).

 

I also want to direct you to my blog, PAjourney.com. It chronicles my experiences in PA school and offers advice for those considering the profession. Essentially, I wrote down everything that I wish I had known prior to PA school. This includes advice on applying, writing the essay, and interviewing. I hope you find it useful.

 

As Sue said, feel free to message me on here with questions. Although, be forewarned that I don't check my account that often.

 

Again, best of luck to everyone!

 

-John

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Hi everyone!

 

I have officially sent in my supplemental application and have a verified CASPA sent to the Penn State program!  Looks like a fantastic program, so hoping to hear back with some good news! When do you start contacting applicants for interviews?

 

Rachel

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I am pretty sure that I know the answer to this question, but I want to double check before I write out my responses to the supplemental application questions:

Is the 250 word count the limit for each of the individual questions or for all of the questions as a whole? 

 

Thank you and good luck to everyone!

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On 6/25/2017 at 8:02 PM, beckslamb23 said:

I am pretty sure that I know the answer to this question, but I want to double check before I write out my responses to the supplemental application questions:

Is the 250 word count the limit for each of the individual questions or for all of the questions as a whole? 

 

Thank you and good luck to everyone!

The 250 word limit is for each individual response!

I just sent in my supplemental application last night, but now I've got this "did I leave the stove on?" feeling. Always feel like I'm missing something lol. Guess I'll wait and see.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello and good luck to everyone applying! I have submitted my supplemental application on 6/13 and am waiting to hear back as well!

Question to an alumni, what are some of the challenges you faced while attending Penn State PA program? Thank you for your time! 

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1 hour ago, Vakas said:

Hello and good luck to everyone applying! I have submitted my supplemental application on 6/13 and am waiting to hear back as well!

Question to an alumni, what are some of the challenges you faced while attending Penn State PA program? Thank you for your time! 

Hello!

I'm not an alum (yet) but I will say some of the challenges faced mostly dealt with the amount of time you end up putting in your studies. I struggled with making sure I took the time to make sure I'm healthy (things like going to the gym and spending time out of the classroom). I will say that the quality of the education is terrific and is worth the one year of self-sacrifice. Rotations have been a smoother learning process because didactic year was rough. Hope this is helpful and feel free to ask more questions.

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16 hours ago, pchop said:

Hello!

I'm not an alum (yet) but I will say some of the challenges faced mostly dealt with the amount of time you end up putting in your studies. I struggled with making sure I took the time to make sure I'm healthy (things like going to the gym and spending time out of the classroom). I will say that the quality of the education is terrific and is worth the one year of self-sacrifice. Rotations have been a smoother learning process because didactic year was rough. Hope this is helpful and feel free to ask more questions.

Thank you for the response! Was very helpful, and I was wondering the same thing as to, if accepted, how I would be able to spend some time exercising while primarily focusing on my studies.

Another question I have is pertaining to the interview process. What is the environment like in regards to the personalities of the interviewers and questions, and any helpful tips to prepare? Thanks! 

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9 minutes ago, Vakas said:

Thank you for the response! Was very helpful, and I was wondering the same thing as to, if accepted, how I would be able to spend some time exercising while primarily focusing on my studies.

Another question I have is pertaining to the interview process. What is the environment like in regards to the personalities of the interviewers and questions, and any helpful tips to prepare? Thanks! 

You're welcome and glad I could help. I think many of my classmates figured out the time for self-care, I was just not the best at that.

To prepare for interviews, what I ended up doing is finding some PA school interview questions online and having an HR person at my hospital (they were willing to do this for me) interview me as though it's the real interview (so I wore a suit and went through the whole process). I didn't memorize my answers by any means but it gave me an opportunity to rehearse bullet points of my life story (the question "tell me about yourself" is always a hard one). Day of, you'll be pleasantly surprised by how friendly and personable the interviewers are (they're usually all faculty plus a patient interview). They really get to know you from your application before, and will happily go off script with their questions if there's an interesting topic you might have landed on together. For me, the interview sealed the deal for my decision to go here. It's a full day process and it truly is an opportunity for you to get to know the program as much as it is for them to get to know you. 

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10 minutes ago, pchop said:

You're welcome and glad I could help. I think many of my classmates figured out the time for self-care, I was just not the best at that.

To prepare for interviews, what I ended up doing is finding some PA school interview questions online and having an HR person at my hospital (they were willing to do this for me) interview me as though it's the real interview (so I wore a suit and went through the whole process). I didn't memorize my answers by any means but it gave me an opportunity to rehearse bullet points of my life story (the question "tell me about yourself" is always a hard one). Day of, you'll be pleasantly surprised by how friendly and personable the interviewers are (they're usually all faculty plus a patient interview). They really get to know you from your application before, and will happily go off script with their questions if there's an interesting topic you might have landed on together. For me, the interview sealed the deal for my decision to go here. It's a full day process and it truly is an opportunity for you to get to know the program as much as it is for them to get to know you. 

Great advice! Thank you so much! 

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2 minutes ago, reticentt said:

Just received an invite for an interview! Options are for August 4 or 11.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Congrats!!! Did you get an email? I've been checking mine nonstop the past week or so after they said in the info session they start contacting in July haha 

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