Thread for BSMD 2020-2021 Applicants (Part 1)

[NoviceDad]

Penn State/ Jefferson

Congratulations to those who received positive news.

Some thoughts:

• Last year, PennState announced around Dec 14/15. And the communication was clear - you either received positive news or were told that your BS/MD journey ended.
• So, an announcement this time of the year, just two weeks after the deadline, seems too early.
• This could mean they have changed their process or they received lesser number of applicants or both.
• The message on application being reviewed for honors college also seems very out of place. Have not encountered that before. I would suggest that please reach out to admissions officials at PennState to understand what this implies.

[NoviceDad]

All who are receiving rejection emails or will receive one in the future:

Please do not read too much into these rejections. There is no specific reason that causes rejection - it may boil down to you being on the wrong side of a college’s yield management.

Thinking my GPA or SAT was not perfect or I had no research or I had less shadow hours or I am ORM or something else may NOT be the reason for rejection.

Also, note out of 10-12 or 15 colleges you apply, you are bound to get rejections for some places.

It is very likely you may be rejected from a “lower” grade college and called for interviews by a “higher” grade college

[NoviceDad]

@ksmed1

@9the0girl7
https://takecasper.com/schools-and-programs/
You can check in the above link under Baylor.

That is not for BS/MD.
Baylor2Baylor does not require CASPer.

Only Hofstra requires it for BS/MD this year.

[rmsm99]

.

[grtd2010]

@InspireTruth

@aspiringbsmd2021

@yuvi21 @InspireTruth were you both admitted to PSU prior to receiving this email? also did you apply before Nov 1? I applied exactly on Nov 1 and haven’t received any info yet…rip

I applied on October 29th. My Penn State Portal said that they will be “notifying SKMC of my candidacy”. From what I can tell, SKMC has taken over the review process from PSU and has picked finalists. I’m not sure if they’re still in the process of sending out emails or if they’re done though.

So, now SKMC selects whom to invite for an interview in near future. All those who are finalist for review by SKMC have been selected. Is this correct ?
If your application is not forwarded to SKMC, you go to Honors College route ? Is this correct ?
Do not find any clues in random CC postings.
Please call PSU to clarify these issues to have a peace of mind.

[grtd2010]

@rmsm99

If we get rejected from Penn State PMM then will we still be considered for their regular undergrad?

You can be admitted to PSU PMM UG major without PSU/SKMC selection. You do not need to apply to Honors college either.

[rmsm99]

@grtd2010

@rmsm99

If we get rejected from Penn State PMM then will we still be considered for their regular undergrad?

You can be admitted to PSU PMM UG major without PSU/SKMC selection. You do not need to apply to Honors college either.

Wait what does that mean? Isn’t the PMM major only doable if you get selected for SKMC as well?

[grtd2010]

@BSMDMOM2021

@mygrad2021

My daughter didn’t apply to Honors at Penn as you can only select PMM or Honors. It’s strange that she received an email today that “in order to review your application for admission to the Schreyer Honors College, following documents should be on file…Our admissions decisions will be released in mid- to late- February.”. It’s confusing. Are they still reviewing her application? As she didn’t apply to Honors, I don’t think they forward it to Honors college? Do they mean SKMC?, not sure. Any thoughts?

We got the same despite saying No to honors in the application. I believe it’s because we opened the Honors application, though we never completed it.

Call PSU to get an answer and have a peace of mind.

[grtd2010]

@aspiringbsmd2021

@CollegeAddict8 same thing here

Call PSU to get an answer and have a peace of mind.

[grtd2010]

@HopefulBSMDMom

Does anyone know whether Penn State sends its interviews at once or over the course of a few weeks?

Call PSU to get an answer and have a peace of mind.

[grtd2010]

@CollegeAddict8

Will the rest of these interviews be sent out over the course of these next few days? It seems interviews last year weren’t all sent on the same day. My application says your application is currently under review. What does this mean?

Call PSU to get an answer and have a peace of mind.

[grtd2010]

@mygrad2021

My daughter didn’t apply to Honors at Penn as you can only select PMM or Honors. It’s strange that she received an email today that “in order to review your application for admission to the Schreyer Honors College, following documents should be on file…Our admissions decisions will be released in mid- to late- February.”. It’s confusing. Are they still reviewing her application? As she didn’t apply to Honors, I don’t think they forward it to Honors college? Do they mean SKMC?, not sure. Any thoughts?

Call PSU to get an answer and have a peace of mind.

[yuvi21]

@TensedMom

Congratulations @yuvi21 and @InspireTruth .
If you don’t mind sharing when you submitted the applications.
and @yuvi21 - your stats.

@InspireTruth - that is an amazing SAT score.

Thank you
Hi, GPA 4.5/4.5 unweighted, weighted 5.5/5.5 and SAT 1580.

[yuvi21]

@Vicky2019

@InspireTruth, @yuvi21 - Congratulations! on becoming a Penn State PMM finalist. Good Luck with your interview.

Thank you!

[magicstick5]

Anyone know if PSU still giving out interviews for SKMC? My application is still “under review” when looking at the portal, so I’m not sure if that means they haven’t gotten to mine yet or if I’ve been rejected.

[yuvi21]

@InspireTruth

@aspiringbsmd2021

@yuvi21 @InspireTruth were you both admitted to PSU prior to receiving this email? also did you apply before Nov 1? I applied exactly on Nov 1 and haven’t received any info yet…rip

I applied on October 29th. My Penn State Portal said that they will be “notifying SKMC of my candidacy”. From what I can tell, SKMC has taken over the review process from PSU and has picked finalists. I’m not sure if they’re still in the process of sending out emails or if they’re done though.

Hi I applied end of October also and says same on portal as @InspireTruth

[grtd2010]

@ksmed1

@HopefulBSMDMom, I am also interested to know. Previous years results used to come out for Interviews on December 14,15 around. Looks like this year way earlier. Hopefully they send some more. But last year averages for PENN are 36 ACT and 1569 SAT, So candidates near or above can be more hopeful but not guaranteed I guess.

Call PSU to get an answer and have a peace of mind.

[Vicky2019]

@aspiringbsmd2021

@yuvi21 @InspireTruth were you both admitted to PSU prior to receiving this email? also did you apply before Nov 1? I applied exactly on Nov 1 and haven’t received any info yet…rip

@aspiringbsmd2021 - Sharing our experience -

Getting an interview means,

@NoviceDad

All who are receiving rejection emails or will receive one in the future:

Please do not read too much into these rejections. There is no specific reason that causes rejection - it may boil down to you being on the wrong side of a college’s yield management.

Thinking my GPA or SAT was not perfect or I had no research or I had less shadow hours or I am ORM or something else may NOT be the reason for rejection.

Also, note out of 10-12 or 15 colleges you apply, you are bound to get rejections for some places.

It is very likely you may be rejected from a “lower” grade college and called for interviews by a “higher” grade college

I totally agree with @NoviceDad assessment. This aligns with our experience last year.

[Vicky2019]

@rmsm99

.

@rmsm99 - In their website in the FAQs section, it clearly says that students can apply simultaneously apply to the Schreyer Honors College but if offered admission to PMM and the Schreyer Honors College only one offer can be accepted.

https://science.psu.edu/interdisciplinary-programs/premed-med-bsmd/frequently-asked-questions

All BSMD aspirants - consider applying to scholarships below.

Penn State University Schreyer college offers merit scholarship to incoming students. For those who want to consider this as an option, please apply!

PSU Scholarships (no separate application is needed for some of these)
Academic Excellence Scholarship (AES) , NMF scholarship & Provost Scholarships.

Other STEM scholarships-
https://science.psu.edu/future-students/undergraduates/scholarships

Most scholarships are given for Schreyers Honors students to attract highly qualified students. (usually PMM students do not receive scholarships)

[InspireTruth]

@grtd2010

@InspireTruth

@aspiringbsmd2021

@yuvi21 @InspireTruth were you both admitted to PSU prior to receiving this email? also did you apply before Nov 1? I applied exactly on Nov 1 and haven’t received any info yet…rip

I applied on October 29th. My Penn State Portal said that they will be “notifying SKMC of my candidacy”. From what I can tell, SKMC has taken over the review process from PSU and has picked finalists. I’m not sure if they’re still in the process of sending out emails or if they’re done though.

So, now SKMC selects whom to invite for an interview in near future. All those who are finalist for review by SKMC have been selected. Is this correct ?
If your application is not forwarded to SKMC, you go to Honors College route ? Is this correct ?
Do not find any clues in random CC postings.
Please call PSU to clarify these issues to have a peace of mind.

On my portal, it says that all finalists will be automatically admitted to the Eberly College of Science if not accepted to SKMC via the PMM program.