Philadelphia, PA
Allopathic Medical Schools | Private Non-Profit
Application Cycle: 2009-10
⭐ Overall Impressions
How did the interview impress you?
Positively 🙂
What was the stress level of the interview?
1 out of 10
0 = Low Stress, 10 = High Stress
What are your general comments?
Penn really impressed me. I went in with some preconceived notions about the competitiveness of the students and some negative thoughts about the curriculum. Don't believe the stereotypes...Penn's students are anything but cutthroat, and the curriculum is great. Even though the basic sciences are compressed into 2 years, the students do extremely well on the USMLE (about 1.5 SD above the mean). They don't feel like they're being thrown into the clinics unprepared, at least no more than they would after 2 years of basic sciences. The tour was kind of short but the guides were 4th year students, so we got a lot of information out of it. I loved that we got to sit in on a class for 45 minutes, and that we had a choice of which class (anatomy lab or dermatology lecture). As for the interviews themselves, they were very conversational and informal...no stress, no ethical questions. They basically start with a question and play off of your response. Finally, since I interviewed on Halloween, it was cool to see the admissions office people in costume! And we got free candy during lunch.
💬 Interview Process
What is one of the specific questions they asked you?
What do you like to do outside of college?
What was the most interesting question?
What was the most interesting psychology course you've taken (I'm a psych major).
How did you prepare for the interview?
SDN, read application and school's materials
What was the most difficult question?
Nothing...all the standard interview fare (but surprisingly, no "why medicine" or "why Penn").
What impressed you positively?
The students - they were very friendly and down to earth. Also, the fact that everything is on the web is very nice! There seems to be a decent amount of free time at Penn, especially in the fourth year (many students finish their clinical rotations early).
What impressed you negatively?
That there's a required research project (I'm not into research).
What did you wish you had known ahead of time?
It's VERY difficult to find Stemmler Hall and get into the building. If you can, stay in Penn Tower - there's a special student rate and a bridge to the hospital. From there, it's not too difficult to find Stemmler...just follow the signs to Rhodes Pavilion and exit where the big pyramid is outside, then just walk about 50 feet outside to Stemmler. I didn't know this and tried to cut through hospitals...don't even try this because the security is tight. Also, both the faculty and student interviews are open-file. This was interesting because I've never had an open-file student interview.
📍 Travel and Logistics
Who was the tour given by?
Student
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