Passed The Psb!! Upmc Shadyside

Pgh2888 · Apr 16, 2009

Hi everyone. I just found out that I passed the entrance exam and sent in my application today. I am worried that I am applying too late. Also, do you know how much of an emphasis they put on academic record. I attend a university now and have hit a few rough patches along the way. Do you think they will overlook this?

thatpasunshine · Apr 16, 2009

Hi everyone. I just found out that I passed the entrance exam and sent in my application today. I am worried that I am applying too late. Also, do you know how much of an emphasis they put on academic record. I attend a university now and have hit a few rough patches along the way. Do you think they will overlook this?

no it isnt too late but take it from someone who did this a few months ago GET YOUR FINGERPRINT CLEARANCE DONE ASAP! there were so many of us that had problems. some barely got to start because of it. and i know at this point you arent aware of how to do this because they dont tell you until after you are accepted but trust me it is in your best interest to do this NOW. if you dont know how then send me a message and i will explain it to you because i swear we saw people dragged out of our orientation because it wasnt straight. so if you can afford to do it now, even though you dont know if you are in or not then it will make your life so much easier down the line. oh and congrats! and as for the academic record they are mainly concerned with anything you are trying to transfer in, but without going into it too much just send me a private message and i will give you my number. after all the drama and stress it can be to get into this program i am more than willing to help you avoid it all. now all that said i dont want what i am saying to put you off from the school because i can honestly tell you that it is a great program so far and i am really enjoing it

Pgh2888 · Apr 25, 2009

This whole application process has me SOOO frustrated. My test results got lost in the mail and after 3 phone calls and multiple emails I finally got my answers. I passed so I immediately sent in my application.

I emailed Natalie the other day to ask if she had received all of my materials for admission. I have read a few posts about people having some things lost in the office and after my test results were lost, I wanted to check to make sure that she had everything she needed. They should have arrived at her office by last Friday, Monday at the latest.

I got an email back from her today asking if I had even taken the test because she could not put together my file until that had occurred!!!

I realize that she has a lot of papers that cross her desk and I am not mad at her but I am just frustrated. I'm concerned that everything that I sent and had sent is just floating around somewhere because no one checked to see if I passed the test. I feel like I am loosing time and it just has been one problem after the other. I feel that if I hadn't taken the proactive approach and made sure that everything for my application arrived, it would be sitting in pieces around the office and I would never get any answers.

Has anyone else had these same problems? I don't want to annoy Natalie and constantly email her or call but at the same time I feel like I need to to. I just don't know what I should do. I'm still waiting to hear back from her to see if she does actually have everything. I just can't seem to get answers.

thatpasunshine · Apr 25, 2009

ANNOY HER ALL YOU WANT. sometimes that is the only way to get things done. also quite a few of us just took things in person and got receipts for them. that way you cover your bases. if you dont live close enough to do that then send it from the post office with the little green card on the envelope that way someone has to sign for it when it gets there and you get the card so you know who. and i cant stress enough to get your clearances done NOW even before they offer you a slot, as i stated before we sat in orientation watching people being pulled out because of clearance issues!

r0b0tafflicti0n · Apr 26, 2009

I just got my acceptance to Shadyside this week.

thatpasunshine · Apr 26, 2009

I just got my acceptance to Shadyside this week.

:yeah:good for you. it is a really great program. i love it

nocheapones · Apr 27, 2009

Okay this is probably only of interest to myself, but the same day you were taking that test, I was down the street (at West Penn) giving birth to my daughter. Such sweet memories LOL.

Okay so about the PSB, I'm going to be taking it here in a couple of weeks and I have 0 confidence. I did pretty well in high school sciences (6+ years ago), have a solid A in the college Chem course I'm taking now, have never had Physics. I bought the 3 books they recommend on their website for studying, but haven't had much of a chance to look at them because I'm still studying for the classes I'm in. I'm scared! When you took the science portion, how much of it did you actually know and how much did you guess? Some of the stuff I know easily, but some of the stuff I have no clue about.

nocheapones · Apr 27, 2009

P.S. Did you get in? If so, how do you like it there?

Pgh2888 · Apr 28, 2009

I certainly wouldn't fret too much about the math, vocab, and reading comprehension.

Just do a few math problems from the study books the site recommends. If you seem to be doing fine then you will be fine on the test. I read over the math review in one of the books briefly just to brush up on anything that I had forgotten but really it is pretty basic. There were one or two tricky ones, specifically one about cutting a pie and I still cant figure out if it was a trick questions or if there was actual math involved!!! anyway I guess it doesn't really matter.

The vocab section was not too difficult either. You are asked to pick the word in a group of (I think) 4 that does not belong. While you may not know the meaning of all of the words, it was not too hard to pick the one that was different from the others. Usually 3 of the words were pretty easy and it was not difficult to pick out of those three if they all were the same or if one did not fit.

The reading comprehension was tricky but the answers were in the actual readings. I just skimmed the passage and then slowly went through the questions and looked for the exact answer in the passage. It took some time and I was down to the wire on time but it was for sure a good way for me to do it. I made some hasty decisions at first on what I thought the passage had said and only after rereading the questions, possible answers, and passage did I see the mistake that I made.

So basically those first three parts are not too difficult. You begin with a math/ vocab section. The questions are mixed. Then you proceed to the reading comprehension and last the science section.

I honestly left the test thinking that I had FOR SURE failed the science section and I passed with a 94 so don't freak out if you start to have trouble. If I wasn't immediately sure of an answer I skipped the question and moved on to the next one. When I was finished I slowly went though the ones that I was initially unsure of. Some of the questions were quite hard and there were ones that I really did not expect. I can't quite remember what they focused on but I remember there being more chemistry related questions than I was prepared for. I really don't think there was too much on physics. If there was it wasn't any crazy Calculus related Physics, just a few questions that you would just have to remember from studying.

If I were you, I would read over the reviews in the books. Each book had a few different things that I picked up. I didn't do any hardcore memorization of any specific topic but reading over everything really seemed to help. I would take some practice tests but don't freak out if you cant answer all of the questions. I don't think any of the practice questions were on the actual test so I wouldn't try to memorize those specifically. Basically I felt doing the practice questions just helped me build my confidence. I knew that if I was getting some right, I was obviously picking some things up from the study guides provided. I also didn't invest too much time in studying. I currently attend college and I really couldn't make studying a complete priority. I think it helped a little that I am still in school and can easily get into that studying mode and I know what methods work for me.

Sorry I wrote a novel. Hope there was something helpful in there!

nocheapones · Apr 28, 2009

Your post was very helpful, and reassuring. Thank you so much :) I'm going to follow your advice to try to get the most out of the study guides before I test.

suzbug910 · Apr 30, 2009

I just took the PSB test yesterday and am sooooo worried. I did know I did well on the math, vocabulary, and reading comprehension, but I didn't get to finish all the science questions. Did anyone else have this problem? I could cry I'm so worried.

Someone please say something good???

Pgh2888 · Apr 30, 2009

Its agony waiting for your results, I know the feeling. I walked out of the exam feeling as though I had failed and there really is no way of determining how well you did. Its confusing too when they say that you have to get at least the 75th percentile. There's not much explanation of what that exactly means for scoring and you have NO idea how many you can get wrong to still pass. It's an awful feeling to be left in the dark like that.

I know it doesn't really help but all you can do is wait and see and if worse comes to worse, you just take the science section again. I know that would be upsetting but just know that you wouldn't be the first and I'm sure there are quite a few current students who had to take it again.

Good luck!