kcolfer

Yeah, this is probably something I should know, but does anyone know when we’re supposed to hear about need-based aid and loans?

I applied last year and there was no priority deadline; there was only one application deadline on October 15. We were told to expect decisions in early February, and decisions were released in the portal (no email notification, app status just changed in the portal) late afternoon on February 5, which was a Friday. If they said early January for this year, hopefully you'll hear soon!

Yes! I looked back through my texts and I heard on February 5th. I don't think I got an email from Penn about it, I remember seeing on this forum from last year that notifications were out, so I logged into my application portal to check. I think I got a vague email from Penn later that night or maybe the next day that there was a change in my application status and that I should log in to check, but I don't think I ever got an "your decision has been posted" email, so don't wait for that! I only did the video interview! I remember reading on this forum that some MSN specialties contact people for additional interviews sometimes, but I don't remember which specialties. PS I also remember thinking that my video interview was super awkward but I still got in so for everyone on the forum saying they don't think it went well, I wouldn't worry about it too much hahah

Yeah of course! I graduated in 2019 with my first Bachelor’s in Kinesiology, GPA 3.8. I had a decent amount of extracurricular experience - a community service org, a local org focused on teaching basic nutrition + physical activity to local kids, lots of research experience, and a couple semesters as a TA. I also had a year of experience as a medical scribe/medical receptionist while in college. After college (for 1.5 yrs before I applied) I was working full time in research. Through that job I got certifications/experience in phlebotomy and clinical research coordination. I had 3 really strong letters of rec and I kind of suspect those were the strongest part of my app (1 from a professor, 1 from my longtime lab PI, and another from a well-known women’s health researcher I work with). For reference, the only schools I applied to were Penn, Boston College, and Yale. I didn’t get into Yale, and I got into BC but decided not to go. Yale offers application feedback luckily and they basically told me that they only opened 4 midwifery spots (usually they do ~15 I think) due to COVID-related limitations in clinical placements, and said I was a strong candidate but they ultimately chose candidates with midwifery-related experience. I got the same sense from Penn as to why I only got into the ABSN portion - although it’s a direct entry program, that’s a competitive specialty and they generally select people with relevant experience. Filomena specifically said that if you are accepted into ABSN (but not MSN), they have no concerns about your academic ability and that you can most likely matriculate into your specialty later on with a little more experience. Hope this helps!!

Unless things have changed, you can be considered for just ABSN! I actually applied last year (and was accepted but chose to defer to a 2022 start). I applied for ABSN-MSN with a midwifery specialty but was only accepted for the ABSN portion. I spoke to Filomena and it actually sounds like this is pretty common, especially for the more competitive specialties. Once you've begun the ABSN you can apply to submatriculate into an MSN specialty and the acceptance rate is over 95% for internal candidates, I think.