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anyone know if the penn state prelim is linked to the derm program?
Penn State Hershey Med Ctr-PA
Penn StateHershey, PA
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Applicant sentiment — from 69 anonymous posts, 2017–2026
5.2 / 10
What anonymous posters said
Several posts describe confusion around Penn State's interview invitation and rejection timeline, including uncertainty about scheduling, single interview dates, and inconsistent notifications. A number of posters mention that the program offers hotel accommodations and a virtual interview option, while others discuss aspects of research talks and away rotations.
AI-generated summary of opinions expressed in anonymous, unverified posts. It describes what posters wrote, not verified facts about this program. Based on these 69 posts · Updated Aug 2026 · Contest or respond to this entry · Takedown & right of reply
Match termshersheyhershey dermpenn statepenn state hersheypsu derm
By match cycle
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Hosp of the Univ of PA (Dermatology/3 yr)· 59 threadsHenry Ford Hospital-MI· 5 threadsUPMC Medical Education-PA· 5 threadsCleveland Clinic Fdn-OH· 3 threadsEmory Univ SOM-GA· 3 threadsGeorge Washington Univ-DC· 3 threadsU North Carolina Hospitals· 3 threadsMayo Clinic School of Grad Med Educ-AZ· 2 threads
Other programs in Pennsylvania
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Page 3 of 4
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Does penn state only have 1 interview date?
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at the risk of creating a new UMN-like sleuth expedition...anyone else not get an invite or rejection to Penn State? Are we de facto waitlist? Should I just sign into my favorite interview day and roll with it?
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Penn State Rejection x41
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Penn State interviewees: Would anyone assigned to December 2 or 1:00-3:00 on December 4 be able to switch to 8:00-10:00 on December 4? I have a conflict in the morning and would be extremely grateful if someone could switch with me. I've been in contact with the program coordinator, and switching might earn you serious brownie points with the program for being a team player! (Someone deleted :-/ please protect responses)
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for penn state did y'all respond via ERAS to confirm?
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PENN STATE II x10
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For some reason I wrote down penn state as a supplement due 10/26, but I can't find anything on it and not sure where i got the original info... do they have a supplement somewhere?
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Hey resident lurkers, if you didn't match at your number 1 and/or at a program that you weren't enthusiastic about, how did you come to terms with it in a healthy manner?
Speaking of this, does anyone know on average how far down their list people tend to match? do most people match into one of their top three? -- Absolutely not in derm, some do, but I doubt it's even half. I have the same question, maybe a PGY-1 who already match or a derm resident can help with this one <^PGY1 matched last year. This is a great question, there's no good data on this, it's anecdotal and you have to reason through it. The overall answer is, it's not as common to match top #1-3 as in IM or EM or Peds etc (larger specialties) because class sizes are so much smaller, and it's more competitive. It's also not uncommon, at least to match within your top 3. The way I see it play out is, there's kind of 2 scenarios (2 kinds of applicants) where you're MORE LIKELY to match #1 (not a guarantee and not the only 2 ways but just more likely) -Scenario 1: If you're a very strong applicant and have multiple top 5/10/20 invites, AND one of those programs is your #1 etc., you're more likely to match at your top choice. Those programs usually have larger class sizes so the statistics are much in your favor. Furthermore you're in a group of top applicants who will sort themselves out based on geographic preferences more than actual program rankings (they're all kinda similar in the top 10). -Scenario 2: You're a good applicant overall, and your top #1etc. choice is a program of superior interest or fit to you - e.g. your #1 happens to be your home program where everyone loves you and wants you to stay, or you are from a program that's in your hometown which is very regional - for example let's say your #1 is Penn State and you're from Hershey PA and you make it known you want to be there with family - then you're much more likely to match there as long as they liked you since they know you're a safe choice for coming there and having support etc. This is kind of a niche so you'll know if you're a scenario 2 applicant. -also this is all just like my opinion man
Mar 23
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< on last year's spreadsheet, on the stats tab, lots of people matched at their 1st and 2nd choices, but it's hard to get a sense of overall how people match
Mar 23
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Yeah but maybe thats just a bias based on the people who posted
Mar 23
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<PGY-1 matched last year to #12, but honestly not at all dissapointed. There is a notion that not matching #1 there is something wrong with you/ you would be unhappy. Truthfully I would be dissapointed if I matched #15 and 16, but otherwise I would be ecstatic anywhere else.
Mar 23
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<- I only have literally half the number of interviews (6). This does not bode well for me :(
Mar 23
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< ya super scary for us folks that cant really go 10+ deep into our rank list because we dont have that many invites
Mar 23
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Does Cleveland Clinic pay for a hotel? I could’ve sworn I heard that they did but the email didn’t say so.
No, they attached a sheet with hotel rates too
Mar 23
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Which Derm programs offer free hotel? Henry Ford, Mayo-Rochester, Mayo-AZ... others? Penn State, I'm there this week.
Mar 23
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Nice
Mar 23
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Geisinger pays fo hotel as well
Mar 23
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Mayo-Jacksonville too
Mar 23
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Southern Illinois university as well
Mar 23
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If a research talk will be given on a non-interview day, do you still wear a suit? I am headed to Penn State next week and it is my first research talk, and it is scheduled on the same day as resident dinner. Thoughts?
Yes
Mar 23
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lol this is funny I see this here, I’m a PGY 1 who did a research talk at penn state last year, I was the only one who didn’t wear a suit, also was one of only 2 people without a PhD. Didn’t really matter I think the talk went well and multiple attendings at interviews the following day seemed genuinely interested in what I had talked about... but it did stand out to me that I should have probably worn a suit lol
Mar 23
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Has anyone interviewing at Penn State on Dec 4th heard about anything the hotel situation? The email said they provide a room but I haven't recieved any hotel confirmation
I'm there on December 6th and called to set up shuttle..they had my name. I'd call their # from the sheet about the hotel.
Mar 23
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I called the hotel a while ago to book the complimentary airport shuttle and had no issues. Haven't received anything like a reservation # from the program or hotel
Mar 23
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Yes
people still sent LOI. The no thank you note thing is more to make it easier for us since it does not make an impact. LOI probably will not make an impact either, but if you want to it should be fine x2
Mar 23
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Anyone have a sense how much these lists move? Feeling freaked out that im probably not ranked extremely highly anywhere and wondering whether ppl get in usually anyway even if no where really ranks them top 5-10
Mar 23
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A lot of interviews interviewed the same people so that helps! One applicant can only take up 1 spot. I counted up all the unique spots that there are for my interviews ex 2 spots, 5 spots, 4 spots etc ... and that gave me some comfort
Mar 23
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honestly, sometimes I just hope everyone gets what they want and nobody wants the same program as me. lol x2
Mar 23
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Radio silence re: late breaking but not sure if they went out. Anyone hear rejection or acceptance?
Mar 23
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just got notified today
Mar 23
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accepted or rejected?
Mar 23
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yes it was a mass email
Mar 23
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how many people do Stanford interview?
Mar 23
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thank you!
Mar 23
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very unlikley to get trickles the other date since many people want to switch to that one since it does not have conflicts so they have waitlists / swaps for that date. There will probably be more trickles for 1/10 though at Brown and other programs.
Mar 23
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lol this is funny I see this here, I’m a PGY 1 who did a research talk at penn state last year, I was the only one who didn’t wear a suit, also was one of only 2 people without a PhD. Didn’t really matter I think the talk went well and multiple attendings at interviews the following day seemed genuinely interested in what I had talked about... but it did stand out to me that I should have probably worn a suit lol
Mar 23
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<knowing that I’d still become a board certified dermatologist << , and to OP, the program probably feels the same way about people who they ranked highly and didn't match with them. <what do you mean by "OP"
Speaking of this, does anyone know on average how far down their list people tend to match? do most people match into one of their top three? -- Absolutely not in derm, some do, but I doubt it's even half. I have the same question, maybe a PGY-1 who already match or a derm resident can help with this one <^PGY1 matched last year. This is a great question, there's no good data on this, it's anecdotal and you have to reason through it. The overall answer is, it's not as common to match top #1-3 as in IM or EM or Peds etc (larger specialties) because class sizes are so much smaller, and it's more competitive. It's also not uncommon, at least to match within your top 3. The way I see it play out is, there's kind of 2 scenarios (2 kinds of applicants) where you're MORE LIKELY to match #1 (not a guarantee and not the only 2 ways but just more likely) -Scenario 1: If you're a very strong applicant and have multiple top 5/10/20 invites, AND one of those programs is your #1 etc., you're more likely to match at your top choice. Those programs usually have larger class sizes so the statistics are much in your favor. Furthermore you're in a group of top applicants who will sort themselves out based on geographic preferences more than actual program rankings (they're all kinda similar in the top 10). -Scenario 2: You're a good applicant overall, and your top #1etc. choice is a program of superior interest or fit to you - e.g. your #1 happens to be your home program where everyone loves you and wants you to stay, or you are from a program that's in your hometown which is very regional - for example let's say your #1 is Penn State and you're from Hershey PA and you make it known you want to be there with family - then you're much more likely to match there as long as they liked you since they know you're a safe choice for coming there and having support etc. This is kind of a niche so you'll know if you're a scenario 2 applicant. -also this is all just like my opinion man
Mar 23
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< on last year's spreadsheet, on the stats tab, lots of people matched at their 1st and 2nd choices, but it's hard to get a sense of overall how people match
Mar 23
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Yeah but maybe thats just a bias based on the people who posted
Mar 23
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<PGY-1 matched last year to #12, but honestly not at all dissapointed. There is a notion that not matching #1 there is something wrong with you/ you would be unhappy. Truthfully I would be dissapointed if I matched #15 and 16, but otherwise I would be ecstatic anywhere else.
Mar 23
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<- I only have literally half the number of interviews (6). This does not bode well for me :(
Mar 23
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< ya super scary for us folks that cant really go 10+ deep into our rank list because we dont have that many invites
Mar 23
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No, they attached a sheet with hotel rates too
Which Derm programs offer free hotel? Henry Ford, Mayo-Rochester, Mayo-AZ... others? Penn State, I'm there this week.
Mar 23
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Nice
Mar 23
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Geisinger pays fo hotel as well
Mar 23
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Mayo-Jacksonville too
Mar 23
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Southern Illinois university as well
Mar 23
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Some posts are shown because their comments mention this program.
<knowing that I’d still become a board certified dermatologist << , and to OP, the program probably feels the same way about people who they ranked highly and didn't match with them. <what do you mean by "OP"