2013-2014 University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

[manofmen]

So I know this is impossible to predict, but is the consensus that they're still regularly letting waitlisters trickle off? My birthday's next week and that is literally the only thing I want!

wow same here.

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[fbtkdrbs]

Withdrew today. Hopefully someone worthy of this awesome school will get in!

 

[mushuwu158]

That feeling when two of your friends who are both 1st Tier waitlisters get accepted, and you're just watching from 2nd Tier...

 

[philip422]

I emailed Dr. Piraino about my interest and she told me that she "feels sure there will be more accepted of the waitlist, but probably not until around mid-May." I guess that means none this weekend!
(Unless @mushuwu158 your friends were accepted today?)

 

[Agee]

I emailed Dr. Piraino about my interest and she told me that she "feels sure there will be more accepted of the waitlist, but probably not until around mid-May." I guess that means none this weekend!
(Unless @mushuwu158 your friends were accepted today?)

Holy crappppppppp. And to think I was checking email and status every 10 minutes.

 

[trino]

Holy crappppppppp. And to think I was checking email and status every 10 minutes.

That would have been a lot of email checking

 

[chenzt]

Financial aid offers are out

 

[PGY_Celd]

Financial aid offers are out

Well this certainly complicated my life some more.

 

[jeffs office]

Well this certainly complicated my life some more.

Me too! Need-based aid is strong, and I only have a couple days to decide.

 

[Captain Sisko]

Declined my acceptance here a few days back. Hope one of you all gets it, and the scholarship that came with it

See you on the other side!

 

[PGY_Celd]

Me too! Need-based aid is strong, and I only have a couple days to decide.

Would appreciate it if the other school I'm considering released their aid offer so I can make a decision with all factors on the table. Really looking forward to just committing somewhere and being done.

 

[jeffs office]

Would appreciate it if the other school I'm considering released their aid offer so I can make a decision with all factors on the table. Really looking forward to just committing somewhere and being done.

Boy, you're telling me. Good luck with your decision!

 

[Ismet]

Anyone have a good estimate of coa for year 2 3 and 4? Maybe 4year total CoA? This aid has quite complicated my decision. Extremely grateful though.

2nd year COA is same as 1st. I guess I'll be finding out soon what the COA for 3rd year is

 

[Frazier]

2nd year COA is same as 1st. I guess I'll be finding out soon what the COA for 3rd year is

Current students get aid letters yet @Ismet ? Any idea when to expect them?

 

[redpanda]

Current students get aid letters during the summer (MS4 -> MS3 -> MS2) and tuition is typically not set by the state until the summer (so let's hope there's no ridiculous increase a la MS1 for me). Anyway, COA for MS3 is higher because it's a 12 month year (as opposed to 8-9 for MS1/2) and you need to pay for Step 2 CK/CS ($580 +$1200-ish).

Anyway, if you email the financial aid office, they'll have the spreadsheet which details the 2013-2014 COA for all 4 years and you can work from that.

 

[penguinism]

I think the general tuition is the same across the 4 classes though, right? It will increase perhaps ~5% each year (pretty standard for most universities, though I do hope it goes up less next year). The increased COA for the clinical years comes from cost of living (though most people end up staying in Pittsburgh over the MS1 summer anyway) and paying for tests, not from tuition itself.

 

[Ismet]

I think the general tuition is the same across the 4 classes though, right? It will increase perhaps ~5% each year (pretty standard for most universities, though I do hope it goes up less next year). The increased COA for the clinical years comes from cost of living (though most people end up staying in Pittsburgh over the MS1 summer anyway) and paying for tests, not from tuition itself.

I think tuition goes up for 3rd and 4th year since we are technically in school for 12 months instead of 8-9 months. The tuition per month would be similar across all 4 years with the standard yearly increase, but just like you have to pay for summer classes in undergrad, we will be paying more our last 2 years.

 

[chenzt]

The sheet they gave us during interview outlined the cost of all four years and it had the same tuition rate throughout. Also, the financial aid letter they sent out to us accepted students had COA for IS at 71,644, which is 1,409 more than 2013-2014. I guess that's how much they expect the tuition/fee/living expense will go up this year?

 

[surely]

Declined my acceptance today - Pitt was hard to turn down, but I have a less expensive option that I'm very happy with. Next year's applicants, if you're reading this and you want more information, feel free to PM me. Good luck to those of you hoping for an acceptance from the waitlist!

 

[redpanda]

The sheet they gave us during interview outlined the cost of all four years and it had the same tuition rate throughout. Also, the financial aid letter they sent out to us accepted students had COA for IS at 71,644, which is 1,409 more than 2013-2014. I guess that's how much they expect the tuition/fee/living expense will go up this year?

I suppose it is their feeling based on whatever feelers they have out for the funding climate in Harrisburg, but I wouldn't hold my breath until the state sets its budget and tuition rates in the summer.

 

[chenzt]

I suppose it is their feeling based on whatever feelers they have out for the funding climate in Harrisburg, but I wouldn't hold my breath until the state sets its budget and tuition rates in the summer.

Oh that's new. Tuition is set by Harrisburg instead of like a board of trustee? And I remember reading an article on PG that the state gov decided to stop funding med school all together a few years back, I'm surprised that they still had a say in it.

 

[Gobucks2014]

Was given an ~80% need based scholarship, which makes Pitt coa less than my state school's (even after financial aid). Needless to say, I'm grateful... Pitt here I come

 

[Ismet]

Oh that's new. Tuition is set by Harrisburg instead of like a board of trustee? And I remember reading an article on PG that the state gov decided to stop funding med school all together a few years back, I'm surprised that they still had a say in it.

Pitt is not a fully private or fully public school, it's considered "state-related," so there is some funding from the state to the University of Pittsburgh in general. Budget changes in state legislature affect tuition across the board from undergraduate to graduate. I'm pretty sure the actual tuition is still set by the school, but the amount of money received from the state government will affect how much the tuition increases.

 

[redpanda]

Just to be clear, I think the change in funding structure for the FY 2011-2012 was what precipitated the near-elimination of any in-state tuition advantage and like 12% rise in tuition from the previous year.

 

[jeffs office]

During the M1 year, what did you guys typically buy with your allotted budget for books and supplies? My impression during interview season was that you received syllabi in your mailbox for every class - and that was all you needed. Thanks in advanced for the info! I'm just looking into the budget right now.

 

[Ismet]

During the M1 year, what did you guys typically buy with your allotted budget for books and supplies? My impression during interview season was that you received syllabi in your mailbox for every class - and that was all you needed. Thanks in advanced for the info! I'm just looking into the budget right now.

For the most part, the syllabus is all you need. There are only a couple "essential" textbooks and a few more "highly recommended/recommended" books for MS1.

Here's what I bought/used:
Netter's atlas (necessary for anatomy)
Rao's Rational Medical Decision Making (for biostat...just buy this off an upperclassmen for like $5)
Haines Neuroanatomy atlas (necessary for neuro)
Abbas Basic Immunology (highly recommended for immuno)
Clinical Micro Made Ridiculously Simple (recommended for micro)

Everything except Netter's I bought from upperclassmen for less than $20 each, and I will be selling them to your class at the beginning of the school year. Total spent on books for MS1 was less than $150, and $70 of that was the Netter's iPad app. We have a listserv where people sell stuff all the time, from books to furniture to tickets to sporting events, and that's where I've gotten most of my books.

You'll also need to budget for instruments. Stethoscope, oto/ophthalmoscope, tuning forks, penlight, reflex hammer. They have Welch-Allyn and Littmann reps come to the school in September-ish, and I'd say the majority of people buy their instruments through them. Stethoscopes are around $150, oto/ophtho around $300 maybe (?), the other things are cheap, like less than $10. Or you can go the route I went and buy the scopes on Amazon for like $120. They haven't failed me yet!

 

[daemon14]

Welp. No need-based aid from any school I was looking at. Guess being out of school a while and having a job didn't help

Can I just say it's absolute BS that your parents info becomes relevant for financial aid? I don't expect my folks to foot this bill (they didn't pay a penny of anything application-related).

At this point, the lottery seems like a good idea ...

 

[Frazier]

Welp. No need-based aid from any school I was looking at. Guess being out of school a while and having a job didn't help

Can I just say it's absolute BS that your parents info becomes relevant for financial aid? I don't expect my folks to foot this bill (they didn't pay a penny of anything application-related).

At this point, the lottery seems like a good idea ...

Yes, this happened to me when I applied.

Parents data made me eligible for ZERO aid [outside of loans].

Very frustrating.

The "good news" is that when you apply for finaid during subsequent years it's a lot easier -- since you only need to do fafsa for yourself... no need wasting time on parents data and ridiculous Need Access form when you already know what the outcome is going to be.

 

[daemon14]

Yes, this happened to me when I applied.

Parents data made me eligible for ZERO aid [outside of loans].

Very frustrating.

The "good news" is that when you apply for finaid during subsequent years it's a lot easier -- since you only need to do fafsa for yourself... no need wasting time on parents data and ridiculous Need Access form when you already know what the outcome is going to be.

Did you FinAid for subsequent years change dramatically because of that?

 

[Frazier]

Did you FinAid for subsequent years change dramatically because of that?

Parents' financial situation hasn't changed.

So the school's offer won't change either: fasfa.

 

[jeffs office]

For the most part, the syllabus is all you need. There are only a couple "essential" textbooks and a few more "highly recommended/recommended" books for MS1.

Here's what I bought/used:
Netter's atlas (necessary for anatomy)
Rao's Rational Medical Decision Making (for biostat...just buy this off an upperclassmen for like $5)
Haines Neuroanatomy atlas (necessary for neuro)
Abbas Basic Immunology (highly recommended for immuno)
Clinical Micro Made Ridiculously Simple (recommended for micro)

Everything except Netter's I bought from upperclassmen for less than $20 each, and I will be selling them to your class at the beginning of the school year. Total spent on books for MS1 was less than $150, and $70 of that was the Netter's iPad app. We have a listserv where people sell stuff all the time, from books to furniture to tickets to sporting events, and that's where I've gotten most of my books.

You'll also need to budget for instruments. Stethoscope, oto/ophthalmoscope, tuning forks, penlight, reflex hammer. They have Welch-Allyn and Littmann reps come to the school in September-ish, and I'd say the majority of people buy their instruments through them. Stethoscopes are around $150, oto/ophtho around $300 maybe (?), the other things are cheap, like less than $10. Or you can go the route I went and buy the scopes on Amazon for like $120. They haven't failed me yet!

Thanks so much! Very informative.

 

[3838]

http://www.bulletins.pitt.edu/graduate/financial.htm
No due date for the med school...This is a really stupid question most likely, but when is the deposit due?

 

[Amygdarya]

This is a really stupid question most likely, but when is the deposit due?

According to the acceptance letter that came by mail, between May 15th and May 26th.

 

[3838]

According to the acceptance letter that came by mail, between May 15th and May 26th.

Yeah, my parents have that letter, and I haven't been home in a bit.

 

[Amygdarya]

I'm just answering your question

 

[3838]

I'm just answering your question

lol yeah thanks for answering it! really appreciated! Ummm... I didn't mean for my answer to come off as abrasive in any way. So. Yeah.

Question for one of the med students. How long are the exams?

 

[Frazier]

lol yeah thanks for answering it! really appreciated! Ummm... I didn't mean for my answer to come off as abrasive in any way. So. Yeah.

Question for one of the med students. How long are the exams?

Everything depends on the class+course director.

Pharm was electronic-based, only ~40 questions and we had ~60 minutes for the exam.

Our first neuro exam was scantron, ~80 questions and we had ~3 hours to take it.

No real rhyme or reason, just preference of higher ups.

 

[Ismet]

lol yeah thanks for answering it! really appreciated! Ummm... I didn't mean for my answer to come off as abrasive in any way. So. Yeah.

Question for one of the med students. How long are the exams?

Frazier pretty much answered it, usually we're allotted 3 hours, but exact time varies by course. I don't think I've ever taken more than 2 hours for an exam, but the time is there if you need it. I think our longest exam was heme/onc, over 100 questions, and I don't remember any other exams being nearly that long.

Almost all of the exams are paper/scantron, but they seem to be working in more NBME exams (boards style questions, taken on the computer). In my 1st year we had two I believe. Then we had one this past year for msk/derm.

 

[Amygdarya]

lol yeah thanks for answering it! really appreciated! Ummm... I didn't mean for my answer to come off as abrasive in any way. So. Yeah.

Sorry, I misunderstood you.

 

[anologital]

I forgot -- was pitt honors/pass/fail or just pass/fail? Are there internal recordings of grades or internal rankings?

 

[Ismet]

I forgot -- was pitt honors/pass/fail or just pass/fail? Are there internal recordings of grades or internal rankings?

P/F for MS1/MS2. H/HP/P/LP/F for MS3/MS4. There is internal ranking for AOA purposes, and a "generalization" of your place in the class is put in your dean's letter.

 

[anologital]

P/F for MS1/MS2. H/HP/P/LP/F for MS3/MS4. There is internal ranking for AOA purposes, and a "generalization" of your place in the class is put in your dean's letter.

Thanks for the quick reply. Any idea at all at what they're referring to when they say generalization? Maybe the class is divided into halves/thirds/quarters?

 

[penguinism]

P/F for MS1/MS2. H/HP/P/LP/F for MS3/MS4. There is internal ranking for AOA purposes, and a "generalization" of your place in the class is put in your dean's letter.

Where did you hear internal ranking? I was told junior AOA was being nixed because of P/F preclinicals, but not from the admin themselves.

 

[Ismet]

Thanks for the quick reply. Any idea at all at what they're referring to when they say generalization? Maybe the class is divided into halves/thirds/quarters?

From what I remember my advisory dean telling me last year, they basically frame it in the most positive way possible. So even if you were in the bottom of the class, they won't phrase it like "Student was in the bottom 5% of the class." If you were in the upper third, they would probably phrase it like that. As far as I know, they don't report the actual ranking in the letter.

Where did you hear internal ranking? I was told junior AOA was being nixed because of P/F preclinicals, but not from the admin themselves.

Even if junior AOA is nixed, they still discuss our general place in the class in our dean's letter.

 

[redpanda]

Where did you hear internal ranking? I was told junior AOA was being nixed because of P/F preclinicals, but not from the admin themselves.

Well, not exactly. It is currently under debate in the AOA chapter leadership. And yes, there is always an internal ranking because of the code words that go into the Dean's Letter (aka "Redpanda will make an outstanding house office" v. "Redpanda will make an excellent house officer" v. "Redpanda will make a good house officer). To think that some data isn't kept internally for the school to play with even though a binary grade goes on your transcript is a bit naive.

MS1/MS2 - pass/fail; in-house exams with a few NBME exams
MS3/MS4 - honors/high pass/pass/low pass/fail; NMBE exams (mostly paper, a few computer) and one in-house exam for required clerkships

 

[penguinism]

Well, not exactly. It is currently under debate in the AOA chapter leadership. And yes, there is always an internal ranking because of the code words that go into the Dean's Letter (aka "Redpanda will make an outstanding house office" v. "Redpanda will make an excellent house officer" v. "Redpanda will make a good house officer). To think that some data isn't kept internally for the school to play with even though a binary grade goes on your transcript is a bit naive.

MS1/MS2 - pass/fail; in-house exams with a few NBME exams
MS3/MS4 - honors/high pass/pass/low pass/fail; NMBE exams (mostly paper, a few computer) and one in-house exam for required clerkships

I'm aware of grades and ranking for the clinical years and also that the Dean's letter will use selective language to delineate where students fall compared to their classmates. I just don't see the point of still ranking students in a pass/fail curriculum for the first two years. I'm not worried about where I stand, it just seems silly. I don't think that the first two years really tell you much about how well you'll do in residency, since some folks are brilliant but have problems talking to patients. That's just my $0.02 though.

Also, I think they are switching to more computerized NBMEs for the required rotations this year.

 

[redpanda]

I'm aware of grades and ranking for the clinical years and also that the Dean's letter will use selective language to delineate where students fall compared to their classmates. I just don't see the point of still ranking students in a pass/fail curriculum for the first two years. I'm not worried about where I stand, it just seems silly. I don't think that the first two years really tell you much about how well you'll do in residency, since some folks are brilliant but have problems talking to patients. That's just my $0.02 though.

Also, I think they are switching to more computerized NBMEs for the required rotations this year.

Well, one could hypothesize about what a school might do with some internal data stratifying students based on exam scores to look at, for example, what variables in the pre-medical school period make a successful medical student, what, if any, are the red flags in the preclinical years for a student that will struggle during clinical rotations (remember that medical knowledge is assessed both by your clinical evals and shelf exams in clerkship while professionalism is assessed in clinical evals), etc. I have no idea what happens with the data that is back there, but I'm sure it has its uses outside an AOA situation.

 

[3838]

Frazier pretty much answered it, usually we're allotted 3 hours, but exact time varies by course. I don't think I've ever taken more than 2 hours for an exam, but the time is there if you need it. I think our longest exam was heme/onc, over 100 questions, and I don't remember any other exams being nearly that long.

Almost all of the exams are paper/scantron, but they seem to be working in more NBME exams (boards style questions, taken on the computer). In my 1st year we had two I believe. Then we had one this past year for msk/derm.

That's not bad...one of the schools I was accepted to had six hour block exams

 

[jeffs office]

I know Pitt allots ~$1000 for rent + utilities per month. How difficult is it to find decent accommodations for $500-$700 a month..including parking? I've never lived in a city before, so all of this is new to me. They say Pittsburgh is relatively inexpensive for a city, but I'm curious what the range is for 'inexpensive'. Also, when did you guys end up signing leases? Aside from craigslist and the Pitt rental listings, how did you find homes?

I've have read the manual provided, and it was very informative, but I'm just interested in more personal opinions.
If you feel any details are TMI, please message me. I'm definitely matriculating here!

Thanks so much!

 

[Ismet]

I know Pitt allots ~$1000 for rent + utilities per month. How difficult is it to find decent accommodations for $500-$700 a month..including parking? I've never lived in a city before, so all of this is new to me. They say Pittsburgh is relatively inexpensive for a city, but I'm curious what the range is for 'inexpensive'. Also, when did you guys end up signing leases? Aside from craigslist and the Pitt rental listings, how did you find homes?

I've have read the manual provided, and it was very informative, but I'm just interested in more personal opinions.
If you feel any details are TMI, please message me. I'm definitely matriculating here!

Thanks so much!

I have a huge 2 bedroom apartment just off campus (15 minute walk away, 5 minute bus ride) and I pay around $690 for my half, utilities included. I've been here for the first 2 years, just renewed my lease, and plan to stay for 4th year too. I didn't sign my lease until mid-June. As for parking, I park in the lot for my building, which is $60/month, but that's only because I'm not in an area with permit parking. Most areas are eligible for permit parking (on street), which is $20/year. Your car will most likely sustain some damage parking on the street, so it's safer but obviously more expensive to park in a private lot or garage.

General rule of thumb is the farther from Oakland you are, the cheaper you get (not in quality necessarily, just in price. you pay for convenience of being close to campus). Also more roommates can mean cheaper rent, but I think living with multiple people can get stressful. If you're looking to live in a single bedroom apartment, you're pretty much not going to find any near Oakland for $500-700. They usually end up around $800-1000.

I'd advise against living in South Oakland. It's cheap, so that's appealing, but it's undergrad party central and most of the apartments are falling apart. Lived there over a summer and only paid $250/month, but it was not a good experience!

Keep in mind that you can always move, and quite a lot of people do move after 1st year once they figure out the lay of the land and make friends. Many people live in Darragh for the 1st year and then move out to a cheaper place, or realize they don't like where they live for 1st year and move elsewhere. So if you find yourself paying more than you'd like for a place in 1st year, you can be proactive about figuring out a better place to live for the remainder of med school once you get here and get used to Pittsburgh