2008-2009 University of Pittsburgh Secondary Application Thread

[Mdude]

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ohh, thanks for giving me input. my take was that it was a moral obligation to family versus person desire dilemma. ignore grandparents - get seen as a bad kid, but get to do what i want. attend to grandparents - get seen as a good kid, but lose out on what i want to do. does this work?

again, I would really urge you to think of something else. To me it comes across as make yourself happy versus do what is best and right for the family. It just doesn't strike me as a dilemma at all, and comes off sounding immature. Think more, scan your memory for all interactions and experiences you've had. It can be something small, simple, a 15 minute ordeal..you are faced with hazy issues and tough decisions all the time you just don't realize it. i really don't mean to criticize too much but I feel like honest feedback helps more in this scenario..

 

[m_rivera84]

mdude:
thanks, makes sense, but may I ask one thing before I change this topic, are you asian?

reason i ask is .... asians seem to value family relationships heavily, as it is a big part of their life. just wondering if your view point is coming from a non-asian perspective

 

[chad5871]

mdude:
thanks, makes sense, but may I ask one thing before I change this topic, are you asian?

reason i ask is .... asians seem to value family relationships heavily, as it is a big part of their life. just wondering if your view point is coming from a non-asian perspective

I agree with mdude, and I'm caucasian. Honestly this seems like a situation in which the right choice is very clear and there should have been no hesitation on your part to help your grandparents. It is a bad situation to use because it will make you seem immature when it comes to decision-making.

Just my two cents.

 

[m_rivera84]

Okay thanks all. i see how it can be viewed as just an escape from moral responsibility.

Problem is, my life has been really straightforward. Extended family is stable, family is stable, education stable, clinical volunteer experiences are straightforward, never had to make any huge decisions.

Except, maybe this, but I fear it could be a bad choice on my part:

As a student tutor for kids for the duration of 1 semester, I have the dilemma of choosing between 1) a kid who has little time to devote to this after-school program because of basketball. however, his advisor really wants him to get a tutor because he is not doing well in school. when i worked with him, he didn't show much interest, and he also seemed smart but that he was more interested in maintaining his image of being tough. 2) a kid who is also smart, and enjoys basketball, but is more open. he also cares for his image ,but he's more receptive to the tutor.

I chose #2, because I have had experience that if the kidisn't devoting much time to it, I can't do much either. Would this be a bad choice in my dilemma?

 

[cheasus]

Hi all,

So after reading some other people's dilemma, I thought of one i had in the past. My roommate sophmore year got caught with a tiny bit of marijuana. He had to take a joke drug class at our university and had his urine tested. Well, he didnt stop smoking so he asked me to give him a sample. I actually did do it because I don't think pot is going to destroy his life if he didn't quit and he could have gotten in a lot of legal and academic trouble if he failed the test. Nedless to say, he passed (even though it would be a great story if he didnt!). I dont know if this would come across as the 'correct' moral decision or even a moral dilemma.

Just thought of a second one... I was in this organization that had the goal of training students in biomedical sciences to eventually become PhD students. I was taking a class with them, working in a lab for over a year, making good money and getting good research/contacts through them. After a medical experience last summer, I was certain that I wanted to become a MD and not a PhD. I could have easily told the organization that I would pursue a MD/PhD (which they encouraged me to pursue many times), but I knew that I was uninterested in it. I also had my senior design project coming up which I could get paid for since it would be research with the same PI. Anyway, I decided to go ahead and let them know that I was uninterested in a PhD so that they could use their resources to training other potential PhDs.

Thoughts?

 

[Erina]

Do they have a GPA/MCAT cutoff-based autointerview system?

I think this was discussed a lot on SDN last year. I was told at my interview in 2006 (wow 2 years ago already?) that there are no "automatic interviews." The woman I talked to said that the admissions people are just "really on top of things."

So who knows. I just figured they read the primary applications and had an idea of who they wanted to interview right away so when the secondaries were turned in, the interview invite was sent quickly. But I've never found out anymore information about it...if I hear anything from the current interview coordinators, I'll let ya know.

 

[Mdude]

mdude:
thanks, makes sense, but may I ask one thing before I change this topic, are you asian?

reason i ask is .... asians seem to value family relationships heavily, as it is a big part of their life. just wondering if your view point is coming from a non-asian perspective

Nope, I'm not. But I do come from a family/tradition that does value family relationships heavily, so, perhaps that is influencing my decision. I'd encourage you to get input from others as well, as this is an anonymous forum...

 

[Mdude]

Okay thanks all. i see how it can be viewed as just an escape from moral responsibility.

Problem is, my life has been really straightforward. Extended family is stable, family is stable, education stable, clinical volunteer experiences are straightforward, never had to make any huge decisions.

Except, maybe this, but I fear it could be a bad choice on my part:

As a student tutor for kids for the duration of 1 semester, I have the dilemma of choosing between 1) a kid who has little time to devote to this after-school program because of basketball. however, his advisor really wants him to get a tutor because he is not doing well in school. when i worked with him, he didn't show much interest, and he also seemed smart but that he was more interested in maintaining his image of being tough. 2) a kid who is also smart, and enjoys basketball, but is more open. he also cares for his image ,but he's more receptive to the tutor.

I chose #2, because I have had experience that if the kidisn't devoting much time to it, I can't do much either. Would this be a bad choice in my dilemma?

I would say this is better than the grandparent dilemma. Let me offer another suggestion for how to think about this. A dilemma doesn't have to be a situation where you were presented with a clear choice, X vs. Y. It could be any kind of difficult situation where you weren't sure how to proceed, perhaps a situation where all the apparent choices seemed unappealing and you had to create a creative solution to, let's say, please everyone involved, or to stick to your moral code while also upholding a commitment to somebody else. think through all the times in the past few years when you called a close friend who would help talk you through the situation--if you needed serious advice, that might be a good sign that it was a dilemma for you, that your decision for how to act wasn't obvious.

 

[dezokitty]

Okay thanks all. i see how it can be viewed as just an escape from moral responsibility.

Problem is, my life has been really straightforward. Extended family is stable, family is stable, education stable, clinical volunteer experiences are straightforward, never had to make any huge decisions.

Except, maybe this, but I fear it could be a bad choice on my part:

As a student tutor for kids for the duration of 1 semester, I have the dilemma of choosing between 1) a kid who has little time to devote to this after-school program because of basketball. however, his advisor really wants him to get a tutor because he is not doing well in school. when i worked with him, he didn't show much interest, and he also seemed smart but that he was more interested in maintaining his image of being tough. 2) a kid who is also smart, and enjoys basketball, but is more open. he also cares for his image ,but he's more receptive to the tutor.

I chose #2, because I have had experience that if the kidisn't devoting much time to it, I can't do much either. Would this be a bad choice in my dilemma?

If you word it correctly, that might actually turn out ok... Think about it this way: as a health professional, you're going to come across tons of people whom you feel need your medical assistance but don't want your help (ex. smokers who really should quit but won't). You're not always going to be able to help them in the way that you ideally would like (ie. if they smoke, you try get them to quit). But should you spend all your time and effort on someone who's not going to listen to your advice, when there are others out there that really need and want your help? Sometimes it's better to first concentrate on the people who have the desire to be helped, and then wait for the others to one day change their mind/attitude to a point where they can actually receive your help. In smoking cessation, you assess a person's "readiness to change" before you actually start with the cessation. If they're not ready, they're not going to be able to go through with it, and it's a lost cause. So your situation, it might look as if you've given up, but it wasn't necessarily the "wrong" decision to be made.

... Or maybe I've been writing too many essays. You decide.

 

[lemonhoney]

I think this was discussed a lot on SDN last year. I was told at my interview in 2006 (wow 2 years ago already?) that there are no "automatic interviews." The woman I talked to said that the admissions people are just "really on top of things."

So who knows. I just figured they read the primary applications and had an idea of who they wanted to interview right away so when the secondaries were turned in, the interview invite was sent quickly. But I've never found out anymore information about it...if I hear anything from the current interview coordinators, I'll let ya know.

I feel like there might be some sort of automatic interview . . . either that, or they're just really, really efficient.

My secondary was submitted on 7/27. My LORs were put in the mail on Wednesday (7/30) morning, and by 3:30 pm, I had received an interview invitation. so, either they invited me somewhat automatically, without even completing my file, or the mail and the admissions office are really on the ball. though I'm pretty sure my LORs couldn't possibly have gotten there that quickly.

that's my story, anyway. I'm just pleased to have gotten an interview period.

 

[Erina]

I feel like there might be some sort of automatic interview . . . either that, or they're just really, really efficient.

My secondary was submitted on 7/27. My LORs were put in the mail on Wednesday (7/30) morning, and by 3:30 pm, I had received an interview invitation. so, either they invited me somewhat automatically, without even completing my file, or the mail and the admissions office are really on the ball. though I'm pretty sure my LORs couldn't possibly have gotten there that quickly.

that's my story, anyway. I'm just pleased to have gotten an interview period.

you don't have to have a complete file to get an interview. i don't think my file was complete until a week after my interview invitation.

i don't really know for sure what the deal is, but i asked directly and was told they are just really on top of things. i'm sure this will continue to be a topic of discussion, though...people spent a lot of time last summer trying to figure it out!

 

[CSnowFoxD]

Well, here's a really dumb question: In the course requirements section of the app, there are boxes labeled "college". Now is that college as in university or college as in which college within your university was the class under?

Yay for dumb questions!

 

[daniellema13]

Did anyone go over 250 words? They let you enter more in the box... anyway, i am having a really hard time scaling mine back, i have it at 264 right now 🙁

Snowfox...i believe they're looking for your university name...so it's easily identifiable if you've attended more than one school.

 

[daniellema13]

Ok i took out the only line i could have possibly left out of the essay and it just so happened that that line was exactly 14 words 😀

 

[n3opologist]

I feel like there might be some sort of automatic interview . . . either that, or they're just really, really efficient.

From looking at the data on mdapps, it appears that if you have a 35< you get an automatic invite assuming your GPA isn't <3.7. Otherwise, they review your app and get back to you in 3-4 weeks. It's too coincidental that the 34's aren't getting auto-interviews but the 35's are, with gpa being equal. I tried figuring it out using a LizzyM score but there is no consistency.

 

[Kaydubz]

From looking at the data on mdapps, it appears that if you have a 35< you get an automatic invite assuming your GPA isn't <3.7. Otherwise, they review your app and get back to you in 3-4 weeks. It's too coincidental that the 34's aren't getting auto-interviews but the 35's are, with gpa being equal. I tried figuring it out using a LizzyM score but there is no consistency.

Well damn. And here I was thinking it was that my secondary responses were passable enough to get me an interview.

 

[TupacalipseT96]

Anyone here interviewing on 9/16 ?

And for my moral dilemma... it wasn't so much a dilemma, just a really messed up situation. My emphasis on the dilemma part only lasted about 1 or 2 sentences, the rest of the essay focused on the details of the situation, my role, and the outcome.

Anyone know what your chances are after you interview?

 

[chad5871]

Anyone know what your chances are after you interview?

USNews data from 2007 (2 years ago):

Overall: 5616 applied, 1229 interviewed, 443 were accepted, 146 enrolled
IS: 841 applied, 220 interviewed, 89 were accepted, 47 enrolled
OOS: 4775 applied, 1009 interviewed, 354 were accepted, 99 enrolled

 

[htownpremie]

I didn't get an invite until a few weeks later, and my MCAT>35. I thought someone posted that there was an actual review of the applications?

 

[TupacalipseT96]

I didn't get an invite until a few weeks later, and my MCAT>35. I thought someone posted that there was an actual review of the applications?

Maybe... but I submitted my app at midnight last night, and when I woke up this morning (10am EST), I had an interview invite. Sounds pretty automatic to me, but maybe they really are just that good in the UPitt admissions office.

Maybe you submitted before they were sending out their invites.

 

[Raryn]

Maybe... but I submitted my app at midnight last night, and when I woke up this morning (10am EST), I had an interview invite. Sounds pretty automatic to me, but maybe they really are just that good in the UPitt admissions office.

Maybe you submitted before they were sending out their invites.

Hopefully it works like that. I'll do my best to submit it today, and maybe I can get an interview invite before the end of the week. >.<

 

[geenelln]

when you're complete, does it actually say complete on status? All my components are there, but it still says invited to complete secondary.

 

[cheasus]

when you're complete, does it actually say complete on status? All my components are there, but it still says invited to complete secondary.

My application says the same thing. I think the application is complete. Just have to wait for them to decide.

 

[JoJo23497]

chad5871: Submitted: 7/15, Letters rec'd: 7/17, Complete: 7/18
copingmethods: Submitted: 7/18, Letters rec'd: 7/22, Complete: 7/22
serikk85: Submitted: 7/10, Letters rec'd: 7/11, Complete: 7/15
JoJo23497: Submitted: 8/23, Letters rec'd: 8/08, Complete: 8/23

 

[Decicco]

Just found the best hotel for anyone going on a pitt interview: http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/sl/1/en/hotel/pitsp?_requestid=163351

The person I talked to at the hotel said it was within walking distance to scaife hall (where the interview is at) and they have an on-demand shuttle that could take us there. The rate with discount is $119 and you can cancel for free within 24 hours. Also, free hot breakfast and internet.

PM me if you are interviewing on the Sept 9th!!!

 

[IssaErie]

Hey everyone,

Does Pitt normally send out letters to applicants REMINDING them to submit secondaries, and that it's to your benefit to submit as early as possible?

TX!

 

[majestic red]

Hey everyone,

Does Pitt normally send out letters to applicants REMINDING them to submit secondaries, and that it's to your benefit to submit as early as possible?

TX!

My parents said something about receiving a snail mail letter that said something like that... I didn't actually see the letter, though.

 

[Decicco]

Hey everyone,

Does Pitt normally send out letters to applicants REMINDING them to submit secondaries, and that it's to your benefit to submit as early as possible?

TX!

This has been discussed, look back a page or two.

 

[franniemeow07]

Okay guys, here's another post about the moral/ethical dilemma. I was thinking of writing about a time where I was walking home late at night, and coming across a guy who looked like he had been beaten badly and left in the flowerbed. Because I had no idea why or how he had gotten there, I was pretty scared myself, but there were no other people around and I didn't feel right just walking by without calling someone or 911. Eventually I decided to go hunt down a security guard and tell them what I had seen, because the guy didn't respond when I tried calling out to him, and I didn't to move him or anything.

What do you guys think?

 

[Raryn]

Okay guys, here's another post about the moral/ethical dilemma. I was thinking of writing about a time where I was walking home late at night, and coming across a guy who looked like he had been beaten badly and left in the flowerbed. Because I had no idea why or how he had gotten there, I was pretty scared myself, but there were no other people around and I didn't feel right just walking by without calling someone or 911. Eventually I decided to go hunt down a security guard and tell them what I had seen, because the guy didn't respond when I tried calling out to him, and I didn't to move him or anything.

What do you guys think?

Wheres the dilemma?
"Call 911... or leave him to die."

 

[Decicco]

I heard that U Pitt has closed file interviews. If that is true, will they even ask us about what we write in these essays during an interview?

 

[copingmethods]

I heard that U Pitt has closed file interviews. If that is true, will they even ask us about what we write in these essays during an interview?

According to the interview feedback page, yes, they do ask questions concerning essays.

 

[Erina]

Just wanted to say good luck to all of you who have gotten interviews so far at Pitt! Interviews start Wednesday and I'll be doing some of the student ones. Can't wait to meet you!

 

[funkydrmonkey]

Just wanted to say good luck to all of you who have gotten interviews so far at Pitt! Interviews start Wednesday and I'll be doing some of the student ones. Can't wait to meet you!

I think Pitt hates me.🙁 I submitted my stuff like a month ago, but they still have not said anything yet.

 

[shemarty]

Congrats to anybody who has an interview invite from this or any other school so far!

Remember to post them on the interview invite threads 🙂 It's helpful for other SDN members, not only this year but also in the future!

Thanks!

 

[Dulcina]

Just wanted to say good luck to all of you who have gotten interviews so far at Pitt! Interviews start Wednesday and I'll be doing some of the student ones. Can't wait to meet you!

oooo yay! i'm so excited!

by the way, do you know when the student housing system opens up? They said after Sept 1, but not how long after sept 1st lol.

Also, do you recommend staying with a student? Thanks =D so excited

 

[Erina]

oooo yay! i'm so excited!

by the way, do you know when the student housing system opens up? They said after Sept 1, but not how long after sept 1st lol.

Also, do you recommend staying with a student? Thanks =D so excited

it might take them a little while to get it set up. staying with a student can be really helpful and fun, especially if you want to get an idea of how an actual pitt student lives. that being said, you won't miss out on anything crucial if you choose to stay at a hotel. another option is to try to arrange meeting up for dinner or something with a student...that way you can still get a student perspective but you can also get a good night's sleep at a hotel.

 

[Erina]

I think Pitt hates me.🙁 I submitted my stuff like a month ago, but they still have not said anything yet.

definitely don't feel discouraged! my best friend didn't interview until february and she got accepted.

 

[Handy388]

anyone interview tomorrow? I'll be there.

 

[funkydrmonkey]

definitely don't feel discouraged! my best friend didn't interview until february and she got accepted.

Thanks... I actually just got my invite today!😀

 

[fuzzywuz]

Do you email you completion emails? According to my app status online, everything has been received.

Thanks!

 

[funkydrmonkey]

Do you email you completion emails? According to my app status online, everything has been received.

Thanks!

No they do not.

 

[Handy388]

anyone interview tomorrow? I'll be there.

so I am at the shadyside inn and bored out of my skull.

 

[BlackDr2b]

After people were complete, how long did it take to get feedback or an invite or something?

 

[talbo]

BlackDr2b, it took about 2 weeks for me,

i have a question for those who stayed at shadyinn? how did you get the student discount? do you enter the code under 'special request'? thanks!

 

[azuldelcielo]

FYI, the student host list is up. Click the link that says "list of first and second year students."

 

[copingmethods]

FYI, the student host list is up. Click the link that says "list of first and second year students."

I wanted to stay w/ a host, but it seems like it would somewhat short notice for tomorrow night!

 

[funkydrmonkey]

FYI, the student host list is up. Click the link that says "list of first and second year students."

It is funny how none of the hosts smoke... Not that that is bad... actually I hate the smell of smoke

 

[Handy388]

first day of interview!

Feed back: People there were super cool, both the other interviewees and the interviewers. they were incrediblly laidback.

there were way more dudes than ladies, but both of my interviewers were ladies.

I had a good time and got a few drinks after.

 

[copingmethods]

first day of interview!

Feed back: People there were super cool, both the other interviewees and the interviewers. they were incrediblly laidback.

there were way more dudes than ladies, but both of my interviewers were ladies.

I had a good time and got a few drinks after.

Awesome! Thanks for the info, I'll be there on Friday!