2012-2013 University of Pittsburgh Application Thread

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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AiyaTuc said:
Patience, my friends.
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Haha thats funny because you quoted me but i also have this question. Looking through last years thread i actually didn really see people who got invites months after completion. It seemed like those who got invites generally didnt wait more than 1-2 weeks. So maybe pitt isnt like other schools. Maybe a current student can comment on this? Are your chances significantly lowered if youve been waiting more than two weeks?
 
StriveForGlory said:
Haha thats funny because you quoted me but i also have this question. Looking through last years thread i actually didn really see people who got invites months after completion. It seemed like those who got invites generally didnt wait more than 1-2 weeks. So maybe pitt isnt like other schools. Maybe a current student can comment on this? Are your chances significantly lowered if youve been waiting more than two weeks?
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I don't any answer to your question, and I don't think anyone else really does given that their data points are themselves (=1) and SDN (also sample biased). What I can tell you is that in the previous admission season, there were a couple of extra interview days tacked on at the end of the season which normally were not there and were created quite late in the season from the perspective of current students who were conducting interviews. One might suppose that the interviewees from those days were people the committee decided they were interested in who may have applied earlier but the committee didn't get around to choosing to interview until later.

There's no point in trying to discern the intentions of the committee in what is an opaque process. Be patient. It is ridiculously early in the interview season and all seats are open.
 
Uggh, I was about to copy and paste my essay into the app, but then I realized that the first essay changed from last year's (ethical dilemma --> challenge). Unfortunately, tomorrow will be exactly 2 weeks since I received the secondary...is it okay if I send it back in like 16-17 days instead of 14??
 
AllDay24 said:
Uggh, I was about to copy and paste my essay into the app, but then I realized that the first essay changed from last year's (ethical dilemma --> challenge). Unfortunately, tomorrow will be exactly 2 weeks since I received the secondary...is it okay if I send it back in like 16-17 days instead of 14??
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Two weeks is just a rule of thumb. I don't believe a few days difference will have an impact on your admissions decision. I really only think it starts making a difference once you get into "several weeks" or a month later.
 
AllDay24 said:
Uggh, I was about to copy and paste my essay into the app, but then I realized that the first essay changed from last year's (ethical dilemma --> challenge). Unfortunately, tomorrow will be exactly 2 weeks since I received the secondary...is it okay if I send it back in like 16-17 days instead of 14??
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I know it's tough, but try not to be neurotic about these types of things. A few days will not make a difference, and even an extra week or two probably will not matter. It's not like adcoms sit there and laugh at anyone who took four weeks to submit a secondary. In fact, it's better to take your time and write thoughtful essays rather than rush through everything and produce a lower quality of work. I sat on one secondary for awhile last year because there were a lot of long essays, and I eventually submitted it in early September after "perfecting" my essays. Guess what? I still got an interview (and eventually an acceptance). I don't necessarily recommend putting everything off that late, but it won't kill you unless a school is very aggressive with its rolling admissions.
 
TWO WEEKS?!?! The golden rule is 72 hours. Source: multiple pre-med advisors
 
Rereading my post, I realized I was somewhat ambiguous. I meant several weeks-months IN ADDITION to the two weeks already passed.
 
Interview!!! I just submitted the secondary last night. They gave me interview today. Soooo quick!!!
 
topper34 said:
TWO WEEKS?!?! The golden rule is 72 hours. Source: multiple pre-med advisors
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I returned u of Pitts secondary after 15 days, I still got interview invite.... I don't know where your premed advisor got their information from.
 
wsc2879 said:
Interview!!! I just submitted the secondary last night. They gave me interview today. Soooo quick!!!
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WOW. you must have amazing stats/credentials! 🙂 I'm still under review!
 
yeah same here. submitted app on friday. got interview invite an hour ago.
 
I think it's really not worth trying to see how much time elapses before you get an interview. It is what it is. Once you submit, if they like you, they'll let you know if you have an interview. if not, well, I'm sure there will be other schools that would be more than happy to interview you too. I know the waiting game is annoying, but two things:

1) It's early in the cycle.
2) Once you have secondaries in, there's nothing you can really do about your app at this point.

Good job on getting your secondaries in though! I gotta admit, you guys submitted yours well before when I did last year.
 
AllDay24 said:
Uggh, I was about to copy and paste my essay into the app, but then I realized that the first essay changed from last year's (ethical dilemma --> challenge). Unfortunately, tomorrow will be exactly 2 weeks since I received the secondary...is it okay if I send it back in like 16-17 days instead of 14??
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Dude, I submitted my secondary last year in October. It's only July. You're fine. Take your time and write a strong essay. :luck:
 
wsc2879 said:
I returned u of Pitts secondary after 15 days, I still got interview invite.... I don't know where your premed advisor got their information from.
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Yeah congrats on getting an interview, it doesn't absolutely need to be in within 72 hours but doing so increases your chances for success. Early bird gets the worm
 
Hokay, so here's the thing. I know that there are a ton of stressed out applicants (especially in light of all the wonderful stats people are posting). So I thought I might give all of you who don't have a 3.9 and a 40 MCAT score a bit of relief. My buddy just got an interview invite today with a 3.2 cGPA, and a 3.4 sGPA with a 35M MCAT. When I asked him what he thinks did the trick, he told me he poured his entire soul into his application essays. He's not a URM, never published a paper, or traveled to africa to get one of those amazing volunteer/clinical experiences. So for those of you who are still waiting with me, just be patient because pitt is seemingly a school that actually delves into application materials and cares about the person behind the stats. I hope this helped calm everyone's nerves a bit.

-cj8
 
Courtjester8 said:
So for those of you who are still waiting with me, just be patient because pitt is seemingly a school that actually delves into application materials and cares about the person behind the stats. I hope this helped calm everyone's nerves a bit.

-cj8
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That is refreshing to hear, though what really worries me is the quick turnaround for interview invites. The longest I've heard anyone waiting for an invite after they submitted their secondary was two weeks. Some people on here get an invite the same day. I submitted mine 7/5 and haven't heard back. I'm trying to be realistic. *sniffs*
 
Courtjester8 said:
Hokay, so here's the thing. I know that there are a ton of stressed out applicants (especially in light of all the wonderful stats people are posting). So I thought I might give all of you who don't have a 3.9 and a 40 MCAT score a bit of relief. My buddy just got an interview invite today with a 3.2 cGPA, and a 3.4 sGPA with a 35M MCAT. When I asked him what he thinks did the trick, he told me he poured his entire soul into his application essays. He's not a URM, never published a paper, or traveled to africa to get one of those amazing volunteer/clinical experiences. So for those of you who are still waiting with me, just be patient because pitt is seemingly a school that actually delves into application materials and cares about the person behind the stats. I hope this helped calm everyone's nerves a bit.
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Totally agree with this. I too was one of these types of applicants. I really get the impression that this is totally true, so dont worry about the stats. just focus on having a solid reflection on all of the things you write about.
 
Courtjester8 said:
Hokay, so here's the thing. I know that there are a ton of stressed out applicants (especially in light of all the wonderful stats people are posting). So I thought I might give all of you who don't have a 3.9 and a 40 MCAT score a bit of relief. My buddy just got an interview invite today with a 3.2 cGPA, and a 3.4 sGPA with a 35M MCAT. When I asked him what he thinks did the trick, he told me he poured his entire soul into his application essays. He's not a URM, never published a paper, or traveled to africa to get one of those amazing volunteer/clinical experiences. So for those of you who are still waiting with me, just be patient because pitt is seemingly a school that actually delves into application materials and cares about the person behind the stats. I hope this helped calm everyone's nerves a bit.

-cj8
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👍👍
 
Hey everyone, I am also an incoming MS-1 lurking around here! If anyone has any questions, please feel free to PM me! As far as my story goes, I didn't apply unti mid September (on a Friday night) and woke up on Monday morning to an II! I interviewed early in November, was placed on the wait list in mid-December, and received an acceptance in February, 2 weeks after I sent a letter of interest. So those of you who aren't early applicants, don't worry too much! Good luck to all!
 
will be there on 9/14. I waited for almost two weeks to get the II, super excited!!
 
My II app was submitted, completed, and an interview invite was received within 2 days.

This school is one of the most inclusive for interviews according to MSAR. ~1000 interviews, but there's still only ~150 spots. Glad to have gotten past the screen though 🙂 So excited!
 
I found there is a PSTP program that I am quite interested in. I have already picked up my interview date for regular MD and booked the air ticket. Do I need to reschedule my interview if I am selected for the PSTP interview as well? Thanks.
 
Does Pitt send interview invites to candidates who have submitted a secondary but don't have their letters in yet?
 
>33, >3.7c+s. I had like 3 of my letters in, the only one that was missing was my committee letter....but that one is huge...so idk...
 
ccfman1991 said:
I got an invite without my letters.
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ccfman1991 said:
>33, >3.7c+s. I had like 3 of my letters in, the only one that was missing was my committee letter....but that one is huge...so idk...
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From the admissions website:

"What are the minimum requirements for letters of recommendation?
A letter of recommendation from a Pre-Health Advisory Committee or three individual letters of recommendation are required to complete an application for admission to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. While any three letters of recommendations will be accepted, it is preferred that the applicant submit three academic letters."

You were marked complete because you had 3 letters in, which meets Pitt's minimum requirements. Many pre-health committees will bundle applicants' letters with their cover (committee) letter, but I guess yours doesn't. Regardless, it is misleading to state that you received an interview without your letters. To my knowledge, Pitt does not send out interview invitations until the applicant meets the minimum letter requirement (either the committee letter packet or individual letters as mentioned above).


c5r4c5542 said:
how does Pitt feel about pre-II letters of interest?
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Again from the admissions website:

"When is it an appropriate time for me to follow-up with the UPSOM?
Our Admissions Committee welcomes letters of intent/interest and updates to your application. The most appropriate time to follow-up with us is following your interview or after the receipt of your official admissions decision. Communications can be sent via postal mail or to our admissions mailbox at [email protected]. Any communication received from the applicant will be included in their admissions file."

Letters of interest at this stage of the game are pretty moot, as you just submitted your applications. You wouldn't have applied to Pitt if you weren't interested, right? Pitt is one of the few schools with an extremely fast turnaround, meaning that most people (but not all) receive interviews fairly quickly. Given that you just wrote your AMCAS and secondary applications, what more could you have to tell Pitt at this point? I would discourage you from sending any pleading letters without having a substantial update for the school, i.e. your fall term semester grades, a new scholarship/award, a publication acceptance, new activities, etc.. LOIs are most effective after the interview or after you are notified of a wait-list decision. (Side note: If a school is your top choice and you have been complete for several months with no notice of an interview, then it may be time to send a LOI. Again, though, it helps to have some major updates.)

Hope this helps.
 
penguinism said:
Regardless, it is misleading to state that you received an interview without your letters. To my knowledge, Pitt does not send out interview invitations until the applicant meets the minimum letter requirement (either the committee letter packet or individual letters as mentioned above).
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Ah my fault. Yes, to clarify, it did say "Complete" for my LOR's. I didn't know about the 3 academic letter thing, so that's why I thought it was strange. I had 3 separate letters and 1 committee letter (which included 3 other letters). I think i have 7 letters total. 3 of them were uploaded.
 
Ok, phew, that's good. I got worried because my school hadn't even sent out my packet yet.
 
Woodchuck said:
I found there is a PSTP program that I am quite interested in. I have already picked up my interview date for regular MD and booked the air ticket. Do I need to reschedule my interview if I am selected for the PSTP interview as well? Thanks.
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People who are accepted or on the waitlist get information about applying for PSTP over the winter and if you are selected for one of those interviews then you would make a second trip to Pittsburgh (there are only a few interviews for PSTP and I actually think they give you some money for travel if you get one but I might be wrong). However, you have to attend a regular interview regardless so you're already set for that. Also, if you don't get PSTP, there is also a program called CSTP that you apply for after you're already a student at Pitt. I think the funding is less, and the main difference is that it's for people who are more interested in clinical research versus PSTP which is more focused on bench research.
 
Bump for Pitt!

For a school that's heavy on rolling such as Pitt, does it make a significant difference to interview in August/September versus October (before first acceptances) or November?

Any insight would be appreciated!

Pitt, please interview meeeee
 
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riddler said:
Bump for Pitt!

For a school that's heavy on rolling such as Pitt, does it make a significant difference to interview in August/September versus October (before first acceptances) or November?

Any insight would be appreciated!

Pitt, please interview meeeee
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According to their calendar (http://www.medadmissions.pitt.edu/announcements/calendar.php), they won't release any decisions until December 1st this year. Interviewing in October will probably be fine. Since Pitt pulls most of their class off of the wait-list anyway, the interview date probably doesn't matter that much.
 
Hey guys,

So if it has been about two weeks since I have been complete without any new notifications about an interview, can I pretty much chalk up a rejection for Pitt? The trends seem to be like that but didn't want to assume.

Sorry if this topic has been beaten to death in other threads or even prior in this thread.
 
WWPWillis52D said:
Hey guys,

So if it has been about two weeks since I have been complete without any new notifications about an interview, can I pretty much chalk up a rejection for Pitt? The trends seem to be like that but didn't want to assume.

Sorry if this topic has been beaten to death in other threads or even prior in this thread.
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It has been and no you shouldn't. People will continue to get IIs for months including people who get them after being complete for quite a while. Chalk up a rejection for Pitt if you get a rejection e-mail from Pitt.

Clumpofstuff said:
At the interview is the file open or closed.
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The student interviewer has just your name, school, and hometown. The faculty interviewer has most of your AMCAS including your activities but not your stats. I'm not sure if they have your secondary essays.
 
II last night! For those who are wondering, my secondary was submitted 7/11, and my committee letter was received 7/20.

Good luck everyone and hopefully I'll be seeing you some Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday this fall at Scaife!
 
Did you guys receive any sort of email acknowledgment upon completion of your secondary? I just noticed that I never recieved any sort of email regarding my payment or secondary submission. Im guessing this is normal?
 
My advice about "open or closed" is that in general, you should assume anything is possible. I had interviews at places where it was open, but they still wanted me to introduce myself, blah blah blah, etc etc etc.

At Pitt, I recall that it was a little bit of both. I know my interviewer read my app shortly before the interview, but he was having a busy day that day. I dunno how it'll be with other interviews. What i'm trying to get at, is that if a doc forgets to read your app, he/she will simply say, "tell me about yourself."lol. This is not just at Pitt, but at ANY SCHOOL. I know schools that were totally open file, and they were like..."I decided not to read applications...tell me about yourself..."😕 or "sorry, i was busy-can you tell me about yourself?"

Profs are busy. But I can tell you that Pitt, they do know a little bit about you in advance, so be aware. I would say its a good thing, so you don't have to rehash your PS every single freaking time at an interview, and you can spend more time connecting with your interviewer and getting to talk about other random tangents. woot.
 
StriveForGlory said:
Did you guys receive any sort of email acknowledgment upon completion of your secondary? I just noticed that I never recieved any sort of email regarding my payment or secondary submission. Im guessing this is normal?
Click to expand...

I didn't get a "complete" email either. Your status should've changed when you log in though.
 
Has anyone not received a secondary app yet? I was verified 7/11/12. I know they were supposed to send it to everyone, but I'm a little worried...
 
I'd call the office, I'm sure they'll send it right out to you.
 
Has anyone who applied MD/PhD heard anything Back yet?

My PIs said they got emails from Pitt saying they wanted them to fill some stuff out. They did it.

I want an interview!!!! Rawr!!!!

My PI asked me when I met with him yesterday. I'm excited about Pitt 🙂.
 
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