2012-2013 University of Pittsburgh Application Thread

[ben34]

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Rejected today. Good luck to everyone.

 

[pranagirl]

Rejected also, 3.9+ gpa and 36 mcat. Interviews already at Harvard and Yale, but still stings! Good luck to everyone else.

 

[Ichiban88]

Rejected as well.

 

[spf15]

I guess this is not completely specific to Pitt... but what exactly does it mean to be rejected pre-interview? Does this mean that there's a red flag or something in my app? I haven't heard back from that many schools yet so this rejection is just making me worried.

 

[Member 987653]

Fourth rejection and only one ii...starting to worry.

 

[Geebeejay]

I guess this is not completely specific to Pitt... but what exactly does it mean to be rejected pre-interview? Does this mean that there's a red flag or something in my app? I haven't heard back from that many schools yet so this rejection is just making me worried.

Doesn't necessarily mean anything....simply just too many applicants to interview all of them! Might be a red flag, or maybe you're just part of the woeful 80%.

Fourth rejection and only one ii...starting to worry.

Ya, but your 1 ii was at Dartmouth! Too early to worry man, it happens, and I think you'll be okay.

Rejected today too....stings, cause I really liked this school. Stings more cause it was my second rejection today🙁

 

[hobbity]

Also rejected 🙁 (was excited for this school after reading good things about Pitt)
Secondary submitted 7/31; complete 8/15
scGPA: 3.6, cGPA 3.7; 36 (below average ECs)
I will now console myself by thinking that it's really far from home and that the East Coast is too cold for my taste anyways...

 

[fert]

+1 for the rejected crew!

GPA: ~3.8, MCAT: >35; Complete 8/10. Good luck to the rest of you. 🙂

 

[Frazier]

.

 

[PFThompson]

Rejected as well. A bit surprised.
GPA: 4.0 MCAT: 40

 

[stkjhu]

rejected 🙁

 

[brbEightball]

Rejected this afternoon, stats in mdapp.

Sent from my Android using Tapatalk

 

[PreMedOrDead]

Wow, lots of rejections, and a lot of high stat applicants as well.

Pitt is clearly extremely selective, they simply can't interview all the qualified applicants. I wish you all the best of luck in the rest of your cycle, I'm sure you'll all do very well! 🙂

 

[sliceofbread136]

Wow, lots of rejections, and a lot of high stat applicants as well.

Pitt is clearly extremely selective, they simply can't interview all the qualified applicants. I wish you all the best of luck in the rest of your cycle, I'm sure you'll all do very well! 🙂

Do you have a real mdapps? Id be curious to see it.

 

[PreMedOrDead]

Do you have a real mdapps? Id be curious to see it.

Since there are a couple different users, it wouldn't be very useful. But we're all relatively high stat applicants with pretty strong backgrounds. Just looking for a place to call home! 🙂

 

[Frazier]

Since there are a couple different users, it wouldn't be very useful. But we're all relatively high stat applicants with pretty strong backgrounds. Just looking for a place to call home! 🙂

Interesting. So premedordead is a sort of collective account?

 

[PreMedOrDead]

Interesting. So premedordead is a sort of collective account?

Sort of. It kind of gets passed back and forth. The most active is a female with insane stats that posts the majority of the time, but there's also a couple of us mere mortals that use it because we are too lazy to make our own. The person that started it is actually inactive, I believe.

But anyways, while I know Pitt was known for waitlisting everyone, this non-rolling admissions is going to make my fall/winter wait awful. 🙁

 

[Geebeejay]

Sort of. It kind of gets passed back and forth. The most active is a female with insane stats that posts the majority of the time, but there's also a couple of us mere mortals that use it because we are too lazy to make our own. The person that started it is actually inactive, I believe.

But anyways, while I know Pitt was known for waitlisting everyone, this non-rolling admissions is going to make my fall/winter wait awful. 🙁

Lol...wtf? if this is true, this is ridiculous, creepy and sorta badass

 

[PreMedOrDead]

Lol...wtf? if this is true, this is ridiculous, creepy and sorta badass

Not creepy, we all know each other in one way or another; medicine is a collaborative effort. 🙂

I'm just going to leave this beautiful thing here:

 

[Geebeejay]

Not creepy, we all know each other in one way or another; medicine is a collaborative effort. 🙂

Not creepy in that way, but creepy in a way that we never know who we're talking to when we respond to your posts.

 

[jesse120]

Sort of. It kind of gets passed back and forth. The most active is a female with insane stats that posts the majority of the time, but there's also a couple of us mere mortals that use it because we are too lazy to make our own. The person that started it is actually inactive, I believe.

But anyways, while I know Pitt was known for waitlisting everyone, this non-rolling admissions is going to make my fall/winter wait awful. 🙁

Any more lies? Do you all even like Futurama? Do you even want death by Snu-Snu? 😍

 

[PreMedOrDead]

Not creepy in that way, but creepy in a way that we never know who we're talking to when we respond to your posts.

90% of the time it's me, the female counterpart. 🙂

I think the smileys give it away.

Any more lies? Do you all even like Futurama? Do you even want death by Snu-Snu? 😍

If I get a chance to come to second look, I will bend your face in half.
Haha, okay maybe not, but I never got to see you all on interview day which was kind of sad.

 

[The Beyonder]

I know Pitt was known for waitlisting everyone, this non-rolling admissions is going to make my fall/winter wait awful. 🙁

Just read off their fact book:

2011, the medical school received 5,003 applications for admission and interviewed 979 prospective students for the first-year class of 148 members.

😱


So many interviews for 148 spots. It's going to be a long winter.

 

[PreMedOrDead]

Just read off their fact book:

2011, the medical school received 5,003 applications for admission and interviewed 979 prospective students for the first-year class of 148 members.

😱


So many interviews for 148 spots. It's going to be a long winter.

Earlier in this thread two things were said:

(1) They are cutting down the number of interviews given this year.
and
(2) Pitt accepts over twice what it matriculates.

I don't have the raw numbers, but hopefully that calms your woes.

 

[arroyo2208]

Just read off their fact book:

2011, the medical school received 5,003 applications for admission and interviewed 979 prospective students for the first-year class of 148 members.

😱


So many interviews for 148 spots. It's going to be a long winter.

They are changing their admissions structure though, switching to non-rolling, etc. On my interview day they told us they were interviewing ~700 people this year..or at least I think I remember that haha

 

[PreMedOrDead]

They are changing their admissions structure though, switching to non-rolling, etc. On my interview day they told us they were interviewing ~700 people this year..or at least I think I remember that haha

They're shooting for being around 50% of students that interview will eventually be accepted, IIRC. That's a much more reasonable number.

 

[The Beyonder]

They're shooting for being around 50% of students that interview will eventually be accepted, IIRC. That's a much more reasonable number.

Hope so. My interview is around the corner. 50% chance sounds good to me.

 

[dvorjak]

Complete 9/24. Interview Invite 9/27. Freaking amazing turnaround.

Pittsburgh here I come!

 

[nabilesmail]

So I'm pretty much rejected then! 3.74 34 MCAT as well! Submitted 9/25!

 

[BurghStudent]

So I'm pretty much rejected then! 3.74 34 MCAT as well! Submitted 9/25!

Not necessarily. I had lower stats than a lot of folks that were rejected recently and I got an interview.

 

[Ismet]

So I'm pretty much rejected then! 3.74 34 MCAT as well! Submitted 9/25!

Be a little more patient...you submitted a week ago.

 

[ERMAHGERD]

So I'm intent on sending a letter of intent (har har)...

When is the best time to send one? I want to send one now, but I feel like it would be more effective if I could say "I've interviewed at ________, but Pitt is by far my #1 choice." Thoughts?

 

[twentythousand]

rejected

 

[penguinism]

So I'm intent on sending a letter of intent (har har)...

When is the best time to send one? I want to send one now, but I feel like it would be more effective if I could say "I've interviewed at ________, but Pitt is by far my #1 choice." Thoughts?

I think it's unnecessary to mention the other schools at which you've interviewed. Seems a bit pretentious, IMO.

If you have a significant update for the committee, you can send a letter now. Otherwise, it might be wise to wait for a decision in January before you pour on the love. It's really your call. I'm not sure if they plan to waitlist a majority of the candidates again or if they will accept a larger number outright this year.

 

[smackmybishop]

I'm just going to leave this beautiful thing here:

 

[idontcaureuknow]

I absolutely love the contrast, smackmybishop. From the old steel milling town Pittsburgh used to be with the ash everywhere, to what it is now. It's a whole different city.

AAAAARGH I want to get in soooo bad haha.

 

[Ismet]

That picture got a heavy dose of photoshop. The Cathedral and Heinz Chapel don't look like that even on the gloomiest of days, and it seems like a recent picture so it's not from the steel days when the buildings were actually black.

Pittsburgh is beautiful. Anyone who disagrees needs to drive inbound on the Fort Pitt Bridge or Liberty Bridge at night.

 

[xdajbq]

Accidentally submitted my secondary application without filling out page 4 (areas of interest for interview matching).... What should I do? (Can anything be done, other than panic?)

 

[Ismet]

Accidentally submitted my secondary application without filling out page 4 (areas of interest for interview matching).... What should I do? (Can anything be done, other than panic?)

Call admissions and tell them about it. It's not a big deal. I'm assuming they'll either make a note of your selection or open the secondary back up so you can fill it out and resubmit.

 

[xdajbq]

Call admissions and tell them about it. It's not a big deal. I'm assuming they'll either make a note of your selection or open the secondary back up so you can fill it out and resubmit.

Will do. Thank you!

 

[JifyPuf]

So on the secondary, we were asked to list 3 specialties we're interested in so we can be matched with an interviewer in one of those fields. I didn't put much thought into how much I knew about the specialties and chose based on what I think I might be interested in and also on specialty similar to my area of research. Pitt would be a dream come true and I can't help but think of inane questions to ask you all so...

I'm wondering if anyone who interviewed was matched with someone from one of the fields they picked? Also, were you asked why you picked that field or grilled on the specialty in any way?

Thanks and good luck to everyone!!

 

[wizedw]

So on the secondary, we were asked to list 3 specialties we're interested in so we can be matched with an interviewer in one of those fields. I didn't put much thought into how much I knew about the specialties and chose based on what I think I might be interested in and also on specialty similar to my area of research. Pitt would be a dream come true and I can't help but think of inane questions to ask you all so...

I'm wondering if anyone who interviewed was matched with someone from one of the fields they picked? Also, were you asked why you picked that field or grilled on the specialty in any way?

Thanks and good luck to everyone!!

I pick psych, neuro, and internal medicine. I got an ER doc who was incredibly friendly. I think its mostly luck!

 

[arroyo2208]

So on the secondary, we were asked to list 3 specialties we're interested in so we can be matched with an interviewer in one of those fields. I didn't put much thought into how much I knew about the specialties and chose based on what I think I might be interested in and also on specialty similar to my area of research. Pitt would be a dream come true and I can't help but think of inane questions to ask you all so...

I'm wondering if anyone who interviewed was matched with someone from one of the fields they picked? Also, were you asked why you picked that field or grilled on the specialty in any way?

Thanks and good luck to everyone!!

I put peds, underserved populations and cardio, and had a cardiologist. It never came up that I put that as an interest though. The only way it affected it was that I was obviously interested in what he did which generated a bit of conversation, though my interview did not go very well in general so I don't know how helpful that is. I think if I had been paired with someone according to my other two interests it would have made much more of a difference since that's what just about all my activities are centered around.

That being said I think it was pretty lucky of me to get matched with an interest I put down. They even said before our interviews that they try to match us but it is obviously very difficult to with limited interviewer availability, so you most likely won't be.

 

[theacks1]

My top two choices were Clinician Educator and Peds and I ended up with a renal Clinician Educator who does first year pbl proctoring, second year renal lecturing, third year medicine rotation rounds and fourth year electives, so that worked our pretty well for my interests. CE was a pretty broad selection, so that helped, but I wasn't expecting someone so involved through all four years.

 

[JifyPuf]

Cool, thanks guys and gals!

 

[The Beyonder]

So on the secondary, we were asked to list 3 specialties we're interested in so we can be matched with an interviewer in one of those fields. I didn't put much thought into how much I knew about the specialties and chose based on what I think I might be interested in and also on specialty similar to my area of research. Pitt would be a dream come true and I can't help but think of inane questions to ask you all so...

I'm wondering if anyone who interviewed was matched with someone from one of the fields they picked? Also, were you asked why you picked that field or grilled on the specialty in any way?

Thanks and good luck to everyone!!

Interview was pretty relaxed. One of the deans said they don't believe in stressful interviews.

 

[InterStudent]

I have a question for those who interviewed here already.

I'm heading out to Pitts in few weeks and looking into getting plane tickets. According to the Pitts website, I should buy a plane ticket out after 6 pm. I am having a really hard time finding an affordable flight that flies out back home after 5 pm or so.

It seems like there's an "optional information session" that ends at 3:30 pm at the end of the interview day. Is this really an optional or does everyone stay for the info session? Also, any experience with taking a bus to the airport (timing and such?) Thank you so much!

 

[carramrod06]

I have a question for those who interviewed here already.

I'm heading out to Pitts in few weeks and looking into getting plane tickets. According to the Pitts website, I should buy a plane ticket out after 6 pm. I am having a really hard time finding an affordable flight that flies out back home after 5 pm or so.

It seems like there's an "optional information session" that ends at 3:30 pm at the end of the interview day. Is this really an optional or does everyone stay for the info session? Also, any experience with taking a bus to the airport (timing and such?) Thank you so much!

IIRC the day ended at 3:00PM exactly with some closing remarks after the financial aid presentation. I would say maybe 3/4 of those interviewing on my day did not attend the optional session. I took the 28X shuttle which arrived a little late probably around 3:40PM to the airport which took about an hour. I was able to get through security by about 5:10PM (a good hour before my flight). I would say it would be very difficult to make a 5PM flight especially since it would probably board at around 4:30PM and the gates would close 10 minutes before departure. You could take a taxi but that would probably cost a decent amount of money. I would weigh that cost and the additional cost of a later flight. Hope it works out for you!

 

[Ismet]

I have a question for those who interviewed here already.

I'm heading out to Pitts in few weeks and looking into getting plane tickets. According to the Pitts website, I should buy a plane ticket out after 6 pm. I am having a really hard time finding an affordable flight that flies out back home after 5 pm or so.

It seems like there's an "optional information session" that ends at 3:30 pm at the end of the interview day. Is this really an optional or does everyone stay for the info session? Also, any experience with taking a bus to the airport (timing and such?) Thank you so much!

The optional session is about the PSTP program. If you're not interested in doing the program, there's no need to stay. I remember only like 3 people from my interview day staying for the session.

I'd say it will be difficult to make a 5pm or earlier flight. The 28X takes about an hour to get from Oakland to the airport, and it may or may not come on time (most likely won't come on time) depending on the day of the week and the traffic at that time. A cab to the airport would be fairly expensive as opposed to the $3.75 for the 28X. I'd suggest a later flight, or maybe see if your host will allow you to spend an extra night here before flying back the next morning?

 

[PreMedOrDead]

Agreed with the above. A flight at 5:30 is probably the earliest possible, even not attending the optional activity.