2014-2015 University of Pittsburgh Application Thread

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boltedbicorne said:
Rejected and I'm not surprised in the slightest because I didn't expect anything from a school that essentially auto-invites students with 34+ MCATs to interview a day after they submit while throwing everyone else to the bottom of the pile to view way later. At least I got enough interviews to not sweat being jerked around and rejected by schools like this. 🙂👍👍👍
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I got above that and didn't get an interview, so you're wrong.
 
I'm really excited about my interview! I got a 36 on my MCAT, though, so I probably don't deserve it. 🙁

#bitteristhenewblack
 
boltedbicorne said:
Actually, it just shows how integral the mcat is to this school. If anything such a process by pitt complete devalues the accomplishments of those who don't have a mcat score that high and have far more compelling life experiences that are thrown under the bus in favor of mcats. People with a 35+ mcat dont have to worry about being devalued, they got a 35+ mcat, and schools like pitt that pull auto-invites the next day for them.
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Pitt can take applicants with high MCAT scores AND life experiences. Those with interviews no doubt have done quite a bit to earn it.
boltedbicorne said:
obviously one-size doesn't fit all 100% of the time and in general this is how it works with Pitt.
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Oh please. Tell me more about how you know all about their admissions process. 🙄
 
claduva94 said:
Pitt can take applicants with high MCAT scores AND life experiences. Those with interviews no doubt have done quite a bit to earn it.
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yea they can, but the dichotomy i'm referring to is hardly a false dichotomy at Pitt. You need mcat scores in order to not have your life experiences neglected. it's hardly hollistic.
 
unnumzaan said:
I think Pitt's germanic efficiency at processing applications amplifies the emotional impact of whichever result each applicant receives. A quick II feels just as good as a swift rejection feels bad. In the end, wouldn't you rather that all schools were as straightforward as this?
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Not really because true holistic review, as in what pitt isn't doing, takes more time. When I'm putting the amount of effort I am into applications and you are too, it'd be strange not to want the same. I would rather be patient and realize that viewing each individual application/applicant can take days, weeks, debate, and analysis. That's far better than getting auto-invited in a day because you happen to be in the high mcat pile, which is really tacky, and superficial on every level.
 
boltedbicorne said:
Actually, it just shows how integral the mcat is to this school. If anything such a process by pitt complete devalues the accomplishments of those who don't have a mcat score that high and have far more compelling life experiences that are thrown under the bus in favor of mcats. People with a 35+ mcat dont have to worry about being devalued, they got a 35+ mcat, and schools like pitt that pull auto-invites the next day for them. People with lower mcats need more people like me who get a multitude of interview invites to encourage them, as they are often times thrown under the bus due to the score.
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boltedbicorne said:
Not really because true holistic review, as in what pitt isn't doing, takes more time. When I'm putting the amount of effort I am into applications and you are too, it'd be strange not to want the same. I would rather be patient and realize that viewing each individual application/applicant can take days, weeks, debate, and analysis. That's far better than getting auto-invited in a day because you happen to be in the high mcat pile, which is really tacky, and superficial on every level.
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My interview invite came 2 days after I submitted my secondary, which I submitted in September, and I had a 32.

The entire application of every applicant is read. It doesn't take that long to read an application, and there are a number of factors that go into it. I'm sorry you received a rejection, and I know it is frustrating, but it's not necessary to jump to false conclusions. At the end of the day, there are only so many interview invites and only so many seats. Best of luck with the rest of your application cycle.
 
boltedbicorne said:
oh yes i can, easily because it's a fact.
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As someone with a high MCAT and middling GPA/ECs who had yet to hear back from Pitt, I can testify that MCAT is not all that matters. I have not received an "auto" II.

Sometimes I feel bitter over the fact that those with high GPAs can get in with an MCAT score of 30, but I recognize that there's a lot that goes into this process, and GPA, MCAT, and ECs all reflect different aspects of a person. I also recognize that a great deal of this process simply reflects random factors, such as whether my application reviewer had a similar background as myself, or whether she was in a good mood.

Your high # of IIs (as opposed to my 0 IIs) suggests that you worked hard, your application is strong, and Pittsburgh just didn't go your way. Good luck, I hope you get many acceptances.
 
@boltedbicorne I'm pretty sure you posted somewhere that you had 10+ interviews. Can anyone really expect interviews at EVERY school?

Be cool, dude. This isn't an easy process for anyone, and you are so far more successful than most.
I get that rejections are painful, but there's no reason to be insulting about it.
 
Ismet said:
Sorry to hear about all the rejections that happened today. 🙁 I was in your shoes not too long ago, and I remember that feel. Best of luck to everyone on the rest of the cycle!

:luck::luck::luck:
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You got in UPitt on the second try?
 
milski said:
You got in UPitt on the second try?
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No. I meant that I remember the feeling of being rejected at a school you really love. Also being put on a waitlist at a school where no one has come off the waitlist in like 7 years, that seemed to hurt more than just a straight rejection.

Just brush it off and on to the next.
 
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GameOfBones said:
@boltedbicorne I'm pretty sure you posted somewhere that you had 10+ interviews. Can anyone really expect interviews at EVERY school?

Be cool, dude. This isn't an easy process for anyone, and you are so far more successful than most.
I get that rejections are painful, but there's no reason to be insulting about it.
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yes, that's true. i'm not expecting interviews at every school and have gotten a fair share of rejections (it pretty much balances out at this point). It's less frustration as my expectations entering this cycle were very low and I realized rejection is an inevitable part of the process and shouldn't be personalized (I don't). At the same time I am very critical about the way schools such as Rochester and Pitt appear to process applicant files. That's my only beef. I'm not being entitled and definitely don't expect interviews everywhere.
 
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Ismet said:
No. I meant that I remember the feeling of being rejected at a school you really love. Also being put on a waitlist at a school where no one has come off the waitlist in like 7 years, that seemed to hurt more than just a straight rejection.

Just brush it off and on to the next. You can't win them all.
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I know you're trying to say something encouraging and I do appreciate it. It is not working very well, sorry. As you said - can't win them all. 🙂
 
lawlzi said:
Is it too late to add this school to my amcas today? I didn't really look at it before but I would love to apply now. I'm just afraid b/c it looks like they are already booking their final interviews in Decemeber....

BTW, I would be able to submit the secondary the day I receive it since I've already written all the prompts for other secondaries.
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+1 ?
 
unnumzaan said:
I think Pitt's germanic efficiency at processing applications amplifies the emotional impact of whichever result each applicant receives. A quick II feels just as good as a swift rejection feels bad. In the end, wouldn't you rather that all schools were as straightforward as this?
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Agreed. At least they let us know early so we can focus on the remaining schools.
 
+1 in the reject group today. Is there anyone who is still complete and hasn't received a rejection?
 
FictiousForce said:
Rejected today. Secondary submitted 8/12/14. Is there a strong location preference here? I thought I might get an interview...
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I don't think that location plays much of a role. I am about two hours away and would willingly have walked to an interview! Sadly, no pity from Pitt. I do appreciate the notification, though. And by the way, I was complete 8/11. Good luck to all y'all with interviews!
 
woburnrock said:
So many rejections around lunch time - It is a bad day for us ... also rejected. Completed on 08/08.

I actually got an email around 11:30 am asking for my CV (I included it as part of my update a month ago) but they said that the attachment couldn't be found. So I sent them the files again and ... got the rejection email 20 minutes later. I wonder whether the decision had been made already, or that was what takes to make the decision. 🙁
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Wow. Raise the hopes, dash the hopes. Sorry. . .wishing you better news!
 
rainbowcake.gif

boltedbicorne said:
Rejected and I'm not surprised in the slightest because I didn't expect anything from a school that essentially auto-invites students with 34+ MCATs to interview a day after they submit while throwing everyone else to the bottom of the pile to view way later. At least I got enough interviews to not sweat being jerked around and rejected by schools like this. 🙂👍👍👍
Click to expand...
 
Ismet said:
My interview invite came 2 days after I submitted my secondary, which I submitted in September, and I had a 32.

The entire application of every applicant is read. It doesn't take that long to read an application, and there are a number of factors that go into it. I'm sorry you received a rejection, and I know it is frustrating, but it's not necessary to jump to false conclusions. At the end of the day, there are only so many interview invites and only so many seats. Best of luck with the rest of your application cycle.
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This.

They are very much holistic. My MCAT was under 35 and I got my II within an hour of submitting my app.

While our school average is high, yes... it isn't the be-all and end-all of selection.
 
Frazier said:
This.

They are very much holistic. My MCAT was under 35 and I got my II within an hour of submitting my app.

While our school average is high, yes... it isn't the be-all and end-all of selection.
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holistic as in they look the "whole" mcat scores aka the subsection breakdown.
 
boltedbicorne said:
holistic as in they look the "whole" mcat scores aka the subsection breakdown.
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apologies if this is rude, but you're coming off as mighty bitter... I'm unsure where you're getting this confidence from when you have people who actually interviewed at the school (and attend the school) saying you're wrong. There are students on the admissions committee here, I think we understand how the applications are viewed.

If you getting 10+ interviews is true then you'll be fine, appreciate the schools who gave you an interview and move on. People take this process very personally and it's spiteful of you to continually bash a school which, for many, is their dream school.
 
boltedbicorne said:
holistic as in they look the "whole" mcat scores aka the subsection breakdown.
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I hope you conduct yourself with a bit more humility in person, because this kind of unrelenting spitefulness and bashing is not a very becoming or desirable attitude in a medical student. I'll be interested to see your reaction to clinical evals.
 
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Ismet said:
I hope you conduct yourself with a bit more humility in person, because this kind of unrelenting spitefulness and bashing is not a very becoming or desirable attitude in a medical student. I'll be interested to see your reaction to clinical evals.
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Guys, guys, guys. . .let's all breathe deeply here and suspend judgment. I understand (as a fellow reject!!) the pain of being turned away, especially when we feel that we had so much to offer, if only given a chance. There is really no humble way to accuse anyone else of lacking humility, is there? SDN is a safe place, I hope, where we all share compassionately. While we may not agree with another's perception, perhaps we could register disagreement without shaming? It can be tough to be the last one picked for any team (again, the voice of experience here.) We wouldn't, when an interviewee exults over her invitation, say, "Yeah, well, they'll take practically anybody" or, when another raves about how great the school is, dispute with that evaluation, or snipe, "Sure, you think that, but what do you know?" We don't know one another, but even the superstars among us may have been judged in a way that they felt unjust and may have commented on the process in haste, thinking that they were venting to sympathetic ears. Christians have to ask themselves if they have ever fallen short before tossing the first stone; Muslims are advised to "stand firm. . .justice is next to piety;" Jews, as Yom Kippur draws nigh, remember Hillel's reminder that we cannot judge another "until we have stood in that other's place;" Hindus and Buddhists are mindful of the laws of karma; secular humanists "preach" tolerance and treating others with respect and sensitivity.

We all know that Pitt is a good school. We applied. We all know that everyone on here is longing to get into a good school and upset--openly or covertly--when even one of the good schools decides against them. Acknowledge, okay? Accept, okay? Be kind, okay? It's not too soon to begin to practice being the type of beyond-average doctors we hope to be.
 
boltedbicorne said:
holistic as in they look the "whole" mcat scores aka the subsection breakdown.
Click to expand...

Well...I have a balanced MCAT in the 99% percentile, and I got rejected. I think that does go to show you that other parts of the app are certainly important, and I may not have been showing what Pitt is looking for in essays, recs, etc.
 
BengaliBrat said:
Guys, guys, guys. . .let's all breathe deeply here and suspend judgment. I understand (as a fellow reject!!) the pain of being turned away, especially when we feel that we had so much to offer, if only given a chance. There is really no humble way to accuse anyone else of lacking humility, is there? SDN is a safe place, I hope, where we all share compassionately. While we may not agree with another's perception, perhaps we could register disagreement without shaming? It can be tough to be the last one picked for any team (again, the voice of experience here.) We wouldn't, when an interviewee exults over her invitation, say, "Yeah, well, they'll take practically anybody" or, when another raves about how great the school is, dispute with that evaluation, or snipe, "Sure, you think that, but what do you know?" We don't know one another, but even the superstars among us may have been judged in a way that they felt unjust and may have commented on the process in haste, thinking that they were venting to sympathetic ears. Christians have to ask themselves if they have ever fallen short before tossing the first stone; Muslims are advised to "stand firm. . .justice is next to piety;" Jews, as Yom Kippur draws nigh, remember Hillel's reminder that we cannot judge another "until we have stood in that other's place;" Hindus and Buddhists are mindful of the laws of karma; secular humanists "preach" tolerance and treating others with respect and sensitivity.

We all know that Pitt is a good school. We applied. We all know that everyone on here is longing to get into a good school and upset--openly or covertly--when even one of the good schools decides against them. Acknowledge, okay? Accept, okay? Be kind, okay? It's not too soon to begin to practice being the type of beyond-average doctors we hope to be.
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I am very sympathetic to the frustrations and anger of an application cycle, and that should be apparent in my previous responses. However, there are appropriate ways to deal with these frustrations publicly, and continuing to bash a school in the face of sympathetic and verified evidence to the contrary is not very appropriate IMO.
 
Ismet said:
I am very sympathetic to the frustrations and anger of an application cycle, and that should be apparent in my previous responses. However, there are appropriate ways to deal with these frustrations publicly, and continuing to bash a school in the face of sympathetic and verified evidence to the contrary is not very appropriate IMO.
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Yes, Ismet, there are. But we cannot compel good communication--only model it. I was not calling you out! Let us all be at peace. Okay? As Rodney King so nobly said after being beaten by police, to those rioting "on his behalf" "People, can we all get along?" Amen--Hope so. Since I am no longer in the running for Pitt (yes, of course it is a good school, worthy of love and respect and aren't we all?), I won't be following this discussion further, but I wish good fortune and all the other blessings to those who are interviewing here and those who are not. Including you, Ismet!
 
Ismet said:
My interview invite came 2 days after I submitted my secondary, which I submitted in September, and I had a 32.

The entire application of every applicant is read. It doesn't take that long to read an application, and there are a number of factors that go into it. I'm sorry you received a rejection, and I know it is frustrating, but it's not necessary to jump to false conclusions. At the end of the day, there are only so many interview invites and only so many seats. Best of luck with the rest of your application cycle.
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Agreed.

Likewise, I got a 38 and got an interview 10 days later and was freaking out because most others were getting interviews the next day. And on the other hand, there were other schools with interviewed students statistics lower than Pitt's where I didn't get an interview (and schools I would have loved to have at least checked out). I know the feeling of thinking you really deserve an interview and not getting one, I really do. It's just a fact of life in the med school admissions world. You have to roll with the punches and focus on the next school.

Also keep in mind that while an MCAT score is going to be looked at for interview invitation consideration, no one really cares about it at your interviews. They'd rather get to know you as a person. And especially once you're in med school, no one cares about your MCAT score (and if they do, you should run away from those people -- hell, I had to look up my MCAT score just now because I forgot what I got). Instead, people care about what type of person you are.

Good luck to everyone applying! It's a rough process but you'll get there!
 
Rejected just now. LizzyM >72 with several connections to the school. First rejection....good luck everyone!
 
rejected :[ complete ~8/20, LM ~66 so huge longshot for me anyway
 
Rejected just now 🙁 Complete app on 8/25. Non-trad, great shadowing exp, clinical volunteer and paid work, extensive teaching exp, and a pretty unusual hobby. This is my first rejection, but I'm only sitting with 1 interview in Nov.... :/ I fear for the next few weeks
 
Complete 8/25, IS, LizzyM 73-74 (yes that means 35+MCAT), REJECTED today

First school I've heard back from, so a little disappointed to see my app cycle start off poorly. Was hoping my longitudinal research experiences would give me a boost here. Good luck to everyone else.


boltedbicorne said:
Rejected and I'm not surprised in the slightest because I didn't expect anything from a school that essentially auto-invites students with 34+ MCATs to interview a day after they submit while throwing everyone else to the bottom of the pile to view way later. At least I got enough interviews to not sweat being jerked around and rejected by schools like this. 🙂👍👍👍
Click to expand...
boltedbicorne said:
Actually, it just shows how integral the mcat is to this school. If anything such a process by pitt complete devalues the accomplishments of those who don't have a mcat score that high and have far more compelling life experiences that are thrown under the bus in favor of mcats. People with a 35+ mcat dont have to worry about being devalued, they got a 35+ mcat, and schools like pitt that pull auto-invites the next day for them. People with lower mcats need more people like me who get a multitude of interview invites to encourage them, as they are often times thrown under the bus due to the score.
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:yeahright:
 
Completed at the end of August and I was also rejected this morning. This was my only reach school so I'm not surprised. But I must admit I was still disappointed since it was my dream school. Oh well, life goes on.

I'm sure Pitt looks at each application holistically, but I thought it was interesting that I was rejected without all of my letters being sent in. I'm still waiting on one from an MD that I recently added. Maybe they saw that my other 4 letters met their requirements and decided other aspects of my application weren't up to snuff.
 
cj_cregg said:
I got an interview with a sub 30 MCAT, fairly extensive/unique ECs (a little research, but mostly service/social justice stuff), and strong essays and GPA. I am ORM. Clearly, MCAT isn't everything. I'm not saying it can't help someone out with an otherwise average app, but based on my n=1, it also seems that they are willing to overlook a lower score if they see something else they like.
I'm not trying to diminish your life experiences or application strength or anything - just telling you what my experiences have been. Obviously, I don't know your life and I recognize that your rejection may have still been unjustified.
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in-state?
 
nOchemallday said:
Complete 8/25, IS, LizzyM 73-74 (yes that means 35+MCAT), REJECTED today

First school I've heard back from, so a little disappointed to see my app cycle start off poorly. Was hoping my longitudinal research experiences would give me a boost here. Good luck to everyone else.




:yeahright:
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Sorry to hear about that! I applied to this school because they have a prestige for intensive research, and I have a long-time commitment to research as well. But, you know, I was rejected earlier this week....It was really sad to see the rejection email, but I was grateful for their quick decision🙂 Hope this makes you feel better.
 
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