2017-2018 University of Pittsburgh

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ScreenName23 said:
That's wild. I didn't have anything that bad in any group discussions I've been in. My Pitt group interview was great, but at another school there were two guys that just kept cutting people off. I figured that's more of what they typically evaluate...whether or not you are able to back off and let other people share in a group discussion and participate yourself.
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Yeah both of my groups everyone was very cordial and agreeable. If people started to talk at the same time we always did that “oh sorry go ahead what were you saying” thing. I figured that’s how most groups went on every interview day so I guess I don’t get how it’s all that useful in evaluating applicants. But maybe there’s more rude or unethical people than I think lol


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nsharma23 said:
Congrats 🙂 When did you guys schedule your interview for?
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Haven't scheduled yet cuz I need to figure out travel plans, but dates available late November through December
 
Klondike the Polar Bear said:
What were your guys' impressions of the school and students? I interviewed there earlier and I'm curious to know others' opinions. i.e. how much pitt takes care of their students, the student body community, elitism, etc. Everyone was very friendly towards me - like I said, I'm just curious
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I have several friends who go to Pitt Med. They all love it and say their class is super chill, as in there are some gunners but for the most part everyone is cool and works together. I'm not sure if this is accurate or not, but I got the feeling that because Pitt isn't an ivy or other crazy school like Stanford or JHU, it attracts a lot of people who aren't too neurotic or pretentious, yet still is able to rank highly. Though that is just anecdotal though.
 
nsharma23 said:
Congrats 🙂 When did you guys schedule your interview for?
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I'm not sure yet, I only have dates open in the 2nd and 3rd weeks of December, and have four interviews scheduled over those two weeks (two in each), all OOS. I'm guessing that since their site says "Interviews are offered Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday (excluding university holidays) beginning in mid-August and concluding in mid-December." this is probably it for dates too 🙁. Pitt has been one of my top choices since i'm from PA and have wanted to stay close to home, so it'll be really disappointing if I can't manage to figure out something that works.
 
kysk99 said:
I'm not sure yet, I only have dates open in the 2nd and 3rd weeks of December, and have four interviews scheduled over those two weeks (two in each), all OOS. I'm guessing that since their site says "Interviews are offered Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday (excluding university holidays) beginning in mid-August and concluding in mid-December." this is probably it for dates too 🙁. Pitt has been one of my top choices since i'm from PA and have wanted to stay close to home, so it'll be really disappointing if I can't manage to figure out something that works.
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Wow that's awesome! Yea, definitely try to get a date! I picked 12/13 (I believe the last date was 12/15).
 
aaaaannnnd rejected.....complete mid-sept
 
Rejected this morning pre-II. Complete 9/25. LM 75. OOS.
 
For people who interviewed here, is it a truly closed file interview, or they just don't look at your MCAT/GPA?
 
docr3 said:
For people who interviewed here, is it a truly closed file interview, or they just don't look at your MCAT/GPA?
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Both interviewers don’t know your MCAT/GPA. Faculty interview is otherwise open file. Student interview is closed.
 
MrAsian said:
Both interviewers don’t know your MCAT/GPA. Faculty interview is otherwise open file. Student interview is closed.
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That’s interesting. I’m so excited about the possibility of attending this school, how was your interview day?
 
docr3 said:
That’s interesting. I’m so excited about the possibility of attending this school, how was your interview day?
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Interview day was very relaxed and has been my favorite interview day so far (though I've currently only attended 4 interviews). Both of my interviewers were very nice, and there were no curveball or difficult questions. In fact, it was quite strange as my interviewers only asked me a couple of questions, then we spent the rest of the time talking about school, medicine, and other fun things (Bladerunner and Led Zeppelin came up at one point). It kinda felt like I was interviewing them, but I'm not sure how representative this is. Make sure you have good reasons for Pittsburgh though, both the city and the school. It's a top tier school, but it doesn't have the fancy name recognition or big-city location as other similar schools, like Cornell or Northwestern, and it seemed like they really wanted to make sure that you love them as much as they love you 🙂.

The tour is very long, and it was raining during our tour, though they provided cool umbrellas we could borrow. Many people did change into comfortable walking shoes for the tour, and I regretted not doing so because my feet started to hurt. Lunch was also the best lunch I've had so far, but that may not be saying much as every other school I've been to gives out cold sandwiches and chips.

There are two group activities: a small four-person discussion and a larger discussion that contained every interviewee. During the small discussion, we were presented with an ethical scenario, and we had a facilitator who jotted down notes. During the larger discussion, we were presented with a more medically oriented scenario, and we had a facilitator and another person who wrote down notes as we spoke. You don't have to have any medical knowledge for the medical scenario. I'm not sure if these are going to be evaluated, but it seemed like it. As long as you have a moral compass and some empathy and compassion, both discussions should be very easy, like a less intense MMI.

After the interview day, don't underestimate the rush hour traffic getting back to the airport. Plan for this when booking your flight (if you are flying back out).

Hope this helps. Have fun on your interview day!
(PS, I recommend going to Squirrel Hill if you can for some delicious Asian food)
 
ek999 said:
current MS1 here, any questions about pitt or the interview process let me know!
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Thanks for taking the time to answer questions! Are you happy that you chose this school? What drew you to Pitt initially? 🙂
 
kitkat13 said:
Thanks for taking the time to answer questions! Are you happy that you chose this school? What drew you to Pitt initially? 🙂
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of course - I'm SO happy I chose the school. Initially, before actually visiting it was the incredible clinical reputation, match list, literally endless research opportunities, the many high-ranked hospitals directly in the area, the city of pittsburgh itself, and the fact that I had some family in the area. But after interviewing and second look, the biggest things for me were the people and the city. Everything else I loved about the school initially was absolutely true, but nowhere I went did I find students, faculty, physicians and administration as warm, supportive, open, multi-talented, and chill as the ones I met at Pitt. People here drop what they're doing to help you get where you want to go- whether it's shadowing, research, tutoring, or to the bathroom. I absolutely love it, and you can imagine that it makes for a real family feel.

The curriculum and program feeds you opportunities in small groups to meet and work with people from your class, other classes, and doctors from lots of specialties. Every week we have PBL (problem based learning) case studies in groups of 10 with facilitated by different doctors from around the Pittsburgh area. I've gotten to meet about 15 different physicians this way without any effort. And even if that doesn't work out, you can pick from a list of thousands of people to e-mail and shadow, potentially do research with, or just learn about their path to what they're doing.

Also, Pittsburgh is a beautiful place. A very young, small-town, cozy vibe in a big city. Endless green-space, music, museums, colleges, FOOD, cheap drinks (seriously, soooo many great happy hour deals) and cheap rent!! I fell in love with it within a week.

Hope this was helpful!
 
Can anyone comment on their interview experience? Like how were the questions/any curveball questions? Mine's tomorrow and I really don't know what to expect
 
mk059 said:
Can anyone comment on their interview experience? Like how were the questions/any curveball questions? Mine's tomorrow and I really don't know what to expect
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I had really laid back, conversational interviews here. I talked a lot about my personal background and interests moving forward in my faculty interview, and talked more about my research in my student interview. That's just where the conversation drifted though!
 
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mk059 said:
Can anyone comment on their interview experience? Like how were the questions/any curveball questions? Mine's tomorrow and I really don't know what to expect
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I interviewed back in September, and it was super chill. Pretty much a typical interview even though the interviewer said he was going to ask me "tough" questions. But we mostly just talked about my experiences, the changing face of health care and other similar topics. Then at the end, I asked him about his work and he discussed one of his recent interesting cases with me. it was awesome.
 
ek999 said:
of course - I'm SO happy I chose the school. Initially, before actually visiting it was the incredible clinical reputation, match list, literally endless research opportunities, the many high-ranked hospitals directly in the area, the city of pittsburgh itself, and the fact that I had some family in the area. But after interviewing and second look, the biggest things for me were the people and the city. Everything else I loved about the school initially was absolutely true, but nowhere I went did I find students, faculty, physicians and administration as warm, supportive, open, multi-talented, and chill as the ones I met at Pitt. People here drop what they're doing to help you get where you want to go- whether it's shadowing, research, tutoring, or to the bathroom. I absolutely love it, and you can imagine that it makes for a real family feel.

The curriculum and program feeds you opportunities in small groups to meet and work with people from your class, other classes, and doctors from lots of specialties. Every week we have PBL (problem based learning) case studies in groups of 10 with facilitated by different doctors from around the Pittsburgh area. I've gotten to meet about 15 different physicians this way without any effort. And even if that doesn't work out, you can pick from a list of thousands of people to e-mail and shadow, potentially do research with, or just learn about their path to what they're doing.

Also, Pittsburgh is a beautiful place. A very young, small-town, cozy vibe in a big city. Endless green-space, music, museums, colleges, FOOD, cheap drinks (seriously, soooo many great happy hour deals) and cheap rent!! I fell in love with it within a week.

Hope this was helpful!
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Awesome thanks so much! This was super helpful!! 🙂
How are you likely the once a week PBL? For the rest of the days, do you guys have lectures?
 
Saifa said:
Interview day rocked.
Unfortunately I never had eggplant parmesan before and threw out my lunch thinking it was some very very strange meat.
Really hoping for an acceptance here!
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Glad it went well! Anything stand out to you in particular that you may or may not have known before your interview?
 
nsharma23 said:
Glad it went well! Anything stand out to you in particular that you may or may not have known before your interview?
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Pitt doesn't feel like it's strictly a "research powerhouse" at all. The school felt very connected to the community and the curriculum is extremely devoted to the human side of medicine in addition to the emphasis on research and scholarship. It also felt like the faculty really treated you like a potential colleague rather than just another applicant.
 
Maybe this is a dumb question but what kind of patient population does U Pitt serve? It seems smaller than a lot of other cities so I was not sure
 
Got the feeling there that they serve a wide range, since they are a regional center...
 
kitkat13 said:
Maybe this is a dumb question but what kind of patient population does U Pitt serve? It seems smaller than a lot of other cities so I was not sure
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The main Oakland hospitals (presby/monte/magee) + Childrens are tertiary centers that serves a huge catch area. Basically the western half of PA plus parts of Ohio and WV. We have a surprising number of patients who come from Cleveland considering the excellent healthcare systems available there.

As a student you may also rotate at the community hospitals (Shadyside, St Margaret, Passavant, etc) or the urban hospital in downtown (Mercy).

Patient population is pretty standard for what you would expect at large academic vs. community vs. inner city hospitals.
 
nsharma23 said:
Indeed. So how was everyone's interview day? Mine's coming up and I'm soooo excited!!
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Loved my interview day. Very low stress and conversational interviews, definitely be able to answer 'why Pitt' and 'why medicine'. Wear comfortable shoes for the tour
 
Me, right after interview: I totally aced my interview. I'm definitely getting accepted!

Me, 3 days after interview: Actually, the more I think about it, I was below average during the small group session. I'm guessing I'll get on Waitlist Tier 1. Hey, I've still got a good chance right? I hear Pitt accepts a lot of people off the waitlist, and the fact that they have a Waitlist Tier 2 means it's not uncommon for everyone on Waitlist Tier 1 to get in, right?

Me, 1 week after interview: After thinking about it even more, maybe Waitlist Tier 2 is more accurate. I've still got a shot, right?

Me, 2 weeks after interview: Does Pitt have a Waitlist Tier 3? No? Ok, do they give feedback to rejected applicants? If so, I'll have a better chance at Pitt next year as a reapplicant! At least I got to visit Pittsburgh! And I got those American Airlines frequent flier miles too! *sobs*
 
donutzebra said:
Me, right after interview: I totally aced my interview. I'm definitely getting accepted!

Me, 3 days after interview: Actually, the more I think about it, I was below average during the small group session. I'm guessing I'll get on Waitlist Tier 1. Hey, I've still got a good chance right? I hear Pitt accepts a lot of people off the waitlist, and the fact that they have a Waitlist Tier 2 means it's not uncommon for everyone on Waitlist Tier 1 to get in, right?

Me, 1 week after interview: After thinking about it even more, maybe Waitlist Tier 2 is more accurate. I've still got a shot, right?

Me, 2 weeks after interview: Does Pitt have a Waitlist Tier 3? No? Ok, do they give feedback to rejected applicants? If so, I'll have a better chance at Pitt next year as a reapplicant! At least I got to visit Pittsburgh! And I got those American Airlines frequent flier miles too! *sobs*
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+1 +1 +1
 
I have an interview at Pitt next week. It's my first interview. I'm an RN and a nontrad student (like really nontrad -- I'm 34). I'm really just hoping it doesn't hurt me too much being late in the process. I didn't apply until October ... not because I procrastinated/couldn't be bothered, but because it was July when I decided that this was the year to stop thinking/talking about med school and actually do it! Fingers crossed they still have some room left ...
 
Quarterhorse said:
I have an interview at Pitt next week. It's my first interview. I'm an RN and a nontrad student (like really nontrad -- I'm 34). I'm really just hoping it doesn't hurt me too much being late in the process. I didn't apply until October ... not because I procrastinated/couldn't be bothered, but because it was July when I decided that this was the year to stop thinking/talking about med school and actually do it! Fingers crossed they still have some room left ...
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Wow, I'm rooting for you!! Good luck 🙂 my Pitt interview was my first one too, and it was really relaxed.
 
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