2021-2022 Pittsburgh

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apismnfla1003 said:
When is it too late to apply for PSTP? I already have a regular interview set up for sometime this month.
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Tons of time left. The PSTP app deadline is 02/06, and they don't start screening until mid November.
 
How do people in the PSTP program hope to compete against MD/PH.D graduates for research positions?
 
apismnfla1003 said:
How do people in the PSTP program hope to compete against MD/PH.D graduates for research positions?
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We won't really be competing against those students, because the pstp is only a one year program and PhD is 3 at bare minimum so the projects won't quite be the same, and many labs have a back log of smaller projects they need done that work well in the time constraints of the pstp.
 
apismnfla1003 said:
How do people in the PSTP program hope to compete against MD/PH.D graduates for research positions?
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It isn't hard for an institution with around 1200 active NIH grants -- worth $600 million combined -- to accommodate 15-16 MSTP and 10-12 PSTP students a year, especially when a good chuck of the MSTP students do their graduate work at Carnegie Mellon. Regardless, there are more than a few labs at Pitt/UPMC with both MSTP and PSTP students -- this backs up @Rk471's point that any competition between the two cohorts for PIs is mitigated by the fact that MSTP and PSTP students aren't really competing for the same projects within these labs.
 
SevenofSonless said:
It isn't hard for an institution with around 1200 active NIH grants -- worth $600 million combined -- to accommodate 15-16 MSTP and 10-12 PSTP students a year, especially when a good chuck of the MSTP students do their graduate work at Carnegie Mellon. Regardless, there are more than a few labs at Pitt/UPMC with both MSTP and PSTP students -- this backs up @Rk471's point that any competition between the two cohorts for PIs is mitigated by the fact that MSTP and PSTP students aren't really competing for the same projects within these labs.
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All of this, and we're still overlooking the fact that the school has staff that actively help the PSTP, CSTP, and MSTP students find research because they do truly want everyone to succeed if they get into the programs
 
For those of you who have already interviewed here this cycle, since we all don't hear back until January, are you going to send update letters or letters of interest? If so, when is a good time to do it if we interviewed in September? Or is this something that's better to send only if put on a waitlist?
 
matt32red said:
For those of you who have already interviewed here this cycle, since we all don't hear back until January, are you going to send update letters or letters of interest? If so, when is a good time to do it if we interviewed in September? Or is this something that's better to send only if put on a waitlist?
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I'm fairly certain they've already made decisions on people that interview because they do meet and rank people throughout the cycle but don't release results until January. I think they also recommend only sending the updates if you're waitlisted
 
Rk471 said:
I'm fairly certain they've already made decisions on people that interview because they do meet and rank people throughout the cycle but don't release results until January. I think they also recommend only sending the updates if you're waitlisted
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If this is the case, do you think that interviewing in Dec-Jan is going to significantly decrease my chances of getting an A compared to those who interview Aug-Nov?
 
To anyone who did the team exercise already, would playing the game Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes to prepare be a waste of time lol
 
apismnfla1003 said:
To anyone who did the team exercise already, would playing the game Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes to prepare be a waste of time lol
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I did not prepare for the team exercise at all and it was super chill. I can confidently say you don't need to prepare. As any other group exercise, be prepared to contribute and to be receptive to the other applicants. Nothing to be anxious about.
 
Joining the Pre-II R train complete 8/4. Didn't want them anyway
 
+1 Pre-II R, complete 8/2. Good luck to everyone else still in the running
 
I'm seeing people with 520+ MCAT's, 3.8+ GPA's while completing their application super early getting rejected. While I am patiently waiting here on my rejection with my 67 LM score and mid August completion date
 
FruitSauce said:
I'm seeing people with 520+ MCAT's, 3.8+ GPA's while completing their application super early getting rejected. While I am patiently waiting here on my rejection with my 67 LM score and mid August completion date
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I’m over here with a 66 LM and an II, so don’t give up hope! This process is a wild ride.
 
For people who already did their interviews, did you feel like Pitt really delved into/critiqued your research and spent a lot of time on it in your interview? They seem to care about research a lot, much more than other schools.
 
apismnfla1003 said:
For people who already did their interviews, did you feel like Pitt really delved into/critiqued your research and spent a lot of time on it in your interview? They seem to care about research a lot, much more than other schools.
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Mine probed quite a bit about my research! That could be because the faculty member was an MD/PhD or because I spent multiple years in a master's program doing research. Interested in hearing others' responses.
 
apismnfla1003 said:
For people who already did their interviews, did you feel like Pitt really delved into/critiqued your research and spent a lot of time on it in your interview? They seem to care about research a lot, much more than other schools.
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We did talk about my research, in both the faculty and student interviews, but it wasn't an extensive or thorough conversation about it. Although they do care about research, I truly felt like their main goal for the interview was to actually get to know me. It might be interviewer dependent, but I definitely wouldn't worry too much!
 
apismnfla1003 said:
For people who already did their interviews, did you feel like Pitt really delved into/critiqued your research and spent a lot of time on it in your interview? They seem to care about research a lot, much more than other schools.
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Mine delved very deep into a research experience that I didn't mark as MME, completely glossing over the one I did mark as MME. However, the research topic was an area of interest for my specific interviewer and they actually knew of the PI involved, so it may have just been personal interest on their part?
 
apismnfla1003 said:
For people who already did their interviews, did you feel like Pitt really delved into/critiqued your research and spent a lot of time on it in your interview? They seem to care about research a lot, much more than other schools.
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My researcher was mostly interested in hearing about what I gained from doing research, and didn’t expect me to dive into any specifics about it.

I have some suspicion that I got kind of an unusual interviewer though lol so results may vary
 
Anyone with NO research experience got an II here?
 
R this morning. Complete 08/14. Good luck my friends!
 
dudlee said:
anyone else who has already interviewed a few weeks ago and cannot stop thinking about ways you messed up? 🙃 I know this is irrational and I should move on but pitt is one of my top programs and it would be a dream to go here. it's going to be a long wait until decision day...
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Not with pitt (yet) but I feel the exact same way, I think it's only normal if you really care. The wait for decision day is going to be brutal.
 
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