Info about University of Pittsburgh?

[akry6]

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Longtime lurker, first time poster here! 🙂

I was pleasantly surprised to receive an acceptance e-mail from University of Pittsburgh last week and was wondering if anyone has toured the school/is currently attending and could give me their thoughts on the program (location? cadaver lab? facilities? etc.). I wasn't able to make it to their preview day since I'm out of state and their open house isn't until February, but the deposit is due November 15.

I would really appreciate any help since I've never been to Pittsburgh! 😕 Also, does anyone know if they send any sort of acceptance packet in the mail as well? The e-mail was not especially informative. Thanks!

 

[footballdiablo]

congratulations! i've never been either but i heard good things. when did your application get mailed?

 

[spartangal]

CONGRATS!! Do you mind posting your stats?

I was born in Pittsburgh and my parents grew up there. Been there quite a few times to visit and looked at the University of Pittsburgh for undergrad. I really like there area, but haven't visited the PT school specifically! Good luck in your decision!

 

[akry6]

Thanks! My application for Pittsburgh was mailed on 9/25 and my stats are:
Undergrad: UCLA
Major: Physiological Science
Overall GPA: 3.49
Pre-Req GPA: 3.44
GRE: V164 Q162 AW5.0

Extra-curric: 2 years of pharmacology research (one publication), volunteering at a homeless shelter, volunteering at VA hospital, worked in an MD's office
Observation hours: approx 500 outpatient hours at 2 different clinics (orthopedics + a little women's health)

 

[Balliamo402]

Congrats on your acceptance! I got my acceptance yesterday and I have until 11/26 to send the deposit. I'm also interested in what people have to say about Pitt! Surprisingly I haven't found much on here about Pitt. But from what I have seen, it sounds like they have an amazing program & I know they are highly ranked. I'm just worried about the costs (especially b/c I'm out of state), so I'm probably going to wait a little before sending in the deposit. But for anyone who attends Pitt or is considering, do you think the tuition is worth it? Or should I opt for a cheaper, closer school? (There are some schools in my state that are at around the same price, but also some cheaper & not as highly reputed.)

 

[akry6]

Congrats on your acceptance! I got my acceptance yesterday and I have until 11/26 to send the deposit. I'm also interested in what people have to say about Pitt! Surprisingly I haven't found much on here about Pitt. But from what I have seen, it sounds like they have an amazing program & I know they are highly ranked. I'm just worried about the costs (especially b/c I'm out of state), so I'm probably going to wait a little before sending in the deposit. But for anyone who attends Pitt or is considering, do you think the tuition is worth it? Or should I opt for a cheaper, closer school? (There are some schools in my state that are at around the same price, but also some cheaper & not as highly reputed.)

Congrats to you too! I've done some extensive board searching to find information, but with little success. I'm holding off on submitting my deposit until I hear back from Drexel (I just had an interview with them). If I get rejected/don't hear in time, then I'll definitely send in the deposit to have a safety net, but if Drexel offers an acceptance then I'm not sure what I'll do about Pitt.

 

[jdaniels360]

balliamo, stats? akry6, what did you do to prep for GRE because you really blew that thing out of the water!! Thanks.

JD

 

[Balliamo402]

jdaniels, here are my stats:

University: CUNY Hunter
Major: Anthropology
Minor: Music
Overall GPA: 3.90
Pre-Req GPA: 3.84
GRE: 157 V, 156 Q, 5.5 AW
Volunteer: 700+ hours (outpatient & inpatient: geriatrics, neurology, orthopedics)

Applied: LIU Brooklyn, NYIT, Quinnipiac, Stony Brook, Touro (NY), Scranton, NYMC, Hunter, Pittsburgh

Acceptances: Touro (NY - Bay Shore), Pittsburgh

Rejections: N/A

Interviews: NYIT (declined), NYMC (declined)


I was honestly quite shocked that Pitt accepted me. I guess I had strong recommendations.

akry6, good luck with your decision!

 

[akry6]

jdaniels, I used 2 prep books from the two companies I liked best (from my experience with SAT prep--wow that was a while ago...) and bought some premade flash cards. PM me if you'd like more specifics since I want this thread to give me some info on Pitt! heh 😀

 

[DPTHopeful921]

Personally I wasn't too impressed with the Pitt prgm. I wasn't a huge fan of the location, but I could of dealt with it b/c its part of the medical system in Pittsburgh. I honestly didn't get a great vibe from the students or the faculty. The faculty member I met with and toured around was nice, but it was just some of the things they said to me while I was there. The thing that they said that was the most unappealing thing to me was that if I had questions for one of my professors I was to seek out the TA for their class first, and only if they couldnt answer the question, then I could make an appt to see them, as long as they weren't actively engaged in research that day. Now, Idk if any of that is true or not, but I'm sorry, if I'm paying money to get an education (a doctorate at that) and I want to speak to my professor, then I'm going to speak to my professor. Now hopefully a Pitt student can debunk this (and honestly I hope they do) but that just left a sour taste in my mouth and ultimately led to my decision to go elsewhere...

 

[Kismet426]

was wondering if anyone has toured the school/is currently attending and could give me their thoughts on the program (location? cadaver lab? facilities? etc.).!

i've looked at pitt/the majority of people i shadowed with went to pitt.
i'll say right up front i'm not a fan of the program/i didn't even end up applying there after a lot of thought. so most of my opinion is negative but here you go..

there aren't any cadaver labs - not really. you get to look over the ones the medical students dissect, but you don't get to dissect any yourself. at least thats what they said this summer when i visited.

you're paying ~100,000 for an education you could get at +200 other schools. I've never heard of any employer picking an individual based on their college/university. so why spend the extra money?

to live close to the school - i.e. shadyside or squirrel hill area - for a place you feel comfortable walking near after dark you're looking at $1,000 + a month.

its a 3 year program, and the third year you do an internship the whole year. to me this translates into working for free for a year. whereas with a 2 year program you would have graduated and be getting paid 50/60k to work somewhere that third year, instead you're paying pitt to work.

Take $1,000+ times 36 months on top of the ~100,000 tuition/book costs.
is it worth that much debt?

if you want to do something out of the box - like PT on an Indian reservation in New Mexico, etc. - you can forget about that. Pitt only allows clinical rotations through the UPMC system and CRS - Centers for Rehab Services. I think I've heard of them making 1 or 2 exceptions on this in the last 4 or 5 years? and if the only connections you have coming out of school are with CRS.. good luck. because the pay there is terrible.

all the people i shadowed seem to have great knowledge of the profession and I really respect them. That's probably the most positive comment I can make about the school.. but I've also spent time with other PTs who didn't go to Pitt and I think they have equal strengths/weaknesses.

I think it really comes down to your personal finances and how much ranking/name means to you.

 

[akry6]

Kismet and DPTHopeful, thank you so much for the information! I'd done some research and wasn't crazy about not having flexibility in location during the clinical internship. Not having a proper dissection cadaver lab is another con, especially compared to Drexel since they have affiliations all over the country (including one in Hawaii!), have a 2.5 year program, and you get a brand new cadaver to work with. I felt really supported by the faculty I met at Drexel too. Here's to hoping I hear back from there before Pitt's deadline!

If anyone else has positive things to say about the program, I'd love to hear both sides. 🙂

 

[Balliamo402]

I too appreciate the feedback on Pitt! 🙂 As of now, my program of choice is Pitt, unless I hear back from a few of the cheaper/more conveniently located (for me) schools soon... The main turn-off for me is the crazy debt I'll have...ahh...

 

[Azimuthal]

Dissection labs are overrated for PT, unless you want to spend 4 hours a day de-fatting and cleaning. Trust me, it sucks. It's also very hard to stop working to learn everything you uncover during lab. We usually spend an additional 4-5 hours a week coming in during off lab hours to study. I don't know of any meta data that compares the outcome of a PT's clinical abilities when learning from pre-dissected bodies versus having to do everything yourself, but I don't believe there is a difference. I heard that many schools are now exploring online dissections.

IMO, having a dissection lab shouldn't be much of a factor when deciding a school.

 

[callmecrazy]

I graduated from Pitt's program in the Spring, so feel free to PM with questions on any specifics. It wasn't perfect but no program is, and I would choose Pitt again. No school is the right fit for everyone though, Pitt or otherwise.

That said, I do want to comment on some the info here.

The faculty are all accessible to students. Obviously they are sometimes doing research or treating patients, but they were always prompt with email responses and welcoming if you stopped in their office. The TAs are often PT residents, and a great source of info too. Sometimes I preferred going to them just to have concepts explained differently.

There are many more than 1-2 exceptions outside of the UPMC/CRS system. In pediatrics alone there are options at the IU, local school districts, outpatient clinics through a community hospital, early intervention, and The Children's Institute. There are additional options outside UPMC for other areas as well. Establishing a rotation outside pre-established contracts is a rare exception though, which can be a negative for some. I would consider though that UPMC has an exhaustive list of specialties available in house. With 5-6 placements during the program, I also don't think we were ever concerned with connections. My classmates are already scattered all over the country with jobs they didn't have to settle for.

A perk of the UPMC affiliation is that you are paid a monthly stipend during your third year. Yes, if you finished in 2 years you would be making more, but most programs are not 2 years. Personally speaking only, interviewers were impressed I already had a full year experience in the setting I was looking to work in.

The cost of living in Pittsburgh is significantly cheaper than other urban areas. I don't think anyone I knew spent more than $1000/month on rent. Friends in 1br apartments or splitting a 2br were spending significantly less than $1000. And while you do need a car for some clinicals, you do have free access to public transit which reaches out to many neighborhoods.

The med students do not dissect the PT cadavers. The med school is in a separate building with entirely separate facilities. The only "sharing" is that the OT students use them for anatomy lab. PT students do not dissect during first semester Anatomy, but it IS an elective course later.

Another note on facilities is that the PT program is all contained in one building, and mostly on one floor. There are two computer labs, a quiet study room, a lounge area, outside patio, vending machines, etc all in the building. It is also within seconds of enough coffee shops, restaurants, and stores for anything you need. While being cooped up in one building doesn't always sound appealing, it's appreciated in the rain and snow!

 

[akry6]

callmecrazy, thank you so much for your response! It's great to hear from someone who's thoroughly experienced the program. I'll be taking you up on your offer and shall PM you later, when I have a bit more time.