Is Pitt a Fall Back?

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snowman33

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Long time lurker, first time poster.

Reading different highly ranked school’s threads, it seems that after some students do not get into say Penn, Harvard, Cornell etc., they say well at least I have Pitt to fall back on. And there are many Pitt vs. XYZ school posts. Kind of makes me feel that people (here at least) don’t like Pitt for itself but rather because they could not go somewhere else they really wanted? I know Pitt is a great school with great opportunities, but something is surely odd about the way people talk about Pitt here.
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I was always under the impression that Pitt was one of the best schools in the country.
 
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Pitt is an exceptional school. The commonly mentioned "drawback" is the city itself, which is actually an awesome city IMHO. Stories of horrible climate are grossly exaggerated. I've actually heard that it tends to be a bit competitive at times, but other than that, I hear nothing but great things. Pittsburgh has become a great city for young people, and is nothing like it was 25 years ago, or even 10 years ago.

FWIW, I'm a PA resident and it was my #1 choice out of schools I felt I had a reasonable shot at, and unfortunately I didn't even get an interview.
 
i also thought pitt was an absolutely amazing school....but i want to stay in cali.
 
Pitt is an amazing school. It's the school you want to go to if you get your jollies from research and academic medicine. Among other things, they've got the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine that's a tissue engineering powerhouse.
 
I think Pitt's reputation gets hurt because the other top schools have associated undergrads and other professional or grad schools that are highly prestigious. Even still, Pitt is a medical supergiant and I think few in the medical world would argue this.
 
I would say so also, but its prestige is not nearly at the level the medical school's is at (not that prestige should really matter anyways, just a hypothesis)
 
look at its new rank
 
go Pitt! I love this place. i think it went up 2 places (Used to be 16?)
 
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snowman33 said:
Long time lurker, first time poster.

Reading different highly ranked school's threads, it seems that after some students do not get into say Penn, Harvard, Cornell etc., they say well at least I have Pitt to fall back on. And there are many Pitt vs. XYZ school posts. Kind of makes me feel that people (here at least) don't like Pitt for itself but rather because they could not go somewhere else they really wanted? I know Pitt is a great school with great opportunities, but something is surely odd about the way people talk about Pitt here.
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snowman, it's because there are precisely 10,000 people who think that they absolutely deserve to go to Harvard, or Hopkins, or Michigan (etc)... so when they don't get into a school that they arbitrarily consider "über elite," they go to the "almost as über elite" school (a la Pitt, Case, Northwestern), and then moan about it.

interestingly, when i went to Sinai, every single student said "i chose this school. i love it." of course, for some strange reason more of the applicants with whom i interviewed were douchebags, so maybe it evens out.

frankly, i don't think there's a school in the US News top 50 that supplies anything less than an excellent medical education. they all have specific qualities and attributes that make them more or less desirable to individual students.
 
Exactly what I fear, thanks nu2004. I know that the University Pittsburgh is a great school, thats fact, but I wonder if it attracts people in the end who as you said did not make the uber elite and are bitter about that. While to some of us it is a dream come true, are there going to be others with something to prove who are not really happy to be there? Bottom line...super school...are the students proud of it?
 
1956Goldtop said:
I would say so also, but its prestige is not nearly at the level the medical school's is at (not that prestige should really matter anyways, just a hypothesis)
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Bingo. It's undergrad is great, but not super prestigious and it hurts the medschool's relative prestige amongst the general public. But I think most physicians and program directors are aware that it is an excellent medical school.
 
snowman33 said:
Exactly what I fear, thanks nu2004. I know that the University Pittsburgh is a great school, thats fact, but I wonder if it attracts people in the end who as you said did not make the uber elite and are bitter about that. While to some of us it is a dream come true, are there going to be others with something to prove who are not really happy to be there? Bottom line...super school...are the students proud of it?
Click to expand...

I personally know two PittMed grads who work in California (both successful medical school faculty/academic physicians) who have both told me that they felt that there was absolutely nothing lacking from the education they received at Pitt. So, to answer your question, I have never seen them wearing Pitt sweatshirts, etc. but the confidence they have in their own medical education and the enthusiasm with which they recommended PittMed to me indicates that they are proud of their school. I would goto Pitt in a heartbeat, but my family is in LA so that's where I'll be staying.
 
One of the primary reasons I want to get off the WL at Penn is because Philly is closer to my fiance who is staying in Baltimore. Sure, the external validation of getting into a prestigious school is nice, but I'm certainly not bitter or angsty about getting turned down. I grew up in Pitt so I know how great the medical school there is 🙂 Just makes me a little sad that I'll have to drive 6 hours every other weekend if I want to see the beau.

Although, apparently he's going to Iraq for a year, so I guess it doesn't matter as much until he comes back state side. :/
 
I used to hate Pittsburgh with a passion but it certainly grows on you after a while. The south side works is a pretty cool place to grab a bite to eat / see a movie. Pittsburgh is also it in terms of health care in that region so I imagine it would be a great place to learn. Eastern Ohio, WV all feed into Pittsburgh.
 
Speaking frankly,
People tend to be a bit more enamored with the schools that have great undergraduates because the average laymen have heard of these schools. When you say, I go to Vandy or I go to Cornell, people usually know what you're talking about. Pittsburgh is just not extremely well known outside of medicine. That doesn't mean it isn't a great school however.
 
I interviewed at 7 of the top 20 med schools, and two schools came out on top in terms of all things considered - students, curriculum, research opptys, electives, preparation for surgical specialties, faculty and staff support, clubs and organizations, city perks, low cost, and esteem from residency directors (in the surgical specialty that I'm interested in). Pitt and Hopkins are the two winners in my book. 😀

Keep in mind that while the common person may not know much about Pitt, the medical community surely does. Residency directors do especially.

:hardy:

PittMed should be a top choice for any applicant. Seriously, there's no such thing as a back-up school when your talking about the top 14 or 15 med schools in the world.
 
I wouldn't consider it a fall back unless you have a 45 MCAT, 4.0, lots of publications, and are a PA resident...
 
As a current student, I also think a lot of appeal for Pitt comes from the strength of certain academic disciplines..esp. psych, OB/GYN, surgery, transplant, ortho, neurosurg and many others for which they are particularly renknowned. I know of students in my class who turned down offers from top 5 schools to come here for those reasons
 
XerxesMD said:
I personally know two PittMed grads who work in California (both successful medical school faculty/academic physicians) who have both told me that they felt that there was absolutely nothing lacking from the education they received at Pitt. So, to answer your question, I have never seen them wearing Pitt sweatshirts, etc. but the confidence they have in their own medical education and the enthusiasm with which they recommended PittMed to me indicates that they are proud of their school. I would goto Pitt in a heartbeat, but my family is in LA so that's where I'll be staying.
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Pitt is a fantastic med school. IMO it's not a bad city either. I know a few of the med students there who would absolutely recommend the med school to anyone and also have confidence in the education they are receiving. With the exception of one girl who was generally unhappy about having chose medicine and said it was nothing like she thought it'd be, they were extremely happy to have been accepted into PittMed. Also I'm pretty sure one turned down Hopkins for Pitt. So for what that's worth...
 
Textuality said:
I wouldn't consider it a fall back unless you have a 45 MCAT, 4.0, lots of publications, and are a PA resident...
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I was under the impression Pitt had little to no preference for in-state applicants...?
 
neuro1617 said:
I was under the impression Pitt had little to no preference for in-state applicants...?
Click to expand...

It's a private school technically, but they do slightly favor PA residents (you'll notice the instate tuition is slightly lower) because they do receive state funding. It's not SO strong though that it will get you in if you don't have the other credentials, but it is a slight factor. But I think if you have two applicants with the same numbers and comparable EC's, and one's a PA resident, then they'll pick the PA resident. I heard this from advisors, they've been wrong in the past, lol.

Penn even gives slight preference to PA residence though, so I'd be surprised if Pitt didn't at all.
 
ultima said:
As a current student, I also think a lot of appeal for Pitt comes from the strength of certain academic disciplines..esp. psych, OB/GYN, surgery, transplant, ortho, neurosurg and many others for which they are particularly renknowned. I know of students in my class who turned down offers from top 5 schools to come here for those reasons
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You forgot Emergency Medicine. The University of Pittsburgh is at the top of EM.
 
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