I'm from California, but I skipped out on taking physiology at the advice of a pharmacist I knew. There were not a lot of west coast schools to choose from that didn't require physiology, so Pitt was one of the ones I chose.
Hearing about their attitude towards transfer applicants doesn't surprise me. It reminds me of a typical corporation only wanting to hire people on the inside.
Yeah the one and only email said the same thing about interviews being after January 8th. That's actually a relief for me since I've been getting interview invites trickling in week by week scheduled throughout the remainder of this year.