pittsburg hotel +interview tips

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mermaid66

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hi everyone . just wanted to ask where did u stay for your pittsburg interview, which hotel is closer and do they offer shuttle to the school and also the interview do we have to write essays or clinical cases ?
any tips regarding transportation, hotels, interview highly appreciated .
Thank you :luck:
 
i stayed at the quality inn...seemed to be the cheapest (80 something). they have a shuttle that i used to get to campus. wherever u stay tho, make sure you take the shuttle from the airport. its 2 bux and cant be beat.

as far the the interview goes, there is an essay. my topic dealt with art. dont worry.
 
Hum...I just got an interview to Pitts, guess they never got my voice message about me wanting to withdraw from the cycle. Oh well, canceling my interview so good luck to you guys.
 
i second staying at the quality inn. good price and has a shuttle that can drop you off right next to the school.
 
I'd also suggest either the Holiday Inn University Center or Hampton Inn, ask for the Dental School rate as they may still have one.

A random SHORT essay topic is assigned during the interview to see if you can actually string a few sentences together - don't worry.

Tips: Be yourself, and during the brunch ask the students about your interviewer (the name will be on a card in the folder they give you).
 
Did anyone who requested the Jan. 25 interview date get a confirmation from Rose yet?
 
Did anyone who requested the Jan. 25 interview date get a confirmation from Rose yet?

I emailed her on the 4th and she still hasn't gotten back to me🙁 I emailed her again this morning...
 
I have an interview on Jan. 11th and received a confirmation email from rose yesterday. I'm sure she's just working her way through the emails at this point. I'll bet you get an email sometime this week confirming the 25th date.
 
i called around and the Quality Inn has the best rate at $79.99. They also have a shuttle to the school.
 
does anyone know the best way to get to the hotel from the airport? I was told taking a cab costs about $50.
 
I rented a car, installed my GPS and it was easy to get around.
 
I took the bus from the airport to the hotel. they have a pretty good bus system there
 
mine is on the 25th. I received the confirmation today. she is really nice :luck:
 
Check out priceline, where you name your own bid.

I just booked my hotel through Priceline and got the holiday inn for $50. With taxes its $64.56.

Rose reccomended this hotel in the e-mail so it has to be a good choice.
 
Orangutan,
What made you decide to go to Pitt over Temple if you don't mind me asking?
 
I don't recommend the Shadyside Inn. The walls were thin, so it was very noisy and hard for me to get a good night's sleep.
 
28x is the Public Transit Line for $2.00. A cab should be more around $35 more so than $50... it probably depends on traffic. Pretty cool entrance through the tunnel to the city via cab though; Bus goes around.

Bus runs between airport and campus every 30 min with stops in between. Estimate appx 1hr ride for return purposes. Drops off and picks up along Forbes or 5th.... Holiday Inn is right off of 5th. The Shuttle is a plus b/c it's been snowy and the dental school is at the top of a pretty large hill.

Good luck with the interviews.... the writing sample is just to make sure you can communicate on paper and that you didn't fake your PS. DONT STRESS over it. Eat up at the brunch... it is a LONG day... ask good/tough questions to students and even your interviewer.... make sure Pitt is a good fit for you... it is as much about you picking Pitt as it is them you...
 
Orangutan,
What made you decide to go to Pitt over Temple if you don't mind me asking?

Initially i was leaning toward temple due to its clinical reputation and i really wanted to move to a big city, but the idea that pitt houses all specialties was a big plus that sort of grew on me and an aspect that i saw as important (may not be for you). I also liked the fact that there were a lot of research opportunities and the didactics are front heavy rather than spread out throughout your four years (like temple). The staff felt very sincere/genuine and i connected very well with the interviewer. The small perks such as faculty/student tailgates to pitt games and the nice student gym that is near by also helped make the case for pitt. However, in the end, my gut said to go to pitt and i felt no sort of doubt when mailing my security deposit. It was a very hard decision and I would say you can't go wrong with either school. Good luck on your decision👍
 
I second the suggestion to take the 28X from the airport. Pittsburgh's airport is FAR from where you need to be, and I'm sure a cab ride would be very expensive compared to the $2.xx that you'll pay to ride the bus. The bus also takes you through a nice, but quick, tour of downtown Pittsburgh.

Finding the 28X bus isn't very difficult. It pulls right up to the curb outside the baggage claim if I remember correctly. You just need to find the sign along the curb for that bus, and then wait for it to arrive.

I printed out the schedule below, and also used the public transit feature on google maps to figure out where the bus dropped me off in relation to my hotel and the dental school.
http://portauthority.org/paac/Schedules/ScheduleFinder/tabid/245/Default.aspx

Good luck at your interview.
 
I'll be there Monday.....i'm pretty familiar with the school since i'm from here, but I've never really had a chance to see the clinic and sim lab up close so i'm pretty jacked for it. Although, this snow is killin me haha.
 
Hey VicViper,

I'm interviewing this coming Monday. It'll be my first time in Pittsburgh, so I'm definitely looking forward to it. I read the itinerary and I was wondering what to expect during the interview. I saw the post about the essay, but how is the interview formatted exactly? Just curious. Oh another thought, should I bring a shovel because I hear snow there is pretty ridiculous...haha
 
Yeah, the snow is getting pretty Crazy-go-nuts. Be sure to bring WARM clothes!

From what I remember of my interview, you all meet on the Third floor Continuing Ed Alumni Room - which can be rather tricky to find. The school is rather confusing since it's actually one building in the front, and then they added the entire huge tower building right behind it and connected the two.

You can either go through the front door (on Terrace), and take the stairs (or elevators for us lazy folk, haha) up to the second floor, and then turn right out of the stairs (left for the elevator), go through the double doors into a hallway that slopes down, and take the first right, OR, you could go in the student entrance on the side of the building that's facing the Pete Complex, turn left through the doors, and you're there.

You'll first get a bit of a presentation by Dr. Etzel and Dr. Milligan about the school and everything, maybe the dean. Then you'll have Brunch with the students (which is fan-tastic) over at the Pete. Before you leave for the Pete you'll be given a folder in which is the name of your interviewer and your interview time. During lunch, be sure to ask the students about your interviewer to get some insight into them.

The interview itself will be very casual (from my experience and everyone else I've talked to), and they'll ask you a few of the standard interview questions. From there you'll branch off into other topics about yourself, it'll be more or less a free flow like I'm sure many of your other interviews have been. Remember, your interviewer is your only representative to the admissions committee, so you really need to do your best to strike a chord with them during your time talking with each other.

Good luck, be safe on the way here, and I'll see you folks on Monday at the Brunch.

PS. Anyone from CA coming?
 
ill be there monday too anyone wanna split a room?
 
Hi! I have an interview w/ Pitt this coming Monday--

When does this writing essay take place? Before or after the interview? Is it also timed?

Thanks!
 
If my memory serves me right, then the writing sample is right after interview, and before financial aid presentation.
 
the essay we did on the 11th was the last thing done. they gave about 15 minutes and we were asked to describe the best day of our lives? i think.. lol
 
Haha, the last thing you should be worried about is the writing sample. The point is to see that you can string a few sentences together to prove that you actually wrote your personal statement.

No worries, and just stay calm!
 
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