School Competitiveness and Personal Statements

[Syr]

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I'm looking at applying to five schools this upcoming cycle - here's the list, in order of preference:

#1: University of Minnesota
#2: Saint Louis University
#3: University of Pittsburgh
#4: University of Arizona
#5: Ohio State


My question is what order they would be in in terms of competitiveness. I understand Minnesota's a relatively good school, but I'm not sure at all on the others, or even where to find information on how competitive admissions are to the schools.


Another thing I'm not clear on is personal statements: do all schools require them? If they don't have a clear prompt, are they just requesting a more general personal statement?


Thanks for your help