Pittsburgh, PA
Allopathic Medical Schools | Public Non-Profit
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Overall, applicants ranked the school in the top 16% of interviews, indicating it is highly regarded. They found the interview very impressive with a low stress level and felt they did well.
⭐ Overall Impressions ▼
SDN Interview Experience Score
8.6
Above Average
Higher scores indicate a smoother, more positive interview experience with professional staff, organized logistics, and a supportive environment.
Based on 1,421 responses
Score Reference:
9–10 Exceptional
8–8.9 Very Good
7–7.9 Good
6–6.9 Mixed
< 6 Needs Improvement
The SDN Interview Experience Score (SIES) is a composite metric that represents applicants overall impressions of their interview experience, based on multiple factors such as professionalism, facilities, responsiveness, and stress levels.
What was the stress level of the interview?
Most respondents rated their interview as low stress.
How do you rank this school among ALL other schools?
Most respondents rank this school above all other schools.
How did the interview impress you?
Most respondents felt positively about their interview.
Positively (87%)
Negatively (4%)
No change (8%)
How you think you did?
Most respondents thought they performed well at the interview.
Great (39%)
Good (48%)
Average (12%)
Poor (1%)
What are your general comments?
Applicants generally found the interview day at the school to be welcoming, relaxed, and enjoyable, with conversational interviews that aimed to get to know them as individuals. The facilities and opportunities offered at the school were highly praised, although some applicants had mixed feelings about the location and atmosphere of the area. Overall, Pitt received positive feedback as a top choice for many applicants.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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Overall very welcoming environment. Made me excited to attend.
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Relax for the interview.
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Very relaxed, standard conversational interview. They want to get to know you and make sure you'd be a good fit.
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Very relaxed interview day, team exercise was not hard or stressful at all
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I personally did not like Pitt at all, partially because of its lackluster facilities (the arena across the street from the school is much nicer than any of the hospitals) but also because the group interview felt forced and superficial. I have met numerous other applicants who felt the same way and even an applicant from the area who said the area was a terrible place to live (but in much ruder terms). While the school does have great opportunities to offer, this was one of those interviews I genuinely am glad I went to interview because it showed the school was not a good fit for me.
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It was a really nice day. student interview was just a conversation really. faculty interview had very standard questions.
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The day is designed to make sure that you aren't stressed. I like how they calm everything down with the tour, and start the interviews with a student, then have a break before the faculty interview.
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Very cool school and overall a low-stress interview!
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This school is amazing! The students are friendly and the facilities are clean, modern, and new.
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Loved the school so much!
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*Definitely* emphasize your research
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Great school, they seem to be doing things right.
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Really great place if you are academic and research focused!
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Great school, very friendly and passionate faculty/student body
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I feel a lot less excited about Pitt after interviewing.
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Great school! Definitely went up as one of my top choices after the interview.
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Loved it.
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Overall a great school. Would go if I get in!
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First interview is with a student (closed file), second interview is with a faculty member (open file, but no grades/MCAT)
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A solid school. Pittsburgh may be too small for my taste, but it would be hard to turn down their research program.
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Excellent interview day, one of my top choices
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I absolutely loved Pitt - the school and the city - and hope for good news after January, 31!
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A laid back place
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Pitt is a renowned institution, rich in both opportunities and history. Students match very well and UPMC is a research mecca. This school should be a "Top 10" in US News....but Top 15 ain't bad either ;-)
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The interviewers were extremely nice and just cared about getting to know me. The information they provided to students was very valuable.
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Pitt is incredible
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Felt I couldn't have done better on the faculty interview but it was rather hard to get a read on them.
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After visiting, its my top choice.
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On paper the school looks great but you have to visit to determine whether it is right for you. I did not enjoy the atmosphere, the people (my student interviewer and student hosts were very awkward), and the general vibe.
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I was really impressed with Pitt. Extensive med facility and the students/faculty made it a point to make the interview day relaxed.
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Very low stress
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Loved Pitt, would be honored to get an acceptance!
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Very positive experience. The school has a very midwestern feel to it, and you may have to decide if that is for you.
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The school is fantastic and a place to be happy.
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It's a great school. I am keeping my fingers crossed!
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The students seems to be very happy with the school and city. Money for research projects seems to be flowing freely and there are several options for a structured year out for research. Also, from my previous interviewing experience in industry, I thought "Thou shalt wear pantyhose" was a commandment for the females wearing skirts to interviews. Apparently not, even for the girl with pale, bruised legs. It was a bit distracting.
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Pitt is an amazing school with unlimited research oppotunities. If your into research, this is the place for you
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The interview format was one student interview (blind, 35-40 minutes) and one faculty interview (half open – they see AMCAS personal statement and extracurriculars, but not UPitt supplement or grades/MCAT; 45 min-1 hour)
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Student interview is closed file; faculty interviewer has you extra curriculars and PS but nothing else.
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I keep thinking I caught Pitt on a bad day since most other people have such glowing things to say but... I can understand a couple things going wrong with an interview day but it just seemed like most things went wrong. Probably not the right school for me.
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One faculty and one student interview. Student was entirely blind, faculty knew everything except GPA/MCAT.
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There was one student and one faculty interview. The student was closed-file; the faculty was open-file except for MCAT and GPA scores. The interview day featured very little down-time.
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Great school, great people.
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Overall, an incredible place. I have nothing bad to say about it. Student interview is closed-file, faculty has AMCAS but no MCAT/GPA information.
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Pitt offers so many opportunities to students (research, early clinical exposure, money for whatever scholarly thing you want to do, "too many opportunities" as my faculty interview put it), it's a great option whether you're open-minded about what you want to do or you know you want to do something specific. The school definitely makes you feel welcome and treats you well. Bring walking shoes for the ~2 hr walking tour of the huge school campus. Stay with a student host.
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Take the 28X bus to and from the airport, it costs $2.60 exact change only. Save your money, stay with a student!
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I'm suprised at how much I liked Pittsburgh and Pitt itself. Definitely considering attending school here now...
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The interviews really are conversational. Sometimes the faculty interviews are far away from the main admissions building...walking down hills in heels + luggage = a disaster waiting to happen, but I managed to survive without any accidents.
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Faculty interviews were great across the board in my group. Student interviews were more variable.
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Faculty will ask specific questions on your personal statement
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Great school!
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Pittsburgh was not a top choice for me initially, but I would be hard pressed to choose another school over it after coming to see it first hand. Definitely stay with a student so you can see for yourself how great the student body is. As I was sitting around after my interviews, some random first years even brought me into their lab and hang out with them! A very good experience overall.
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I loved Pitt! I hope they loved me :)
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Definitely stay with student host! You interview w/ second year in fall. Think it switches to first years soon.
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They are very very friendly. but that does not mean you should not be on your good behavior.
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Interview was super laid back. They did a great job making sure you felt comfortable and at ease.
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They actually did provide us with ample amounts of food; everyone was so friendly and the whole day was incredibly laid back, they really just want to get to know you. I feel like they were trying to make a good impression on me moreso than I was trying to make one on them. The optional financial aid session is quite helpful if you already don't understand the process for med school in general. everyone loved talking about football, it was great :)
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Love this school. Go Pitt!
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I now love Pitt.
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Loved Pitt!
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NOTE: All of the feedback previously listed a weakness where they did not have a student as tour guide. In fact, they have changed on this one and brought a student in as tour guide this year! She was a very nice young lady. What a great interview! A school that tries to make you comfortable. Everyone around me were friendly. Some MS1 said hi to us and ask how we did. Both of my interviews were conducted in a very relaxed atmosphere and I feel I did very well. Additionally, most of other interviewee were pretty sharp people and most of them had good experience just like I did. I said there are three interviews because the adminstrative interview for me was quite long and it was conducted by a MD. There were questions asked that I feel weren't purely just administrative but rather, I feel that she was trying to get to know me as well. Prewriting response is a bad idea because the interviews are very conversational. Additionally, do not assume they will grant you a faculty interviewer with the specality you have asked for.
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Fine--not impressed
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Long day but well worth it. I recommend staying with a hosting student. Everything was laid back.
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Very good one. Had a pretty cool student host who showed me around the student housing (she lived off campus), the city of Pittsburgh, and some good restaurants. I was there over the weekend so got to see Pitt night life a little and had fun at a Super Bowl party.
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I was very pleased with the whole day. The day starts with a tour which is kind of long and a little boring, although this may be because it is so early. You then meet with a couple of students for lunch where you can ask them anything. If you are nervous this is a great way to get rid of some anxiety. Next you have your student interviewer. This is super relaxed...at least it was for me. They have to ask you certain things, just the stock questions like why medicine, but it was a very very conversational interview. Next you have your faculty interview. For me this was also very informal, and again nothing hard. Just the stock questions that everyone prepares a head of time.
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Overall, it was a good experience to get to know current students and got a lot of helpful information about the school.
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Overall awesome! the student interviewer was amazing! really cool guy who asked nothing difficult. it was definitely a conversation instead of an interview. we talked about my experiences, and his, for a whole hour and we would have kept on going. Then there was a 15min session with the Asst Dean of Adms who just asked how my day was going and what other schools i interviewed at. And then there was a faculty interview which was in another building, but they gave us a map so it was very easy and close to find. The faculty was amazing. Very friendly and down to earth. She even let me change my shoes in her office!!!THis was also a conversation about my experiences and life in Pitt. The energy at this place and the combination of city and suburbs is ideal. There is so much to do here and there are students everywhere since the undergrad is so close and there are so many other colleges in the area. Also the transport system is great and free for students with ID. This school is so awesome that i would definitely consider coming here if they accepted me. Maybe even better than Harvard...
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Pretty standard get to know you questions. The day is booked full so there is not a lot of down time.
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Very chill. Their interview process is just to evaluate you as a person and future colleague. Don't worry about it and be yourself.
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Overall my experience was great. I stayed with a student (in the fantastic apartments near the med school) and got to hang out with him and his friends. The campus is near Carnegie Mellon and is in a great part of Pittsburgh. The tour was given by a member of the admin staff and was pretty lame. The staff at the WISER center, however, was amazing. After lunch, there were three interviews. The first one was with an MS1 student who seemed distracted and disinterested. Then, I had to literally run all the way across the undergrad campus for my faculty interview, but that went really well. I then had to go back to the med school and wait 30 minutes past my appointment time for an interview with the diversity office. That guy was really, really cool and seemed geniunely interested in getting to know me. The bus to the airport is right out front and only costs $2.25, so that is nice. Overall it was a good day and the opportunities for early experience and so forth seem great. An MS1 student told me that he had already scrubbed in on 6 neurosurgeries.
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Overall, I enjoyed my experience. The campus is very near local bars, clubs, restaurants. The tour was led by an admissions staffer, and it was definitely lackluster. However, the students made up for this with their tremendous energy.
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Stayed with student host, went to morning lecture, talked to applicants, tour with admissions staff, lunch with students, interview with M1, interview with faculty, interview with admissiosn staff
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Tour in the morning, lunch with med students and then two interviews. One with student and one with faculty. The school seems very much into people that like people. Overall very laid back and friendly atmosphere. At the end of the day there are optional talks for an hour if you're interested in the topics.
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Overall good, with the exception of communication problems.
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Pretty long day - started at 8:30am with some intro, then a few tours, lunch with med students which was informative and a great way to get some perspective on the school. student interview at 1pm (this was closed-file), very relaxed and got a very good impression of the school. another interview with faculty, then a short ''how did everything go'' interview with assistant dean. everyone seemed really enthusiastic about the schools, students all seemed really happy and eager to share good comments
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The morning started off with a tour. This was a very extensive tour. Be prepared for about an hour and half to two hours of walking. We had a short presentation and then went off to lunch. After lunch, we had our three interviews. My first was a M2, and it lasted about 45-50 minutes. My second was a faculty member and also lasted about 45-50 minutes. The last was a member of the admissions staff and this lasted about 10-15 minutes. All the interviews were very low-key and conversational. It seemed liked they simply wanted to get to know you.
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8am weclome, then two hour tour, with a lot of time spent in awesome simulation lab. Financial aid and curriculum talks are pretty standard, then lunch with the studnets, which is quite informative. Three interviews: hour with student, hour with staff, 10-15 with admissions officer. None of them have your grades/MCATs. the interviews are very focused on getting to know you as a person and your goals/motivations. Really know yourself, your desires, and why you applied to pitt. you will be asked the same questions by all three interviewers.
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Good
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Great! Learned a lot about the school
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Overall great.
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Very conversational and laid back.
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Very laid back, I was lucky enough to get a student host, and interviewers who were connected to my undergraduate school so the interviews were more like conversations.
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Very laidback. Begins with tour and lunch. Followed by student interview and faculty interview. Finally meet briefly with dean or assistant dean of admissions. Low stress, conversational interview. No other fellow interviewee appeared to have a difficult time.
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Arrived at Scaife hall at 8:30 and mingled with the other applicants. There were 13 of us in total. Then we introduced ourselves and met the Asst. Dean of Admissions and some of the people in the admissions office. Guided tour around campus followed by a 30 min talk with someone from admissions. Then an hour lunch in the cafeteria with some M4s. Lunch is followed by a student interview, a faculty interview, and then a 15 minute interview with someone from admissions. The students only know your name, city, and undergrad school. The faculty member has your amcas personal statement. The admissions person has your full amcas. Overall the interviews were very conversational and laid back.
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I <3 Pitt. Very pleasant experience, low stress, enjoyed my conversations with staff and faculty, first choice by far.
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Like I said, student interview was kind of strange. He only had my name and alma mater. Faculty interview was fantistic--the guy was a real character and I truly enjoyed meeting him. It was pretty laid back. None of the interviewees were conversing much at the beginning of the day but had loosened up by the afternoon. Not enough was said about the curriculum or the research options.
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Everybody was really nice, and the people I interviewed with were very laid back.
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This was my first interview and it was GREAT! The people were really nice and the school seems to have sooo many opportunities for research and clinical experience. I knew a lot about the school and why I would come and I think that made the interviews really stress free. They were mainly conversations and my interviewers were extremely nice.
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Tour in the morning took about 2 hours. saw a lot of interesting things about the school. WISER simulation center is amazing. Then had lunch with 2nd year students. followed by a student interview (45 min) and then a faculty interview (45-60 min) then 2 short interviews with various adcom members. long day with no down time, but i liked being able to get a lot of different perspectives about Pitt
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Nice people, nice facility, Pittsburgh seems like a fine place to live.
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It was great..low stress..the only negative is that the day is too long. Don't really need 4 hours of filler in the morning. Really could have done everything in half the time
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All of my interviewers were very nice and made me feel comfortable. None of them tried to drill me on any questions. Having lunch with the students was a really informative experience and we had enough students for all the interviewees. Overall it was a great experience.
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8:00 Meet in Admissions 8:15 Tour 10:30 Meet with admissions staff for curriculum overview 11:00 Lunch with 1st year students (take advantage of this!) 12:00 Student interviews 1:00-ish (this varies by faculty schedules) Faculty interview 2:00-ish Admissions interview (easy) The hill was not that bad - I wore shoes because I didn't have anywhere to put a change of sneakers. I was fine. The whole interview was cold. It was about 9 degrees out in the morning and some of the indoor areas of the school were very cold. Don't give up your coat unless you have to! On the whole, I thought it was a good experience - pretty low stress.
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I came. I saw. I interviewed. Then I went home for a nice nap becuase the day lasted from 8-4 pm.
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I'm from the area, but had to wait several months to interview; every time I visited Scaife Hall I felt like Tantalus. The interview itself was very positive.
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A great school with a great reputation...the students, staff, and faculty seemed very friendly.
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Awesome experience overall. Pitt's a great school and for me at least, that really came across during the day. Pittsburgh isn't as exciting as I'd like it to be, but it seems like there are some really cute neighborhoods like Shadyside and Squirrel Hill. :-)
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I was very satisfied. Many complain that you don't really get to talk to the students, and they're right. Fortunately I stayed with a student, so I got to ask all the questions I wanted. Thay was really nice, and I highly recommend it. The interviews themselves were very low key, and very conversational. Nothing to sweat over. You probably won't talk about anything academic; they assume that if you got an interview, you're good enough on paper. This is their chance to get to know you as a person.
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What's already been said: overview by admissions committee, tour given by a staff member, 3 afternoon interviews.
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My faculty interviewer was very interesting and very opinionated about everything. He seems to really love Pittsburgh and enjoy his position. The student interviewer was a little worn out from the exam and kept telling me to relax and not worry that he has a sheet of questions in front of him, which he took most of questions from. The admissions staff just wanted to let me know about their various programs and we talked a little about the whole application process. Overall, it was a long day, but enjoyable.
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I arrived before the admissions office was open and one med student happened to pass me by and she very sweetly talked to me about the school until the office opened - I thought that was really nice of her. The tour was first and the hill is no big deal, though it was freezing the day I went so that wasn't so fun. I also didn't like the fact that the tour is not given by a med student since the tour for me is not about seeing facilities but getting a med student's perspective of the school. After lunch is the med student interview - mine was really chill and funny. The faculty interview was next and I had to walk there...up major hills...in the freezing cold...in a skirt - yah, not so fun. My ears were about to fall off by the time I got to the interview, but I guess if I go to Pittsburgh, I'll have to get used to it. The third interview with the dean is short and really laid-back.
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I think I had awesome interviews. It was unusual but our student interviewers were very junior and didn't have much to contribute about the school. The fellow interviwers were quiet relaxed and friendly. Watch out for the cheesy video about Pittsburgh.
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It was good. I just wished that they had made us feel more welcome.
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Both interviews were very laid back and conversational. The student interviewer almost made me cry because he was so funny. The faculty interviewer was very nice. He made it easy for me to open up.
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Both interviews were very conversational, no tough questions really. The student interviewer wasn't that great. After he asked me the obligatory questions (why medicine, why Pitt, shadowing experience, extracurriculars) he didn't know what else to ask me, so I had to lead the conversation a bit. Didn't seem very interested really in getting to know me, just read the questions off his sheet, and took notes. The faculty interviewer was great, and again, it was conversational. I did feel like I had to sell myself to him, because I am an older student, and he asked me a lot of questions about whether I was up for the task, being older and having a family. He also pushed research a lot (he had a phd), but overall was very pleasant. All in all, it was a great first interview, and gives me something to compare the next ones to.
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The tour was long but informative, and ladies - you walk a lot so break in those heels or wear comfy shoes. The interviews were in the afternoon, students first, then admissions and faculty. My student was really laid back, as well as my clinician. Long day but not highly stressful or intimidating.
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We started at 8 in the morning at the admissions office where they had the usual breakfast items. It was really easy to find, just remember the main entrance is across from the Peterson Event Center. Then we went on a two hour tour of the facilities. It wasn't like a boring museum tour; we had breaks and we spent a lot of time walking (So make sure you bring comfortable shoes and dress appropriately for PGH weather). Then we went to an admissions overview meeting and the lady who gave the talk was very informative and down-to-earth. The curriculum meeting was next which was a little boring and basically self-explainatory for the most part. Then at 11 we had lunch until 12 in the hospital cafeteria and you get a card that's good for $5. Then we ate with a 3rd year medical student who was very helpful. After lunch we went back to the admissions office and the 1st year medical students came in one at a time to get us for our first interview. The girl I had was very nice and also a fellow Pittsburgh native, so we got along great. Then the admissions staff took me over to the medical science tower to meet a molecular biology professor for my 2nd interview. He was really, really nice and we basically just had a friendly conversation. He asked me about my research and my job as a CNA, the medical student before mainly asked about why Pitt and why medicine. Next, this guy actually took me back to the admissions office and then I waited for like 5 mins to meet with the Dean of Admissions. The Dean I met with didn't really ask me any interview type questions, only about my day and told me about the opportunities that Pittsburgh has to offer me. Then we filled out an evaluation form and that was it. It was all over around 2:30. Compared to the other schools I have interviewed at, Pitt was defiently the most prepared and most organized for applicants.
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Arrived in admissions at 8 am, where there was coffee/breakfast/juice. Changes shoes for 8:15 - 10:30 tour (definitely do this - I was the only one in a skirt who wore sneakers for the tour, but it was definitely worth it and who cares if it looks funny? It's better than limping into your afternoon interview). After the tour a curriculum overview (doesn't give much more info than is available by carefully inspecting the website), then an hour for lunch ($5 voucher to cafeteria, we were joined by a 3rd-year student). Afterwards everyone has a closed-file interview with a Pitt student (1st or 2nd year), then in varying order a 10-15 minute one-on-one with the assistant dean, associate dean, or assistant director of admissions, and a somewhat closed-file (they have your personal statement) interview with a faculty member. I had to walk a ways to mine, but I got great directions from the admissions office and it wasn't a problem. Since I'm interested in the CSTP program, they paired me with someone from the program, which was really great. Then fill out an evaluation, and you're done. A long, busy day.
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Basically the same as everyone elses
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I had a great time. I went in thinking, ''Eh Pittsburgh'' and I came out saying, ''Ooh Pittsburgh.'' Great school, awesome people.
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It was great! The school's curriculum and program is amazing with all the opportunities. It's definitely one of my top choices now.
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The most extensive tour I have seen yet:) They also have an amazing patient simulation program. with at least 5 robots worth millions of dollars.. the second largest simulation set up other than the army.
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Amazing. All of the interviews were completely conversational.
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I had a really good interview experience. Everyone was really nice, and really seemed to want to get to know me as a person. The tour was very long, and we didn't see much. We had lunch with a couple of 3rd years. One of them was kind of odd, and kept talking about what he didn't like about the school/medicine/possibly becoming a doctor. The others were more helpful. My interviews went well. It's nice that the student interview is first, because it helps you get out your nervous energy. My faculty interviewer was nice. However, he did ask me the ''stress'' questions, such as ''how do you feel about euthanasia'' and ''do you think the government should fund stem cell research.'' I guess he thought I was comfortable enough to answer those. Originally he said I didn't have to, but since I answered one, he just kept asking. The interview with the dean is also nice. She just wanted to get to know me, and make sure I had a nice day. Nothing stressful
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I had a delightful experience at Pitt. The students and staff are extremely friendly. Aside from being intelligent, all of the students that I interacted with were unassuming with pleanty of interests outside of the classroom. I feel like I got very honest answers to all of my questions about Pitt.
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Overall, a very stress-free, positive experience
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Amazing! other than the one guy who grilled me a little about my clinical experience, everyone was so friendly and encouraging. definitely fun and low-stress.
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In the morning is a tour that lasts about two hours. It's not as intense as it sounds though as you're sitting in the WISER center for part of it. They also let you tour the cadaver lab, which has a small museum in the back. It was amazing. After is a talk about the curriculum, then lunch in the cafeteria. My group was joined by two second years. Following lunch is your student interview. This is supposed to be very easy and laid back, they tell you the students just want to make sure you're the type of person they would like to have in their class. My student mostly read down a list of basic questions (Why medicine? Why Pitt? etc). Sometime in the afternoon you will be scheduled for your faculty interview which hopefully will not be too far away because you are responsible for getting yourself there. Mine was in Magee, about as far as possible and scheduled for immediately after my student interview so we had to cut that one short so I wouldn't be late. Faculty interivew is also very laid back. It's mostly just a conversation. After that, you're scheduled to meet with either the dean or an assistant to discuss your experience that day. They don't really ask anything personal. Whole day was enjoyable and fun.
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*8am = Arrive at Admissions Office *8:15am = tour begins (comfy shoes!) *10:30am = return to Admissions Office *10:40am = Admissions & Curriculum Overview *11am = Lunch w/ 3rd Year Students at Hospital Cafeteria *12pm = Student Interview *1pm = Faculty Interview *2pm = Admissions Interview(s) (this may be 1 or 2 people, depending on whether you see the Minority Affairs Dean in addition to, Beth Piraino -or- Paula Davis) *3pm = The End. =P All of you can relax a little in the sense that Pitt's Interviews are non-confrontational, at least in my experience and that of the other kids I interviewed with that day. Everything is conversational, and discrete questions are plugged into that, almost to prevent soliloquys of any kind. Just be real and be yourself. But come prepared to answer the following questions: 1. Why Pitt? (think P2P big-time!) ; 2. Your Brief Bio ... and so --> Why Medicine? ; 3. Shadowing Experiences ; 4. Extracurriculars & Hobbies ; 5. What you think of Pittsburgh? ; 6. Where else are you interviewing?
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Great first interview, very laid-back and friendly. I learned a lot, and the interview gave me a good idea of how I could fit into the school.
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All the interviews were very conversational, and everyone was nice and friendly. There was a big emphasis placed on the location and Pittsburgh.
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We started at 8am with a light breakfast (bagels, doughnuts, juice) for people who hadn't eaten, and then took a really long tour. I wore tennis shoes with my interview suit and nobody flinched. The tour wound through umpteen buildings and outside and we all felt pretty disoriented but the interviewees were allowed to keep a running banter among outselves. We visited the WISER simulation lab which was state-of-the-art and really nice. Then we talked to a medical historian (hilarious) who recommended additional reading, attended discussions of curriculum (PBL) and had lunch with a 4th year student. The student answered all of our questions and more as we (mostly) dined on deli-style sandwiches (you get $5 from the cafeteria, which is plenty). Then we had an interview with a student (mostly 2nd year) where they asked us questions from a form. The students only had our name, school, and hometown to work with. That interview was 30-45 minutes. Then we had different faculty interviews around the campus (some people had to run really far away, so ladies beware!) for 45-60 minutes. Faculty interviewers had our personal statement. The interviews were very low-stress and focused on just giving a picture of ourselves. Pitt is focused on group work, so be prepared for questions about that. Also, the ubiquitous Why Pitt questions. At the end we had a 15 minute discussion with admissions (not sure if it was an interview or not...) to see if we had more questions. Then we were free to go. Most people got out of there at about 3:00, but they warn you that you might have to stay until 5:00. Walk down to 5th avenue to find the 28X bus. The stop will be on your right, and you will be able to take it to the airport for $2.25.
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Two 40-ish minute interviews, one student one faculty. Both open file (I think) and very relaxed. The students just want to know if you're someone they could get along with in PBL, so they'll probably ask about hobbies or family. The faculty interview was stress free and pleasant.
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The day was rainy, which made it a little gloomy, but the day was fine overall. Began with a tour of the school: by far the best part was the WISER center that teaches all sorts of clinical skills/procedures. The anatomy lab is a little dark and smelly, and the classes/halls are a little old/rustic. After this, nice lunch with a couple students. They seemed to enjoy their time at the school, but weren't very enthusiastic, so it was a little hard to read. Interviews followed. The first one was with a student (relaxed and conversational), and the other with faculty (who was very confrontational, and I think was trying to break fluster me; I was able to keep my cool, and by the end, he was easygoing). Just remember to never get flustered by interviewers (not just at this school, everywhere). Towards the end of the interview we were conversational, but I think he was trying to stress me the first half to see if I could hack it. All in all, the school is pretty nice, but I wasn't struck by lots of people who loved the school. Everyone seemed to be happy with their choice, but not blown away. Still, good school, nice facilities.
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Overall, the interviews were quite low-key and conversational. I suspect that genuine interaction is assessed more critically than the actual content of the interview.
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I had 3 interviews: second year student (about 60min); faculty (about 45min); and admissions (15 min). They were all extremely relaxed and more like a conversation than an interview. The day is long, but exciting, and I don't know why people on this site complain about walking up hills-there are maybe 2 of them during the tour, and they aren't that horrible. Ladies, make sure you bring a change of shoes, it made all the difference for me because the tour is 1.5hrs long and I normally don't wear heels. Overall, a great experience, awesome school, and I can definitely see myself fitting in here and being happy.
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The interview was well-organized and followed according to schedule. We started with breakfast and welcome remarks followed by a 2-hr walking tours (LADIES be prepared to WALK in your heels :) After that we met with the director of admissions and heard about how the process works. We were then provided with a presentation about the curriculm. Lunch followed and was hosted by third year medical students. After lunch we had our medical student interviews followed by a faculty interview and evaluation.
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The student interviewer was AMAZYING! He told me about ways that I can get involved with the Latino community. The faculty interviewer was just as amazying! Very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the school and how I would be able to get involved and what I would expect out of my education their!
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Great, if they take me, i'd be happy to go. The PSTP and CSTP programs are free rides to med school! i'd definetly bump pitt up to top of my list if I get those two things!
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The admissions staff had me scheduled to interview 1hr before they told my interviewer that I would arrive. He wasn't prepared and angrily waved me away (he was on the phone) without any explaination. At that point I had no idea what was going on, I just showed up at the appropriate place/time (hurried to get there). The finally called me in 45 minutes later. Interviewer seemed mad at me the whole time--a real shame b/c I would totally have picked Pitt over top 5 schools.
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You interview with one student and one faculty member. Both were pretty relaxed and conversational. The school is solid and gaining reputation every year. The city is affordable. I was not all that impressed with the students.
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The interviews were conversational in tone, and it was great to be able to talk to three different people (student, faculty, assistant dean). It was fun talking to Lisa (asst dean) - we talked about the color scheme of my bag, her violating all safety regulations by lighting candles in her office, and our favorite Starburst flavors. Too bad we only had 15 minutes.
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I stayed with my sister (who goes to CMU) over the weekend and walked to the interview. Scaiffe Hall is really easy to find. The admissions office is pretty small. The applicants get a folder and a name tag and sit and wait for everyone to arrive. The staff had a small table set up with breakfast items, as well, so we could get a bagel while we waited. The first thing on the agenda was the tour. We saw the hospital, the lecture rooms, the PBL rooms, the WISER, the library, walked around outside a little and saw some views of Pittsburgh. The tourguide tried really hard to sell the city. Made me wonder why, since I don't think Pittsburgh is that bad to begin with, but maybe other people do. After the tour we had a really short Admissions overview and curriculum discussion, which was actually pretty helpful. Then we had lunch with med students and had a chance to ask questions. After lunch everyone had their student interview. The student only knows your name and undergrad institution/hometown. My interview was pretty conversational and laid back; the student just asked me about typical things, like extracurriculars, research, why medicine, hobbies, etc. Nothing out of the ordinary or unexpected. Then I had a 30 min break and my faculty interview, which was with an attending at the Emergency Department. It was also very conversational, and I enjoyed that one a lot; it was the highlight of my day. The attending was very nice but at the same time very open and honest. She told me about UPMC and what to look for in a hospital system in general when applying to med school. The questions were mostly about my life. The faculty interviewer has access to the personal statement, so she wanted to know more about my move from Russia, what issues I faced and how I dealt with them; my high school and college experiences, as well as my research and volunteer work. The faculty interview was a little less strained and more natural than the student one, probably because the attending had a lot more to say and also seemed more genuinely interested in me. The student tended to just take notes on specific thing she was supposed to learn. Overall, both interviewers had great things to say about Pitt and UPMC, but the attending had a greater effect on me. The last part of the day for me was a 15 minute interview with an adcom member. She just wanted to know how the day went, asked a couple questions similar to those of the other interviews (college, research, volunteering, etc.), and answered my questions. This interview is the most stressful, because it's short and probably bears the most weight, since this person is the only one of the three you meet with who will be in the room when the adcom makes a decision. The structure of the day, with interviews in the second half, is much more difficult to bear, so if you're interviewing there, try to keep your energy up throughout the day.
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Interview day was very organized and there wasn't much downtime. This was good because there wasn't too much time to get nervous waiting for interviews, but may be bad if you are not familiar with the school. Book your return ticket for the day after the interview so you can check out some things they just touch on during the tour. They give you all these ideas of places to visit, but no time. The interviews are very low stress for the most part. The student interview happens right after lunch and is always your first interview, which is nice because it calms you down. My stress level was a bit elevated since it was my first interview and I got stuck in traffic from an accident on my way and thought I'd be super late. The interviewers are all laid back and welcoming, though, so no need to be stressed. The student interviewer only know where your from and the faculty has your personal statement, but it seemed like my interviewer may not have read it very carefully, so remember to explain everything, even if you know it's in your personal statement. The questions were pretty standard and several originated from the conversation.
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All of the interviewees met in the Office of Admissions by 8:00 am. After a short orientation, one of the admissions staff members led a tour of the facilities which included the Winter Institute for Simulation, Education and Research (WISER) facility, the library, lecture rooms, and PBL rooms. We then attended a couple of briefs on the admissions process and the curriculum. Lunch was provided at the UPMC Presby hospital cafeteria, where we were joined by some medical students who answered any questions we had. The afternoon was filled with three interviews. The first was a 45 minute, closed file interview with a second year medical student (MS2). The second was a 45 - 60 minute, closed file (AMCAS personal statement provided) interview with a faculty member. The final interview was a 15 minute, open file interview with one of the assistant deans. For most people, the interview day ended at 3:00 - 3:30 pm.
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Very laid back. One interview is with a 1 or 2 yr medstudent and the other is facluty.
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Excellent experience; exhausting day, but I had the opportunity to see almost everything I needed to see to get a vibe about the school. The facilities are excellent, and the anatomy lab is well-ventilated. Interviews were later in the day, after having the tour and lunch with the 3rd year medical students, so I was pretty beat by the time it my turn to interview.
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It was great; it made me really excited for the school. The truth is: it is the people who are going to make a great school and i strongly believe, after my interview, that the faculty and the students of pitt are truly incredible and compassionate people. And that definitely got me very enthusiastic about the school. The dean who interviewed me was so sweet too.
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Overall, it was a great day. all of my interviews were very relaxed and my fellow interviewees were so nice.
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Tour of facilities including anatomy lab and Simulation lab. One-on-one interview with a current MS2. One-on-one interview with faculty member.
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Three interviews: student, faculty, and dean. Basic questions, no really hard questions. Enjoyable tour and interview.
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It was pretty good. The students I interviewed with were crazy: one girl had like 10 interviews lined up.
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The whole day was very enjoyable and fun. I fell in love with the school.
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Very positive, everyone seems to be extremely nice. The advise for anyone goes there for interview, just relax and be yourself, it's going to be a fun experience.
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My interviews were with a student, the dean and a faculty member. The student interview lasted over an hour where we basically had a conversation about my life and the origins of and path I took to enter medicine. Its like one of those conversations you have with someone at a cafe that you just happen to strike conversation with. The Dean interview was about 15 minutes - its an informal meeting where she wants to find out about your interests of the school and how your day went. I'll just stay mum about my faculty interview because I dont think it was an ideal one - he asked me some questions, I answered, he jotted - you know what I mean? :) There was no stress interview and no ethical questions at all. All interviewers did not have access to any of my application except the faculty member who had my ps and thats was it.
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Arrive at the Office of Admissions Early. I stayed at the Hampton Inn in back of Magee-Women's Hospital by the Rep Theatre. I payed about 90 bucks/night and got free breakfast, HBO channels, complimentary water-bottles, free workout passes to a local gym, an indoor gym in the hotel itself, etc. This hotel also provides a free shuttle service that will drive you 3 miles in any direction for FREE. they will also come pick you up again if you call them before 10pm. This shuttle leaves every hour, on the hour from the hotel, starting at 6am, ending at 10pm. So - arrive before 8am at the Admissions Office (Rm 518). It's inside Scaife Hall, which is across the street from the Peterson Events Center Dome, and is alos behind Presby Hospital on Forbes. You go to Desoto from Forbes, go up the hill, curve left with the road, and Scaife is a big concrete block on your left, with the stone and glass Sports Arena on your right. Once at Scaife, you come into the 4th floor through the main entrance on Terrace Street, then past the guard, on toward the immediate left, you take the escalator up one floor ( to5th), and then immediately hang a right around the column. You'll first see elevators, then a lone door with two long windows on it in the middle of a pink-tile wall. This is the Office of Admissions & Fin-Aid. I'd recommend you get there by 7:45, although I got there at 7:30 and they had just opened up. They also give everyone a breakfast of bagels and cream cheese and fruits - but I'd recommend eating ahead of time to avoid spilling, bagel and cream-cheese stains, juice/coffee on yourself, etc. As soon as you come in, they have a bunch of blue Pitt Med folders with nametags and Interview Day Schedules on them. You tell the lady your name, and she hands it to you. Your schedule attached with a clip to the front of the folder says, WELCOME so-and-so to Univ. of Pitt. Medical School. It then schedules stuff by quarter hour blocks at most: Typical Pitt Interview Day ----------------------------------- **8-8:15am WELCOME (meet&greet over breakfast in the Admissions Waiting Area; arrive early) **8:15-10:15 TOUR (wear comfy shoes for sure, and bring a warm coat if it's winter-time in addition to your suit jacket. The tour is long, and you'll see the WISER Dummy Patient Simulation Center, Presby Hospital, Montefiore, Children's etc. You will walk up the Desoto Street hill as you've heard, but anyone who says it's horribly bad is truly out of shape and nagging you. Also - the tour is given by an Admissions office secretary/aid type of person; not a med-student, faculty, or AD-COM member). **10:15-10:30 Admissions Overview - this is given by a really funny sarcastic lady named Lisa - she's the Assoc. Dean of Admissions, but is actually the Acting Dean now since Dr. Curtiss passed away last month. At this point, Lisa will tell you, everyone here is academically capable at this med-school. As far as we are concerned - your numbers are all similar. Today, we want to know what makes you guys tick inside as people. That's all. (they're not kidding either) **10:30-11 CURRICULUM REVIEW (they have you pull out the color-coded sheet, and they explain it to you around a conference table with all the other interviewing students as neighbors. Speaking of which - you'll have at most 19 other people beside you vying for spots on any given Interview Day. **11-12pm LUNCH W/ MED-STUDENTS (usually MS 2) **12-1 STUDENT INTERVIEW (in my case, I got a 4th year, but usually it's a 1st year who talks to you - it's VERY conversational - no talk of MCAT's, GPA's, etc. YOu'll be asked, Why medicine, Why Pitt, your hobbies/interests, research if any, etc - but it's all in the flow of a normal conversation) **2-2:15 Meet with Paula Davis (short 15 mins) (Asst. Dean of Admissions - she just wants to know if you've got any questions, she wants to see your face and say hello to you, and to very lightly extract Why and How you came to like Pitt). **2:30-2:50 Franki Williams - you only meet with this woman, who is a TOTAL sweetheart and so much fun to talk to, if you're a minority. I'm Latino, so go figure why I had 4 interviews instead of 3. LOL. **3-4 Faculty Interview (mine was with a local internal medicine Legend named Dr. Elmer Holzinger ... he kept me for 2 hrs and 15 mins ... and he asked me, I want to know about your life; start with the day you were born. LOL. The weird part was, I actually enjoyed talking to the man; it was so interesting hearing about his own experiences. It felt like being shrunk by a sweet psychiatrist in some parts too, but it was still very cool as far as faculty interviews are concerned. I was VERY surprised it was so conversational and interested in ME, lol. I was expecting to meet a quitet, mum Doctor or PhD, and having them ask me random questions, look at me sternly while answering, and then saying, mhm, interesting, jot a thing or two down, and ask the next Q. NOT LIKE THAT AT ALL!!!!!!!! Be Prepared to talk like you're meeting your best friends for coffee at Starbucks after not seeing them for years. ------------------------------------ :::PITT-FOLDER::: Inside your blue folder packet you will find the following: (Day's Schedule on top) - Fact Book - Student Group Descriptions - Directions to tons of buildings from the Admissions Office - brochure on AOC's (Areas of Concentration) - Complete, color-coded Curriculum Overview by School-year, Month and by courses. - Clinical-Scientist Training Program (CSTP) inforomation sheet - Pitt Campus Safety Brochure - spiral bound Pitt Med Survival Guide (this tells you about classes, places to live, places to go hang out and eat, local cultural events, parks/recreation, etc) ------------------------------------- I should add that you should try contacting students randomly through the hosting Excel file in the Interview Tab through the secure Admissions site they give you when you file a secondary app. This will give you a chance to talk to epople about the school. You'll see hwo nice and randomly genial they are about everything. I e-mailed one kid a few questions a few weeks before interviewing, and got about 5 pages worh of response). The Atmosphere of Person-to-Person permeates everything they do in this school - be it research, teaching, PBL sessions, or clinical exposure. They NEVER want you to forget that patients (and med-students and their professors) are, before anything else ... also PEOPLE! So - if you're a textbook junkie who prefers a dark cave to study in than learning from an open environment where people like to share ideas and experiences - this may be the wrong place for you. People here are very sociable and friendly, and very cooperative with class-mates. For example, I was told by one woman whose mother got sick with cancer after Winter Break, that her professors allowed her to miss exams and make them up over summer sometime later when she felt like it, and her classmates took notes for her and kept her up to speed when she came back. In other cases, for Microbio for example, the students said stuf would happen where one student would spend 10+ hours doing Microbio spreadsheets with germ names, diseases, methods of contraction, etc ---> and then e-mailed it to everyone in the class so they could use it to study. Also - some cool facts: + Honors/Pass/Fail Grading + 6 weeks off plus Case-Based sessions in MS2 to review for USMLE Step 1 + only 1 Core Science offered at one time, so you only have to cram for one hard class, and not 5 at once. The other courses are easy stuff like Ethics, etc. So - everyone I meet tells me this ESP makes Medicine easier to study and more tolerable in the endurance test that is med-school. + Summative Year-end Exams (1 exam on 3 or more disciplines) are being thrown out next year + Research Project required (although this does NOT have to be bench work - one girl I met over lunch went to Ghana for a summer and completed a Public Health experiment to fulfill this) + MPH, MSc actively encouraged, as are certificate programs called AOC's (Areas of Concentration- noe extra fees or years to tack on - but you learn a little more ofus in areas like: Bio-Informatics, Geriatrics, Med-Humanities, NeuroSci, Women's Health, Disabilities/Rehab Medicine, Global Health/Int'l Medicine. ------------------------------------ Questions please e-mail: [email protected] Hope this helps a few people out.
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The tour is the first thing of the day, followed by a curriculum discussion. Lunch is in the cafeteria, followed by your interview with a 1st year student. Your faculty interview and 15 minute meeting with one of the deans is spaced out anytime between your student interview and 4:00.
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The interviews themselves were great. My student interviewer felt compelled to stick with the required questions a little too much, which made for some awkward moments while she decided what to ask next, but overall it was very laid back. My faculty interviewer seemed more interested in talking to me about football and racing than anything else, which worried me for a while because I thought he wasn't going to get to the important stuff. However, he eventually did, but it was still very conversational. The only thing that put me off was when I asked him what set Pitt grads apart from others when seeking residencies, he answered that just seeing Pitt makes the difference. I know it's a good school, but I'm sure it's not take your pick of any residency when you graduate. The last interview was with Lisa Wick, just a short sit down to see if I had any questions. Be prepared, she's extremely hyper, but she's really entertaining. They should definitely incorporate her more into the day. Overall the day was a little long, but bearable. The best part for me was the time I spent with my student hosts. They answered tons of my questions, and I got to go out to dinner with a bunch of other students, so I got an good idea of what they're like. Of course, all medical students are dorks, but it's nice to see bits and pieces of normalcy when possible.
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Long first half of the day...the second half picked up, though. the tour would be better if it was led by a student. the interviewers were a wealth of information.
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Ok, so normally you would have 3 interviews: One with a student (45-60min), one with a faculty member (45-60min), and one with the dean of admissions (10-15min). My 4th was with the director for Minority Affairs (20-30min). So, if you're not a minority, you don't have to worry. Everyone was very nice & they really just wanted to get to know me as a person. They didn't even mention grades or test scores. Make sure you have questions for them also. And specific ones for each person. They really want you to ask questions.
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Loooong tour (may grow weary during the curriculum review), don't walk outdoors if you can help it (unless it's a pretty day, you can get to your interviews via indoor bridges etc and avoid hiking up/down a hill in heels in windy/rainy weather); don't stress about the "dean interview;" it's just 10 minutes or so, very laid back, he wants to know if you have any unanswered questions
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The day was well-planned, and everyone I met who was affiliated with the school could not have been more encouraging and and kind. The tour is a too long; after the WISER simulation center (seems like a VERY good tool to have) you spend most of it walking through connecting bridges between hospitals. The interviews were really relaxed and Dean Curtiss was very plesant in our meeting/interview. (When you meet with the Dean, make sure you can concisely describe WHY PITT!)
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The day is about 8-3:30 depending on when your interviews end. The morning is an extensive tour of both the hospital (didn't see too much exciting stuff) and the school by an admissions staff member...the highlight is the WISER center, the largest non-military simulation lab in the country. Lunch is with med students in cafeteria, and then afternoon is personalized interview schedules: 1 dean (10 mins), 1 student (50 mins), 1 faculty member (50 mins)
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Overall, the day is way too packed. You see more of the hospital than you probably will in your first two years at the school. Student interviews you first and then a faculty member. Also, there is a hill leading up to the medical school, but it is not the behemoth other people have described.
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Great!--student interviewer was extremely nice and my interview was very conversational. the same goes for my faculty interviewer.
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I spent the night with an MD/PhD student who was really cool. We talked about a lot of issues and got lost trying to get to his house. On the interview day, we all got there at 9am & had coffee. A woman who worked in the admissions office took us on a tour, which basically consisted of walking through the 4 interconnected hospitals to the simulation center and then back to the admissions office. Then we had lunch at the hospital cafeteria & I had an interview with a student and the asst dean for diversity and then a Ph.D. bioengineer. Then I asked to meet with an MD, cause I wanted to ask about the patient population & they hooked me up with the dean of admissions, who is retired from practice. When I asked him my questions, he was super-disparaging. He doesn't practice anymore, they don't have this department anymore.... The rest of the day was pretty good, but the meeting with him was weird.
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Great interview. People were nice.
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Interviews were very relaxed ... one interviewer took me to Starbucks! I came away much more impressed with the school than I expected.
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Awesome in every way. the interviews were really chill, the tour is the best that ive had yet, and all in all, the school in just incredible.
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I was totally impressed and could see myself being very happy there. I left liking the school a lot more than when I arrived.
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What a special school. Pitt is just right on with all the ideals it espouses in its literature. The people here are caring, compassionate, friendly, fun, and happy to be at Pitt. I was impressed over and over again.
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I flew the red-eye flight so i left CA at 8pm and arrived in Pittsburgh at 6:30am. Changed into my suit at the airport bathroom and took the 28x shuttle to the school. I did not anticipate the hour long ride and didn't know where to get off so i overshot the stop and had to walk 5 blocks back the other way. By the time i sroll into the admissions office at the top of the hill, I was already 15 mins late. Day started with a tour to WISER - awesome sim dummies. We were suppose to go tour the anatomy labs but MS1 had an exam that day. About 10am, we had an admissions overview which didn't quite explain anything to me. We also had a cirriculum overview which was pretty good. Lunch was okay, $5 worth of food only. Around 1pm is when the interviews began. First interview was with Student, randomly matched. Student has no info on you except your name, school you went to, and city you're from. Afterwards, you either do Faculty interview or Associate(assistant) Dean interview for 15 mins. Associate Dean has your entire file and it is her job to figure out what questions adcom may have regarding the entire application. Third interview for me was faculty. She has your PS but nothing else. My faculty interview didn't go so well. On the other hand, I think i nailed the associate dean and student interviews. All the interviews asks exactly the same question: Why medicine, Why pitt, What extra cirricular. Each interviewer has a sheet they had to fill out with these questions on it. I think my faculty interviewer plowed through the questions in our first 10 mins so she will have it filled out. Then we talked about some non-sense: oil prices, hybrid cars, Hong Kong. I thought the interviewer was very nice but seem rushed. After you're done with the interviews, you fill out this eval and then you're ready to leave. Some people had late interview schedules so they couldn't leave until 4pm. I was lucky and left at 3:15pm. Caught the shuttle and arrived at the airport at 4:15pm for my flight at 6pm. I attribute my good interview day to the two pennies I picked up as i dropped them at the security checks before i flew to pittsburgh. Both pennies had the heads up. I'm keeping these pennies for a while.
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First, you interview with a student, which was actually a lot of fun. We started off with the usual questions, then we just had a random conversation for a half hour and ended it because I had to leave for another interview. The Dean of Admissions meets with you for 15 minutes. Be prepared for him to ask you where else you're applying, and to have comments on your answer! Next, I interviewed with a faculty member for a little under an hour. Again, we started with typical questions and then just had an interesting conversation about her research, current events, etc. These interviews are very low stress--enjoy them!
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One interview with a first year student, about 40 minutes, questions provided for student interviewer by admissions office. the student interview is completely closed file and was rather relaxed. this was followed by a 45-60 minute faculty interview, which is almost closed, although they do get to see your personal statement. also, fairly relaxed. then i had a 15 minute interview with the assistant dean of admission. the last interview is open-file, and for the most part seemed to be more so the school could gauge how interested you were in pitt (he asked me questions such as, how many schools did you apply to? how many interviews do you have?). all in all, while long, the interviews were very relaxed, and of the other propsective students who were there with me that day that i spoke with afterwards, all had similar experiences.
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The whole experience was really good. Although the number one complaint I've heard from interviewees is that the day is really long, I didn't have a problem with it, even if I did have to wake up at 6:30. The tour was thorough. The curriculum overview was very straight-forward and informative. No nonsense or fluff. I had three 30 min-1 hour interviews and a 15 min. interview with Dr. Curtiss.
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Great experience. This interview was more laid back and relaxed than I could have possibly imagined. I went away very impressed with the school itself and the friendliness of all the students.
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The day began at 8am with a 2 hour tour, followed by an information session with a faculty member and lunch with a few fourth-year med students. After lunch was a one-hour-long interview with a first or second year medical student, followed by a one-hour-long interview with a faculty member and a 15-minute individual session with the Dean of Admissions.
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Low stress, even though it was my first interview and I had flown halfway across the country to be there. Everyone was very professional and courteous. One student interview (she talked mainly about herself, so it was easy), a brief meeting with Dr. Curtiss in Admissions, then a faculty meeting. I've read complaints that the tour is too long -- it's thorough, but I had other tours that didn't show anything, so I was happy with this one. Great school.
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It was a really long day, 8-5. I enjoyed the day, but boy was I tired at the end.
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I think Pitt is a great place. The hospital is the only game in town, and the school keeps reinventing itself every year with all the money it receives. The only negative was my faculty interviewer was terrible. He repeatedly left in the middle of the interview, took phone calls, and proceeded to make anatagonistic comments about all of my experiences. He definitely shouldn't be interviewing medical students because he couldn't have gotten anything out of my interview except leaving me with a negative impression.
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The day begins with a long 2 hour tour of the school and UPMC hospitals followed by an hour presentation on the curriculum. After the presentation, you have lunch with a group of 3rd and 4th year students. Following lunch, you have an hour-long interview with a 1st year student who only knows your hometown and college (the student has a list of questions). Then, you have a hour-long interview with a faculty member who has been provided your AMCAS personal statement. Finally, you have a 15 minute wrapup interview with a member of the Admissions Committee who answers any final questions and gauges your interest in the school.
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Pitt was my top choice going into this. I really wish I had met more students during the day. I knew two people there from my college, but that wasn't enough. I met with a student interviewer as well as a faculty one. Neither of them see your grades, scores, etc. and the faculty interviewer gets your essay(s). Everyone was really nice, but by the end of the day at my last meeting, I was beat. My faculty interviewer was in charge of the Methods, Logic, and Medicine, and he was really pumped about it.
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University of Pittsburgh schedules its interviews for MSTP applicants over two consecutive days. The first day is filled involves ~6-7 interviews for the MSTP, and the second day is much lighter, with two interviews for the MD Program (faculty and student). You will likely be exhausted (unless you are quite the interview veteran) by the end of the first day: it was packed with interviews and informational sessions. However, during the entire day, I never felt rushed or stressed about getting from one place to another, and I liked the school more with each interview. The interviews were not stressful, but were not a free-form conversation. Going out to dinner with the MSTP students and applicants was very enjoyable, and allowed me to get a bit of a feel of Pittsburgh. The second day of interviews seemed almost relaxing after the first day. The interviews were more conversational, and were really aimed at getting to know the applicant as a person rather than as an "applicant." The tour of the school and hospital was great, and got me even more excited about their facilities.
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This is written for all of the BS/MD kids when I did it back in the day. This interview is feeble compared to real medical school interviews. It's basically a tour for you guys.
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The interviewers were awesome. They tried to make the situation as comfortable as possible by conducting the interview (really a conversation)in a quiet room devoid of distractions such as phones or other people. They walk you through the maze of a hospital. They seem genuinely sincere in their encouraging you to ask questions (not just as a way to gauge your interest of the school). They give out their contact information afterward. Really they make you as comfortable as possible and actually get to know you without pummeling you with questions.
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The interview day starts at 8:00 with a two hour long tour. The student interview was at 12:00 after lunch and the faculty interview was at 2:00.The student interview was very relaxed and it is done by first year students and they seem to know the stress associtaed with this whole interview process . My student interviewer was very nice and tried to make me relax and there were no difficult questions. The interview was conversational and was about 25 minutes. The faculty interview also was very relaxed and conversational.
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There was an extensive tour of the facilities (which were impressive) and a lunch with some current med students who were all very friendly and informative. There was also an overview of the school's curriculum and theory on medical education given by one of the directors of medical education that was very informative. We all then split up and went with current 1st and 2nd year students you interviewed us one on one. My interviewer was very laid back and friendly. Definitely was more of a get to know you conversation than an "interview". I then went to the office of my faculty interviewer. Once again she was very friendly and laid back. We spent more time talking about the Steelers than anything. I then returned to the admissions office and had a short wrap-up interview with one of the Dean's of Admission. This last interview was very short and more to make sure all my questions were answered than anything.
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Pitt is a great school. I think the place should be ranked more highly, but the fact is that the top 20 schools are all great, depending on one's individual preferences.
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Pitt looks like a great school. i am sure that i'd be happy there. i went in with a positive impression of pitt and it did not disappoint, but it also wasn't way better than i'd thought (which isn't really problematic, since i started with a good impression).
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Really well done, relaxed and efficient day. I was done by 4pm.
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Pitt organized the interview day well. It began with a long tour of the facilities, which I guess is good though. Then an overview of the admissions process and curriculum (in-depth). Then I had one student interview and then a faculty interview, each for an hour. Both were very nice, just trying to get to know me and why I applied to Pitt. You also meet with a member of the admissions committee for like 5-10 minutes just as a wrap-up...I guess to find out how the day went and how interested you are in Pitt! Overall, a good day...too bad the other applicants seemed kinda dry, boring, aloof people. Tends to happen at med school interviews tho!
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Overall, a phenomenal school. refer to subsequent sections for my opinions.
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I had no idea I would like Pitt so much. The students here are even happy with their PBL classes and are so relaxed. Competition seemed at a minimum. It certainly moved up my list of schools I'd like to attend after my day there.
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This was my first interview and, needless to say, I was quite intimidated at the start of the day. However, I tried my best to relax and be at ease with my fellow interviewees, a group of students applying not only to the MD program, but also the MD/PhD program. Overall, my impression of Pitt is that it is an amazing and ever growing school where you find your niche in any type of medicine.
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The day was very organized and they kept us so busy we didn't have time to be nervous!
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I really liked Pitt Med. The curriculum, faculty, and students are wonderful. I would love to go there except I'm not sure about living in PIttsburgh.
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There were 10 applicants: a short intro and long tour by admissions secretary, curriculum discussion (not long enough), lunch w/ a few students, interviews (one staff/one student). An OK experience all in all. I was definately much more excited about the school before my visit than I am now.
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The interview was over two days for the MD/PhD students. The first day was for the MD/PhD program and the second was for the MD program. Had 6 interviews on the first day and two on the second (a student and a faculty interview). Overall, interviews were low key and easy going.
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Very strong day. They load you up with a lot of information, sometimes too much information, like during the curriculum discussion, but too much is better than not enough. The medical complex is truly ginormous, so it takes two hours to do the tour. I'm a fan of the interview setup--one faculty, one student. I came interested in the school, and I left even more interested. Also, Pittsburgh seems like a cool place to live...at least to me.
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There are two interviewers, a student and a faculty member. Each interview is weighted equally. An hour is allotted for each interview, and they will run close to that. The student has a preprinted list of questions to which they're supposed to get the answers, but if you steer the conversation right, you'll address most of those points without them needing to ask you flat out. The student interview is totally closed file, while the faculty member has only your PS. They ask a lot of questions about how you feel about Pitt's block curriculum, PBL, and the city of Pittsburgh -- answer truthfully, with a positive spin. You also have a 15 minute interview with an admissions dean, who will ask you questions like how you feel about Pitt and how you see yourself practicing medicine in the future. Pitt is an amazing school with great training, great research opportunities, great primary care emphasis, and a great attitude toward their students. They're all about cooperation, listening to student feedback, and treating patients with respect.
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I think I was long winded enough, so I will just say that I loved this school. The little things...such as receiving an itinerary with my name on it...lets me know that Pitt spends much time and effort on making sure that the day goes smoothly.
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Excellent! Great, I just wish the class and school was a bit more diverse.
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The adcom office serves as sort of a home base where about 10-15 interviewees meet. There is a 2 hour tour of a geographically confusing facility, but I get lost everywhere. This is followed by a financial aid/curriculum info session. Then a student interview (~1 hour), a faculty interview (60 min), and 15 min interview with Dean Curtiss. I was very impressed with Pitt. They market themselves as a school "with heart" and I thought they were pretty convincing, having worked in similar environments. Note: Pay attention to the curriculum discussion.
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I am currently attending Pitt despite the fact that they offer little or no financial aid. They have impleneted a new curriculum that I am not 100% comfortable with. However, I still truly live the school.
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Pittsburgh tries to make the interview experience really relaxing, which it is, so this isn't one to stress out about. Do know stuff about Pittsburgh, because they're going to ask why you want to go there. Pittsburgh is a great school and it impressed me a lot - met my expectations.
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My interviewer was extremely friendly and took a genuine interest in my personal statement. She offered some insights into her work and gave me some advice for med school and residencies.
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Overall laid back. very jammed packed with stuff to do, barely could squeeze in a pee between interviews! informative. nice staff. didn't see hospital very much. boring curriculum talk, too detailed.
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Pitt is awesome! If I knew tomorrow that I got in I would skip the rest of my interviews... too bad we don't find out until Feb or March!
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It was my first interview and I was worried that I would mess it up because of nervousness, but it was really no big deal. I was ready for the obvious topics of discussion (Why do I want to be a doctor? What's wrong with health care in this country? Talk about research, etc.) and there were no curve ball questions at all. My student interview was with a very laid-back girl. We had a very casual conversation about med school and life and she barely asked me any official questions. My faculty interviewer was a little more serious, but she warmed up after a while and we had a good chat. The final interview with one of the deans was more of a wrap-up and she was incredibly friendly. Overall, I liked Pitt a lot and if they had rolling admissions and accepted me tomorrow I would probably withdraw my other applications and go. In general, as long as you are comfortable explaining why you want to go into medicine and are a sociable person, there is nothing to fear in this interview! In fact, it was sort of fun.
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A wonderful school. I liked the atmosphere, the UPMC hospitals, and the interviews were so low-key and not stressful. The student interviewer has no information about you and they have a checklist of questions they have to ask you. The faculty interviewer only has your personal statement (which they don't really read too much of), so basically we talked about very relaxed topics such as hobbies, life, Pittsburgh, etc
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You start with a breakfast of donuts, danish rolls, and coffee. Then you take a really long tour (truncated in our case due to the elevator jam). Then you have the student interview, faculty interview, and a short 15 min interview with one of the admissions Deans. If Pitt Med is your no. 1 choice, that's a good opportunity to let them know of that. Then you are done for the day.
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Wonderful, students were friendly, but my group of interviewers were so Anti Social....ugg! But the school was great, huge too! They really care about you, and a great wonderful day. Very organized, they give u food like muffins and coffee and juice in the morning, u go on the tour, then someone talks to us about curriculum....go to interviews, talk to dean for 15 mins, he just says do u have any questions, its lame....then its over!
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I was very positively impressed with the school's facilities, the administration and the students. As a whole, I think that Pitt has a truly healthy approach to teaching future doctors. The interview day was THOROUGH!!! But to be honest, I was glad they took the time to get to know me. I traveled six hours to the interview and felt that every part of the day made it worth the trip.
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Very good interview day; great tour (except of housing facilities) and lots of chances to speak with students. student interview is also another unique plus.
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Amazing day...I really enjoyed the interview. But I've enjoyed all of my interviews, so don't take it too seriously. Pitt is definitely my top choice after visiting for the day, they really are all about the people.
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It was good, i came out with a positive view of the school and the potential it could have in my future, now i just gotta endure the wait for a decision.
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Day started with long tour which consisted of being led from room to room with very little commentary, then lunch with only 2 students for 15 interviewees, then student interviews that were very good, then adcom interview, then faculty interview. It was a long day for me because I had to wait between interviews, but you can use the time to check out the Peterson center or see a little of the campus.
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The interviewer and I really connected in a manner I cannot say was duplicated in any other interview. He was really concerned with getting to know me.
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The day started very early. Climbing up the hill to Scaife hall can be tiring if you are out of shape like me. The only thing that impressed me that day was the simulation lab. It's nice but I don't think Pitt students use it as much as they'd like you to believe. It's an elective course after all. I really really wanted to like UPitt. I heard great stuff about it, so much so that my expectation for the school may have been too high. I wasn't blown away. Personally, I think they botched the interview day and left a bad impression in me. However, it's a great school and I'd still seriously consider it though. First thing on the agenda was the tour, bring sneakers. Next comes the boring talks about UPitt's curriculum. They basically read that MS1-MS4 chart to you and describe each course in detail, way too much detail. Then we interviewee got to talk to their uninteresting student rep at lunch (they really should pick someone more outgoing with a sense of humor). There was about 2 students for 15 interviewee. Next came the student interview followed by the faculty interview and then a debriefing where they ask about your impression and experience. The faculty interviewer gets your personal statement so they are less likely to ask about your EC and reason for being a doctor. They'll go for more detailed questions. My faculty interviewer was rather stoic and that stressed me. Many of us applicants were left waiting for hours afterwards because we all booked our flights after 7PM and did not expect the day to end at 3PM, 4PM etc.
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My interviewer was real nice, just wanted to get to know me. Student interviewer was also a nice guy, real mellow.
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Pretty well run day. Started off with some short talks and a tour by the staff, followed by an early lunch. Then you have an interview with a student, one with faculty, and a 15 minute one with a member of the admissions committee
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UPitt has a great program going for it. It combines lecture with PBL and the students all seem to like the curriculum. The Simulation Lab is great and will be a huge benefit to students (and patients!). The faculty was great, the students were encouraging and seemed to feel they were getting the best education out there. The UPitt hospital seems to be top notch and there is more construction going on to make new research buildings. You have a student interview, a faculty interview and then a quick meeting with a Dean. I was very pleasantly surprised with UPitt.
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This was my first interview, so it was only stressful in that I hadn't done one yet. The interviews were really conversational and mellow. The interview with the student was blind so it was easy to tell them what you wanted them to hear. The faculty interviewer got to read my personal statement and nothing else, so we mostly talked about that and her research interests. My interview with the Dean was short and I ended up having to rewrite (while he was waiting) the first two sentences in every paragraph of my secondary. Apparently this is the first year the secondary was online and they were having a lot of problems. I suggest taking your secondary responses with you. All in all it was a great school, unfortunately, the surrounding area didn't impress me.
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The school seems to take a really good care of medical students, providing enough support system, encouraging them to have life outside the school. All my interviewers were truly interested in getting to know who I am as a person. Lunch with 3rd-year students were informative.
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Great school, seems under-rated. All the students seem happy there. The interviews were very laid back and conversational. The student interview was great because you get a lot of one on one time with a current student so you can get a real feel for what it is like there.
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The people and the environment were very welcoming. I love this school
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I would advise staying with a student host. Mine was awesome. Very happy to answer my questions and sell U-Pitt to me. Take a bus to and from the school, dont drive. It is onlt $1.75 each way compared to $15 to park in the tower or $8 for a cab each way. The students at Pitt are all very friendly. I was asked multiple times when walking to my interviews if I needed any help finding where I was going. I dont think I looked lost, but us interviewees stick out like a sore thumb. Overall I think Pitt is a great school. I'm a small-town guy so I dont know if I could get used to living in Pittsburgh, but I was very impressed with the school.
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Not very stressful, a good experience overall.
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My first year interviewer just had an exam, so she was really tired. We had a nice conversation though. I had to regurgitate alot of my AMCAS application since the interview was closed-file. My faculty interviewer was really nice and we talked about random things and she gave me insight on future specialties. I was surprised at the handful of students who have babies - it seems like the school is very supportive. There were alot of interviewees - most were really nice. Overall, it was an impressive school.
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I had a great interview experience. There were too many other interviewees though so it was hard to walk around.
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I had no opinion of Pitt when I went there but now I really really like it. The cafeteria had decent food, everyone I met was nice, the curriculum seems well thought out. All the feedback I read on here is really honest and accurate. I knew what to expect. I was stressed because it was my very first interview. My interviewers really tried to make it a low stress day. The student interview was about 45 minutes as was the faculty interview. It was more conversational. My student interviewer didn't even take notes and he only knew my name. The faculty had my personal statement. Then I had a 15 minute meeting with the dean. As far as I could tell she only had my picture. Oh yeah they ask you to bring a picture with you to the interview so if you have pictures left over from your secondaries, hold on to them. The tour was long but informative. They really try to familiarize you with the school and surrounding area. If you plan to do any sightseeing on your own tho, bring your comfortable shoes!!! The school is on a seriously steep hill.
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Good. surprisingly, the most stressful "interview" was the 15 min meeting with the dean... it was just too short a time to convey anything
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Good overall experience. I had an interview with a faculty member and a student. Both were mostly closed file (student was completely blind and faculty only had personal statement). We also had a tour and lunch with some 3rd year students. My day ended at 3:30PM.
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Overall, I was impressed. Make sure you're proactive in getting your questions answered.
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Definitely my favorite med school so far (I've already had 4 interviews.) Well organized day; they kept us busy. Gave us a lot of information. Met with students and faculty. Plenty of things to do in the area also. Just a note: neither the student or faculty interview has your file. The student has nothing at all; the faculty member has a copy of your personal statement and your hometown and college. That's it. Then there's a final 15-minute "meeting" with one of the Deans. Very low stress.
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In general, a very pleasant experience. the students were very nice and seemed to think very positively of the school and their classmates. lunch was good. try to get an early interview, when first years are still in the anatomy lab.
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Received a great tour of the facilities, including the anatomy lab. Met current students who were very interested in talking to us, despite their upcoming exams. Interviewed with one 2nd year student, one faculty member, and an admissions Dean. All were casual and fun.
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Faculty interviewers have your personal statement, but they don't have most of your file. The interviews are completely stress-free. It is a lot of fun to interview at Pitt.
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It was overall a very relaxed day. My student interview was a closed file and was very nice. The whole point seemed to be to get to know you. The last interview was actually a quick 15 minute meeting in which the admissions staff member just talked to me about how nice Pittsburg was (I had never been there before)
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Overall I had a wonderful experience interviewing at Pitt. It was my first interview, so I was a bit stressed out. Luckily, we took the tour first which helped me loosen up and get comfortable. Interviewed with fourteen other students, all of whom were very friendly and interesting to talk to. The facilities at Pitt are REALLY impressive - as mentioned in another feedback. The student interview was a bit disappointing, while the faculty interview was incredible! At the end of the day, you interview with one of the deans for admission for about fifteen minutes. All the interviews were low stress, and were more of a conversation than a grill session. I felt they really tried to get to know me as a person, and were willing to share who they were and where they came from too. Pitt is at the top of my list - but we have to wait until March to find out if we got in...
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Overall, I thought Pittsburgh was impressive. The days starts early (around 8AM), and though there was supposed to be a 'welcome', we just chatted amongst ourselves before we were called for the tour. One interesting part of the tour was a stop in the anatomy lab where students were dissecting. It was a surprising first experience of anatomy and certainly impressive that they let prospectives in there. The students were very open to questions and excited to show us what they were working on. After the tour was a speech about the curriculum and then lunch with some 1st/2nd years. The interviews were all fairly laid back. The student/faculty interviewers have a paper with reqiured and suggested questions on them and my faculty interviewer even went over questions they were supposed to answer about us (e.g. Does this student demonstrate creativity?). There is also a fifteen minutes meeting with a dean, and though this should be easy, for some reason, mine wasn't despite the other interviews going extremely well. All-in-all Pitt does a good job selling itself despite hosting such a long day. I would love to go here.
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Student interviewer was cool, faculty interviewer was a toolbox.
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The interviews were pretty relaxed and low-stress. My student interview (completely closed file) was short because my interviewer had to get to her ambulatory care rotation, but I felt as comfortable as if I were talking to a friend. My faculty interview (closed-file except AMCAS personal essay) was almost an hour long, and we talked about common interests like singing. Then there's a 15-minute open-file meeting with the dean. This was my first interview, so I was a little nervous, but all in all it was a good experience and not very stressful. Overall, Pitt looks like an excellent school in a fun, affordable area to live, and I would be happy to go here.
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So pitt was a "pleasant surprise" - it looks to be a very good school that wants to take itself up to the upper tier of schools. also, here's the deal with interviews. There are 3, but one is with an admissions dean and is only 15 minutes. that one is open file, but the other two are closed except that the faculty member has your AMCAS app - the student has only a name and hometown. it's very stress-free, and they make a good case for themselves. The student interview was great - I interviewed her as much as she did me - and she just wanted to get to know me. Also, we toured the GA lab... WHILE THE 1ST YEARS WERE IN THERE DISSECTING! how friggin' cool is that!
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It was a great experience. I was nervous because it was my first interview, but they did everything they could to make it not stressful. It worked, too! I enjoyed the whole day. It was kind of long, though. I was there from 7:30am-4:30pm. Overall, I was very impressed by their program and I feel I would be very happy going there.
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Mostly positive, I do wish I had asked for a second faculty interview just to get someone who was a little more experienced and who could compare me with other applicants, but no big complaints.
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Positive experience, no attitude and everyone seemed very interested in reducing the stress level of the day. A
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I fell in love with the school while I was there, had a fabulous student interviewer, but my interview with my faculty interviewer was incredibly disappointing.
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Everyone at Pitt was really friendly. The school definitely has great facilities if you are interested in research. The students all seemed really friendly, I got the feeling Pitt is non-competitive. My faculty interviewer was really nice, gave me positive feedback. However, the lack of diversity in Pittsburgh turned me off.
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THe interview day was very informative and interesting. Interview with a student, faculty member and an admissions staff member. The tour and curriculum presentation were very informative.
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I left with a positive impression of the school.
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VERY positively....I am from Pittsburgh and love the area and now the school as well :-)
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It went really well; no stress at all; just relax, in addition to 2 interviews (one student, one faculty) there is a 15min meeting w/ the dean or admissions staff. If you really want Pitt, tell them - they are the ones voting and deciding on you - try to make as best an impression on them as possible.
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Pitt is a fine institution. However, the city itself is not so great.
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Good facilities, great people, horribly horribly cold
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I have mixed feelings about the school. The program seems good, but something about it didn't live up to the hype it gets. I think that was just the lack of new facilities that some schools have, and not a reflection of the program.
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If tuition were not an issue, U. of Pitt would be my top choice. The interview is low stress but I did not leave with an idea of how well I did. From what I hear, the interview is just part of the equation and it will not make or break you.
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I really like Pitt.
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It took a bit of warming up my faculty interviewer to get him to talk more.
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Pitt is an extraordinary school with a wonderful feel to it. Students and faculty are both happy about each other and there seems to be a very constructive environment in which to pursue medicine
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Best yet. You have nothing to be afraid of at Pitt: they are good people and they try to make things comfortable.
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There are 3 interviews: 1 Faculty(1 hr., closed file), 1 student(1 hr., closed file), Admissions staff(15 min., open file) All the interviewers are just trying to get to know you. The faculty and student interview carry the same weight and summarize the interview they had with you as well as rate you on a 10 point scale. The day lasts from 8:45am until about 3pm. The day also includes breakfast and lunch, a "Welcome" talk, a tour (with time spent in "anatomy museum"), and a bit long-winded discussion on the curriculum. You receive a stack of papers and a book upon arriving. The staff is friendly and the atmosphere seems congenial. Curriculum is constantly changing which shows a commitment to the students and their input and ideas. Strong research facilities and partnerships in the region make UPMC an attractive residency choice as well.
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I really enjoyed myself in Pittsburgh. From the moment I arrived until the moment I left I felt welcome and comfortable. I stayed at the Shadyside Inn which is increadibly cheap and really, really nice. It's also close to the "chic" area of town. The interiew was really low key. An extremely friendly woman made the introductions. We then went on a very short tour consisting of the student lounge, the anatomy lab, PBL rooms, and a class room. I'm glad they spared us the tour of the hospital...you've seen one you've seen them all. Then we listened to a woman talk about the curriculum which was informative. Lunch was with a third year med student and that was cool. He talked to us about time management because he has a wife and child. Then, on to the student interviews. It lasted an hour but he was so easy to talk to we could have easily talked for longer. He had a list of questions that he basically gave to me and asked if there was anything he had forgotten. I thought that was kind of funny. Then on to a short interview with the Director of Admissions. She was so nice and we just chit chatted. The factulty interview was not as easy but followed the same conversational pattern. Most of the questions followed the conversation aside from the few that were directly from the paper, which looked a lot like the one the student had. And then the day was over.
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First they fed you breakfast. There was a tour, a talk about the curriculum, and lunch with the students. Then I had a student interview and a faculty member interview, each was about 50 min. The student was great, but the faculty member talked the whole time himself. I enjoyed listening to him, but I wasn't sure if he got a good idea of who I am at all. There was also a 15min interview with the dean of admissions, and it was just an informal chat. I thought that was nice since we don't often get to talk to the dean on a one-on-one basis.
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As described in all previous postings, the interviews were VERY conversational. You have 3 interviews; one with a student, one with a faculty member (both scheduled for 1 hr), and a short 15 min with someone on the admissions committee. The student had a list of questions which I think he was supposed to ask and fill out on a sheet, but we never got around to em becuase we were just talking about all sorts of things in a conversational way. I guess the list of Q's is a suggested list for non-talkers? (either that or I failed the interview in the fist 5 minutes and he decided not to waste his time in answering the Q's!) The faculty interview was very conversational as well and they don't do anything to rattle you or ask any hard questions at all. I was only asked like 3 questions out of the blue, and the rest of them were little questions that were based on the conversation.
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I really enjoyed my interview experience here! My student interviewer was very friendly, and asked non-threatening "tell my about yourself and why you want to be a doctor"-type questions. My faculty interviewer was also very friendly and talkative, and gave me the impression that he really liked meeting me. However, I did not enjoy meeting witht he Director of Minority Affairs. They did not tell that it was going to be an interview beforehand, (they called it a "meeting"). She asked the same exact questions that I had already been asked twice before, so I was pretty tired of answering at that point.
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The day was low key and low stress. My interviews were very conversational. Everybody was friendly.
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3 MD/PhD faculty interviewers, 1/2 hour each. 1 student MD/PhD interview, 1/2 hour. 1 faculty MD interview, 1 student MD interview. I forget the length of time for them, but I think they were both an hour each. Note the MD/PhD interview is two days, MD/PhD interviews on day 1, MD interviews on day 2. If you are applying MD/PhD look out for the director. He seems like a real nice guy, but he puts on this game face when he interviews and tries not to respond at all when you interview him. Before and just after the interview, he returns to normal person mode.
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I had an enjoyable day at Pitt. I liked learning more about the PBL curriculm, the studentswith whom I spoke were very informative, my student interview was great. Despite my faculty interview starting late, I still felt the time was well spent and my day ended around 3:00 with a meeting by an admission committee member. Overall, the experience went really well!
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I arrived at the Admissions office at around 8:45 am. We were taken on a tour of the med school, which lasted about an hour. After the tour, we were given an in-depth view of the curriculum. Lunch was hosted by 1st + 3rd year students at 12 noon. My first interview was with a 2nd year student at 1:20. My second interview was with a faculty member. Linda, the director of admissions, spoke to me briefly at around 3 pm and the day was over!!!
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Pitt is a wonderful school for a number of reasons. First, everyone there -- students, faculty, and staff -- seemingly LOVE the school and all are more than willing to talk to you about why. The school is in the middle of changing what is an already good curriculum and adding time at the end of the second year for a rotation or two in order to give students more time before having to apply for residencies. They seem to be very responsive to student demands, and this seems to foster good student-faculty relations. The interviews were easy, laid-back, and striaghtforward. My first hour was with a current first-year who was simply a very cool guy, and I enjoyed talking with him. The faculty interview was with a PhD who teaches, and we had a wonderful discussion about me, my motivations for medicine, growing up in Pittsburgh, life at my undergrad school, etc. We also talked about his research, as I knew a little bit about his field. He was very laid back, conversational, etc. and I truly enjoyed talking to him. I had a final closing interview (15 min) with an admissions representative -- the only one of the three interviews which is open-file -- and was given the opportunity to address anything else I wanted them to know about me. Having this interview as open file allowed me to address a transcript issue, and she explained the unforunate non-rolling admissions policy (no notification until March!). All in all, Pitt is a wonderful school and one that is likely going to be my first-choice.
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The student interview was great, informative, just a conversation. My student interviewer even gave me tips for my faculty interview. On the other hand, my faculty interviewer was 45 minutes late. The interview was scheduled for one hour and only lasted about 15 minutes. The interview wasn't conversational at all, mostly shot questions (although most weren't very difficult) at me. Overall, the interview was rushed.
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The student interviewer was really nice, but i felt like my faculty interviewer wished he didn't have to waste his time with me.
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The whole day was laid back. Everyone went out of their way to remove as much stress as possible.
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The day started with a meeting with faculty, who presented about financial aid, the medical school, and Pittsburgh. We were given bagels and drinks (which was great since most of us had not eaten). There were about nine of us interviewing. We were given a tour by the financial aid director. We had lunch with medical students and then had our interviews in the afternoon. I was interviewed by one student, one physician, and another staff member. These interviews were the best interviews (relaxed, open dialogue, very interested people, friendly) of all the interviews I have had (7 schools, 18 people). The interviewers were sincerely interested in me and wanted to know more about who I am as a person. I learned a lot about the area by asking questions of the interviewers. The students are happy at the medical school. Pittsburgh is a nice city, that is very affordable $80K buys you a house not too far from the school. It has problem based learning integrated into a traditional style of teaching.
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Pitt seems like a great school, the students are really happy and they seem to be getting a great education, I really like the why the curriculum is set up.
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U Pitt was not close to the top of my medical school list, but they really impressed me. Their problem-base learining is not the whole focus of their classes, but it is really cool and still a major part of the learning there. My faculty interviewer was awesome, and I actually enjoyed talking to him.
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I had a wonderful time.
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Overall, a good day, but very long. You will probably have lots of down time between interviews. Other interviewees were very fun to talk with though! U.Pitt seems to produce very happy med students!
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It was awesome - it was a great way to start the interview season, if i like all the schools as i liked pitt than i will hava hard decision.
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I was very impressed. The interview is two days long. First day is for MD/PhD. There is one research faculty interview. The rest is with MSTP administrators. Be sure to know the reason for getting both degrees. There is also a MSTP student interview. The second day is straight MD interview with one faculty and one student. Overall very low stress. Students are very happy.
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Awesome
-
It was pretty good overall. I enjoyed interacting with the students.
-
The whole experience was more stressful than another interview I'd had. They provide some food in the morning which is nice. Someone did a presentation on the curriculum which was way too detailed and boring. My student interviewer said he wasn't told until that morning that he was going to interview me. Not the way to make someone feel too welcome. But then again, nothing catastrophic happened either.
-
The student interviewer and the faculty interviewer each have a sheet with about six questions they have to answer. I couldn't read it completely (upside-down to me during the interview) but two I picked up on seemed to be "summarize their background" and "comment on the candidate's interpersonal skills," along with the aforementioned interesting and difficult questions. They pretty much just asked you about your background, then asked you a few questions, and then just chatted about whatever was their passing fancy. There's a 15-minute chat with someone in the Admissions department; I chatted with Lisa Wick, the assistant director of admissions, and she was very personable and pretty much just pages through your AMCAS application in front of you and comments on it informally. I felt comfortable asking her any questions I had about how admissions committees would react to various things in my application.
-
A very low-stress, casual interview day. The schedule is full, so be prepared for spending the whole day there. But it's well spent time that goes by fast because of the accommodating, light-hearted admissions staff and faculty.
-
Both interviewers were extremely nice, friendly, and easy to talk to--the whole day was very low key...they are not out to stress you, they just want to meet you and talk to you.
-
The interviews were useless & insulting. They can't be worth much because there are two boxes at the bottom of the question sheet. Would you recommend this person: Yes or No
-
Went very well. I was laughing and telling jokes at both interviews
💬 Interview Process ▼
Length, number, and type of interviews
🕐
Length:
49 Minutes Average
🔄
Number:
2.5 Interviews Average
👥
Interview Type (Interaction):
99% One-on-One
1% Group Interview
📁
File Type:
25% Open-File
75% Closed-File
💻
Interview Modality:
100% Virtual
0% In-Person
PITT-MED-COMP interviews are an average of 49 minutes, with an average of 2.5 interviews. 99% of interviews are one-on-one, 0% are in-person, and 75% are closed-file.
What is one of the specific questions they asked you?
The most commonly asked interview questions at medical schools include inquiries about the applicant's motivation for pursuing medicine, specific interests in the field, reasons for choosing the University of Pittsburgh, experiences working in teams, and personal qualities that make them a suitable candidate for medical school. Additionally, many responses mentioned the standard questions about research experiences, career goals, extracurricular activities, and how the applicant's background aligns with their interest in medicine. Some respondents noted being asked about their uniqueness, future aspirations in medicine, and specific details about their research roles.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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Share an experience where you worked with others on a project. What role did you play? What did you learn from this?
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Where do you see medicine in the future?
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Why Pitt?
-
Why Medicine? Why University of Pittsburgh? Why Pittsburgh (As a city)?
-
Tell me how you made the decision to pursue medicine. Tell me how you tested or explored this decision
-
Why pitt, why medicine, all the usual crap. There were no surprise questions at all.
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Why PittMed? Why medicine? What makes you unique?
-
Tell me about yourself, why medicine, why nursing/PA/researcher...
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Why medicine
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How does your major connect to medicine?
-
Tell me about your research
-
Why do you want to go into medicine?
-
Tell me about yourself
-
Tell me about yourself.
-
All the typical interview questions. Why Pitt? Why medicine? Why not PA/NP? Tell me about your research. Student interview is closed, faculty is open except for MCAT/GPA.
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Tell me about an experience working in a team.
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Why medicine?
-
What sets you apart?
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Why University of Pittsburgh?
-
What else have you done in college that is not on your application?
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What are leadership positions you have had?
-
How are you creative?
-
Why Pitt? Why doctor and not other medical field (nurse, PA, etc)?
-
Why I though my educational path was best for medicine
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Where do you see yourself in 20 years? (for MSTP interview)
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"What do you do for fun?"
-
In closed-file interview (with student) I was asked about clinical experiences, what I do in my free time, etc.
-
Tell me about yourself. Why medicine? Why Pitt?
-
Tell me an example of a time you demonstrated creativity
-
Student interviewer (MS2) had a list of questions: Why medicine? Why Pitt? What kind of clinical experience do you have? What *other* clinical experiences do you have? Hobbies? What kind of superpower would you like to have? Do you have any questions?
-
Why do you want to work with [insert specific demographic from my application]?
-
What book have you read recently?
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When did you know you wanted to go into medicine?
-
Why Pitt...why medicine...some questions about my activities...tell me about yourself.
-
They mainly tried to gauge what I was like as a person, and why the school was a good fit for me.
-
Why MD vs nurse practioner or another career
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The basics, tell me about yourself, tell me why you want to be a physician, tell me why pitt
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What led you pursue medicine?
-
How did you find out about Pitt Med? (I'm from CA)
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Why medicine, why pitt
-
Tell me about the process that led you into deciding to go into medicine.
-
Tell me about yourself/your interest in medicine.
-
Tell me about your research and your role in it.
-
Why medicine? Why Pitt?
-
Student interviewer: Why do you want to be a doctor?
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Both student and faculty: why medicine?
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Why UPitt?
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What would make you come to Pitt?
-
Why Pitt
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What are you looking for in a medical school?
-
What kind of research do you do?
-
How are you creative
-
Why Pitt? (both my student and faculty interviewers asked me this)
-
Besides why medicine and why Pitt, what kind of doctor do you want to be?
-
What made you want to go into medicine?
-
So what are you doing here at Pitt? (in other words, Why Pitt?)
-
Was there a specific moment in your life that compelled you to pursue medical school?
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From student interviewer: Why Pitt?
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Tell me about yourself, Why Med
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Tell me about yourself. tell me about your research, your undergrad, (everything basic). what do you do for fun
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Questions about my undergrad institution. How did I choose my major, and what type of classes does it entail?
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General get to know you questions: tell me about yourself, your background. What have you been doing since graduating?
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What's the biggest healthcare problem and how would you change it?
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Student Interviewer: What motivates you? How do you deal with competition? What do you believe will be your biggest sacrifice coming into medical school?
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What brings you to Pittsburgh?
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Where did you go to school and why medicine?
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Why Pitt (Most common question)
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Tell me about yourself. Something that's not in your application.
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Have you ever considered research?
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What do you like about Pittsburgh?
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What have you done since you graduated college?
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Are you interested in research?
-
Why Pitt? I'm from LA.
-
Why med school?
-
What did you do during undergrad?
-
Why Pitt? What have you learned about Pitt since you have been here?
-
What are some non-medically relatedly activities you're involved in?
-
Why did you choose to go into medicine?
-
Student: What superpower would you want? Why medicine? Why Pitt? What do you do for fun? Tell me about your extra curricular activities.
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By student: in an informal, conversational way: why medicine, why pitt...I asked her a lot of questions about her work in community outreach.
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What do you do for fun
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Why do you want to be a doctor?
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Is diversity important to you?
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How did you get here?
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Are you married?
-
Besides your clinical experience (3 years) what other medical experience have you had? I thought this was an odd question. It seems to me that 3 yrs of nearly full-time clinical experience is fairly significant for a medical school applicant.
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Student interviewer: How do you work in small groups? (Pitt has PBL every other week so be prepared for that). Superpower question. Why medicine? No really, why medicine? What do you think about Pittsburgh? Do you have any questions for me?
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Tell me about your research.
-
Why Pittsburgh?
-
WHat do you do now?
-
How do you feel about working in small groups?
-
Tell me about your research experience. He was more interested in my role in the project, but be prepared to talk about your research in detail.
-
What kind of training do you have to have to be a massage therapist. (my profession)
-
What is your favotire book? - I really didn't have a favorite so I just talked about the most recent one I read.
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How would your friends describe you? (asked by student interviewer)
-
Why med?
-
My first interview was a student interview and she asked your basic questions (why medicine, etc.) My second was a faculty interviewer (who was awesome by the way) and that was a convo. The third is w/ a person from the admissions staff. this one's like 20 minutes and it seemed extremely laid back. No difficult questions. Just what my future plans are, etc...
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How did tennis helkp with your development as a person? (Played tennis for many years)
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Why do you want to practice transplant medicine?
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Why MD/PhD?
-
Student: What do you like to do for fun, What do you feel about clinical research, Do you think doctors should do research. Remember, Pitt is a research school. Even if you haven't done any before, you may be asked about it. They don't expect you to sit in a lab all day, you can go out and do research in the community also.
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What do you see yourself doing in 10-15 years? (ie. how to mesh research and medicine)
-
Tell me about your life. Start at the beginning.
-
Why Pitt Med, why Pittsburgh, etc?
-
Are you a vegetarian?
-
Why do you want to be a doctor? What experiences shaped your reasons? What have you done to test your decision?
-
Tell me about your study abroad.
-
Why medicine? But really, why medicine? Right, but, why not research/teaching/dentistry/etc.?
-
The standards: why medicine, why Pitt, etc. Student questions seemed geared toward assessing your realization of the realities of medicine/medical school and your dedication to patient-directed medicine, while the faculty questions were more personal.
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Faculty interviewer: issues in medicine, why medicine, research experience, tell me about your family, patient/clinical experience.
-
When and how did you decide you wanted to go into medicine?
-
Was the difference between specificity and sensitivity?
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When and why did you decide to become a doctor?
-
Why are you interested in a career in medicine? Why Pitt? What do you think about the US Health Care System compared with that of other countries? Tell me your thoughts on the role of physicians in preventive health and research.
-
Why do you want to be a doctor
-
What do you want to do?
-
What can I tell you about Pitt to make you want to go here?
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What have you liked about Pittsburgh? What don't you like?
-
What role do you typically take in group situations?
-
Why medicine? What was the origin of your interest?
-
Why Medicine? (or variations like why do you want to go into medicine, or become a doctor, etc) You'll want to stress 2 things: people and science, and that you find you want both, and can't give up either in your search for a profession.
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Are you holding acceptances at any other schools? (Both the faculty member and the dean asked me this).
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Where do you see yourself in the future (specialty, research or clinical)?
-
Student: very laid back. What do you like to do for fun? What kind of clubs were you involved in at school?
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Small group experiences, what role did I take?
-
What do you think makes a good doctor?
-
Describe your research.
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How do you see yourself working in small groups, as in problem-based learning?
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All basic questions about my future goals and my interests in medicine. my student interviewer though asked me more general questions about my life and what i had done. the student interviewer only gets your name, your undergrad school, and your hometown, so they basically know nothing. the faculty interviewer gets only your personal statement, so that is a little more intimate, but mine still wanted me to give her a general idea of who i was. the last interviewer, which is the dean of admissions, only talks to you for like 10ish mins and he just wants to grill you to make sure that you have a reason to apply to pitt specifically, and then he'll probably ask you where else youve applied/interviewed/been accepted. be prepared for him cuz hes really direct and quick.
-
What books have you been reading lately?
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How is your day going? What have you done so far? What do you think? (All 4 interviewers asked me this, which I think really says something.)
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Why mediicne? Faculty asks something specific about your PS.
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How did you come to your decision to pursue medicine?
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How did you become interested in medicine?
-
Mostly conversational questions concerning path to medicine and interests/background. nothing out of the ordinary.
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Why do you wish to pursue medicine? (all three interviewers asked me this)
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Tell me about your family (I know, this isn't a question)
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Explain your research to me.
-
Standard student questions: Why medicine? Why Pittsburgh? What are you looking for in a medical school? What are your interests outside school?
-
What are your career goals? What will having an MD AND a PhD allow you to do that having one of these degrees won't? (I'm paraphrasing)
-
Very generic questions, but more chit chat than anything
-
What do you think would be a better way to measure who will make a good resident?
-
When did you decide to become a doctor ?
-
Tell me about yourself? From student What brought you to Pitt? From faculty
-
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
-
Dating question
-
Explain your research.
-
Everything pertained to my amcas application.
-
What do you know about Pittsburgh?
-
Why medicine? Why Pittsburgh?
-
How do you deal with frustrating people/situations? What are you looking for in a school?
-
If doing an MD/PhD was not possible which one would I choose and why?
-
Same
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Tell me about your volunteer work.
-
Tell me about why you have chosen to become a physician
-
Mostly personal info- Questions regarding opinion on curriculum
-
Have you worked in small groups? (Related to their PBL [problem based learning] which they ask about.)
-
What specialty are you interested in?
-
What is the craziest thing you have ever done?
-
What do you do for fun?
-
See above.
-
What are the weaknesses of your application
-
Describe this experience.
-
What makes Pitt the right place for you? Or you right for us?
-
Whats one of your strengths/weaknesses
-
The student interviewers are obligated to ask these two (why medicine? tell me about your extracurricular, lab, other exp.) It's on their sheet that they fill out later.
-
Tell me about yourself?
-
Are you doing any reading for pleasure and if so, what are you reading?
-
What do you like to do for fun
-
What do you like to do for fun?
-
Why Medicine, and what have you done to test this decision?
-
Typical questions- Why MD/PhD, why do you want to be a doctor etc...
-
See above
-
(it's been a while, I can't remember much besides "What brings you to medicine" and "Why Pittsburgh?")
-
The basics...why do you want to go into medicine?
-
Brief summary of your life:
-
Why the Russian major?
-
Tell me more about....(insert application activity here).
-
What are some of your strengths?
-
When did you decide medicine was for you?
-
What do you do outside of school?
-
Why Pitt (asked this 3 times)?
-
When you work in a group with other students, what role do you play?
-
Is UPitt your first choice? You can be honest. It wasn't mine.
-
Tell me about yourself....basically a time to boast...however individuals like myself, who can't boast..and aren't willing to...don't do very well on such questions!
-
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
-
How are you a well-rounded person?
-
What's the last movie you saw?
-
What are your strengths?
-
What's your biggest weakness?
-
Why do you want to be a doctore?
-
Why motivated you ?
-
Nothing special, really. B/c it was closed file, questions weren't too hard. What extracurricular have you done?
-
Why both degrees?
-
Why medicine? Tell me about you background and your motivations. How do you handle stress?
-
What sort of extracurricular activities are you involved in? (required)
-
Strength and weaknesses.
-
Strengths (one of the questions on the "suggested?" list)
-
Why do you want to be a doctor?
-
What do you want me to tell the admissions committee about you?
-
MD faculty interviewer - "Congratulations, you're accepted to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine." *shake hands* "What, are you surprised?" -- Me: Uhhhh, yeah I guess I am.
-
Tell me more about your childhood?
-
What are your strengths.
-
Why do you want to be a physician?
-
Why do you think problem based learning is for you?
-
Why did you apply here?
-
Why do you want to get both MD and PhD degrees?
-
The interviews were just conversations: the dean asked specific questions though. Why do you want to be a doctor?
-
What would you do to provide health care insurance to those without if you were appointed Secretary of Health?
-
What is your best character trait?
-
Discuss your research project, how independent are you on it...etc.
-
Listed above
What was the most interesting question?
Students said most interesting question asked at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine discussed a wide range of topics, including future healthcare trends, personal definitions of success, challenges facing medicine, dealing with patient skepticism, and favorite TV shows. While many responses were standard, some students mentioned being asked about their creativity, interests outside of medicine, and specific experiences related to their applications. The interview format may have been MMI based on the variety of questions, with some respondents possibly under a nondisclosure agreement.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
-
Give an example of a time you noticed a lack of compassion during your clinical interactions and detail how that impacted you.
-
None - generally basic questions
-
Very basic questions
-
What healthcare issues are going to be big in the next 5-10 years?
-
Have you come across, either in your studies or independent research or reading time, any advancements in science or healthcare in recent years that's had an impact on public/population health?
-
What are some of the challenges that I think are facing medicine
-
How would you confront a patient that was skeptical or doubtful of science/the healthcare system (i.e. COVID-19 and mask policies)?
-
What is your definition of success
-
Asked me about my thesis research
-
What do you think is the most challenging issue facing healthcare? (she followed this question up with "did you watch the democratic debate last night?)
-
How have your experiences prepared you for medicine?
-
Would you want to go into ___ field?
-
What are some qualities a physician should have?
-
Make me excited about your research.
-
None, they were really standard.
-
What is the worst book you have read?
-
How will your experience with the arts inform your patient care philosophy?
-
Why didn't you go into one of your parents' careers (follow-up to question on my parents' backgrounds).
-
What would you do if you couldn't go to med school?
-
Question 3.
-
I was talking about what I do in my free time and I mentioned I watch Netflix occasionally (of course, alongside building orphanages and helping old ladies cross the road), and my faculty interviewer asked me what my favorite TV shows were and why.
-
What medical specialty are you interested in?
-
How would your friends describe you?
-
Tell me an example of a time you demonstrated creativity
-
Some questions related to my background and interests.
-
Tell me about your experience playing x sport
-
Did you have any trouble finding my office?
-
What field of medicine are you interested in and how positive are you that that is what you want to do?
-
N/a
-
None
-
None, it was very straight forward
-
Nothing really. Be prepared for the usual stuff, about why medicine etc.
-
How are you creative?
-
They were all pretty standard conversation starters.
-
So you worked _____. Why the heck did you do that?
-
NA
-
Are you a steeler fan
-
Who are your role models and why.
-
How do you think creatively?
-
If you could go anywhere and do anything for one weekend vacation, where would you go and what would you do?
-
Why medicine?
-
They were pretty standard.
-
If you could win any award in the world, what would it be?? (student interviewer)
-
Explain your interest in the actual science of medicine.
-
Nothing crazy...
-
Student: give me an example of how you are creative Faculty: what would you do if you didn't get accepted?
-
How would you rate your mechanical skills (playing with tools, etc)? The interviewer asked me this question because a part of my app said I am considering orthopedics as a specialty of choice.
-
Do you think you would have a problem with the Scholarly Project? -mostly related to the fact that I don't have much research background
-
So you think you have enough clinical experience?-
-
What did you dress up as for Halloween? (there was a bit of a lead up to this question, it wasn't completely out of the blue)
-
How do you work in groups and how will that serve you as a physician?
-
What do you think you'll struggle with most as a physician?
-
What qualities in the physicians you shadowed impressed you the most?
-
What personality traits are important for a doctor to have?
-
If you could have dinner with any two or three people, who would they be and why?
-
What do you think about the informational systems in hospitals? (this was part of an overall conversation about the UPMC hospital's switch to electronic files)
-
After answering a question about what I would do if I didn't get in to medical school I was asked: What is the biggest health care issue negatively affecting the quality of life of people today in the US.
-
What do you do that's not related to medicine?
-
Nothing really: Why did you decide to take a year off?
-
What do you think of the pharm companies influencing doctors
-
Tell me something not on your application material that's important.
-
Do you understand the culture of Pittsburgh?
-
Was kind of hoping for more challenging and fun questions, but it didn't happen. How would you define Academic Medicine?
-
Are you creative?
-
If you were any kind of ice cream flavor, what would you be? / What is the coolest thing you have ever done?
-
If you had to pick an ice cream flavor to describe your personality, what would it be?
-
What is your favorite cartoon?
-
Frankie asked me the random questions like What do you like to do? What's your favorite book?
-
All pretty stock questions, nothing special.
-
Who was your best friend and how would you describe her?
-
Cant think of one
-
How would you like me to present you to the admissions committee?
-
I was mostly just asked to explain activities on my AMCAS for my faculty interview. The student interview was a simple conversation for 45 minutes.
-
If you were so happy serving in the military, why are you wanting to get out to go to med school?
-
Tell me more about your siblings.
-
What do you like to do for fun?
-
What do you do for fun? Why did you work so many jobs?
-
What animal would you be and why?
-
Can't think of any right now...
-
Have you heard of the plagiarism case with the Harvard student that was given $500,000 to publish a book? (I told him yes, but didn't see how it connected to medicine... he said that a previous interviewee last week talked about it when they got into a discussion about academic honesty..)
-
None really, what I do for fun?
-
What books do you read?
-
What is the biggest challenge you will face as a physician?
-
If you could have any super power which one would you have?
-
Nothing in particular
-
What's your favorite cartoon
-
Detailed questions about my essay (my main interviewer had really read my application!)
-
It was really low stress...my interviewer was a really nice guy who suggested that we take a walk outside since it was such a nice day. My student interviewer was much younger than me, and she was a first year, on top of that it was her first interview so she was more nervous than I was.
-
My feelings on teaching
-
Nothing too out of the ordinary: Why Pitt? Why medicine? Describe your volunteer work? Tell me about your research? How did you get here (I'm about 10 years older than most applicants)?
-
What do you think about human consciousness?
-
Of the cities around the world in which you've worked, which was your favorite and why?
-
If I could have any superpower, what would it be? (Asked by student interviewer) Also asked a lot of questions about my interests in women's health, research, and how those tied into my faculty interviewer's current work which was awesome!
-
Was there any one moment that really set your heart on medicine?
-
All standard questions.
-
Nothing too interesting. just the common questions.
-
Why did you get into your present line of work? There were a lot of interesting and though provoking questions. Very much a conversation between two adults.
-
How does your family feel about you going to med school. (I have a husband and a child)
-
Nothing out of the ordinary
-
What did you think of Freakonomics?
-
Do you workout?
-
Nothing out of the ordinary...
-
What was the other state that the Senate race was waiting on other than Virginia. I did not know the answer, but it was Montana.
-
What good experiences and bad experiences have you had with doctors treating your sister (my sister has a severe chronic disease) and how will this affect the way you practice medicine?
-
What do I think about HPV vaccine development?
-
Do you always wear black to an interview? (actually, I was wearing black and blue, so it was kind of funny)
-
Why do you want to be a physician instead of a...?
-
I wrote about my father's influence in my PS, and my faculty interviewer spent some time asking about my relationship with the rest of my family and my travel experiences with them.
-
I got asked about what I see myself doing in 10-15 years a lot. But, the most interesting question was the student interviewer who asked me what thing from my application I would like him to emphasize to the admissions committee. I thought that was really cool of him.
-
Describe how you work in small groups.
-
One of my Interviewers went off on a tangent for a few minnutes about how much they liked the new show
-
What sorts of health policy do you see yourself shaping in the future?
-
Nothing really
-
What role do you take on in a group situation and why?
-
How do you deal with confrontation?
-
Tell me something about yourself that you shouldn't (asked by the student interviewer and technically not part of the evaluation).
-
How do you work in groups?
-
Actually, most of my questions were typical.
-
What do you think will be the most difficult aspect of practicing medicine
-
This was my second interview and honestly if I taped my first interview and played it back, it would be fine, just sound interested about your own life and activities and you'll do fine. Plus remember the two inescapable questions: why medicine and why this school
-
Was the difference between specificity and sensitivity?
-
In your experience, have you met any physicians who were disgruntled or unhappy with their choice of profession?
-
Nothing special
-
Tell me your thoughts on the role of physicians in preventive health and research.
-
What do you want to have accomplished by the time you die?
-
What kind of sandwich do you like? Kind of random.
-
I had so many interesting questions. They were: 1. What superpower do you want to have? 2. Would you swim in pool or ocean? 3. Name three people you'd like to have dinner with?
-
Who has been your greatest mentor?
-
How did your grandma die? (I spoke about her in my personal statement)
-
What don't you like about Pittsburgh?
-
What do you think will be the most difficult aspect of medicine faced by future doctors?
-
My faculty interviewer asked me about my brother, who has Down syndrome. I thought it was interesting that she would want to talk about that.
-
None, no surprise questions, very straight forward and to-the-point.
-
Just your typical interview questions - Why medicine? Start from the beginning of when you knew you wanted to go into medicine.
-
"What's your favorite cartoon - why?" I thought it was pretty random. I answered honestly and said the one where Elmer Fudd goes after a Helga-dressed Bugs Bunny singing - "Kill da wabbit ... Kill da waaaabit."
-
Nothing really out of the ordinary.
-
What do you want to be when you grow up?
-
What's your favorite movie, book, cartoon?
-
What is your most creative accomplishment?
-
Nothing too interesting...basic questions and specific ones
-
I wasn't asked anything remotely interesting. Just the same old questions
-
Pretty standard questions--why medicine? when did you know you want to go into medicine? etc.
-
Why medicine?? not really that interesting...
-
(in reference to my interest in global health) how much of your career do you plan to spend working abroad, and what are you reasons?
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What are the biggest problems with healthcare today? How would you change it?
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A couple really fun ones: *If you could have any superpower, which would you choose and why? *What's your favorite cartoon?
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Nothing really. Every question were the typical ones like Why medicine, Why Pitt, What do you like about the city, what extra cirricular.
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How many schools did you apply to? Where have you interviewed already?
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Nothing really.
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What book are you reading?
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What setting do you see yourself practicing in? What is your favorite cartoon?
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What kind of physician do you want to be?
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Do you think you'll be able to "have a life" during medical school?
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What clinical experiences have you had?
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What is the most creative thing you do?
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What is your favorite cartoon
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What did Wittgenstein (philosopher) have to say about pain?
-
Very few solid questions, more chit chat with admission dean
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What do you think would be a better way to measure who will make a good resident?
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What are the major issues facing medical care today and what solution would you advocate?
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What is the most important thing we should know about you?
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In reference to my school's female:male ratio (I'm a girl): What does that do for your dating life?
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Can you adjust to the cold in Pittsburgh since you are from California?
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All questions pertained to my AMCAS application. No ethical scenarios, or questions concerning current issues in health care (e.g. HMOs, PPOs, etc.)
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What is the most creative thing you do? apparently the faculty interviewers are told to asess creativity.
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How will you balance family and medicine?
-
Very standard questions
-
Nothing usualy, we just talked about my life, why medicine, what I liked to do in my free time, and why pittsburgh
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What was the last CD you bought?
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If I was to be the gov. of ? (pick one) state and giving my state of the state address, what would be my issues and what would I do about them?
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If I were elected a US senator, what would be my issues?
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What improvements do you think doctors could make to help patients have more comfortable experiences?
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In addition to asking "why medicine," my interviewer inquired as to what steps I've taken to discover whether or not medicine really is for me.
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In a scale of 1-10, how confident I am about being accepted into Medical School...funny thing was that I am already accepted at two medical schools
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Nothing stands out- it was all very conversational and seemed aimed at getting to know you as a person.
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Do you know that you cannot save life you can only prevent death
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If I were to meet you as a random stranger, what would we talk about?
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Do you think the fact that you lost 80 lbs in the past will serve to help you relate with patients as a doctor?
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None very interesting
-
What is the craziest thing you have ever done?
-
Nothing special.
-
Very relaxed interview...no tricky questions.
-
Student: "What's the craziest thing you've ever done?" Faculty: "How do you think knowledge from your [geriatrics] research could be applied to children?"
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What are some of old movies that you love that you can suggest to me?---I am a huge old movie buff
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What do you think about our curriculum? What attracts you to Pitt?
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How did your background with 2 cultures affect your educational experience?
-
Nothing in particular caught my attention, both my student interview and faculty interview were very relaxed and chill and we talked about a lot of stuff, but all about ME.
-
Nothing really, they have some standard questions that they have to get the answers to
-
No real questions, just asked me to talk about myself
-
We really had a nice discussion. There were no rote questions but a real flowing conversation.
-
Nothing interesting
-
None - pretty standard fare
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What is your biggest fault?
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What was your most memorable EMT experience and why?
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Are you a good cook?
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Do you realize that as a doctor you are not saving a life, you are simply delaying death?
-
None really too interesting
-
Do you consider yourself to be a well rounded person?
-
Some weird scenarios, pretty fun though.
-
What other schools have you interviewed at and what did you like about them?
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No interesting questions. Just the questions you'd expect; what do you read, what are your hobbies, what area of medicine are you interested in, etc.
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How did the role in your family prepare you for a career in medicine? (Nothing too interesting or crazy...)
-
Just the basic stuff...
-
What do you hope to get out of Pittsburgh?
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What is a big pain in the butt?
-
If you could write President Bush's State of the Union Address, what three things would you specifically mention?
-
What are the biggest problems in health care and how would you personally help fix them?
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How would you feel working for someone less qualified than yourself?
-
None too interesting. Questions were fairly standard.
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Did you know that pitt is top 10 in research dollars? (asked this about 5 times)
-
If you had 30 seconds to explain to the admission committee why they should select you, what would you say?
-
Nothing too exciting here - all fairly standard Qs (all my interviewers were quite mellow)
-
When you go home to visit your parents, what does your mother make for you to eat?
-
How does what you learned from studying public health in Mexico apply to our healthcare system in the United States?
-
Recommend a film that my husband and I should see and tell me why it's good. (I was a film major).
-
Nothing very interesting was asked.
-
Do you play any instruments?
-
What made you know for sure that medicine was the right career for you?
-
I wasn't asked any direct questions. Very conversational.
-
So I saw a speech the Rendell (PA's governor) gave about health care, malpractice lawsuits, and insurance rates. In light of all these issues, why would anyone want to get into medicine? (Asked by the student interviewer)
-
Nothing all conversational
-
What do you want to do in the future with your MD degree?
-
Do you still have epilepsy?
-
It wasn't an interview as much as it was a discussion. The faculty interviewers questions will be different for everyone because they have your AMCAS personal statement in front of them and will ask questions regarding it.
-
What do you want to accomplish in the next four years besides getting trough medical school?
-
Say you're in PBL and a couple members are not putting in the work. How would you go about rectifying this problem?
-
How would you deal with a peer who was not pulling his weight in PBL group
-
What are some avenues of translational research that will bring currently broad genomics prowess to bear on specific clinical needs, and generally how do the various -genomics fields change medical research paradigms?
-
Nothing particular, pretty conversational
-
Tell me something that your friends may not know about you or may find surprising.
-
Do you know who Job is? - I think she just wanted to know how well read I am.
-
Nothing
-
Nothing crazy. everything based on the conversation at hand
-
What is the biggest problem with healthcare today, just off the top of my head.
-
My greatest strength and greatest weakness in one word...which I found very interesting since its so hard to narrow this down
-
How would you motivate a member of your PBL(problem based learning) group who is not pulling his or her weight and hindering other members of the group?
-
What kind of people do you not get along with?
-
What is your favorite book?
-
Nothing too interesting.
-
How important is located relatively close to your family during school in deciding which med school to attend?
-
Describe your family for me.
-
What was the last book you read?
-
What type of books do you like to read?
-
Will you go back home when you are done with your training?
-
Describe what you're reading right now (I mentioned that I like to read).
-
Standard why md/phd - why both degrees - what specialty would you go into, why pittsburgh - what do you like about the program
-
If you can pick three adjectives to describe yourself, what would they be?
-
What exactly is Postmodernism?
-
The questions were pretty typically. Why do you want to study medince. The most interesting I guess is what do you look for in a medical school...and do we fit that profile.
-
Do you believe the US government should torture suspected terrorists if they have information that might be needed to prevent an imminent attack?
-
What will you enjoy most about medical school? What do you think the most difficult thing will be about medical school?
-
Who do you think was behind the anthrax attacks last year?
-
Tell me about the most interesting family vacation you had...and all my vacations blurred into one, so I couldn't really remember the most fun one.
-
Nothing very interesting. They have a sheet in front of them. The student had only your name and undergrad institution. The faculty interviewer had personal statement and practice vision essays as well
How did you prepare for the interview?
Most applicants prepared for the interview by reviewing interview feedback on SDN, conducting mock interviews, reading the school's website, and reflecting on their application experiences. They also emphasized the importance of practicing common questions, researching the school, and being prepared to ask thoughtful questions during the interview.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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Reviewing SDN interview feedback
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SDN; huge doc of interview questions on Reddit; mock interviews
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Mock interviews, brainstorming and reflecting on past experiences working in healthcare
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SDN, mock interviews, advise sessions, practice answers.
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A LOT of mock interviews, a LOT of brainstorming and writing down as many possible questions I could think of or came across in my research or encountered in my asynchronous interviews, brainstorming an appropriate example, making a bulleted list on what happened and what insights I wanted to highlight, and rehearsing answering and hitting those points
-
SDN interview feedback threads, researching Pitt, mock interviews, etc.
-
This page! mock interviews, recording myself answering questions
-
Reread app, look up info about the school
-
SDN
-
Mock interviews
-
Mock interviews, read about the school
-
Prepped answers for questions I saw on SDN.
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Looked at SDN, practiced w/ friends
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Read over SDN.
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Reading the school's website, reviewing my application.
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Website
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SDN, read "The Healthcare Handbook," read over my AMCAS and secondaries, practiced interviewing with friends
-
SDN SDN SDN!!
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The school's website and my primary and secondary application. Came up with a solid reason for applying there.
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Read AMCAS app, read SND reviews for Pitt, read Pitt website
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Rehearsed the basics: why medicine, tell me about yourself, why Pitt. Had an interview the week before.
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MSAR, researched school facts online, read interview books, drafted sample answers to questions so would't be caught off guard
-
I didn't, just stayed calm and carried on
-
SDN, read through the entire website, looked up my faculty interviewer 30 minutes prior to the interview
-
I had a mock interview at my undergraduate institution that went very badly.
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Read the MSAR, SDN interview feedback, and website for Pitt. They have a really informative fact book online that was helpful.
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SDN, reviewed AMCAS primary and Pitt secondary
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Reviewed school specific thread.
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Read interview feedback, researched school extensively, practiced common questions
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Interview feedback :) - especially for student interviews, you're likely to get the same questions as those mentioned here; reading Pitt web site and reading about Pitt on SDN. I had specific interests related to the school, so I think that helped. I also paid attention and asked questions during the student tour of the school and the curriculum talk - and based on those, I had more questions for my interviewers. Be prepared to ask good questions!
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Reviewed my amcas and secondary, prepped answers to standard interview Qs, SDN
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SDN, Pitt website.
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Practiced with pre-med adviser, read about the school online, met with a MS2 the day before, paid attention during the tour.
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Reviewed my PS, secondary, and reflected on my activities. Also practiced with friends.
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Sleep
-
Read the website
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Read up on all the programs, options, areas of concentration, PSTP, research opportunities, etc.
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Pitt's website, read over AMCAS and research paper
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SDN Interview Feedback
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SDN, reviewed AMCAS and secondary, read Reid's "The Healing of America", reviewed ethics website (definitely didn't need to though, there were no policy or ethics related questions, all personal)
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The best preparation was getting to know the people there.
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Relaxed and learned as much as possible about the school, keeping track of anything I wanted to know in more detail to ask my interviewers. I walked around the school the day before to get the general vibe of the students and area.
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Read over my application.
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SDN, reread secondary essays
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SDN, I bought 2 books on medical school interviews. One by Jessica Freedman and one by Jeremiah Fleenor. Both were great prep in different ways.
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SDN, school website
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SDN interview feedback, researched school website, the day of the interview was most informative
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SDN :)
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Read about health care reform, read secondary & primary app, familiarized myself with the school's mission & program
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Reviewed school's website, admissions materials, stayed with a current student and asked about the school.
-
SDN, read website, read application
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Re-read my application
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Interview feedback.
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Website, AMCAS, friends who interviewed at Pitt before
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Read AMCAS, student docs, secondary, read up and spoke to students about school.
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SDN, UPitt website... awesome student host!
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Read over a friend's interview materials from last year
-
Stayed with Student Hosts and asked them tons of questions about curriculum, good things about school; Asked lots of questions on student-led tour; Asked even more questions at lunch hour with current students
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SDN, website, reviewed application
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Review their website, sdn,mock interview
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Reread secondary/primary, Pitt website...
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SDN, reviewed primary and secondary, mock interview with career center
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Read the websites, SDN, the usual.
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Sdn, reviewed essays and amcas.
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Looked at other interview feedback questions, reread personal statement and secondary essays, looked at Pitt's website and brochures.
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SDN, school website, essays
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Re-read essays, researched Pitt's website, read the emails from Pitt's admissions office.
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SDN, Introspection
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MSAR, SDN, Read the school's website, Talked to other students, and reviewed application materials.
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This was my first interview, so I did WAY too much to prepare: researched the ENTIRE Pitt website, read Understanding Health Policy, looked over my app and secondary for Pitt
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SDN, read app and school website
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Re-read AMCAS and secondary application, a mock interview and SDN.
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Mock interview, researched web site, SDN
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Looked over my personal statement since that was the only part of my application they had access to, skimmed sdn interview feedback, read a few news stories, and refreshed my memory on topics I'm interested in.
-
Read SDN and relaxed.
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Sdn, school website, talked to student host
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Sdn. review app
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Read my applications, read this site, read pitt's factbook
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Talked with host students the night before
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Reviewed school's website and fact book, my primary and secondary
-
SDN, read AMCAS and secondary, talked over some basic questions - why Pitt, why medicine, why should we accept you - with mentor.
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SDN, primary app (which was beneficial because I was asked about my community service activities and EC's because they really don't know who you are)
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Pitt website/ SDN/ mock interview/ ethics classes/ refreshed recent political and current events topics
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I didn't really.
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SDN, school website, read over AMCAS
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SDN, Pitt website and viewbook, read over secondary and primary
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SDN, read about pitt, healthcare (unnecessary), ethics (unnecessary), AMCAS
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Read MSAR, personal statements from primary and secondary, interview feedback (MUST READ!), and their factbook.
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Read up on the program and all of the little mini-programs, read over application.
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Questions pulled in from all over the place
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Sleep, SDN
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SDN, website, mock interviews, friends asked me questions, reviewed secondary app
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SDN, read Person to Person 2x and quick facts (from the website...there is lots of good stuff in this), also read several health care books and went over common questions.
-
SDN interview feedback, read Bioethics, UPitts curriculum and website
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School website, read my primary and secondary apps, school bulletin
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Read secondaries, school website, went over my file.
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Read the MSAR and mailing. Asked questions of my student host.
-
Read website, AMCAS, reviewed applications, etc.
-
Read over my AMCAS app, SDN, typical interview questions
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SDN, read about Pittsburgh, re-read my application
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Read Person-to-Person and SDN feedback.
-
Reading their viewbook, MSAR and biomedical ethics texts and articles.
-
Looked over school website, read person to person brochure, MSAR, reread AMCAS and essay responses to secondary
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SDN, read over my application, read over website. I did a few general mock interviews.
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I made a list of past questions using SDN interview feedback, read the admissions booklet you get by mail, MSAR, website, asked student host ---- overall preparation didnt matter, very stress-free interview
-
I read school's viewbook, thoroughly read website, Dean's yearly state of university address was very helpful to see where the university is and where it is going.
-
Read my application, talked to a friend who studies at Pitt Med, mock interview
-
Read SDN, read AMCAS app, looked up a lot of information about Pittsburgh so i could justify why I would like to live there.
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SDN Interview feedback, brochure.
-
SDN, mock interview, person to person brochure, reading on ethics/medical field, and re-reading application
-
SDN, prepare rough outline of answers to core questions, researched Pitt
-
Read over my personal statement, my secondary application, and the UPitt website.
-
Drinks with a friend the night before.
-
Read material about the school.
-
SDN, Reviewed primary and secondary applications, Person to person brochure, school's website
-
SDN, Person to Person Brochure, Pitt website, spoke with current students
-
Read through AMCAS, read about school, SDN
-
Just checked out the website, re-read my application
-
Read over my AMCAS application, feedback on SDN, mock interview
-
Re-read personal statement, SDN feedback was very helpful, Pitt website, managed to meet up with some Pitt faculty
-
I read up on my application and SDN.
-
Read over my recent work, exercised to reduce stress, and watched Season 4 of Scrubs.
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Studentdoctor.net, review interview tips, review ethical issues.
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Since this was my first interview, I prepared by going to my school's Career Services website which had a two page summary of what to expect at medical school interviews. I also read through the questions and feedback on this interview feedback system and made a list of questions to read over on the plane. Most importantly though, I read up on what I liked about Pitt (including their area of concentration program, block scheduling, particular research centers I would like to work with, etcetera) so that I could answer the ''Why Pitt'' question knowingly with things that are truly special about Pitt instead of other schools.
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Practiced sample essay questions, read over application (although all they have access to is your personal statement, and thats only for the faculty interview), talked to some students ahead of time
-
Read over secondary.
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SDN, P2P, website, secondaries
-
SDN, AMCAS, secondary
-
SDN, website, friends
-
Visited SDN and read other peoples´ remarks.
-
Person to Person, Student doctor, and Primary and Secondary applications
-
Sdn, mock interviews, read books on socialized medicine - pros and cons
-
Reading Pitt's face-to-face brochure, studentdoctornet. USA-today headlines and current events (although weren't important), personal statement and secondary essays
-
SDN, School Website, UPMC Website, AMCAS application
-
SDN, mock interview, P2P brochure, school website, talked with student host
-
SDN, website, my own application, & p2p brochure
-
SDN, reading over my app, current events, reading their brochure/pamphlet
-
Amcas, SDN, NYtimes.com, Upitt person-to-person brochure
-
Amcas, upitt person to person, secondary
-
SDN, review my amcas essays, mock interview, google the school, read the person to person publication
-
SDN, Pitt's person to person brochure, school's website, USA today
-
Studentdoctor.net, read over person to person, reviewed my application.
-
Read pitt viewbook, reread amcas, reread pitt application, talked to my friend who had already interviewed there
-
Read pitt admissions materials, do mock interview, read over my essays, read about the research of the profs i was meeting (for md/phd part)
-
SDN, website, talking to my student host
-
People-to-People Prospectus, Pitt Med website (including links on Admissions, Special Programs, and Research Opportunities), e-mailed many many current students via the Excel Host-Student chart on the secure prospective student website, and of course good ol' SDN's listed questions - copied and answered all the ones from this year and last!
-
Reviewed AAMC app, school website, wrote some key points out in bullet point to remind myself to address them in the interview. got a good night's sleep and took a yoga class the day before the interview.
-
Read their booklet, website
-
Read SDN feedback, thought about answers for common questions, read about healthcare policy/ethics, talked with Pitt students, thought of possible questions to ask the interviewer
-
SND, my application, website, their brochure
-
SDN.
-
I reviewed Pitt's materials (Person to Person booklet), and my primary and secondary application essays.
-
Website, MSAR, school publication, studentdoc reviews
-
Review over my AMCAS app, Pitt's
-
Information Pitt sent, their website, my primary/secondary, SDN
-
Website, brochure
-
Read about school, reviewed file, practiced standard questions
-
SDN, read school's website
-
Person to Person brochure, website, AMCAS, Interview feedback
-
Looked over my application, thought about what I would want to talk about, how I would answer the inevitable
-
Brochure, website, SDN feedback, went to Pitt for undergrad so didn't need to prepare about the city
-
I read through my AMCAS and supplementary applications, the school website, Pitt's
-
Medstudent host, sdn, website
-
SDN, website, brochures, interview feedback
-
Read SDN, school's website, my AMCAS and 2ndary apps
-
Sdn, person to person brochure, read my primary and secondary applications
-
Person to person brochure, discussions with current MS1's.
-
MSAR, Website, Brochures, Friends
-
I asked my friend that goes to undergrad Pitt to tell me about the school.
-
SDN interview feedback, Person to Person brochure, Pitt website
-
SDN, School website, School Handouts, AMCAS, Seconday essays
-
SDN, read my application, secondary, read the big book
-
1. Admissions P2P Prospectus 2. Scoured all over the Pitt website:(www.medschool.pitt.edu) 3. Followed other links from above website to learn about Pitt and the city in general before visiting. 4. SDN's Interview Feedback :) 5. MSAR's descriptions 6. Map of Pittsburgh 7. Host List - found in the invitation only Admissions site when you click on the Interview tab. This is the same site as the secondary status site. Here, they will allow you to register for an interview, and they have under this INterview Tab, an Excel file with a ton of students willing to host you; it also tells you their main interests, their interests outside of school, where they live with respect to school, pets/no pets, smoking/no smoking, married/single, room-mates or living alone, etc ...
-
Reviewed secondary application, read about the school on the web
-
Read Pitt brochure, SDN, talked with student host
-
SDN, my own application (essays for the secondary app), pitt website, materials given the day of the interview
-
SDN, Pitt website, USA Today, mock interviews
-
Sdn, reviewed app, Pitt website
-
Pitt website, SDN, interview feedback
-
Drank, did work, read UPitt's "person-to-person" magazine
-
Sdn, website
-
Read app/ website etc.
-
Read the web site, read their brochure, reviewed my AMCAS and secondary.
-
Sdn, website, their flyers
-
Sdn, 22 years of life experience, went to classes with my host the day before, worried
-
Read Pitt website and brochures, SDN, stayed with student host
-
SDN, Pitt's website, Pitt's big brochure, Read over my file. Read over this sheet I prepared with things i wanted to talk about. I saw another person with similar notes. This was my second interview so i was less nervous. My mental state was a bit altered as well since i had only One hour of sleep on the plane. I was loaded on caffeine so i was a bit more chattery than my usual.
-
SDN, MSAR, Packets Pitt sent me
-
Read over my application, read studentdoctor.net feedback, looked at the website, read the literature they had sent me.
-
Sdn, upitt website, propaganda mailed from school
-
Talked to fourth-year student, re-read AMCAS and secondary essays,
-
Studied their website, SDN, Interview feedback, my AAMCAS, my secondary. Worried, fretted and stressed.
-
Read SDN, reviewed personal statement, practice interview, read up on some current issues
-
School website, SDN, reviewed all my apps (to prepare for any interview ?'s) and reviewed AMCAS
-
Um. . . i didn't really
-
Read amcas, looked at Pitt's website
-
Reviewed SDN feedback, school website, and AMCAS application
-
SDN, Pitt website, alumni friends, practice questions
-
Read SDN, reviewed my primary and secondary application essays, and read up on faculty who are doing research that interests me.
-
Read this site, look at the school website, go through the forums
-
Talked to people who interviewed there, read SDN interview feedback
-
SDN website, UPitt web site
-
This site, forums, Pitt website, Read over AMCAS...
-
I reviewed all the material I could find on the school and thought about questions I might ask the interviewers. I also looked over lists of standard interview questions and thought briefly about how I might answer them.
-
Read sdn, website, brochure
-
SDN, Pitt website, mock interview
-
Read SDN, Pitt website, their viewbook, reviewed my AMCAS and secondaries, other interviews.
-
Read over my secondary, SDN
-
SDN, talked to the current students, Pitt website, tour booklet
-
I read through my AMCAS application, Pitt secondary, and SDN feedback. As usual, I read a lot about the school on-line.
-
Read interview feedback, school's website
-
Read sdn, look over the pitt catalog
-
Read over the opportunities/curriculum at Pitt, reviewed practice questions, prayed.
-
Talked to my student host, read SDN, read the school Brochure and payed attention to everything everyone said about the school, searched the interests of the faculty I was interviewing with, didn't do a mock interview even though this was my first interview, but did think about my answers to generic questions.
-
School Brochure, SDN, read secondary and AMCAS
-
Read SDN, thought about answers, spent the morning (during the tour) developing opinions and questions
-
I read SDN interview feedback, and I read and re-read the literature and website for UPitt.
-
Read AMCAS, UPitt brochure, talked to student host, read SDN
-
SDN, School Prospectus and website
-
Read sdn, internet, essay
-
Read the UPitt website, studentdoctor.net
-
SDN, Read the Pitt Brochure
-
SDN, brochure, web
-
Read over the brochure, this website, just thought things through.
-
Read through Pitt's website and brochure, did some thinking about what I wanted to convey, etc.
-
SDN, reread AMCAS, looked at school website
-
Let's see... 1) Reviewed my application, especially the personal statement since that's all the faculty member gets. 2) Looked over my research 3) Read SDN interview posts (but only the most recent 10. 4) Got a good night's sleep.
-
I looked at SDN, this website, and looked at their catalog they sent me, and prepared with my flashcards of common questions
-
Read through SDN and read through the schools written materials.
-
Pitt literature, the usual
-
Nothing really, went over my application and thought over some possible questions.
-
Web site, the brochure they sent, sdn feedback
-
Website, literature
-
I ate a Primani Brothers sandwich
-
Read SDN and pitt's website
-
MSAR, Pitt brochure, and Pitt website
-
Talked to friends at Pitt, looked at Pitt's brochre, and read comments on this site
-
SDN, read UPitt brochure, etc
-
SDN, Pitt brochure and kept up with current events.
-
School catalog, website, reviewed my AMCAS and secondary. Talked to current medical studetns.
-
Pitt website etc, read over my application
-
Reading this website reading the Pitt website reviewing my applications
-
Read this site, talked to my student host.
-
Read app materials, SDN, read website, relaxed.
-
Website, here
-
Website, Brochure, feedback, amcas app
-
Read SDN interview feedback. I had previous interviews, so I felt prepared
-
Figured out where and when to show up.
-
I didn't really do any. I read interview feedback and the school's website.
-
Relaxed, talked to people, read information.
-
Read up Pitt's catalog, my secondary, corresponded with Pitt Student Executive Council president.
-
Read UPMC's brochure, reviewed my application.
-
Read SDN, AMCAS
-
Checked a map and showed up!
-
Read this site, read over my application materials, relaxed.
-
Review application, read this
-
Read website, brochure, and SDN interview feedback. Practiced questions with my wife. Found other interview tips at various websites.
-
Interview feedback, SDN, their person-to-person booklet
-
Read the brochure, and these feedbacks
-
SDN, read the school pamphlet (really helps)
-
SDN, read Pitt's literature and my application, knew my strengths and weaknesses well
-
School's website and promotional literature (which they sent me), MSAR
-
Read interview prep books. Kept up with current events. Went over sample questions. Studied Pitt website and brochure. Mock interview.
-
I prepared a lot less for this interview than for others. I just reread the catalogs and look at my own applications the night before. Pulled out my "standard list of questions" for all schools and added some additional "Pitt only questions" for interviewers.
-
Read over my personal statement, watched Snoop Dogg videos on mTV (really).
-
Read sdn website, person to person pamplet, and my application.
-
Went to bed on time
-
This site and reviewed applications
-
This website
-
SDN, Pitt's website, reread my application
-
Interview feedback, look over school brochure
-
Read their literature, sdn, my application
-
Read the website and literature/viewbook.
-
Watched the Super Bowl
-
Read over app & school's website.
-
Read this site, mostly.
-
I looked up information about the school .
-
Read this interview feedback, read viewbook.
-
Read AMCAS, secondary essays, and my own research. I also read my interviewers' stuff, at least the abstracts, but this was not very useful.
-
Looked over app, secondary
-
Interview Feedback (SDN), Read Pitt's brochures, Pitt's Website, reread my secondary app essay
-
Had a mock interview with professors, looked at studentdoctor.net, read the Pitt brochure, and read "Sweaty Palms, the Neglected Art of Being Interviewed". I hightly recommend this book!
-
Talk to people who are in the school, check out their web-site, and read over some questions.
-
This website, pitt brochure
-
Looked at this website, looked over the Pitt brochure, talked about answers to possible questions with friends.
-
Re-read my essays and kept up-to-date on the news.
-
Read over my interviewers' research
-
I read the bulletin, my AMCAS and secondary apps, and some literature on health care
-
Went through this website and read the school's brochure.
-
Read Pitt brochure, reviewed my own application, reviewed common questions
-
Read interview feedback, looked over their website, read over my application.
-
I read interview feedback, reviewed Pitt material and watched Will and Grace the night before.
-
I read this website, the school's website, and read my AMCAS application thoroughly.
-
Read about the school, reviewed my information
-
AMCAS, U Pitt Brochure (A WONDERFUL resource), Secondaries
-
Read their brochures and checked out their website.
-
Read MSAR, U.Pitt website, SDN, newspapers, etc.
-
I overkilled for the interview - read lots of literatiure for the mstp interviews - i didn't prep at all for the med ones - they tell you about the curriculum before you interview so you have some good questions
-
Study research stuff, look at this site, talk with other people. I went a little overboard with my research...Pitt's interview doesn't go all out with the stress level. Faculty is very nice.
-
Read brochure, talked to first and second year medstudents.
-
Read magazines like Time and Newsweek, and looked over some of my research papers and my applications
-
Read feedback on this site, read a book on health care issues, reviewed my application.
-
Hyperventilate.
-
Reading the Pitt brochure, SDN Web site
-
Read my AMCAS application and secondary essays, read feedback on studentdoctor.net
-
Read interview feedback.com
-
Read UPitt brochure, interviewfeedback.com (sorry guys)
What was the most difficult question?
Students said most difficult question asked at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine discussed a wide range of topics including recent advancements in population health, personal conflicts, impactful research developments, motivations for medicine, failure experiences, and unique qualities. Notably, some respondents mentioned the interview format being MMI with a nondisclosure agreement, while others highlighted standard questions about activities, characteristics, and motivations for pursuing medicine.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
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Can you think of a recent advancement that impacted population health?
-
Tell me about yourself - it’s too broad
-
Tell me a time when you had a conflict with a co-worker/peer?
-
What research development do you know of in the past 5-10 years has made a strong impact to the community/people?
-
Can you describe a time when you failed? How did you handle it or what did you gain from it or how did you grow from it?
-
None. very standard questions
-
None, all very standard!
-
None
-
Has anything especially encouraged or discouraged your motivation for medicine?
-
There were no difficult questions. pretty standard interview
-
The first interview is closed file, so they ask a lot of questions about your activities and characteristics that are sometimes hard to answer
-
What concerns do you have about entering medicine?
-
Why medicine?
-
What sets you apart?
-
There weren't any curveball questions!
-
None, just a conversation.
-
A question about my UG school I didn't know the answer for
-
How will you apply your community organizing background as a physician?
-
Tell me something creative you've done
-
What would you do if you couldn't go to med school
-
For MSTP interview: Have you ever considered doing an MD? Why MD/PhD instead of MD?
-
Question 1.
-
So you want to work with the underserved. How do you justify going $200K in debt, then working for people who won't pay you?
-
What is your greatest weakness? (Ouch, hate that question).
-
Tell me an example of a time you demonstrated creativity
-
NONE!
-
Why did you leave your prior field?
-
Do you have any questions for me?
-
N/a
-
How did that make you feel? (asked a few times throughout... it felt like I was talking to a shrink)
-
None, it was very straight forward
-
None in particular. Very stress-free interviews.
-
Nothing was really difficult. there were few actual questions (my interviewer had prepared a sheet of about 5 actual questions, but the rest of the interview was conversational)
-
None really.
-
Why did you decide to switch careers? (was expected of course)
-
NA
-
No difficult questions. I was worried about getting questions about my GPA, but since both interviews are closed file they don't ask.
-
No difficult questions at all. The questions that people post on here is EXACTLY what you'll hear on interview day
-
What is professionalism?
-
The faculty interview was challenging, because I almost felt like the woman wanted me to lead the interview. It felt more like a conversation, and she didn't always lead with a question, so sometimes, instead of waiting for a question, I would just respond to something she had said. I was not expecting this level of informality, so it was a bit of a challenge to roll with.
-
Give me three words that describe you.
-
All straightforward. No curveballs here.
-
"Why Pitt?" was phrased in an unexpected way, looking for specific detail.
-
All the follow up questions on research took some serious thought
-
How do you feel about learning material with a team?
-
Everything was extremely straight forward. The usual stuff.
-
None were very difficult
-
What would make you come to Pitt?
-
So you think you have enough clinical experience?-
-
My student interviewer asked what I'd been doing lately. I think he was running out of things to ask and responses, and the time was fairly short. So be warned, your student interviewer might not be the most adept.
-
What is the core behind all of your motivations for being a doctor
-
Nothing was very difficult, as most questions were posted on studentdoctor.net in other interview feedback pages.
-
What do you think you'll struggle with most as a physician?
-
Nothing difficult. Very conversational.
-
What makes you unique from other applicants? (This one is always hard to answer)
-
Not difficult, but strange: Are you creative?
-
Was there anything in the clinical setting which surprised you?
-
Nothing really.
-
Can you think of a specific example of a doctor talking above the comprehension level of a patient?
-
The faculty interviewer grilled me on my personal statement.
-
Are you interested in academic medicine?
-
Are you creative?... I didn't really know how to approach it.
-
How would you consider yourself a creative person?
-
What have you gotten out of your college experience besides an education?
-
What are *you* looking for in a medical school? (Note: this is different than "why do you want to go to Pitt", although effectively the answers may be similar). Also, "why not RN, PA?"
-
Didn't really have one... my student interviewer was an MSTP or PSTP so he asked me how I felt about pursing professional research, but wasn't difficult just didn't want to offend him.
-
Again, all the questions you prepared for, ''Why Pitt?'', ''Why Medicine?'', ''What do you do for fun?''
-
How to balance between research and patient interaction?
-
No difficult questions
-
How would you like me to present you to the admissions committee?
-
Why should Pitt choose me.
-
Are you really sure you want to do this, given your age and current career?
-
How well are you, a non-science major, prepared for medical school compared to a science major?
-
Did I have any additional clinical experience other than working as an EMT? (I was hoping working as an EMT would be enough.)
-
What other schools applied to, and i stand with them.
-
What motivates you?
-
What would you do if you were in a small group with a very abrasive person? Why would you do this?
-
In what way are you creative?
-
None really, all pretty standard.
-
None.
-
Nothing
-
Having volunteered in a hospice, how do you deal with bonding with patients and then seeing those same patiends pass away?
-
Nothing was too difficult.
-
Was there any one experience that pushed you to medicine?
-
None really
-
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
-
''do you have any questions for me'' (was a little underprepared, and was asked this four times by one guy)
-
Nothing really out of the ordinary
-
How I felt about the Honors/Pass/Fail system in regards to studying very hard and missing the honors mark by a point
-
Are you interested in teaching?
-
None. The questions were all easy.
-
You've had a lot more experience than the average applicant; don't you think that will make it hard to relate to them?
-
What are some of your strengths? What are some of your weaknesses?
-
No questions were particularly difficult. I think the question I was most unsure about how to answer was what other schools I had interviews at/applied to. I had one other interview scheduled at this point, but I wanted to make sure each interviewer who asked (all three) knew Pitt was high on my list! I also got lots of questions about my research experience, questions about any volunteer experiences, outside interests, and desire for the type of location I wanted to attend medical school at. They definitely try to sell Pittsburgh as a great city, so be prepared to either A. know what parts of Pittsburgh you do like or B. be able to show that even though you don't like Pittsburgh as a city, that wouldn't keep you away from the med school!
-
I don't remember any intentionally dificult questions. It was very conversational; I didn't feel like they were interested in watching me perform under pressure--just wanted to get to know me.
-
Tell me about your research.
-
Again, nothing too difficult
-
Why do you want to come to Pittsburgh when you are coming from a much better location?
-
Are you sure you want to go to med school? (because I am a non-traditional student, and have had a break in my education, plus a few gray hairs)
-
What are you plans if you don't get into medical school this time around?
-
What will you miss about being a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) whenever you become a doctor?
-
How have you tested your commitment to medicine?
-
Why do you go to the school you do?
-
My interview was more just a conversation... we talked about whatever came up
-
Nothing was really difficult. It was conversational.
-
So why are you here? what other schools that you have applied have problem based learning?
-
If you had to choose between medicine and research, which would it be and why?
-
Why are you here? (it kind of caught me off guard, especially since it was my first question)
-
What is your favorite book? (difficult to narrow it down)
-
Nothing was difficult. pitt is very conversational, and i was hardly asked any questions aside from the first, just to get the conversation started.
-
One prof pointed out my lack in clinical experience and i had to recover from that one with other community service things that i had done
-
What is the most creative thing you have done recently?
-
Have you met any disgruntled physicians during your shadowing experiences? How did you respond to them? What effect did they have on you?
-
Are you a democrat?
-
Nothing difficult
-
Have you done anything recent to test your commitment to medicine?
-
They were all easy
-
Discuss an experience where you disagreed with an authority.
-
Same as above.
-
Same
-
The interview was very laid-back. No curveballs.
-
Who is your role model?
-
Was the difference between specificity and sensitivity?
-
Have you considered the length and difficulty of residency? What are your thoughts on that?
-
With all of your clinical experiences, what do you know about and are you prepared for medical school, residency, fellowship?
-
What do you think about the US Health Care System compared with that of other countries?
-
How do you think you'll fit in here?
-
I suppose those interesting questions could have been hard but my faculty interviewer made me feel very at ease and comfortable so nothing was really hard.
-
Why not M.D./Ph.D?
-
Do you think you really made a difference in the life of the inner-city child you were tutoring during your Alternative Spring Break? (Was a reasonable question during the interview, but as a stand-alone, this question is difficult.)
-
Same as above
-
To be honest - I was not asked any of those questions that interviewing students dread answering - NO moral/ethical questions, NO defend your position on abortion, etc.
-
Nothing really difficult
-
No difficult questions.
-
Comment on the difference between the health care systems in the U.S. and Canada.
-
How do you feel about academic medicine? (Research, basically) Even if you haven't done any research you will have to do some clinical research while at Pitt. Just keep that in mind.
-
None really, they can't grill you on your application because it's closed-file.
-
How do you like the city? (a question only the most skillful of liers could answer positively)
-
Same as before.
-
Nothing really
-
Same.
-
I guess the most difficult in content, but not asked in a scary way: If your best friend was one station ahead of you on a lab practical exam, and you saw him repeatedly looking ahead like he was cheating off the person in front of him, what would you do?"
-
What do you do with your friends?
-
Pretty standard questions, nothing difficult.
-
No really difficult questions, just usual application, how you got to medicine stuff...
-
What experiences have you had working in small-group settings? What do you think are the pros and cons of working in a small group of peers? Why do you think working with small groups will help you learn?
-
No real difficult questions. The interview was very straightforward to get to know who you are. Probably the hardest was "how would your friends describe you."
-
None. They were very straight forward and were mainly from my app & AMCAS
-
Questions about my research
-
Name something wrong with our health care system and suggest a solution.
-
What kind of role do you play on a team and what kind of people do you prefer on a team?
-
What type of problem I'd like to study in the Women's Health AOC
-
?
-
What do you like to do for fun the most? (It was hard to tell if she wanted no ECs or one from ECs)
-
A question about my family (which I wrote about in my app) that came as a surprise.
-
2 strengths and 2 weaknesses
-
No question was especially difficult, but the interviews clearly wanted to know who I was and what had driven my desire to become a physician.
-
What is wrong with medicine and what would you do to fix it? (student question)
-
Nothing too difficult!
-
Same, since it was the only one I hadnt heard
-
See above.
-
Very standard questions
-
None really, everyone was extremely relaxed and happy there
-
What do you think of the fact that doctors who are on payroll with the cholesterol drug companies are also the ones that recommeded that the acceptable cholesterol levels be lowered from 200 to 190?
-
From a student interviewer for the MD/PhD part: "The student interviewers have a lot of say in the admissions committee. Do you want me to go to the committee and fight for you?" I thought this was a tough one because even though I was really interested in the school I obviously didn't want to give a guarantee that I would go there since there is still a lot of time before the interview season ends. But as you can see the most difficult question wasn't really difficult.
-
Probably the same one; I'd heard everything else before.
-
Can you tell me about a time when you confronted a real dilemma in your volunteer work?
-
Describe your study habits to me. I could either lie and pretend as if I'm super-student, or I could use this opportunity to tell the truth. I chose the latter, and I am glad to be asked this question instead of the typical "what are your weaknesses" question.
-
Tell me everything you want me to know about yourself (this was asked during the student interview, because they have no knowledge or background about you, aside from your name and state of residency)
-
Detailed questions about my research
-
None were difficult.
-
None very difficult
-
No tough questions.
-
So, how do you plan on managing a career with other life responsibilities? (not meant in a bad way, it just came up)
-
Student: "What was the last favorite book you read?" - I don't know! Too busy filling out med school apps! No, I actually didn't answer it like that. Faculty: "Tell me about little aspect X of your research." (I did the project 3 yrs ago).
-
Most questions were fairly straight forward.
-
What schools have you been accepted to?
-
What would you do if you couldnt do medicine (pretty standard, you see)
-
So, do you think pitt is the place for you?
-
See above
-
Don't recall
-
Why Pittsburgh?
-
How do you feel about male gynecologists not being hired in private practices since women now prefer to go to a woman doctor for their gynecological care?
-
None, very conversational
-
How have you tested your desire to enter medicine?
-
Is there anything not on your application that you want me to tell the admissions committee? What happened freshman year?
-
Nothing too difficult, very conversational
-
What makes you absolutely, positively sure that you want to be a doctor?
-
If you get accepted into a UC school and Pitt, would you come to Pitt? (i'm from california)
-
My faculty interviewer asked me about health care insurance.
-
All pretty standard questions.
-
Again, the normal med school interview questions.
-
Where do you see medicine in ten years?
-
A current event that I hadn't heard of . . (Low pressure, though)
-
Of those three things lets take one - Education - what 4 policies would you implement to improve it's current situation?
-
Probably the above
-
Nothing too difficult. This site helped me prepare well.
-
What do you look for in a medical school? (By no means hard, normally, but I tripped in this part of the conversation)
-
Why would you pick pitt over some other top school? this was difficult because 1. pitt is not a top school and 2. i wouldn't pick pitt over a real top school
-
What would you do if you weren't pursuinf medicine?
-
Nothing really difficult...probably the standard "What will be your greatest challenge as a doctor" question
-
Why Pitt? (i know, it's not too difficult, but i was asked it 3 times and didn't have a great answer)
-
Nothing really difficult. Which of your extracurricular activities are most important to you and why?
-
Do you think that the character Denzel Washington played in "John Q" was right in what he did? Why or why not?
-
Tell me about an ethical dilemma you faced while working abroad.
-
Nothing.
-
What other schools did you apply to? Why would you come out to Pitt?
-
Strengths and weaknesses?
-
So tell me about yourself
-
Tell me something about yourself that I could not find out from your application. (Basically had to continuing elaborating on this question for about 1.5 hours)
-
None - they just really want to get to know you and be friendly
-
Did you always want to be a health professional? How frustrating was it to get the grades you did early in college?
-
Why do you want to be a doctor? Of course, you probably are ready for that one.
-
Nothing, really.
-
None really. I was asked a question or two about my research that I could not answer, but outside of research-specific questions, I just got the normal "Why both degrees..." etc.
-
What are your strengths/weaknesses(required)
-
Name a weakness.
-
If you could have any two books you wanted for eternity, what would they be?
-
What's the most significant activity in college?
-
...well what do you think is preventing major change in the health care area today? (I was talking about problems with managed care and the lack of health insurance and how I'd like to change it if I was given the chance)
-
What makes you different from everybody else?
-
What do you want me to tell the admissions committee about you?
-
Just the typical stuff, why MD/PhD, why Pittsburgh, what other schools did you apply to...
-
Describe your family for me....just because this is such a vague question
-
Tell me about yourself (just too vague to answer really well)
-
What is the biggest problem with American Healthcare today?
-
What topic do you like besides science, for some reason my mind went blank on that.
-
None of the questions were extremely difficult.
-
What is your biggest weakness?
-
Name one of your strengths (this was a required question - my interviewer told me that).
-
What other schools are you applying to?
-
What would you do to reduce rising health-care costs?
-
Nothing relaly - all were 100% conversational and relaxed, you could have total control of the direction of the conversation if you wanted.
-
Mostly easy questions
-
When talking about a film "Why do you think the director employed that specific effect?"
-
Nothing really too difficult
-
How would you solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
-
What is your greatest strength? Your greatest weakness?
-
What would you do with your life if you couldn't work in a healthcare profession? (It's hard to pick some other job after detailing your love of the medical field.)
-
How will I prevent myself from becoming a "jaded" doctor...and when I explained, he said, "I'll come back in ten years and see how jaded you are!"
-
Wanted me to explain what was wrong with the health care system today. As soon as I started going into detail he cut me off to tell me his answer (this goes for the entire interview with faculty member)
-
None. What do you do for fun? Why medicine? Why Pitt? Rest were conversational like "how many are in your family", etc.
What impressed you positively?
Applicants were overwhelmingly impressed by the relaxed and conversational interview style, along with the genuine interest shown in their success by both interviewers and staff. They appreciated the friendliness and welcoming atmosphere of everyone they encountered, the state-of-the-art facilities, the extensive clinical opportunities, the emphasis on collaboration among students, the focus on research, the flexibility of the curriculum, and the enthusiasm of the students for the school and the city of Pittsburgh.
Top 5 Responses: (Click below to see additional responses)
-
I loved how relaxed and conversational the interviews were. Both interviewers showed a genuine interest in seeing me succeed.
-
How personable everyone was; genuinely felt like talking to people I knew
-
How chill the interview was
-
The faculty and student interviewers were super nice. Student interview was much more chillax than faculty interview.
-
I felt the interviewers made a solid effort to help put me at ease and make me more comfortable during the interview.
-
The intro session
-
How conversational the interview was. I got almost no standard interview-style questions.
-
Super chill; student interviewer was super chill
-
Everyone was so nice! Very relaxed considering the caliber of the school!
-
The attitude of everyone from Pitt Med
-
Lots of varied clinical exposure
-
The facilities and people are wonderful
-
There were only a few formal questions asked during the interview. Most of it was very conversational, and I felt like I could control the conversation just as much as the interviewer.
-
The interview day was really well organized, the medical center is really impressive
-
Everyone at the school truly loved it there. Students, faculty, everyone- you really could tell. I also like the way their curriculum is set up, and how students are involved in adjusting it over time.
-
Tons of resources
-
Seems like a cool city to be in.
-
The facilities and the resources available to students.
-
It was great! Definitely my top choice after the interview!
-
Everyone was *extremely* kind and welcoming
-
The curriculum was really cool! Definitely a lot of ways to customize your education with electives, etc. Plus the Scholarly Research project doesn't just have to be wet lab stuff.
-
Urban atmosphere and how happy the students were to be there.
-
So many research opportunities, very easy-going students
-
How in depth my interviewer had read my application, and how conversational the interview was.
-
How much people loved Pitt (school and city), amount of mentorship and help from faulty/upper classmen, emphasis on collaboration/non-competition among students (everything pass/fail)
-
The hospital is gorgeous, the curriculum is great.
-
Everything!!! The faculty are SO NICE and all the students seem to be genuinely happy.
-
Everything.
-
Everyone at the school, the students, admission office staff, and interviewers, were very friendly. The overall interview day was very stress free.
-
The curriculum is cool - you can really tailor it to your interests with mini-electives, areas of concentration, etc. The UPMC hospitals seemed fantastic. All the faculty I met were really outstanding and seemed to love teaching and working with med students.
-
The students and facilities
-
Wonderful faculty interviewer. Strong support for research ventures. Very livable, friendly city.
-
Facilities, WISER simulation, strength of both research and clinical training, research availability, student community//support
-
How truly, sincerely nice and open everyone was; the city of Pittsburgh seems like a really nice place to live; the student lead tour was great (probably the most informative and interesting med school tour I've been on); WISER simulation center; clinical and research opportunities (lots of clinical electives in the 4th year and research is supported very well); CSTP program; the fact that Pitt cares about students having a life.
-
Friendliness of everyone I met, simulation center
-
The people, the opportunities, the facility, the culture, the curriculum, the city... It is all great.
-
The UPMC system is amazing! There are so many clinical opportunities immediately on campus, but they also have international hospitals and hospitals throughout the nation for students to take advantage of.
-
The grandness of UPMC
-
Just about everything
-
Ranking
-
The Oakland area, the massive medical complex, and the quality of the students.
-
Great research opportunities, great clinical experience at UPMC
-
The facilities were really impressive. Tour guide was friendly. Both student interviewer and faculty interviewer were chill.
-
Extremely friendly staff and students. Program is centered around patient care, students will be able to take patient histories and interact with real patients midway through the first year. Orientation week consists of going out into the community and seeing the state of health care in different parts of the area. Patient centric curriculum = Big plus for me.
-
The quality of the people and the fact that the school takes the quality of interpersonal relationships very seriously.
-
Pittsburgh is much nicer than I expected. And, the hospital system is impressive to say the least.
-
Everything: campus, public bus (being from nyc this is important and it seemed like it would suffice), affiliated hospitals and clinics, the HAPPY students etc.
-
UPMC facilities are beautiful. New sim center. Lots of construction in the UPMC system (=money!). Student housing on Darragh Street is nice and very convenient.
-
Everything
-
How welcoming every last person was from the students to the doctors to the admissions staff
-
The WISER center was very cool. They are getting new 3G human models. Fancy.
-
The facilities were amazing & the students were very engaging, diverse, smart, & happy,
-
Friendliness that felt more genuine than other schools I'd been to; students seemed really happy and not competitive (with each other or even with themselves); AOCs; mini-electives; opportunity to take 6 credits of courses at undergrad (eg language); incredible research opportunities; about half students non-traditional (so am I); diverse academic strengths - both in my interests and in fields I may become interested in in the future; the easiness of living in Pittsburgh!
-
WISER center, friendliness of everyone involved in the process, the blatant emphasis on research
-
Continental breakfast. Pretty good bagel.
-
Everything- the facilities (especially the WISER lab), the student involvement, the city itself
-
The WISER (sim-lab) was pretty awesome.
-
Nice facilities, good research opportunities, friendly students. Location is good, and having the undergrad nearby is nice. Tons of nice hospitals, and decent living options nearby.
-
The simulation center (we saw a simulation in progress), student enthusiasm and willingness to answer questions. Sporting facilities. The organ-system-based curriculum. Student tours were in groups of four, and guides would point out interview locations for later in the afternoon.
-
The hospital facilities, the schools curric
-
The students are so down to earth and the facilities are amazing (read: humongous).
-
Students, vast resources of the school, ridiculously awesome faculty and facilities.
-
The place is amazing. Everything is centered around teaching, and they are all about innovation. The WISER center is incredible. The clinical education at Pitt is unmatchable, with such an extensive network of hospitals and patient populations to work with.
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Simulation center is the 5th biggest in the country, and the students utilize it extensively (200 hrs required); Happiness of students (They have a life!); Diversity of students (about 50% are non-trad; about 25% go abroad summer after M1 with funding from school); Willingness of the school to raise good physicians (it's obvious from all the money the school spends on students and teaching facilities and responsiveness to feedback); UPMC is the biggest hospital system in the country, and UPitt students are the sole med students to roam this system! Awesome!
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The vast amount of opportunities available. Advisory dean relationship, Small group learning opportunities
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The curriculum integration
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WISER (simulation center), responsiveness of administration to student feedback, rich hospital network, many many opportunities in research and overseas work, scholarly project to focus and apply knowledge in one area is very cool!
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WISER center, required thesis, the snow. :)
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WISER, conversational style interview
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The people were great! You have 2 - one hour interviews so you have plenty of opportunities to present yourself. Also, at the end of the day they offered optional sessions and the History of Medicine discussion was awesome.
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Faculty and staff are incredibly friendly; students seem genuinely happy; WISER is just amazing.
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The simulation center, the breadth of the clinical facilities, the quality of the clinical training, the positive attitude of the students, the emphasis on research, the interviewers' friendliness.
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Pittsburgh. There's a lot to do and a very rich culture. Much better than I expected. The students were all very very friendly and happy to be there.
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The cities of Pittsburgh and Oakland, where the campus is located, are surprisingly nice. The hospitals ans facilities were state of the art. The admissions staff and students were very nice. The anatomy lab had a good amount of space.
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WISER center, friendly students and admissions office, PBL emphasis, UPMC hospital, great opportunities available for Pitt students
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Everything...everyone seemed happy to be there and genuinely liked the school.
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Everything; the students were happy and down to earth and the location is nice.
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WISER simulation center is amazing. The academic environment appears to be based on cooperation, not competitiveness. Also, all lectures are podcasted if you miss class or decide you would rather listen to lecture in 1.5X speed.
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Everything about the school: the med students, the WISER facilities, the anatomy lab...
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The simulation lab, the quality of applicants, the campus, everything.
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The students, the number of institutes in upmc, wiser
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The opportunities for research and travel abound. The student affairs office is helpful and interested. - I was impressed
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Tour of facilities, discussions with students
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WISER center and other facilities are great!
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Students and faculty were very happy. Focus on creativity and diversity. Only PBLs have mandatory attendance. Great art and indie scenes, public transport in Pittsburgh. WISER!
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The facilities!
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WISER center, student-friendliness, city of Pittsburgh, research opportunities
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The opportunity to see all of the facilities, to meet with many students and to see how happy they were at pitt, the general school spirit in oakland, the cheap 28x airport transportation, the expanse of UPMC, the simulators
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The student body-- they were very friendly.
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The friendliness of the school. The facilities. Especially the WISER facilities.
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Pittsburgh was a much nicer city than I thought it would be. The simulation center was cool, and everyone was sooooo extremely friendly.
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Research funding (ranked 6th in NIH)!
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Just how friendly and respectiveful all of my interviewers are. My faculty interviewer especially impresses me and I can tell she actively try to make her interviewee comfortable.
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The teaching facilities and the hospital are absolutely fantastic, better than just about anywhere. The students seem pretty happy there and the housing situation is also excellent. The curriculum is a good mix of PBL and traditional teaching. Thesis requirement provides nice research emphasis. The sim facility is really cool.
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Eh...
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The facilities are amazing. The students are really friendly and helpful.
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The interviewers were soooo nice and down-to-earth. The definition of conversational interviews. The admissions staff was also very friendly. Students were very enthusiastic about the school. Tons were eager to answer questions; seemed extra excited by prospective students.
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The people. Everyone was very nice and enthusiastic about the school. The medical students seemed very happy. The WISER center was pretty amazing.
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Students think very positive about the school and very friendly. Nice anatomy lab and wiser center.
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The location was so much better than I though it would be! The view of the downtown at night is completely amazing and so is the waterfront!!
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Interest level of the admissions members and faculty in the prospective students.
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WISER of course. The location of the school. The hospital system. And I even liked the city of Pittsburgh.
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WISER center is amazing, the apartments where most MS1 students live is nice with a great location
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WISER center, my faculty interviewer who really wanted to get to know me well
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WISER center
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Students and faculty seemed amazingly friendly and happy, vastness of UPMC, amazing resources such as WISER center.
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The WISER center, UPMC umbrella gives you lots of opportunities.
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WISER facility, student satisfaction, faculty interaction, great opportunities
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The WISER center was very impressive. Also, the sheer number of hospitals within a close proximity of the medical school was impressive.
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EVERYTHING! Simulation lab is fabulous. Curriculum incorporates a substantial amount of PBL which really appeals to me. Massive hospital system all located within a couple of miles. Students seem happy and, well, quite normal. Other applicants were also incredibly friendly and pretty cool. I am in love with pitt.
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Facilities were top notch and people were extremely friendly.
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Faculty seemed very friendly and open, students seemed genuinely happy, large medical center with a lot of options (especially for research)
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How friendly everyone was and how all the med students work together versus compete with each other. Also, the hospital facilities, especially WISER, are amazing.
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Interest in student's success, B-WISER is AWESOME, the curriculum, everyone was nice
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Students are really nice and seem to be very tight....everything seems to be tailored to the MD student
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WISER center; low-key, closed file interviews, very conversational...mostly questions about reasons and motivation for medicine, going to Pitt, research and extracurriculars that I've done