Pitt applicant -- have several questions

Jason110
Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:50:17 +0000

Okay, so I’m an out of state resident with Pittsburgh ties (lived in Pittsburgh for 6 years until 5 years ago), and I love the city. I’m a senior who’s going to be applying this year and I have several questions for anyone who wishes to answer them:


I’m going to apply for the GA program with the medical school. I know it’s ultra-competitive, but I definitely have the minimum requirements (1300 M+CR SAT or 33 ACT) to get a “secondary” application. The application states that letters of recommendation are optional (but “strongly recommended” for the GA) and so is an essay, but I figure I should submit them, primarily for my chances at the GA. I just started my senior year earlier this week, so I just sat down with my letter writers. The letters may delay my application until early October. Given they have rolling admissions, should I wait, or should I send my application now without the letters of recommendation??? The admission website says everything needs to be sent together, otherwise it “likely will not be reviewed” (their words). December 15 is the hard-and-fast date for application submission for the GA program.


The letter writers have to write letters anyway, since my other schools require recommendations. It seems like many on this board have already applied. Yikes!


Also, given that I am out-of-state, how much does that hurt my chances of getting into Pitt?
How does Pitt evaluate scholarships? Is there a separate form or deadline?
I am also interested in bioengineering at Pitt. How many non-engineering classes are they allowed? Is the faculty approachable? Is it cutthroat competitive?
Ranking Pitt’s campuses on the application? What’s that about? I don’t even know where to begin. Which auxiliary campuses are better for science? Obviously the Pittsburgh (main) campus is #1.


Thanks for your help.