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How to Write the University of Pittsburgh Essays 2020-2021

This post has been updated! Check out the 2021-2022 Pitt essay guide .

The University of Pittsburgh, or Pitt, is a public research university just a few miles east of downtown Pittsburgh. With a campus encompassing 132 acres, Pitt enrolls almost 20,000 undergraduates, and is composed of 17 different undergraduate and graduate schools. 

Pitt has an acceptance rate of 59% , and the college is consistently ranked as one of the top public universities in the country. The most popular departments at Pitt are business, engineering, health, and the social sciences. 

All applicants to Pitt may choose up to two out of four optional short response prompts, and Pitt recommends about 200-300 words for the two that you choose. We highly recommend completing these supplemental essays, as they show the admissions committee a more personal portrait of yourself, and can reveal character strengths that the rest of the application cannot. Honors applicants must also write a separate essay.

In this post, we’ll break down how to write these essays to improve your chances of acceptance. Want to know your chances at Pitt? Calculate your chances for free right now.

Want to learn what Pitt will actually cost you based on your income? And how long your application to the school should take? Here’s what every student considering Pitt needs to know.

Pitt Supplemental Essay Prompts

All applicants (optional).

Complete two of the four following short answer questions (200-300 words).

Option A: Diversity, equity, and inclusion are integral to the Pitt community. Please identify and describe one element of your personal identity, and explain how that element would positively impact and/or progress Pitt’s community.

Option B: Resumes and lists of activities provide the Admissions Committee with an overview of your accomplishments. Please use this opportunity to provide more information by identifying one of your accomplishments and explaining how it has prepared you for a transition into collegiate life.

Option C: If you could create a new product, process, business, or organization, what would it be? Please describe its purpose and how it would function. (We especially encourage applicants interested in the College of Business Administration or the Swanson School of Engineering to respond to this question.)  

Option D: With thousands of colleges and universities in the United States alone, discuss why the University of Pittsburgh is a good fit for you.

Honors Applicants

If you could change anything in the world, what would it be  explain why and how you would change it. (no word count given), prompt 1, option a (optional), diversity, equity, and inclusion are integral to the pitt community. please identify and describe one element of your personal identity, and explain how that element would positively impact and/or progress pitt’s community. (200-300 words).

Because there’s so many ways to think about identity, you should first brainstorm the most important lenses through which you view the world. Common lenses are race, ethnicity, hometown, class, gender, sexuality, and ability, but there are so many more (such as hobbies, languages, opinions). Think about how this identity has shaped your upbringing and influenced your personal growth. Brainstorm specific memories in which your identity has been a source of strength or a source of difficulty you’ve had to overcome. 

Then, you want to think about how you would fit into Pitt’s large and diverse undergraduate community, which includes over 400 student organizations . For example, an applicant writing about a cultural identity might find a cultural group at Pitt, like AQUARIUS or Fikaklubb, and write about how they plan to contribute to it. Another applicant’s personal identity might heavily emphasize community service, so they could talk about a service organization they’d love to take part in, such as Cords for a Cause or Aldercare. 

In addition to school clubs, you could discuss the ways your identity could impact others in your freshman dorm hall, in the cafeterias, and for prospective students touring the school. You could also think about ways in which you want to learn from others at Pitt. You can mention how you too want to be exposed to people of different identities and backgrounds, and believe that Pitt is a great place to do so. 

Here are a few examples to think about:

• Maybe the most important identity you hold is your Latinx identity, specifically being the child of immigrants from the Dominican Republic. You could talk about how you want to join Pitt’s Latinx Student Association, and learn from others who have shared the same experiences and struggles that you have. You could mention how you want to break stereotypes about Dominicans and Latinxs, and how you’ve dealt with the different types of discrimination you’ve felt while growing up. 
• Maybe a prominent aspect of your identity is where you were raised, which for you is in rural Colorado. Being raised near beautiful national parks, you’ve always been keen on outdoors activities, like skiing, hiking, and camping. As a result, you want to join Pitt’s Outdoors club, and experience nature in Pennsylvania, such as the Allegheny National Forest. 
• Maybe you’ve grown up with Crohn’s disease, which has deeply impacted the way you see yourself in the world, and led you to want to become a nurse. You could talk about how people suffering from chronic disease are often misunderstood, or simply invisible in the public eye. You could talk about how you want to join HOSA, or the Future Health Professionals club at Pitt, where you have ideas to start different awareness programs for people suffering chronic illness. 

Prompt 1, Option B (Optional)

Resumes and lists of activities provide the admissions committee with an overview of your accomplishments. please use this opportunity to provide more information by identifying one of your accomplishments and explaining how it has prepared you for a transition into collegiate life. (200-300 words).

This essay prompt is relatively straightforward, and gives you a chance to add a personal touch to an achievement you’ve listed. Ideally, you’d want to talk about one of the activities or accomplishments you’ve worked on the most throughout high school, something that has developed and matured you as a person. The key is to pepper this essay with specific anecdotes that go beyond just describing achievements, and use anecdotes to demonstrate character growth. Maybe you grew in your leadership skills, or your passion for community service, or your skill in performing scientific research.

Something you don’t want to do is approach the essay with too much overconfidence and arrogance. Because the last part of the prompt asks you “how it has prepared you for a transition into college life,” you want to talk about how you have more room to grow, and that you’re ready to be challenged and pushed more at Pitt. 

• Maybe your primary extracurricular activity was in speech and debate. You could begin by recounting an anecdote that illustrates the biggest competition of your junior year. Maybe you didn’t do as well at this tournament as you had hoped, but then you were able to reflect more deeply on your loss and climb back up. Moreover, you were able to celebrate the team’s success, not only your own, and enjoy debate as a learning process instead of a simple tournament result. Thus, you feel like debate has prepared you for the inevitable failures you will face in college, but has also prepared you to be grateful for the people you surround yourself with, as well as for the things you learn as you fail. 
• Maybe your biggest accomplishment was coming out first in your division for volleyball. You could chart the journey of your sports career, from how you were cut from the team your freshman year, trained hard and made the JV team your sophomore year, and eventually made it to varsity by your junior year. You could talk about how you eventually became captain, and had to learn to sacrifice some of your own leisure to set a winning culture among your team. Your time playing volleyball has taught you that maybe during your freshman year of college, you won’t get everything you wanted out of a “college experience,” but you know that eventually, by the time you graduate, you will have worked hard for everything you’ve earned. 

Prompt 1, Option C (Optional)

If you could create a new product, process, business, or organization, what would it be please describe its purpose and how it would function. (we especially encourage applicants interested in the college of business administration or the swanson school of engineering to respond to this question.) (200-300 words).

With this prompt, Pitt wants to see your creativity and problem-solving skills. In other words, you should show the admissions office how you think. The key is to think small when answering this question: what’s a problem you see, and how would you fix it?

We suggest you stay away from big national or global issues like “zero hunger” or “world poverty.” However, you may be able to concentrate on smaller, more specific issues within these broad zones, and most likely, the problem you’re interested in solving will be somehow related to family or interests or specific life experiences. (Bonus points if you can combine multiple areas of specialty together, drawing on your skills and experiences from two or more different academic or extracurricular areas!)

Some examples:

• You edit for your high school newspaper, and you’re passionate about educational inequities in your city. You want to form a new publication with editors from other schools that highlights specific student experiences, with the hope of eventually attracting the attention of city officials.
• You’re a dedicated ballerina who also loves biochemistry. You and your friends often suffer from painful calluses on the balls of your feet, and you have an idea for a home-made, inexpensive balm that would be more effective than usual drugstore remedies.
• You regularly volunteer at the local soup kitchen, and you have just a tiny change you’d like to make to the process of forming and organizing lines on weekend mornings, specifically. You think that your proposal will really speed up the distribution process without dramatically affecting current procedures.

The key takeaway here is that this prompt does not require a well-tested research project that’s been presented at multiple conferences — just pick any problem you see in your daily life and come up with a creative solution for it!

As a word of caution, the only constraint is the word limit. In your answer, you should aim to have a brief background of what inspired your idea, an explanation of your idea, and the potential impact you’d like to see it cause. If you present something that requires a great deal of highly technical explanations, try your best to simplify it down so that any person walking down the street can understand your proposal. And worse comes to worst, pick something else!

Remember: your actual product, process, business, or organization doesn’t matter so much as your inspiration and process – the story of your creativity, problem-solving, and compassion.

Prompt 1, Option D (Optional)

With thousands of colleges and universities in the united states alone, discuss why the university of pittsburgh is a good fit for you. (200-300 words).

In this essay prompt, you want to demonstrate that you know the ins and outs of Pitt’s academic and social environment, and then show how you would contribute to these environments. Because the prompt begins by saying, “With thousands of colleges and universities in the United States alone,” you want to make sure that the essay you write couldn’t be written for any other college. 

If you have direct experience or relations with Pitt, such as having spent time on campus, having family members who went, or having done research with Pitt professors, you should go ahead and note that in the essay. If you don’t, you want to begin by researching Pitt’s academic offerings, extracurricular programs, campus traditions, and culture. You want to show that you see a distinct place for yourself once you step foot onto Pitt’s campus. 

• Maybe you want to go to Pitt because of their philosophy program. You could talk about how you began researching the philosophy of language at a humanities summer camp, fell in love with the subject, and want to take your studies to the next level by studying with the esteemed philosophy of language professor Robert Brandom, whose books you’ve read. 
• Maybe one of your goals in college is to join the marching band, specifically in the drumline. You could talk about how you went to Pitt football games as a kid, and was in awe of the way the marching band would take the field at halftime. In high school, you joined your school’s drumline, and eventually became a snare drum section leader, and even made it into several honors groups. You know that Pitt’s drumline, known as the “Crew,” is a tight-knit group, and you want to be part of a community that helps drive up school spirit.
• Maybe you want to be a doctor, and are particularly drawn in to Pitt Medicine’s Summer Premedical Academic Enrichment Program, which offers accelerated pre-med advancement for those in underprivileged backgrounds. You could talk about your own low-income background, and how you are the first in your family to attend college, and how the resources this program offers would allow you to carry out your dream of going back to your hometown and practicing as a pediatrician. 

There’s so many ways you can go about this essay, and the key is to begin by brainstorming what it is you’re passionate about, and why you’re passionate about it. Pitt Honors College is specifically looking for students who “want to advance research, better the community, and leave a global footprint.” They’re asking you to think big, and think altruistically — so don’t be afraid to write about lofty dreams. Just be sincere and specific. Although there is no word count, you don’t need to go into a multi-page plan detailing your exact steps to solve this problem. The key here is to show your character and passions more than anything. 

It would be even better if you have past experiences working towards implementing changes, which would give you more credibility and grounding. Even if it’s as small as being a member of a community service club, or volunteering, you could use these experiences as a jumping off point for your future goals. Also, if there’s a personal reason why you’ve chosen your topic, you should definitely talk about it, as it could lead to strong anecdotes that would make your essay come alive. 

At the end of the essay, you could even go into how you see Pitt Honors College fitting into your trajectory towards changing this proposed problem. You could talk about a Pitt Honors first year seminar, like “Power and Resistance,” mention how you would love to engage in meaningful conversations by living in Honors housing, and list a honors pod you would want to join, like the community engagement pod or the health sciences pod. 

Here are some examples to think about:

• Maybe you want to study education, and in particular, you want to make a dent in reforming public education. You can acknowledge that this is a huge, structural problem probably unsolvable by a single person, but that you nevertheless want to give it your best try. You want to start by participating in Pitt’s Combined Accelerated Studies in Education, granting you a bachelor’s and a master’s in five years. You could discuss how you want to start as a student teacher, then manage your own classroom to learn how best to help children learn. Maybe after a while, you can go into education policy, and specifically work on creating less segregated public schools, and bringing more funding into underserved areas. 
• Maybe your intended major is computer science, and the problem you’d like to address is a lack of rural connectivity to the internet, even in America. You want to take the normal slate of computer science classes, but also many classes in public policy, to know how the government plays a role in broadband access. After graduating, you’d want to both work as a programmer, but also advocate on behalf of rural communities, especially through granting local and state funding to develop better internet service in rural areas. 

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University of Pittsburgh | Pitt’s 2023-24 Essay Prompts

Personal statement essay.

If you have written a Common Application Personal Essay you are not expected to also submit a Personal Statement below. We will receive your Common App personal essay if completed.

Submission of either the optional personal statement or Common App personal essay is required for scholarship review, if applying without SAT or ACT scores, and may increase the likelihood that you are considered for guaranteed admission programs or given special consideration due to extenuating circumstances.

The personal statement is your opportunity to communicate directly with the Admissions Committee. Applicants are welcome to submit anything that helps tell their story, being mindful and thoughtful about the quantity and quality of information shared. Share information not included elsewhere in your application.

Select-A-Prompt Short Response

Please select one of these questions

What is something you would like to see change in the world? Explain why.

If you had 10 minutes and the attention of a million people, what would your TED Talk be about?

What does it mean to be “educated”?

What will first-time readers think of your college essay?

GPA and Transcripts

Yes. Application materials are reviewed as a whole, so allowances can be made for otherwise strong candidates who do not quite meet this criteria. Although we look for GPA to be 3.0 or higher, the Admissions Committee for the Genetic Counseling Program evaluates the entire application and does not only consider the GPA when making offers of interviews. Successful applicants will demonstrate how any deficiencies in one area are counterbalanced by superb qualifications in other areas. Other areas such as experience related to genetic counseling, the personal statement and letters of recommendation are important elements of the application. For applicants who have a lower GPA, we often recommend that the applicant consider taking additional courses at the graduate level to demonstrate their ability to successfully complete graduate work.

Applicants should submit a transcript for each college or university attended.  If credits were transferred and appear on the new school's transcript, the original transcript from the school where the credits were taken is still needed.

Applicants should email the certificate or letter to [email protected] so that it can be included in your application.  Applicants should also include that the course was taken on their resume.

Personal Statement

Applicants should use the personal statement to discuss their interest in becoming a genetic counselor at the University of Pittsburgh Genetic Counseling Program. Drawing upon your lived and professional experiences, please elaborate on how these have shaped your journey to becoming a genetic counselor with an emphasis on how this will inform your practice as a future genetic counselor.

Personal statements should be approximately 1-2 pages in length (single or double spaced).

The accepted file formats are MSWord (.doc, .docx), JPEG (.jpeg, .jpg), PNG (.png), Rich Text Format (.rtf), Portable Document Format (.pdf), and ASCII Text file (.txt). The size limit for each file upload is 15MB.

Macintosh Users: Please be sure that the appropriate extension (e.g., .doc, .docx, .pdf) is at the end of the file name you select.

IMPORTANT: Having problems uploading a PDF? With a wide variety of PDF creation software in use, it is possible that the PDF you are trying to upload is in a format that we cannot read. Upload works best with PDF files conforming to the 'Acrobat 5.0 (PDF 1.4)' standard

Prerequisite Courses

An applicant does not necessarily need to complete all prerequisites by the time they submit their application. However, if accepted to the program, a student must complete all prerequisites prior to enrollment with an official transcript sent to the Student Affairs Office. Applicants may wish to include in their application their plans for completing prerequisite courses. 

For certain prerequisites, credit for AP courses are accepted as long as official documentation is available (typically on a transcript).

There are number of courses that can be counted towards the social/behavioral science prerequisite course requirement. These include, but are not limited to, courses in psychology, sociology, anthropology, family studies, social work, public health, economics, and political science. Applicants with questions about whether a course counts for this prerequisite should contact program leadership.

No, the prerequisite courses required for the Genetic Counseling program do not need to be completed at a four year college or university. These can also be completed at a community college. Applicants will need to receive and submit a grade on an official transcript for all prerequisite courses. If there is a question about whether a course meets the prerequisite requirement, the applicant can send the course syllabus to the program leadership for review so that it can be determined if the course does in fact meet the prerequisite.  

Yes, an online course from an accredited university for which you receive a grade and official transcript can be accepted for a prerequisite. We recommend that an applicant sends the course syllabus to the program leadership for review so that it can be determined that the course does in fact meet the prerequisite.

A lecture-based course is sufficient to meet the prerequisite requirement for these courses.  A lab component is not required.

SOPHAS Express Application

Yes, the Genetic Counseling Program requires this section of the application to be completed.  This is an important piece of the application review, and it is highly recommended that applicants include all relevant experiences (work, shadowing, advocacy, research, related events, etc.) here or somewhere in their application so that the admissions committee has this information when reviewing the application.  

As applicants upload unofficial transcripts in SOPHAS Express, they must be uploaded again to the new application.  New letters of recommendation must be submitted each application cycle.

International Applicants

Please see the following website for information about when a WES evaluation is required.  Of note, a WES evaluation is not required when a person has attended an English-speaking institution in Canada.  Applicants who are required to submit a WES evaluation should begin this process as early as possible, as it can take a significant amount of time for the WES evaluation process to be completed.  If the WES evaluation is not completed by the application deadline, the application will not be reviewed. International Applicants

Interview Process

Applicants will be notified by the Genetic Counseling Program about an offer for an interview. In general, notifications of interviews take place on a rolling basis from late January through early March, and interviews take place from the end of February through April.

Financial Information

The Graduate School of Public Health does not offer traditional teaching or research assistantships that would include a stipend and tuition remission to any master's level students (these are reserved for our doctoral level students).  However, many students are able to secure hourly work positions where they can work up to 20 hours a week with a faculty member or clinical team for an hourly wage. The program is often notified of these positions, and passes the information on to students.  Many positions are also posted on Pitt Source.  Students are often able to use their hourly work positions to develop and carry out their thesis projects.

Each year the Pitt Genetic Counseling Program has 1 to 2 scholarships to offer applicants to the genetic counseling program at the time of admission. These are the C.C. and Clara Li Endowed Scholarships, which you can read more about . The scholarships have typically been between $1400-$1500, but can vary each year. There is nothing additional that applicants need to do to apply for the scholarships.  Applicants interested in receiving the scholarship should rank the Pitt scholarship track and the regular Pitt track (if you would attend Pitt regardless of receiving the scholarship).

General Admission Questions

Given the structure of the admissions process for programs that are members of the Association of Genetic Counseling Program Directors, we cannot accept applications after the admissions deadline. At times, there are applicants who are missing a specific piece of their application. Applicants will be contacted by the Student Affairs Office regarding their incomplete application and should work with the Student Affairs Office to complete their application as soon as possible.

Students in the Pitt Genetic Counseling Program complete the majority of their coursework during the first year and focus on clinical rotations in the second year.  While it is possible to complete the coursework on a part time basis, students must be able to devote a full time schedule to their clinical rotations once they are started due to scheduling and clinic availability.  

Student Life

There are classes specific to the genetic counseling students, and there are classes that are comprised of genetic counseling students and other graduate students from the Department of Human Genetics, the Graduate School of Public Health, and others.  We have found this to be a particularly successful approach as some content is delivered most effectively when the class is made up of only the genetic counseling students.  However, we feel it would be limiting to have all the classes solely comprised of the genetic counseling students since we want the students to be a part of the broader Pitt community.  Moreover, genetic counselors often work in multidisciplinary settings, and we want the students to start learning from other disciplines while in training.

Yes, students are assigned mentors at the beginning of the program.  Students will also identify a research mentor for their thesis projects.  We have found that providing students with several mentors allows them to develop a strong mentoring/support network in training.

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• Anthropology Forum

Statement of Purpose Length if undefined: Pittsburgh

By mutualist007 October 28, 2010 in Anthropology Forum

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mutualist007

If the school does not specify a length for the SOP what parameters should be observed?

Here is what U Pittsburgh states:

Personal Statement: In the "Additional Information" Section of the online admission form discuss at length your intellectual and professional interest in graduate study in anthropology. This statement is a vital part of the application, and carries the most weight in our admissions decisions. Your statement might appropriately address the following questions: a. What are your primary interests within your chosen field of study? b. What theoretical issues do you intend to study in graduate school? c. On what region of the world will you focus, and what topics would you like to explore for that region?

Suggestions? Typical statement word counts from past applicants?

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anthropologygeek

Two years ago my successful personal statement was just under a page. I didn't end up there but it a great program

i think the convention is 500 words. 500 words can fit on one page (single-spaced) or two pages (double-spaced). I think a few dozen words over or below 500 are negligible.

I went up to 1100 words and now I am whittling it back down.

A good deal could be cut out by taking out the history of my coursework and its relevance to my current research goals. If I can just cut to the current interests, the length issue would be solved. Should coursework just go in a separate list or can it have a place in the SOP?

I wouldn't bore them with coursework since they have your transcript and can see it

Actually it wasn't coursework but a list of research projects and the classes they were for.

Yeah this is one of the hardest things to write ever.

i think you could discuss research projects/coursework that has contextual relevance to the current interests you have now. maybe how those research projects/coursework directly inform and shape the research interests and questions you have as well as the approaches you plan to take in interrogating those questions you have. i think you could pick one or two of the MOST relevant or dynamic of the courses/research projects and demonstrate how you utilize your time and experience with coursework in ways that make a dynamic impact on the work you have produced and hope to produce. you do not need to do this with every course that you can think of that can be some way related. that would be, imHo, the opposite purpose of the the sop project/exercise.

i totally agree with the folks above who have suggested not to create an exegesis out of your transcript. that would also be outside the purpose of the sop. you need to show what you intend to do in grad school and your past should mostly serve as an informant to your future.

2 pages, and it can be single-spaced. Double-spaced is really only relevant for when you are editing something.

Here's your format:

1st paragraph- who you want to work with, what you want to do, and why you want to work with that person to do what you do.

Everything else- flush out what you've written in your first paragraph, including academic history. If you've done a significant amount of research (i.e. you have a masters degree and are going to continue on with that work), focus less on your academic history.

This format allows for other faculty on the search committee or in the department to see who you are and what you want without having to read 2 pages. The faculty who you want to work with will be able to have the space to delve more deeply into who you are and what you're about.

Caveat: I applied 4 years ago.

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions. I am going to write in more future focus and less background. I will also mention the professor interests up front first.

Let them know where I am going.

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Fall is Application Prep Season for Graduate Studies: How to write a PhD personal statement

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Not sure where to start when it comes to writing a PhD personal statement? We have put together a helpful article packed full of advice for writing your PhD personal statement (or cover letter), so you can approach the task with confidence. PhD personal statements are incredibly important bits of work, showing how suitable you are for studying within the department that you are applying to, so it’s wise to make sure you’ve done your absolute best – you only get to make your first impression once! Have a read of our useful PhD personal statement tips, make a cup of coffee, and start showing off your writing skills.

What is a PhD personal statement?

How do i write a phd personal statement, how should i structure a phd personal statement, what should i write in a phd personal statement, what style should i use for a phd personal statement, how should i check my phd personal statement, phd cover letter and personal statement tips.

When applying for a PhD course, you may have to submit a research proposal as well as a personal statement or cover letter.

The proposal details your research project (such as proposed methods, results and planned analysis) and why there is value in exploring it.

Your personal statement outlines why you are suitable for doctoral study. In addition, it should say why you’re interested in the specific PhD with that particular department and how your experiences can add to it.

Sometimes you only have to submit a proposal or a personal statement. If you have to submit both, be sure that they clearly cover these separate areas.

Your PhD application is very different from an application you may have made before through UCAS. It goes directly to the university and needs to be fully tailored to what the department is looking for. It’s similar to a job application.

If you haven’t already, get in touch with the PhD supervisors or other contacts within the department you want to work in. They regularly need PhD students to support their work, so they will probably be happy to help you with your application.

When planning what to write, read all relevant information about the course and any guidance from the university – for example, lists of desirable criteria, or a person specifications. You can use each criterion as a heading and make bullet points on what to write under each one.

• An introduction that outlines why you want to do the PhD
• Middle paragraphs that say how your interests and experiences make you right for doctoral study, and why the university department is a suitable fit for you
• A concluding paragraph that summarises why you’re the best person for the course

Aim to explain how your skills and experience make you a suitable candidate for this particular PhD at this specific university.

• Why should you be completing research in this area?
• What are your strengths and achievements?
• What are your influences?
• Why is this university the right one for your project?
• Why do you want to work with this team?
• Make sure that you give evidence and not just state points, especially if the criteria are specific. What have you done to match the requirements?

You can discuss your wider achievements or extracurricular activities, but try to keep it suited to the PhD. If you want, add information about gaps in your CV or any other issues that are relevant.

If you’re applying for a fellowship (a funded PhD), you should tailor your application to the funder. Spend enough time researching the fellowship so you talk about why it will be beneficial to you.

Aim to be concise in your writing. The university may set a limit on the word count, but if not, your personal statement should ideally be no longer than one side of A4. Be concise and make every word count.

Your statement should reflect the academic nature of the writing you’ll be doing in the PhD. For example, if your work is scientific, the people who will read your statement want to see that you can provide evidence and an explanation with each point you make.

For more information on how to write a personal statement, see our general postgraduate advice article.

Go to:  How to write a postgraduate personal statement

When writing your application, spend plenty of time rewriting sections to perfect it. A good idea is to spend 20 minutes editing for every hour you spend writing. If you can, sit in a different environment to edit than where you write from, as this will help keep your mind clear and fresh.

Develop a strong academic CV – this is what admissions tutors will usually look at before reading your personal statement. Use the CV to list your experiences, and don’t repeat the same information in your statement.

Start putting your application together early, even as early as a year before the PhD will begin. This will give you time to contact supervisors. Your applications may be due in December or January before you start, so you’ll need to set aside plenty of time if you’re applying for funding.

University of Pittsburgh 2023-24 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide 

University of pittsburgh 2023-24 application essay question explanations.

The Requirements: 1 essay of 200-300 words

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Oddball

Hello, future University of Pittsburgh grads. (We’re speaking it into existence!) The prompt below is only for applicants who wish to apply to Pitt Honors. Let’s dive in!

In lieu of an essay or personal statement, we ask interested applicants to answer a short answer question. The Admissions Committee reviews responses for quality rather than length. However, the most effective responses typically range from 200-300 words per question. Responses that are longer or shorter are acceptable. The question is required for Pitt Honors consideration.

Please select one of these questions., what is something you would like to see change in the world explain why..

The Admissions Committee wants to accept ambitious students who want to change the world for the better. So, if you could change anything in the world, what would it be? Take some time to brainstorm and write down anything that comes to mind. Maybe, if you had the power, you would make sure that no one in your city went to bed hungry. Why is this particular issue important to you? What steps would you take to enact this change? If, after reading this prompt, you immediately thought of something on the sillier side (flying cars! superpowers! robot dogs!), don’t be afraid to explore that topic and why it matters, too. As long as you are giving admissions better insight into who you are and what makes you tick, you’re on the right track. Let your imagination run wild and show the University of Pittsburgh admissions committee that you aren’t afraid to dream big.

If you had 10 minutes and the attention of a million people, what would your TED Talk be about?

We at CEA love this question because it’s a unique way of asking applicants the following questions: What do you care about and why? What’s important to you? What information do you wish other people had access to? Start by making a list of topics you could discuss or read about for hours. Maybe you’d like to use your TED Talk platform to speak about media literacy and how we can and should consider what we see online through the lens of the powers that dictate how and when we receive information. Perhaps you’d want to discuss AI art, plagiarism, and how it threatens human artists’ livelihoods. What keeps you up at night? What kind of positive effect do you want to have on the world? These are the questions you should be asking yourself when brainstorming for this prompt. Bonus points if you can speak to how a Pittsburgh education will prepare you to address this issue head-on in the future! 

What does it mean to be “educated”?

Since this question is for those applying to the honors college, we can assume that most applicants answering it are high-achievers in the traditional sense. But we all know that’s not the only type of education out there. Pitt is looking for a deeply considered, creatively written essay , so as we here at CEA so often recommend, grab a sheet of paper and start brainstorming! Which words, feelings, or characteristics do you associate with the word “educated?” Are there any people you can think of—people in your life, thought leaders, or even fictional characters—who don’t have a formal education but whom you would consider to be highly educated? What different kinds of education can you think of? In what ways are they different and in what ways are they fundamentally the same? Bonus points if you can describe how a Pitt degree would educate you in more than one way! 

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PharmD Handbook: Admissions 

Types of admissions, admissions process, admissions calendar, pre-professional requirements, advanced placement (ap) courses and credits, advanced standing credits and course waiver policy, technical standards, tuition rates, financial aid.

• School of Pharmacy Scholarships

Criminal Background Checks

Policy for immunization requirements, pa residency classification.

Students are admitted to the professional PharmD Program through the pharmacy guarantee or the open admission process.

Pharmacy Guarantee – First-Year Applicants

High School students applying to the University of Pittsburgh must first apply to the University’s Office of Admissions . The School of Pharmacy does not admit first-year students directly to the professional program.  Candidates who specify prepharmacy on their application, demonstrate academic success in high school, and are accepted as a first-year student to the University of Pittsburgh , will be offered a Pharmacy Guarantee. The offer of a Pharmacy Guarantee includes prepharmacy acceptance to Pitt Bradford, Pitt Greensburg, and Pitt Johnstown .  

Students who receive the guarantee are expected to perform well in their preprofessional courses. To secure a place in the PharmD Program, students must earn:

• NOTE:  A grade of a W constitutes a repeat for the purposes of this policy
• a 3.25 or greater overall GPA in preprofessional courses
• NOTE:  Pharmacy Guarantee recipients must take the required Math and Science courses at the University of Pittsburgh.  (AP credits are acceptable.)

To exercise the Pharmacy Guarantee, all applicants must:

• submit a completed PharmCAS application and fee
• participate in a satisfactory interview prior to School of Pharmacy admission
• PCAT for Fall 2024 PharmD Admissions TBD (see below)
• Pitt Pharmacy writing assessment (upon invitation to interview)

PCAT (Pharmacy College Admission Test)  The PCAT is optional for Fall 2024 PharmD admissions and will be considered in the holistic application review process for applicants who have reported scores. Applicants who are unable to complete an exam or who choose not to report exam scores will not be disadvantaged.

Visit the PCAT web site for registration deadlines for test dates (October 16-17, 2023 or January 3-9, 2024). January will be the final PCAT administration. Send PCAT scores to PharmCAS, code 104.

Open Admissions

All other students are welcome to applying to the program compete for space in the class through the open (non-guaranteed) admissions. The following are the requirements to be considered for the School of Pharmacy’s professional program:

• completion of the pre-professional requirements
• completion of the PharmCAS application process by the deadline
• earn an overall grade point average of 3.0 or greater to be competitive
• earn a grade point average of 3.0 or greater in science pre-professional courses to be competitive
• selected applicants will be required to participate in the interview process (interviews are by invitation only)

Evaluation of Applicants for Open Admission

The School accepts students who have a variety of career expectations and educational experiences. When making decisions, the Admissions Committee considers evidence of sound scholarship, community involvement, leadership, and communication skills. Evidence of sound scholarship includes:

• Overall pre-professional performance
• Performance in required science and math courses
• Consistency of performance
• Depth and breadth of courses

Evidence of community involvement includes, but is not limited to:

• Participation in activities that benefit the community
• Significant involvement in college organizations or groups

Evidence of leadership includes, but is not limited to:

• Selection to positions of leadership by faculty or peers
• Positions held within an organization
• Service as resident or teaching assistant

Evidence of communication ability includes, but is not limited to:

• Performance in speech course
• Written personal statement
• Extracurricular activities and work experience requiring communication skills

Pitt Pharmacy admits candidates on a rolling basis. For all steps in the application process, it is your responsibility to follow all instructions and meet all deadlines. Failure to do so might result in your application being canceled. It is highly recommended that you apply early. PharmCAS – Regular School Application deadline is March 1, 2024

Preparing to complete the Application

We recommend that you review the application process completely before entering data or filling out forms so that you’re aware of all the information you need to gather and how much time the entire process will take. Visit the PharmCAS Web site at www.pharmcas.org and review the “Before You Apply” tab. Then review the Checklist, PharmCAS Instructions, and the Applicant Code of Conduct links. Review the time line for the application process in the Academic Calendar section below.

Complete Pre-professional Courses and Minimum Eligibility Requirements:  All required math and science courses must be completed by the end of spring term of year of entry in the professional program. All remaining courses should be completed by the end of the spring term and must be completed prior to the fall term of entry into the professional program.

Completing the Application Process

PharmCAS (Pharmacy College Application Service): This is a service that enables you to generate one primary application that can be submitted to multiple PharmD degree programs. For the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy the application must be electronically submitted by the March 2024 deadline.

PittPharmacy admits candidates on a rolling basis.  It is recommended that applications are submitted early; sometime between November 1 and December 1. This will ensure eligibility to update fall grades during the PharmCAS Fall Academic Update period.

After electronically submitting the PharmCAS application for the PharmD program, there are follow-up steps that applicants must address to be certain that all the required documents (such as transcripts to PharmCAS) have been received on time.

Please utilize the PharmCAS status tool that provides information on the following:

• GPA calculation,
• Date PCAT scores are received, if applicable,
• Date transcripts are received,
• Date payment is received, and
• Date Evaluations (Letters of Reference) are received

PHARMCAS APPLICATION DEADLINE – MARCH 1, 2024

Admissions Calendar for Fall 2024

Calendar of events after accepting offer of admissions.

The School of Pharmacy offers a four-year, full-time professional pharmacy program leading to the doctor of pharmacy degree (PharmD). Students are required to complete a minimum of 60-62 credits of defined academic prerequisites (typically two years of pre-professional study) before entering the professional program. Students may apply while these courses are in progress.

All prerequisite math and science courses must be completed by the end of the spring term of the year of entry to the professional program. All remaining courses should be completed by the end of the spring and must be completed prior to the fall term of entry to the professional program.

All pre-professional courses must be taken at an accredited institution in the US or select Canadian institutions  for a letter grade.   Credits from institutions other than the University of Pittsburgh must be taken for a letter grade and a grade of a C or better must be earned to transfer . Some prerequisites may also be met through  Advanced Placement (AP) Tests   offered through The College Board, International Baccalaureate, or A-level courses. The following DO NOT meet prerequisite requirements unless otherwise specified:

• Courses graded as Pass/fail
• College Level Examination Program (CLEP) credits
• Courses completed at international institutions
• Courses completed at institutions outside of the US or Canada
• Courses in which a letter grade lower than a C was earned

Overview of Academic Prerequisites: The linked descriptions are from courses at the University of Pittsburgh and are provided as a guide.

• 8 credits General Biology – must include 1 year of lecture and lab
• 8 credits General Chemistry – must include 1 year of lecture and lab
• 8 credits Organic Chemistry – must include 1 year of lecture and lab
• 3-4 credits Calculus – must be 1 course in calculus covering the derivative and integral of functions of a single variable. Acceptable courses: MATH 0220, 0230, and 0240 (Analytic Geometry and Calculus 1, 2, and 3). Business calculus (MATH 0120, MATH 0125, MATH 0126) will NOT be accepted unless accompanied by the Bridge to Calculus course (MATH 0205).
• 3-4 credits Statistics – must be 1 course in descriptive and inferential statistics. Acceptable courses: Applied Statistical Methods (STAT 1000), Basic Applied Statistics (STAT 0200) or Statistics and Probability for Business Management (STAT 1100)
• 6 credits English Composition – must be 2 English composition courses, excluding workshop, technical or ESL courses. English writing (ENGWRT) courses are acceptable to meet this requirement. Courses designated as "W" or writing intensive courses may be accepted on a case-by-case basis.
• Africana Studies
• Communication
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• Neuroscience
• Calculus 2 or 3 (would be in addition to the Calculus requirement listed above
• Statistics (STAT 1151, 1152, or any 1200 course would be in addition to the Statistic requirement listed above.)
• Pharmacy (PHARM 0178, PHARM 1096)

NOTE:  Anatomy & Physiology and Biochemistry are part of the PharmD core Curriculum; therefore, they are NOT eligible to be use as prerequisites.

Pre- professional courses (pre-professional courses) must be successfully completed prior to entry into the professional program. The director of PharmD admissions, assistant dean of students and School registrar must approve any exceptions to this policy.

Transfer of 60-62 prerequisite credits (pre-professional course requirements):  After acceptance into the PharmD Program, a student’s academic records (transcripts) and credits must be transferred to the School of Pharmacy. The prerequisite courses are included in the credit requirements for graduation from the PharmD Program.

These credits may be transferred from the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh Oakland campus, from a University of Pittsburgh regional campus, or from an accredited US or select Canadian institutions to the School of Pharmacy. All prerequisite courses must be taken for a letter grade. The grade earned must be “C” or better to be considered successfully completed and allow transferable from institutions other than the University of Pittsburgh.

Advanced Placement (AP/IB) Courses and Credit:  The School of Pharmacy also accepts credits earned through Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate credits based on the criteria established at the primary institution where prerequisite courses were completed.

The complete list of AP/IB courses from the University of Pittsburgh are found at (www.as.pitt.edu/undergraduate/advising/pdf/apcredit.pdf) .

The School of Pharmacy curriculum is sequenced so that courses taught in the first professional year are prerequisite to courses taught in the second year, second year courses are prerequisite to courses taught in the third year, and so forth. Consequently, the curriculum is not designed to accommodate those who have fulfilled portions of the course requirements at other universities or pharmacy schools. The School does not admit students to advanced standing because they have completed portions of the professional course requirements at other colleges or universities. However, under rare circumstances, students may be given an exemption from a professional course provided that they can demonstrate satisfactory performance in a course equivalent in content to a course offered by the School of Pharmacy.

Course exemptions are granted only for full-time students enrolled in the professional program. Students requesting more than one exemption will be required to enroll in an additional elective course in order to maintain full-time status.

View the full policy

Students requesting an exemption from a course in the professional curriculum may petition the Assistant/Associate Dean FOR Student and Academic Affairs before the first day of the University’s add/drop period (usually within the first two weeks of the term). The written petition should provide clear and convincing evidence of satisfactory performance in a course that is substantially equivalent to a course offered by the School. Evidence which might be included in such a petition follows:

Evidence of course equivalence

• A course syllabus
• Class notes
• Copies of examinations, papers, laboratory reports and /or other course evaluations
• The textbook citation

Evidence of satisfactory performance

• Transcript with grade
• Statement from course instructor or department chair

Upon receiving the petition, the Assistant/Associate Dean for Student and Academic Affairs, in consultation with appropriate faculty members, will determine whether the student may be exempted from a course and will prepare a written response to the petitioner. When an exemption is granted, credits will be transferred from the previous college or university but the grade will not be included in any class rank or quality point calculation.

The technical standards for Admission and fulfillment of requirement of the Doctor of Pharmacy degree can be accessed here:  Technical Standards

Updated tuition rates and mandatory fees for the PharmD program are available at the Graduate Tuition and Mandatory Fees website .

During Summer APPE Rotations (P4 students) a mandatory fee will be assessed.  (No tuition charges will be assessed during Summer Term of APPE rotations.)

P1, P2, and P3 Students may take up to five credits in the summer and up to 19 credits in the fall and spring terms without accruing additional tuition charges. Mandatory Fees are applied for summer, fall and spring terms.

Withdrawal/Resignation Refund Policy

Information on financial aid, tuition, and related fees can be obtained through the  Office of Admissions and Financial Aid (OAFA)  at 412-624-7488. As a PharmD student, please keep in mind the following when completing financial aid forms:

• Professional Year 1 (P1) and Professional Year 2 (P2) of the PharmD curriculum are considered undergraduate level  for those that have not earned a Bachelors degree.  
• Even though you are working towards your Doctorate of Pharmacy degree, the University does not recognize your status as a graduate. Therefore, you would answer questions pertaining to college level as third year or junior level. If a previous degree has been obtained, you would answer fifth year or working towards second undergraduate degree.  DO NOT  indicate that you are working towards a doctorate or in a graduate/professional school.
• Professional Year 3 (P3) and Professional Year 4 (P4) are considered graduate level for ALL students . Financial aid forms documenting that you are working towards a doctorate and/or graduate/professional degree will be acceptable at that time.
• If you have earned a Bachlors degree, the above does not apply.  Your college status will be graduate and you would complete the question as working towards your doctorate.

Students enrolled in the professional PharmD program are encouraged to apply for scholarships.

Each year Pitt Pharmacy awards scholarships to enrolled and entering PharmD students. The annual application period is during the Spring, and any scholarship received will be split between the coming Fall and Spring semesters.

• The scholarship application for Pitt Pharmacy is through PittFund$Me. Students are encouraged to apply to any scholarships to which they may be eligible in the platform, including those outside Pitt Pharmacy.

For a list of the School of Pharmacy scholarships and criteria, please visit:

Please note that the University of Pittsburgh Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) Program requires that students complete experiential learning activities at facilities external to the University. Many of the sites we use for experiential learning require students to meet certain prerequisites, in addition to showing proof of immunity, such as:

•  Criminal background checks
•  Drug screenings

A positive criminal history and/or positive drug screen may disqualify you from completing required experiential learning at sites external to the University and may prevent you from completing the PharmD Program.  Should a student fail a check, clearance, and/or drug screen, the School of Pharmacy cannot guarantee that it will be able to place the student at another entity for the requisite field education, thereby affecting the ability to graduate on-schedule from the pharmacy program.

Additionally, in order to become licensed as a pharmacist, many states will inquire as to whether the applicant has been convicted of any misdemeanor, any felony, or any felonious or illegal act associated with alcohol and/or substance abuse.  A criminal history as described above may delay or prevent licensure.

Criminal Background Checks and Drug Testing :

The Office of Experiential Learning manages learning experiences which occur external to the school and are a required component of the curriculum in all four years of the PharmD program. Many of the sites we use for experiential learning require students to meet certain prerequisites, such as showing proof of immunization to communicable diseases and undergoing criminal background checks and drug screening. Failure to meet these prerequisites can result in students not being able to complete their experiential learning requirements.

To streamline the process of collecting and corroborating experiential learning site requirements, we have entered into an agreement with CastleBranch, Inc. This company will coordinate and manage the collection of all of the experiential learning requirements you will need for your rotation sites, and the information will be available to you both during your PharmD years and after graduation. This is a secure site to which only the Experiential Learning Office and you will have access.

The fee for this service is updated yearly, and is set by the CastleBranch company. Please contact the Experiential Learning Office to obtain the most recent fee structure for initial account setup, and account renewals. Please note, that clearances are required to be updated on a yearly basis . The Office of Experiential Learning will notify student when they should renew their CastleBranch account at a lower cost.

Drug testing (screening) is only required when a site requests this; therefore, students should not obtain the drug screening unless it is required by the site. Students can order this through their CastleBranch profile, please contact Ms. Schmotzer in the Experiential Learning Office to obtain instructions for the drug screen.

A positive criminal history and/or positive drug screen may disqualify you from completing required experiential learning at sites external to the University and may prevent you from completing the PharmD Program. Should a student fail a check, clearance, and/or drug screen, the School of Pharmacy cannot guarantee that it will be able to place the student at another entity for the requisite field education, thereby affecting the ability of the student to graduate on-schedule from the pharmacy program.

Additionally, in order to become licensed as a pharmacist, many states will inquire as to whether the applicant has been convicted of any misdemeanor, any felony, or any felonious our illegal act associated with alcohol and/or substance abuse. A criminal history as described above may delay or prevent licensure.

As healthcare providers, pharmacy students are at risk for exposure to, and possible transmission of, vaccine-preventable diseases. Maintenance of immunity is therefore an essential aspect of prevention and infection control programs for pharmacists. Optimal use of immunizing agents will not only safeguard the health of students but also protects patients from being infected. This policy was developed to reduce the risk that students will contract or transmit vaccine-preventable diseases.

1. An Immunization Record Form will be mailed to all new and returning students and must be completed and returned to the School of Pharmacy by the date designated each year. The Student Records Manager will not process the student registration for classes if the Immunization Record Form has not been returned. On the form, the student must provide proof of immunization against measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, hepatitis B, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, and polio, as: a) providing the month/year of vaccination; and/or b) by way of a positive blood titer (if the month/year of vaccination in unknown, with exception of hepatitis B, where titer is required). In addition, each student’s tuberculin status must be known prior to admission and updated on a yearly basis. Students whose tuberculin test is positive will be asked to provide the School with medical clearance to participate in clinical placements. All information is to be posted in the student’s individual CastleBranch profile. Additional vaccines or assessments for communicable diseases also may be required as guided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

2. In order to ensure that students will be able to participate in required experiential learning at clinical practice sites external to the School, students must complete all of the immunization requirements before the start of classes. An updated Immunization Record Form may be required if needed to document changes since submission of the initial form. The immunization requirements will not be waived for any student who is not immunized. Affiliation agreements between the School and sites providing experiential rotations require that all students must comply with public health policies in effect for persons involved in patient care activities at those sites. Therefore, the School cannot place students in experiential learning sites without having documentation of the immunization history as outlined in Section 1, and such students will not be able to complete the course requirements for graduation from the Doctor of Pharmacy program.

3. Documentation of immunization, tuberculin testing and general health will allow the School of Pharmacy to answer queries from hospitals and other experiential learning sites that need to know a student’s status with respect to immunity to infectious diseases before caring for patients. Students will be required to sign a release allowing the School to share this information with experiential learning sites that request documentation.

Blank copies of the Immunization Record Form, Influenza Vaccine Form, and Tuberculin Status Forms are mailed to students, and also can be found on the student’s CastleBranch account. Students may also obtain forms by contacting the Office of Experiential Learning at 412-624-8186.

AC 49 PA Residency Classification: Eligibility for Reduced Tuition (formerly 09-05-04)