<p>I was just wondering how the premed program at University of Pittsburgh is? Also, does attending the university for premed give you a better chance of being accepted there for med school? Are the premed programs really cut throat? Finally, how is the advising and do the classes prepare one well for the MCAT?
Thanks!!</p>
<p>There are lots of posts related to this topic, but to answer some of your questions:</p>
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<p>No.</p>
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In my experience, no. Some students are more competitive than others, but I would not classify Pitt’s pre-meds as cut-throat.</p>
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Advising is decent. There’s a pre-med/pre-health advisor that you can consult. MCAT prep is largely individual. The material that you need to know will be sufficiently covered in the pre-reqs, but it’s up to you to learn it well when it’s taught in order to minimize the amount of review you will need to do when you actually begin studying for the MCAT.</p>
<p>My 2 cents on the subject… S is interested in the premed program as well and we just returned from one of the special open houses for honor students. After listening to a number of presentations and talking to both professors and students, we got the sense that attending Pitt for undergraduate will not translate into an advantage when it comes to applying to their medical school. If anything, it may actually be a slight disadvantage since a number of Pitt undergrads will already have been admitted through the guaranteed program, making it unlikely for even more undergrads from the same school to be accepted. One Pitt graduating student who will be going to another medical school later this year told us that she only knew two Pitt students from her year who had been admitted to UPMC (in addition to those from the guaranteed program.)</p>
<p>Regarding advising, the impression we got was that it wasn’t great. There’s only one premed advisor for all the premed students and she’s stretched thin. A guy we talked to, who’s getting ready to apply to medical school this summer told us that he had to wait two months to get a 15-min appointment, at the end of which he was given a generic handout. That may differ a bit if you’re an honors student and, as such, have access to honors advisors. But the honors advisors are not going to be there specifically for premed-related issues. Instead, they will try to facilitate whatever you’re trying to achieve and direct you to the right people.</p>
<p>That said, Pitt offers great opportunities for medical research and internships/volunteering. But you have to be proactive, focused, and driven in order to take advantage of all that this university has to offer. If you’re that kind of person, Pitt should be a great choice.</p>
<p>I’d say you pretty much have to be proactive, focused and driven to get into a good medical school in the first place. Those are exactly some of the qualities they look for. I have a friend who was a Pitt undergrad, not guaranteed, but who got into and went to Pitt Med, but she could have gone to a lot of med schools. Sorry, I don’t know her scores, but she had great grades, I think she majored in Molecular Bio, and volunteered in the hospitals there and did some research in the Dept. of Pathology on campus in the med school. It is true there is no advantage to being a non-guaranteed Pitt undergrad (other than an opportunity to network with faculty in the med school by volunteering or working in their labs), but otherwise you are just in the same pool of candidates as everyone else and need to have qualifications good enough to meet the med school’s highly competitive admission standards. </p>
<p>Try to build a relationship(s) with med school faculty. I would recommend even trying to find out which faculty are on the admission committee once you get there and then email them to perhaps shadow them through their clinical services. Shadowing is a good idea if they are willing. Also, if you like the research they are doing, you could ask about volunteering in their lab. (If you don’t like the research, don’t do this, you won’t be able to mask your disinterest). This is a good way to build relationships that could end up being important if Pitt Med, or really any med school, is a place you want to end up. The thing is with Pitt, the classes, facilities, hospitals are all right there on campus. You don’t need to engage in as many special off-campus programs like at some other schools in order to get the experiences you need to have a strong application. Of course, I’m not saying not to do external programs though. I’ve seen some really impressive volunteering opportunities with people going overseas and such, for things like a summer program. </p>
<p>Definitely though, be as proactive as possible as early as possible…which also gives you a chance to try someone or something else if you aren’t satisfied with your first contacts or experiences.</p>
<p>Regarding the accessibility of the pre-med advisor, here is a link to her walk-in hours:</p>
<p>[Health</a> Professions Career Counselor | Career Development | University of Pittsburgh](<a href=“http://www.careers.pitt.edu/resources/bymajor/healthdocuments.php]Health”>http://www.careers.pitt.edu/resources/bymajor/healthdocuments.php)</p>
<p>Click on ‘End of Term Walk-in Schedule’ and that should open a Word document with her walk-in hours. If you call to schedule an appointment with her, you will likely have to wait at least a few days. However, if you’re willing to go to her walk-in hours, you should be able to get in to see her that same day. Wait times for walk-in hours vary based on the time of day as well as the time of year. During the fall and early spring semesters, she typically has 2 days/week for walk-ins. However, she has extended walk-in hours during the latter portion of the spring semester because pre-meds begin the application process for Pitt’s Pre-Professional Health Committee at that time.</p>
<p>I definitely agree with the other posters’ comments regarding proactivity. Opportunities will not be handed to you here, and you will not be coddled. There are lots and lots of opportunities for pre-meds at Pitt – you just need to seek them out and take advantage of them.</p>