university of pittsburgh supplemental essay 2021

University of Pittsburgh Secondary Essays: Tips & Prompts

• Cracking Med School Admissions Team

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine cares deeply about social issues and recruiting a student body that solves healthcare issues through innovation . Pitt Med champions the fight against healthcare disparities. But, it wants medical students who approach these problems through out-of-the-box thinking and creative approaches. The University of Pittsburgh Medical School secondary application essay prompts reflects these values. Read all our University of Pittsburgh secondary essays tips below!

We would strongly recommend submitting the University of Pittsburgh early and it should be one of the first secondaries you submit. The prompts barely change each year, so we would also recommend pre-writing your Pitt Med secondaries. Dr. Rachel Rizal and Dr. Rishi Mediratta have strong a track record of helping our mentees receive acceptances to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.  Read our tips below and contact us if you need help with your UPitt Med secondary essays.  

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University of Pittsburgh Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2024 – 2025

University of pittsburgh secondary essays: md prompts.

• The Three Rivers Curriculum features collaborative team based learning. Therefore, we value your perspective and experience working within teams. Describe a time you worked with others in a collaborative process, challenges encountered and how you overcame these challenges. Discuss any personal growth achieved through the experience.  (250 words max)
• Describe a difficult situation you faced, how you responded to this situation and how this helped shape the person you’ve become.  (250 words max)
• Respect for others of different backgrounds is integral to the successful practice of medicine, as is an understanding of the social determinants of health. Describe a situation you observed between a patient and the health care system that illustrates the impact of social determinants of health and/or the impact of racism on delivery of care. Describe what you learned from this situation. (250 words max)
• (Optional) If you wish, use this space to tell the UPSOM Admissions Committee anything else about yourself.  (250 words max)

University of Pittsburgh Secondary Essays: MSTP (MD/PhD) Essay Prompts

• Choose current graduate program of interest, choose 3 faculty from a given list, provide up to 2 additional faculty you could see yourself working with in graduate school, and then:
• Briefly describe what appeals to you about the faculty member(s) in your selection, and how the selected graduate program and our MSTP match your interests.

Tips to Answer UPitt Secondaries

University of Pittsburgh Secondaries Pre-Writing  Guidance:  We would strongly encourage medical school applicants to pre-write their University of Pittsburgh seconadries. The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Admissions Committee reviews applications on a rolling basis and gives interviews on a rolling basis. But, it’s still important that you submit a strong University of Pittsburgh secondary application that is aligned with the school’s mission of innovation to improve health & society. If you need help with brainstorming or editing your secondary essays, contact us below!

• Download  all  our HIGH-YIELD tips for secondary essays:  Cracking Med School Admissions Secondary Essay Guide

University of Pittsburgh Secondary Essays Tip #1:  First, it’s important to know what UPitt looks for. These are qualities we’ve seen in medical school applications that receive interviews:

• Any background in engineering or math. 
• Innovation and creativity – especially shown in the problem-solving essay.
• Desire to improve healthcare and medicine through analytical thinking (not necessarily through research; you could have a desire to invent a new medical device!) throughout one’s medical career.
• Experiences solving problems in teams – shown in your primary application, letters of recommendation, and University of Pittsburgh secondary essays

This is the mission of University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine:

One needs to be creative as a clinician because, despite all of the advances of modern medicine, each patient is unique, and diagnoses are not always obvious. One needs to be creative as an investigator because research, by its very nature, involves a quest for that which is unknown and, if discovered, constitutes the next piece of the vast, intricate puzzle we call life.

Compassion is a core principle of all the healing professions and should be the constant “north star” for any health care provider. One will be seeing people who are sick, at their most vulnerable, most freighted and dependent state. In that encounter, beyond any specific prescribed treatments for their illnesses, compassion is the most powerful healing act we can perform.

One needs leadership skills if one hopes to address the extremely complicated problems that we face in the delivery and financing of our nation’s health care. As a leader, one needs to embody the principles of justice and fairness and constantly strive to reduce health disparities in our society. Clearly, on this matter in particular, not to be part of the solution is to be part of the problem, which makes good leadership skills essential. 

University of Pittsburgh Secondary Essays Tip #2: For the University of Pittsburgh secondaries question, “ Tell us about a challenging problem you faced and how you resolved it. Include how the experience contributed to the person you are today, ” do not talk about difficulties with transitioning to college or learning how to study for difficult premed classes. These are too common and will not allow you stand out! 

Topics of strong UPitt essays Dr. Rachel Rizal & Dr. Rishi Mediratta have read:

• Research challenge
• Engineering project at school
• Public health challenge and developing a new program to tackle a public health issue

University of Pittsburgh Secondary Essays Tip #3: You should ideally incorporate an example from your own life about how you have already contributed in combating systemic discrimination or how you’ve already tackled healthcare disparity issues, “ At UPSOM, diversity and inclusion are measures of distinction, integral to achieving institutional excellence, and essential to the development of future physicians who become leaders in medicine. Describe how you have demonstrated a commitment to diversity and inclusion in the past, and how you hope to grow that commitment in medical school .” Some students have successfully discussed a story through patient care or from a clinical experience. 

University of Pittsburgh Secondary Essays Tip #4: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is a very community-oriented medical school. Talk about how you want to engage at University of Pittsburgh and around the Pittsburgh community as a medical student. How will you bring in problem solving, research, and innovative thinking to improve the Pittsburgh community? You can include your ideas in your various UPitt secondaries. 

• Read our Cracking Med School Admissions Top 10 Current events to gather ideas about how you can help communities!

University of Pittsburgh Secondary Essays Tip #5: Don’t forget to incorporate a little bit about “Why University of Pittsburgh Medical School” throughout the essay(s) you respond to. Talk about projects and research you want to do at UPitt Med. 

• Read out helpful blog post:  Why this Medical School? Secondary Essay Example

University of Pittsburgh Secondary Essays Tip #6: Have questions about how you can stand out? Contact us below. If you want help with editing your UPitt Med secondary application, we can help you through our secondary essay packages . 

[ Read Essay Tips From Other Innovative Medical Schools:  Yale School of Medicine; Stanford School of Medicine; Duke School of Medicine; Mount Sinai Icahn Medical School ]

Your medical school application Coaches, Mentors, & Cheerleaders

We Personally Advise Every Student We Work With.

Rachel Rizal, M.D.

Changing the trajectory of people’s lives.

Undergraduate Princeton University, cum laude

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Residency Harvard, Emergency Medicine

Awards & Scholarships Fulbright Scholar USA Today Academic First Team Tylenol Scholarship

Rishi Mediratta, M.D., M.Sc., M.A.

Advising students to attend their dream schools.

Undergraduate Johns Hopkins University, Phi Beta Kappa

Residency Stanford, Pediatrics

Awards & Scholarships Marshall Scholar Tylenol Scholarship Global Health Scholar

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University of Pittsburgh Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2023 – 2024

• Tell us about a challenging problem you faced and how you resolved it. (250 words max)
• At UPSOM, diversity and inclusion are measures of distinction, integral to achieving institutional excellence, and essential to the development of future physicians who become leaders in medicine. Describe how you have demonstrated a commitment to diversity and inclusion in the past, and how you hope to grow that commitment in medical school. (250 words max)
• Please write about anything else you would like to add to your application, or anything you would like to emphasize to the Admissions Committee. (250 words max)

University of Pittsburgh Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2022 – 2023

• Worded slightly differently. At UPSOM, diversity and inclusion are measures of distinction, integral to achieving institutional excellence, and essential to the development of future physicians who become leaders in medicine. Describe how you have demonstrated a commitment to diversity and inclusion in the past, and how you hope to grow that commitment in medical school.  (250 words max)

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University of Pittsburgh Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2021 – 2022

• UPSOM is committed to building a diverse and talented community that will train physicians in delivering culturally competent, person-centered care, and promoting a supportive, collaborative learning environment. To achieve this, we want our fellow students to recognize health disparities and advocate for health equity. We are interested in combating all forms of systemic barriers, and would like to hear your thoughts on opposing specifically: systemic racism, anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, and misogyny. How will you contribute? (250 words max)

University of Pittsburgh Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2020 – 2021

University of pittsburgh medical school secondary application essay prompts: 2019 - 2020, university of pittsburgh medical school secondary application essay prompts: 2018 – 2019, upitt md application essay prompts.

• UPSOM is a culturally diverse and talented community. How would you enrich/enliven the UPSOM community? (250 words max)
• Is there anything additional that you would like to address that is not already reflected in your application? (250 words max)

University of Pittsburgh Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2017 – 2018

University of pittsburgh medical school secondary application essay prompts: 2016 – 2017, university of pittsburgh medical school secondary application essay prompts: 2015 – 2016, contact us with questions, we'll answer any and all your questions about medical school we typically respond within 1 business day..

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University of Pittsburgh 2024-25 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide 

University of pittsburgh 2024-25 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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2 Great University of Pittsburgh Essay Examples

The University of Pittsburgh, or Pitt, is a public research university just a few miles east of downtown Pittsburgh. Pitt enrolls almost 20,000 undergraduates, offers 17 different undergraduate and graduate schools, and has several alumni currently playing in the NFL, most notably three-time Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald. 

That combination of academic variety and athletic notoriety makes Pitt one of the most popular public universities in the country, which means you want to make sure your essays will help you  stand out from the crowd. In this post, we’ll break down two essays submitted by real students to Pitt, so that you can get a sense for what admissions officers are looking for.

Read our University of Pittsburgh essay breakdown to get a comprehensive overview of this year’s supplemental prompts.

Example 1 – Personal Statement for Pitt

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. (750 words)

I’ve always wanted to know more about the human body. One day, while out walking, my dad explained to me the science behind his diabetes. He detailed the function of the pancreas, and how without it functioning properly, his blood sugar needs to be well managed in order for him to be healthy. I went home and researched the pancreas, and the more I knew about this one organ, the more I wanted to know about the rest of them. Then I was visiting my uncle in the hospital. His kidney had failed, and he was about to go through surgery. Through listening to the doctor explain my uncle’s ailment, I learned more about the function of the kidney and why it’s possible to live with only one of them. 

Both these experiences opened my eyes to the field of medicine, and ever since, I’ve been drawn to the science behind it. From reading textbooks about anatomy and microbiology to participating in summer programs in neuroscience and genetics, I’ve strived to immerse myself in many different fields of science to gain a wide range of knowledge. 

While I enjoy science in general, I know that I want to specifically become a physician because of what being a doctor means. With their vast knowledge, they have the ability to solve almost any medical problem and can do so in almost the blink of an eye. Having the knowledge to consider a patient’s symptoms and quickly make a diagnosis that could be the difference between life and death draws me into this career path. I want the opportunity to make an impact on people’s lives, and a hospital is one of the most critical places where I can make an impact on others. 

When looking at the opportunities Pitt provides for students looking into the medical field, I stumbled upon AMSA, a student organization for pre-medical students. This organization provides opportunities for students to shadow medical professionals, be paired with mentors who are also on the pre-med path, and partake in cutting-edge research labs. At Pitt, I would join the AMSA in order to pursue as many opportunities as I can to be a successful pre-med student. 

Further, I am interested in many of the Biology elective courses provided at Pitt. The Cell and Molecular Biology of Disease class piqued my interest as I am interested in the diseases that affect the structure and function of our body. From my learning in AP Biology and Anatomy to my internship in Genetics, I have been open to learning more about how the human body works in face of threats such as pathogens and other illnesses. At Pitt, I would take this Biology class in order to further my understanding of science and prepare myself for a future in medicine. 

My dream is to become a physician, and I believe I can most successfully reach this goal at the University of Pittsburgh.

What the Essay Did Well

The author has chosen to use this space to provide more context about the major they hope to pursue in college, making this essentially a “Why Major?” essay. They do a great job of including the details you hope to see in that kind of essay, including how they first became interested in medicine and how they envision Pitt helping them realize their dream of becoming a physician.

Additionally, the student uses their interest in medicine to highlight aspects of their personality that will make them an asset not only to a hospital, but also to Pitt’s campus community. For example, in the third paragraph, they say they want to be a physician because of the potential to be the difference between “life and death” for a patient. This explanation shows that the student is mature, altruistic, and unafraid of responsibility, all qualities that admissions officers value highly in applicants.

As noted above, the student also does a great job of explaining how they see Pitt specifically helping them on their journey towards becoming a doctor. Pretty much every school has resources for pre-med students, but by highlighting the student organization AMSA, as well as several specific courses they would like to take, the student shows admissions officers that they see Pitt, not just any old school, playing an essential role in helping them realize their medical dreams.

What Could Be Improved 

Technically speaking, this essay does do what the prompt asks, by “shar[ing] information not included elsewhere in your application,” as Pitt does not have a “Why Major?” prompt. However, when given the opportunity to write a personal statement , your primary goal should be addressing the following four core questions:

• “Who Am I?”
• “Why Am I Here?”
• “What is Unique About Me?”
• “What Matters to Me?”

These questions are not answered by this essay. Admissions officers are looking for a narrative which shares the author’s personality, feelings, and perspective, and unfortunately a “Why Major?” essay isn’t the best way of doing that. 

Including details about their interest in medicine isn’t a bad idea by any means, but the essay would be more informative if their overall topic was, say, their passion for “ mak[ing] an impact on people’s lives.” Then, they could describe several examples that showcase their selfless nature–for example, helping their elderly neighbor with groceries during the pandemic–with their intended career being one of them.

On a more technical level, although this essay is well-organized and has all the components of a “Why Major” essay, it would benefit from more showing, not telling . While we get a clear sense of how this student’s interest in medicine developed through conversations with his family, and then independently through textbooks and summer programs, that development would be more engaging if we felt like we were going on this journey with the student, rather than just getting a play-by-play.

For example, say the line “ With their vast knowledge, they have the ability to solve almost any medical problem and can do so in almost the blink of an eye” was replaced with with something like:

“While volunteering at a local hospital, I never ceased to be amazed by the doctors’ ability to rifle through towering stacks of charts and tests, the numbers making my own head spin vicariously, and instantaneously synthesize the complicated, often contradictory information.”

This version makes the same point in a much more engaging way, by placing us directly in the scene, and also includes information about how the student reacted to the hospital environment, which gives us a clearer sense of how their interest in medicine has shaped their personality more broadly.

Finally, one of the basic rules of college essay writing is to use as much of the space given to you as possible. College applications are limiting by nature, so you don’t want to voluntarily limit yourself even further by leaving words on the table. 

This student has used less than 500 of 750 possible words, which means they’re missing out on an opportunity to share more details of their personality with admissions officers. While you obviously don’t want to pad your essay with unnecessary information just to add words, 250 words is more than enough to say something substantive about yourself, and that extra information could be just the thing that convinces admissions officers to accept you.

Example 2 – Adapting to a New Environment

Black hole! Atom bomb! Brain functioning! Want to be a doctor!? Engineer!? Scientist!?

Here’s a ball. When you toss it upwards, there comes a point where it stops, reaches terminal velocity, and moves its way back to its starting point. That’s free fall and part of the one-dimensional motion.

Here is someone flying kites, wondering about their velocity, judging their height, and the length of the shadow, and tracing their motion. It is no longer just formulas, theorems, derivations, integration and differentiation, determinants, and determining permutations-combinations.

The transition from grade 10 to grade 11 class is definitely hard, crucial, and perplexing. Apart from the inner struggle, confusion, and dilemma of choosing the right stream that will determine one’s career path, a student faces pressure from external factors as well. Be it from parents, relatives, friends, or teachers, every student receives a plethora of advice, building the ongoing confusion in their mind. My mind was constantly juggling between the pros and cons of every field I was considering or was recommended to consider. My mind was in a state of confusion about whether I should prefer a high-paying job and go with the “popular subjects” despite having little interest in them, or if I should follow my heart and study the subjects that I love.

I finally decided to choose a stream that many would not. I heard many voices say, “Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Biology are not the ideal subject choices”. Hearing these words made me determined to prove my choices right and I soldiered on with my selection.

One of the major challenges was handling the rich curriculum of grade 11 and balancing the course curriculum with preparations for competitive exams. I was struggling to maintain my grades and hit the equilibrium that I needed to succeed in both of these concurrent responsibilities. I kept trying and refused to give up. My parents supported me constantly and conferred encouraging words upon me, motivating me more than the dopamine increase that coffee could ever give me. 

With mere two months from my high school graduation, I can proudly say that I persisted!

I have attained stability and equilibrium within my studies. I have also picked up on how to give proportionate time to every subject, along with steady participation in extracurricular activities, competitive exam preparation, and focus on my mental peace. J. Peterson remarks that “Experience is the best teacher”.

Indeed, I fathomed that I would walk my own path, however long it would take me to see it through. If I want to have a good life with a successful career and emotional satisfaction I have to work hard and I am prepared to do so. The results of my own decisions and actions will always mean much more than what has been bestowed upon me. I would risk it all again because I know that I can only enjoy what I have earned and what I have not earned is neither for me to claim nor find fulfillment in. Breaking away from the risk-averse crowd that holds an exaggerated fear of what can be lost and blazing my own path has been thoroughly refreshing, to say the least. I trust myself to defy the odds to achieve an unimaginable level of happiness and satisfaction that follows.

Please note that this essay was written by a non-native English speaker, so grammatical and phrasing issues will not be discussed in this analysis. While these issues would be problematic for a native speaker, admissions officers understand that non-native speakers face additional challenges in writing their essays, so they won’t judge minor linguistic mistakes.

Wow! This essay starts off with a whirlwind that immediately sucks us into the student’s train of thought (ironically, just like a black hole), and concludes with an emphatic statement about their chosen area of study. Writing a strong hook is difficult, but this student has done a fantastic job of making the essay engaging from the first word.

Furthermore, they maintain an honest, open tone throughout the essay. That candidness is crucial to any college essay, as it proves to admissions officers that the way the student is presenting themselves is genuine. Lines like “My mind was constantly juggling between the pros and cons of every field” and “Hearing these words made me determined to prove my choices right and I soldiered on with my selection” present their thoughts and feelings in a way that is personal, but that readers can still relate to.

Most importantly, the last paragraph includes several bigger picture lessons the student learned from their “new environment” of 11th grade. While the prompt doesn’t explicitly ask them to include takeaways, when reading any college essay admissions officers want to know why this story is relevant to what you would bring to their campus community, and this student’s last paragraph lays out a whole host of ways this experience will impact their mindset moving forward.

While, as outlined above, the experience the writer discusses was clearly formative for them, writing about academic challenges is a cliche essay topic , and thus one we recommend avoiding. Just about every student struggles to some extent with the transition from 10th to 11th grade, which means making that topic feel truly personal is incredibly difficult. Remember, the point of the college essay is to help yourself stand out. So, while you want to pick a topic that is genuinely meaningful to you, you also want to pick one that will help distinguish you from other applicants.

Additionally, the student writes “I finally decided to choose a stream that many would not. I heard many voices say, ‘Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Biology are not the ideal subject choices.’” While these sentiments may have been ones the student often heard, STEM subjects are actually more commonly selected as intended majors than subjects like English, history, or a foreign language, which makes the line about “choos[ing] a stream that many would not” feel somewhat contrived.

As a general rule, you want to avoid making broad statements of any kind in your college essay, and instead keep a narrow focus on your experience. For example, this student could replace these lines with something like:

“My friends found peering down a microscope all day to be good for nothing other than developing a bad neck cramp, so choosing to focus my grade 11 studies on biology meant I wouldn’t know most of the people in my classes. But I decided to take the plunge anyways: I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see, with my very own eyes, the cellular interactions that form the basis of all life.”

This version doesn’t make any big picture claims about the popularity of various subjects, and instead keeps the story grounded in the student’s story, and the particular obstacles they faced in choosing an academic path. Additionally, we get more details about what exactly drew them to STEM subjects, as right now their interest in those subjects seems to be largely grounded just in the fact that nobody else thought they should study them.

Finally, while this prompt doesn’t have a hard word count, this essay is over double the suggested length. As frustrating as word counts can be to navigate, they exist for a reason, as admissions officers have thousands of applications to evaluate and thus don’t have the time to read a novel for every student. Plus, overshooting the word count so substantially may suggest to admissions officers you have trouble following directions, which generally isn’t a quality they look favorably upon.

Where to Get Feedback on Your Essay 

Want feedback on your Pitt essays before you submit? That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Supplement Essays

How much emphasis does Pitt put on the essays? Would it make a difference if you did not submit any essays?

Answering the questions is optional, but strongly encouraged. Your answers may increase the likelihood that you are considered for scholarships, guaranteed admission to graduate or professional school, or given special consideration due to extenuating circumstances.

Best, A Pitt Admissions Staffer

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Personal Statement or Essay

Please note this information pertains to the Fall 2025 application cycle.

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 University of Pittsburgh admissions application.

Submission of a personal statement or the Common Application essay is required for scholarship consideration or those applying test-optional. It may increase the likelihood that you are considered for guaranteed admission programs or given special consideration due to extenuating circumstances. Your personal statement is an important part of applying to college.

The personal statement can be submitted with your application to apply to Pitt . This can be the University of Pittsburgh Application or the Common Application–we accept both and do not prefer one over the other. If you have already completed the application, you may complete the personal statement online.

If you are an international applicant, please complete a Short Answer Question instead of a personal statement.

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