Living2Learn

And foremost, congrats! Getting an interview is the tough office part of the whole process. Pitt is very holistic in their recruitment approach and look at a lot of things aside from just grades. I interviewed over zoom, but the process is pretty much, the same. You'll get multiple mini interviews (3-4) most of which are situational and emotional intelligence questions. There's one section that has a clinical component, but it is very straightforward and not intimidating at all. They are really just looking for students who are research-minded, approachable, and will fit in with the personality of the cohort. feel free to PM me if you have anymore questions.

They don't have an explicit science GPA requirement or certain classes use to calculate. In fact, they don't recalculate any GPAs for you. They look at your BSN GPA and as long as you meet that threshold, you're good. Of course they're going to look at your science grades to make sure they're not a red flag, but they don't recalculate a sciGPA.

Nope, it's @sirbeatness - feel free to add me and we can chat more!

Maybe because you're new to this site and haven't posted enough? But yes feel free! Or if you wanna message me on Reddit or IG?

Thanks! And yes, I totally get that. I have lots of information and notes re: the route of CRNA going through a peds ICU - feel free to DM me on here and we can talk more

So glad it was helpful and congrats on your offer! Yep, I stayed! I was staff for 2 years, traveled for a year and now I'm in CRNA school. I am actually on an assignment now (my first semester or two is light and I'm able to work). I'm working at a large academic PICU that's does hearts also.

Hi there! I'm actually at Pitt now and went through this just last year. Pitt uses your BSN GPA in a sense - that is, they use the GPA printed on the transcript which conferred your BSN. While they do use NursingCAS, they use it more as an application tool to stream line things rather than relying on it for other admissions functions. They do not utilize the transcript feature on NursingCAS nor do they utilize GPAs calculated from NursingCAS. After submission, you will see some GPAs calculated by NursingCAS, but they are not used or considered. Pitt takes a very human and holistic approach with their entire selection process. This GPA requirement is meant to be a more inclusive factor because it really is just takes into account the nursing courses and affiliated sciences as opposed to every class you ever took. The one potential down side is that you don't really have the opportunity to increase your actual GPA by taking other classes (but this doesn't seem to be an issue for you) Feel free to reach if you have any other questions!

I don't know anything more about the point system as it's not something that's at all published. I just know that the scoring system exists because this is what the director told us all after the interviews. It is how they internally and holistically rank their pool of applicants. I don't know for sure which things are weighted more, but I assume experience and GPA are weighted the most. However, the more things you do to improve your application, the better. Other items they said that they look at and assign points for are: research, graduate courses, leadership/unit involvement, GRE, CCRN & other certs. Re: GRE, I'm sure you know most schools are moving towards lowering the impact that the score has on admission or eliminating the requirement entirely. That being said, I'd aim to get above the 50th percentile (which will likely be higher than 150 for each section, just look it up on ETS) and you'll be fine. Getting a super high score more than likely won't sky rocket you to the top of their radar, so I'd say do your best, but no need to aim for a 320+ (more on this later). Re: experience, if you're applying with 1.5 years, it should be a very strong 1.5 years of experience. Level one trauma, in a specialty ICU or a very acute MICU, in a big academic center or well respected regional hospital. If your experience isn't this strong, it may hurt you more than an applicant from a more acute facility or one with more experience. For a glimmer of hope, I applied with a substantially lower GPA than you and just one more year of experience. What I did was try to pad my profile as much as possible: I included my research (from undergrad), international volunteer experience, graduate courses, extra certs, etc. I also retook my GRE and got a much higher score, but by the time they actually got my new score I was already accepted so I think it was a waste. I hope this was helpful! If you want more information or insight, feel free to PM me!

Oh, haha. That makes sense. Hopefully you get in! I withdrew my application because I was accepted elsewhere so that’s one more spot for you all!

What do you mean exactly? The applications are rolling and have been since Feb, so most people have already gotten in for 2023.

Congrats! I applied at the very beginning of August and haven’t heard anything quite yet. When is your interview?

Very awesome - congrats!

Did you get an offer elsewhere?

They conduct interviews once a month, generally. However, they’re skipping August because the incoming class is starting, so they’ll resume next month. I applied about 3 weeks ago and was told that I’ll most likely hear back about an interview (considering I’m selected for one) in possibly September, but more than likely October.

Congrats and glad that you accepted! Yes there was! “Pitt CRNA DNP Cohort 2023-2026”