University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) CRNA - 2026

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What Members Are Saying (AI-Generated Summary)

Members are discussing the number of seats offered in a program, with some confusion about the exact number of full-time and part-time spots available. There is also debate about the fairness of offering acceptances early in the interview process and concerns about the scoring system. Additionally, members are inquiring about additional interview dates and waiting for acceptance notifications by the end of the month.

Hi all, just submitted my app on 11/10 and attended a zoom information session last night. Good luck everyone!

Specializes in CTICU/Flight ICU.
Anonymous347 said:

If this is true it was definitely not mentioned in their info session or their interview. 

Oh no worries. Dr. O'Donnell told us this on the last interview session June 30th.

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Ketamean said:

Oh no worries. Dr. O'Donnell told us this on the last interview session June 30th.

Does it mean that those who didn't get an invite are obviously rejected?

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Ketamean said:

Oh no worries. Dr. O'Donnell told us this on the last interview session June 30th.

Thank you for the info 🙌🏻

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Ketamean said:

I don't think that is entirely accurate. From what I understand, people in full time(before Jan) can request to be put on part-time and people in part time can move up to full time(pending someone turns down the offer from Pitt). Dean said last year only 2 of the original 20 stayed part time. 
 

That's funny about people who were denied being offered a slot, especially since they reiterated they have no wait list, and with such a large class I foresee some interesting things happening! Excitement all around though.

I think the reason why the initially denied people were offered a spot last year is because Pitt was granted an expansion to their class size and it opened up additional seats for people. I definitely sense some more interesting things happening this cycle as well! Stay hopeful everyone!

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Specializes in ICU Resource-all specialties.

Can anyone offer any insight on my application compared to theirs if they received an offer to interview and/or a seat in the program?  I was genuinely surprised I did not get offered an interview.

10+ years all ICU experience- All specialties: CTICU, Level 1 trauma, Neuro, transplant, etc. 2 different ICU float pools working in these specialties at level 1 systems. CCRN. 

Charge, preceptor, CRRT, IABP, Impella, EVD

Practice council/Charge RN project obtaining unit AACN silver beacon award. Additional project/presentation within practice council 

Involved in unit pharmacy alcohol withdrawal protocol research study (not published)

Cumulative GPA 3.53/Science GPA 3.9 

3 really solid letters of recommendation including high ranking nurse military officer and Pitt CRNA alum I worked with for years as RN.  

Cons:  Out of school since 2014, no academics since graduation other than obtaining CCRN.  No community service, no published research. Essay was lengthy at 5.75 pages 1.5 spacing.  

 

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PrecedexterMorgan said:

Can anyone offer any insight on my application compared to theirs if they received an offer to interview and/or a seat in the program?  I was genuinely surprised I did not get offered an interview.

10+ years all ICU experience- All specialties: CTICU, Level 1 trauma, Neuro, transplant, etc. 2 different ICU float pools working in these specialties at level 1 systems. CCRN. 

Charge, preceptor, CRRT, IABP, Impella, EVD

Practice council/Charge RN project obtaining unit AACN silver beacon award. Additional project/presentation within practice council 

Involved in unit pharmacy alcohol withdrawal protocol research study (not published)

Cumulative GPA 3.53/Science GPA 3.9 

3 really solid letters of recommendation including high ranking nurse military officer and Pitt CRNA alum I worked with for years as RN.  

Cons:  Out of school since 2014, no academics since graduation other than obtaining CCRN.  No community service, no published research. Essay was lengthy at 5.75 pages 1.5 spacing.  

Your stats seem amazing. Not sure how they rank people and why you didn't get offered an interview. Not sure how true this is but I've heard that they really look at personal statement. I only made mine 2-3 pages so that they wouldn't get bored while reading. 

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jsxicu187 said:
PrecedexterMorgan said:

Can anyone offer any insight on my application compared to theirs if they received an offer to interview and/or a seat in the program?  I was genuinely surprised I did not get offered an interview.

10+ years all ICU experience- All specialties: CTICU, Level 1 trauma, Neuro, transplant, etc. 2 different ICU float pools working in these specialties at level 1 systems. CCRN. 

Charge, preceptor, CRRT, IABP, Impella, EVD

Practice council/Charge RN project obtaining unit AACN silver beacon award. Additional project/presentation within practice council 

Involved in unit pharmacy alcohol withdrawal protocol research study (not published)

Cumulative GPA 3.53/Science GPA 3.9 

3 really solid letters of recommendation including high ranking nurse military officer and Pitt CRNA alum I worked with for years as RN.  

Cons:  Out of school since 2014, no academics since graduation other than obtaining CCRN.  No community service, no published research. Essay was lengthy at 5.75 pages 1.5 spacing.  

Your stats seem amazing. Not sure how they rank people and why you didn't get offered an interview. Not sure how true this is but I've heard that they really look at personal statement. I only made mine 2-3 pages so that they wouldn't get bored while reading. 

Those stats are very impressive! I also made mine single spaced 2 pages so they wouldn't get bored with my essay. I recently redid a lot of my courses in 2020 also so that the GPA was more competitive and I could show that I can still do well taking college courses well into adulthood.

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Specializes in CTICU/Flight ICU.
PrecedexterMorgan said:

Can anyone offer any insight on my application compared to theirs if they received an offer to interview and/or a seat in the program?  I was genuinely surprised I did not get offered an interview.

10+ years all ICU experience- All specialties: CTICU, Level 1 trauma, Neuro, transplant, etc. 2 different ICU float pools working in these specialties at level 1 systems. CCRN. 

Charge, preceptor, CRRT, IABP, Impella, EVD

Practice council/Charge RN project obtaining unit AACN silver beacon award. Additional project/presentation within practice council 

Involved in unit pharmacy alcohol withdrawal protocol research study (not published)

Cumulative GPA 3.53/Science GPA 3.9 

3 really solid letters of recommendation including high ranking nurse military officer and Pitt CRNA alum I worked with for years as RN.  

Cons:  Out of school since 2014, no academics since graduation other than obtaining CCRN.  No community service, no published research. Essay was lengthy at 5.75 pages 1.5 spacing.  

 

Yeah, brother, your package seems rock solid. I am surprised that you didn't receive an interview and didn't identify any areas for improvement. An off-hand thing I did hear from Dr. Goode was about the essay not really hitting the questions being asked. 

But I see you getting into a program. Have you interviewed anywhere else?

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Specializes in CTICU/Flight ICU.
PinoyRN12 said:

Does it mean that those who didn't get an invite are obviously rejected?

I would say yeah, since they have a pool of applicants already interviewed(180/550 apps). If they needed more bodies for the program, I'd reckon they'd pull from there.

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Specializes in CTICU.
PrecedexterMorgan said:

Can anyone offer any insight on my application compared to theirs if they received an offer to interview and/or a seat in the program?  I was genuinely surprised I did not get offered an interview.

10+ years all ICU experience- All specialties: CTICU, Level 1 trauma, Neuro, transplant, etc. 2 different ICU float pools working in these specialties at level 1 systems. CCRN. 

Charge, preceptor, CRRT, IABP, Impella, EVD

Practice council/Charge RN project obtaining unit AACN silver beacon award. Additional project/presentation within practice council 

Involved in unit pharmacy alcohol withdrawal protocol research study (not published)

Cumulative GPA 3.53/Science GPA 3.9 

3 really solid letters of recommendation including high ranking nurse military officer and Pitt CRNA alum I worked with for years as RN.  

Cons:  Out of school since 2014, no academics since graduation other than obtaining CCRN.  No community service, no published research. Essay was lengthy at 5.75 pages 1.5 spacing.  

 

I think what might be hurting you is how long it's been since you have been out of school. Your GPA is good but if it's been a decade since you took a class, it may make some schools hesitant to give you an interview. It might help to take a science or statistics class so they can have a more recent grade on file. I remember they also said in their info session they wanted those personal statements to be on the shorter side so maybe that as well! 

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Hannaheas said:

I think what might be hurting you is how long it's been since you have been out of school. Your GPA is good but if it's been a decade since you took a class, it may make some schools hesitant to give you an interview. It might help to take a science or statistics class so they can have a more recent grade on file. I remember they also said in their info session they wanted those personal statements to be on the shorter side so maybe that as well! 

According to a friend of mine currently in the program, age or "many" years of experience likely are the culprit... There are military friendlier schools. 

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Specializes in CTICU.
Ginge said:

According to a friend of mine currently in the program, age or "many" years of experience likely are the culprit... There are military friendlier schools. 

I think depending on the program, how long you have been out of school and your years of experience can be a negative if it's greater than 5 years. Some schools want that sweet spot of 3-5 so not too far out from school but some experience under your belt. 

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