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New information as of Oct. 2013: Applicants will be required to submit digital scans of transcripts for all post-high school academic work. Applicants do not need to provide official paper or digital transcripts during the admissions process. However, all applicants who are admitted and who accept Pitt’s offer of admission will be required to submit certified transcripts and translations of all undergraduate and graduate study prior to matriculation (that is, before enrollment in autumn 2017).
Personal Statement:
Two to three pages in length, single-spaced.
For MFA applicants, your statement of purpose should tell us about yourself and what brought you to this program. Why did you choose the University of Pittsburgh's MFA program? What do you expect from your time in the program? What are your aspirations as a writer?
In addition to these sorts of questions, MA and PhD applicants should also highlight your sense of direction and some of the field conversations that you might be entereing.
Recommendation Letter:
Three recommendations must be provided by faculty members or others who can write about your suitability for graduate study in the degree program to which you are applying. The ApplyYourself site will ask you to submit contact information, including email addresses, for your recommenders, and the recommenders will be contacted electronically and asked to upload letters of recommendation. These letters can be submitted prior the the submission of the application itself.
It is your responsibility to be sure that letters of recommendation are submitted by December 10, 2017 (MA and PhD applicants) or by January 7, 2018 (MFA applicants). Sometimes, messages sent to recommenders by ApplyYourself® have been lost in spam filters. Please contact your recommenders to be sure they have received the email prompts from ApplyYourself and to be sure they have submitted their letters.
If it is impossible for a recommender to submit a letter electronically, you may download a Recommendation Form from the ApplyYourself® site, fill out the portion that you must sign, and convey it to your recommender. Hard copy letters of recommendation MUST be accompanied by the ApplyYourself® recommendation form and must be received by December 10, 2017 (MA and PhD applicants) or by January 7, 2018 (MFA applicants).
Writing Sample:
Writing samples should ordinarily be submitted through ApplyYourself®.
MA and PHD applicants
The writing sample should be a critical or interpretive essay of approximately 20 pages.
MFA Applicants
The writing sample should consist of published or unpublished work in the genre for which you are applying (fiction, nonfiction, or poetry). For fiction and nonfiction applicants, the sample should be approximately 25 pages, and for poetry applicants, approximately 20 pages.