University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) supplemental essays
Yes, but every one is optional. University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) prints one supplemental essay in 2026-27 and requires none of them. Common App. Personal statement optional (250-650 words).
That is one supplement plus the Common App personal statement: at most two pieces of writing in all. The application closes April 1, 2027 (Rolling). Every University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) prompt is printed on this page in full, with its word limit and who has to answer it, checked against the college’s own admissions page.
Deadlines
| Round | Date |
|---|---|
| Application deadline | April 1, 2027 (Rolling) |
Checked against admissions.pitt.edu/personal-statement. Confirm on the college’s own page before you submit.
The essays, 2026-27
Optional
Pitt asks for a personal statement rather than set supplemental prompts. Submission of a personal statement or the Common Application essay is required for scholarship consideration, Frederick Honors College consideration, international students, or those applying test-optional. Pitt gives no length requirement: applicants are told to submit anything that helps tell their story, being mindful and thoughtful about the quantity and quality of information shared, and to share information not included elsewhere in the application.
Pitt does not publish short-answer prompts before you apply, and publishes NO word limit. Bring your own prompt into the review flow.
Your University of Pittsburgh checklist
One supplement, optional. The application deadline is April 1, 2027 (Rolling).
- Common App personal statementOptional250-650 words
- SupplementOptional
It saves these rows to your essay manager, where each one carries a status you set yourself and the prompt stays attached to it. Add your other schools and they land on the same page, in deadline order. Nothing written yet? The topic quiz is free as well.
Free: this page, the checklist, the essay manager and the topic quiz. Paid: a written review of a finished draft, $49 an essay.
Paste your essay for a free read
Have it in a document? or drop one here (Word, PDF, or Text).
Not sure what a review is? What an AI college essay review can and cannot do, and what a college essay grader leaves out. What the read checks against University of Pittsburgh (Pitt)’s own prompts is on the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) essay review page.
Getting into University of Pittsburgh (Pitt)
University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) admits 58.1% of applicants. The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 1280-1460 on the SAT and 29-33 on the ACT.
About 6 in 10 applicants are admitted, at a college of 20,370 undergraduates.
| Enrolled students | 25th | Median | 75th |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAT total | 1280 | 1360 | 1460 |
| SAT reading and writing | 640 | 680 | 720 |
| SAT math | 640 | 680 | 740 |
| ACT composite | 29 | 31 | 33 |
What SAT score do you need for University of Pittsburgh (Pitt)?
A 1460 puts you in the top quarter of the students who enrolled, a 1360 at their midpoint, and a 1280 at the bottom quarter, meaning one in four enrolled students scored below it. The same three points on the ACT are 29, 31 and 33. A quarter of an enrolled class scoring under the 25th percentile is not a rounding error, so a score below the range is a reason to strengthen the rest of the application rather than a reason not to apply.
US Department of Education, College Scorecard (2026-09-17). Percentiles describe students who enrolled, not everyone admitted. SAT totals are the reading and math bands added together, which is how every source in this market reports them and is an approximation of about 10 to 20 points, because the two sections are correlated.
- What SAT score do you need for University of Pittsburgh (Pitt)?
- University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) sets no minimum. Among students who enrolled, the middle 50% scored 1280-1460 on the SAT: a 1280 sits at the 25th percentile, 1360 at the median and 1460 at the 75th. A score at or above 1460 is a clear strength in the application; below 1280 it is the part of the file the rest has to make up for. These are the figures University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) reports to the US Department of Education, released in the College Scorecard of 2026-09-17.
- What ACT score do you need for University of Pittsburgh (Pitt)?
- The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 29-33 on the ACT, with a composite of 31 at the median. There is no cutoff: a quarter of the enrolled class scored below 29. Reported by University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) to the US Department of Education, College Scorecard release of 2026-09-17.
- What GPA do you need for University of Pittsburgh (Pitt)?
- The honest answer is that the federal data behind this page does not contain one. Colleges report their admit rate and their enrolled students' test scores to the Department of Education; they do not report a GPA distribution, so any site quoting an exact average GPA for University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is either reading that college's own Common Data Set or estimating. What the reported data does say is that University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) admits 58.1% of applicants, and the more selective a college is, the closer to the top of the class its admitted students sit and the more the strength of your course load counts alongside the number itself.
- How hard is it to get into University of Pittsburgh (Pitt)?
- University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) admits 58.1% of the people who apply, which is about 6 in 10 applicants. Numbers inside the reported range put you in a real position here, and the application itself decides the rest.
What University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) costs after grant aid, by family income, from the same federal data.
Sort your whole college list into reaches, targets and likelies, or find colleges that fit your GPA and test scores. Both are free and neither needs an account.
University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) essay questions, answered
- Does University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) have supplemental essays?
- Yes, but every one is optional. University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) prints one supplemental essay in 2026-27 and requires none of them. Every prompt is printed in full on this page.
- How many essays do you write for University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) in 2026-27?
- One supplement, plus the Common App personal statement if you choose to send it.
Schools with similar admit rates
University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) admits 58.1% of applicants. The colleges either side of it in our set by admit rate, most selective first, each with its own prompts and deadlines: Sewanee: The University of the South (56.9%), DePauw University (57.2%), Texas A&M University (57.4%), Rutgers University–New Brunswick (58.1%), Fordham University (59.3%), College of Wooster (59.5%).