School of Information Sciences

Admissions: FAQ

Admissions Questions

Deadlines and Rolling Admissions

All priority deadlines are available on our Admissions web page. Because we have rolling admissions, you may certainly submit your application at any time, but preference is given to those who honor the stated deadline. Please note: you must submit your application by the stated deadline to be considered for financial assistance from our School.

If we do not have enough time to process your application for the term indicated on your application and you are otherwise admissible, we may offer you admission to the next available entry term.

Additional Deadlines for International Students

For timely immigration document processing, these deadlines must also be followed: http://www.ischool.pitt.edu/admissions/index.php#deadlines.

Financial Assistance Questions

Deadlines

While we accept applications to our degree programs on a rolling basis, you must submit your application by January 15th to be considered for financial support from the School of Information Sciences (other financial aid sources have different deadlines). In addition, please include the following items in your application BEFORE submitting:

Please confirm with your recommenders that they will submit their recommendations to us by January 15th.

Notifications

All applicants are informed of funding decisions via email and/or letter; this communication will be separate from your offer of admission. Each funding source has a separate review processes and notifications from each may be communicated separately. Please note: Notifications regarding financial support may be received several months after the admissions decision.

Additional Information

For more information, please visit the following websites:

Financial Planning for Your Education
Tuition Rates
Federal and External (non-iSchool) financial aid information

Application Materials Questions

Application materials checklist >

Transcripts

We need you to upload legibile proof (resolution of 200 dpi or greater, see upload instructions for details) of all of your prior academic studies as part of your application, along with your performance and whether or not you obtained official degrees from your studies. Specifically:

Please note: You are not required to submit an official copy of your transcripts on paper at this time. If you are admitted to our School and accept our offer, you will then be required to submit an OFFICIAL copy of your transcripts from EACH institution at which you studied (including those where you did not earn a degree). Any differences that indicate falsification of your record will be grounds for revocation of your admission.

When do I send my official transcripts?

If you are admitted to SIS and decide to enroll, you will then be required to submit an official (paper or electronic) copy of your transcript(s) issued by the institution(s).  If these degrees were obtained in the U.S., then you will need to request that an official transcript be sent to us directly from the institution (typically these are issued by your university Registrar’s Office).  If the degrees are from other countries that only issue one formal copy or only issue transcripts to you directly, then you will need to bring the originals with you to campus so we can verify the original transcripts and make our own copies on-site.  In either case, you will need to provide transcripts from ALL institutions at which you studied (both those from which you obtained degrees and any other places of study) in order to finalize your admittance to the school. The official records that you submit must exactly match the scanned copies that you upload at the time of application. Any discrepancies between the two documents, or falsification of your record, will be grounds for revocation of admission.

Recommendation Letters

Even after you submit your application, recommendation letter information can be edited. To do this, please log in to the ApplyYourself website, click on the “View Application” button, then the “Recommendations” link on the left navigation bar and click on "Recommendation Provider List" button.  Once your recommender submits her/his letter, however, you can no longer edit the information for that recommender.

Standardized Test Scores

In order to expedite the processing of your application, please report all of your standardized test scores by indicating your scores and uploading legible copies of the official score reports you received (resolution of 200 dpi or greater) as part of your online application. GRE or equivalent scores are accepted if taken within the past 5 years for most of our programs (3 years for the LIS PhD program), and TOEFL or IELTS must have been taken within the past 2 years.

While we review scores at all levels for GRE or equivalent, University policy dictates that international students must be above a minimum score level on TOEFL or IELTS to be eligible for admission. Please see this page for further details.

Official test scores MUST also be submitted directly to the University of Pittsburgh (see below). Failure to submit your official scores will result in an inability to register for classes in your first semester. Any discrepancies between what you self-submit along with your application and the official scores Pitt receives will be grounds for your offer of admission to be canceled.

TOEFL & GRE Codes
TOEFL:  University of Pittsburgh (2927)
            Department Code (90)

GRE:     University of Pittsburgh (2927)
            LIS Program (4701)
            IS & Tele Programs (0404)

For those programs that accept GMAT, MAT, LSAT, and MCAT, please contact those organzitions and request that scores be sent to our Admissions Coordinator:

Ninette Kay, Admissions Coordinator
University of Pittsburgh
Information Science Building, 5th Floor
135 N Bellefield Ave
Pittsburgh PA 15260

Changes to Submitted Applications

Please email any new/updated test scores or changes to your resume and/or statement of intent to sciadmit@pitt.edu. We cannot guarantee that your changes will be considered during the review of your application, but the sooner you provide us with updates, the more likely it is that they will be considered.

Application Processing Time

During our peak admissions periods, processing your full application may take between 4-8 weeks. During non-peak times, the processing may occur as quickly as 2-4 weeks.

Application Status

Your application is considered to be "complete" once we indicate that we have received your application fee, recommendations, legible transcripts and test scores.

We encourage you to monitor the status of your application review by logging in to the ApplyYourself system.

Communications to applicants from the School

Important communications from the School, including the outcome of our admissions decisions regarding your application, will be sent to the email you used to register for ApplyYourself. Please be sure to check that email addressregularly for important updates and information.

International Students: Supplemental Forms

In order for your student visa document (Form I-20 or DS-2019) to be issued in time for your studies, you will need to provide additional financial information directly to the Office of International Services (OIS) at the University of Pittsburgh. Deadlines and supplemental forms (available for download) are available on our Admissions web page.

Evaluation of International Degree Transcripts

All degrees obtained outside of the U.S. will be evaluated for equivalency to U.S. educational standards by the iSchool/University of Pittsburgh. Therefore, all international applicants must provide an official English-language translation of all pertinent transcripts. In a small number of cases, the Admissions Committee may be unfamiliar with the university from which you graduated.  In such cases, the committe reserves the right to request an external review of your transcript, the cost of which is the responsibility of the applicant. Please visit this site for more information.

Student Research

At the iSchool, you will have the chance to participate in research projects funded by the NSF, DARPA, ARO, and IMLS.