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Concorso di Ammissione Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa (Italy)

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Key Facts: Sant'Anna Admission Exam

78 places

Total collegiate positions (60 first-level / 18 second-level)

Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna Bando 2026/2027

€0 fee

Free application; TOLC fee reimbursable per call

Sant'Anna Admissions Office

7 / 10

Minimum qualifying score on each written test for orals

Concorso Ordinario Regulations

2 Classes

Social Sciences & Experimental and Applied Sciences

Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna Statute

2 Written + Oral

Official test format following TOLC preselection

Concorso Ordinario Call

100% Funded

Full tuition waiver, room, board, and research grants

Sant'Anna Student Services

The 2026/27 Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna Concorso Ordinario offers 78 places: 60 first-level or single-cycle and 18 second-level. Applicable routes use area-specific TOLC preselection except Medicine, followed by written and oral tests under the relevant call. Application is free, with TOLC reimbursement available under the stated conditions. This is an independent English-language multi-track MCQ adaptation.

Sample Sant'Anna Admission Practice Questions

Try these sample questions to review concepts for the Sant'Anna Admission exam. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.

1An economy produces only two goods: Capital Goods (K) and Consumer Goods (C). Its Production Possibility Frontier (PPF) is strictly concave to the origin. What happens to the marginal opportunity cost of producing consumer goods as the economy reallocates resources to produce more consumer goods?
A.The marginal opportunity cost remains constant because technology and total factor productivity are unchanged.
B.The marginal opportunity cost increases because productive resources are not perfectly adaptable across different industries.
C.The marginal opportunity cost decreases due to economies of scale in the consumer goods manufacturing sector.
D.The marginal opportunity cost is zero until all capital goods production ceases completely.
Explanation: A PPF is strictly concave to the origin precisely because of the law of increasing opportunity costs. As an economy shifts resources toward consumer goods, it must draw increasingly less adaptable resources away from capital goods, resulting in larger sacrifices of capital goods for each additional unit of consumer goods produced.
2A consumer with standard strictly convex, monotonic preferences maximizes utility subject to a linear budget constraint. At their optimal consumption bundle of two goods X and Y, which of the following conditions must hold if both goods are consumed in strictly positive quantities?
A.The total utility derived from good X must be equal to the total utility derived from good Y.
B.The consumer spends exactly fifty percent of their income on good X and fifty percent on good Y.
C.The marginal rate of substitution (MRS_xy) must equal the ratio of prices (Px / Py).
D.The marginal utility of good X must equal the price of good Y divided by the price of good X.
Explanation: At an interior utility-maximizing optimum with well-behaved preferences, the slope of the indifference curve (the marginal rate of substitution, MRS_xy = MUx / MUy) must equal the slope of the budget line (Px / Py). This tangency condition ensures that the consumer's subjective valuation equals the market trade-off.
3A profit-maximizing monopolist operates with constant marginal cost MC = 15. The price elasticity of demand for its product at the current output level is constant at epsilon = -2.5. According to the Lerner Index of monopoly power, what price will the monopolist set?
A.25
B.37.5
C.20
D.30
Explanation: The Lerner Index is given by L = (P - MC) / P = -1 / epsilon. Here, (P - 15) / P = 1 / 2.5 = 0.40. Solving for P: P - 15 = 0.40P, which yields 0.60P = 15, so P = 15 / 0.60 = 25.
4Two identical firms engage in Bertrand price competition with homogeneous products, unconstrained production capacities, and identical constant marginal costs MC = c. What is the unique Nash equilibrium in prices (p1*, p2*)?
A.Both firms charge the monopoly price and share total market profit equally.
B.Both firms set price equal to average fixed cost plus marginal cost.
C.One firm undercuts the other by setting price equal to zero while the other charges c.
D.Both firms set price equal to marginal cost (p1* = p2* = c), yielding zero economic profits.
Explanation: This result represents the classic Bertrand Paradox: with homogeneous goods and unconstrained capacity, any price above marginal cost invites the competing firm to slightly undercut and capture the entire market. The only stable Nash equilibrium where neither firm has an incentive to unilaterally deviate is p1* = p2* = MC = c, earning zero economic profit.
5In the standard Solow-Swan neoclassical growth model with population growth rate n, labor-augmenting technological progress rate g, and capital depreciation rate delta, what condition characterizes the 'Golden Rule' steady-state capital-labor ratio (k_gold)?
A.The marginal product of capital equals the population growth rate (MPK = n).
B.The savings rate equals 100% of total national output (s = 1).
C.The marginal product of capital equals the effective depreciation rate (MPK = n + g + delta).
D.The marginal product of capital equals zero (MPK = 0).
Explanation: The Golden Rule steady state maximizes steady-state consumption per effective worker c* = f(k*) - (n + g + delta)k*. Differentiating with respect to k* and setting the derivative to zero yields f'(k*) - (n + g + delta) = 0, which gives MPK = n + g + delta.
6In the short run, under what condition will a perfectly competitive firm decide to shut down its operations and produce zero output?
A.When the market price falls below the minimum of its Average Variable Cost (P < min AVC).
B.When the market price falls below the minimum of its Average Total Cost (P < min ATC).
C.When total revenue is strictly less than total fixed cost (TR < TFC).
D.When the marginal cost curve begins to slope upwards.
Explanation: In the short run, fixed costs are sunk. A firm will continue operating as long as total revenue covers variable costs (TR >= TVC, or P >= min AVC), contributing toward fixed costs. If P < min AVC, producing any output adds more to variable costs than to revenue, so the firm minimizes losses by shutting down completely.
7Suppose an economy is in a Keynesian liquidity trap, where nominal interest rates have reached the zero lower bound and the LM curve is horizontal. What is the impact of an expansionary fiscal policy (an increase in government purchases G)?
A.Fiscal policy is completely ineffective because interest rates rise sharply and fully crowd out private investment.
B.Fiscal policy exhibits its maximum multiplier effect because interest rates do not rise, resulting in zero crowding out.
C.The price level drops immediately due to Ricardian equivalence, rendering output completely unchanged.
D.Money demand collapses to zero, causing hyperinflation without any increase in real output.
Explanation: In a liquidity trap, the LM curve is horizontal because the demand for money is infinitely elastic with respect to the interest rate. A rightward shift of the IS curve driven by higher government spending increases equilibrium output without raising the interest rate, eliminating financial crowding out and allowing the full Keynesian multiplier to operate.
8In George Akerlof's foundational 1970 paper 'The Market for Lemons', what fundamental market failure arises from asymmetric information between buyers and sellers?
A.Moral hazard leads buyers to neglect proper vehicle maintenance after purchase.
B.Sellers form a cartel that enforces uniform monopoly pricing across all vehicle categories.
C.Adverse selection causes low-quality goods to drive high-quality goods out of the market.
D.Externalities generated by emissions cause the market quantity to exceed the socially optimal output.
Explanation: Akerlof demonstrated that when buyers cannot observe vehicle quality prior to purchase, they will only pay an average expected price based on the proportion of good cars ('peaches') and bad cars ('lemons'). Owners of high-quality vehicles find this average price too low and withdraw their cars, skewing the pool toward lower quality until the market potentially unravels completely through adverse selection.
9Under the classical Modigliani-Miller Theorem (Proposition I) in a world with perfect capital markets, no corporate or personal taxes, and no bankruptcy costs, how does a firm's capital structure (debt-to-equity ratio) affect its total market value?
A.Total firm value increases monotonically with debt because debt is cheaper than equity.
B.Total firm value decreases with debt because bondholders demand higher risk premiums.
C.Total firm value is maximized when the debt-to-equity ratio is exactly 1:1.
D.Total firm value is completely independent of its capital structure.
Explanation: Modigliani-Miller Proposition I states that the market value of a firm is determined solely by the earning power of its real assets and investment policy, not by how it carves up cash flows between debt and equity. In frictionless capital markets, investors can replicate or undo any corporate leverage using homemade leverage.
10According to the Stolper-Samuelson Theorem in neoclassical trade theory (2 goods, 2 factors: Labor and Capital), what happens to the real returns of domestic factors when a country opens to trade and the relative price of the labor-intensive good increases?
A.Both labor and capital experience identical increases in their real factor returns.
B.The real wage of labor unambiguously rises, while the real rental rate of capital unambiguously falls.
C.The real return to capital rises, while the real wage of labor falls due to foreign competition.
D.Real factor returns remain strictly unchanged because factor price equalization occurs instantaneously.
Explanation: The Stolper-Samuelson Theorem establishes a magnified effect of product price changes on factor prices: an increase in the relative price of the labor-intensive good causes the real wage of labor to increase in terms of both goods, while the real rental rate of capital unambiguously declines.

About the Sant'Anna Admission Exam

The Concorso Ordinario di Ammissione at Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa is one of Italy's most prestigious and rigorous university entrance competitions, awarding fully funded collegiate places (including tuition, room, board, and research grants) across two Academic Classes: Social Sciences (Economics & Management, Law, and Political Science) and Experimental & Applied Sciences (Engineering, Mathematics, Agricultural Sciences & Biotechnology, and Medicine). Admission is determined through track-specific CISIA TOLC preselection (waived for Medicine), followed by two in-depth written examinations (open essays or rigorous mathematical/scientific problem solving) and an extensive oral colloquium. This practice question bank is an independent educational prep resource created by OpenExamPrep. It adapts underlying syllabus concepts across economics, law, political science, mathematics, physics, biology, and chemistry into English-language four-option multiple-choice questions. It is not an official examination paper, simulation, or authorized translation, and OpenExamPrep is not affiliated with or endorsed by Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna or CISIA.

Exam sponsor: Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento. The requirements and fees below concern the certification or admission exam, separate from our free practice resources.

Assessment

The 2026/27 ordinary competition offers 78 places across first-level, single-cycle, and second-level routes. Area-specific published programs govern TOLC preselection (except Medicine), written tests, and oral tests. Timing, thresholds, and eligibility differ by route and must be read from the applicable call. This bank is an independent English-language multi-track MCQ adaptation and does not simulate essays, proofs, practical work, or oral performance.

Time Limit

Varies by academic area and annual call

Passing Score

Competitive ranking: minimum 7/10 or equivalent statutory threshold in each written test to qualify for orals, with final selection based on aggregate merit ranking for 78 places

Exam / Certification Fees

Free (€0 application fee; TOLC costs eligible for reimbursement per annual call)

Exam sponsor website

Fees, eligibility, and exam policies can change. Confirm them with the exam sponsor before applying or paying.

Our practice resources: topics covered

We aim to reflect publicly available exam outlines and topic information in our study resources. Coverage, format, and difficulty may differ from the actual exam, and we cannot guarantee that every detail is accurate or current. Confirm exam requirements, fees, and policies with the official exam sponsor.

18%

Social Sciences: Economics & Management

Microeconomic theory, consumer behavior, market structures, game theory, macroeconomic equilibria, monetary and fiscal policy, growth models, and business fundamentals

16%

Social Sciences: Law & Jurisprudence

Italian constitutional law, sources of law, European Union legal order, fundamental rights, civil obligations, contract law, and tort liability

16%

Social Sciences: Political Science & International Relations

Political theory, democratic regimes, electoral systems, comparative politics, international relations theories, European integration, and global governance

16%

Experimental Sciences: Mathematics & Computing

Single- and multivariable calculus, linear algebra, discrete mathematics, combinatorics, probability theory, differential equations, and algorithmic problem-solving

14%

Experimental Sciences: Physics & Engineering Fundamentals

Classical mechanics, rotational dynamics, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, electromagnetism, wave optics, and foundational circuit analysis

12%

Experimental Sciences: Biology & Biotechnology

Molecular biology, genetics, cellular physiology, plant biotechnology, immunology, biochemistry, and biomedical sciences

8%

Experimental Sciences: Chemistry

Stoichiometry, chemical thermodynamics, reaction kinetics, chemical equilibrium, acid-base systems, electrochemistry, and basic organic mechanisms

Preparing for the Sant'Anna Admission Exam

What You Need to Know

  • Passing score: Competitive ranking: minimum 7/10 or equivalent statutory threshold in each written test to qualify for orals, with final selection based on aggregate merit ranking for 78 places
  • Assessment: The 2026/27 ordinary competition offers 78 places across first-level, single-cycle, and second-level routes. Area-specific published programs govern TOLC preselection (except Medicine), written tests, and oral tests. Timing, thresholds, and eligibility differ by route and must be read from the applicable call. This bank is an independent English-language multi-track MCQ adaptation and does not simulate essays, proofs, practical work, or oral performance.
  • Time limit: Varies by academic area and annual call
  • Exam / certification fees: Free (€0 application fee; TOLC costs eligible for reimbursement per annual call) Official sources

Using Our Practice Resources

  • Work through all 100 available questions
  • Review every answer and explanation
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Sant'Anna Admission: Suggested Study Strategy

1Master fundamental theoretical principles: the Sant'Anna competition tests deep conceptual insight, rigor, and the ability to formulate original arguments rather than rote formula memorization.
2For Social Sciences candidates: build interdisciplinary fluency bridging microeconomics, macroeconomic policy, constitutional doctrine, European Union institutional dynamics, and political theory.
3For Experimental Sciences candidates: practice multi-step mathematical derivations, physical problem-solving from first principles, and quantitative chemistry and biological mechanisms with genuine calculations.
4Prepare for oral defense: in the official competition, oral colloquia rigorously explore your written test solutions, critical thinking, methodological soundness, and motivation for advanced collegiate research.
5Review the official syllabus and annual call published on santannapisa.it to verify exact track-specific written test topics and TOLC preselection cutoff dates.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna and what is the Concorso Ordinario?

Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna is a public university institution of special status (Scuola Universitaria Superiore ad ordinamento speciale) located in Pisa, Italy. The Concorso Ordinario is its annual competitive entrance examination that admits students concurrently enrolled at the University of Pisa, providing free tuition, collegiate accommodation, dining, specialized internal honors courses, and research mentoring.

How many places are available in the 2026/2027 Concorso Ordinario?

The competition offers a total of 78 places: 60 places for first-level and single-cycle degree students (I livello and ciclo unico) and 18 places for second-level master's students (II livello), distributed across the Social Sciences and Experimental Sciences classes.

What is the examination structure of the official competition?

Eligible applicants first complete track-specific CISIA TOLC preselection (except for Medicine). Qualified candidates sit for two written examinations consisting of analytical essays, mathematical proofs, or multi-step problem solving in their chosen disciplinary track. Candidates achieving at least 7/10 on each written test advance to oral colloquia before faculty commissions.

Are there any application or examination fees?

No. Participation in the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna admission competition is completely free of charge (€0 application fee). Furthermore, per the annual call, candidates may request reimbursement for the CISIA TOLC preselection test registration fee.

What language is used in the official examination and how does this question bank relate to it?

The official written tests and oral colloquia are conducted primarily in Italian (officialLanguages: ['it']), with possibilities for international students as specified in the annual call. This question bank is an independent English-language multiple-choice adaptation designed to help candidates review foundational conceptual knowledge across all tested tracks. It is not an official translation, past paper, or simulation of the actual written essay and oral examination format.