I looked into Pitt a lot and I love everything about the school, but I have no time to visit it because it’s 5 hours away. I liked schools such as Drexel and Temple a lot, so is Pitt’s Campus somewhat comparable to these campuses? I really want to make my tuition deposit now, but whats stopping me is not having visited yet. Do you think the visit is absolutely necessary? I have loved every school that I have visited, so i don’t think it really makes a difference, but some people think otherwise. I received the best financial package to pitt, so I want to go there either way, and I would love to have some piece of mind by being committed to a school. Could anyone tell me whether they think a visit is necessary or tell me a little about the campus?
Hi @kat415 - We’ve been to Drexel, but not Temple. A visit is always a good idea, but if you can’t go, take the time to look at pictures and videos online.
Personally, we think the Pitt campus and Pittsburgh in general are great. It’s not quite as urban and congested as Philly - it’s more affordable, very liveable and lots to do. We’ve visited 3 times in 6 months, and loved it more each time. If you loved every school you visited, I think you will love Pitt too. And with a great scholarship, you really can’t go wrong!
Pitt is also very urban, not dissimilar to Drexel and Temple, with the campus bisected by commercial streets and blending into the neighborhood to the point where there are not distinct borders between the school and the city. However, Pitt has much more green space than either of those campuses, and is adjacent to a large, wooded, city park (Schenley Park). It has much nicer buildings, architecture, and facilities than either of those schools. The neighborhood (Oakland) is also home to more of the city’s main cultural amenities than the neighborhoods of those Philly schools, as Pittsburgh’s major art and natural history museums, conservatory, and the main branch of the city library are located adjacent to campus (and all free to access for Pitt students). It also adjacent to Carnegie Mellon University and Carlow University, so it is a major hub of college student life (not dissimilar to West Philly, e.g. University City, where Drexel is located next to Penn). Oakland is Pittsburgh’s second downtown (and the third densest area in Pennsylvania after Philly’s and Pittsburgh’s downtowns, and it is easy to get to the main downtown area of Pittsburgh which is about 2 miles away by public transportation (also free for students).
Also, you can use Google street view to get a sense of it (zip code 15213…look for the areas around the main buildings…there are three campus areas: lower (Cathedral of Learning, Schenley Plaza area), mid (Benedum Hall, Chevron Science Center, medical center), and upper (Petersen Events Center, Sutherland Hall, Panther Hall, Trees Hall, etc) crammed together on less than 150 acres…so it is very easy to walk from place to place…with the note that the upper campus is “upper” because it is on a hillside.
I would encourage you to check out #MyDayatPitt on Twitter and Instagram. A group of current students (who work for our office) post about life at Pitt using that hashtag.