<p>D applied to Pitt today. I'm excited; I'm not sure about her. ;)</p>
<p>Why shouldn't she be excited?</p>
<p>It's far away from home. She's so busy with summer homework and everything else that college applications are just one more thing on her to-do list. I think Pitt is a good choice for her. She wants to study Creative Writing and we've heard Pitt is really strong. </p>
<p>Emi, you got a scholarship, right? Can you tell me more about it?</p>
<p>That's funny because I always thought Pitt was too close to home and I live four hrs away! </p>
<p>But it's good she applied early. Applying early increases your chances of getting a scholarship. </p>
<p>Well, I'm in bioengineering. I received a full tuition scholarship from the honors college (It's called the Honors Challenge, or something of that nature) and a $4000/yr scholarship from the engineering school. For the honors scholarship, and most of the other big scholarships from Pitt, you need to maintain a 3.0 GPA. I've talked to one girl who received another type of scholarship and gets admittance to the med school, but she has to maintain a 3.3, but I don't know if this is for the scholarship or just so she can get into the med school...</p>
<p>They also have this $500 book award if you sign up to got to Pitt before the May 1st deadline :D </p>
<p>I hope your daughter falls in love with Pitt like I have. I actually wasn't excited about going either because my head was still in the clouds about Ivy League schools and Pitt was actually a semi-safety. But I'm so glad that I did, because once I looked into it I found that it was a perfect fit. And they seem to give you get a lot more individual attention (at least from my viewpoint as an engineering student), even though its a big school.</p>
<p>Well we're sure hoping for a scholarship, we won't be able to afford it otherwise. Her stats are really strong so we're cautiously optimistic. We live in Washington State, so it's a super long way from home. We haven't traveled much so she's nervous about anything that's not on he west coast. And of course, only two of the schools on her list are west coast. She's getting used to the idea, though, and did tell me yesterday that she's getting excited to go away to college. I'm hoping she ends up at a school that expands her comfort zone a lot!</p>
<p>Thanks for mentioning that book scholarship, I hadn't seen it.</p>
<p>Yeah, the book scholarship was just a little something they threw in to reel you into the school. BTW, they send you oodles of t-shirts ;)</p>
<p>I loved that they sent us an application fee waiver just for inquiring about the school. I'm into free stuff so t-shirts are good, too!</p>
<p>My D just visited and did the preliminary application. She's interested in Nursing which seems great from the tour but also seems so hard to get in to. Are the student welcoming to out of towners ? She is also kind of quite and not a party type.....will she finds others who don't party too much ? Is the city safe at night ?</p>
<p>The majority of kids on campus are in-state, but there is a large out of state population as well. I move in tomorrow, but I have already gone through orientation, visiting the campus, and talking with my classmates online. Everyone is super friendly, in-state or not. </p>
<p>Pitt is a big school, and you can always find people of similar interests. I am also not the "party type" and there are actually a good number of kids who aren't. I was quite surprised to find that there were other students who held the same interests. Not everyone likes to party, so she should have no problem finding kids who are the same way.</p>
<p>As far as safety goes, I know that Pitt has emergency call phones all around campus. Also, I believe they have officers patrolling. But for the most part it's safe, but it IS a city, so you can't let your guard down. No major incidents have happened (unless they have been lying to me).</p>
<p>Do you know if they actively look for out-of-state students or give preference to in-state ?</p>
<p>I'm not sure- 25% of the students are out of state. It's a public university, so I don't know if they are required to admit a certain amount of in-state students like some public universities do. I can't be certain that me being out of state was a factor is my admission, but I have heard that over the years Pitt's OOS population has been increasing.</p>
<p>Motherof2girls: I grew up in NYC and didn't experience any issues there. I would advise to follow the same precautions as you would in NY or any other city. </p>
<p>It seems like Pitt is trying to diversify their student population with scholarship offers to OOS students. I believe it is working as it is pulling in students who normally might not have attended especially with the huge difference in the OOS tuition.</p>
<p>Its decently safe. There are more incidents than they might have mentioned, but if you have good situational awareness you will be ok!</p>
<p>My D is not really a party girl, either. I mean, she likes to have a good time, but she's very disciplined about not letting her social life interfere with "business." I'm just assuming that every large university will have a large contingent of serious students.</p>
<p>I know at U Washington, girls can request an escort from campus police if they need to go somewhere on campus at night (and Seattle is quite safe). Does Pitt have something like that?</p>
<p>There is a bus service called saferider. If you are in... I think its a 3 mile radius of campus, it comes and picks you up. If she is going to a house party in South Oakland or walking around late at night, I'd highly recommend OC Spray in the very least. Seriously. Ultimately, she is responsible for her safety. I see some questionable stuff going down sometimes in Oakland.</p>
<p>OC Spray ?</p>
<p>Pepper spray.</p>
<p>D is extremely cautious, almost timid. I'm trying to imagine her out at night by herself...no, can't do it. ;)</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone, for your input. It's hard to contemplate sending your child so far away to school and every tidbit of information is helpful.</p>