Ask a Pitt Student

<p>Hey guys, I just finished my freshman year in the college of business administration at Pitt. If anyone has any questions they want to ask, go right ahead!</p>

<p>Hey Jethro, just wanted to welcome you to the Pitt forum. I see you transferred to Pitt from NC State. How did you like your first year at Pitt?</p>

<p>I love pitt. After spending a semester at NC State and not really liking it at all, I transferred to Pitt with hopes to experience college to the fullest, and I got that plus more. Its a great place to meet people, and I advice ALL incoming freshman to live in Tower B of the Litchfield Towers. You will talk about your experience living there for the rest of college, without a doubt, and you will meet people on your floor that you will become best friends with.</p>

<p>Hi, Jethro! Can you tell me what activities go on in the evenings and on weekends? How would you describe the student population? Thanks!</p>

<p>Theres always something to do on weekends. If the party scene isn't for you, there are definitely people in the same boat that you can find and hang out with. The weekends are definitely "bumpin" on Forbes...there are tons of people still outside at three in the morning. Just don't be stupid and walk alone into south oakland, for obvious reasons. Be smart.</p>

<p>The evenings are nice, for me I had classes until 6, and every tuesday class until 9. If you live in Towers like I did, students will be awake to hang out with if you do not have any work to do, or if you are tired you can go to sleep with little problems from students being loud on the floor. Its really the best of both worlds. </p>

<p>I'd tell you to join some sort of club. I joined a fraternity and absolutely love it. It isn't for everyone though, but you definitely can find a club or organization that will fit you.</p>

<p>Hi Jethro. Nice to see you are enjoying college life. Truly one of the best times. My son is very interested in studying business. We have been looking mostly at some of the school along the coast, GW, UVa., UMd, Penn St., Lehigh....but I started reading a bit and noticed a fair amount of kids have been applying to UPitts. I was wondering what you thought overall of the business program, professors, etc...; whether Pittsb. attracts recruiter ( may be an unfair question since you only started there; what attracted you to Pitts.; and how you like Pitts. itself ?? ( My son has decent stats, 4.6(w), 15 of 575, 1430 / 2140 SAT...). Does Pitts. also by any chance award any merit scholarships since he would be coming from out of state ( NJ ) ?? Thanks. Best of luck to you. Have a great summer. Marc</p>

<p>MBJ, maybe I can answer your questions?</p>

<p>Pitt's business program ranks right up there with all of the schools you have listed (except probably UVa, which is one of the top 10 programs in the country.) And Pitt has much smaller class sizes. The College of Business Adminstration is located in beautiful new Sennott Square. The school was one of the first in the country to be designated an International Business Center, which makes it a focus for international business research, curriculum development, and exchange programs. The faculty is top-notch. Dr. Pil actually just won the Sloan Industry Studies Best Book Award, a very prestigious award. Pitt attracts recruiters from all over the country and the world. And the city of Pittsburgh offers limitless opportunities for corporate connections and internships. Pitt offers quite a bit of merit aid, although New Jersey is a pretty common state for applicants, so that probably won't be much of an advantage. Let me know if you have any other questions!</p>

<p>Hi Jethro, I'm an international student accepted to Pitt's College of Art and Sciences. When do freshman get a list of the textbooks that we'll be using when school starts? Thanks :)</p>

<p>By the way, other than Tower B, what other housing complexes do you suggest?</p>

<p>does U pitt has a good pharmacy program?? do they have a 6 year program where they accept students right out of high school. and also is it competitive???? thanks! oh and how's the city?</p>

<p>Well hopefully Jethro will be able to answer your question, pigwalk, because I do not remember.</p>

<p>achang1990, Pitt has one of the top 15 or 20 pharmacy programs in the country. And yes, they do have a six-year program. As far as the city, if you read some of the other posts in this forum you'll see how I feel about Pittsburgh. I really believe it is one of the best cities around.</p>

<p>Awesome Pharmacy School, but very competitive admissions.</p>

<p>How important are varsity sports on campus?</p>

<p>I was supposed to visit in April, but our flight was cancelled. One thing I was going to look for in particular (and now ask you) is how close the athletic fields are to the "main" part of the campus and how many people are involved in sports?</p>

<p>Varsity sports are pretty huge. Tickets to basketball games are a premium, and the "Oakland Zoo" student section is nationally known for its raucuous support of the team. The Petersen Events Center is beautiful and includes an enormous state-of-the-art gym for students. The football team is also excellent, and although it has struggled the past several years, coach Wannstedt has had the #21 and #9 draft classes the past two years. The wrestling, track, swimming, and ultimate frisbee teams have been nationally ranked. The baseball, softball, gymnastics, soccer, and tennis teams are also excellent. The hockey team just joined Division I and had a great season. Most of the athletic facilities, including the intramural fields, are on the upper campus. Over the next four years, Pitt will be spending $35 million to build a new soccer complex, track/intramural complex, softball field, marching band facility and baseball complex and to renovate the existing facilities.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.education.pitt.edu/intramurals/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.education.pitt.edu/intramurals/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://pittsburghpanthers.cstv.com/facilities/pitt-facilities.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://pittsburghpanthers.cstv.com/facilities/pitt-facilities.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07135/786092-298.stm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07135/786092-298.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Jethro,</p>

<p>Some colleges in urban settings lose the community feel. I know that Pitt is located in Oakland at the heart of the city, but is the community feel affected?</p>

<p>Also, how do the townsfolk feel about the university?</p>

<p>tennesse, since Jethro has not posted in awhile, I've kind of taken over this thread.</p>

<p>First, the townsfolk. Including the medical center, Pitt is the largest employer in Pittsburgh, so many people have a connection to the school. Many businesses around Oakland cater to college students, with reduced restaurant prices at night and things like that. Pitt is well-respected in the city, and many people themselves are Pitt grads. So town-gown relations are very good.</p>

<p>Pitt students have a very strong sense of community, especially for a city school. Unlike schools such as NYU, Pitt does have an actual, defined campus. And the strong sports program helps to unite the students. You will see Pitt gear being worn everywhere.</p>

<p>Let me know if you have any other questions!</p>

<p>Thanks for the help.</p>

<p>thank u all!!</p>

<p>All in a day's work!</p>

<p>Tennesse, maybe you should look elsewhere for that community feel? Have you looked at other schools like Penn State University Park, Ohio State, and Maryland. They all have a great feel on campus. Penn State University Park has a great sense of community, as well as it's own football stadium. Unfortunately, Pitt has to share with a pro football team. Do you really want to go to a school that is broken up throughout the city? Sports shouldn't be the only thing that is able to bring a school together, especially when nobody shows up to their football games. Check out those other three schools and your decision will get much easier.</p>

<p>jec, isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? Tsk-tsk. You just dissed Pat on the Pitt thread for commenting on Penn State!</p>

<p>At least at Pitt you can GET football tickets. Whatever PSU's distribution system was this year was a disaster. Many students were excluded after waiting online with TicketMaster for over an hour. </p>

<p>Also, Pitt is not broken up througout the city. It is in Oakland, along with CMU and Carlow, also very near to Duquesne, Chatham and others. The fact that Pitt now plays at Heinz Field (along with the Steelers...not bad company) is due to the addition of the Peterson Event Center in Oakland, which allows for larger basketball crowds, along with major concerts. </p>

<p>I would say that Pitt is very well respected and well integrated into the surrounding community. There is definitely school spirit, but maybe a little different sort than the tailgating at Penn State (not that Pitt doesn't have its share of tailgates and frat parties too). Since you mentioned that sports shouldn't be the only thing that brings a school together, I must comment that such a mentality is far more prevelant at Penn State than at Pitt. </p>

<p>To each his own....Let's all be nice :).</p>