<p>I applied and got into Pittsburgh already, I don't know anything about it. I applied because they have rolling admitions and waived my application fee, and the application was super easy.</p>
<p>I've gotten into the University of Florida, and am waiting to hear from 4 other. Pittsburgh, however, has offered me a full tuition merit scholarship, which is making me consider them.</p>
<p>How good of a school is it? What is Pittsburgh like to live in? I've heard it's a pretty dreary place, but I've never actually been there, so I don't know. Any information would be wonderful, especially from students there.</p>
<p>Pittsburgh is a wonderful city.(I'm not from PA) The city is divided into many interesting areas which are all safe, clean, trendy, and interesting. Students ride the bus system for free! Like any city, there are museums, theatre, sporting events, wonderful restaurants, shopping areas, and beautiful parks. Pitt is located in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh, a very interesting college neighborhood with lots of student activities and job opportunites and more. Check out the site on CC that people write about their Pitt visits. The college is highly ranked nationally and by world ranking systems. The sciences and medical related majors are highly rated and the school is affiliated with the prestigious UPMC. The philosophy dept is ranked #2 in the US. The list goes on...You should definitely visit and check the school out for yourself.</p>
<p>I relocated to Pittsburgh from the East Coast, and was amazed at what a nice place it is. Pittsburgh has a very small-City feel, and the people are extraordinarily friendly. There are numerous other colleges in the city, including Carnegie Mellon, Point Park College, Robert Morris College, LaRoche College, and Chatham College, plus more colleges within an hour's drive such as Washington & Jefferson. </p>
<p>Whether the weather is a problem for you or not might depend on where you're located right now. It's typical mid-Atlantic weather. If you want Florida temps, it would be a problem. If you're looking at Buffalo, Minnesota, etc., Pittsburgh is balmy.</p>
<p>Pitt has a very good reputation in the sciences, including a top ranked nursing program. The University is located next to a whole group of nationally-ranked hospitals with various specialties. The school is ranked well in the national publications, and has competitive standards.</p>
<p>For the free ride, I definitely think it's worth a hard look -- more money for grad school!</p>
<p>I'm glad I'm getting positive responses! And also that it has a great science program, since that's what I want to major in. As for the weather, I'm sure it will suck for me, but I'd like to try out a different climate.</p>
<p>Mostly, what I'm worried about is moving to a dirty, smoggy city so that I can attend a mediocre school.</p>
<p>Pittsburgh is a great town! In addition to the above comments, there is no sales tax on clothes, and the airport has a mall in it that makes waiting for your plane almost fun. The university is very highly ranked in many disciplines, but the science/medical related stuff is perhaps the most highly regarded. UPMC, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, is a consortium of hospitals that is literally across the street from the campus. They even have a psychiatric hospital, which helps make the Psychology dept. first rate. The Nursing school is top 10 and the bioengineering dept is no. 14 USNW.</p>
<p>As for dreary, I thought that meant it rained a lot and was like Seattle; well, my D tells me it is a lot more sunny than home here on the Gulf Coast! It rained here for the whole two weeks of D's semester break, and it is still raining! I think we are going to float away. Pittsburgh doesn't rain any where near like we do, so D thinks she's in an urban version of Florida compared to home.</p>
<p>As for FLorida (UF), all I know about it is it's really big and they don't have anywhere near enough housing for the students. Just read on their threads that even freshmen sometimes have to get off campus apts 'cause there's no dorm space for them. It is definitely not an urban school either.</p>
<p>Pitt has about 16,000 students. Plenty enough to have all the stuff you need for a good college experience; not enough to feel overwhelmed or like they don't know who you are. There's lots of attention from the advisors and from the Honors College, and plenty to do. It's easy to make friends and get involved. Try to visit if you can; you'll like it!</p>
<p>I'm getting so excited reading all this! I'm not making any decisions until I hear from other schools in April, but I doubt they'll give me enough money. Pittsburgh sounds so exciting, I want to live in a urban area, I think.</p>
<p>Try to visit Pitt if you can before you make up your mind. Often it is the visit that helps the oos student decide to come. If that's not possible, then take a look at it on the two webcams. On the Pitt website homepage, go to Virtual Tour and click on one of the cams, either Hilllman Library or Cathedral (meaning Cathedral of Learning, the really tall tower bldg that's on your letters). From the Hilllman cam you can see the Cathedral, the Union, the Dinosaur in front of the Carnegie museum complex, the Carousel in the new part of Schenley park (forget the name) and the main entrance to Schenley Park (where the Phipps Conservatory is). There are preset views of each of these and you can control the camera to move around and zoom and stuff for detail.</p>
<p>Right now there is snow on the ground and it looks so beautiful. The Cathedral steps look like Hogwarts in winter. </p>
<p>The Virtual Tour on the website is very nice too and very informative. It will give you a nice feel for the campus if you can't make an actual visit. Congratulations on your scholarship!</p>
<p>It's probably not the most logical thing to want to go to a school because it looks like Hogwarts. Harry Potter, why must you influence my college choices?</p>
<p>I agree with the others...I'd take a good hard look. For free tuition, find the time/money to visit.</p>
<p>Get out of your mind that Pgh is a dirty smoggy city...that's about 50 years outdated. Actually topographically (not a reason to go there, just thought I'd mention it!) the city is stunning...rivers and hills, nothing like most East Coast big cities. I've visited many times (son recent graduate of Carnegie M) and imo Pittsburgh's a great city, I miss going to visit. Son and most of his friends also liked the city, it's just New Yorkers who may put it down because, well, it isn't New York.</p>
<p>Oakland area of city, where Pitt (and CMU its neighbor) is located has pretty much anything you may need or want... lively cosmopolitan area with lots of students, coffeeshops, bookstores, restaurants, and the impressive Carnegie Museum complex. The rest of the city's not huge so you can get around rather easily. Pitt campus has some beautiful areas (Cathedral/Chapel area) and the middle campus is dominated by a very substantial medical complex of several Pitt Hospitals. Anything medical is a good bet at Pitt.</p>
<p>btw if you're being offered full tuition I assume you're eligible for their honors program. Congratulations!</p>