current sophmore @ pitt taking questions

<p>if you have any questions, feel free to ask. as the title says, im a current sophmore there.....</p>

<p>We just got the housing contract info in the mail today. Is it true that the Honors LLC is going to be in Forbes Hall for 2007-2008? Even for freshman? Didn't that used to be in Tower B? It looks nice, but it's kind of far from most of the campus.</p>

<p>Neelash, how is the school spirit at Pitt?</p>

<p>What do you know about the business school? The facilities of the business school?</p>

<p>How is the campus politically? Are Pitt students involved in politics?</p>

<p>In regard to Forbes: is it all Honors housing? Are there doubles as well as singles? Are men/women on alternating floors? Does Forbes have quiet floors? Where/what is the closest place to eat with the Pitt meal plan? Do you know why the school moved Honors housing to Forbes?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>stowmom: hmm right now i know the honors dorms are in tower B, and mccormick. I'm actuall not sure if they are moving to forbes. I would imagine not, but i can check into that for you</p>

<p>dstark: The school spirit is not as big as say penn state, but for our basketball team and football team, it is fairly decent. (more for our b-ball team since its actually good). Many people go to games, but there is still quite a bit of apathy in the university.
I am actually in the business school, and the business school is actually quite nice. Its HQ is more of the newer/nicer buildings on campus, Sennot Square. I just transferred to that school, so I can let you know more about it as I get more accustomed to it. </p>

<p>redsoxguy: This campus does not seem to be as politically involved as others. There are many people that advocate certain issues and are very politically involved, but there are MANY that do not care at all.....but during the elections, you will see people all around campus trying to rally people to vote.</p>

<p>lbp: forbes is more upperclassman, but there are freshman there too. They are more doubles i believe (i had a friend who lived there), and yes i believe its men/women alternating, but i cant remember if its floors or sections of each floor. (i think it might be sections) I think forbes has quiet floors. I believe every dorm has quiet floors.<br>
For meal plans, the closest place is either towers (eddies or the marketplace (which is going to be changed into something much better)), and then the union. those are centrally located on campus, and from almost every dorm, just a 30 second walk away. There is also the cathedral, which is just like a two minute walk away. The pete is up the hill, and takes like 5-10 minutes to walk there, and then sutherland has something too, but that is really far, like 15 min walk up the hill, or you can take the shuttle there (as most people do).</p>

<p>oh, and forbes tower isn't actually that far from campus, its about a 3 minute walk from towers</p>

<p>Do the Pitt classrooms in the business school use a lot of technology? For example, ticker tapes, real time stock quotes, or internet access where people sit?</p>

<p>to find out about honors housing, please contact admissions or housing
in the past, honors housing for freshmen has been in tower B
as for school spirit, there is LOTS OF SCHOOL SPIRIT
the basketball games are always sold out
the students are all wearing their "zoo" tshirts and cheering a top team
the football games are also huge events at Pitt
Everyone looks forward to cheering and attending the games
Visit the business school or call and speak to someone</p>

<p>FYI.....I just got off the phone with Panther Central. ALL honors housing will be in Forbes Hall next year, including freshman. The representative was unsure of why the decision was made to move from Tower B, as we had been told at our info session with Honors College. I am not familiar with the campus, having only been there once, but the rep said that Forbes is 4 blocks from the Towers and that no dining hall was near the building. Can anyone give any further info about Forbes? My next call is going to be to the Honors College and I'll let you know what they have to say.</p>

<p>nurse123, I followed your advice and contacted a professor at the business school.</p>

<p>The school does plan to have a financial information room, operational sometime during the next school year.</p>

<p>it seriously takes like 5-7 minutes to walk from towers to forbes. I mean i would say that is not very much, but others may disagree with this. And yes, the nearest dining hall would be in towers. Forbes has their own small rec room (like a ping pong table and such), and a lounge on each of the floors (not as big lounges as towers A and B though). each room shares a bathroom with the room next to it (at least the floor i was on was like that).</p>

<p>kschmidt - </p>

<p>if you read this before you call UHC, ask them if by ALL honors housing, they mean upperclassmen too, as in the sophomores will no longer be in McCormick, right next to the Union. Don't know what D and her friends are trying to do next year, but that would be a big change to move everyone.</p>

<p>Not to worry tho. We stayed at the Wyndham for Parents Weekend and walked past Forbes each time we went to meet D at the Towers. It is a very short walk indeed (assuming Forbes is the dorm with the med school bookstore on the ground level?). In fact, it is easier (for a parent) to walk from the Wyndham to Towers than from the Holiday Inn to Towers.</p>

<p>The only dorm listed as an Honors Dorm in the housing info (contract, brochure and misc. papers) my D received was in Forbes. That's why I questioned it, because I had heard that there was Tower B for freshman and somewhere else for upperclassmen. It looks like there is only one dorm.</p>

<p>Forbes seems like a nicer dorm, but further away from things (food and classes near Chevron) if you are a new freshman. The info Pitt sent said there was 145 spaces for the Honors LLC and there are 232 beds in Forbes according to the website, so a good chunk of the dorm will be for honors students. Maybe they'll make the whole dorm an honors dorm like other universities have.</p>

<p>I wonder if this means that the Forbes-Craig apartment building (all honors and not to be confused with the Forbes residence hall) will be vacated by the honors college? Honestly, they did not have enough housing to meet the demand with Forbes-Craig + McCormick + 4 floors of Tower B, and it sounds like they may have even less now.</p>

<p>Is there a sense on the part of the univ that they really want you to succeed in your chosen field? Pitt has many very competitive programs and I am wondering if the support systems are in place to help students succeed or if there is more of a "weeding out" process in these competitive majors. In other words do a lot of students find themselves stuck after 2 years because they can't get into the programs they had planned?</p>

<p>There are many dining options for students. Kids who live in Towers often eat at other locations. There are many varied dining options all around campus. Wondering why Honors is leaving Towers???</p>

<p>The honors housing availability should probably be verified by anybody who is really interested in this living arrangement. They currently have about 102 students in Forbes-Craig, 160 students on four floors of Tower B and about 60 students in McCormick for a total of 322 honors housing spots. This is insufficient for the student who wanted honors housing. The proposed Forbes resident hall has only 232 places. If this is the only honors housing, there will certainly be many disappointed students. Check it out.</p>

<p>Snowman8 -</p>

<p>I can only speak as to engineering, and then only as a parent, but it did seem to us during our three visits last year (pittstart, move in and parents weekend), that the engineering school really does want you to succeed and makes a lot of effort for that. However, our D tells us that a lot of people dropped out of it after the first semester either cause they thought it was just too hard, or they found out they really didn't like it after all. It is pretty top heavy in math and science, so you have to really love that stuff to spend so much time with it.</p>

<p>I agree with mercymom. The engineering school is very invested in the success of their students, from the advising, to availability of profs, to pre-test study sessions, to availability of some homework answers and assistance with any problems. Engineering might not be for everyone but if you think it's for you, Pitt will help you to succeed.</p>