<p>Hi,
As an international student applyng from England, how is the campus life and is it easy to make friends and talk to people.
Also im suprised they dont offer single freshman rooms, in england everyone gets there own room and bathroom.
Also im quite sporty i play football and american football, would it be hard to get into teams - i know Americans take their college sports pretty seriously
thanks Matthew</p>
<p>Yes on last question. Pitt probably has intramural teams so you could play on them. it would be hard to play on their competitive teams though. Campus life from all accounts is great. It should be easy for you to make friends and talk to people and with you being British, everyone will be very curious about you so it would be even easier for you to make friends. however, even if you were from the school next door, you can make friends easily. the students at Pittsburgh and the residents of Pittsburgh are all very friendly so from that aspect, it is a great choice. The city of Pittsburgh is a little off the beaten path so travelling to other parts of the states could be an issue. there are buses for that but it will be some long rides. And since you are sporty, you should love having the Steelers and Pirates right around the corner. I think Pitt students get nice prices for school sporting events, basketball is huge there, and right on campus, They actually play football at the same field as the Steelers.</p>
<p>I thought they did offer single rooms. Has that changed? Aren’t Tower C and Lothrop singles?</p>
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<p>Campus Life is what you make of it- there’s a lot of activities going on all the time, whether it’s a school sporting event, club sport, club-hosted activity, or school-hosted activity. These can range from concerts to fairs to movie nights to casino nights to speakers to etc…</p>
<p>It’s easy to make friends, especially during orientation and the first few weeks of class if:</p>
<p>–you leave your dorm door open while you are in it
–you go to activities and talk to random people
–don’t sit alone at events and strike up conversations with people around you</p>
<p>I agree with ctl987, as an international student, people will naturally be more curious about you (the accent is a giveaway) and you should have an easier time talking to and meeting people.</p>
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<p>They do in Lothrop and Tower C. I highly advise AGAINST it for freshman. You came to Pitt/America for a reason- and part of that is the American college experience which includes, among other things, sharing a room and bathroom. It’s not the end of the world, and starting college with a roommate is an easy way to make your first friend.</p>
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<p>The actual school teams, yes. I think there are very very few walk-ons for either the soccer team or the football team. In terms of club sports or intramurals, not at all. The soccer intramural is VERY popular and spots fill up fast, not sure if there is a flag-football one or not. I would suggest looking around at the activity fair before orientation and talking to various sports groups to get an idea of what you may like.</p>
<p>Just to touch on things, yes, in the US, sharing a room for the first year or two is very standard. The philosophy, from an institutional standpoint, is that typically a way to help students get adapted socially and make friends.</p>
<p>Now as far as sports, I’m going to elaborate a tad. I don’t mean to patronize, but nomenclature that is second nature to those of us in the States may lack meaning outside of it. </p>
<p>As you suggest, college sports at the “varsity” level…that is the top level of athletic teams at any school and are the teams that are actually funded by the school…are pretty serious. Add to that, Pitt participates at the very top level of collegiate sports, and this involves big money endeavors in the US, particularly for basketball and American football. Pitt’s American football team plays in a 65,500 seat stadium and its basketball team plays in a 12,500 seat arena and those teams are regularly broadcast on national television (for instance, Pitt’s American football team will be nationally broadcast on ABC during prime time tv this Saturday evening). </p>
<p>In essence, the university sports system at this level functions as the de facto professional and Olympic development league for most sports in the US. The popularity of college sports is also quite high due to the quaintness of the (still) amateur status of college athletics and the life-long attachment of many people to their alma maters. In areas of the US without professional teams, like Alabama in the deep South, the a university’s teams can become the primary sports teams for the area or even an entire state. Athletes on these teams do not get paid, but there are scholarships to be had in exchange for the serious time commitments demanded by these varsity teams. The number of scholarships that can be distributed for any particular sport is restricted by the governing body of all intercollegiate athletics called the NCAA. Recruiting by universities for top athletes is very competitive, and usually occurs across a wide geographically swath, even nationally.</p>
<p>Now that said, there are typically “walk-on” spots available on the rosters of the varsity sports…not many, but some. Walk-ons are typically non-recruited individuals who want to participate in these sports simply for the love of the competition or the glory of being a part of big time college athletics. Most of the time, they won’t get scholarships and they typically don’t break into the starting lineups. Of course there are exceptions, where walk-ons have proved their worth and earned significant roles or even scholarships, but walk ons are usually thankless roles.</p>
<p>If you are interested in walking on, I would explore the teams contact information at [PittsburghPanthers.com[/url</a>], which is the official website of Pitt’s athletic department. As both American football and football (soccer) are played in the fall in the US collegiate system, walking on is something that you’d need to be prepared to undertake in the summer before you arrive, or say, if you wait a year, the following summer. </p>
<p>Pitt’s American football team is currently mediocre, although historically it has been a national power at various times. Pitt’s football (soccer) team is quite poor for its level of competition, going winless in its league this season. American football would have more walk-on slots, but it would be more difficult to earn a spot.</p>
<p>There are recruiting questionnaires that you could fill out for both [url=<a href=“https://questionnaire.acsathletics.com/Questionnaire/Questionnaire.aspx?WtM%2FNCzNMRG0u6sJOMoUUkLt%2BtL0DFexszeqwVnPGuhndRnVstxBV2cWISiDV3V1]American”>https://questionnaire.acsathletics.com/Questionnaire/Questionnaire.aspx?WtM%2FNCzNMRG0u6sJOMoUUkLt%2BtL0DFexszeqwVnPGuhndRnVstxBV2cWISiDV3V1]American</a> football](<a href=“http://www.pittsburghpanthers.com/]PittsburghPanthers.com[/url”>http://www.pittsburghpanthers.com/) and [football</a> (soccer)](<a href=“https://secure.assistantcoach.net/colleges/athlete_webform_select_school.asp?action=listschools&oid=101&sid=1604]football”>Athlete Web Form).</p>
<p>Now all of that said, there are also club sports at US universities. These are student-organized teams that also compete against other universities. They typically get little to no funding from the university and either have to apply for funds from student allocated fees (as other, non-athletic student clubs do), and/or they have to fundraise for themselves. They vary in competitiveness at any one university depending on the sport, but typically the time demands are much less than varsity sports (as none of the players are on scholarship as a condition of their participation). Some of Pitt’s Club sports can be explored [from</a> this website](<a href=“http://www.pitt.edu/~sportnet/]from”>http://www.pitt.edu/~sportnet/). Of course, that site doesn’t have the football (soccer) club for Pitt on it, but you can [find</a> that here](<a href=“http://pittclubsoccer.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2013/07/22/university-of-pittsburgh-mens-club-soccer/]find”>http://pittclubsoccer.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2013/07/22/university-of-pittsburgh-mens-club-soccer/). There typically aren’t club sports for American football (equipment is just too expensive), but there is one at Pitt for [rugby[/url</a>].</p>
<p>The next level down of athletic competition is intramural sports. These are teams of various levels of formality that play games between other teams at the same university. You can learn more about [url=<a href="http://www.studentaffairs.pitt.edu/IR_IntramuralSports]Pitt’s">http://www.studentaffairs.pitt.edu/IR_IntramuralSports]Pitt’s</a> intramural sports here](<a href=“http://www.pitt.edu/~sorc/rugby/FRONT.html]rugby[/url”>http://www.pitt.edu/~sorc/rugby/FRONT.html).</p>
<p>I hope this was helpful. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.</p>
<p>By the way, Pittsburgh is the namesake of former Prime Minister [William</a> Pitt the Elder](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Pitt,_1st_Earl_of_Chatham]William”>William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham - Wikipedia) and if you ever see a shirt with Pitt in a [cursive</a> “script” design](<a href=“http://www.shoppittpanthers.com/catalog/product/?fcID=126643]cursive”>http://www.shoppittpanthers.com/catalog/product/?fcID=126643), that is supposed to be a stylized version of William Pitt’s signature. The university is home to English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh [Nationality</a> Rooms](<a href=“https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationality_Rooms]Nationality”>Nationality Rooms - Wikipedia), definitely something that is absolutely unique to Pitt.</p>
<p>There’s plenty going on around campus, and people are generally very social, especially at the beginning of freshman year. I know that the Office of Cross-Cultural and Leadership Development (CCLD) in the William Pitt Union does provide outreach and guidance to international students to help them get acquainted to the U.S. and Pittsburgh. (I think they might have a retreat or something of the sort before school starts.)</p>
<p>Orientation week is a great opportunity to get out and meet people. I’d highly encourage going to as many events as you can, because it will never again be easier to talk to people. I met one of my best friends from college at the ice cream social!</p>
<p>There’s plenty to do on campus. Club sports are definitely available if interested. There are also events going on campus nearly every weekend. PittArts is a program that provides free & cheap tickets to symphonies, musicals, operas, and various other cultural events. The Pitt Program Council hosts events with famous speakers and musicians - such as Josh Radnor, Matthew Perry, Maya Angelou, OneRepublic, etc. Pitt football games are a fun social event, especially since you sound interested in sports. Concerts come through the city frequently at a number of large and small venues. And free busing through Pittsburgh makes it easy to access Downtown and other neighborhoods for dining, shopping, etc.</p>
<p>As for the dorm situation, it’s really up to you if you prefer to live alone or not. People strongly discourage living alone, but I have heard great things about living in Tower C and Lothrop. As long as you keep your door open and make an effort to be social, you’ll have a great time. If I had to do it again, I probably would have lived alone - but that’s just me!</p>
<p>Good luck with your applications! As a recent Pitt graduate, I have to say that if I had to make this decision ten more times, I would have chosen Pitt every time. Amazing college experience!</p>