<p>Oh, well the reason I thought it was sarcastic was because there are sophomores who don't get their first housing assignment and sometimes even first choice classes. So expecting every single freshman to get them is a little foolish.</p>
<p>My son didn't have any problem getting his classes, but he is in engineering and they don't have much choice in class selection. He got most of the electives he wanted, including one that he began to attend with the professor's permission until an actual space opened up. Funny thing is that the one elective he couldn't get was a senior year technical elective that conflicted with a required scheduled class. I wonder how that works?</p>
<p>My daughter was placed in a Holland single and had requested a Towers double as well. Was it more difficult to make friends in a single? She hasn’t yet decided whether to put in a change request. Thanks!</p>
<p>S went to PittStart a week ago and was able to sign up for the Seminar in Composition - Film class, so maybe Pitt does save a handful of spots for each PittStart session. But he wasn’t able to get into the statistics class that he was interested in, so he’ll wait for the end of the 2-week add/drop period in the hope that some space will open up by then. In the meantime, he registered for 14 credits just so he doesn’t fall behind on his graduation schedule. If he gets into the statistics class, he’ll be at 18 credits and then has the option to drop one other class if things get too intense. In general, I think that many of the large public universities have such problems these days and I can tell you that many of the public schools that I’m familiar with on the West Coast are even worse off than Pitt. I know for a fact that Bio 1 at our state flagship numbers 700 students–which, BTW, is outrageous–and then Bio 2 drops to 400. Even though not everyone chooses to do Bio 2, there are still plenty of students who just can’t take Bio 2 because of lack of space. Instead, they have to take it over the summer. I think this is a reality that both parents and students need to be realistic about and prepared for when it comes to public universities.</p>
<p>Regarding the PittStart session: </p>
<ol>
<li>When you put together your tentative schedule, look carefully at the class information that you can access via my.pitt.edu. This way you can see how many spots are available for each of the classes that you might be interested in. DO NOT wait to find this out during your individual appointment at PittStart. If you do, you may be taken by surprise and may not have the time to rearrange your schedule in the best possible way.</li>
<li>This kind of follows–make sure you have a Plan B and even a Plan C schedule, in case you don’t get your first choice.<br></li>
<li>Watch out for time conflicts; don’t assume that your advisor will do this for you. S was told he could try to enroll in the statistics class during the drop/add period, but his advisor didn’t notice that the statistics class this term would have overlapped one of the other classes S was going to sign up for. Luckily, since S had experimented with multiple combinations of classes and times, he noticed that and reshuffled his classes in order to keep his schedule open for the statistics class if/when space becomes available.</li>
<li>When you put together your plan B and plan C, look at which of the classes you’re interested in but might be closed tend to be available during the summer. You may have to take one or two classes during the summer and it’s good to know ahead of time which ones you can defer and which ones you can’t.</li>
</ol>
<p>Bottom line, plan carefully <em>before</em> you arrive at your PittStart. You have access to pretty much the same information that your advisor has access to–and it’s not rocket science, just tedious. Ask for your parents’ help if you need a hand during the planning stage. At the very least have them double check your schedule, a second pair of eyes can’t hurt. Your PittStart advisor may have the best intentions, but when he/she needs to help tens, if not hundred of students, mistakes can happen. Be prepared to not get everything you want, or the times of day you want. Hopefully things will get better as you move into upper level classes.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you all!</p>
<p>Lol, has anyone noticed that this is a 2-year old thread? I know that I didn’t until now, but my PittStart advice still stands :)</p>
<p>@mom4242
You may have better luck with your housing question if you create a separate thread or post to a (recent) housing-related thread.</p>
<p>mom4242, My daughter had a friend who lived in a single. She said that everyone kept their doors open and got acquainted that way.</p>