<p>Hey Everyone, I'm a freshman at Pitt and I can answer any questions (almost any). I currently live in Towers honors housing, I'm OOS, and I'm pre-med/bio so just to give you an idea of the type of questions I'll be able answer. HAIL TO PITT!</p>
<p>Hey you sound just like me if I end up choosing Pitt! How are the honors classes? Is it just too time and labor intensive to be a real benefit? Was Pitt easy to adjust to? What are your science classes like? Sorry for so many questions :)</p>
<p>In terms of adjusting to Pitt, it was easy for me, but hard for others. IT just depends and its like that wherever you go. In terms of being in a big city, it gets fairly loud but it is somewhat set apart so it still feels completely like a college campus. I haven't taken any honors courses yet but from what I hear they are great, almost everyone loves them but they are very very demanding (especially the science ones). It might be worth it cause you learn more stuff, but it might not because medical schools don't care if you a course is honors, they just want to see the A. So far I've taken the Chem 1, and Bio 1 and I'm currently taken Chem 2 and Bio 2. They are good classes, Bio is significantly harder than Chem because bio 1 and 2 are the weed out classes so no matter which teacher you have you'll work for your grade. In terms of size the typical science class is around 250-300 kids and that includes, bio 1/2, chem 1/2, ochem 1/2, and physics 1/2. All the teachers I had knew my name by the end of the first month, but thats because I made sure I got to know them right away with office hours and such. its really up to you to make the class small and you'll be surprised as to how small a 300 person lecture can feel.</p>
<p>Why did you choose Pitt over other schools, as OOS? What is the main draw of Pitt?</p>
<p>-Sorry for all the long answers-
To be totally honest, the main reason for Pitt was money, it was to the point that it was cheaper for me to go to Pitt as an OOS than to stay instate. But money wasn't my only factor. I also really wanted to be in or near a city because I always wanted something different to do on the weekends, which is something that Pitt offers while I was still able to feel like I was on an acutal college campus. Another reason was the recognition of the pre-med and bio programs which are really good, not the best in the country but better than your average school. I also liked the fact that Pitt had a medical school as opposed to several of the safety schools in Ohio I was looking at (Dayton, Miami, Xavier). The reason why I wanted a medical school nearby was for more research oppurtunities and Pitt also has tons of hospitals which is awesome for pre-med students cause they can volunteer/work there all they want! Another reason would have to be that I could see myself living at Pitt for the next 4 years, where I couldn't really see myself at Miami(OH) (where I got the second most amount of money) for the next 4 years of my life. And the final reason would have to be the honors college. Although I haven't taken any honors courses yet, the honors community really is an amazing thing that I couldn't imagine not being a part of. Its just such a tight community and we do tons of free stuff together too, which is always a plus. -As a side note that it is probably one of the reasons they are moving Frosh Honors to Forbes Hall next year so that the community so that there is an even bigger sense of community-</p>
<p>Would getting ap credit for first semester bio and/or chem be a benefit. trying to decide how many ap tests to take in may</p>
<p>Pitt seems pretty generous in giving AP, etc. credits. My daughter got credit for BioI, and Calc1 with 4s on the AP test.</p>
<p>She also passed up Miami(Oh) for Pitt. . . with absolutely no regrets! Pittsburgh or Oxford Ohio? Way less plaid in Pittsburgh! :)</p>
<p>Megnut: Its totally you're call. It might help not to take it so you can retake the course and go over the material again. But it might be very beneficial to take them and get credit, so you don't have to have as many classes frosh year, or could take soph level courses in the topics. I did the first and don't regret it, I know kids who did the second and don't regret it. Also, Bio 1&2 are weed out classes so you have to work your butt of in them, even if you would have gotten a 5 on the AP test. Taking the tests probably will help with allowing for a more easy schedule in college, such as only having to take one science frosh year instead of 2, etc.</p>
<p>ChrisD: Pitt gives out the same amount as most other schools. She'll still have to take Bio 2, which is actually a little bit (not much) easier than Bio 1, because bio 1 has plants and human anatomy since its designed to be the bigger weed out course. Tell your daughter congrats on Pitt and passing up MU! I did the same thing, Miami was my second choice because of money and I ended up turning down more money there to come here and I don't regret it at all! Miami is a nice campus and my sister went there and loved it so much, but I needed to know that there was always something different to do and that not all the kids had the same background (even though I fit perfect into the stereotype)</p>
<p>I took honors Calc I/II, Honors Physics, Honors Chem freshman year (honors DiffEQ later on). You are right, there is a very good chance you will get a lower grade in an honors class, especially chem if you have Siska, and not be rewarded for it on your transcript/GPA. </p>
<p>However, you will learn more and be more challenged by great and memorable professors in the honors classes. </p>
<p>Bottom Line: You will also meet VERY smart and interesting students in the honors classes who you will make friends with, which IMO will be more than worth the cost of risking a lower grade.</p>
<p>I think prospective students need to realize the difference between high school and college. In high school, your objective was to get the best grades/SAT scores so that you could get into a good college. Now that you've gotten into that college, your objective should be simply to learn. If you have the aptitude to take an honors class, by all means you should take it. That's what college truly is about. Yes you may get a lower grade, but in the long run, the difference between a 3.3 and a 3.8 in a couple classes really is insignificant when compared to how much more you will learn. (I hope that last sentence makes sense, it did in my head.)</p>
<p>Do you have a handle on the percentage of students who leave the school for the weekends? My wife's sister's friend's niece says it's a suitcase school. Do all the PA residents flow homeward?</p>
<p>Totally NOT a suitcase school. I'm basing this on feedback from D, who is oos as are her friends, but as far as she can tell from the dorm floors in the towers where she lives, no one goes home on the weekends. Also, we visited 4 times last year and talked to lots of different people, not just the tour guides, and it seemed like everyone stays put who lives in the dorms. Even the guy who sells tshirts on the corner told us about the gaggle of girls for example who are at the bus stop every sat. am headed off to shop or whatever. he said you'll see about 80 girls at that bus stop each sat.</p>
<p>as for PA residents, the impression we got was a lot of them are from too far away to make going home on the weekend practical. we met only a few kids who were actually from Pittsburgh and the rest seemed to be from all over the state. in terms of hours, if you're from Philly or thereabouts, you'd spend more time driving than it would be worth. plus, there seemed to be a lot of kids from small towns who liked being in the big city and the weekends are when they take advantage of having fun in the city - why leave?</p>
<p>one of D's friends is from Ohio, just across the state line, so closer than Philly, and she only went home for thanksgiving, christmas and spring break in march. pretty much everyone in the dorms stays put except for major holildays.</p>
<p>another thing is almost no one has a car at Pitt, so it would be tough to go home on the weekend unless your parents came and got you or you took the greyhound bus, which makes it all the more complicated. most kids use the free (for Pitt students) public transportation and don't bring a car to school. parking is extremely limited and it costs about $800/yr to get a parking pass, so no one does it.</p>
<p>once again, this is for the kids who live in the dorms. the older kids who live in apts may have cars, but even a few of these get by w/o cause of the ease of public transport and probably apts w/prkg cost more. that said, jrs and srs who do co-op may have cars so they can get to their jobs, and they probably aren't on campus the semester of their co-op job anyway, but that's different from going home on weekends.</p>
<p>Agreed with mercymom. Not a suitcase school at all. Sure there are kids from Pittsburgh, but like most college kids, who wants to go home every weekend. Sure the local kids will go home farely often for the free laundry and home cooked meals, but they certainly don't every weekend because thats the best time to socialize with friends on campus. There is no way that Pitt can be considered a suitcase school.</p>
<p>When I went to Pitt, I went home more often than some of the locals. It is just like any large university. You have your suitcase students, but the vast majority stay on campus. For the record, about 20% of Pitt students are from out of state, and there are a lot from the eastern part of the state.</p>
<p>My S wants to room with a high school friend. My S is in HC and in Arts and Sciences (Pre-med). His friend is in engineering but not honors but wants to take honors classes. Can they room in Honors or in engineering or do they have to just go general towers to be roommates. They are both willing to room anywhere.</p>
<p>How hard is it to switch down the road from Arts and Sciences to Engineering (Biomedical)</p>
<p>megnut, that's something you would have to ask someone at Pitt. My guess would be that they both have to be in honors/engineering to stay in special housing, but it's something you could ask.</p>
<p>As far as switching into engineering, it depends how far along you switch. Engineering has a lot of requirements, so if you switch after say, two years, it would be pretty impossible to get four years of engineering requirements done in two years. If you don't mind taking an extra couple of semesters to get your requirements in, then switching won't be a problem.</p>