My daughter secured in Pitt. Wanted to understand if it is safe for her as she is from NJ.
Is there a website which gives me more info on housing (single / double) are they close to the college?
Will there be a problem walking around the university ?
How safe is the surrounding of the university?
Are there any public transportations?
Is your daughter going to be in on-campus housing? Most freshmen are in dorms and given that she is not familiar with the area, it probably makes the most sense. Housing applications are due May 1: https://www.pc.pitt.edu/housing-services/university-owned-housing
The area is like most cities. It’s generally safe, but there is some crime and students should stay aware of their surroundings.
There is public transportation, including many bus stops on campus.
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Depending on major some dorms might be more convenient than others. The nice new dorm is Nordenberg. Towers are in the middle of campus and where most of the freshman lived when I attended many years ago.
Off-campus housing is divided into North/South Oakland. North Oakland is nicer and quieter. Mostly upper classmen and grad students live there.
My S has chosen the University of Pittsburgh. I am very excited about the choice, but we are not sure what we need to do by May 1. We paid the $300 deposit for enrollment. What else do we need to do?
Congrats on your son getting accepted ! Mine too. Make sure he looks out for an email to activate his email and then he’ll get the housing application. For the cohort that accepted on May 1 the deadline is May 27 or 28 (not sure). It take a couple of week to get into the system after accepting. Hope this helps.
Thank you for the response, and congratulations on your son’s acceptance to Pitt. My son was accepted back in November I believe, but he did not have a first choice at the time and wanted to see responses from all the schools before he selected a college.
We called the University of Pittsburgh about the housing selection process, and spoke to several people who were very helpful. I think his housing deposit is due May 20, but we are putting him in charge of it so he will have to figure it out himself.
If you want to see pictures of the different dorm rooms, your best bet is to join the Pitt parents Facebook group. They have some really helpful photo albums of each of the different dorms. Most of the rooms are standard (2 beds, desk etc) but some forms are smaller (Towers) some are more of a walk (Sutherland and Lothrop) and Nordenberg is newer. If your student joins and Llc, they might end up in a specific dorm. Music is in Nordenberg, I think business and engineering both have specific dorms and honors is in Sutherland. If you have other questions I can help answer them.
As to safety, my daughter has had no issues. This includes walking back from a night class and running in Schenley park alone (she does carry mace). Pittsburgh is like any other city. Use your street smarts, don’t go out alone in the middle of the night, be alert etc. We live in the middle of rural Pennsylvania (aka middle of nowhere) and my daughter has not had any problems feeling unsafe in Pittsburgh.
Student ids work as a bus pass. You get free access to the Pittsburgh public transportation system. Pitt also has a shuttle system to get to places like Sutherland and Centre plaza apartments. My daughter found that the city buses are much more reliable than Pitt’s shuttle system.