<p>ok here is the rundown, i know a lot about each university ive visited both) but im torn on which to choose.</p>
<p>ive been accepted to pitt's uhc, conditional acceptance to 6 year pharmd program, and got 2k/yr scholarship...so the way i look at it- very cheap yet pretty d*mn good education and fast track to becoming a pharmacist. (also, i love the city and have been a huge steelers/pens/pirates fan all my life as my family is from the city, i live near philly tho)</p>
<p>i wont recieve acceptance/rejection letter to ND til march/april. ive grown to really like ND but its pretty expensive (my parents can afford it tho)..if i get accepted idk whether i'd choose pitt or nd.</p>
<p>any advice/facts/opinions to sway my thoughts?....i know i havnt been accepted to ND yet, or may not at all, but im just preparing in case i do</p>
<p>wait until you get the decision and then visit both and ask questions about the negative attributes of each school. When you have two great options, the one that has less negatives may be the best choice.</p>
<p>its actually impossible to make a choice for me haha. im thinking it wont be all that bad if im rejected so that i wont have to go thru the agony of making a decision haha. after i visited this summer and met up with my cousin who’s a senior here i fell in love with the place but i also really like pitt. and in terms of my future if accepted to nd, i would plan to major in biochem and then apply to pitts pharmd program and hope to get in again.</p>
<p>Similar decision for us. My son was accepted EA to ND and is an ND Scholar, but he also got a full-tuition 4-year scholarship to Pitt. He wants to study architecture. ND has a much stronger architecture program, but I could easily see him changing majors. ND will be a huge financial burden for us and we probably won’t get much aid. Son likes both schools. Very tough decision.</p>
<p>^architecture is a very funny field - people think they like it then don’t and some people wished they started in it. I thought I like architecture and did not, so make sure you really visit because if your son doesn’t like architecture, then got to Pitt - the difference in degrees will not be 250,000 over a life time.</p>
<p>As I recall from other posts, hawkswim09, you’re at ND and started in architecture, but are now in engineering. Is that correct? You suggested to “really visit”. What do you mean by that? We’ve already visited both colleges and my husband is a domer so we know plenty about ND and have visited many times over my son’s lifetime. We’ve only been to Pitt once, but he really liked it too. He enjoys the downtown atmosphere that is in sharp contrast to ND’s beautiful, but much more quiet, campus.</p>
<p>When we consider colleges, there is much more than the cost, although it’s a big factor. There are many intangibles at ND that aren’t present at most other universities.</p>
<p>Yes, all the above is correct. When I stressed to really visit, I mean that if you had the opportunity to go the architecture department and walk around the studios and see what everyone was doing and even talk to a couple of the students (note: not when teachers are around - they are more honest when they don’t feel true pressure of spinning the program one way or the other to please the teacher). The hardest part that I had was that I was much more math/science driven that most of the architecture majors and not as compelled into the arts part of architecture (which explains my switch to engineering). Also, at ND you won’t use a computer until your fourth year - everything and I mean everything is done in hand (and for the first semester without a ruler). In addition, everything must be done in watercolor, a skill that was difficult for me to learn. So, what I mean by really visit, is to sleep over a night (hopefully with an architecture major) and ask questions, delve into the everyday life of an architecture major and don’t just follow the school sponsored tour - it will be somewhat slanted to attract people. Also, I thought that with good time management that architecture wouldn’t be as bad as people say it is, but trust me it is. If you want top notch grades and results it will consist a major part of your time.</p>
<p>Hawkswim09, you sound a lot like my son. He’s great with computer drafting, excels in math and science, but isn’t passionate about drawing. He can draw, but my older son is pursuing an art minor and I can see a difference in their passions. Are you suggesting that the architecture major is more daunting than an engineering degree at ND? My husband majored in accounting at ND and thought the engineering students worked twice as hard as he did so it’s hard for me to imagine that the architecture program is even tougher.</p>
<p>I would say the work is different - not necessarily harder - though I think many people consider engineering and architecture as two of the most time consuming majors (though architects tend to be thought of as having it worse off). I think one major difference, is that a lot of engineering (like book problems, or studying) can be done in your dorm room or where you want to (though some projects are on site in college). But for architects, everything is based in the studio which can be 5 - 10 minutes away and longer for other people - this is why people rarely see architecture majors because they have to go to studio because they need space, but no one except architects are there. </p>
<p>I would definitely say that you had to at least like drawing and be quite adequate in your abilities to do well in architecture, but I didn’t mind spending the class in architectural drawing. I got a B in the class (which was my lowest grade - this sent some signs that maybe engineering was better for me) and I think that I was probably in the lower third in terms of talent. There were some really great artists and while I had drawing in high school for four years, i was no where near them. But it was a good experience for the following reason, which brings me to your last question:</p>
<p>I would say that you can at most stay in architecture for one semester. I had credit for BC Calc only and I am behind in chemistry, though this will work itself out by the end of my sophomore year (because i was two classes ahead in math). In addition, you are not required to take the intro to engineering to graduate, but are required to take the architectural drawing to graduate in architecture, so I started in architecture. If you end up switching from arch to engin. then you may be right on pace with the other engineers (except that intro to engineering which means you just take an extra engineering elective later on) if you take chemistry in your first semester. The architectural drawing class is also considered a fine arts so it fulfills you fine arts/literature requirement if you switch out so you don’t have a “wasted” class as well. </p>
<p>So the long and the short of it is that yes, it is possible to switch, but is best done after your first semester. </p>
<p>if this doesn’t answer your question, please ask away - i will try to answer anything.</p>
<p>intmof2 please note that much of what hawkswim says is specific to the architecture program at ND. Not all programs, in fact most, do not focus so much on hand drawing in the first years. I am just saying do not take this as true for all architectural programs. Some others, like Iowa State for example, are much more focused on the engineering side of architecture.</p>
<p>^this is very true - the RPI architecture program that I visited was a great example of computer based architecture - now the big difference that I have noticed is the following: if you like to be creative and don’t mind having a lot of possible solutions and no one perfect solution to a problem, then architecture is for you; if you like having a more concrete example and to know if something works or doesn’t work, then you probably want to be an engineer. If you are somewhere in the middle then you are either a great architecture with engineering knowledge or an engineer who can help out an architect. However, this is one good way to view the difference between architecture and engineering (also in architecture you might have a great design but not be selected, whereas in engineering if you are able to solve the puzzle then you most likely will get the job).</p>
