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<p>Well if you <em>do</em> do a visit of campus and your Pathfinder is awesome…they’ll mention Quidditch on Cathedral Lawn, which I started/am a part of, hehe. (Or if you visit on a Sunday afternoon, I’ll be out there, hah). And yeah, I’m trying to stay in Pittsburgh for my grad degree, so I’ll definitely still be around town! :)</p>
<p>My freshman son will be bringing a bw printer to PITT because it was a graduation gift and as a matter of convenience (he tends to save printing out assignments until the last minute). While he is used to our color printer at home, I certainly would not spend the extra money for a color printer at school. So, I wondered if there is ever a need for printing in color (I notice the computer/printer labs only have bw also). He mostly used color printing in HS for lab report graphing (he will be a science major at PITT, so will have lots of labs). Your experience/advise?</p>
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<p>Very rarely for a long-term project/personal reason did I have to print in color. If you need to, you can print it at the labs for someting like 10 or 15 cents a page. Little known secret: You can print pages in color at the computer lab in Clapp Hall (Biology building) for free. Not sure if this is STILL the case, but it was last time I checked. ;)</p>
<p>Pretty sure it still is! Last fall I printed out all my lectures in Clapp, and sometimes they came out in color by accident. I loved using Clapp because I didn’t have to waste my entire print quota on Ghosh’s 40-slide lectures. :)</p>
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<p>There you go! Looks like Clapp still prints in color. Thanks for the info clarinetz!!</p>
<p>Hey, AwesomeOpossum</p>
<p>I’m an incoming freshman and have a question about classes. </p>
<p>My adviser told me that I had the choice between taking Trig 0023 and Calc 1 0220. </p>
<p>Considering I have not taken Pre-calc in H.S., but have taken alg/trig, what would you recommend? I am decent at math in general.</p>
<p>Should I play it safe and take trig for my first semester or go straight to calculus?</p>
<p>I haven’t had much exposure to calculus (only baby derivatives, etc.), is it a challenging course? </p>
<p>I know it’s all subjective, but I’m hoping to get an idea of the degree of difficulty in your experiences.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
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<p>Honestly, I would go with MATH0220 (Calc 1). A lot of people in your Calc 1 class have never had much Calculus exposure before (or have had it, but were not comfortable enough with it to move on to Calc 2). Also, if you’ve taken Trig already, why would you retake the class? I’m not sure what the Trig class here is like, but I’m fairly certain it would only cover minimal pre-calc topics anyway, because I think there’s a separate pre-calc class?</p>
<p>Either way, everyone is new to calc for the first time at some point (Heck, when I started Calc in high school, I barely understood how derivatives worked). But that’s what the professor and your TA are there for: To teach and help you master the concepts.</p>
<p>I’m assuming you’re an engineer since they offered Trig…? Another thing to consider is that you’ll be a semester behind on ALL your math and maybe other classes if you don’t take Calc now. The traditional first semester load is:
Physics 1, Calc 1, Chem 1, Engr 1, and an elective. Without Calc 1, physics 1 may be a bit difficult to take too, and pushing that off will really mess up your whole schedule.</p>
<p>Basically, stick to Calc 1. If you seem comfortable with math now, go for it. I haven’t heard any complaints from anyone (Engineers and hard science majors) that the class was difficult.</p>
<p>Hello, trig was put into consideration because it has been two years since I last touched upon that subject.</p>
<p>I am actually going to be majoring in biological sciences taking both bio and chem simultaneously. </p>
<p>I hope to balance my work load enough where I can ease into the whole college thing.</p>
<p>Thank you for your kind words and advice. </p>
<p>I appreciate the time you have spent to answer our questions.</p>
<p>Now, I must frantically look for an available slot. :X</p>
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<p>Wow! That’s intense. :)</p>
<p>Since you’re looking to double major (I’m assuming here) you want to get all of your “Gen Eds” (general education) requirements out of the way. Which I think includes Calc 1 and Calc 2? Not sure if Calc 2 is required…</p>
<p>But anyways, definitely get it done with, because it’ll be really helpful for later classes.</p>
<p>Good luck! I’m sure you’ll find a class to fit your schedule.</p>
<p>Thanks again and right back at ya! I hope I can step up to the challenge.</p>
<p>In your years at Pitt, have you taken two hard sciences together before? I would like to get a general idea of how difficult it is. (I’m assuming a minimum of a 2-4 hours of study everyday?)</p>
<p>Also, for some reason I keeping hearing complaints about the Bio 0150 professor; Newman which is making me a bit tentative. Do you have any prior experiences with her?</p>
<p>My reasoning is that I may opt to take only Chem (1st semester) if indeed she’s a teacher I may have some problems with.</p>
<p>Regards.</p>
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<p>Yes I have, since I’m an engineer 
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<p>I took Hon Chem 1 & Hon Physics 1 (and Hon Engineering 1, which was programming) my first semester. Took Hon Chem 2, Hon Physics 2 and Hon Engineering 2 (which was more like community service) second semester.</p>
<p>Don’t use my study methods as a model, but I doubt I spent more than 3-4 hours/week on the classes first semester. The time was spent doing homework, and in the week before an exam, studying (so a bit more time then). Second semester, since Hon Chem 2 has a lab, I spent quite a bit more per week, due to the lengthy lab reports we had to write (probably about 6-7 hours a week on chem and maybe still 2 hours a week on the physics homework).</p>
<p>Basically, it’s all about how much work you have and how you handle it.In your own mind: Do you need to re-read the notes, or can you do the HW fine without it? How long will it take you if you just sit down and do it vs. getting distracted easily, etc. For me, I could sit and concentrate on homework and bang it out so that I wouldn’t spend too much time/day or time/week “studying” per se.</p>
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<p>I’ve never taken bio so I’m not sure. A good resource to check for a rough idea of professors is this website: [Rate</a> My Professors | Find and rate your professor, campus and more - RateMyProfessors.com](<a href=“http://blog.ratemyprofessors.com/]Rate”>http://blog.ratemyprofessors.com/)</p>
<p>I’m going to Ready Set Pitt this Saturday and plan on submitting my application then…I don’t have teacher recommendations/official transcript at my disposal right now (guidance office is on break, too), but I was wondering what I should take? And if I should take an unofficial transcript I have a copy of?</p>
<p>Also, do they put application reviews on hold until recommendations are in? Thanks:)</p>
<p>While my son can obviously buy his school supplies at Pitt, it’s probably cheaper and easier to at least bring some of the stuff from home. Specifically, I’m wondering what types of binders/spiral notebooks have worked for you, or if teachers have certain requirements or recommendations. Since you seem to have taken labs and science/engineering courses (son is a bio major taking bio and chem first semester) I just wanted your input.</p>
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<p>Bring an unofficial, as that will at least have you correct GPA on there (but no, you can’t turn this in to them).</p>
<p>Try to contact teachers to get them to write your recs. As soon as your official transcript gets sent to Pitt, they will consider your application complete, and it has the possibility of being reviewed, whether or not your recs are in (which is why I recommend turning the recs in first). Also, write an essay and bring it with you.</p>
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<p>I love the Five Star/Mead notebooks that have a plastic-like cover (NOT the paper-like cover) because they last much longer/don’t rip! I got a one-section (100 pages I think), college ruled notebook for each class that I knew I would take notes (Chem, Physics, etc.). I got notebooks in different colors and then bought matching color folders (like the 15 cent kind you get at Staples, the paper-ish ones) to put any homeworks/handouts into.</p>
<p>So, for example:</p>
<p>Physics was black notebook with black folder
Chem is blue notebook with blue folder
etc.</p>
<p>Also the notebooks themselves should have at least one manilla folder thing in them. You’ll know what I mean when you see the notebooks.</p>
<p>Also, bring 1-2 reams of loose leaf college-rule paper for doing HW assignments on. I also bought a mini stapler for lab reports and homework to be stapled together. Other than that, it’s the normal pencils, pens, lead, and erasers. :)</p>
<p>oh and I just remembered: For lab, you need a blue/black pen to write down your results in your notebook. Make sure you have one!</p>
<p>Kind of my thoughts also - he even has an unused notebook of the kind you mentioned (only it’s a 3 subject/150 pages). One more question - for labs, do you need a separate notebook and/or do you have to purchase a special “lab notebook” as required by the professor for the lab? Thanks - I know I should have my son looking into this stuff, but he’s too busy enjoying his last moments of summer before the school thing kicks in.</p>
<p>Hello again AwesomeOpposum, I’m back here posting with a potentially key question about Pitt, but moreso about the city itself than the school. Just wondering your overall opinions of it, and also is it anything like Philadelphia or the eastern part of Pennsylvania (if you’ve ever been)? I mean personally, Philly was depressing and polluted during the yearly visits my family has made there, and I’ve heard that Pittsburgh is similar (along with having very few young adults beyond the college students). However, I don’t want to be misinformed, so just wondering what your take was on the vision of Pittsburgh that I seem to have acquired.</p>
<p>ipepper- how long ago has it been since you visited Philadelphia? Just curious because I live in the Philly metro area and don’t find it all depressing and polluted. Where are you from? I’ve visited Pittsburgh a couple times now, and found it delightful. It’s much smaller than Philadelphia, and the people are very down to earth. Obviously opinions can differ…so I think the best advice is to visit yourself!</p>
<p>@pamom I’ve visited every year in late December for about 8 years running now. So I did visit this past December as well. Possibly the depressing part has to do with the fact that it was winter, I’ve never been in the summer but I’d imagine it wouldn’t feel as somber. And I’m from Virginia Beach, which I guess you could say is a little more upbeat even in the winter and stuff. If it matters any, I visited the NE Philadelphia area, so i don’t know if that had anything to do with the bad impression, but driving in you see huge chimneys spewing massive clouds of smoke into the air. Plus, it wasn’t really the cleanest even near the hotel we were staying at (again in the northeast). It wasn’t the worst place in the world, but like I say coming from a city centered on the beach and without a lot of industry, perhaps its just perspective. Or, maybe its just being there during the coldest months perhaps. Good to hear about the people though, plus I’ve heard they have an interesting dialect down there as well. I do plan on visiting, and it will end up being a pretty important factor if I get in to Pitt since I plan on staying there past undergrad into med school as well.</p>
<p>Spent years both at Pitt and at Penn. Philly is definitely larger, less friendly, more lively (as a whole, but University City vs Oakland is a wash), but dirtier. Winters generally aren’t as cold or snowy in Philly (this last year being an exception for the snow), but depending on how you view snow, that could be a good or bad thing. The urban parks in Pittsburgh (Schenley & Frick) are much nicer and more accessible than in Philly (Franklin), at least in IMO, and Schenley is actually partly “on-campus” for Pitt.</p>