Pitt FAQs

<p>Does anyone know whether it’s more difficult to get into the school of engineering as a transfer for the spring semester than it is for the fall?</p>

<p>What is the lowest possible Math SAT score I would need to get accepted? I was just denied because of it as it is really really low, but my writing scores I think are acceptable. What is the likelihood of appeals on admissions, and how likely are they to listen to my request if I were to send them NEW SAT scores if I retake the SAT in December, and a recommendation from a math teacher because I do really well in math at school, but not on standardized tests. Do you know of any past appeals or of anyone who was accepted with low scores?</p>

<p>Hello. I have a question for AwesomeOpossum (as well as any other Pitt’s UHS student). Do you think it will be difficult, solely in terms of the amount of homework (incl. papers and such), to take 5 classes per semester? What about 6? I’m going to double-major in Eng. Lit. and Applied Mathematics and minor in Physics. Some, perhaps many, courses will be Honors. I’m not gonna do any sports or anything like that, and will live on campus.
Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Ironically all of my friends who were pre-law (including myself!) have all decided to pursue other avenues (library science, math grad school, engineering grad school, etc.) Be warned that law, while seeming glamorous, is expensive, and that you’re not guaranteed a job when you get out.</p>

<p>Anyways, like southeastmom said, law is not a major, and Pitt doesn’t do criminal justice. I think some areas you might look into are International Relations/studies and maybe Poly Sci/History something along those lines if you’re into law and want to study that material now.</p>

<p>Tower C is nice, but the people I knew who lived there barely met anyone on their floor or ever because everyone just kind of stayed put in their own room and didn’t really talk. So my advice to you if you end up there is GET OUT AND AROUND! Meet other people on your floor!</p>

<p>Tower A isn’t too bad. My one friend was an RA there two years ago and her girls were mostly nice (had a few alcohol incidents with a couple of them). It doesn’t have the party atmosphere of Tower B but I don’t know if that’s changed since the Engineers left (originally 4 floors of A were the Engineering floors). Keep in mind that you probably won’t get a lounge area because Pitt keeps overaccepting students and then making them live IN the lounge in 3-4 person “rooms”. If you like lounges and common areas, I’d suggest aiming for Lothrop (I think has a lounge?) and Sutherland. I’m not sure about Holland (for the girls).</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Because the academic classes at SSOE are so stringent (i.e. certain classes only given in fall/spring semester), my guess is that it is MUCH easier to transfer in the fall, when you can start with classes offered in the right order, rather than starting in the spring or summer where you will have to jump around and learn stuff out of order.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>My first semester I took 17 credits. 10 of those credits were Honors classes (Chem, Physics, Engineering). I also took Calc 3 and an Intro to Shakespeare class. I did fine, but obviously that was me.</p>

<p>6 classes your first semester will be hard to impossible. A lot of lower level classes are 4-5 credits (labs, languages, etc.) and anything past 18 credits you have to pay additional money for.</p>

<p>Especially if you have many Honors classes, and you aren’t used to a heavy, hard workload (which luckily I was because I came from a very academic high school), I would suggest maybe 15 credits your first semester.</p>

<p>Also you need to get out and do stuff! Oh my gosh, JOIN CLUBS and do things with friends! College isn’t all about academics and when you apply for jobs or grad school or whatever they want to see what ELSE you have been doing. For that reason, you should find a good balance between class and free time to pursue other things. (For instance, I take 16-17 credits a semester, but I also take bassoon lessons, play for the Pitt Symphonic Band, play a club sport, am the secretary of an Engineering Club, and conduct research). Make sure you have the time and ability to do other things too!</p>

<p>Awesome - I seem to recall reading some time ago about a mechanism in which students could be emailed when a closed course suddenly had an open slot. For example, class A only accepts 25 students and 25 students registered, thus closing the class for additional students. When registering a student who wanted to take the course would see that the class was closed. Could the student then ask for an “alert” or email to be sent in the event one of the 25 registered students decided a week from now to change her or her schedule, thus “opening” the class again for one lucky student?</p>

<p>I have also considered forensic toxicology. you need some type of under grad degree in pharmacology. i know Pitt offers a graduate degree in that but what would you suggest for an undergrad</p>

<p>I am applying…can you tell me abou the cultural clubs…I am agnostic, mexican/european…I will be majoring in foreign languages/cultures/international relations…my gps weighted is 3.9 and my sat is 1800…do I have a chance?</p>

<p>What is student life like? Is the city boring or lively? What do you guys do on campus? Is the work load extrmemely difficult…spill some details…this is the one school I am applying to that I can not find much feedback on or details about other than school advertisements which ar enot neccessarily a prime example of the school’s feel and environenment…I want to study abroad too…possibly go to grad school in Germany</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I’ve never heard of this! What my friends did is that they got on the wait list (and I’m not sure how) OR they emailed the professor and asked to be let in to an already full class. I’ve never run into this issue with classes in SSOE (if anyone is wondering).</p>

<p>How many seats are available in the combined medical program?</p>

<p>@AwesomeOpossum, how hard is it to keep a high GPA (like ~3.75) in engineering at Pitt? I am looking into bioengineering, but since I want to get into med school, I would need a pretty high GPA, do you think that’s doable w/o going crazy and still having time too join clubs/research? Thank you!</p>

<p>AwesomeOpossum, thanks for this thread!</p>

<p>I’m a recently admitted student to the engineering school. </p>

<p>I have a few questions:

  1. I’m also an OOS student, and Pitt’s new FA calculator says I am eligible for ~$8,000 of scholarships (not including merit/school-specific scholarships). So that’s about $29,000 left over to pay, which I definitely cannot afford. Are(were) you full pay for that $20,000? I’ve become increasingly interested in Pitt since applying in early October. </p>

<p>2) how many classes a semester do/did you have to take to graduate in 4 years (assuming you are graduating in 4 years)? The welcome packet has about 6-7 courses for credit per semester, and one course per semester that is no credits. All it says is to major in engineering, a student must complete the following courses. I’m not sure if you received the same welcome packet, but it has all required courses for 8 terms listed. </p>

<p>3) do you know anyone in the nuclear engineering certificate program?</p>

<p>4) is touch football (women’s, if that makes a difference) a fall sport, spring sport, or fall+spring? I’m assuming there are tryouts? Do IM sports teams play against other teams at other schools/in other states? How competitive or consistent are IM sports?</p>

<p>5) how long did it take for you to receive scholarship notification?</p>

<p>6) which dorms are closest to engineering facilities? Sports facilities?</p>

<p>I just realized this is about 20 questions, sorry! You can PM me if it’s easier. Thanks!</p>

<p>Thanks Awesome! I really appreciate the quick response. </p>

<p>Perhaps I read that Penn State does that. No matter. If Pitt doesn’t currently have that capability, hopefully it will soon!! That sure would be a lot easier and convenient for students.</p>

<p>I hope you have a great senior year.</p>

<p>Hail to Pitt!</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>My daughter is an applied math major, physics minor and for her first two years was double majoring in Japanese (currently swinging between a double major and the East Asian certificate). Anyway, she has had scheduling conflicts every semester. She worked with her professors and either missed some physics lectures or some Japanese lectures depending on the semester. However, there are probably more sections offered for English classes than there are for Japanese. She did bring in about 20 AP credits and took her second year of Japanese language after her freshman year. She will graduate in four years and will have about 160 credits.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I have no idea what program you’re talking about. My guess is the guaranteed medical school program. 10 seats to my knowledge. I know 3 of the students that had them my freshman year (1 lost it, the other 2 still have them to my knowledge).</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>VERY. Your classes are relatively easy freshman year (I maintained a high GPA my first year) because you’re taking basic classes to which you’ve already had exposure (Calc, Chem, Physics, etc.) By sophomore and junior year, you’re delving deep into new material. And, after the “weed out” year(s) (excuse my use of that phrase, but most people tend to drop in the first two years), the people left are committed and work hard.</p>

<p>Keep in mind for medical school they will require additional things: 200 hours of volunteer work in a medical related field for starters. They also expect to see that you do extra curricular activities. My roommate (who is not bioE but is pre-med) volunteers at a hospital in the summer, and during the school year is involved in an honorary society (board position), symphonic band, a musical theater club, and honor’s college events. </p>

<p>Also, it is VERY common for many of the BioE/ChemEs to be pre-med. So while it may be nice to think that you’re being different by being engineering instead of bio/chem major, many of your peers are doing the same thing. It’s great because you can study together for pre-med related stuff (MCATs), but you’re also going to be competing with them.</p>

<p>Regardless of going to med school or not, it’s always difficult to maintain a high GPA while doing other things.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I <em>think</em> you’re asking if I paid full tuition- no. I had a half tuition (the $10k OOS) scholarship, plus $2k/yr from SSOE for my first 2.5 years. My last 1.5 years I have full tuition from a very generous alumnus.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I always took 16-18 credits, 12-15 of which were ALWAYS engineering-based. Some semesters were ALL engineering, others were mixed engineering with humanities. You have to schedule out your entire 4 years in advance (I highly recommend this) to figure out what classes to take when (since certain upper level classes have pre-reqs and some classes are only offered in the fall or the spring).</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I’m in it. I love it. You should do it if you think it’s something that interests you. I will say I don’t <em>particularly</em> enjoy the first course. It’s pretty basic, which I don’t like, and is a LOT of qualitative knowledge instead of having a quantitative part. But Nuke 2 is a LOT of fun and Nuke 3 is a challenging (but fun) class.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I didn’t know we had a team…so I’m not certain. Some club sports will have tryouts for the “official” roster, and some just want as many people as can show up. I know my club team (Quidditch) plays against other schools and travels to tournaments (this weekend we’re going to the World Cup in NYC). Competitiveness is all based on the sport and the team that already exists. Some sports are kind of lax, others (again basing on Quidditch) will hold 2-3 practices a week leading up to a tournament or game.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Thank You! It’s certainly starting to get VERY busy, but hey, better than being bored!</p>