<p>S wants to double psychology and philosophy (for philosophy of mind, etc.). </p>
<p>Makes me feel good about our search process when I get validation like this. Thanks. :)</p>
<p>Something else that you may not be aware of when thinking about double majors and study abroad is that Pitt’s schedule is great for fitting in the extras because the summer break is long. Pitt operates under what I have referred to as a trimester. The school sessions run August to December, January to the end of April, and May to August. The long summer (but short winter–two weeks at Christmas) break gives you some flexibility for taking classes and studying abroad.</p>
<p>MD Mom are those “official” trimesters? Or is it just their scheduling? </p>
<p>Lurk ses I would LOVE to hear more about your D’s experience…how long has she been out, what is she doing now, etc. Think she would talk to my D on Facebook or something?</p>
<p>The summer session is pretty extensive and students can attend year around. I don’t know that I have ever heard them called trimesters. My impressin is that the schedule is helpful for career changers (like when the steel industry was in trouble) and would allow someone to get a bachelor’s degree in about three years going year round. Pitt offers extensive summer language programs as well, which was helpful for my daughter.</p>
<p>Pitt’s schedule I don’t believe is actually called trimesters. The fall semester starts in late August and is finished by Christmas. Then there is a short break, only three weeks. The spring semester finishes up at the end of April. My daughter was actually able to do two different things each summer: a paid or unpaid internship, then a camp job. It works out great. The kids are finished so early, they beat everyone to the summer jobs. </p>
<p>Sujormik, I’ll PM you later today about my daughter’s experience! Gotta run now!</p>
<p>For those of you considering psychology, I wanted to post this info about directed research. The availability of these positions is one of the things that makes the Pitt psychology department great. My daughter was able to complete two directed research projects as an undergrad, and the real-world experience she received there enabled her to make an informed decision about grad school and her career. Browse through the list and see all the interesting projects that Pitt professors are doing!</p>
<p>[Current</a> Opportunities](<a href=“http://www.psychology.pitt.edu/undergraduate/experiential-learning/directed-research/opportunities.php]Current”>http://www.psychology.pitt.edu/undergraduate/experiential-learning/directed-research/opportunities.php)</p>
<p>Hiya Awesome! Any idea whether waiting to apply for honors housing is detrimental to getting it? Would like to have all ducks in a row (all other acceptances, $$, etc.) before committing obviously, but a huge part of the decision for us is that Sutherland honors housing.</p>
<p>Pitt in the past has not done a first-come, first-served honors housing ranking. Although it seems as though things are changing with adding more housing.</p>
<p>In past years, students were required to write an essay on why they wanted honors housing and how their presence would benefit the honors community, and the spots were doled out based on that. We parents on CC reached the conclusion that the more social the kid seemed to be, the better the odds. But that may have changed by now, I don’t know. Pitt has been trying to increase the number of honors housing slots available so that kids don’t have to be weeded out.</p>
<p>Just be mindful of any deadlines and make sure your student meets them.</p>
<p>Hey AwesomeOpossum, does Pitt usually allow students to take classes at community college over the summer? What if the CC is out of state?</p>
<p>For engineering: you can’t take community college courses. Don’t know if this applies to the A&S and other schools.</p>
<p>SUMMER SCHOOL GUIDELINES</p>
<p>Students may opt to take summer classes for a variety of reasons. Some students will take Summer classes to “catch up” in courses they need in order to start in their department in the Fall due to course repeats or starting the year in pre-calculus. Some may opt into summer classes in order to lighten future course loads, or to get ahead in their elective courses.</p>
<p>When registering for summer classes at Pitt or elsewhere, it is important to keep the following basic guidelines in mind:</p>
<p> Students may take Summer courses at four year schools. They may not take classes from community colleges.</p>
<p> Students may take Summer courses at branch campuses of other four-year schools.</p>
<p> Students may take as many credits as they can realistically handle at Pitt’s main
campus or branch campuses.</p>
<p> Students may not take more than 30 credits at another institution.</p>
<p> Only the credits from the Summer courses students take at other four-year institutions will transfer; the grades from those courses will not.</p>
<p>Because of the previous bullet, if students are retaking a course over the Summer to replace a previous grade of “C-“ or below, that course must be taken at a University of Pittsburgh campus.</p>
<p> If students opt to take courses at another institution, they must earn grades of “C” or better in order for the courses to transfer. Students intending to take Summer courses at another institution must have the course approved by their Pitt academic advisor PRIOR to registering for the course. This is to ensure that the course is comparable to a Pitt course and therefore eligible for transfer credit. They can do this by sending their Advisor a URL to a course description online, or by bringing a hard-copy of the course description to their Advisor. Elective courses must have an equivalent on the Swanson School of Engineering’s approved electives list found at <a href=“http://www.engr.pitt.edu/students/electives.html[/url]”>http://www.engr.pitt.edu/students/electives.html</a> .</p>
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<p>Honors Housing is not first-come first-serve, like MD Mom said, so you can apply at any point up to the deadline (I think mid-May? Dunno if that has changed). You don’t find out about honors housing until early June I believe (I remember that I knew I was living in Forbes before I went to my June 23 Pitt Start). With that said, you obviously will not know if you have guaranteed Sutherland housing until after the deposit for Pitt is due (May 1). </p>
<p>Like LurkNess said, Sutherland is a much bigger dorm than Forbes was (400+ beds compared to about 200-225) so a lot less students are “rejected” from UHC housing. I have heard of non-UHC freshman being allowed to live there upon request too. As long as your application seems personable (i.e. intelligently written essay, actually plan on being remotely social) I think your D will be fine getting into Sutherland :)</p>
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<p>I guess at least for SSOE they don’t allow CC credits any more (according to the website MTNest found). I do also know that for SSOE, you can only transfer classes from approved schools. That is, you can’t simply take physics 2 (for example) at any school and transfer the credit to Pitt, the department has to approve the school and course you will be taking before you register (important to know!). I would say, if you plan on taking CC/other summer courses, talk to an advisor in your department and make sure you get the OK to do it first!</p>
<p>does pitt have a sick mens acapella group?</p>
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<p>The Pitt Men’s Glee club is REALLY good! [University</a> of Pittsburgh Men’s Glee Club](<a href=“http://pittmensgleeclub.org/]University”>http://pittmensgleeclub.org/)</p>
<p>There’s also a few smaller mens acapella groups and a few co-ed groups.</p>
<p>Opossum (and parents of current Pitt students) - </p>
<p>Can you share your thoughts on aspects of Pitt you are not too happy about? No particular areas/topics - anything from campus life, quality of education/students/professors, dorms, security…etc. I have read a lot of positive things about Pitt but not much on “can be improved” aspects. We are still “gathering info” mode and would love to hear about it, if any. Appreciated as usual.</p>
<p>That’s a good suggestion FromMD…maybe it could be its own thread! It would be nice to hear about the warts!</p>
<p>My biggest, and really only, complaint is how big the party scene is. It seems like everybody parties/drinks, but that might also be because I am a freshman.</p>
<p>from what I have seen Pitt’s computer interface for students, mypitt, can be problematic- for things like making housing deposits, it isn’t user friendly and we have issues with the required pop up windows not displaying. For my D’s housing deposit for next year, I had to do it from my home pc as my D just could not get through it on her laptop.</p>
<p>also- there is no wireless internet in the dorms. it’s a good idea to have an extra long ethernet cord so you can move your laptop around the room.</p>
<p>perhaps awesome could comment more about computer issues. these are just a couple of issues that I’ve noticed.</p>
<p>My daughter was also surprised at how big the party scene is among freshman. But she was able to find friends who also were not into the party scene and is very happy at Pitt. Our only other issue with Pitt is that you are not guaranteed housing as a senior. You are only guaranteed through your junior year.</p>