Pitt FAQs

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pittsburgh
521

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<p>Are you living in Towers? My experience was that if you lived in Towers/Holland, you tended to see the huge party scenes. However, I lived in Forbes (UHC housing) and didn’t really see much of it. Sutherland doesn’t really seem to have it that badly either (kind of helps now that it’s UHC/athletes). Lothrop might not just because it’s a lot of nursing students who have to work reallllllly hard. (But my friend who lived there sophomore year still saw lots of drunk people late at night).</p>

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<p>Exactly. That’s basically what I did. My friends and I would have movie nights in the dorm. We would go see shows or orchestras downtown. We’d explore the other neighborhoods, or go shopping at the Waterfront, etc. There is a LOT to do at Pitt besides party, and if you can find a group of curious friends, you can easily keep yourself entertained in other ways.</p>

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<p>Agreed. I would go further and say that the Pitt email userface is complete crap. I set up my pitt emails to forward to my gmail account, and then always reply from gmail so that people know my real email address (it’s quite long, so I always sign up through my short, easy to read Pitt email). It’s also good because I use my gmail for everything, and I can label/sort my emails easily. Plus the pitt email inbox reaches max capacity really quickly, which is stupid.</p>

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<p>Actually that depends on the dorm. In Forbes Hall, the lounges on each floor, the kitchenettes, and the big 2nd floor lounge all had wireless Pitt access. The “lounges” (aka 4-people suite rooms) in Towers should also have wi-fi. In Forbes Craig, the 1st floor lounge has great wifi, so good that anyone on the 2nd floor could pick it up on their computer :slight_smile: However, I do suggest a long (25-50ft depending on your dorm room) ethernet cord for your room (which is what I used freshman year).</p>

<p>I don’t know if it’s still a requirement with the PittNet CDs, but avoid installing symantec (the virus software) onto your computer. It’s pointless and does a shoddy job of keeping viruses off of your computer. It also eats up CPU whenever it runs.</p>

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<p>I actually don’t know of many public schools that do housing through senior year, so I was prepared for the move off campus. </p>

<p><em>MY</em> biggest complain as an underclassmen was that the buses NEVER EVER EVER ran on schedule.</p>

<p>EVER. </p>

<p>So relying on them for weekly events like traveling to my bassoon teacher’s house meant waiting at the stop 15 minutes early, and then hoping the bus was on time on the way back after my lesson (it never was). And when it’s pouring rain, or miserably cold, that is NO fun.</p>

522

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<p>Nope actually I live in Sutherland in the UHC dorm. Ironically I have found friends who don’t party and they all live in Tower B. Maybe it’s just my class but it really does seem like everyyyone parties, just some (engineering, nursing, etc.) do it less.</p>

523

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<p>Could be because there are less stringent requirements to get in (i.e. 400+ beds instead of only 220-ish). But even at Forbes, there was a definite party crowd and not-party crowd. I picked the latter. :)</p>

524

<p>My biggest quip with Pitt would just be navigating the bureaucracy. Before winter break I was trying to get credit for an internship I have this semester with one of the departments in the William Pitt Union. For some reason, I couldn’t just register for the internship credit…I had to find someone to approve it. I talked to about three different people until meeting with some dean in the A&S who approved my registration. (And this was after HE asked somebody else if it was okay).</p>

<p>My friend now is trying to register for an internship in DC this summer and needs the school to sign off on something. She’s spent the past week consulting multiple departments trying to find someone to help her. Overall, these feats are doable, but you have to have a little fight in you to get what you want. It’s incredibly a pain in the ass.</p>

<p>About the party thing–yes, Pitt does have a big party scene. I lived in Tower B freshman year, right in the middle of it (maybe not a smart move on my part). I didn’t party at all freshman year but managed to find a group of people who liked shopping, eating, movies, and symphonies. We also watched a lot of movies in the empty Tower A lounges while everyone was out on the weekends :slight_smile: My point being that if you want to party, it’s there, but if you don’t, you can still have a great time.</p>

525

<p>Hi Awesome,
Do you know any bus to NJ from Pittsburgh? I heard that Penn State U. provides shuttle at semester end to NY/NJ area for students, is there similar service at Pitts or with CMU? Thank you.</p>

526

<p>Pitt does offer bus service during the holidays. I don’t believe it goes to NJ. [Buses</a> Home for the Holidays: Spring Recess](<a href=“http://www.pc.pitt.edu/transportation/buses_springrecess.html]Buses”>http://www.pc.pitt.edu/transportation/buses_springrecess.html)</p>

527

<p>We live in the middle of northern NJ - you have a few options for coming home - a) mega bus to NYC and then transfer to NJTransit or bus home, this is the cheapest, b) pitt bus to Allentown, PA, which is still about 1 hr from our home but at least it isn’t 6 hrs! c) find a ride. Pitt bus benefit is that it picks up and drops off on campus rather than having to get to the Megabus station. Penn St. does have a bus that drops in N. NJ but I am not sure if you can get from Pitt to PSU and then catch it. Wish Pitt did have something direct into NJ because there are certainly alot of kids from Jersey there.</p>

528

<p>AMTRAK also offers limited train service from Pittsburgh to Newark. Although the train takes a long time, it is more comfortable than the bus. My D prefers the train from Pittsburgh to Philly even though it takes longer.</p>

529

<p>Great responses from MTnest, amandakayak and pamom59. I would add that you could get from Pitt to PSU by taking a MegaBus, but if PSU’s bus system is like Pitt’s bus system, then it’s only for PSU students to use, so that would be a pointless trip.</p>

<p>If you buy them early enough, train and plane tickets can be relatively cheap. If the MegaBus goes close to a city near you, that’s probably going to be cheapest, although slightly unwieldy if you take big bags home, because you have to take a PAT bus to a stop downtown and then walk a few blocks to the Convention Center (where the MegaBus picks up) to catch the megabus.</p>

530

<p>Thanks for responses from MTnest, amandakayak, pamom59 and Awesome; we live in NJ, and just started paying attention to Pitt for its good academic programs like UHC and GAP a few months ago, but the transportation part might be a problem to convince my wife and my daughter, have a nice day.</p>

531

<p>Awesome,
Do you know much about the Fessenden Honors Program for freshman engineering majors? Is taking four or five honors classes per semester in your freshman year worth it for this certificate? I am contemplating going pre med and I don’t need an early hit to my GPA. I know it’s a lot of work, and I’m a pretty hard worker, but is this program a GPA killer for the cost of learning more in depth material?</p>

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[quote=2MuchMath]
Do you know much about the Fessenden Honors Program for freshman engineering majors?[/qupte]</p>

<p>One of my friends is a proctor for it and quite a few of my friends took the FHEP seminar. Do note that enrolling in the FHEP seminar (as opposed to the regular ones like “Frisbee” and “Childhood Games” etc.) does not mean that you have to complete all the requirements for the FHEP certificate. </p>

<p>I highly encourage taking FHEP for any student who would like to discuss interesting engineering-based (used loosely) readings with other academic students. FHEP is also a great way to meet older engineering students and make some friends in your classes. The nice thing about FHEP is that (at least when my friends took it) they take you on a few field trips (my friends got to go out to Falling Water-- how cool!).</p>

<p>I wish I had taken FHEP, but the way it was presented to me made it sound boring. Really-- it’s just a bunch of freshman engineers reading interesting books or articles and then having a lively discussion about it, all mixed in with some fun social stuff too.</p>

533

<p>Hello!
I just paid my deposit today and was curious about the housing now. Does anyone know when the $325 has to be in by? Also, any idea where to do that online and fill out the housing application? Does Pitt do any type of surveys or questionnaires to match roommates? If I were to submit my $325 housing payment by next week, what are the chances that I would still be able to get a room in towers?</p>

534

<p>Opossum -</p>

<p>Do you know if pre-med students can access/gain clinical experience at the Pitt hospital by the campus? I am wondering if Pitt’s premed program has some sort of special arrangements where premed students can gain clinical experience.</p>

535

<p>@csjohnson Once you submit your enrollment deposit, you will receive information about your housing deposit deadline. This will also give you instructions about how to pay your housing deposit online. We had some trouble with the online process, because it is necessary to turn off any pop up blockers. There will be a very brief questionnaire for purposes of roommate matching.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, depositing early does not give you any special advantage to getting a room in Towers. Pitt uses a lottery system among all freshman who have deposited by their assigned housing deposit deadline. That means that people who enroll later (say April 30) and have a later deposit deadline, will have the same chance as you do to get your desired room.</p>

<p>Your chances of getting a room in Towers are also less if you happen to be female, because Pitt will place approximately 600 freshman woman in the single-sex dorm, Holland Hall, and typically the female students assigned to this dorm did not request it.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

536

<p>csjohnson, there is some type of survey. In my daughter’s eight-student suite, she was definitely matched with the best room mate of the seven.</p>

537

<p>@FromMD There is no specific program at Pitt that encompasses all the hospitals that I’ve heard of, but there are a few hospitals that recognize how many pre-med students Pitt has and offers this sort of thing on their own. Though it is more often on the side of volunteering than clinical experience. I do know of a few students who have gained clinical experience through their work study jobs.</p>

538

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<p>Like many people said, there is no advantage to sending your deposit in early. It is due by the last day in April (April 30) after which it is considered late. After you have submitted your deposit, Pitt will mail you a housing form/brochure in May (late May if I recall correctly). In it, they detail the different kinds of housing available, and ask you to fill out a form of your top 3 choices.</p>

<p>There is a survey you fill out online that tries to match you to a roommate. From my experience, it is rather OK at finding roommates-- most cohabitate fine, some will get along great, and others will not. Most likely you will not have a bad roommate.</p>

539

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<p>Like MedSch said, there is no specific arrangement between Pitt and UPMC. However, I have MANY friends who volunteer/work at the UPMC hospitals (mostly Presby since it is on campus). They do actually get paid to do their volunteer work, which can involve helping with trauma cases.</p>

<p>IF you contact a researcher doing clinical research work, you may be able to do that too. I had a friend do clinical research the summer after her freshman year and get paid (probably about $10-12/hour) while she was doing it. She was allowed to keep doing it during the fall semester, but stopped in the spring due to an overwhelming courseload.</p>

<p>So, while Pitt itself does not have any programs, there are programs out there that students can find and participate in.</p>

540

<p>Hey Awesome (or to any of the other posters in this thread) - </p>

<p>Long background story: I initially applied in late November, and in December an email was sent informing me that I needed to send in my official Italian transcript (which my guidance counselor had already sent). Evidently it wasn’t received, so we sent it again. Then, in early January, when I sent Admissions an email regarding my SAT scores, I received an email back informing me that they still had not received my Italian transcript. Shocked and panicked, I again emailed them my transcript. The admissions officer then requested a certified English translation of said transcript, and finally a week after I paid $40 to get my transcript translated, it was directly emailed to Admissions. From a different admissions officer, I would later find out that the mix-up was due to a clarification error; although the admissions officer had written to me that she needed my official Italian transcript, in actuality she needed a certified English translation of it (which she never specified in any of the emails).</p>

<p>The real question: It has been exactly three weeks since that day and I’ve received no response back; should I email Admissions about this? I only hesitate because I hate to be pushy, and they’re already overworked and underpaid as it is. I realize they have to go through thousands and thousands of applications, but I suppose I was wrong to assume that they’d immediately look at my application considering their part in the mix up. Then again, my stats are borderline to begin with, so it may be that they are holding on to my application.
It’s just disheartening to check my mail every day and look at the calendar only to realize it’s February and I still haven’t heard back.
Stats:
3.85 GPA, 550 Math (yikes), 660 Reading, 650 Writing.
I’ve taken the most rigorous courses available, with the addition of five APs this year.
Hook: First generation college student, exchange student to Italy
Essay: I wrote what was essentially a pathetic love letter to Pitt that hopefully conveyed my interest in this school. (It’s my number one choice, after all.)
ECs are nothing special: A couple clubs that I’ve consistently been involved in, numerous hours of community service, and a summer internship at a real estate management company in Manhattan.</p>

<p>Any comments/suggestions would be much appreciated (especially for taking the time to read such a long-winded post).</p>