Pitt FAQs

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<p>Although a lot of people have suggested the bookstore, I actually recommend NOT doing that. The books are WAY overly priced, and for almost all cases, you can find them used online for a much better deal. I always used Amazon. Sometime in early August Pitt will release the book list. Have you son find the books he needs for class on the list and order them on Amazon. Depending on when he orders he can ship them home or ship them to his dorm (I ordered kind of late and had them shipped to my dorm, got them all by the first/second week of class). </p>

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<p>Yeah…but in my experience this is hit or miss. I’ve sold great condition books back for a measly fraction of what I’ve paid. Also, depending on WHEN you sell your book back, sometimes the book store/book trucks won’t take it back! I tried selling back a few engineering books (that I <em>know</em> would be used again) and they refused to take them because they “already had enough” or whatever reason. You may have better luck online, but even then it’s annoying to lug around all the books till then. That’s why I wasn’t quite so irritated to not sell back my used books I bought from Amazon (or Half.com). I hadn’t spent so much on them that I needed to justify reselling them.</p>

<p>I will add though, that checking around at MULTIPLE locations, both online and in-store is the best thing to do. What I like to do is make an Excel spreadsheet (nerdy I know).</p>

<p>I’ll put the book and then a bunch of locations of where to buy it. Then I search for all the prices and plug them in to the correct spot. At the end I simply check my excel sheet for which book to buy where. I sometimes also compare the price of a new/used book as well. I figure in some cases, I don’t mind spending an extra $3-4 if it means the book is brand new, instead of beaten up or highlighted in, etc.</p>

<p>For Towers, we were able to stow several suitcases and footlocker under the bed so there is room underneath.</p>

<p>For books, if you can get the ISBN/title from the professor then you can order the books via Amazon. The books are cheapest before the book list is released. We have saved quite a bit ordering online and students can have an Amazon Prime account for free. There will be books only available at the bookstore (lab manuals etc.).</p>

<p>horatio141 and Awesome: So many VA students – we are also from NOVA :)</p>

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<p>NOVA is really started to get represented more at Pitt. It’s AWESOME!</p>

<p>While we’re on the topic of textbooks, does anyone have a suggestion of what to do with textbooks that cannot be sold back? (Usually because a new edition has come out.) The Pitt bookstore won’t buy them back, and Amazon was offering like 15 cents. I guess I can just recycle them if all else fails.</p>

<p>You might try some of the other textbook sites, LurkNess. abebooks. com is one I use. But you might just do a Google search and try several of the booksellers.</p>

<p>I donate all our books to the library for their book sales. </p>

<p>Awesome: Several Seniors from son’s HS is heading to Pitt this Fall :)</p>

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<p>Have you tried Half.com? A couple of my friends have had good luck on that site.</p>

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<p>That’s awesome! I don’t think anyone form my school is going this year, which is a shame since we’ve had Chancellor’s Scholars for the past two years and always have kids with merit scholarships and Honor’s College status.</p>

<p>AwesomeOpossum: Which high school?</p>

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<p>TJ in Alexandria</p>

<p>Small world – my son is a junior at TJ!!! I believe 3 students are heading to Pitt this year :)</p>

<p>Congrats to NoVa students. Are any of you competing for the Chesapeake Pitt Alumni Club scholarship or going to the event this weekend? Unfortunately, we’re going to be leaving on vacation (we’re from MD between Balto and DC) and can’t make it.</p>

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<p>Really?! I only met one kid who had gotten in with a full tuition scholarship, but he ended up going to VTech instead (which made me sad…haha). That’s great since for the last 4 years only 1 or 2 kids from TJ have gone to Pitt (which is really underrated at TJ, I wish more kids knew about it, <em>especially</em> the pre-med ones).</p>

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<p>You know, I think I was invited to apply for that after I got in…or maybe I didn’t meet the qualifications for applying…either way I have never gone to their events. :/</p>

<p>Just in case for NoVA/DC/MD freshmen coming in and want to meet others from the area: [Upcoming</a> Events](<a href=“http://www.pantherclub.org/events.html]Upcoming”>http://www.pantherclub.org/events.html)</p>

<p>Hmmm…they listed 3 in the Senior Destinations but I don’t know if they received scholarship money (you would think they did otherwise it is a lot of $$ compared to UVA).</p>

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<p>I’m sure they all got at <em>least</em> half-tuition to go to Pitt. Everyone from the class above me onwards has gotten this much at minimum. Luckily!</p>

<p>Speaking of Towers rooms, do you remember if you can use a clip-on lamp on the headboard or is a table lamp better to set on a dresser or ledge next to the bed (we’re in the process of shopping for room stuff). Any other suggestions for Towers rooms?</p>

<p>Well, if you loft the bed pretty high (as my daughter did) to be able to store stuff underneath, there won’t be any “headboard” left at all. So I don’t know what you’d clip a lamp onto. Maybe someone more knowledgeable will weigh in.</p>

<p>I think that you could still clip it on the top of the bed frame. It might not sit too high. DD took a floor lamp. My daughter also was not able to study in her room at all freshman year because it was so loud all the time.</p>

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<p>Definitely saw people who did that. I preferred a desk lamp mainly because I was doing all my work at my desk, since it was book work (i.e. problems for Chem/Physics/Engineering/Math/etc.). So I guess it depends, do you see yourself having a lot of written work or do you think it’ll be more reading/computer based?</p>

<p>I mean, regardless, the rooms will have enough light for you to function, I just liked having a bright light right where I was doing homework.</p>