<p>Although I had actually already enrolled, I visited Pitt for the first time this past weekend (Yeah, I know, kind of crazy). Fortunately…I absolutely loved it! I’m so excited to be there this fall.</p>
<p>Now, part of what made my visit so great were the Pathfinders, who were all incredibly nice and informative. By talking to one of them, I was informed that it is possible to apply to join the Pathfinders basically as soon as you get to campus. The Pathfinder I asked about this said you have to apply, go to a group interview, then go to an individual interview. I would love to do this and think it would be a great job for me…</p>
<p>My question is - Do you have any experience with the Pathfinder program and do you know how competitive it is to become one?</p>
Being from Illinois will help (it’s a lesser represented state). The white male part…not as much (not saying it will hurt, but it doesn’t add more). But definitely apply early!</p>
<p>I’ve never done it myself but had friends that went through the process. You can apply after you complete your first semester at Pitt if I remember correctly (you need that time to get adjusted to campus, learn your way around, etc.) </p>
<p>It is a competitive job to get, however. Many people love Pitt and want to be Pathfinders but they can only accept so many people per cycle. You’ll hear more from them, but people have done crazy things in their interview (= dress up as the Cathedral of Learning) to show how dedicated to Pitt they are. If you get accepted, you still have to go through training and pass your practice tour before you can give any.</p>
<p>Also, depending on when you are hired, you may be required to stay at Pitt during the summer to work with the PittStart students (as opposed to going home, traveling, or getting an internship elsewhere). It’s fun, but you are making minimal pay.</p>
<p>What’s the housing situation like for freshman? If I understand correctly, I can either apply for Honors College housing, choose engineering housing or just do regular housing. Which one is better and are there any dorms to definitely avoid?</p>
<p>Also, how is the social scene? Obviously with 17,000 people there are a lot of options, but is it lots of frat parties? Lots of regular parties? Do Pitt people ever hang out with CMU people? When I visited Oakland last week I was a little weirded out by how few CMU students I saw even though I was literally on their campus.</p>
<p>I’ve read through a bunch of this thread and it’s been super helpful so thanks. I’m also a girl who goes to school in NoVa and wants to study mechanical engineering, which is a funny coincidence.</p>
<p>If you plan on taking UHC classes as a freshman (engineering, chem, calc, physics) go live in the UHC dorm. It’s a great experience, many of your classmates will be in there, super diverse, like-minded folks (= kids who care about their grades) etc. I actually lived in UHC housing all 3 years I was on campus.</p>
<p>If you are not going to take UHC classes, live in Forbes. You’ll be with your class mates, studying will be easier, you’ll get to know them well, and you’re going to be spending a LOT of time with them in the next 4-5 years. Plus since it’s engineering, it’ll still be pretty diverse, good group of kids, most of whom also care about academics.</p>
<p>I would avoid Towers (especially Tower C) and Holland. Personally, I could never live in an all-girl dorm (I would go crazy) and I didn’t like the cramped spaces of Towers, combined with the “party life” it seemed to exude. I also think living with a roommate, at least for a year, is an important aspect of college life, thus no Tower C.</p>
<p>A lot of people are leaning towards Nordy. Yes it is new and nice, but honestly, the community feel that you get from living in an LLC (Engineering or UHC) will trump how “nice” another dorm can be. Would you rather live with a random group of kids who could steal your laptop or would you like to live in an open-door dorm where every lounge has an XBOX or DVDs laying in it (not an exaggeration, that’s what my dorm was like)</p>
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<p>It’s whatever you want. A lot of both, although underclassmen tend to go to frat parties since they don’t live off campus. As you get into junior year and turn 21 etc it’s more house parties and bars. </p>
<p>It is also a lot of not-partying but having fun. I did a lot of cultural events (plays, opera, symphony, museums, etc.) and exploring (restaurants and neighborhoods, movies in small theaters, etc.) with friends who were not party people. Whatever you’re into, you will find a group of people with similar interests.</p>
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<p>Not really no. CMU people have a stigma against Pitt and vice-versa. I’m also 99% certain that many CMU students are allergic to the sun, as I almost never see them on their campus when the weather is nice.</p>
<p>If you’d like more personal advice from a fellow Nova girl in engineering, feel free to shoot me a PM and I can give you more contact info! I may be in Nova in May if you wanted to meet up and ask me questions face-to-face</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your assistance and advice; I’ve been lurking here for the past few months and the information in this thread has really helped as my son made his decision to attend.</p>
<p>He just completed his housing application for UHC and he is very excited to live in Sutherland, but per the website it seems very competitive. What happens if he does not get in? He filled out a short roommate survey on Panther Central but we did not see anywhere to mark a 2nd dorm choice (his 2nd choice would actually be the Engineering LLC, but we did not see any chance to apply to more than one LLC either).</p>
<p>So do you think he will just be randomly assigned if Honors Housing does not pan out?</p>
<p>IIRC last year they could not even fill Sutherland with applicants and had to add extra people in (either that or people who were not technically UHC eligible were allowed to apply due to so few applicants). So if your son is actually putting good effort into his application he will not have a problem getting in (UHC housing did used to be competitive back when there were only about 130 spots, not 400+)</p>
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<p>I think you can only apply for one LLC (I remember thinking my second choice would have been SPACE too). However, you should at some point fill out a “top three” application from PC for normal dorm choices (i.e. Lothrop, Tower A, Tower B, or Holland, Tower C, Lothrop, etc.) I can’t remember when that happens, so you may want to contact PC and ask.</p>
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<p>He should have a top-3 choice list (See above) that PC will try to assign him to if he doesn’t get UHC housing. However, I am pretty confident he will!</p>
<p>Hey Awesome, did you know a lot of engineers that were NOT in Sutherland or Forbes? If so, how did they feel about it and were they able to maintain good grades? I ask this because I’m an engineering major and am probably going to be living in Nordenberg or Towers, and I’m somewhat worried about how an engineer would react to that environment.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice. I’m definitely leaning toward either the UHC housing or the engineering housing. I actually go to boarding school now, so I know what it’s like to live in a dorm with ****ty people (it’s the worst!) We all leave our stuff everywhere and no one takes it so I’m pretty used to that haha.</p>
<p>Jsd3811, my daughter was a physics major who opted not to live in honors housing freshman year. She was in the international learning community because she started as physics/Japanese dual major. Anyway, it was difficult for her being surrounded by humanities majors who could take later classes and sleep in after staying up late and socializing.</p>
<p>It was also difficult because there were fewer students around to study with for physics or chemistry. If possible, IMO the engineering floor or honors housing has its benefits.</p>
<p>I have a (dumb?) question. How do I apply for housing and dining as a freshman? I paid my enrollment deposit about 2 weeks ago. I couldn’t find anything on the housing website, myPitt, nor the snail-mail/e-mail. I don’t even know where to pay my housing deposit. Also, regardless of what you think about the Towers, how easy is it to get a single dorm in Tower C? BTW, I have already registered for PittStart.</p>
<p>Try the link below. It talks about two deposits. If you look around a bit, it will probably tell you where to send your deposit. It has been too long since I sent those deposits!</p>
<p>Thanks for the link, but I already saw that page and it doesn’t say much about freshmen except that we’re guaranteed on-campus housing for 3 years and that it’s $325. Apparently the price and deadlines are printed on my housing contract. Where do I get a housing contract and who do I pay the deposit to? Do I get a housing/dining application (where I can select my preferred residence hall and dining plan) once I pay my deposit? I’m still pretty confused, lol.</p>
<p>MD Mom gave a great overview. Honestly, living with a random major person may be fun, but it can be a bit overwhelming after a while- you can have vastly different schedules and it may be hard to find people to study with. I would say that most of the people I knew and interacted with throughout my four years were from UHC or the Engineering LLC. They seemed, to me at least, to be some of the most successful students at the school.</p>
<p>My daughter received a packet in the mail with housing information and a contract with a deadline to send a deposit. It was a couple of weeks between when she paid her acceptance deposit to when it arrived in the mail. It would seem that the housing deposit deadline varies. She also received her Pitt Start information in print at the same time, but she had already registered online. The packet contains information for logging into your account and paying your housing deposit.</p>
<p>Once your deposit has been processed they should mail you housing information. If it’s been a few weeks with no word, I would call Panther Central and ask them whats up.</p>
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<p>Hard. There are roughly 3500 freshman coming into Pitt, most of whom live on campus. Tower C has 435 beds, including the RAs who live on each floor. That’s about a 10% chance of getting into Tower C.</p>
<p>@rockycrrab
The housing packet lists Towers C as housing upperclassmen next year. Not sure if you can select it as a freshman from the drop down list or not.</p>