<p>nikkigirl12, again, that's a very difficult question to answer. It depends on your talents, interests, and work habits, the professor, the class, the department, etc. You're definitely going to have to work in every class, Pitt's not an "easy" school, but it's not difficult to maintain a good GPA if you go to class and put the work in.</p>
<p>Laura1217, there are a lot of on-campus jobs. The most popular and competitive jobs are probably Pathfinders (tour guides) and RA positions. A lot of people get jobs working for various departments. There are also jobs in the computer labs. Because Pitt's in the city, you can also find any kind of off-campus job imaginable. The school also offers a lot of undergrad research opportunities.</p>
<p>I agree with Jimmy that there are a lot of jobs available on campus. Don't forget there is a whole medical center on campus, and lots of the jobs are science-related support positions.</p>
<p>Yes, freshmen can get in from the start, but it's harder than Arts and Sciences admissions. If you don't get in as a freshman, you can still apply at a later time.</p>
<p>It isn't extremely difficult to get in, it's not like the Honors College. I'm not sure what their stats are, but as long as you're at leat a little above average for overall Pitt students, you shouldn't have a problem.</p>
<p>1)I know lurknessmonster said get the least expensive one possible but that seems nowhere close to enough. I know that I like to eat every meal.. not a large amount but a decent amount.. so the 50 dining passes and $930 a term doesn't seem to be nearly enough. Is the ultimate access a bad idea? Since I won't have to worry about how much I spend.. it might save me a lot worrying.</p>
<p>2) Are there stores nearby that sell milk/cereal? It seems really convenient if there are stores that do. That way I won't have to pay for breakfast and can just have cereal every morning.</p>
<p>From what I understand, it's not the money- it's the flexibility and getting stuck having paid for dining passes or dollars you can't use (More experienced Pitt students/parents please chime in) . You can always add more dining dollars or panther funds if you need them. Dining dollars and Panther funds can be used anywhere at Pitt's eating places. But dining meal passes can only be used in one place (cafe at bottom of Towers). You can always add dining dollars or Panther funds if you need them. But you lose dining meal passes & dollars if you don't use them all in the year. If I understand this correctly, the dining meal passes are a good deal for big meals. But if you want something small or want to get something at another eating place on the Pitt campus, then dining dollars are more flexible. However, Panther funds are the best it terms of flexibility since they can be used at more eating places. I think Panther funds are good everywhere, even at local restaurants that accept them, and Panther funds can be used for buying items other than food. Another complication is expiration of meal passes, dining dollars, and panther funds. I think dining dollars and dining meal passes expire in a year, but the panther funds last throughout your 4 yrs at Pitt. Parents/students: Do I have this right? Thanks</p>
<p>i absolutely would advise against getting the all access thing. i know a few people who had it, and it's not worth it at all. you will get sick of eating at market central, and even if you eat at least 2 meals a day there you won't need more than 200 passes, max. Dining dollars are a lot more flexible since you can use them to buy things such as milk & cereal at Quick Zone, which is like the mini-mart in towers. It's definitely a great thing to have if you want a snack, drink, or even a meal. </p>
<p>you can always change your meal plan once you get to pitt and have a better idea of how often you'll want to eat at different places, but at least when you have more dining dollars you can get non-perishable stuff like ramen, cereal, etc. to use up dining dollars at the end of the semester (panther funds carry over through all four years). meal passes will just go to waste, although, as a matter of fact, they just started a thing where you can donate unused passes & dining dollars to give food to a charity for kids, which is awesome.</p>
<p>I think it's worth the OOS tuition if a) Pitt has a strong department in what you want and b) you like Pitt better than your own state university.</p>
<p>martini, My D will be returning to Lothrop as a sophomore. There are about 6 other girls on her floor that she knows of that will be coming back to same floor also as sophomores. When she moved in as a freshman I'd say maybe a quarter to a third of the girls (on her floor)were sophomores with maybe a couple of juniors. Now she lives on the nursing LLC so that might make a difference for her floor, but she has 2 friends who lived in Towers last year that got rooms in Lothrop for this year. Not sure how many guys will be returning though. Some of them she knows have opted for apartments next year.</p>
<p>nikkigirl12, I'm going to have to defer this question to someone else- I don't have much personal experience with science classes. I do have friends who are majors in the sciences, and I know they work extremely hard.</p>
<p>As far as meal plan goes, I wouldn't get the ultimate access. You can always add to your plan if you need more.</p>