My son is looking at Pitt. There is much to recommend it, but I wonder if it may be too large a school. How did you (or your child) find your place at Pitt? Is freshman year full of huge lecture halls? Do you ever feel like just a number? Or did you create a smaller, supportive community at Pitt? Would love to hear answers to these questions and stories about your experience there. Thanks!
Size is relative! We think Pitt is small since the two main schools in our state (TX) have an enrollment of close to 66,000 students! Pitt is about half that so we think it is great!
Freshman year for our daughter seemed to have a lot of larger classes, but I guess she went into it with perspective and wasn’t planning on deep meaningful relationships with her profs. She found her place through campus groups and activities. She had no desire to form 1:1 relationships in general chemistry, physics and calc.
She is now a junior and is in classes specifically related to her major. She knows most of her fellow students and the profs seem to engage more with the students at that level.
If you want meaningful supportive community as a freshman then lots of schools might be off your list. We talked a lot at home about being realistic and not expecting that as a freshman. She found her world outside the classroom.
Thanks for your input. Yes, we’ve been looking at schools with between 4K - 6K students, so it certainly does depend on perspective!