<p>Neonzeus, Pitt has excellent career services, which I used on multiple occasions. I'd say about 95% of my friends graduate in four years. It took me 5 years total-- 2 at Penn State and 3 at Pitt-- because I had to get my required classes in. You are assigned to an academic advisor when you first arrive, and they stick with you to make sure you are taking the classes you need to graduate. They are also very helpful when trying to pick classes.</p>
<p>There are tons of ways to find out what's going on!</p>
<p>I knew several people who worked at UPMC (the hospital), and most of them were given more and more responsibilities as time went on and they showed they could handle it. It is tough for undergrads to do a whole lot because UPMC is one of the top hospital systems in the world and the people working there are quite elite.</p>
<p>LBP, I have never heard of a college having organizations solely for parents. To be honest, I believe that that would go against the whole idea of teaching students independence and responsibility. I know you would like to get involved in your child's school life, but students should be the ones volunteering in college.</p>
<p>However, many student groups do invite parents to cetain events. For example, when I was editor of the school paper, we held a banquet at the end of the year and families were invited. It was a great night, and parents got to take a tour of the newsroom and the presses.</p>
<p>Pat, I do agree with you! Perhaps I did not make myself clear. I was only wondering in terms of parents networking/socializing with other parents since we have something in common.... I appreciate and enjoy conversing with other parents. You can learn a lot by sharing experiences/insight. Be assured that it's not my intention to curtail students' independence and responsiblity! (BTW, the U of Del and Bucknell do have "parent boards.")</p>
<p>Thanks for the great links and the Pitt article on research -- it was exactly what my kid wanted to know.</p>
<p>SUNY Buffalo has a parents org, sorta like the PTA. I don't think it's very active, but once in awhile we'd get a newsletter with info on helping your kid make freshman adjustments, getting gifts/birthday cakes etc. delivered to your kids, etc. On parents' weekend they had some activities too. PSU has a financial aid newsletter for parents, but that's all I've gotten from them so far. A lot of schools have "Parents of Prospective Students" links on their web sites, that have info for parents. I think the schools should send us "thank yous," flowers, free pencils and pens, stickers for our cars that say "broke parents of a ____ student," etc. Hey, we've earned it!</p>
<p>Pitt is moving higher and higher up my kid's list of finalists but we're going to do another round of college visits before the final decision. My kid has gotten some nice financial aid from other schools, but I'm hoping the Financial Aid Tiki God will do more magic after our FAFSA is filed. </p>
<p>I was told that it's critical to send in a deposit at PSU immediately ($100 of it is nonrefundable) in order to be sure your kid avoids "supplemental housing" in a converted lounge. Is there any reason why I should send in a deposit check to Pitt right away, as opposed to waiting until sometime in March after all of the college visits?</p>
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Is there any reason why I should send in a deposit check to Pitt right away, as opposed to waiting until sometime in March after all of the college visits?
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<p>Unless something has changed since I got in 7 years ago, I'd say there is no reason to deposit now. I don't think I sent my deposit in until April 2000 and still got my first choice of residence halls. However, enrollment numbers have been increasing, so I'd ask a parent of a current freshman or sophomore than an alum.</p>
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I'd say about 95% of my friends graduate in four years.
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<p>You must have had some lucky friends! Though I graduated in 4 years (I took classes for 2 summers as well), most of my peers took 4.5-5 years and the longest took 6 (he was working close to full-time though). </p>
<p>You are able to graduate in 4 years with careful planning and not overloading yourself too much. However, that doesn't account for the common practice in switching majors sophomore/junior year or adding on another major.</p>
<p>I almost added on a second major and it would have taken me another year or so to complete that as well.</p>
<p>Neonzeus, glad I could help. As far as housing, Pitt's housing situation is nowhere near as dire as Penn State's. At PSU now, the RAs have to share their rooms with students, and yes, they are converting lounges into large rooms for 5-6 people. Nothing of that sort is happening at Pitt. Your child should not have a problem getting into the hall that he/she wants to at Pitt.</p>
<p>And good luck with the financial aid. Public colleges in PA are some of the most expensive, but Pitt is pretty generous with its aid.</p>
<p>ophiolite, yes, I guess I am lucky. Most of us did take a few summer classes over the course of our time at Pitt, but I would say it was due mostly to good planning. Get your general education courses done early, make sure you know what you need to take for your major, and take some fun electives. That is the advice I would give to students at any school.</p>
<p>We didn't send in our deposit last year 'til April and had no problem. However, D does have a few friends who definitely did not get the building they wanted. Pitt just opened up a brand new dorm up the hill, so getting a good room should not be a problem at all.</p>
<p>Last year they said they guaranteed you a room for three years if you sent everything in on time, but with the new dorm they think they may be able to guarantee four years. So many people move off campus when they get older, as well as those who come and go for co-op and study abroad that not everyone is on campus every single semester. So it kind of evens out.</p>
<p>LBP, the idea of a parent social group does sound interesting. You would have to contact someone at Pitt about that, because I have never heard of one.</p>
<p>We are flying in for the honors day on March 16. We are getting there around noon on the 15th. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to arrange an overnight in a dorm? I had my daughter e-mail the honors office today, so I hope she hears something back soon. (I am staying at a local hotel.) The information from Pitt has been very complete and well done, but somehow I didn't see anything about overnights.</p>
<p>Hi Pat. Any recommendation as to the best place to stay when visiting. Any hotel right on or next to campus? We are visiting in a couple of weeks with our jr daughter.</p>
<p>Does the campus have any green space-does it feel like a campus? How big is greek life? </p>
<p>How big were most of your classes? Was there any difficulty getting the classes you wanted? Are the classes all taught by professors and not TAs?</p>
<p>Bridie, the Holiday Inn Select is in a great location, just around the corner from Alumni Hall. You might want to look back on past posts as well for other suggestions, and the UPitt visit reports on cc. Pitt has a list of suggested hotels on its website, too.</p>
<p>When we've visited Pitt, we stay at the Holiday Inn. Sometimes you can get a Pitt discount--ask the Office of Admissions folks.</p>
<p>My freshman daughter has had trouble getting some classes she wanted to take, but no problem getting the ones in her major area, bio and chem. </p>
<p>Green space--I think Pitt's trying to increase green-ness. There are lot of lush plantings around the buildings, and some sort of parklike space with fook kiosks that just opened lasts summer. And, the Schenly Park is adjacent to Pitt. Pitt does have a campus feel to it, IMHO.</p>
<p>Bridie, the Holiday Inn is basically on campus and it is a nice hotel. </p>
<p>Compared to most urban campuses, Pitt is pretty green. As LBP said, they added a small park last year with food kiosks for the students. And Schenley park is one of the largest in-city parks in the Northeast. </p>
<p>For non-greeks, greek life really is not very noticeable. Some people like to go to frat parties on the weekends, but being in a large city, in no way do they dominate social life. I had several friends in fraternities who loved it. Greeks do a lot of volunteer work around Pittsburgh, and they are very active on campus.</p>
<p>Many of the introductory math and science classes are large. However, there are recitations, where you meet in smaller groups to dicuss what is going on in class. Most classes are taught by professors and the recitations are run by TAs.</p>