<p>I'm going to be graduating this spring and I plan on majoring in neuroscience. My dream school would have a medium-sized undergraduate class (between 5,000 and 15,000), really small classes taught by highly-qualified and accessible professors, a solid workload (that isn't too overwhelming and doesn't have a lot of busy work), a good party scene (but not too wild), moderate weather, and a surrounding town/city where there's lots of stuff to do (but not as crazy as New York City).</p>
<p>Do you think Pitt is a good place for me to apply to?</p>
<p>If not, is there a better one you can think of?</p>
<p>Everything seems as though you would like Pitt except the “really small classes.” I don’t know at what level the classes might be really small, but they are not freshman year. I think that the weather can be harsh, but my daughter wanted it to be cold.</p>
<p>For class sizes, the answer is, it depends. My daughter’s two honors biology classes her freshman year had 12 and 9 students. Her non-honors chemistry course had about 150 - I believe the honors sections had about 60. (She got boxed out of the honors course due to some last minute schedule changing - her fault, not the school’s) As you can see, there is some advantage to taking honors courses, if you qualify. (By the way, you do not have to be in the honors college to take honors courses - you have to have a GPA above 3.25 and permission from the instructor.)
I think that you will find that at ANY research-based university, the introductory science classes will be relatively large with > 75 students per class. That was true many years ago when I was in college and it remains true today.
One way to make the class seem smaller is to make sure you talk to your course instructor, not just the recitation seminar TA. They all have office hours, if you can’t speak with them at class time.
I think Pitt meets all of your criteria, but I’m sure that there are other schools that would fit as well.</p>
<p>I think intro classes are kind of big, but neuroscience classes should be smaller. And there is definitely a lot to do in Pittsburgh, and it is a good city for students, cheap and accessible. </p>
<p>I think I saw your other thread on suggesting what schools are good for neuroscience. Pitt would be a great safety for you if you have good stats.</p>
<p>What are you planning to do with your neuroscience degree? Graduate school? If so, you might want to factor that decision into your choice of an undergrad program. Colleges such as Case Western Reserve or U of Chicago that may not have as big a party scene as you’d like may be good programs for you. That said, I’m sure Pitt will satisfy most of your “want” list.</p>
<p>I think neuroscience at Pitt is a strong department. My daughter is taking the intro class now, so it’s too soon for me to pass along any info about that. The class sizes in general do vary, depending on what level you’re taking. But my daughter has been very satisfied with all her professors and the quality of instruction so far (she’s a junior). She hasn’t taken any of the hard sciences yet, nor math.</p>
<p>This is a handy link. It’s for applying to Ph.D. programs, which is of course a long time off for you. But you can put in your own criteria, and the website ranks the programs for you. Very good approach. I did it just for fun, and Pitt ranked relatively high (No. 22).</p>
<p>There is plenty in Oakland to do, and it’s a great neighborhood for students, relatively safe too.</p>