@hischoolmomof2 This is where I get to say I am a Pitt alum and I have a D and an S both at Pitt right now The son will graduate in Dec. and my older girl in April. Both neuroscience majors. He wants to pursue becoming a dr. and she got the GAP into Pitt’s PA program back when she was an incoming freshman, so her path is set.
Yes, we are always hailing my dear alma mater that has only gotten better and more impressive in the years since I’ve graduated. Chancellor Nordenberg took the school into a new echelon. Pitt is a world class university. It’s #59 in National Universities according to this year’s U.S. News ranking, if that matters to anyone. @hischoolmomof2 , what is your son planning on studying? Pitt’s strengths are definitely in the health sciences. All of them. Medicine, Nursing, PA, and also PT, OT. It’s fabulous. It’s surrounded by specialty hospitals ON CAMPUS and there are more within a 5-10 min. bus ride. The research opportunities are top notch. My D has been with a public health person since her freshman year doing research on transgender youth. My son transferred to Pitt and jumped right in. He found a lab by reaching out to a professor, and was doing research on retinal development in a wet lab.
Pitt also has strengths in their Business School and in their Engineering School. I’m told in the Engineering School, the students do not specialize until their sophomore year, so they can sample different types of engineering as freshmen. They also can do co-ops as engineering students. Also, I’m hearing Computer Science lately. Very strong programs. And, they have been ranked very high in Philosophy for years. Isn’t that something different?
My older D went to London this summer for 6 weeks. Her program was Healthcare in a British Context. She is in the Honors College, but has not participated much by choice. Nothing is wrong with the honors college, but she did not go out of herself to too many lectures and special events. I think that was her loss, but she found what she needed for the last 3.5 years.
What else? The city of Pittsburgh is not huge. It’s not tiny either. There are ethnic neighborhoods easily accessible by public transportation, there is an arts scene. Phipps Conservatory, the Carnegie Museum of Art and Natural History are 1 block away. Frick Park - can walk to. Sports scene with the Steelers, Pirates and Penguins. Symphony, Ballet, it’s a great place to explore.
Wow, Thanks much for the information! Your family has impressive credentials - and very happy to hear that first hand! My son is interested in majoring in Neuroscience as well. We’ve been very impressed with what Pitt has to offer so far - Pitt was a pleasant find and Pitt is on his Top 3 colleges to attend. As a parent, the only concern I have is regarding safety and crime around the campus. How is it around the campus?
I think the crime is a non-factor. I do not fear for my safety or my kids safety at all. No kidding. Oakland is a city neighborhood, and as with any city neighborhood, be smart. My D22 is also interested in Case Western Reserve. I am more concerned about that city neighborhood than Oakland. No incidents for either of my kids in almost 4 years. I had no incidents back in the day with crime. No muggings, guns, etc. I really can’t think of anything remarkable. But do I expect my kids to not walk alone at night? Yes. Take the shuttle if it’s late, yes. Walk in groups with your friends, yes. Basic stuff I would tell them wherever they go.
If you have not visited, please do. That’s a heck of a scholarship he got, and Pitt is tops in health sciences.
Pitt felt very safe when we visited. Case also seems like a nice neighborhood, but it’s been 20 years since we visited my friend who was there for grad school.
Awesome, thanks for the feedback. Ironically Case is on our list as well and he’s getting ready to submit his application soon. Proximity to Cleveland hospital, orchestra and music program at Case interests my son. We were concerned about the safety aspect there too. He’s working on the Pitt Honors essay and will be submitting that soon as well. I truly appreciate your insights @Winky1 and @mom2cats. In your opinion is the scholarship 40K for 4 yrs not a common occurrence? @Winky1
Earlier in the thread I talked about how things changed with the 2018-19 cycle with merit awards. At the time, Pitt began matching Pell grants for students. It seems that they started awarding merit differently, and only to very high achieving students (hence my pondering about my D22). Before 2018-19, if an OOS student got $10,000 per year, it was a great merit award. So for your son and others on this thread to get $40,000 over 4 years now, imo, it us a great merit award offer. Great from this university.
We’ve now been twice to visit and I have to say I have no hesitations about D walking around campus (with a buddy) and the outskirts at night. It’s so clean, well lit, lots of energy and a great vibe overall. So very different from some other more urban schools we saw. I also love the amount of green space, access to Schenley park for walks, runs, lazy afternoons etc. It doesn’t really feel like a “city.” Everything you need is right outside your door. For any one considering health science or medical graduate studies I think it is hard to beat, truly. Literally 5 hospitals on campus.
Have you been to visit?
Elite-tier resources, especially in the health sciences.
Great neighborhood, several other universities around as well. Think Ohio St. number of students, but not all at the same school (which is nice)
Stronger student body than all publics except top UCs, Michigan, UVA, UMD.
Very good job/grad school placement. Many alums at PNC, BNY Mellon, Google + other tech; as well as T14 law schools, top PhD programs.
Cons:
Cost. If your kid can get into Pitt, they will get into honors at most SEC/Big Ten type schools with scholarship. Definitely consider if you will really make the most of the resources/can’t imagine yourself at a suburban college.
Weak rankings/recognition. For the quality of students and amount of federally funded research, Pitt’s rankings are bad. They really should be in the mid-40s, but affordability + historical reputation weigh them down.
Bad facilities. Compared to comparable public schools, Pitt has many outdated dorms/buildings. Pre-renovation Hillman Library had too few outlets, etc. In my time at the school, they began several major renovation and construction projects to improve this. I don’t know how much they’ve done so far, but I’d expect the situation to improve while your child is attending.
Lifetime resident here and I would caution calling Pitt a “safe” campus. Oldest son is a junior in the Honors College and Pitt was his safety school which provided a large merit scholarship. Best advice for parents is to google “Pitt”,“burglaries”,“assaults”, “robberies”, “theft”,“indecent”,”break-ins” etc. and to follow the Pitt News police blotter. Just last week there was an indecent assault right near the dinosaur museum. I’ve been panhandled and approached several times on campus!! Yes, on campus. That’s not to say Pitt isn’t a fantastic academic institution. My son is thriving there and has had many amazing opportunties so far. But you can believe it or not, he and his 3 roomates do not go out after midnight or for that matter after a late night class. It’s okay to admit there is crime in and around the area so you student knows how to deal with it.
If you got into the GAP program, should you still apply to the honors program?
Just want to make sure honors classes don’t make it difficult to meet the GPA requirement of 3.75 to move on to the dental school
I would still apply to honors. Then student can participate in what they want and make connections with like-minded students. And attend niche programs.
Yes, Pitt Honors has housingin Sutherland Hall, but I don’t know if it’s mandatory to live there. It may be now. I am not sure about priority registration. I would look that up. Yes, they have lots of honors classes to choose from.
If you think your student may be competitive for the Chancellors scholarship I would have them apply to honors. When my son was going through this process he was invited to compete for the chancellors and in the interview they talked a lot about his honors essay.
ANY student at Pitt can take honors classes, they are not exclusive to Honors College students. My son takes all that are available that fit into his 2 majors and minor. They are all small classes because a lot of students actually don’t take them, even a lot of honors students pass on them. I think you only need 18 credits of honors courses to graduate with the honors degree. Yes you get priority registration, don’t think housing, unless you want to be in the honors housing. My son lives in another LLC. @sparkleybarkley My son was invited to apply for Medical School GAP but actually did not apply as he’s not sure he wants to attend Pitt for both undergrad and medical school. He is maintaining a 4.0 currently with one year left but trust me, he’s one of those realllly, realllly smart kids and thrives on challenging himself. I shake my head sometimes, I mean who ‘wants’ to take Honors Organic Chem 1 & 2 and Honors Physics 1 & 2…LOL. Someone like him
Jumping in here totally unrelated to ask - does applying for the GAP program tie you to following that path? My kid (a junior this year) is interested in law and the GAP law program is of some interest, but I also am not sure he will want to stay there for both undergrad and grad.
The son will graduate in Dec. and my older girl in April. Both neuroscience majors. He wants to pursue becoming a dr. and she got the GAP into Pitt’s PA program back when she was an incoming freshman, so her path is set.