DD just received $5k/yr. Very unexpected.
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yay!! congratulations !!! 
Woooohooo! Dear son got accepted to Pitt today. Swanson engineering. His sister is a junior in bioengineering at Pitt so we know the program will be great should he decide to go there!
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I just got in with guaranteed admission to a graduate program! does anyone know when pitt will start sending financial aid/scholarship info?
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@duckie2423 congratulations on the admissionwith graduate guarantee!! From looking at the Pitt Merit thread it appears to be 2 weeks for some and 2 months for others. Good Luck!!
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How is your daughter liking the bioeng program? Thatâs my sonâs major, and weâre trying to find everything and anything about it. Could you, please, list some of the cons/proâs? Would really appreciate it. Thanks!
@elanamig she says itâs hard to compare because she doesnât talk to kids in other bioeng programs elsewhere, but these are some things she has likedâŠ
Research is mandatory for graduation and she was able to find a paid research position which has definitely been a great experience. Many of her friends are in unpaid research positions which are also rewarding. She got lucky on that one. She is writing up some of the findings and will be listed on the research paper, which is exciting.
She definitely has a lot of other women in the program, which was important to her. We went to some college tours where they were interested in increasing their percentage of women in STEM and some where they clearly didnât care. Pitt cared and it shows. She studies with both men and women. They study a LOT.
The program is big enough that there is a big variety of people to study with and small enough that by year 3 she recognizes most of the people who are in her major.
Co-ops are not yet a requirement (unless that has changed and I didnât hear of it) but most of her friends are doing at least one co-op and some have done more. This semester she is doing a well paid co-op outside NYC. Very exciting. The school has a co-op job fair every semester where the kids can easily get linked with employers. Many co-ops are in Pittsburgh. My kid chose to be near NYC.
Pitt is in a city and my kid really wanted that. Her biggest fear was being bored on a campus in the middle of nowhere. That said, she does wish there were a bit more green space on campus. When the weather is good, students definitely hang on the lawns around Cathy (Cathedral of Learning). And Schenley park is right next door and she spends a lot of time there. She is a runner and does not feel unsafe running through the park or around campus.
There is a lot of off campus housing that is near and is substantically cheaper than living in the dorms.
And finally, when she is feeling really stressed she goes to visit the therapy dogs on Tuesday night. When we did the tour on campus they mentioned access to dogs and I knew right then that she would be attending Pitt. lol.
I donât think she has any regrets about choosing Pitt. Itâs been a great experience thus far.
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This is great! Thank you so much! You could have said âtherapy dogsâ in the first sentence and be done 
. We are a dog-obsessed family, and I didnât even know therapy dogs on campus were a thing. Amazing that Pitt has it.
Glad to hear co-ops are picking up steam too. Do you know how easy/difficult they are to get? are there kids who end up without one after trying? And do you know if co-ops end up extending the graduation timeline?
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Is there any she recommends?
Not only are there therapy dogs every Tuesday at the Cathedral and popping up other places like the health center through the week, there is also a separate group (STEP) to train service dogs. Undergraduates are able to live with and take service-dogs-in-training to class for the duration of their training.
Check out @step@pitt and @therapydogtuesdays on Instagram.
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@elanamig it does not seem as though her friends have had troubles finding co-ops but I really donât know beyond that. There seem to be a lot of companies looking for Pitt students. I believe they are also moving towards a longer co-op model because it allows the student to really delve into a project while there. Her current co-op is January through August at a pharmaceutical company. It will definitely mean she wonât graduate in 4 years but it also means she is more likely to be employed when she graduates AND she makes pretty good money when she is off on co-ops, so sheâs not really in a hurry.
Glad the dogs will bring your DD some joy! 
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@njdad7 She works with John CR Kelly realty and I think they own a bunch of student housing. We have heard good and bad about them, but itâs been fine for her. I donât know how she found them but I know she signed the lease in November of her freshman year, so kids who want to live off campus are out looking soon after they arrive.
Students are guaranteed housing for 3 years, and I even know seniors who have lived on campus all four years. Itâs not necessary to immediately look for housing, if your student isnât ready.
My daughter is a current freshman and she did sign an off campus lease for sophomore year, but a lot of kids she knows are staying on campus next year. While Pitt does have apartment-style housing for students, it isnât a sure thing by any stretch for sophomores and she felt strongly about being able to make her own food next year.
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My daughter applied for nursing (freshman) and received the acknowledgment email on 11/7-nothing ever changed in the portal-it doesnât even say âunder reviewâ. Should we contact admissions? Itâs been a long time!
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My S19 is a STEP@Pitt puppy sitter! Amazing pups and program! D22 also is going to be a sophomore and the MOST important thing is a kitchen next year! I hope she gets one
@Susanb33 Your daughter is correct, Pitt definitely needs more green space.
Itâs such a shame they demolished the ONLY green space on upper campus near the Pete. It was such a nice gathering space and it was where my S19âs freshman post-convocation reception was 
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I love this!!! Sounds like the program is growing! It has been a really nice break for my DD when the pressure kicks up.
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yes. try to contact the admissions and ask them to update your ddâs application status
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Son wants to live on campus for at least one year to get the college experience but plans on living off campus the other 3 years to reduce the financial hit on the accumulated debt after graduating, which is the reason for asking.
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@njdad7 I donât know your sonâs major and honestly I didnât get very involved in the housing piece of things, but I know on the fb pitt engineering group there was some talk about which landlords or apartment buildings are better than othersâŠ
For those submitting mid year grades do you do that through the srar? Only some classes are final grades but they obviously want to see more. What is the best option to submit mid year grades?
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