<p>Hi, i thought i'd post these here in the parent section. These reports may be a little disjointed because i will mostly write things of interest as I remember them.</p>
<p>First off, Harvard, since this is the shortest to write.
I was in Boston with a group and stopped in Cambridge. My friend's brother is a student there so he took us on a little unofficial tour. It seems cool, most buildings were very nice, and the big dining hall church thing was really pretty. I also like the fact that it's at the river and Cambridge is really cool, with many book stores and other shops. I asked what the worst part was and he said that scheduling can be a little bad, sometimes he has to take finals after winter break. but other than that he loves it. the only thing is i doubt i can get in, but oh well.</p>
<p>I also took a tour of CMU, and since the location is near, I will probably go back again for an information session and interview. The campus is better when you get back onto the main cut, though there isn't really a main center area. Most of the buildings are nice looking, there's only one cement one that's ugly but it's in the back. The arts building is really old and really pretty. another long building we went inside had a really dark long hallway, but i guess andrew carnegie, who founded the school, was planning to turn the building into an assembly line room if the college failed. the gym, pool, and racquetball facilities look very nice. one cool room in the student union was just for recycling, and had options for everything from pop cans to cd-roms.<br>
Some facts I learned include: printing and copying is free. There is a neat program that allows one to study between the humanities/arts and sciences for those who like both fields. The library has a huge collection of botany stuff, though they don't offer botany as a major. They also have a ton of old original documents like the Bill of Rights and a folio of Shakespeare's. I'm personally interested in music opportunities, and I found out that you can take lessons for a fee and there are many performance opportunities. Some things that seemed popular were a theater group, the choir, and I think the marching band. Music minors are supposed to be pretty tough (the music program at cmu is very competitive and good). Housing is given all 4 years, but there's a lottery system. The campus is also supposed to be safe, and is very wireless. Infact, computers outnumber people 2 to 1. There are also many computer labs. Intramural sports are also supposed to be popular and there are many sports offered.
I was expecting to see more geeky looking people, but I was wrong, and i thought that many students i saw were fairly fashionable though not "preppy." i also saw several international students.</p>
<p>Next I visited the University of Pittsburgh. First I checked out the honors college. You automatically are invited to join it if you have a 1350 SAT and are in the top 5% of your class, though you can still get into it in other ways (ask me if you want more details). The honors college has special housing floors, more in depth classes, and a special degree where one is required to basically write a thesis. There are also special grants one can receive. The one thing is that you can take as many honors classes as you want and still be part of the community, which sponsors some cool events, even if you did not sign up for any honors classes. There's also special counseling. I have a bunch of papers on the honors program so i can provide more details.<br>
I went to an information session next and learned the basics. One cool thing that pitt has is an english writing center where you can write stuff and talk to the english department about it and get it proofread. There's also a good study abroad program, and actually, when studying abroad you pay the instate price for Pitt. There is a core, but I guess it's easy to get out of with AP/IB classes, and Pitt requires no sat IIs, and it seems as if admission is fairly easy for all of the smart people here on CC. There's also a class for freshmen that teaches them basic living things, like how to catch a city bus and there is a tour of downtown and everything.
The tour I took was very well done. The Cathedral of Learning is the 2nd tallest academic building in the world, and gothic in style. I personally loved this building. It was on a huge lawn, which is basically the only green space for the school. Most all other buildings are modern in style and spread all over the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh. We went in a classroom which was so so, but i guess it's one of the few not remodeled yet. there are also several e-mail kiosks over campus. Campus is actually quite large and there is an upper part which most people just catch the shuttle to since it is farther and up a huge hill, though we didn't see the upper part. However, we did see a dorm room in the main freshmen dorms. It is pretty small, with two small windows, two beds, a dresser, two desks w. chairs, and two non-enclosed closet areas with wire shelves. I thought it cute that this room had been specially decorated and was the official tour room. One cool thing that Pitt offers is the Pitt Arts program where one can buy really discounted tickets for lots of cultural events. My tour guide said that he got seats worth $350 for $30 one time. They also have season tickets for sports that are really cheap. Pitt also has tour buses to neighboring states over the main breaks so people can go home and avoid the Pittsburgh Greyhound Station. Music-wise, I heard that it is easy to get lessons, but it is kind of hit or miss, and it is not a good school for those wanting to be music performance majors. The marching band and orchestra are supposed to be very good though. Also, I heard the language department is very good but very strict.<br>
The students I saw seemed friendly and most all dressed sort athletic-y, (I guess aerospostale is also the main clothes sponsor of pitt).<br>
Truthfully, I think more people should consider Pitt since it has some very strong programs like nursing and philosophy at a cheap price. The location is great and it has many wonderful opportunities.</p>
<p>Pitt and CMU are really just up/down the street from one another, and you can take one class at one of the 9 colleges in the area per semester. The pitt guide said that a lot of times pitt students went to cmu for computer related stuff and Cmu students came for lab stuff. However, atleast for pitt, you can only sign up for classes not offered at pitt. The location both of these schools are in is awesome. CMU is kind of back into a more residential area and borders I think the 4th largest park on the east coast which has many recreational opportunities. Then, right down the street you come to the Carnegie complex with the art and natural history museums and main branch of the city library. This is right across the street from Pitt too. Surrounding the Pitt campus are tons of shops and restaurants, along with the school-affiliated hospitals. Downtown is also maybe a 10 minute drive away. Transportation-wise, both CMU and Pitt get free access to the city buses, and they both have shuttles and night time escort services. One of the CMU pamphlets said a lot of great stuff about the city, so I think it is a great location and there are many other schools in the area. </p>
<p>Wow, I just wrote a ton. So, if you have any questions about CMU or Pitt please ask, sorry I can't go more indepth about Harvard really. Also, since I'm in Pittsburgh a lot I can answer questions about the city.</p>