<p>I am having a tough time deciding where to go and just want to here other reasons why people are going here. So, whats your reasons for going to PITT?</p>
<p>anyone???</p>
<p>please anyone help me? I need imput.</p>
<p>I can’t reply from a student’s perspective, but it would help if you would tell us where else you are considering. For example my son has been accepted to Pitt with full tuition scholarship and UNC Chapel Hill in state - with small NM scholarship. At this point I think he would choose Pitt even if the cost was the same. Even though UNC has a better national reputation, the education difference would be minimal especially in Pitt Honors classes. The main draw with Pitt is the urban campus. There is so much to do in the city of Pittsburgh and some students prefer to be out in the wider world, not only in a campus cocoon. A good student can excel at either university, and actually Pitt’s reputation is also good among publics.</p>
<p>hey web, the other school I’m considering is a branch campus of Penn State, in Erie. Not use to the “urban city” life like Pitt so that is why I’m iffy going there. There is so much to do but it might be overwhelming to me coming from a small town. I just want to go somewhere that I’m confortable. If I go to Penn State branch campus I can adjust and then after two years move on to Penn State. I know what the branch campus is like and its not a “unknown to me” like Pittsburgh is. If I don’t like Pitt then I’m locked in there unless I have to transfer. The tuition doesn’t matter because they are very similar from an instate student.</p>
<p>The Behrend campus is quiet - a Penn State branch campus is a perfectly fine choice as well. If you feel more comfortable there, then why not choose that? If you choose Pitt, then living in an urban area would become part of your education. That is one reason to go to Pitt. Either is a good choice academically.</p>
<p>Sometimes, part of going to college is expanding and changing yourself and your viewpoints.</p>
<p>I mean I really like Pitt too…very tough choice. Thats why I wanted to hear other people’s opinions on why they are going to Pitt maybe to give me other things to think about in my decision.</p>
<p>Personally, I couldn’t imagine choosing a branch over a main campus anywhere. And if size is an issue, Penn State-main that you aim to end up at from Erie is much larger than Pitt.</p>
<p>I think you have to figure out what worries you about city life. Is it that you’ll feel lost in the shuffle or overwhelmed by Oakland? I don’t think that is going to happen. Pitt has very good orientation programs to introduce you to Pitt, the Oakland neighborhood, and fellow students. You’ll have a good network probably before you even start your first day of classes. Oakland is almost like its own mini college city. Personally, I think it is a fascinating place to be with Pitt, Carlow, Carnegie-Mellon and the Carnegie Institute (museums) all right there. You also have Schenley Park right there to escape the urban environment whenever you want. But some people just don’t like cities. You should try to figure out what worries you about an urban setting, and wether it is just discomfort with a lack of familiarity or something you just generally don’t like about it.</p>
<p>If it is the city you are worried about, it will seems like a small place after the first year. It’s all a matter of getting used to it. After you choose, embrace it and don’t look back.</p>
<p>Pitt is a pretty small and quiet city compared to other cities.</p>
<p>Hi golilbill, </p>
<p>I know that Pitt can feel like a really big school, especially at first. I, like you, had no experience in an urban setting going into college, and in my first year here I learned that the campus is easy to navigate after getting past the initial feeling of being overwhelmed. I know that the urban atmosphere at Pitt isn’t for everyone, but if you live in the dorms your first year you will find a lot of other students feeling the way you are now. </p>
<p>To answer your initial question, the reasons that I go to Pitt are all of the opportunities the university has to offer (free public transit, Pitt Arts, free gym access for students, free admission to local museums), and that the university is close enough to home for me to commute. </p>
<p>Some things that I’ve grown to love about Pitt that I didn’t know about before coming here include the off-campus restaurants, easy access to neighborhoods outside of Oakland (Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, South Side, Downtown), cheap football season tickets ($25 for the whole season), and cheap tickets to basketball games (only $5 per game). </p>
<p>Academically, I like that there is a very wide range of classes offered. This allows for opportunities to step out of your comfort zone if you want, or to stay within your comfort zone when you want to.</p>
<p>What do you plan to major in?</p>
<p>Well got accepted as undecided but thinking of engineering, still unsure of what type though…I talked to advisors and they said I could take prereqs and then transfer to swanson sophmore year.</p>
<p>golilbill, I’m not familiar with Penn State (where you might end up after going to a branch campus), but I can tell you that one big reason my daughter chose Pitt over our large flagship (Univ. of Illinois) is that Pitt’s campus is much more compact/centralized than U or I’s. She likes that she can get to class from her dorm and between classes quickly and easily. Of course, she was also attracted to the urban environment and has taken advantage of a lot of what the city has to offer. My impression, though, is that students can make their world at Pitt as large or small as they’d like, venturing out or staying close to home.</p>
<p>thanks for all the feedback! it’d be great to hear some more too!</p>
<p>i was deciding between a school that basically only had its campus to offer…it is out in the boonies, and Pitt. I picked Pitt even though it is out of state tuition. I fell in love with the campus. Granted, i love cities, but it was such an exciting campus, with so much energy and school spirit. Like someone mentioned before, the campus is compact so it doesnt seem too overwhelming.</p>
<p>well im considering engineering but that requires to transfer to swanson. even though im still undecided, doesnt seem like this university is undecided friendly because id have to transfer to the school of business or where ever for a different major…</p>
<p>^^^^I’m not sure what you mean by saying Pitt is undecided unfriendly. Most universities (as opposed to liberal arts colleges) are constructed of various colleges/schools and require a transfer if you change your major from one that is in one school to another major that is in another school (e.g. Change from business major in School of Business to an electrical engineering major in the Swanson School of Engineering) If you are an undecided major, where do you think Pitt should place you? You, yourself, have mentioned engineering and business. Those majors are pretty much ALWAYS in different schools/colleges at a university.</p>
<p>one other factor to throw into the mix is that the challenge of academics will likely be greater at Pitt than at a Penn State branch campus. You will also likely have smaller class size at a Penn State branch than at Pitt. The branch campus may serve as an easier transition from high school to college level work. </p>
<p>as to engineering- if that is the path you want to take I think you have to let your advisor know and plan your courses to take all the prereqs by end of sophomore year. I think this applies esp to PSU where you are only allowed to transfer into Swanson if you have completed prereqs with a minimum GPA by sophomore year. I am not sure whether Pitt has a minimum GPA for transfer into engineering from arts and sciences and whether you are limited to transferring after sophomore year or can do it later. I think in any case, its best to plan as if you are an engineering major from the start; if it doesn’t work out, I think its easier to change from engineering to something else, rather than vice versa.</p>