<p>I know that you can't pick what dorm you want to live in but you can put down preferences.. I heard that the towers and sutherland were the two best dorms for freshmen and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. In sutherland there are suits, its by the athletic facilities, and it has coded floors; but its far away from everything. In the towers you meet a lot of people, its in the middle of campus, and there is a 24/7 gym; but there aren't suits. I don't know which one to put down as the one I would prefer to be in. </p>
<p>I am an accepted student, soon to be freshman, like you. I am choosing Sutherland for a few reasons:
Honors housing
coed floors
near athletic facilities
suites with private bathrooms
buses stop by every fifteen minutes
gym in each wing along
less crowded laudry facilities
mailroom in commons</p>
<p>My second choice, though, is the towers just because of its cental location. My big thing about choosing sutherland was the Honors housing and not having to deal with communal bathrooms</p>
<p>It would be nice to hear from current students too, though</p>
<p>I’m a freshman now and I live in towers, which I highly recommend, but each has its ups and downs.
I’ve heard good things about the new dorm, Nordenberg Hall. It combines the location of towers with what are apparently really nice rooms.
Towers is really cool for the first little while, but once you’ve met everyone you’re going to meet, having a roommate can be annoying. However, I’m really happy and I found it to be a positive experience. Way easier to meet people here than in other dorms. Also I’d recommend them in the order B, A, then C.
I’m a guy so I’m not too familiar with the workings of Holland, but I’ve been in there a couple times and the rooms seem nice. High ceilings and some of the fixtures are from when it was a high class apartment complex.
Sutherland has the nicest rooms of the current dorms, but it’s not for me. I don’t like walking up the hill, and as could be expected, the honors housing kids are generally very pretentious (and not always that smart). I can’t speak for all honors kids but the ones I’ve met, who quickly let me know that they live in honors housing, try to look down their nose at me.
If you’re in engineering the community at Forbes has some great vibes. I’m not sure if that’s going to be an engineering dorm again but I’m assuming it will be. EVERYONE in the dorm is friends and the rooms are bigger and nicer than towers. The only downside is its location (although better than Sutherland). Another downside for me is that I like to separate my work and play, which could be difficult living with my classmates.</p>
<p>I think that covers all of my thoughts, hope this was helpful.</p>
<p>There are buses up to Sutherland, so you do not always have to walk.</p>
<p>The downside of the bathrooms in Sutherland is that the people who live in the suites have to clean the bathrooms. This chore is not always shared equally.</p>
<p>As I said in the Admitted Students day thread my son is currently living in Sutherland West and is very happy. </p>
<p>CoreyW - I think you are correct that you CANNOT speak for all honors kids and I’m sorry that others made you feel unwelcome. I assume you were accepted in the honors program and decided not to pick honors housing which was probably the best decision for you. </p>
<p>I can tell you that my son is NOT pretentious but does take his studies seriously. He likes the walk up and down the hill and rarely takes the bus. He has some friends on lower campus who have gained the freshmen 15 and he has not (actually lost a few pounds). He finds being near the Pete and the Trees to be an advantage as well as having The Perch located in his dorm. He takes full advantage of the fitness center in the lobby as well as the ping pong room and says neither (or the laundry facilities) are ever crowded. There is also a computer lab in the lobby of Sutherland. </p>
<p>The “suites” in Sutherland DO NOT have living areas - they are actually a collection of rooms that share a hall and bathroom. I believe the make up of the building is mostly six person (3 rooms with two beds in each) that share a common bathroom; or four person (2 rooms with two beds in each) that share a bathroom. They are required to clean the bathrooms. </p>
<p>Some of the benefits are that you are not required to walk to a communal bath/shower; the floors are most definitely coed; like minded students that mostly take their studies seriously; many honors activities happen throughout the year. I don’t know anything about the new dorm but depending on the set up I would think that most students (honor’s students aside) would prefer “new” over the older Towers. </p>
<p>Good luck deciding where to live - I’m sure you’ll be happy no matter what. I can tell you that you won’t regret deciding on Pitt.</p>
<p>@em0417 if you use the " search this thread" above and just type in the dorm name you’ll get all kinds of information on any dorm you are researching. My DS lived in Sutherland honors Freshman year and loved it. I wouldn’t characterize it or the kids that lived there as pretentious at all. Most kids were nice, a few were not, just like any other dorm. He liked upper campus as he’s a light sleeper and not hearing the helicopters landing on UPMC was a plus.</p>
<p>I believe it is going to be doubles/triples with communal bathrooms (so not suite style). Panther Central has a page on the new dorms. Awesome had mentioned there was rumor going around that it would house the Honors Dorm for the upcoming year.</p>
<p>Any input on how the athletic dorms rate in comparison to all the others? My daughter will be running there next year and the coach said all the athletes are placed in some dorm up at the top of the hill. Is this true?</p>
<p>@zvidacs Sutherland East is generally athletes and Sutherland West is generally honors housing. My DS lived in West freshman year and loved it. Yes it’s on upper campus, but that’s were most of the athletic facilities are so it’s convenient for them. It’s a really nice dorm, has it’s own cafeteria, and is arranged in suites. As I mentioned earlier, just search this thread buy typing Sutherland and you’ll find all kinds of posts about this and any other dorm.</p>
<p>I tried to see if someone mentioned it and I don’t think they did so…</p>
<p>The caveat of Sutherland West (UHC Housing) is that you have to apply to be accepted to live there (Essay and a form about yourself). IIRC they generally accept anyone who applies because they have so many spots.</p>
<p>Attended the Honor’s Admitted Student Day – honors housing is still listed as Sutherland. It was an interesting presentation with many reasons for attending Pitt and living in the Honors Dorm. The new Dean nearly put me to sleep (but since we left at 3 AM to get to Pittsburgh by 8:30 may have something to do with it) with his answers. DS is thinking of switching over to Computer Science instead of the engineering school. I guess it is not an issue as adcom said to send an email and they will switch him.</p>
<p>MTNest we were there today too! I don’t know if you remember in the first presentation him telling the student from Missouri to go home because he hadn’t chosen Pitt yet, but that was us. We really had a great visit. Southerland sounds like a fun, friendly dorm from the presentation, but with serious students. Lots of bonding activities I think.</p>
<p>FlyMeToTheMoon: Yes, I guess it wasn’t just me and hubby. We miss Doc Stewart – he was great. Older DS took the honors physics course with him. The new Dean does nothing to sell you on the honors college and the only thing of value is the honors housing (that was the point we got out of the presentation). Our kids could double/triple major at any school with their AP credits – that isn’t a unique selling point.</p>
<p>We miss Doc Stewart also. He passed away just before older D started her freshman year, so she never had the opportunity to interact with him.</p>
<p>I got the sense that the other gentleman (was he an admissions officer?) was up there to distract us from the fact the Stricker had zero personality. Sometimes it was just uncomfortable listening to Stricker make a fool of himself.</p>
<p>Despite that, it was still a beneficial day for us, and we’re hoping our D will choose Pitt.</p>
<p>Don’t let the Dean sway you from your decision to attend. My son is having a wonderful experience at Pitt and has little if any contact with the Dean. </p>
<p>I wonder why they chose him since it seems recruitment is such as important aspect of the job?</p>
<p>Southeastmom, that’s why I think the other gentleman was a part of the Honor Students’ Admitted Day. He’s so incompetent that they needed a distraction.</p>
<p>The same gentleman was at the regular Admitted Students day. He was just as entertaining today. He referred himself as a “facilitator” yesterday and he was needed badly. I could not imagine how bad it could have been without him. Yes, the new Dean was not impressive and would not woo many students to attend or participate in the Honors College.</p>
<p>I’m so glad that many people noticed how horrible the new Dean is. If you ask around discreetly to current UHC students, many of us are displeased with the direction he took the UHC in and his total lack of empathy or time for anyone who is not pre-med or Neuro. It’s terrible.</p>
He finds being near the Pete and the Trees to be an advantage as well as having The Perch located in his dorm. He takes full advantage of the fitness center in the lobby as well as the ping pong room and says neither (or the laundry facilities) are ever crowded. There is also a computer lab in the lobby of Sutherland. </p>