<p>Just to touch on things, yes, in the US, sharing a room for the first year or two is very standard. The philosophy, from an institutional standpoint, is that typically a way to help students get adapted socially and make friends.</p>
<p>Now as far as sports, I’m going to elaborate a tad. I don’t mean to patronize, but nomenclature that is second nature to those of us in the States may lack meaning outside of it. </p>
<p>As you suggest, college sports at the “varsity” level…that is the top level of athletic teams at any school and are the teams that are actually funded by the school…are pretty serious. Add to that, Pitt participates at the very top level of collegiate sports, and this involves big money endeavors in the US, particularly for basketball and American football. Pitt’s American football team plays in a 65,500 seat stadium and its basketball team plays in a 12,500 seat arena and those teams are regularly broadcast on national television (for instance, Pitt’s American football team will be nationally broadcast on ABC during prime time tv this Saturday evening). </p>
<p>In essence, the university sports system at this level functions as the de facto professional and Olympic development league for most sports in the US. The popularity of college sports is also quite high due to the quaintness of the (still) amateur status of college athletics and the life-long attachment of many people to their alma maters. In areas of the US without professional teams, like Alabama in the deep South, the a university’s teams can become the primary sports teams for the area or even an entire state. Athletes on these teams do not get paid, but there are scholarships to be had in exchange for the serious time commitments demanded by these varsity teams. The number of scholarships that can be distributed for any particular sport is restricted by the governing body of all intercollegiate athletics called the NCAA. Recruiting by universities for top athletes is very competitive, and usually occurs across a wide geographically swath, even nationally.</p>
<p>Now that said, there are typically “walk-on” spots available on the rosters of the varsity sports…not many, but some. Walk-ons are typically non-recruited individuals who want to participate in these sports simply for the love of the competition or the glory of being a part of big time college athletics. Most of the time, they won’t get scholarships and they typically don’t break into the starting lineups. Of course there are exceptions, where walk-ons have proved their worth and earned significant roles or even scholarships, but walk ons are usually thankless roles.</p>
<p>If you are interested in walking on, I would explore the teams contact information at [PittsburghPanthers.com[/url</a>], which is the official website of Pitt’s athletic department. As both American football and football (soccer) are played in the fall in the US collegiate system, walking on is something that you’d need to be prepared to undertake in the summer before you arrive, or say, if you wait a year, the following summer. </p>
<p>Pitt’s American football team is currently mediocre, although historically it has been a national power at various times. Pitt’s football (soccer) team is quite poor for its level of competition, going winless in its league this season. American football would have more walk-on slots, but it would be more difficult to earn a spot.</p>
<p>There are recruiting questionnaires that you could fill out for both [url=<a href=“https://questionnaire.acsathletics.com/Questionnaire/Questionnaire.aspx?WtM%2FNCzNMRG0u6sJOMoUUkLt%2BtL0DFexszeqwVnPGuhndRnVstxBV2cWISiDV3V1]American”>https://questionnaire.acsathletics.com/Questionnaire/Questionnaire.aspx?WtM%2FNCzNMRG0u6sJOMoUUkLt%2BtL0DFexszeqwVnPGuhndRnVstxBV2cWISiDV3V1]American</a> football](<a href=“http://www.pittsburghpanthers.com/]PittsburghPanthers.com[/url”>http://www.pittsburghpanthers.com/) and [football</a> (soccer)](<a href=“https://secure.assistantcoach.net/colleges/athlete_webform_select_school.asp?action=listschools&oid=101&sid=1604]football”>Athlete Web Form).</p>
<p>Now all of that said, there are also club sports at US universities. These are student-organized teams that also compete against other universities. They typically get little to no funding from the university and either have to apply for funds from student allocated fees (as other, non-athletic student clubs do), and/or they have to fundraise for themselves. They vary in competitiveness at any one university depending on the sport, but typically the time demands are much less than varsity sports (as none of the players are on scholarship as a condition of their participation). Some of Pitt’s Club sports can be explored [from</a> this website](<a href=“http://www.pitt.edu/~sportnet/]from”>http://www.pitt.edu/~sportnet/). Of course, that site doesn’t have the football (soccer) club for Pitt on it, but you can [find</a> that here](<a href=“http://pittclubsoccer.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2013/07/22/university-of-pittsburgh-mens-club-soccer/]find”>http://pittclubsoccer.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2013/07/22/university-of-pittsburgh-mens-club-soccer/). There typically aren’t club sports for American football (equipment is just too expensive), but there is one at Pitt for [rugby[/url</a>].</p>
<p>The next level down of athletic competition is intramural sports. These are teams of various levels of formality that play games between other teams at the same university. You can learn more about [url=<a href="http://www.studentaffairs.pitt.edu/IR_IntramuralSports]Pitt’s">http://www.studentaffairs.pitt.edu/IR_IntramuralSports]Pitt’s</a> intramural sports here](<a href=“http://www.pitt.edu/~sorc/rugby/FRONT.html]rugby[/url”>http://www.pitt.edu/~sorc/rugby/FRONT.html).</p>
<p>I hope this was helpful. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.</p>
<p>By the way, Pittsburgh is the namesake of former Prime Minister [William</a> Pitt the Elder](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Pitt,_1st_Earl_of_Chatham]William”>William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham - Wikipedia) and if you ever see a shirt with Pitt in a [cursive</a> “script” design](<a href=“http://www.shoppittpanthers.com/catalog/product/?fcID=126643]cursive”>http://www.shoppittpanthers.com/catalog/product/?fcID=126643), that is supposed to be a stylized version of William Pitt’s signature. The university is home to English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh [Nationality</a> Rooms](<a href=“https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationality_Rooms]Nationality”>Nationality Rooms - Wikipedia), definitely something that is absolutely unique to Pitt.</p>