Hi I am a prospective incoming freshman and I would love to know your thoughts on UPitt as an overall environment.
It depends what you are looking for in a school. the goal is to find your best fit.
Are there enough Pitt activities and events that provide the students a sense of community? It is a concern since my prospective D wonders about campus life since it is in the city.
@mybstnw, There are a lot of ways your daughter can get involved in campus community:
-Student Groups: there are 400+ student groups on campus, so it’s pretty likely your daughter will be able to find a community that shares her common interests. She can search the organization directory here: http://www.studentaffairs.pitt.edu/sorc/home
-Living Learning Communities: Your daughter can opt to be part of a living learning community, which are specialized living environments that help to connect students in and out of class learning. She would be in a residence hall with students who share a common interest. The LLCs range from topics like: arts, global awareness, health sciences, entrepreneurship, and service to others. You can view a full list of freshman LLCs here: http://www.studentaffairs.pitt.edu/reslife/llc/freshman
-The campus community is also really committed to coming together in acts of service to the outside community in the city. This is yet another way for your daughter to get involved and get to know others at Pitt: http://www.studentaffairs.pitt.edu/pittserves
Finally, if your daughter would like to talk to some current students about life at Pitt, I encourage her to seek out the students who are part of our Pitt Student Voices group. These 8 students come from a variety of backgrounds and are posting on Instagram and Twitter about their time at Pitt. They will be happy to answer any of her questions if she reaches out: http://pittstudentvoices.■■■■■■■■■■/
Best,
-A Pitt Admissions Staffer
@hailtopitt1787: Thanks for your thoughtful response. It’s all good information to consider.
cali098 - can you be more specifics re: what you are looking for and what your concerns are?
My older daughter graduated from Pitt in 2013. Pitt was a perfect fit for her. She was Neuroscience major and was involved in research and volunteered at various local hospitals since the middle of her freshman year. She was also very active in her sorority. I thought the outside the classroom exposure provided a very robust college and life experience for her. After graduation she worked at UPMC Presbyterian for a year and is now in med school.
My younger D is days away from submitting her enrollment deposit. Suffice to say we are every happy with all that Pitt and the Pittsburgh area has to offer.
Can I piggyback on this thread to ask some questions my D has?
One of the things my D loves is to watch ballet, and one of the draws for her for any Philly school is that the Pennsylvania Ballet offers student rush tickets - one hour before performance, students can buy a ticket for $15.
Does the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre offer something like that? I know they do student discounts online but the tickets would still be around $60 when we checked. Do they do last minute at the door extreme discounts?
Also, about housing. What building is Engineering LLC in? And can someone live in Eng LLC as a freshman and move to Honors LLC as an upperclassman?
Is there a guide to which housing buildings are newer /recently renovated?
I just checked and the discounted Pitt ballet tickets started at $15 and better seats were more like $60. Pitt Arts has great programs which are free to students to see different cultural events - just have to subscribe to their list to find out and sign up for them. The engineering llc has been in Forbes - not sure if that changed this yr.
Just cked - and it’s still in Forbes. As far as switching LLCs, totally fine - upperlevel honors housing has a GPA requirement I believe.
Thanks @amandakayak !
3.25 GPA for Honors Housing for sophomore/junior year. Sometimes they waive it if you have been very involved/if there is room for more applications.
@scholarme, I think Bruce Hall has recently been renovated. They have suites with kitchenette.
Thanks @mommdc ! That sounds nice.
Yes, my daughter is going to put it as one of her choices if she doesn’t get into honors llc at Sutherland.
Like she pointed out it might save on meals having a kitchenette and I don’t know if the microwave/fridge is included in the room price, but for the other residence halls you either have to provide them yourself or rent them.
I think the business llc is in bruce hall, does anyone know if they tend to be big partiers? That might be a possible concern.
Does Bruce Hall have A/C? (Another D15 question. She has allergies so A/C is kind of high on her wants)
http://www.pc.pitt.edu/housing/halls/bruce.php
I’m not sure, it isn’t mentioned. But Sutherland, Forbes and Nordenberg mention AC
@AwesomeOpossum: Is honor housing first come first basis? I am still taking some time to make my final selection. Am I too late to get into honor housing.
From what I understand you have till May 1 to make your decision and pay tuition deposit. Then a few weeks later you get your housing packet, not sure when that deadline is based on when you deposited, but I assume after May 1.
You accept housing contract and pay housing deposit and fill out application for honors llc. They do housing allocations in June I believe and try to fulfill your preferences, but it’s not guaranteed.
@Harrisburg, Housing is NOT on a first come first served basis. @mommdc is right, if you commit to Pitt by the May 1 tuition deposit deadline, Panther Central will send you a housing packet. There will be an individual deadline for you to complete your housing application in that packet. You will need to fill out a small separate application for the Honors LLC. You are not guaranteed to get in, but Panther Central does their best to place people in one of their top choices for housing.
Info on the Honors LLC: http://www.honorscollege.pitt.edu/housing/first-year-honors-housing
-A Pitt Admissions Staffer
No but there is an application process for it (and the deadline to apply is May 31). So typically what you will do is fill out your housing with some other choices and then also apply for UHC housing. If you get into UHC housing you will go there. If not, you will go through the regular housing process based on the choices you indicated in your housing form.