Pitt review:
Quick review of our quick trip to Pitt last weekend (finally). The Pitt trip was mostly just to confirm that we should keep it on the list. The Neuroscience curriculum seems great, and there is an entire department focused on it, so it is not as cobbled together as some programs. It was more of a trip to see if she liked the campus setting and feel.
Driving through Pittsburgh, I was surprised how pretty a city and area it is. It’s a little difficult to negotiate with all the road entrances and exits we had to maneuver, and the traffic. No grid in Pittsburgh! Driving onto the campus D was kind of quietly looking around. I felt she was forming an initial negative opinion, and I was right. Campus is dissected by a few busy streets (Fifth and Forbes Ave.) as you drive in. Very urban, but pretty.
We came into town in the early evening, after driving from tOSU event earlier that day. We checked in at the Wyndham Pittsburgh University Center, right on campus. Went to eat dinner at The Porch at Schenley Park. Thanks to whomever suggested it, the food was great and there was a concert going on in the park. We had just left Chicago and Lollapalooza, so this was our own little Lolla. After eating we walked around the park and toured the Cathedral of Learning, which you see on all the Pitt PR material.
In the morning we headed over to the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, where I guess Pitt holds the really large admissions events, which this was. It was beginning to rain, which was a bummer. The Pitt Path Finders were everywhere! They must have had 100 kids in their goofy polos herding families around. The opening speaker was terrific. Very funny……unless you ask D. He was like a standup comedian, and got the crowd going. All the followup speakers were just OK, but it ended up being a good info session.
We then got sent out into the now-pouring rain to do a campus tour. D wanted to do the tour first, since she figured no one else would want to tour in the rain……and she was pretty much right. Had a very good guide for about 8 of us. Showed us some academic buildings, the Heinz Chapel where many grads get married, the Cathedral of Learning, the main Library, and a dorm in the Litchfield Towers. I was like, uh oh! When we walked into the dorm room. The Tower is a round building, and rooms were pie-shaped. It seemed very cramped to me, but she liked it. Go figure. These rooms were doubles with a communal bathroom in the center of the circle. Many other housing choices around lower and ‘upper’ campus, which was up a hill. There were separate tours to upper campus, but we never went up there. It is mostly housing for several LLCs (including an Honors LLC), as well as athlete housing and athletic buildings. I forget now, but I think there were Honors floors at several dorms. One new dorm (as of 2013) looked really nice, and had split male/female floors like I had in college. That’s the one I would target!
After the campus tour (still pouring…even harder) we did an Academic session at the Union. This was a waste of time, where they went over several majors and departments. They had the usual student panel, but the information was not relevant for us, and we left early
After that we grabbed lunch back at Litchfield Towers, which was provided by Pitt. Sandwiches/pizza/salads and desserts. It was a nice little spread and plenty of room to spread out since students were not really there. The cafeteria seemed pretty nice.
After lunch we decide to forego any more sessions and head over to the admissions building, where we ask for a Path Finder who was a Neuroscience major. We were directed to a girl who just finished her sophomore year, and she was super helpful in talking to my D and exchanging emails. She loved her Pitt.
After this we checked out and headed over to Carnegie Mellon for a little drive around campus (still raining) and through Schenley park. Then, 7 hours home!
In the end, D really liked Pitt despite her initial poor reaction. She liked the Path Finders, and the $25/season football tickets, and free public transportation downtown, and concerts in the park, the diversity, and just generally ‘things to do’. There were A LOT of Pennsylvania kids, which isn’t a surprise. The next majority is from anywhere on the east coast. Not a ton of Midwest and westerners. It stays on the list, albeit not the top.
