@AlmostThere2018 I have never been to Case or Columbia but I would say this. Pitt does have a fairly well defined campus with a few hospitals in the midst of it. Not a bad thing. There is a fairly large green space around the Cathedral where the kids toss frisbee, sunbath etc. There is a couple of other smaller green spaces as well. But nothing like PSU, Miami of Ohio, University of Maryland or UDel all of which have the classic large quads.
Also you should be aware that to get to some of the buildings and facilities like the Peterson events center (basketball area and student work out facility) you have to walk up what is known to the locals as “cardiac hill”. As the name indicates it is a pretty steep incline and walking up it is a pretty good work out.
Back when I was coming out of high school Pitt more of local school and a safety for many of us. Over the years I have watched to grow into a very vibrant national university attracting kids from all over the country. The vibe in Oakland seems to be a really good one. My D18’s friends that go there seem to really like it.
If you get the chance this summer you should come out to the Burgh and take a look.
I’ve heard Pittsburgh is a great city, and it’s one of the few big cities in the US I’ve never visited. I was sad to cancel our trip! We were going to see a Pirates game and everything.
I’ve got a slow work day and may do the Pitt virtual tour today!
@AlmostThere2018 of course I am biased but I think it is a great city. It is just big enough to have major league sports, as well as great cultural things. But not so big that you can’t afford them or can’t deal with the hassle of attending. Very friendly people. Safe. Good place to raise kids. In the past decade or so we have become a foodie place. Lots of great restaurants. And of course the best ballpark in America. (Sadly the team isn’t any good). If you are going to come out let me know and I can give you some ideas of things worth seeing and places to eat.
@burghdad I need my S21 to read your posts. After loving Pitt (and Pittsburgh!) back in the fall when we visited for the open house day, he’s now feeling like it’s too far away. Like, it was in the number two slot behind the college my husband and I attended.
In our part of south central PA, we are more Baltimore/DC and Philly aligned. That’s where we do “city” stuff. Pittsburgh is only three hours away though. I need to remind S21 why he loved it there so much.
Just a small point of clarification to @burghdad ’s comment above. UDel is actually about 2 hours from both DC and NY. It is, however, an hour from Baltimore. Definitely all great options for health care positions.
.@burghdad and other PA people- what are your impressions about the PASSHE schools closer to Pittsburgh? I would love for D21 to go to Pitt, but honestly, I think it’s too big.
@jeneric My S19 has a good friend at SRU. He loves it there. Walked on to the track team. He wants to be a physical therapist and SRU offers a fully accredited, affordable in-state pathway. It’s a mid-sized school. There’s also IUP.
The tough part we’re having with the PASSHE options is that none of them are in cities. So S21 is having a hard time “getting excited” about any of them. But we need him to because we need at least one on the list for financial safety reasons. If we were looking at PASSHE near Pittsburgh, SRU and IUP would be the ones. But he’s going with West Chester as it’s only an hour from us and outside Philly.
@jeneric It really depends on what major you want. As @InfiniteWaves said SRU has a good PT program. Also SRU had a good PA program. They have done a lot to improve the campus and it is a nice little town. IUP has good nursing and some other health science programs. Good criminal justice as well I believe. IUP’s campus has also come a long way in the past 10-15 years. Nice campus basically bordered by the small downtown district. I think they are both good alternatives. Edinburg is out here as well. I don’t know much about that school except it snows a lot there…lol…I do seem to recall that they have had some problems with the president of the college. I can’t recall the exact issue but if you google it I’m sure it will pop up.
Speaking of Case, if anyone has observations on the vibe/culture, friendliness, stress level, etc., feel free to share! Would it be more similar to U Roch than, say, WashU?
@InfiniteWaves and @burghdad Thanks for the replies. A big problem is D21 has no idea about her major and I also noticed that the schools didn’t have every major ie: Arts. DH and I would love to be in Pittsburgh, so we are trying to find one or two schools near there in case D21 says no way to Pitt.
College Navigator/IPEDS https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/ just rolled over to admission data from the 2019-2020 Common Data Set, class of 2023. So for those few colleges that don’t publish a CDS, you can now see some data.
Unfortunately, the display does not include the new field for composite SAT that can be viewed in the actual CDS if the school deigned to include it there, so also keep checking for the actual CDS on the college’s website.
@evergreen5 – We visited Case last November for a very quick trip. Here were a few things we noticed:
– This is odd observation, but the campus seems to be mostly on a diagonal if you’re looking a map, rather than rectangular. For some reason, I found that disorienting at first. Mix of old and modern buildings, plenty of green space. There’s a pretty big road that divides the campus in the middle – it includes a Starbucks, ice cream place, small grocery, and restaurants.
– The museums and such nearby, including a big pond, are very pretty. Also the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospital are right by campus.
– Very diverse student body which my S liked. Lots of students wearing their Case sweatshirts which I always take as a good sign.
– There’s a train stop that takes you both downtown and to the airport – seems nice for students from OOS. (Btw, our tour guy told us parking permit is $800 a year! Yikes.)
– We only saw the 1st year dorms and the buildings are kinda 70s looking and not attractive but seem to have been re-done on the inside. There were new campus apartments across from them that looked much nicer.
– You can tell sports are not a big deal there – the stadium was teeny.
I’m from the area and I think this is an accurate characterization. I think of Case as similar to Northwestern if you took away the B1G10 sports environment. It does have greek life as well for those interested.
I received the June ACT refund yesterday 06/11. I think if July is cancelled, we will just request a refund and be done…she has a score she is okay with her only test from 02/20. I also have her scheduled for the September SAT-just to see how that test goes and if it is cancelled, I think she will be done. She may be able to take the ACT again in October through school, but she plans to dual enroll and may not be available the day that it is given, so not counting on it.
So Rowan came out with their fall plan today…all classes remain as scheduled. They are investing in a new technology so if kids aren’t comfortable with their in-person class, they can log on and do the class on line synchronously. Nothing concrete about on campus living (S17 is off campus anyway) - that seems to be the tougher part. Fingers crossed it comes to pass!
Yes. But I think it will be more bc of the unknown of what schools will be doing with enrollment (needing kids to enroll) and not necessarily bc of one year TO policies.
