<p>Just put D and H on a plane to Tempe to look at ASU. They scheduled the trip with nonrefundable airfare and couldn’t cancel, but I think D is pretty set on Pitt now. The two of them flew up in March for D to interview for the guaranteed med school admission and they were both very impressed with the campus, the city, and of course the med school. </p>
<p>D is going biomed engineering and liked Pitt’s facilities in that area. I think they are also in the process of adding some new buildings and labs for biomed. Having the med school and eleven (?) hospitals across the street from the undergrad opens up all kinds of possibilities for research, etc. at the undergrad level. The two of them went to an honors college presentation and were told that often professors from the med school teach undergrad honors courses to the premeds because (1) proximity makes it convenient and (2) the med profs are very interested in working with honors college premeds.</p>
<p>We’ve been researching the school and I noticed that the Philosophy dept. is #2 behind Princeton and has been for a long time. They have special courses in History and Philosophy of Science, and personally IMO a few ethics and morality courses for a biomed engineering major would be a really good thing as there are going to be times when they should be asking not “can we do this” but “should we do this”. Anyway, I’m pushing Philosophy as a minor if it won’t put my engineering D in an early grave from too much work.</p>
<p>Another thing is the honors college guy said that Pitt has several joint ventures with Carnegie Mellon and the Pitt students can cross-register for courses at CMU (so many per year, or just certain ones, I forget). There is also some kind of summer science research program that is joint between Pitt and CMU and it joins both faculties and students, and if you’re accepted you are paid a stipend.</p>
<p>Another thing I read is that Pitt built up the Philosophy dept. by getting profs from Yale and even Oxford to come to Pitt. Over time those guys got their friends to come. Like I said they’ve been #2 for a long time now and I just read their world ranking is #3 (Oxford, Princeton, Pitt). Pretty cool to me.</p>
<p>We just got a brochure on Pitt research (book actually) and there is another program or “center” that either just transferred to Pitt or is on the way, and it is coming from Johns Hopkins. I think it’s a BioDefense Research Center, but I can check and repost. Anyway the entire group is relocating from Johns Hopkins to Pitt.</p>
<p>All in all I find this pretty exciting. As a mom I also like that the city is clean, safe, and everyone takes care of the kids. It is a college town and a lot of activity centers on the college students 'cause there are so many of them (there are like 5 or 6 colleges or universities there). You can get anywhere you need to go on a bus, for free, and there are Pitt shuttles to the malls on Saturday. We plan on sending D w/o a car and getting an out of state student discount on our insurance. H said the dorms are set up really well and he liked the 24/7 res hall office, plus they have a computer help desk that is also 24/7 and will even send someone to your dorm room if necessary to fix your computer for you. They were told this would even happen at 2am if you broke down before a paper was due. The neighborhood around the campus is overflowing with cute shops and places to eat, most of which are cheap. The eateries all take the Panther Card, as do CVS pharmacy and Blockbuster. Sorry to go on so but mothers of daughters think a lot about practical stuff/safety if the kid is going far away.</p>
<p>Anyway, those are our thoughts right now. For me, I think D could get a Princeton/Yale/JH/CMU education for a fraction of the cost if she picks the right courses and takes advantage of the opportunities. Plus she will be safe and well taken care of. And my car insurance will be cheaper. Hopefully she won’t fall in love with the desert this weekend.</p>