Hopefully, I can also give insight on my stats, my program, and when I heard about scholarships, financial aid, housing, etc.
@PAdude, I’ve been impressed with every aspect of Pitt during my student’s admissions process, but I went to Harvard for grad school. To be clear, there is no better way for you to help your son “start life” then to go to Harvard. The name really does open doors, particulary immediately after graduation and for the first 10 or 15 years of his professional life.
Certainly, if your son has a special affinity for Pittsburgh, or would has some visceral reaction against Cambridge, then go to Pitt. And it certainly sounds like you’ve done your homework.
But if my student got into Harvard, I struggle to imagine a scenario where they would not go.
Many congratulations to you and your son on his accomplishments!
@pittstudent23
I have some questions before enrolling in class of 2024. I am coming out of state so some information is unknown to me. What major are you pursuing at Pitt and which freshman dorm rooms would you recommend? Also, I know that you are a freshman but so far, how is the overall teaching quality by professors?
Hi. Thank you for the offer to share. Do you have any insights into the honors program? Are there smaller class sizes for the science gen eds or other “core” classes?
@RougeScholar Hi! So I’m an out of state student too- I’m from Texas! Personally, I think it’s a little confusing navigating campus at first but it becomes second nature after welcome week and going to class for a month or so. I am a molecular biology major so I know a lot about the intro science classes and gen eds.
As for dorms, I would recommend Nordenberg and Sutherland. Nordy is a more hotel style and its the newest dorm on campus. Sutherland is the only freshman dorm on the upper campus and is suite style. Both are really nice dorms. If I were you, I would steer clear of Holland because there’s no A/C and the bathrooms are not renovated. If you do end up in Towers, I would pick Tower A over B and then C if you plan on living by yourself. All the bathrooms have just been redone.
@RougeScholar @mychicas In terms of classes, the intro science course (Gen chem 1/2 and foundations of bio 1/2) are large classes between 150-300 seats. However, recitations and labs are much smaller with only 20-30 people and you meet with them once a week with TAs. Pitt is a big premed school so that kind of this is unavoidable. For intro psych, which most students in Dietrich take for their third natural science, you can get a smaller section (50 students) if your class is at night.
The honors program is kind of a mystery to everyone and its exclusivity is kind of questionable considering you can enroll in an honors class and live in Sutherland East as a first-year without being in the program. The true benefit of being honors are smaller classes, cool seminars, and the early course registration date (registering for classes can be a pain if you’re coming in with 0 college credits btw).
Overall the teaching quality of the professors has not been astounding so far. I think the general consensus is that McGreevy is the best Bio 1 professor and Golde is the best Chem 2 professor. Regardless, these big sections do require a lot of self-teaching but TAs and study labs make course material much more reasonable.
In classes that are non-science, I haven’t had any experiences with a bad professor. The language and history classes are great. English has good professors to but it is a lot of outside classroom work.
@pittstudent23
I will be coming in as a molecular biology major as well! Do you know anything about research opportunities at Pitt; can freshman participate in research with professors or in nearby hospitals? As for honors, if I am not mistaken, anyone can take honors courses? How does that work because what is stopping non-honors students from filling up the honors classes. Also, do you think it is possible to get A’s in those large intro-level Bio and Chem classes (bc they’re known to be ‘weed-out’ classes for pre-med students)?
@RougeScholar honors kids get priority and then other students can enroll.
@RougeScholar volunteering and research are two things that Pitt is a really good place for, especially since there are at least three university hospitals in the Oakland-Shadyside area! First Experience in Research is a program you can sign up for early in the school year and be matched into a lab. Intro bio labs such as SEA-PHAGES are run by principal investigators and count as undergraduate research (You need to have completed Bio 1 or its equivalent and be enrolled in Bio 2 to participate). As for volunteering, UPMC has a volunteer program designed for Pitt and CMU students that’ll work around your schedule. You can also shadow at UPMC if you find a doctor or you can be matched with one for $50.
So here’s the thing about intro science classes at Pitt: they’re notoriously difficult and unfortunately, most professors treat them as weed-out classes to get students that they believe are not ready for med-school off the pre-med track. And on top of that, Pitt has a competitive science program, so a lot of the midterm grades are good causing there no need to curve the class if averages are about 75%.
With that being said, as someone who survived and is still surviving, it’s not impossible to make As. You’ll just need to put in a lot of work. College is so much different than high school beyond coursework but the hours you need to put into a class. My science grades were good last semester but they’re great this semester simply because I started studying a lot smarter. College is a lot of self-teaching but its also about collaborating and learning with others. Make friends with your classmates (especially in gen chem I CANNOT stress this enough) and make study groups- they go a long way. Read before class so you’re not lost (profs won’t stop and explain believe me) and review your notes every single day. Ask for help when you need help and help others whenever you can. Daily interaction with the material makes studying for exams much easier because you’re not starting at ground zero every five weeks.
I know you asked specifically about Pitt but this can be applied to any school at any campus!
Why did you choose Pitt over your in-state University ? I’m sure TX does have good UG for premed track and even BS/MD.
My D plan to apply to Pitt next year along with a few public BS/MD schools and UMD (our in-state U). Pitt is on top of the the list since it offers BS/MD, good research opportunities and not very far from home. My D told us that she would even attend Pitt for traditional pre-med path since she loves Pitt’s campus setting (we visited Pitt, when I was in the city for business trip). However, to us, it would come down to cost factor, compare to the cost to attend UMD.
@pittstudent23 Do you know if there are weed out intro classes for other majors? My son is undecided in Dietrich but plans to transfer to the Info Science major or business school. I am concerned with the rigor of Pitt for him. He was fortunately accepted but Pitt was somewhat of a reach for him.
@ttb1263 The main reason, I chose Pitt was for financial aid reasons- I don’t pay to go to Pitt nor will I ever need to over the next three years and that’s the main reason most people end up choosing Pitt. Granted, it will take a while before you get to see the full scope of your financial aid but if you’re a competitive student and from a lower socioeconomic status, you’ll get a pretty good amount of money.
Pitt has one of the best pre-med programs in the country mainly because of how hard the pre-health department pushes us. We’re expected to have over 200 hours of clinical experience (EMT, CNA, PCT, etc.), 100 hours of research, and 50 hours of shadowing from three different areas. It’s intense and why every pre-med student at Pitt goes to medical school. My plans are to go to Dallas for medical school! I encourage your daughter to come to Pitt if she really wants to be pushed as a pre-med student.
@motict The general consensus is that STEM intro classes (especially in Dietrich and Swanson) are “weed out” classes where the professors do less teaching and more throwing insane tests, quizzes, and homework assignments (it takes most of us a full day to do calculus labs and chemistry problems…and they are usually 20-25 questions).
Your son will definitely be pushed in his Dietrich classes, decided or undecided, but it comes down to how much work is willing to put into getting the grades he wants. The first semester is a good trial period and gives a good feel for how prepared you are to deal with living on your own, college coursework, making friends, etc. Since he’s undecided, I would encourage him to not take a full course load (like I did) and see how much he can manage and what classes he truly ends up enjoying
Thank you for quick reply.
Your info is very helpful and yes, from what I heard, Pitt is a very good University for students who want to take pre-med track. Now, my D just need to work harder to get accept to her dream school with maybe some merit aids to offset the cost 
Thanks again for your help.
How competitive is to get in GAP medicine we were told that you cannot count on it . I know Upitt is good premed and lot of opportunities associated with research and clinical eco system.
We are OOS with very good scholarship from Upitt but also have full pay admissions to a T 5 undergrad college and waiting in few BS MD programs.
UPMC is powerhouse and we were impressed by NIH funding. Does anyone know when we will hear the final decision on GAP medicine results.
GAP interviews are this month I assume it will be mid April ?
Still very disappointed that my D didn’t get any merit scholarship from Pitt.
Her SAT is only 1440, but GPA 98.5 top 4%, full IB student with 2 major leadership at school, lots of extracurricular and volunteering hours. My husband is Pitt alumnus and was hoping D could go. I hate to say SUNY school is her best choice now.