University of Pittsburgh
Reviews

Great!

Transportation is great! Not only is there the port authority bus system that runs throughout the city and outside of pittsburgh but the university it self has a shuttle that travels around campus, and there is also safe rider that runs almost 24 hours to make sure that the campus is always safe and keeping students out of trouble.

Lots

There are many different races and cultures at this university; there are three girls on my floor from China!

Don't Own Off-Campus Housing

From what I have seen the houses are very nice but there are a few sketchy areas that don't seem very safe. There are more of the better homes than worse homes. The prices are reasonable.

Greeks at Pitt

Fraternities have most of their houses on the hill on upper campus. A few are located elsewhere in oakland. 9 of the sororities are located in a single dorm building, with each floor belonging to a different house. One sorority has a house off campus, and the remaining sorority is located in a different dorm. Greek life makes up only about 10% of the campus, but if you pay attention, you'll notice that that 10% actually runs the campus. Nearly every major organization on campus is run by Greeks. If Greek life is not for you, You'll still be perfectly happy and can ignore the entire scene. If it is for you, it opens a lot of doors on campus. Greeks do not act like they are better than non-Greeks, and most non-Greeks enjoy attending the fraternity parties.

Everything!

Whatever you may be interested in you can find at Pitt. Every region of not only the US but the world is represented on campus which makes it easy to find someone that fits your interests!

Night Life

There are a large number of fraternities around campus. I can't really say what their parties are like, I prefer to just hang out with my own friends. It's easy to get to the South Side, where there are a lot of clubs, bars, and late-night restaurants.

Rain, Rain, Rain and More Rain

If you are wondering what the weather will be like tomorrow in Pittsburgh and don't feel like checking Weather.com. You might as well dress for rain, because well chances are... It will be raining some point in the day.

Not Too Bad

The freshman dorms are alright, try to get Towers if you can. It is the most centrally located of the options and is usually pretty fun on the weekends. Its where you'll meet most of your friends freshman year. If you get a good lottery number for your sophomore year, stay on campus and select Ruskin, its spacious and has a kitchen. Otherwise try and move off campus, preferably to a house in South O.

It's in Walking Distance..

If you are willing to spend a few bucks you can get pretty much any type of food you want. Definitely check out Sorrento's pizza on Atwood on the weekends, $5 pies and you will most likely run into someone you know while you are waiting on line.

Rules Are Meant to Be Broken

At one point I was a resident assistant, and it was my job to oversee the safety and wellness of 45 freshmen on my floor. Since they were all under twenty-one, one of the major duties of mine was to make sure there was no underage usage and partying happening within the residence hall. While I admit that I feel there needs to be an enforced legal age to participate in drinking events, I walked a tight rope balancing my duties as being an enforcer of the rules, and being open to these young men who were experiencing what others refer to as the time of their lives. My policy was this: "if I don't hear it, see it, or smell it, it's not my business. If you make it my business, then you must deal with the consequences." I told my residents straight, "This is supposed to be the greatest time of your life, and I don't want to interfere with that, but please have fun responsibly. If you're ever in a situation that you feel is unsafe, please call me or the campus police, and use whatever resources are available to you in the University to ensure your safety and wellness; however, please do not bring trouble back home with you, because then you're interfering with my duties."

The long and short of it is this: I understand that rules are necessary to prevent the University from becoming a school with bad reputations and decency; however, if it remains a school with the reputation of being overcrowded, then don't expect those rules to be seen as fair, equal, and universally enforced. By implementing so many rules, you're only putting yourself in the position to enforce those rules across the board which will either be paid back in the happiness of the students or at the cost of students that voluntarily choose to become RA's and neglect their studies because of the paperwork that needs to be filed for each and every incident. If you want people to act like adults, then treat them with dignity and respect; give them a chance to make a mistake and make it back up to you - don't restrict them from doing anything, because then they just feel alienated and criminalized.

The Main Difference Between Big Schools and Small Schools

I came to the University of Pittsburgh in the fall of 2002 when I entered immediately after my senior year of high school. I had gone to small, private schools my whole life until then, but as a young, opinionated, and slightly rebellious youth, I decided to attend a large public university and not a smaller, semi-private one like I would've been used to. Despite the many friends I made within my own departments, as a whole, my experience at the University of Pittsburgh proved to be exactly what I had been warned about - my existence among the thousands of undergraduates led me to feel very depressed and alone; I was in fact, a number and not a person. Desperately trying to seek companionship and belonging, I rushed many clubs and students organizations with the hope of finding a niche, but in the end, my attempts at fitting in only proved to be detrimental to my academic success.

At one point I decided to study abroad, and I did so, in a smaller program, and as fate would have it, I had the time of my life AND did extremely well in my classes. Perhaps it's a comment on the states of education here and abroad, but I find the biggest difference between Universities in America and those abroad is that students abroad are not rated on a 0 - 4 point scale. Classes are individualized, mostly meeting once or twice a week, and teachers encourage more independent study that group assignments and due dates. It's structured on the notion that each student learns at an individualized pace, and more information can be retained by hands-on research and projects, not by syllabi loaded with requirements for everybody to complete weekly. An A in England is seen as extremely gifted, whilst a C is where you are expected to be at any given moment. The idea is nobody is perfect, and that's why they're in school - to push themselves to become stronger in any given subject.

Upon my reentry to the United States, and thus, the University of Pittsburgh, I was incredibly disenchanted in the educational system in the U.S. particularly in regards to large universities that treat their student bodies like statistical demographics. Teachers of large student bodies are all concerned about one thing - their own classes, and they do not care that a student is taking four other classes under teachers that all feel as selfishly about the subjects they are teaching respectively. The same can be said about the advising staff in large American universities; in an attempt to accommodate as many students as possible, more often than not they overlook the students that need the most help to cater themselves and their instruction to students that practically already know where they are going.

Overall, the University of Pittsburgh has been a typical life challenge. I'm not saying that I wouldn't recommend it - I cannot trade the experiences I've had with teachers and other students. It was a life-learning experience and I am grateful; however, if I could go back in time and do it again, I'd probably choose to attend a smaller university.

Oakland

The neighborhood of Oakland in the city of Pittsburgh couldn't get much better. We are in a city, but close to the 4th largest inner city park on the east coast. Tons of college students are in the area. Safe, campus police are always around. We get into a lot of musuems/cultural events for free with our ID. Pitt students are favored among Pittsburgh employers. As for sports, they don't call us the city of champions for nothing

Awesome Psych Programs

The Psychology department at Pitt is amazing! The teachers all have past experience with working in research or private practice. The course loads for most of the classes are relatively easy. There are plenty of opportunities for internships in research as Pitt has several labs on campus, is affiliated with UPMC which has its own research departments, and sometimes liaises with Carnegie Mellon University for combined projects. As long as you're passionate about how people behave, think, and interact with each other and as long as you're willing to do the work you'll love this program!

Some downsides; the number of psych majors every year is huge so the core courses usually have over 200 students in the classes. As such the courses usually have four major tests in the semester without any homework or quizzes. If you fail two tests it could bring your overall grad down a lot. Also one-on-one interaction with the professor may be difficult with the amount of students trying to see them at the same time.

In addition, the core classes will have a lot of overlap in their curricula and reteach the same things you learned from the last class several times over. It's not bad, but it gets annoying after a while.

Once you expand from the core courses to 1000-level and specialty courses the population of the classes drops significantly and much more hands-on and practical projects are available. You will definitely learn a lot more in your 1000-level courses then any of your other courses.

Overall the Psych program at Pitt is great! If you want to be a psych major this is the place for you.

PARTY PARTY PARTY

Oaklands night life is OUTRAGEOUS! So much fun! There is a party everywhere you turn!

Transportation

Public buses are free to students. The University also provides shuttles to sporting events that are free. Students can use the school's safe rider system, which allows them to call a shuttle service if they are out at night and feel that it would be unsafe to walk back to their residence. Buses to and from the airport are also free (this helps me a lot, because I come from out of state).

Party It up on Saturday, Study It up on Sunday

People at Pitt love their parties, and no matter how many letters the chancellor writes about the University's committment to keeping drinking safe and overage, everyone knows that it's not hard to get smashed underage, Thursday to Saturday. That's not to say that Pitt's exclusively a "party school", however. People love their alcohol and short dresses, but doing well in school is very important to Pitt students in general.

Guys and Girls

Most guys and girls at the school are average. There are only a handful of girls that are 10s, and everyone knows who they are. There are different styles everywhere! All of the average and above average girls hook up with athletes and frat guys.

Good Foundation; but Lacks Connections/ Linkage Programs

I'm a premed student and for the most part, am very satisfied with my education thus far. The program at Pitt is very rigorous, but the professors are really knowledgable and willing to help you if you put in the effort. The only complaint I have is that Pitt lacks connections to medical schools, including the University of Pittsburgh Medical School oddly enough, and does not have any linkage programs for students pursuing medicine.

Guys and Girls

The guys and girls at this school are pretty active in participating socially and connecting with the student life. They are pretty diverse in interests, dress, and looks, but most people have normal everyday style.

Crappy!!

Weather in Pittsburgh is horrible. It's usually cloudy whether its raining/snowing or not.

A Lot of Fun and a Lot of Work

Pitt is a place for students who want to have a lot of fun, enjoy a diverse group of friends, explore the city life, party hard, but work really really hard. Everyone at Pitt is serious about their education, and everyone works really hard to accomplish their goals. Pitt's population of students is extremely diverse, not just in terms of race, ethnicity, and hometown, but also in terms of economic status, personal beliefs and morals, religion, and political affiliation. Pitt is extremely competitive. It doesn't matter if you got straight A's in high school; you will still have to work really really hard if you want to do well at Pitt, and you can count on struggling to achieve an A or a B. Pitt's strongest area is science, but this definitely does not mean that your English class or your History class will not be extremely hard also. The Professors are the best in their fields, and no matter what class they teach, they expect a lot from their students. Pitt's programs are strong, especially its Pre-Med and Engineering. Any science major at Pitt is skilled in their field, and Pitt advisors strongly encourage outside of the classroom experiences, such as work-study, internships, study abroad, and volunteering.

The Campus itself has a lot of character, and has a certain atmosphere that is enticing. You are guaranteed never to be bored, even just on campus, and if you need to get off campus, downtown Pittsburgh is only a 10 minute bus ride away. There are tons of diverse places to eat; within a 5 minute radius, there are food options from Greece, Italy, China, India, etc. The dorms are typical of college campuses, but floormates are very close, and you are guaranteed to make friends that will last your entire life.

School Spirit Is High at Pitt

One of the most enjoyable ways to spend your Saturday morning at Pitt during football season is at Heinz Field watching the Pittsburgh Panthers play. All of the students at Pitt are extremely spirited and love going to games and wearing team gear. Our basketball team is fantastic, and students love going to the games and being a part of the "Oakland Zoo" (aka the student section of the audience). Athletic facilities are top-notch and are open to all students, not just the athletes. The equipment is all very high quality and the newest available. Athletes and athletic fans alike are guaranteed to have a great time at Pitt.

Pitt Excels in the Sciences

I'm an intended Neuroscience major at Pitt, and so far, I have been extremely impressed with the quality of the education, especially in the sciences. My professors are experts in their field, and have had experience in laboratory settings. I even had the privilege of taking Biopsychology with a professor who ran his own Biopsychology lab. There are endless opportunities for internships in settings that will prepare you for your major. For example, if you plan to go into research and you want an internship, the University can find a research lab that deals with topics you are interested in. Science is strong at Pitt, and it is obvious even in introduction level science classes.

Greeks Aren't Huge

Greek life at the University of Pittsburgh is different than I've seen it anywhere else. Greek life only makes up a small portion of campus, so you don't have to join to feel like you're part of something. The main times you hear about the greeks are when they are doing something for their various philanthropies.

Middle Class = Nothing

The school only gives out money to those who are at the top of the class and those who are very poor.