I'm about to graduate from Pitt, and overall my experience here has been wonderful. Though the school isn't perfect, there is a real sense of community here combined with great academics that makes it a nice place to be, even if you're like me and coming from out-of-state.*Academics* - I can't speak for the other schools, but Arts & Sciences is great overall, and I've found Anthropology to be an excellent major with a good selection of classes. Teachers are a mixed bag, but I've had some absolutely brilliant professors (highly recommend David Montgomery), and the department is great about hosting events, lectures and socials. Anthropology professors have written renowned books, dissertations and done extensive fieldwork and archaeological digs. There's tons of opportunities for student-faculty fieldwork, internships and help finding graduate programs. As you move up in the major you'll take less huge lectures with lots of freshmen and more intimate seminars, which are the cream of the crop in the Anthropology department.
-Film Studies- was my minor and I absolutely LOVED it. Seriously, the program here is wonderful, with some truly brilliant faculty members. It's not a production-focused major, but there are production classes offered at the local film school which is a short walk/drive from campus. In terms of film theory and analysis, you'll be in classes with people truly engaged and in LOVE with film. I highly recommend Dana Och and Mark Anderson, and take Horror Film if you can stomach it, it's an amazing class. Advisers are excellent and I can't speak highly enough of the Film Studies department.
Which brings me to another great thing about Pitt: most students here are smart, studious and interested in their studies, even if some of them pretend to be more into partying and messing around.
One great thing about Pitt is the variety of classes offered in the liberal arts. I took Nazi Culture: Film in the Third Reich and it was fascinating and the professor really knew his stuff and made class engaging, plus he spoke German fluently and offered readings in German and opportunities to study abroad. I've also really enjoyed my creative writing, philosophy and literature classes. Since freshman year I've been able to get small seminars and classes with 15 students or less every semester.
The *Student Body* isn't too ethnically diverse, with most students being white and from in-state, but there is a decent amount of diversity on campus all things considered, including an active multicultural scene, Rainbow Alliance and plenty of opportunities to study abroad through Pitt or Pitt-affiliated programs. Plus there's every kind of personality here and you'll find your niche if you get involved. Like I said, most students are smart and work hard. This campus also has tons of opportunities for leadership, including a strong Student Government, Greek Life and Pitt Program Council. We always have fun little events throughout the year, a carnival and Bigelow Bash where we've brought in performers like Ke$ha and The White Tie Affair.
*Greek Life* I'm in a sorority and overall it's been a positive experience. The Greek scene doesn't dominate the campus, but it's fairly large, with over 18 fraternities, 11 sororities and 8 Pan-Hellenic organizations of the Divine 9. Greek Sing is a huge event, as is the annual Steel City Step Show. Most leaders on campus are Greek, and overall we do a great job of supporting each other's events and having mixers and socials with one another. You definitely don't need to rush to have fun at Pitt, but it's an added bonus and most Greeks have houses or on-campus suites. Most of the sororities have beautiful suites in Amos which unifies us all.
*Housing* here is great, especially compared to the first college I went to before I transferred to Pitt. The Towers is the best place to make friends freshmen year. It's in one central location with the main dining hall, mail-room and Panther Central, plus the bookstore and PNC Bank steps away. Facilities are generally clean and well-kept, most are air-conditioned and many are carpeted. You can even get a single your first year in Tower C. I've heard on-campus apartments are nice too. I live off-campus and I love it. Housing is fairly cheap, parking is expensive and a nightmare but you really don't need a car. The public bus system is "free" (included in your student activities fee) for all four years and most things to do are in walking distance. Plus there's always shuttles that will take you up the hill. I personally love having my car here but I did fine 3 years without one.
*Environment* Oakland is a college town, an urban area, with Pitt's campus situated mainly between two very busy roads, Forbes and Fifth. South Oakland is where most students live because it's cheaper, but it gets kind of crazy on weekends when people party hard, drink a lot and leave beer cans and trash everywhere. S. Oakland isn't the safest place, but it's not too bad, and there's restaurants, late night pizza, bars and a hookah bar in the area. Central Oakland has a decent variety of cheap places to eat, and up the road a little South Craig Street has some nicer restaurants and ambience. You really get the college feel in Oakland because Carnegie Mellon is a 10-minute walk away; my sorority has had tons of mixers with CMU frats, and both schools participate in some of each other's big events and we party together (mostly near Pitt). There's tons of other schools in the area, including Chatham, Point Park, Duquesne, etc.
We're literally right next door to UPMC and some of the best hospitals in the world. In addition, Pitt students get free admission into the Carnegie museums which are basically on-campus location-wise (Natural History, Art, Science, Library, Music Hall), gorgeous buildings which make for fun diversions. Phipps is down the road where you can chill with plants, and there's a big park close by too. On beautiful, sunny days it's so nice to lay out in Schenley Plaza on the big grassy space where there's also food kiosks and a new restaurant. Students also love laying out in front of the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial building.
Which brings me to architecture. Aside from some funny-looking modern buildings, Pitt has a beautiful urban campus that's not too spread-out, with a great mix of green space and city space.
*Food* is pretty good! There's coffee kiosks all over campus where you can get snacks and Starbucks, plus free coffee and tea during finals week in the library. Market Central gets old after awhile but it's not bad, all you can eat buffet style. There's also Market-To-Go where you can get take-out, a campus mini-mart where you can stock up on groceries, a really good food court in the Cathedral, in the student union and up the hill in the Pete. I recommend getting a mid-size meal plan your first semester and then changing it depending on how you feel after that.
The Student Union is a beautiful building, as is the Gothic Cathedral which is GORGEOUS inside. You'll likely have at least several classes in a Nationality Room (Google them, they're pretty cool).
*Sports* are a pretty big deal at Pitt. We use the Steelers football stadium downtown which is a bit of a trek with traffic, but the games are fun (sadly not free) and Pitt offers plenty of free student shuttles. Basketball is also great but it's harder to get tickets. People have plenty of school pride, with local shops and restaurants displaying Pitt logos in their windows and offering special student deals and discounts.
*Now for the negatives* The weather is gloomy and depressing in the winter months. We get a lot of rain and snow, though on sunny days it feels amazing and the campus really lights up. There's a good deal of local beggers and homeless folk on the street, but most of them are friendly and well-known by the students. There ARE a few con artists in the area but if you ignore them they're pretty easy to avoid. Pollution is a bit of an issue; it's not horrendous but it IS a city, with cigarette smoke and exhaust fumes. Plus road noise can be a pain if you're noise sensitive. Advising for freshmen is notoriously horrible in Arts & Sciences, but I was fairly independent and took their advice with a grain of salt. I recommend contacting the department you're interested in directly for advice about a potential major. Also, Pitt payments are online, and they've refused or ignored requests from my parents for paper bills. Sometimes it can be a hassle and get confusing. Financial aid is alright, but there can be some frustrating run-a-rounds. Pitt does offer some generous scholarships though.
Overall, I really feel the positives outweigh the negatives. To do well at Pitt, I'd say you have to be fairly independent, comfortable with city living or the idea of it (it's not that bad and you get used it to; plus it has tons of positives), smart and sociable or willing to open up and meet new people and get involved. Despite any negative experiences, I LOVE my school and have enormous pride for it. I'll be sad to leave.
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