The University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Campus

Date: Dec 12 2008
Major: Biology (This Major's Salary over time)
The biology department for undergraduates was disgusting. You pay a lot of money as a student and receive little in return. The faculty particularly in the lower level courses are not motivated, and not teaching the students to learn. Instead, its about working the system. Instead of investing in an education to gain some knowledge about the subject, its about worthless memorization, and just getting those credits. I grew up in this city, and went here because it was close to family, and I thought the science program would be the best in the region. However, I found the liberal arts teachers to be the best at this institution (IE history, dramatic arts, intro to art, those kinds of subjects).

The biology department seems more wrapped up in research, or others are just tenured and there for life. Classrooms are huge as well, making it difficult for students to access professors. Its difficult to schedule, and I know many students behind in subjects like chemistry because labs fill up before the lecture. In fact, for registration in organic chemistry for the Spring 09, the labs filled up in two days. Good luck (hence never finishing on time). The examinations are for the most part not an accurate reflection of whether the student has a grasp of the material or not. I know for some chemistry, physics, and bio departments the curve has been as low as 40% to attain a C grade. Ask yourself if its worth spending 1500-2000 per class to learn 40% of the material. I had a PhD tell me if the class average is that low, its a failure on the instructors part. Yet, I don't blame the instructors totally, when you get in a class of 260 students, its impossible to grade exams fairly and give partial credit for work. Exams in chemistry for example are usually 15-20 questions, multiple choice A-J, all or no credit.

As far as biology, most of the instructors I have had at the lower level are totally worthless. They fail to engage the student at all. Instead, there seems to be a total laziness on the instructors part to teach. Instead, most resort to the typical powerpoint lectures that use the same exact material from the book. The job of the instructor shouldn't be to read the book to students, they should instead engage in building upon the book material giving the students another point of view.

You're going to spend a good deal of money for this university. For me, the lack of lab space, less than motivated instructors, fighting for scheduling, and the depressing gray town of Oakland make this University not worth it.

Believe me, I know from a few friends who graduated from this university in the bio and chemistry departments, a degree here will not have an advantage over any other cheaper state college. Furthermore, most bio majors want to be pre med, and statistics will back up that a majority will never pass the MCATS. Having said that, ask yourself if its worth going to a university for pre med knowing that curves in the science courses can go as low as 40% and still pass?

Some students I know thrive in larger classrooms, and somehow they are able to work into the labs and not have problems. I on the other hand haven't had that experience and will be pulling out to go to a more economical school. I heard better things about the graduate programs, also my experience with liberal art instructors has been good. Look at ratemyprofessors.com and take the rankings of students to heart is my only advice if you choose to come here.