Anonymous wrote:Personally I think the IVY poster gives a lot of insight. She / He actually spent time at the school, had family there, visited, met people.

No one else on this thread comes close to having that kind of insider knowledge.

I know some of its depressing OP, but its worth considering. For sure.

Yes but how long ago? Pittsburgh has changed a lot in the last 15-20 years.

No personal experience with Pitt, but I've gone to grad school and worked with several Pitt alumni. They're all smart and just really good people. I'd take a dozen Pitt grads over an insufferable Ivy grad any day.

Anonymous wrote:Pitt ranks high for OOS students and high for diversity of students. I don't know why the "Ivy" and now UVA pps are working overtime defending their choices over Pitt. Nobody said it was better or prettier than Harvard or UVA. For VA residents, outside of UVA and W&M, most rank it higher than any VA college. Agree to tour on one of the Pitt organized tour days. The buildings we visited were very cool. I'm sure there's basic ones as well. DS scored a huge dorm room w/ private bath freshman year and an on campus apartment second year. And a job in his major by graduation.

I'd say Pitt is on par with Virginia Tech (and UMD, for that matter). Otherwise, your statement is pretty much true.

I graduated from Pitt in 2006. I think it's a fine school - a lot of great programs, a lot of just okay programs. I would hesitate to send my kid there, largely because tuition is approximately 6X the amount it was when I went, and I'm not sure that the education I got would be worth that much money. And I was in-state, so I'm sure out of state tuition is outrageous nowadays.

OP here. Thanks for all the interesting responses. We still plan to go see it.

Pitt ranks high for OOS students and high for diversity of students. I don't know why the "Ivy" and now UVA pps are working overtime defending their choices over Pitt. Nobody said it was better or prettier than Harvard or UVA. For VA residents, outside of UVA and W&M, most rank it higher than any VA college. Agree to tour on one of the Pitt organized tour days. The buildings we visited were very cool. I'm sure there's basic ones as well. DS scored a huge dorm room w/ private bath freshman year and an on campus apartment second year. And a job in his major by graduation.

You all with your "tier" nonsense.
Times World University Ranking:
Pitt- 80
UVa- 120

There are so many ways to rank universities, and this is just one that is weighted toward research. BTW, speaking of research, 2015 Research expenditures:
Pitt- #18 at 861M
UVa-#62 at 371M- less than half as much research.

This does not mean Pitt is better than UVa, or should be compared to Harvard (#10 at 1B). It just means that they are all great, world class universities and people should stop trying to bin them into tears based on their outdated ideas of prestige.

Anonymous wrote:My hs senior was accepted at Pitt but has decided to go elsewhere. We know 2 students from N Virginia that go there and love it. One will be spending next year studying abroad in Berlin. I recommend you attend one of Pitt's Open House days....more in-depth than the campus tours, very well-organized and informative. We were not expecting to like Pitt as much as we did after the Open House. My DD is interested in the medical field and Pittsburgh seems to be full of opportunities in that field. Some of the reasons for not choosing Pitt included the OOS tuition with low merit aid, no offer of admission into the guaranteed graduate program (PA), the high percentage of students from Pennsylvania (don't know the # but my impression is ALMOST everyone is in-state). The campus itself didn't seem gritty, and is right next to Carnegie Mellon and Chatham. But I wouldn't call it picturesque. The freshman dorms are in high rise buildings, 17 floors. For my DD, who grew up in suburban N Virginia, the urban campus seemed cool. But it's certainly a different type of campus from UVA, where she will be going in the fall.

I am several years away from college applications, so maybe I am just that out of the know, but I am surprised 1) that there would even be a question of whether to attend Pitt or UVA, as I thought that UVA was a much higher tier school and considerably less expensive than Pitt for a VA resident; and 2) that your DD who was admitted to UVA from Northern VA (which I understand to be very highly competitive) would not get good merit aid from Pitt, where I would assume she was a top candidate. What am I missing? I have been of the impression that UVA is the Holy Grail of college for middle class Northern Virginia students.

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Anonymous wrote:Due respect, but your college prof knows absolutely nothing about Pittsburgh and needs to get out more. How old is the prof?

He was probably in his early 30s, and had done his doctorate at Yale, then become an assistant prof at Harvard by a young age. He knew plenty about academia and the reputation of different schools and departments, and I don't think he would have needed to even visit Pittsburgh or "get out more" to enhance his credibility.

Pitt is an OK school with an OK, not spectacular campus, and some good departments. Depending on your goals and the schools with which you are comparing Pitt, it might even be a "good" school. If you are comparing it to the Ivy Leagues and the most selective schools, it is just OK.

My brothers loved it and have no student loans, and are happy they went there. Even they will freely admit that my house at Harvard was in a different league than their Pitt dorms, and Pitt's campus is not great compared to those of other schools. But they don't care: they liked the grittiness, and they didn't want student loans, and they are very successful now.

But I would have been so depressed at Pitt.

Dang, you must have been awfully sheltered if that would be enough to make you "so depressed." Maybe, and I mean this in all seriousness, your brothers' success is based more on them being more resilient than you.

Choosing to go to the best school to which I was admitted, and being thankful for a great experience there--especially when I was able to compare my university to my brothers' university, and know theirs would not have been a "good fit" for me--does not make me "awfully sheltered" or less "resilient." We grew up in Western PA, and my brothers went to Pitt with a lot of our high school friends: to me, this was "awfully sheltered." I worked super hard to get into Harvard, and choosing to go there over Pitt does not demonstrate a lack of resilience.

My brothers loved their Pitt experience, and they are both successful engineers now, but I would not want their experience for myself. It is right for a certain kind of kid, and wrong for others, but bleating on about snobbery and defending Pitt against all criticism, no matter what, is stupid and not fair to your kids.

I still maintain that Pitt is an OK school with an ugly campus. I am not only comparing it to Harvard, and I do agree with the other PP who pointed out that it is not reasonable to compare Pitt to Harvard at all. OK. However, I visited friends at Penn State, Boston University, Boston College, Mount Ida, and UMass, and ALL of these schools had a "feel" that would have suited me better than Pitt, with its gritty, ugly campus and gritty, ugly feel. Knowing the "feel" of a campus and knowing what suits you before you choose a school is not "awfully sheltered", but a sensible thing to do.

My brothers were smart kids who were very social, and they loved the relaxed atmosphere at Pitt. They would have hated an intense, pressure cooker of an academic environment, and I respect that.

You need to consider what type of kid you have when helping them choose a school.

If it makes you feel better, I also went to a lot of frat parties at MIT. The MIT campus is much uglier than the Pitt campus. Much, much uglier. The bit you see on Good Will Hunting is just a small showpiece, and rest of the campus is hideous. So there you go: MIT has nothing so lovely as the Cathedral of Learning.

And I went to Pitt and rarely went to a fraternity party. I only went to my dad's and I had a few friends in it. It is not a school where you have to be greek.

You seem to be missing my point. No, you don't "have to be Greek" at Pitt, but Pitt has a fratty feel to it just the same. If you don't know what "fratty feel" means, I can't explain it because you clearly don't have scope for comparison.

I'm glad you loved Pitt. That's great. It is nice to be able to look back on your college days and smile. I'm sure you would not have thrived at my school, and I would have hated the Pitt experience, so it is a win-win.

You have a very limited experience on visits with your brothers. Stop giving false information. I know what a fratty feel is as I transferred from a school that you basically had to be greek to have a social life. You visited your brothers who were in a frat so you assume all of the school was like that which it was not.

BU honestly sucked. It was expensive with crappy teachers, mostly adjunct who couldn't teach. It was such a huge waste of money.

Most people can thrive at any school they choose to. I picked Pitt as they were very strong in the major I wanted. I didn't care as much as clearly you did.

You have no idea what my experience was like, and I am not giving any false information. YOU appear to have limited experience, though, as demonstrated by your (stupid) false assertion that BC has no campus. Also, I spent multiple nights at the school you attended with my brothers and high school friends, and you spent no time at the school I attended, and you have no experience of it, so I don't understand how you can dismiss my observations, which are shaped by my experience at both those schools (and BC, of which I know more than you, as you don't even know they have a campus).

Only ONE of my brothers was in a frat. The other wouldn't have been caught dead doing that, and lived in the dorms, so I really saw both parts of this, and yes, the dorms also had a fratty feel because the student body of Pitt has a fratty feel. This is not necessarily bad, but it isn't for everyone. I had high school friends at Pitt as well because much of my high school class went to Penn State or Pitt.

I wouldn't agree with you that "BU honestly sucked", nor would I say Pitt "sucked." I don't think Pitt is better than BU, though personally I would have preferred BU because I like Boston. Both Pitt and BU are both OK schools with some good departments; I view them as comparable schools that offer similar quality of education. And my brothers had plenty of classes taught by grad students at Pitt as well. One summer I actually attended multiple classes of a course one of my brothers was taking at Pitt (because it was a required core course, and he hated it, and it was a loooong class period because it was condensed for summer school). He paid me to go and take notes for him. I was not impressed by the intellectual prowess or ability of the students in that course. The instructor was excellent, though, and didn't care that I wasn't a Pitt student.

(The class was NOT held in the Cathedral of learning, but in a building I had to access by crossing a suspended pedestrian bridge over...5th Ave? Forbes? Not sure, but the building was super ugly.

Anonymous wrote:I attended grad school at Pitt in late 1990's. I LOVED Pitt and loved living in Pittsburgh (except the weather . . . it's fairly miserable Nov.-April).

I never lived in the dorms so can't speak to whether or not they are "gross." But, I spend a lot of time in Oakland and lived in Shadyside, which is adorable. It's a great urban school w/o being too big.

There is a lot -a LOT- to do in Pittsburgh. Great neighborhoods, each with their own character, bars, etc. Shadyside and Squirrel Hill= more of a "St. Elmos" pub feel
Oakland = dance clubs and gritty bars
Strip District = the big dance clubs
South Side = more of your low key, local scene. Super fun.

At least that is what it was when I lived there. Plus "the Point" has lots of fun festivals. There are great art museums, Schenley Park, plus football/baseball/hockey teams right in downtown.

It's actually amazing I did as well as I did there considering how much other stuff I was doing.

I can't say enough good things about the town and the school.

I too went to grad school at Pitt, and would say the connections I made there were among the reasons I have my dream career now.

And I absolutely love Pittsburgh as a town for all the reasons that the PP above says. I will add as well that WYEP is the greatest radio station on the planet. It is one of three non-commercial radio stations Pittsburgh supports. How many are supported in far "richer" DC? I now love to stream WYEP every chance I get, and I am always surprised with new music!

Also, if you are into music, some of the oldest and most renowned musical organizations in America are in Pittsburgh - the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the Opera. I never really was into opera until I went to the Pittsburgh Opera when a classmate was singing in it. Magnificent!

Anonymous wrote:Wow. "Ivy" poster is insufferable. Apparently, if s/he has the final word. On everthing.

I grew up in Pittsburgh and no one was more surprised when DS loved the campus from the moment he arrived. He had a great 4 years and got great job.

Obviously suffers from some sort of insecurity.

Sorry for the double post.

I attended grad school at Pitt in late 1990's. I LOVED Pitt and loved living in Pittsburgh (except the weather . . . it's fairly miserable Nov.-April).

I never lived in the dorms so can't speak to whether or not they are "gross." But, I spend a lot of time in Oakland and lived in Shadyside, which is adorable. It's a great urban school w/o being too big.

There is a lot -a LOT- to do in Pittsburgh. Great neighborhoods, each with their own character, bars, etc. Shadyside and Squirrel Hill= more of a "St. Elmos" pub feel
Oakland = dance clubs and gritty bars
Strip District = the big dance clubs
South Side = more of your low key, local scene. Super fun.

At least that is what it was when I lived there. Plus "the Point" has lots of fun festivals. There are great art museums, Schenley Park, plus football/baseball/hockey teams right in downtown.

It's actually amazing I did as well as I did there considering how much other stuff I was doing.

I can't say enough good things about the town and the school.

I attended grad school at Pitt in late 1990's. I LOVED Pitt and loved living in Pittsburgh (except the weather . . . it's fairly miserable Nov.-April).

I never lived in the dorms so can't speak to whether or not they are "gross." But, I spend a lot of time in Oakland and lived in Shadyside, which is adorable. It's a great urban school w/o being too big.

There is a lot -a LOT- to do in Pittsburgh. Great neighborhoods, each with their own character, bars, etc. Shadyside and Squirrel Hill= more of a "St. Elmos" pub feel
Oakland = dance clubs and gritty bars
Strip District = the big dance clubs
South Side = more of your low key, local scene. Super fun.

At least that is what it was when I lived there. Plus "the Point" has lots of fun festivals. There are great art museums, Schenley Park, plus football/baseball/hockey teams right in downtown.

It's actually amazing I did as well as I did there considering how much other stuff I was doing.

I can't say enough good things about the town and the school.

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Anonymous wrote:Due respect, but your college prof knows absolutely nothing about Pittsburgh and needs to get out more. How old is the prof?

He was probably in his early 30s, and had done his doctorate at Yale, then become an assistant prof at Harvard by a young age. He knew plenty about academia and the reputation of different schools and departments, and I don't think he would have needed to even visit Pittsburgh or "get out more" to enhance his credibility.

Pitt is an OK school with an OK, not spectacular campus, and some good departments. Depending on your goals and the schools with which you are comparing Pitt, it might even be a "good" school. If you are comparing it to the Ivy Leagues and the most selective schools, it is just OK.

My brothers loved it and have no student loans, and are happy they went there. Even they will freely admit that my house at Harvard was in a different league than their Pitt dorms, and Pitt's campus is not great compared to those of other schools. But they don't care: they liked the grittiness, and they didn't want student loans, and they are very successful now.

But I would have been so depressed at Pitt.

Dang, you must have been awfully sheltered if that would be enough to make you "so depressed." Maybe, and I mean this in all seriousness, your brothers' success is based more on them being more resilient than you.

Choosing to go to the best school to which I was admitted, and being thankful for a great experience there--especially when I was able to compare my university to my brothers' university, and know theirs would not have been a "good fit" for me--does not make me "awfully sheltered" or less "resilient." We grew up in Western PA, and my brothers went to Pitt with a lot of our high school friends: to me, this was "awfully sheltered." I worked super hard to get into Harvard, and choosing to go there over Pitt does not demonstrate a lack of resilience.

My brothers loved their Pitt experience, and they are both successful engineers now, but I would not want their experience for myself. It is right for a certain kind of kid, and wrong for others, but bleating on about snobbery and defending Pitt against all criticism, no matter what, is stupid and not fair to your kids.

I still maintain that Pitt is an OK school with an ugly campus. I am not only comparing it to Harvard, and I do agree with the other PP who pointed out that it is not reasonable to compare Pitt to Harvard at all. OK. However, I visited friends at Penn State, Boston University, Boston College, Mount Ida, and UMass, and ALL of these schools had a "feel" that would have suited me better than Pitt, with its gritty, ugly campus and gritty, ugly feel. Knowing the "feel" of a campus and knowing what suits you before you choose a school is not "awfully sheltered", but a sensible thing to do.

My brothers were smart kids who were very social, and they loved the relaxed atmosphere at Pitt. They would have hated an intense, pressure cooker of an academic environment, and I respect that.

You need to consider what type of kid you have when helping them choose a school.

If it makes you feel better, I also went to a lot of frat parties at MIT. The MIT campus is much uglier than the Pitt campus. Much, much uglier. The bit you see on Good Will Hunting is just a small showpiece, and rest of the campus is hideous. So there you go: MIT has nothing so lovely as the Cathedral of Learning.

And I went to Pitt and rarely went to a fraternity party. I only went to my dad's and I had a few friends in it. It is not a school where you have to be greek.

You seem to be missing my point. No, you don't "have to be Greek" at Pitt, but Pitt has a fratty feel to it just the same. If you don't know what "fratty feel" means, I can't explain it because you clearly don't have scope for comparison.

I'm glad you loved Pitt. That's great. It is nice to be able to look back on your college days and smile. I'm sure you would not have thrived at my school, and I would have hated the Pitt experience, so it is a win-win.

You have a very limited experience on visits with your brothers. Stop giving false information. I know what a fratty feel is as I transferred from a school that you basically had to be greek to have a social life. You visited your brothers who were in a frat so you assume all of the school was like that which it was not.

BU honestly sucked. It was expensive with crappy teachers, mostly adjunct who couldn't teach. It was such a huge waste of money.

Most people can thrive at any school they choose to. I picked Pitt as they were very strong in the major I wanted. I didn't care as much as clearly you did.