University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Top Questions

South and North Oakland is the part of Pittsburgh where the vast majority of off campus students live (The U of Pitt is in between S & N Oakland). North Oakland is home to many frat houses and south oakland is mostly houses/apartments. It is approximately a 5-10 minute walk from the majority of apartments to campus. Freshman and Sophomore year most students venture out to Frat and House parties. Junior year is when most students move off campus and start throwing parties and Senior year everyone is 21 and goes to bars. Bars: Oakland is home to around 10 bars some of which are more popular than others. The South Side, Shadyside, and Station Square are the other areas Pitt students frequent and they are all within 4-5 miles of Oakland ($10 cab ride). Those areas have more older post-college professionals while Oakland is almost exclusively college students.

Pitt's social life is however you want it to be - it can be easy to get lost in the crowd, but with all those people it's also easy to make tons of friends. Most people live in the dorms their first year or two. I met many of my current friends on my floor freshman year. The rest of my friends I've met at parties and through other people. The party scene isn't quite as bad as schools like Ohio State, but there isn't really much else to do on a Friday or Saturday night if you're not 21. You could get half-price food (a lot of the restaurants in Oakland serve a half-price menu late night) or maybe find a show or something, but I've always had the impression that most people are at parties on a Friday or Saturday night. Some popular groups on campus are WPTS (student radio), Habitat for Humanity, STAND (about taking action for Darfur), several literary magazines, sports teams, frats/sororities, and tons of volunteering opportunities. Use your student ID for free bus rides! You can get anywhere in the city and Pittsburgh has a lot to offer outside of Oakland.

Social life is good...plently of nondrinking activities...its what you want to make of it...

It's all what you make of it. Be friendly and you will have friends, simple enough.

I'm in Free the Planet, which is Pitt's environmental group. I really like it. We take on projects such as recycling at Pitt and creating bike lanes in the city. We've had a little success but it's hard to work around everything that's already set up at Pitt. Most people in dorms do not leave their doors open. Especially in Tower C, it's like completely devoid of a social scene (especially on the girl floors). Athletic Events are extremely popular. Guest Speakers can be popular depending on who it is. Spring term Jerry Springer came and that was a very popular guest speaker event. I think most theater productions at Pitt are not very popular but I really enjoy going to them. The dating scene is pretty cool. I met my boyfriend at a club and we've been together for a year and a half now. If you want to party everyday of the week, you can. If you hate partying, you're not going to be very happy at Pitt. There are plenty of things you can do if you don't drink. There are tons of places around Pittsburgh such as coffee shops, stores, and restaurants. Also, almost every weekend in the dorms the RAs will organize a non-alcoholic event. Those usually don't have a very high attendance though.

There are lots of popular groups on campus. Some of the most popular are Greek Life and the activities committees. I'm involved with WPTS which is Pitt's radio station. It is a small group, but everyone gets along really well. Joining the radio station was a great way for me to meet people when I started at Pitt. Some of the most popular events at Pitt are of course the sporting events, concerts, and the spring and fall fests. Guest speakers also get alot of student attention, especially political figures. Homecoming is always a blast too. There are a lot of parties at Pitt. On any given day there are tons of parties going on. All you have to do is walk through Oakland and look at which apartments have kids hanging around, and you can find yourself a great house party. I'm not big on hard-core partying, but I still have fun on the weekends. There are concerts and plays to see, shopping, museums, etc. And it is still fun to go to parties and not get trashed. There's something for everyone to enjoy as far as social life goes.

I don't drink. I dunno, the frat parties aren't really my idea of fun but sometimes I felt bored on the weekends when all my friends were out partying. There's no doubt partying is big at Pitt, but if you're like me and don't go looking for it it's not hard to avoid.

Oh geez, where to begin... friends are easy to make. You can stick to going to frats with the people on your floor or go see a cheap or free show every weekend. If you're looking for a good party, you can find it, but if you want more out of your nights, you can find it. Really, it's about asking and looking around. It's easy to find parties. It's also easy to find cheap or free adventures elsewhere on a Saturday night, like midnight ice skating, overnight backpacking trips, concerts, movies, speakers, games, and late night restaurant deals. There's also plenty going on during the week - 4-square, Hindu Student Council, Pitt Outdoors Club, speakers, game nights. And you can usually find free food at events and meetings at least once a week.

greek life is big but not required for a social life, pitt runs many events to keep you interested

There is not a lot of unity among the student body as a whole. This is not a type of school where everybody goes to the football games, in fact, not many people went at all last year. In addition there are not big events that everybody attends. Pitt is the type of school where you find your niche and the group of people you want to hang out with, and that is where you find your social activities.

There is always something to do and no matter what you like, you can have fun at Pitt.

Engineering department has a number of outstanding clubs including: IEEE, Robotics Club, Radio Club, and many others. All of these clubs are tightly associated with each other, and in many cases officers of one club are members of the others. This allows for easy synchronization of events and better organization. But if being a club member is not your thing there are many events going on that are not associated with any organization, but just a group of people who want to have fun. These events include Lazer Tag, Humans Vs. Zombies, etc.

Greeks are big (not really the Black ones). Students in Dorms don't communicate beyond Freshman year unless in a learning community, and even in freshman year that's sometimes not true if you're not in Towers. Athletic events are somewhat popular. It depends on the speaker if that will be a hit. Theatre...not so much, unless it's required. Dating is a "no, no" for me. My closest friends are from student organizations I'm a part of. At 2am on a Tuesday I am probably doing work--you won't find anything to do on campus. There are a few fun traditions--Bigelow Bash, Arrival Survival, Laser Show, Comedy Show, Bonfire, etc. Frats and Sorors are lame. There are things to do that don't involve drinking on Saturday...they have non-alcoholic mini grant events. Most of the fun I have is off campus or in my room.

The most popular students groups/ organizations are athletic teams and fraternities/ sororities. Athletic events are very popular, but other events like guest speakers are popular as well. Theater is also really big in Pittsburgh. It is easy to meet people at Pitt, you just have to attend events and join organizations that your interested in. I met most of my friends freshman year, through some type of orientation event or an organization. At 2am on a tuesday night, I am sleeping. Some annual traditions are a PPC concert, a step show, battle of the bands, and probably a lot of other things I don't attend. People party as often as they want. Last weekend I was at home for Spring Break. Instead of drinking on a Saturday night, you can hang out with friends, go to a movie, attend an organization event.

I'm involved with an organization focused on refugee advocacy and awareness promotion, and I am the president of an organization that tutors/mentors local Somali refugees on a regular basis. Athletic events (football and bball games) are popular, as are guest speakers. Students party a lot on the weekends.

Popular groups....Rainbow alliance is big. There are tons of human rights/activist /humanitarian groups. I am president of FORGE...a group dedicated to helping refugees locally and abroad..great group of passionate students, some of my best friends. Doors are always open..for at least 60{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of rooms. Football and basketball are huge, more so for basketball. Guest speakers are also a big deal. Theater..not so much, within its "circle," though, very popular. Dating is great..ssoooo many people! I met my friends through living together, class, and student groups. At 2 am on Tuesday, if i'm awake, im studying. every year, there is a concert in the fall and one in the spring..for free with tons of other activities! there is homecoming, light up night, family weekend. If people party, they do so Thursday, friday or saturday..or maybe two of three days. Frats/sororities aren't a big deal, but some people really enjoy them. Last weekend, I went to the Strip district (fresh food, meat, produce) in the morning, did homework, watched a movie and went to a bar. Not involving drinking..tons of possibilities..so many coffee shops open late, movies, theater, comedy, open mic nights, friends houses, on campus stuff. Off campus..i do everything..coffee shops, go shopping, rent movies, go out to eat, go on picnics, go to parks.

Fraternity/sorority life has the most members percentage-wise on campus. SGB is pretty popular too, which is composed most of greeks. Athletic events and guest speakers are very popular on our campus. Every Pitt student has been to at least one of each. Students always leave their doors open. MOst people are very friendly. The dating scene at Pitt is pretty good as far as I'm concerned. There are a lot of inexpensive and creative ways to hang out.

Its an urban campus so there are all kinds of things to do on and off campus every day. Kids normally go out with their friends on the weekends, be it to a party in south Oakland or at a friends house, or the waterfront or southside works for a movie or shopping or dinner or whatever you could think of. Greek life at Pitt is a pretty big deal, we do all kinds of events from food and blood drives (not together thats gross), to comedians and talent shows, fundraisers etc.

There isnt a "most" popular organization on campus...Greek life is relatively big. I am greek and I love it. Everyone that goes greek that I know is happy that they have done so. Athletic events are popular, especially basketball. There are tons of guest speakers, they just brought Jerry Springer in and had a great turn out. There are so many students here so it ranges as to how much people party. I know people who go out almost every night of the week, and I know some who never go out. You can always find a friend to go out with you, and you can always find someone who wants to stay in. People go to movies, plays, sporting events....you name it, its here. Off campus there are tons of places to go, especially in downtown pittsburgh. I just went to the Andy Warhol museum last weekend with some friends.