University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Top Questions

The university has a lot to offer in terms of diversity, cultural exposure, music, the arts, etc. however students must keep in mind they're in a city. The campus is not isolated from businesses, restaurants, medical buildings and sometimes the school sanctioned buildings are far away from the main part of campus. It will take comfort in knowing the public transportation available and comfort getting to know the campus in a busy city setting.

The classes you take are going to be hard. If you got in, it's because you are intelligent, therefore you probably did have to study very much in high school. It is very different here. Even if you study two nights before the test instead of one, you are not going to do well on the test. You really have to dedicate a lot of your time to homework and studying to keep up. College is fun, but you need to keep up with all of your classes.

I wish I knew how incredibly huge the amount of students attending the University of Pittsburgh was. Because it is a garguntaun university, it is also cold and impersonal. Numerous facualty give lectures about how a student can easily drown in this school. It has many oppurtunities, but they are effortlessly swatched away by others.

How much the quality of the school would contrast with the price.

I wish I would have known to take a deep breath and not to try to impress others, just be yourself and that is where you'll find your true friends. Make sure that you not only study the night before a test, but every day once you come back from class look over your notes to refresh your memory and hopefully it sinks it a little more than just the lecture did. Lastly, don't play games on your phone or laptop during lectures...learn to actually focus and listen, it helps!

I will I had known more about all the opportunities available at Pitt, so I could have started taking advantage of them earlier. Although I was able to experience many off the things Pitt had to offer me, I think I could have found even more to benefit from if I had begun sooner.

I wish I known more about the clubs and activities available on campus. Also I wish I had more advice about what to bring to campus because there was a lot of extra things I had, but also odds and ends I had forgotten.

I wish I'd known cold it got in Pittsburgh! Really though, I wish I'd known more about the dining options. There are good healthy choices for students, but I'd like to see that be the majority. Sometimes providing healthy meals seems like a bit of an afterthought.

I wish I would have know that the name "Cardiac Hill" was not just a joke. Last year I lived in a dorm on top of this huge hill. I chose it because there were private bathrooms and the rooms were bigger. I knew it was on a hill, but I did not know people actually had heart attacks while walking up it. Living on top of that hill was definitely not the best choice I have made, but my calves look pretty nice from all of that walking.

I wish I had been better prepared for the amount of studying that I would need to do in order to do well in my classes. Professors at Pitt hold very high standards for all students, without regard to academic year. Luckily, after one semester I caught on and was able to perform much better academically. The transition from high school to undergrad is always a bit shaky, and I think most students tend to underestimate the amount of work that they will need to do in order to get As. I was not exempt in this way of thinking.

I cannot really think of anything. I did my research when I chose where to go . It took me months to figure out what would fit best for me. I was very hesitant of doing classes online, I wanted to go back and finish my bachelor's degree at my state school. I had two years to go but my current situation wouldn't allow me to finish there, so I chose online classes.

I wish I had known that in arts-related fields, the focus of the programs are more on continuing education and academic success than on preparing students for a job market. I went to the University of Pittsburgh for four years studying Journalism and Communications, but wasn't offered classes in Internet or computer-based Journalism. Classes were focused solely on the craft of writing and persuasion. Now with my B.A., I consider myself a fabulous writer and communicator, but in a tough job market, employers need practical skills to make one more Internet savvy.

Nothing. I came to Pittsburgh not knowing anything. All I knew is what I wanted. I wanted to experience the big school, with a lot of things to do and a lot of clubs to participate in. The amazing science department is just a bonus. There is nothing else I needed to know before coming here.

My high school was small; we did not have midterms or finals and I did not have to study to receive excellent grades. Everything came pretty naturally. I knew I would have to study in college, but I wish I would have known how to. It was hard to adjust to earning grades based on how much I studied. So, I wish I would have been challenged more in high school so I would have known how to study properly. I wish my study skills when I started college were better than what they were.

College requires much more out of you than high school did. You can no longer simply go through the motions like we did sometimes in high school, you have to commit yourself to whatever your learning and learn as much about it as possible. If in high school I had committed myself like I am now I would have learned so much more, making some of my current classes much easier.

Before coming to college you need to realize that this is neither the end of your studies, nor the first stop on a straight path. Your decisions matter but rather than simply attempting to pigeonhole yourself into a particular job or career you should better yourself. Most people end up in in careers that hadn't anticipated when they entered college so it would be more productive to try and take classes that really interest you. Learning how to think and write like an adult are more important than trying to follow a prearranged plan to the T.

I wish I had known what sort of time commitment classes really would take. I was use to very easy highschool classes. I also wish I had gotten more involved at the beginning. I was slow to start. I also wish I had more exposure to different types of finicial aid or local jobs.

More info on the buses and the things the school offered - i.e. scholarships, jobs, events, budgeting.

Amount of off campus housing

I wish I would have had more of an experience living in an urban environment.