University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Top Questions

What's the most frustrating thing about your school?

Joe

I had a bad experience with two advisors that ended up hurting my GPA and an opportunity of obtaining a research position with a professor. After meeting with an associate dean about a course, I felt disrespected and as though the dean didn't care to hear me out.

Shelby

There are no frustrating things about this school.

Kevin

The education does not seem worth the money. At least for much of undergrad.

Dominika

it can be a bit overwhelming with all the choices you have. There's a lot of different clubs and groups, lots of electives to take and just lots of things to do in general. You kind of want to do them all yet you also want to keep school in focus.

Katherine

The first few weeks of attending a large, public university were definitely an overwhelming experience. It was difficult to juggle a demanding class schedule, studying, meeting new friends, joining organizations, and building a new social life. It was difficult to navigate through a new city and a new school. It was also difficult to be away from home – I truly missed my family. But, I soon discovered that many freshmen experience these same feelings and I also quickly discovered ways to manage and prioritize my time. After successfully completing my first semester, I feel much more connected and more confident.

Arpan

On-campus dining options on weekends is limited, as many places that accept dining dollars are closed.

andrew

It's a great school. Some classes are large, but on the whole it's a good fit for most people.

Braxton

Everything just costs way too much. Housing is close to ten thousand dollars and the meal plan is around three thousand. Not to mention it costs around twenty-secen dollars to go here. Yes it is a big school, but it is extremely expensive especially for a family with four kids in college and a single mother.

Kayla

Most of the students have always had everything given to them. They have never had to struggle. A majority of the students who attend The University of Pittsburgh are not actually from Pittsburgh. They were raised in other areas. They are students and only play the role of a student. Most of them never had a job. Although this is one of my biggest struggles, I feel that it allows me to stand out in the long run. Also the school departments are disconnected from one another.

Michael

Some of the teachers are hard to understand or are difficult to try and learn from. Their tests can sometimes be incredibly difficult in the way they're written. It's luck of the draw a lot of times when it comes to who you'll have teaching your class.

Cydney

While I love being in a big school because of the social aspect, it can also be frustrating because of the lack of individual attention in classes. The lectures tend to be huge and a lot of the learning is on an individual basis.

Matthew

The perception that everyone attending our school has a lot of money was very frustrating because people made assumptions about the students attending there based on that fact.

Kelsey

The most frustrating thing about my school is that they do not offer scholarship money to transfer students. I chose the school because I know it is a perfect fit for me, but I do wish that I had been eligible for scholarship money to help pay for my education.

Amber

This is more of a personal frustration, but I love my school and this city - but my boyfriend does not like Pittsburgh. I guess I wish the University of Pittsburgh was in a different city, or that the branch campuses had more engineering programs.

Brianna

being limited to 15 credits allowed to count toward graduation taken outside of your designated school (i'm in the school of arts and sciences but only 15 credits of classes from the school of education or school of general studies can count toward my graduation even though i need to take 21 credits in the school of education during undergrad in order to apply to pitt's school education grad program)

Joseph

The departments do not communicate with each other efficiently. Grades don't get changed when they are supposed to which causes problems for a student on finantial aid. This is directly due to the size and lack of sufficient handling of it.

Niea

Receiving clear responses from the financial aid office is always tough. If your account is not in good standing you can't register for classes and you have to have proof. Getting that proof if money had not 'pinged' your account around the time you had registered and so wasn't showing up on the most recent pull of your account, when trying to register was always annoying. Because then you would have to walk across campus back and forth, until things were straightened out.

Arienne

keeping up with my school work, job responsibilities, volunteer and community service obligations and still trying to maintain some sort of social life.

Danielle

There aren't very many frustrating things about Pitt, though the financial aid department is probably one of them. They are usually helpful and considerate, but this department becomes painful when your materials are incomplete or not turned in on time. In addition, sometimes they say they didn't receive material even though a student submitted it on time.

Sue

There is not much parking because the school is in the city.

Cecilia

Getting the schedule that you want.

Vincent

Trying to recieve financial aid without proving a very large need for it

Michael

The most frustrating thing about Pitt is that some classes have finals on Saturday, while most students are finished for the semester/year and are going home.

Patrick

Sometimes non-specific academic advising, and impersonal relations with faculty. The school has very large class sizes especially in the introductory classes (especially in the natural sciences) and so building quality relationships with faculty members is difficult. Although the university isn't nearly as big as some other schools around the country, it is still big enough to feel lost at times.

Ralph

not a lot of financial aid

Kyle

The Athletic Department

Shekeria

The most frustrating thing about my sachool is that tuition is high and continues to rise every year, but you don't really see the money being spent on useful things. Instead you see money wasted on dumb things like a big plasma T.V . that displays messages and advertizemants in the Pete, and on panthers that people painted. These things among others are examples of unnecessary spending of my tuition money.

Tait

Since the classes are so enormous it is often difficult to get into the classes you need for your major, or to get the proper attention from the teacher.

Irene

stereotypes

Smruti

academically focused. very hard for teachers to make it fair.

Lauren

not really encouraged to explore the city outside of campus

Lacey

The Advising! I had a wonderful advisor during my freshman year, but as soon as I declared my major, the quality of advising went down. I was not told until my last semester that I was 2 classes short of graduating during the Spring of 2008. While everything worked out great in the end, it was still very frustrating to find out last minute that I would have to take two more classes during the summer.

Krista

There is always a lot of bureacracy and red tape.

Sami

The most frustrating thing is that Pitt's clerical staff is not always compliant or good at getting what you need done for you. But they are not as bad as other schools and if they make mistakes they are the first to own up to them.

Stephanie

The bus system for several buses to go shopping at places such as target and american eagle

Joshua

Getting Financial Aid can be tough. The amounts they give out and to whom they give it to each year varies - if you enter in the right year, you could get a decent scholarship, but in another year, a similar applicant could just get federal loans. Scholarships are focused more on varsity sports then anything else. There are academic scholarships but they are very hard to get and there is no ongoing aid (ie after freshman yr, there are no upperclassmen scholarships available through the school), so if you didn't get one before, you won't now.

Suci

High priced meal plans.

Heather

Senior housing and also parking.

Daniel

Most work has to be turned in on time without exception-- late work usually isnt an option.

Evan

The most frustrating thing about PItt is the lack of study space during Finals Week, where everyone is looking for the right, quiet place, but there is hardly any room available. The library tends to overflow during this time, and many students end up studying in their own dorm study spaces, which can be incedibly distracting.

Robbie

Financial aid and trying to scrape up enough money to actually afford school.