University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Top Questions

I decided to go to this school because of its location, its superior academics, and the social scene affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh.

I'm an out-of-state student, hence I will speak from an outside's voice. I came to this school for three reasons: scholarship, academic opportunities, and serious environment. I was salutatorian of my high school class with a GPA of 4.67, and I was offered a full-tuition scholarship. That really attracted me to the university, since other universities that I applied to (Boston University and Syracuse University) didn't offer that much money over 4 years of study. Here's a lesson for all of you: do well in high school so that you can get money to pay for school! Nobody wants to end up deep in debt after college graduation. Trust me. When you see how much you owe the government or even banks after college graduation, you will break down and cry and call it the "end of the world." Second, Pitt is a top-tier school in this nation that challenges intelligent students and provide all the necessary opportunities toward success. The various internship programs, scholarship programs, study abroad programs, and volunteering programs, provided by Pitt are so immense it would be impossible for you to go through college without taking advantage of one of them. Pitt wants all of its students to succeed and have a great resume when they graduate, and with all the opportunities provided by the career services, Pitt doesn't disappointing in this area of expertise. Third, Pitt students takes education seriously. As I mentioned before, when I first visited Pitt, which was during finals week, every one was studying everywhere. At the bus stop, on the lawn, in the restaurant... everywhere! If you surround yourself with students that care about education, chances are it forces you to care about education also.

It was by far the best bang for my buck. Pitt is a top-tier public research institution, and tuition is less than half that of many private universities for out-of-state students, and much less even for in-state students. Pitt is also relatively generous with scholarships, especially if you qualify for the honors college and/or are from out of state.

There were a bunch of factors that made me choose Pitt. 1. I visited and liked the campus. It's urban, everything is pretty convenient, and I guess I just felt that intuitive feeling that I liked the campus that I can't really describe. 2. It is a good size. It's definitely big, which I want, but it is also small enough where you see people you know pretty often, and it doesn't take an hour to walk across campus. I wanted a pretty big school because they offer more than small schools in terms of research opportunities and classes offered. Also I like the social environment where you don't know everyone, but you see people you do know a lot. 3. Academically, it is pretty solid, and it has a few departments that are good in fields I was interested in (neuroscience, philosophy, other sciences, psychology...). Also, Pitt offers a lot in terms of undergraduate research (especially through the honors college). 4. Regarding the students, I heard of them being pretty friendly and down to earth (also Pitt ranked highly in happiest students by princeton review). Also, when I visited, I felt like I fit in(intuitive feeling, hard to describe why). 5. It's pretty affordable for me to go to (I got a $10,000/year out of state scholarship).