University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Top Questions

The best advice I would give to students is, if you want to find the best college for you, you have to know what kind of person you are. If you are strongly academicallyinclinedlook forschools with a history of academic excellence. It's very helpful to research a large variety of schools and visit the ones you're most interested in. It also helps a lot to talk to alumni because campus life remains relatively similar through the years at most schools. Don't let things like distance from home and the prestige of the school cloud your judgement because they usually don't affect your school experience much.

The most important piece of advice to incoming college freshmen and their families is to be open-minded. Everyone comes from different towns, high schools, and families. Everyone is used to their own ideas and lifestyles with which they've been raised. However, at college you meet diverse people and learn about a lot of unique opportunities and experiences. You need to be open-minded in order to learn about them and to make freinds. Besides being open-minded in regards to people and experiences, it's also important to try different subjects the first year of school before choosing a major. For example, throughout high school I had always been more interested in humanities, and wished to study History and English in college. However, when I got to college I tried a biology class and loved it. I have now switched my major to biology and science-related subjects, and will begin volunteer and research opportunities to further extend my knowledge in the hopes of finding the right career for me. If I had never tried that science class, and kept my mind closed to the other possibilties out there, I never would have found my other interests.