University of Pittsburgh | Student Reviews | Best College

Student Profile

Jessica

Class: Senior
Major: Communications
Gender: F

High School: Deer Lakes High School
Transfer Student: Y

Big Picture

I love the University of Pittsburgh. I transferred here my sophomore year from a very small, Catholic college in Erie, PA. What I found most attractive was the size of the campus and the amount of things to do. Not only does Pitt offer you a wide variety of extracurriculars and student activities, but Oakland is full of things to do, as well as the surrounding neighborhoods like the South Side, Squirrel Hill, and Downtown. When transferring I was nervous and anxious, but the administration really made my transition a smooth one. All of my credits transferred and my adviser was very friendly and made herself available to me for questions, even outside of registering/transferring my courses. Pitt offers students a good atmosphere, which is why I think students have such great pride in the school.

Academic Life

When taking into consideration the number of students that go to the University of Pittsburgh, I was sure all of my classes were going to be huge. However, I was mistaken. I have had more classes that hold 30 students than anything, and only 3 classes with more than 100 students. I always make an attempt, regardless of the class size, to let the teacher know my name- and they usually remember. My favorite experience so far was my first semester at Pitt. I took Biology for non-majors and it was a huge class. However, the professor came in and shook everyone's hand and introduced us. He knew we weren't majoring in biology so he even made a course packet so we wouldn't have to purchase an expensive text. It was a nice first class to have when I was so anxious about school starting. I've taken several unique courses like Vampire: Blood and Empire and Indo-European Folk Tales. The variety of courses is another thing I love about Pitt. Yes, they require that annoying core of classes required, however, there are tons of unique classes you can take to fulfill the requirements. It makes getting your degree more fun, and when you take an odd-ball class is can lighten your academic load, which is always nice. It creates a nice balance between education needed for the workforce and education just for learnings sake. The only complaint I have, being a communication major, is that a lot of my professors have been adjunct, which means teaching was their night job. Therefore, they weren't really available outside of class. Its frustrating to have someone teaching you who doesn't want to be teaching. However, I think my academic experience thus far has been pretty good. I've had interesting professors who are good to talk to in and out of class and some interesting classmates who I've had great academic discussions with in and out of the classroom.

Student Body

I think Pitt has an extremely varied student body. You can find students of every race, religion, sexuality, and socioeconomic status. I've met some really interesting people and i've learned a lot from them about race, religion, politics etc. that I could never learn in the classroom setting. I don't think any student could ever feel out of place at Pitt, because there is such a mix of people, no one is the "outcast". The student body is pretty laid back, the uniform is anything from pajamas to business casual in class and there aren't any "cliques" who don't really converse. Sure there is drama between Greek societies, but you'll have that everywhere. Pitt students come from all over, but there are a lot of students from PA, mainly Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, but those who aren't from PA fit in just as well.