Frances Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 I'm looking for any information about UPitt, especially the Honors College. Today my son received a letter from them inviting him to visit and promising to reimburse his travel and lodging expenses if he subsequently applies. We're on the west coast and are not at all familiar with the school. Until recently my son was focusing his college search on LACs. My husband and I both attended one and most of my husband's teaching experience has been at one. Also, last year my son took several courses at our local LAC through a special program for high school students. However, this summer he has been doing research at our state medical school and absolutely loves it. So now he also wants to consider larger schools that have medical schools and offer undergraduate research opportunities. There isn't such a school in our state, so we need to look elsewhere. He's thinking about majoring in chemistry and fulfilling all of the pre-med requirements. Thanks so much for any information you can provide. I've looked at the UPitt website and read about the school in our college guide books, but would love to hear any personal experiences. Frances Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarreymere Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 I just live in the area, I haven't gone to the school, but I can tell you that the university and the medical school are very highly thought of in the community out here. UPMC owns many of the hospitals in Western Pa also, they just bought one up in Erie (UPMC Hamot) which gives them coverage of the entire western part of the state. I've been a nurse and a patient in a few of the hospitals and it has been my experience that the standard of care in the facilities UPMC controls is much higher than in the average hospital in Western Pa, and I am a very tough sell on quality of care. As a nurse, I also know that I had seen an stronger emphasis on research-based care and protocols than I usually saw at most hospitals I staffed at. Just from reading the local papers and living in the area I have gotten a general sense that the school is also very much invested in research. They own a lot of very expensive real estate in Pittsburgh. Sorry, hope someone else out there can be more specific. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 We're going there for their "Medicine Day" next Friday, so I'll know more personally (and report more) when we return. For now I can tell you: Pitt is the #2 recommended PA college to go to for medicine with a research "slant" among professionals in the medical field that I have talked with. U Penn (Ivy) is #1. Pitt tends to be more affordable for most people. It gains the recommendation due to their hospitals that are right there on site. Undergrads get to do research, BUT, I believe it starts sophomore year (hearsay), so will need to check on that. Pitt is VERY generous with merit aid for top stat kids. Many will get half or full tuition and some will get total free rides. A few will get offers to be admitted directly into their top 15 med school without having to take the MCAT. Their preference for this merit aid goes to out of state students :glare: in order to attract geographical diversity. As a taxpayer, this sort of bugs me, but Pitt isn't 100% a state school (like IUP), it's a state related school (as are Penn St and Temple) meaning it's partially state supported and partially private. (Naturally, there's a longer definition of this.) It means my guy will apply there and see what happens, but he's also seeing what he can get from other (out of state) schools as money matters to us. They have an Honors College for top stat kids and they are allowed to take smaller Honors classes. I hope to learn more about this when we visit as it could overcome one issue my guy has (large classes). Everyone IRL who I have talked to who has gone there (previous students) or visited (parents or prospective students) has given me glowing reports - not one single negative. The sports scene is high - not just the college teams (Panthers), but also the city teams. There are many opportunities for students to enjoy the city - mainly for free. I hope to learn more about this when we go there too. Pitt offers free applications for students attending their special days. We've also gotten an individual e-mail offering it free via that too, but I don't think they are free for everyone. I think it's mainly students they really want to attract. If applying on their special day we don't need to send SAT/ACT scores the "official" way. We just need to bring our official copy with us (so they say anyway). Considering we are looking at several schools, these two things combine to make a nice little perk. They are rolling admissions and give out merit aid on a first come, first served basis - so don't delay if you want it. (They say they start looking at apps in October.) While they don't require extra stuff for admission (recommendations, a personal essay, etc) if you want merit aid, they might as well require them. ;) Another person on here with experience clued me in to making certain they don't look at an application until AFTER all these things are in. I plan to do this by not sending an official transcript from our local cc that has 2 classes on it until after the Letters of Recommendation are in. Speaking of that, Pitt accepts cc credits of "C" or higher (at least from in our state) and AP test scores for credit. If you have the opportunity to visit (for free at that!), I'd jump on it. Your guy seem to be a very strong candidate for awesome aid - and for anyone contemplating med school in their future - this is superb. Quite honestly, Pitt (right now --> pre-visit) is not my guy's top choice. He wants smaller classes and a smaller school that still does top notch research (several private schools have this, but they tend to be highly selective). That may change after he visits. Pitt is among our top probabilities for where he will actually go to school, but not if he doesn't get really good aid as we are also saving for med school in the future. His stats are quite good, but we're in state. He may have to travel to other states where they are looking to increase their geographical diversity. :tongue_smilie: I'd love to get free offers to check some out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances Posted July 9, 2011 Author Share Posted July 9, 2011 Thanks to both of you for the information. It sounds like it's worth a visit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Have you seen this thread on college confidential? It's been an interesting read - some good general info on page 3. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1174922-u-pittsburgh-good-safety-school.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.