When I applied to colleges, I applied to two tiny liberal arts schools and Pitt. Guess where I wound up?
It was a good choice in the end - I came from a very provincial mill town and even though Pitt wasn’t far away from there, it had resources that broadened my horizons quite a bit.
If it makes you feel better, I’m an 18 year old at Pitt (sophomore) and I loves it. The engineering school is tons of fun, we put on the Rocky Horror Picture Show every fall.
Oh, I really hope my cousin goes there. It seemed like so much fun - a school in a big city that’s still very “collegy” and inward-looking, and it looked like they had a lot to offer. But isn’t it, like, 9 degrees there now? When I was looking at schools for myself I never took a tour while it was snowing.
Freshman orientation for us was during a 100-degree heatwave - and back then only the Towers dorms were air conditioned. We were holed up in the Schenley Quad in buildings built in the thirties.
The Pittsburgh climate can be glorious. :rolleyes:
I have had some interesting drunken snowball fights on the Cathedral lawn - so it isn’t all bad.
Oh, spare me. I went to college in Atlanta with historic dorms and no air conditioning. Pittsburgh might hit 100 once in, what, six blue moons?
Atlanta - average of 110 clear days per year.
Pittsburgh - average of 58 clear days per year.
Hey, every time I go up there I ask my mom why those people still live there when there are other places to live, and she never gives me a very good answer. 
I screwed off in my first year and change of college. After that, I steadied the ship, but had to leave due to having no cash. I got enough to go back after a year or so and my grades were amazing, however, it didn’t greatly fix my overall GPA. It’d have been nice to have worked my ass off the entire time.
Also, I’d have taken summer classes to finish in two years. I’m kinda broken about that, because I could stay in college forever and learn things and take classes and be around very smart folks, but that’s just not realistic.
Also, I’d have gone somewhere warm.
I’d love to return to college as an 18 year old knowing what I know now.
I’d double or triple major to learn as much as I could and prolong my stay one or two years, and at least one of my majors would give me marketable skills. I had such a great time in college, I would like to make it last longer.
Back in college, I had a friend who changed his major three or four times and stayed in school for around 6 years. Then he went straight into grad school, and then he changed his major a couple more times. I thought he was a mess-up for not being able to make up his mind, but now I think he had the right idea, though I have no idea what his loans must look like since I know his parents were not rich. His choices may have been related to all the marijuana he smoked.
Owing to what it was like to live with my folks, I appreciated the hell out of college life, and I also appreciated academics once the curriculum FINALLY became specialized in my area of interest. Eighteen years of general education bored the hell out of me.
My big college regret is that I blew off a lot of the classics. I know enough to name Gilgamesh’s buddy when it comes up in Double Jeopardy, but I’d definitely apply myself more in those courses if I could redo my BA.
I spend entirely too much time fantasizing about doing this.
It has something to do with french fries on the steak salad, I’ll bet.
The who on the what? We had lunch this time at a Southside bar that was so authentic there were people gambling with dice, but I guess I got the wrong thing. Had an awesome turkey Rachel there, though.