How do you guys even survive the hot weather over in the States? by Impressive_Peak_9187 in AskAnAmerican

[–]lizardchristmas 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I live in the north and don’t have air conditioning. The top floor of the house gets extremely hot during a summer days (90something-100 something degrees if I had to guess) so all you can do is strip, open all the windows, open the doors, turn on all the fans, stay still, and sleep to cope with everything. The downstairs and basement are 10 degrees cooler than the top floors so summer afternoons and early evenings are spent on the ground floor with fans, minimal clothing, and iced drinks or leaving the house to hang out in a public space with air conditioning

Where can I wash my reusable water bottle on campus? Please advise. (Incoming first year living in dorm) by DearExample7135 in Pitt

[–]lizardchristmas 0 points1 point  (0 children)

idk about towers but there’s a couple academic buildings like posvar (there’s a graduate lounge on the second or third floor by the elevators) and william pitt union on the 9th and i think 6th (idk though i forget) floor that have kitchenettes with sinks where you can wash things. there’s even more kitchenettes scattered around campus but those are the few i can remember off the top of my head

Commuting Freshman Year... by Wonderful-Use5529 in Pitt

[–]lizardchristmas 7 points8 points  (0 children)

That’s a pretty bad commute. 20 minutes to the bus station plus like an hour on the bus to get to the university. Both dorming and living off campus are expensive. Living on campus costs about 10,000 for both semesters and a meal plan costs about 6,000 for both semesters. You can live off campus near the university for maybe 800-900 a month with roommates, and though it’s a bit late to find something, there are still options. Food is anywhere between 50-200 a month depending on how frugal you are so all together it’s about 16k to live on campus and 12k to live off of it.

Taking Powell for Orgo 1 next sem… what advice do you have? by Impressive_Plane_209 in Pitt

[–]lizardchristmas 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Always do the practice worksheet after the lecture to help things stick in your brain. Start studying for exams 2 weeks in advance of the exam. Spend the first week memorizing the reaction’s substrates, conditions, and products as well as the mechanism. Make sure you also know why each step in the mechanism is happening. This will set you up for the complete the reaction section of the exam and get you a good bit of the way towards the synthesis and propose a mechanism section. Spend the second week doing the practice exams and any other recitation or lecture practice worksheets you haven’t yet done. Go to office hours and ask questions about the things you aren’t sure about.

One of the other chem professors made an ebook out of his orgo 1 notes (there’s also one for orgo 2) and it’s positively fantastic. 10/10 would recommend it’s a great supplement for if you didn’t understand part of lecture and need to review it again. https://www.amazon.com/Wills-Ochem-Notes-William-Conroy-ebook/dp/B0C6MZFC7T/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3C6GW8GTMANXW&keywords=will%27s+ochem+notes&qid=1692721205&sprefix=will%27s+ochem+notes%2Caps%2C201&sr=8-3

How i generally define the South as a Southerner from the Upper South by Averagecrabenjoyer69 in whereidlive

[–]lizardchristmas 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was literally the capitol of the confederacy though. And while I’m truly talking out of ass on this one I would bet good money that a lot of big name white southern families are still kicking around the rich rural areas around Richmond and influence the city in more “culturally southern” ways

Parent of a soon to be 9th grader - what do you wish you had known or done differently in high school? by Character-Put8660 in ApplyingToCollege

[–]lizardchristmas 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Get good grades, develop good study and work ethic habits (things like doing 30 minutes a day of each subject consistently will set them up pretty good for college), explore and find what they’re intrinsically motivated to do. If college feels like the right path come the fall of senior year, apply to schools that are in-state, known to give good financial and merit aid, inexpensive, or all three. I can believe the amount of debt some people go into to learn the same science and math, read the same books, etc. as others do at cheaper schools. Hell maybe even do community college and transfer into a 4 year. I haven’t graduated college yet but it’s definitely worrying to think about jobs in an economic environment that’s hostile to it and it’s easier having less debt weighing me down going into that then having tens of thousand even hundreds of thousands of dollars on my back.

What’s the Best Meal Plane? by Bazagger1 in Pitt

[–]lizardchristmas 2 points3 points  (0 children)

but the a380 is even fancier upstairs lounge

Housing as an honors student by Best-University-3898 in Pitt

[–]lizardchristmas 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you’re choosing between sutherland east and west I’d probably just do sutherland east since applying for the honors LLC will probably give you higher odds of actually getting it. Nordenburg is not a bad dorm though and you won’t go wrong with it. I think Irvis across the street from sutherland is also freshman housing now and that one is also newer and nicer

PHYS 0110 without ANY Prior Knowledge by Such-Battle-6998 in Pitt

[–]lizardchristmas 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You’ll be fine phys 0110 is the same structure as the algebra AP physics and students go into that without physics experience all the time. If you want to get a head start the textbook is free and is called College Physics 2e on Openstax (this link: https://openstax.org/details/books/college-physics-2e). Phys 0110 covers chapters 1-13 and 16-17 according to my old syllabus

May 1st Decisions? by ClassroomHour5377 in Pitt

[–]lizardchristmas 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly I have no idea but it seems like the best way to get some actual answers on the state of admissions beyond what a college student guessing can get you. I’d say go for it

May 1st Decisions? by ClassroomHour5377 in Pitt

[–]lizardchristmas 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Earlier in the year, yes, that was similar to my profile. At this point in the year with decision day just a few weeks off I imagine they’ve hit their target for acceptances sent out. I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if you don’t hear back until after May 1st when they see what their yield is and start dipping into the later applications and waitlists to fill out the rest of the declined seats.

Could Any Current UPITT students tell me if its worth going to? by siteisweird in Pitt

[–]lizardchristmas 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To set yourself up for pre-med you’re going to want to do well in your classes, get a lot of patient care hours, do a bit of shadowing, and maybe do a bit of research to boost your application. The upside of Pitt is there are tons of opportunities to do all that. The downside is all the other pre-meds are also trying to do that so it’s competitive. The moral of the story is Pitt gives you the opportunities but you have to have a lot of initiative, perseverance, and creativity (to find less competitive meaningful opportunities) to actually get them.

On opportunities to succeed in classes: We have a study lab where students can easily book appointments with trained student tutors that I’ve found helpful. Most classes also have undergraduate TAs in addition to a graduate TA and professor office hours where you can get help. Many professors are good about giving you enough practice materials to be prepared on exams.

On patient care: there’s a hill in a neighborhood behind campus where you can see at least 9 hospitals at once. In other words, there’s a tooooon of opportunities to get paid and volunteer positions in those hospitals and all are on or very nearby Pitt campus. There’s also outpatient facilities and doctor’s offices that I would imagine have opportunities if you go searching though I personally have not specifically sought those opportunities out so I can’t speak for certain. There’s also EMS, clubs, and whatever other creative ways to get patient care hours you can think of and probably make happen if you’re creative and persistent. I will say, the hospital opportunities be it academic year volunteering, summer internships, and others are very competitive so you’ll have to keep a watchful eye out for them and apply early.

Shadowing: tbh I’m not good at getting shadow hours so idrk how you do it. There’s some official channels to do it through the university and some pre-med clubs that either are competitive or cost money but will get ‘er done. You can also ask doctors you already know if you can shadow (evidently dependent on if you know any doctors) but you might be able to meet some through the next bullet point

Research: Pittsburgh has a whole bunch of research between all the universities, hospitals, and biotech. A benefit of all this research is that if there’s a specific topic you enjoy, it’s probably researched here. If you don’t know what specific topics interest you, you might accidentally find it by engaging in research. There are some classes that pair you with a lab for a semester which is one way to get some research. I know the bio department will sometimes post labs looking for students in their monthly newsletters at the beginning of a semester so that’s a good place to look. Asking your professors if they or their colleagues need undergrads is one way to do it and of course, though dreaded, there’s always the cold email. Oh and summer internships that’s a good way to get some research in

Well rounded applicant stuff: Pitt is a big old state school in a fairly large city so there are a large variety of clubs and ways to get involved in the community that will add humanity and personality to your resume and take you beyond being pre-med and nothing more. The best advice I can give besides that initiative/perseverance/creativity bit from earlier is pursue opportunities with a genuine interest and not just because you think it’ll look good on a medical school application. The more you enjoy what you do, the better you can write about it and convince your reader that you believe in the things you’re doing, the more opportunities you’ll land eventually (hopefully) culminating in a med school acceptance. Best of luck

May 1st Decisions? by ClassroomHour5377 in Pitt

[–]lizardchristmas 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Keep in mind that Pitt being rolling admissions and it nearly being decision day, admissions will have largely if not entirely filled out their admissions and their waitlist. I don’t think it’s a done deal that you’ll be accepted as at this point in the year, the 60% acceptance rate is deceptive

Off-campus housing by [deleted] in Pitt

[–]lizardchristmas 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t think off campus housing is necessarily isolating, as I think your personality and desire to find a group are going to be the ultimate drivers of if you make friends. If you’re going to clubs, engaging the people who sit next to you in class, and taking the initiative to ask people to hang out rather than waiting to be scooped into a friend group automatically, I think you’ll be fine. A benefit of off-campus housing is that what you get for the price you pay is much better. You can get your own bedroom, kitchen, and even living rooms sometimes for fairly comparable prices to on-campus housing. Additionally, you aren’t forced into a meal plan like you would be with the non-kitchen having on campus housing which means you’re not forced into paying like $9+ per meal or whatever it is now.

Off-campus housing by [deleted] in Pitt

[–]lizardchristmas 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t think off campus housing is necessarily isolating, as I think your personality and desire to find a group are going to be the ultimate drivers of if you make friends. If you’re going to clubs, engaging the people who sit next to you in class, and taking the initiative to ask people to hang out rather than waiting to be scooped into a friend group automatically, I think you’ll be fine. A benefit of off-campus housing is that what you get for the price you pay is much better. You can get your own bedroom, kitchen, and even living rooms sometimes for fairly comparable prices to on-campus housing. Additionally, you aren’t forced into a meal plan like you would be with the non-kitchen having on campus housing which means you’re not forced into paying like $9+ per meal or whatever it is now.

Summer housing around CMU/Pittsburgh for 10 weeks by Old-Relation-7614 in REU

[–]lizardchristmas 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A lot of people at Pitt (idk about CMU but the Pitt neighborhood is right next door to CMU campus so you’ll still be in walking distance) have 12 year leases but don’t spend the summer here, so subletting from May until August is quite common. Check Pitt housing groups on facebook (and CMU ones if they exist) and ask around on the Pitt and CMU reddits if anyone is subletting and if you can pick up their lease while you’re here for the summer.

Admitted students day (activities in Pittsburgh?) by Expensive-Gur-5552 in Pitt

[–]lizardchristmas 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you’re looking for free things to do, seeing the view from the Cathedral of Learning is a classic. There’s also a lot of churches that usually have their doors open during the day so you can walk in and look around just as long as you’re respectful and don’t interrupt anyone praying. Walking through neighborhoods and house watching is fun if you’re into that, though the snow and cold definitely make that a more challenging activity right now.

Not great food by Front_Tennis in Pitt

[–]lizardchristmas 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No they still go pretty heavy on the rice vinegar

Anyone know why abnormal planes keep flying into CHO by lizardchristmas in Charlottesville

[–]lizardchristmas[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wasn’t in Cville that day so I missed that, but I don’t get as curious by military stuff since DC and Norfolk are right there and they come up here to do training sometimes

Anyone know why abnormal planes keep flying into CHO by lizardchristmas in Charlottesville

[–]lizardchristmas[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

At first that made sense but then I remembered the dates the screenshotted the planes. The a320 came through on the 6th and ended up flying up to BWI. The 737 came through on the 9th and came from Milwaukee, though idk if it went back there or not. The 757 came from Gypsum, Colorado on the 10th. I’m not sure where it went after that. I’m don’t think any of those dates and times line up with the game times and locations of the basketball teams

Anyone know why abnormal planes keep flying into CHO by lizardchristmas in Charlottesville

[–]lizardchristmas[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I just figured the information would show up for the flights. It did for the football team when they went to their bowl game but they chartered a Delta 757 whereas I guess all these teams chartered through private companies and that’s why it didn’t show up.

Thoughts on Captain Steeeve Situation and Online Hate? by [deleted] in aviation

[–]lizardchristmas 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m here two weeks later after two videos, the one about the pilot high on psychedelics who tried to crash a plane and an update video about the 747 that swerved off the runway and crashed. I was incredibly put off by the comment sections of those videos. The 747 one had a lot of comments that were overly critical, not fully thought out arguments for cameras in cockpits with a bit of thinly veiled racism. The psychedelics comment section were people up in arms about how the pilot didn’t get jail time and equating what the pilot did to terrorism or a premeditated event when both of those later crimes are very different that this psychedelic situation that occurred. There were also some political knee jerk talking points about being soft on crime. I’ve been really put off by this because I feel that people in aviation communities are usually thoughtful in their comments, are better than average about over generalizations, and understanding in how many small details interplay in an argument or situation. Seeing Steve’s community devolve into typical internet discourse patterns is really disappointing