Anyone in Pittsburg, PA or St. Louis, MO?

[Falstaff]

I know this is waaaaay OT, but I was wondering if any PPCT memebers could give me their opinions of either of these cities. I'm trying to decide between two colleges (Washington University and Carnegie Mellon), but I wanted to know what the surrounding areas are like. I'll be visiting both this month, but I won't have much time to check out the cities. Thanks!

[hoffm11]

Man, if I was you, I would be going right to CMU. It is one of the highest ranked colleges in the world. If you are planning on going for technology, that is the place to go. The run a lot of R&D studies that seems to be adopted by major companies. CERT is a part of CMU that is one of the leading areas to find out about web site attacks, viruses etc.

If you like sports, Pittsburgh sports is among the most exciting in my opinion, especially the Steelers!

There are many places to hang out and have fun. The south side is loaded with stuff to do and so is the strip district. I lived there for the first 24 years of my life and then I got married and moved about 2 hours away. CMU is very close to the University of Pittsburgh(PITT) also.

I love the city and everything about it. Pittsburgh is great.

Good luck..

[Steven Cedrone]

Man, if I was you, I would be going right to CMU. It is one of the highest ranked colleges in the world. If you are planning on going for technology, that is the place to go. The run a lot of R&D studies that seems to be adopted by major companies. CERT is a part of CMU that is one of the leading areas to find out about web site attacks, viruses etc.

Good luck..

I agree! I have a friend who went to Carnegie Mellon, after that he went on to MIT. If I had the choice, that's where I would go! Good luck with your decision!

Steve

[Mark Kenepp]

I always wanted to go to Carnegie Mellon when I was growing up.

It looks like Steve and hoffm11 are really telling you to go there because of the academic qualities. I would have to agree. Pick the school that will give you the education that you want.

I grew up in Central PA and had a lot of friends from Pittsburgh. It is a great city.

I do have a few friends from St. Louis as well. From what I hear, that too is a great city. I would think that which ever school you pick you will be happy with the surrounding area so go for the school.

If you like sports, Pittsburgh sports is among the most exciting in my opinion, especially the Steelers!

I just had to join a thread that touts the virtues of any Pittsburgh sports team :clap:

[Steven Cedrone]

If you like sports, Pittsburgh sports is among the most exciting in my opinion, especially the Steelers!

I just had to join a thread that touts the virtues of any Pittsburgh sports team :clap:

But when he's pulling in that six-figure salary, he can fly anywhere and see any team he wants! :wink:

Steve

[JonMisurda]

I've lived in Pittsburgh my entire life, I got my BS in CS from Pitt and am now going there for my PhD as well. Pittsburgh is home to me, and I've stayed here not only because this is where my friends and family are but because I've never in my travels found a place I liked more.

Pittsburgh is not perfect, as you'll no doubt notice as you don a winter jacket in April, but if you look around, I'm sure no matter where your interests lie, you'll find something that suits you.

Oakland (Where CMU and Pitt are located, about a mile or two from each other) is a college town, pure and simple. CMU is a traditional campus but Pitt is sprawled across blocks of major roads with many restaurants and businesses. We have tons of local museums and other cultural events, and an agreement with the Port Authority allows you to ride city buses anywhere for free (both for CMU and Pitt students.)

Pittsburgh isn't for everyone, but you'd be amazed how many people from here stay, or come here and stay, or leave and return again.

Jon

[Falstaff]

Thanks for all your input. I really like what I've heard about both schools so far. They are both very highly ranked as business and engineering schools (though CMU is a little higher). I'm going to start in economics, but I'll probably take a lot of engineering/CS/science courses as well. I 'm visiting Wash U. next weekend and CMU the weekend after that, so I think thsoe visits will be the key factor. Thanks again for your input.

[Steven Cedrone]

Again, good luck!

Steve

[Falstaff]

Again, good luck!

Steve

Thanks Steven, I'll post back here at the end of the month when I've made up my mind.

[mobileMike]

With all these PA fans I will have to add a view from St. Louis. First my background so you know my point of view. I grew up in St. Louis County (far western edge) for the first 18 years of my life. I left 17 years ago to attend college and never moved back. All of my relatives still live there.

St. Louis is a great city!

Great learning centers:
Art, History, and Nature museums in Forest Park
Science Center (OmniMax theater)

Several nature centers:
Grant's Farm (where Anheuser Busch keeps their horses) has a mini-zoo and free beer samples.
Huge FREE Zoo
Lone Elk Park

Sports: Hockey, Baseball, Football, ...

River Front Landing: Gateway Arch, gambling boats, Gaslight district (night-life)

Great local music

Six Flags amusement Park

Excellent Italian food (“The Hill”)

Nearby East St. Louis for adult entertainment

Big parties: 4th of July at the Arch, 2nd largest Carnival in US (after New Orleans)

Weather: Hot-Cold and everything in between. I have even worn shorts in the morning and watched it snow in the afternoon.

Obviously there is much more and I am sure Pittsburgh has it's share as well. I tend to disagree with the others about the schools. Sure the school should offer the degree you want and should be respectable. Beyond that, school is what you make of it. I have found that I learned more contributing back to my school's program (Research, clubs, Teaching Assistant, ...) than from “normal” school studies. If you don't like the atmosphere you won't want to hang around for the extra stuff.

[PetiteFlower]

I went to college in Pittsburgh(Pitt) but grew up in Philly so coming from a big city I can give you the pros and cons.

Pro - CMU is a GREAT school on a BEAUTIFUL campus. You'd hardly know you were in a city at all as long as you stay on campus. Plus you have Oakland(where Pitt is) only a short bus ride away(REALLY short like 5 mins and you may get free bus use as a student) where there are lots of great cheap restaurants and bars and some neat little stores.

Con - Compared to a bigger city, Pittsburgh is really kinda dinky. Coming from Dallas you might notice that. There's less of a range of things to do that don't directly involve the school. Course if you were coming from a smaller town, you might think it was just right :) Pgh has about a million people.

Pro - Rabid sports fans

Con - Rabid sports fans. I was a freshman the year the Steelers went to the Super Bowl. Wasn't pretty. Plus all the teams suck :) But I'm biased, as a Philly girl at heart! And as in most places, everyone will still hate the Cowboys ;)

Pro - Low cost of living

Con - High cost of school, CMU as I'm sure you know is obscenely expensive. I think it's high even for a private school.

Pro or con depending on your point of view - WEATHER. Pittsburgh has fewer sunny days then any other city in the continental US. Including Seattle(they get more rain but also more sun) You'll find that most days, especially in the fall and winter, it won't rain or snow or anything but the sky will remain gray and overcast all day. It may even be bright, but the sky won't be blue. This really got to me, I get bummed out if I don't see the sun for too long, but some people(vampires, professional computer geeks) might think this is a plus :) The late spring and summer are a little more generous with the sun, but it was still overcast more often then at home in Philly, and I was glad to move back here to "normal" weather after 5 years of skies the color of television static!

Pro - Good, clean, and cheap(free for students) public transportation. Watch out for the bus drivers though they will hit you if you don't!

Con - Possibly the WORST designed city for driving in the entire country. The main city is tiny but it's a triangle and none of the roads meet up where you think they should and it's just a mess. Outside the main city, everything is divided by rivers so the closest things to do outside Oakland/downtown/Squirrel Hill/Shadyside(college areas and main city all within a few miles) you'll have to drive 30-45 minutes. The closest malls, for example, are half an hour away, longer if you're bussing it.

Pro or con depending - Very blue collar town, and except for Squirrel Hill(Jewish area), very WASPy. People who aren't of the mainstream culture tend to get overlooked, and there are more bible-thumpers(aka intolerant christians) there then I expected. That was my impression as a jew anyway.

Does that about cover it? If you decide to go there, let me know, I'll hook you up with all the best places to eat in town :)

[Falstaff]

I can't wait to visit these schools now that I've seen so many good things about both and the areas. I'm actually visiting Washington Univ. this weekend for three days, so that should be interesting (I'm crossing my fingers for unencrypted wi-fi). Both cities look great and in fact most of the cons you listed PetiteFlower are ones I don't mind (especially sports, I hate the Cowboys too, go NY GIANTS!). I know there will be some things I'll miss from being in a big [somewhat] tech city, but with college oriented stuff right around campus and a fast internet connection (plus a great intra-university p2p network with 250 colleges), it should be a lot of fun. Again everyone, thanks for your insights.

[Falstaff]

I'm headed up to Pittsburgh this weekend to visit CMU. Anyone have any suggestions as to places my dad and I should visit (avoid) or whatever? Any good places to eat to check out? Any other advice/info about the city that may help on my visit? Thanks.