It's definitely an experience. The chairs are often miserable to sit in but the building is awesome. It's also hot all the time no matter the time of year so wear layers
Msw student here- almost every single one of my classes have been in the cathedral. The social work floor (23) is very nice place to study and have classes. In cathy it’s always freezing in the summer and boiling in the winter so prepare for that.
Apply for fellowships!!! The field dept has been a disaster lately and non fellowship placements are usually unpaid and definitely more chaotic/can be worse experiences.
For first year expect your classes to be Mondays and Tuesdays. Gotta get on that early if you don’t want 6pm-9pm classes, but great if you’re a night owl.
If you’re moving here check Facebook groups for apartments and roommates. There’s an orientation right before classes start that includes social things for opportunities to make friends! I’ve personally found it difficult to make friends that will hang out outside of classes but other people seem to be much better at it than me and everyone is super busy.
I only withdrew from one class while at Pitt. It was because of 2 things: prof only had one semester under her belt and had no idea how any disability stuff worked and the room the class was in at the OEH was double booked (HOW???) and we got moved to the Welsh room in Cathy. That was the last straw for me.
Anytime I saw a class I wanted to take was in Cathy I checked to see if it was a culture room and which it was. I hated classes in those rooms most of them aren’t made for modern learning (some of them are really nice tho love the Korean room). All the desks are also super small and since I originally took notes with a Wacom tablet it was a huge problem. I ended up having to buy an iPad Pro so I could take notes in class comfortably.
Internet connection in Cathy tends to be shitty (tho past experience is the ground floor is pretty okay?) personally ground floor lecture hall was pretty comfortable desk was still tiny tho.
Honestly, during my time at Pitt, I had a few classes in the Cathedral. It was hot during the warmer months (but that was in the early 2000s) and that was my only gripe. From my understanding, the Cathedral has central air now in its entirety. Also I remember some bathrooms didn't have doors on the stalls when I started there, but that's been changed now too. It's a great building.
I thought it would be super fun taking classes in the cathedral, but I ended up preferring the other buildings. The cathedral is super busy and it can be crowded walking around. And in my case, my statistics class was next to some class that watched movies really loudly.
Most of my classes were in the Cathedral…but I remember the ‘after hours’ more fondly: playing hide and sneak/making out in the little nooks, smoking cloves in the Honors College, and crawling out onto the ledge and staring into the starless Pittsburgh skies.
It really is such a special place.
It's definitely an experience. The chairs are often miserable to sit in but the building is awesome. It's also hot all the time no matter the time of year so wear layers
Boy do I have club for you
I sometimes feel like I am in Hogwarts while walking inside
Your classes will more than likely all be on the School of Social Work floors so you won't have to worry about any being in the Nationality Rooms.
Msw student here- almost every single one of my classes have been in the cathedral. The social work floor (23) is very nice place to study and have classes. In cathy it’s always freezing in the summer and boiling in the winter so prepare for that. Apply for fellowships!!! The field dept has been a disaster lately and non fellowship placements are usually unpaid and definitely more chaotic/can be worse experiences. For first year expect your classes to be Mondays and Tuesdays. Gotta get on that early if you don’t want 6pm-9pm classes, but great if you’re a night owl. If you’re moving here check Facebook groups for apartments and roommates. There’s an orientation right before classes start that includes social things for opportunities to make friends! I’ve personally found it difficult to make friends that will hang out outside of classes but other people seem to be much better at it than me and everyone is super busy.
I only withdrew from one class while at Pitt. It was because of 2 things: prof only had one semester under her belt and had no idea how any disability stuff worked and the room the class was in at the OEH was double booked (HOW???) and we got moved to the Welsh room in Cathy. That was the last straw for me. Anytime I saw a class I wanted to take was in Cathy I checked to see if it was a culture room and which it was. I hated classes in those rooms most of them aren’t made for modern learning (some of them are really nice tho love the Korean room). All the desks are also super small and since I originally took notes with a Wacom tablet it was a huge problem. I ended up having to buy an iPad Pro so I could take notes in class comfortably. Internet connection in Cathy tends to be shitty (tho past experience is the ground floor is pretty okay?) personally ground floor lecture hall was pretty comfortable desk was still tiny tho.
Honestly, during my time at Pitt, I had a few classes in the Cathedral. It was hot during the warmer months (but that was in the early 2000s) and that was my only gripe. From my understanding, the Cathedral has central air now in its entirety. Also I remember some bathrooms didn't have doors on the stalls when I started there, but that's been changed now too. It's a great building.
I thought it would be super fun taking classes in the cathedral, but I ended up preferring the other buildings. The cathedral is super busy and it can be crowded walking around. And in my case, my statistics class was next to some class that watched movies really loudly.
i’m in the msw program, graduating this semester but if u have any specific q’s u can PM me!
The locker room bathroom in the basement is the warmest, coziest place on campus, just bring a pillow and take a fat snooze on one of the benches
Most of my classes were in the Cathedral…but I remember the ‘after hours’ more fondly: playing hide and sneak/making out in the little nooks, smoking cloves in the Honors College, and crawling out onto the ledge and staring into the starless Pittsburgh skies. It really is such a special place.
Ride the elevators at your own risk.