Admitted Tepper Class of 2013 Thread

Excited for the Welcome Weekend ....

Hello, International here (Mexico). Coming from manufacturing and product management in EMS/OEM company and planning to follow the Management of innovation and product development MBA track.

I won't be able to make it to the welcome weekend!

I'll be attending Welcome Weekend as well. What are peoples' plans for looking at housing?

I'm not sure how hard to look since I am still deciding between CMU and one other school and won't be able to decide during welcome weekend.

Thanks

I won't have time to do it during Welcome Weekend (only staying until Sunday afternoon), but I plan to look at the neighborhoods, shopping, transportation, etc, and then go back for another 2-3 days in May.

Also, I was looking around at real estate websites, and the idea of buying crossed my mind. You can find pretty decent 1bdr condos for ~$70k, which to my NYC-jaded mind seemed like a tremendous bargain and/or reasonable investment.

Congratulations all.

I was at Tepper for undergrad and had a great experience, I'm sure you will as well.

Also, in regards to housing: There are a number of great neighborhoods to live in surrounding CMU - Squirrell Hill, Shadyside, Oakland.

Also if you're looking for somewhere really close to campus, you can look for a place on Beeler St. However, I'm not sure what the graduate population on Beeler is, it's predominantly undergrad I believe.

Thanks jko. Is there anyway to go about finding housing without being in Pitt? I'm on the West Coast so it will be difficult to fly out there just to find a place if I decide to go to CMU.

Are there any apt. buildings that students typically rent out?

Thanks!

Hey, CAmba11, off-hand I'm not sure what the easiest way to do this from out of town would be. I'll poke about a bit and see if I can figure anything out.

yup ... i will surely be looking for help with finding housing on welcome weekend ...

thanks jko. I've never been to Pittsburgh, but I will probably aim to live in Squirrell Hill/Shadyside so I'm close to campus.

Did you use a car when you went to undergrad there? I definitely think a car is nice to have, but in some cities it's not necessary.

I didn't have my car first three years, brought it for my senior year.

A car is not necessary, but certainly convenient. CMU students get free bus fare by presenting your ID, and there are always plenty of buses running around between Sq Hill, CMU Campus, Shady Side, Oakland, and the South Side. There are also shuttles which run from CMU to the Waterfront.

All these neighborhoods have grocery and drug stores and various other shops, banks, and bars.

If you do have a car with you, it's not an inconvenience as it is in some other cities*. In NY or DC for example, parking is often a huge pain, and traffic can be more like a parking lot than a road. Around CMU, you can generally find parking, and traffic rarely gets terribly bad.

*The one exception (which may be the most important) is that parking on campus for free can be tough sometimes. The two main areas that you can park for free are on margaret morrison street (parallel parking, limited spots) and in the schenley loop. Schenley loop, if you're looking at a map, is past the Tepper building if you're coming from the tennis courts (as the crow flies). Schenley loop will almost always have parking, but you might have to do some walking. Also I can see it being scary if you're walking back to your car at night by yourself, but it's pretty safe.

For the most part, undergrads either go through the dorm system through CMU or get a few people together and rent a house nearby. Most undergrads get a house on Beeler or along Forbes. It might be the case that grad students do the same thing, but I don't know many grad students at CMU.

Fairfax Apartments and Webster Hall are two apartment complexes that I know students live in, however I'm not sure on the details of whether they arranged housing there through the university, or separately through the management offices. They're both closer to Oakland than SqHill/Shadyside.

Congrats to everyone who has been admitted. I look forward to meeting you all in the fall.

I am actually a grad student at cmu ("transferring" to tepper next year) so I thought I would give you my two cents on the living/commuting situation.

I was lucky enough to move to pittsburgh a month before a friend did so he scoped out a few places on craigslist and it was smooth sailings for me. From what I have heard from every single one of my friends is that they used craigslist. Most people lined up 5-7 apartments to see one weekend in the summer and then just picked one. Others subletted for July to get the lay of the land, and make a quality decision on where they wanted to live since it would be 2 years of the lives. Remember, the workshop starts August 1 and it might be pretty chaotic if you get to pittsburgh that day (I would suggest getting a hotel room for a night or two before).

As for neighborhoods...I live in Shadyside and would not think about living anywhere else. Most graduate students who I have encountered live in Squirrel Hill or Shadyside. I think SH is way too family oriented personally. Both have restaurants and bars, but I see a lot more mid-late 20 year olds in Shadyside than SH.

Commuting - I am from NY and the transportation system is nothing like that. I have a car here and would never give it up. Parking on campus is around $850/year but you can pro-rate it if you do not need it for the summer. It is so much more convenient than waiting for a bus. Also, to just see a movie it could take up to 45 minutes to get to a theater compared to under 10 when you drive. I personally think unless you're an undergrad it's nice having a car. Then again only half of my friends here have one...

I hope this helps. Sorry for any grammatical mistakes, it's a blog and I don't really care, haha. See you all in the fall!!

Also, since I was admitted I have decided to just drop everything and go to Europe for the summer. If any of you or anyone you know needs an apartment to sublet June-July in Pittsburgh PM me! Thanks!

thanks Schneidd,

really informative post ...

Good post schneidd, I can add to this. Almost everyone lives in Shadyside, with the exception of some families who opt for Squirrel Hill. You will get a massive housing info packet during Welcome Weekend that is put together by the students. I came back to Shadyside the weekend after and just found a place off Craigs List ($800-850 can get you a pretty decent place w/ a parking spot). Ideally you want to live between Walnut Street and 5th, but not past Highland Ave. I would not buy a parking pass for the on-campus lot. You can park much closer right outside Posner, although it can sometimes be a challenge to find a spot after 8:30am - in that case you just default to the lot. Welcome Weekend is a good time, you learn a lot about the school and will meet 100+ current students.

I know this is quite dependent upon preference, but typically do first year students live with roomates?

Also has anyone gone through the Kroll process? If so what are they verifying?