The ‘Burgh offers many educational institutions

You took the SATs, filled out the applications and scoured the country to find the perfect… You took the SATs, filled out the applications and scoured the country to find the perfect college. And then, with a final leap into Pitt, you crossed the finish line of your marathon transition out of high school.

Here in Oakland, Pitt is anything but secluded from its surroundings. Our urban campus shares the city with a few institutions of higher education, making the Three Rivers metropolis a college town filled with students.

Here’s a bit about the four schools close to Pitt:

Carnegie Mellon University

Just up the street from Pitt, Carnegie Mellon University has a grassy campus and green-roofed buildings that can be seen from the 36th floor of the Cathedral of Learning.

However, the miniature sight from the top of our Cathedral cannot do justice to the prestigious institution.

The university trains its students in the specialized schools of technology, computer science, business, fine arts and public policy and management, in addition to offering programs in the more traditional humanities and sciences curricula.

There are currently 5,495 undergraduates that call themselves Tartans on the campus, including a few bagpipers who occasionally visit the Cathedral lawns to fill the air with their songs.

Major motion pictures are occasionally shot on CMU’s campus, including 1983’s hit “Flashdance” and an upcoming film, “Smart People,” with Dennis Quaid and Sarah Jessica Parker. Scott Fahlman, a research professor in CMU’s School of Computer Science, is credited as the inventor of emoticons, the electronic smiley faces that mimic human faces and represent emotions on computer screens.

Chatham University

Just last month, this 138-year-old private school in Shadyside changed its name from Chatham College to Chatham University because of its three schools: the College for Women, the College for Graduate Studies and the College for Professional and Continuing Studies.

About 1,600 students grace the picturesque campus in Shadyside, with women being the only students eligible to study for undergraduate degrees. However, male students are accepted into the College for Graduate studies and the primarily online College for Professional and Continuing Studies.

A community ripe with traditions, the women of Chatham compete in seven Division-III NCAA sports as the Cougars under the colors white and purple.

Carlow University

If you take a short walk past the UPMC hospitals on Fifth Avenue toward the city, you’ll stumble upon Carlow University.

The 15-acre campus has about 2,100 students who study in six different schools: humanities, natural sciences and mathematics, social change, management, education and nursing.

Carlow, a Catholic liberal arts school, caters to its mostly female population, since it was an all-female school prior to World War II. It also prides itself on cultural diversity, with a black student population of more than 20 percent.

Carlow was originally founded in 1929 by the Sisters of Mercy as Mount Mercy College and changed its name in 1969.

Duquesne University

The campus of Duquesne University sits atop the Bluffs area of Pittsburgh, between Downtown and Oakland overlooking the Monongahela River.

Founded in 1878, Duquesne’s cobblestone streets host a private Catholic institution that is the only Spiritan university in the world, according to the university’s website. Spiritans are a worldwide congregation of Catholic priests and lay brothers.

Some activities that spice up the campus of 5,600 students include a multicultural folk song and dance company, the Tamburitzans and NCAA Division-I sports teams.

The A.J. Palumbo Center is the home court for Dukes and Lady Dukes basketball, and the arena frequently hosts public concerts and events, including the bands the Goo Goo Dolls and O.A.R. this July and August.

In addition to these four institutions, Allegheny County and Pittsburgh host a gaggle of other two- and four-year institutions-including the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Point Park University, Robert Morris University, the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and the Community College of Allegheny County.

If any of these neighboring learning centers interest you, look into the Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education’s cross-registration program, in which Pitt participates, at www.pchepa.org. A consortium of 10 institutions in the area cooperate in the cross-registration program. Students can take classes from any of the participating campuses at no additional cost or worry of credits not transferring.