Undecided? Consider all of your options at Pitt

By BILAL MUHAMMAD

You’ve made it this far. Now you have four (or more) years to graduate. If you have… You’ve made it this far. Now you have four (or more) years to graduate. If you have apprehensions about how to complete your college experience, relax. The Pitt News can help.

Start with your most general interests. Check out the School of Arts and Sciences. There you can satisfy your science hunger with biology, mathematics and chemistry. Or you can satiate your humanities cravings with programs ranging from film to Africana studies.

If you can’t find anything there that really whets your appetite, you can find more in the nationally recognized College of Business Administration, a division of the Katz Graduate School of Business.

If you’re interested in mechanics and designing, check out the School of Engineering.

Don’t get discouraged. Pitt gives you room to explore introductory courses in different schools and colleges. If you’d like to pursue an education in rehabilitation science, for example, take a course in physical therapy, a program ranked third in the nation by U.S. News ‘ World Report. If medicine and health really strike your fancy, why not continue on to the School of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing or the School of Pharmacy.

If you’d simply like to challenge yourself, take a look at the University Honors College. Its Web site warns, “Students who opt for an easy, passive or narrow course through these irreplaceable undergraduate years will be denying themselves incalculable adventure, satisfaction and personal growth.”

For non-traditional students, the College of General Studies offers customized majors in 10 different areas, including many of the humanities, where you can pursue your interests in music or philosophy. Or take a different route through CGS and pursue a degree in the administration of justice, where you can develop an understanding of the theories and structures of the American criminal justice system.

Perhaps some of you, though, want to study and understand the world around us. Maybe you have an inclination toward social issues, and would prefer to work for people and communities in need. The School of Social Work specializes in educating students who want to provide service to their communities as well as the world at large through different social agencies, community-based organizations and government-sponsored foundations.

Not everyone has interests in the humanities, health or business, and for those of you who would rather dissect a computer than a frog, consider the School of Information Sciences, which fosters an understanding of the complexities involved in spreading, organizing and using information across all stratums of society.

Pitt’s School of Education is there for everyone who desires to pursue anything related to education, including programs such as movement science, which focuses on exercise physiology and science, and higher education management, where students can learn the necessary skills for the administration of educational organizations. If you would like to become a teacher, the School of Education offers a five-year teaching certification program.

You’ll have to wait until after you finish your undergraduate education to enter Pitt’s graduate schools of Law, Medicine and Public and International Affairs. But don’t be deterred. If you spend your undergraduate years wisely, you could just end up in the graduate school of your dreams.