Is Forbes Hall the best dorm at Pitt?

Pros include some of the biggest doubles on campus. Pairs of doubles share a bathroom with a sink and toilet. Really big windows so lots of light if you have a good view. Floor was very social when I lived there and RAs were great. The kitchenette kinda sucks, only a sink and microwave. It also has two small tables in a crammed space with no windows. The only windows in the halls or lounges are right outside the elevator or on the 2nd floor where the lounge is. Lounge is alright. The building is old and we had a lot of water issues when I lived there. Room flooded multiple times. The ceiling cracked and water that had came in from the room and down a few floors soiled the upstairs and us. Even after the crack was fixed our carpet randomly got soaked, then the crack came back. It was not comfortable to live in the room with all that going on. The communal bathrooms are alright, nothing special. They feel kinda dark and cramped, but there was a handicap bathroom with a big shower stall and toilet if you want to use that and no one is in there. Laundry could be a nightmare as there were only two washers and two dryers per floor and people left their stuff sitting in them too long (we had to set some rules). I think the location is great because you are on forbes and have access to a lot of food places but walking along forbes to go towards hillman is rather loud.

I liked living in Forbes; it houses the engineering (and innovation) LLC, so it was an excellent way to meet other engineers. My room was nice. I was fortunate, though, and got a corner room (which are a good bit bigger). My room faced the alleyway behind Forbes, though, so there was little sunlight and not a great view (street-facing rooms get a LOT more sunlight). We got semi-private half bathrooms (toilet and sink) that we shared with another double. Showers were communal. There is a kitchenette, which is really just a sink, microwave, table, and chairs. There are two washers and two dryers on each floor. There is also a lounge space on each floor with chairs and a tv, along with a larger rec space on the second floor. The second floor has a lot of seating, a tv, many whiteboards, and some board games. There is also a workout room with a ping-pong table, pool table, exercise bikes, treadmills, and some other equipment; it's a very simple workout room, not anything crazy. There is also a grassy balcony with seating. Lastly, on the first floor is the mailroom. The location of Forbes isn't perfect; it's on the edge of campus, so classes are more of a walk to classes than other dorms. As someone who wasn't yet comfortable in a city environment, it was a little scary to walk past shops and non-campus/non-student areas to get to classes, but you get over it quickly. I also highly recommend Forbes for the engineering LLC.

Forbes is a pretty solid dorm for freshmen. The rooms are a reasonable size and you have a semi-private bathroom that you share between two rooms. Showers are communal in your wing, but they're generally pretty clean and never especially busy. The lounges on each floor have couches and a TV, and there's a very big lounge on the 2nd floor and a rec room with treadmills, ellipticals, weights, and a ping pong table. The outside patio is fairly large as well. Forbes is one of the more isolated dorms, but it's only about a 5-10 minute walk to Market or the WPU or Cathy or Hillman, plus you're closer to all the restaurants on Forbes Avenue than anyone else. The main problem is that the building is fairly old, so there is maintenance every month or so which gets very loud if you're on the 3rd floor. Other than that, it's a solid dorm and a good choice.

Most rooms were doubles. Every room has a toilet or shares a toilet with another room. Communal showers. Small Common area each floor. Rec rooms on 2nd floor. Tv, chairs, ping pong table, treadmill. Study area and large patio with grass on second floor. Balconies in rooms do not open.

Forbes is great for freshman year dorms! We have new furniture that reminds me of ikea! It is amazing when the elevators break down and you only have to go down 3 flights of stairs compared to 12 in other dorms! I love forbes there is a green space patio when it is sunny and nice out...Pittsburgh...LOL.