Is Lothrop Hall the best dorm at Pitt?

Probably the noisiest building on campus since it's right next to the hospital. You hear ambulances and the helicopter all night long. The rooms are heated by radiators. Higher rooms are unbearably hot year round. Lower rooms freeze in winter. The building doesn't have air conditioning, except for in lounges. My year, the bathroom ceiling caved in over some toilets. Also the shower curtains in the communal bathrooms don't stay closed. So have fun showing your coochie to your neighbors. The people are usually loners, so if you're a freshman don't expect to make as many friends as you would in another residence hall. People also file more noise complaints than in other buildings. On the upside, Pitt police hates going to Lothrop too, so they go easier on violations. The walk is far from everything unless you're in engineering or nursing. The elevators break constantly. And you will get trapped in one by the end of the year. The only positives are it has the best dorm gym on campus, by a landslide. It also has a brand new kitchen with an oven, stove top, sink, and fridge. There's enough washer/dryers so you won't need to wait too long during peak use hours to find an empty one. Although halfway through the year a lot of the washer/dryers will break permanently. The first floor lounge has a pool table, TV, ping pong table, and vending machines (like pretty much every other hall on campus). The upper floor lounges have a study room, and a main room with a TV.

(Please note that this dorm and all others will operate very different for the Fall 2020 semester) Pros include a great gym, great pair of communal kitchens, great laundry room, and some nice lounge spaces on the ground floor. The singles are alright but its easy to get a bad view, though they are not awfully small compared to other dorms on campus. Having a sink if your room is great if you are in a room that is not part of the suite-like areas at the end of each wing. If you have a noisy neighbor next, above, or below you, its obvious. It is hot the first month or two but its bearable with a fan and gets a lot better. Higher floors do become hotter than the lower floors. If you want a single, lothrop is an option to consider. However, there isn't much floor interaction but do go to what the RAs organize if you can; there's been some pretty fun stuff and they do a great job. The communal bathrooms are cleaned daily (except weekend) which is nice. The shower curtains blow around really easy when the water is on, so you may want to be careful. There are four elevators so its pretty quick to get up or down, even if one or two is out of order. I honestly think the location is great. The only downsides are the bottom of the hill and helicopters, but I became used to those quickly. Its only a five minute walk or so to market, but it can take over ten minutes to get to the music building past the cathedral. Hillman is about 10 minutes.