Ranking the Dorms at University of Pittsburgh

There’s no A/C in Holland Hall. Summer is absolutely brutal. Bring more than one fan if you’re just moving in. My roommate and I didn’t sleep with sheets on the bed until mid-October I’d say. The bathrooms are gross, the lounge is never very clean, and the laundry room is big but most of the washers were out of order when I was there. Only redeeming quality would be the location. Being right in the quad is nice. Also the walls are paper thin, please be respectful of your neighbors. - 4 years ago

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. - 4 years ago

I loved living in Tower A. It was super central to absolutely everything and I honestly missed it throughout the rest of my college career. I lived on a floor without a lounge, so we didn't have too much of a noise problem. The only major issue was that, for a few weeks (I think?), we had raw sewage coming up through the drains in the showers on my floor. This did not occur on lower floors and I don't recall ever hearing an explanation. It was a bit of an annoyance to have to go up one floor to shower but overall not bad. - 4 years ago

Living in Tower B for my freshman year was honestly such a unique experience and I am glad that I lived there for my first year in college. I liked living on Floor 19 because there were less people that would be passing through the floor and the view was really nice!! Towers are circular buildings so it feels like you are constantly connected to other people because there isn't a room at the end of the hall - you're walking in a circle to get to your room, the bathroom, elevator, etc. Every 3 floors is a lounge with couches, TV, a couple tables - people study there, watch movies, etc. There are 3 elevators - 2 of which only stop at the lounge floors and the middle one, which can go to all 22 floors. For move in, this can be annoying if you don't live on a floor that is a multiple of 3, but otherwise, it's not a big deal - the flights of stairs are short. It was really convenient that the dining hall, laundry room, mail room, gym, and a mini Starbucks (Common Grounds) was all within the same building complex, so you didn't have to go outside to get everything you needed-especially helpful in the winter!! Towers is also centrally located, so it's really close to all of your classes & restaurants on Forbes Ave. Only downside for me was communal bathrooms because you're sharing showers with about 30-40 other people and especially on girls' floors with hair clogging the drains it's rough! Work with your floor to keep bathrooms clean and it'll be great. - 4 years ago

I really liked Sutherland, but it is a far walk from campus. I lived in an 8 person suite, which other than a bit of drama over the bathrooms was great. I made a few friends in that building, but most of mine were from lower campus, which was great because I had somewhere to go between classes without having to run back up the hill. The heat took a few days to fully kick in once it got cold, but then it worked fine. Both the East & West wings have laundry on the ground level. There’s two lounges on each floor, and elevators so you don’t always have to take the stairs. Upper campus mail & the QuickZone convenience store are in the lobby, and so is the Perch dining hall. There is a communal kitchen on the ground floor of the West wing. - 4 years ago

The only real complaint I have is difficulty of getting to and from class, but it wasn't terrible since Irvis is right next to the Chevron steps. Otherwise, I would say the quality of the room I lived in was fine, it felt a bit small at times but never too cramped. All the amenities were very good! - 4 years ago

The dorm rooms here are excellent. They are spacious and are arguably better than Nordenberg. The big issue with this dorm is it’s location on upper campus. If you don’t mind taking the 10A or hiking up Cardiac Hill, this is a very solid dorm for upperclassmen. - 4 years ago

Bruce is right in the heart of campus, and you only need to share a kitchenette, living room, and bathroom with your 3 roommates instead of a whole floor. No A/C but it’s only bad for the first two weeks of the semester. Easily the best freshman dorm imo. Bruce means business - 4 years ago

It's the most sought-after dorm on campus for a reason. Having your own bedroom, bathrooms, and kitchen is pretty awesome. I think living here provides a good transition between living in a traditional dorm and moving off campus to an apartment. I wasn't in the new building (J), but everything was still nice and maintenance issues were pretty rare and quickly fixed by Panther Central. Sometimes laundry was an issue as there were only 2 washers and 2 dryers for our entire building. Probably the biggest downside for me was being on the ground floor - all windows in our apartment looked right out onto the walking paths and if the blinds were open anyone walking by would be able to see right into my bedroom, so go for an upper floor if you can. - 3 years ago

Nordenberg was great. Built in 2013 and had the best communal bathrooms I've ever seen. Rooms were somewhat small but had every amenity possible- tv, fridge, cable. Clearly is the best dorm on Pitt campus with very central location as well. 1 min to class allows you to sleep as much as possible. Also floors were very social with the 4 lounges / floor. I made some of my best friends here. Put it as #1 and see if the odds are in your favor - 4 years ago