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Hi, all. First time poster/lurker. I'm all sorts of confused right now. I put my deposit down @ Pitt Law, and I have a huge deposit due at SC law by May 1st, and there's no possible way I'll be able to travel to Pitt and Columbia before then.
SO will be moving with me, and she's concerned about the weather. Are the skies usually overcast? Are the winters really that bad? Is it a good place to live for YP's (I'm 24 and she'll be 22).
Often, not always. It's incredibly dreary out today. If you consider overcast to be light fluffy clouds high in the sky on a sunny day, then it's often overcast. If you consider overast to be dreary and grey, I'd say it's overcast 30 percent of the time. The remaining 60 percent can be divided into downright sunny days to slightly cloudy days with lots of sunshine.
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Originally Posted by paulmarTLS
Are the winters really that bad?
Compared to what? We only have a few bad days of winter weather per year. The rest of the winter it's just cold but often hovers around 30 degrees. You adjust.
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Originally Posted by paulmarTLS
Is it a good place to live for YP's (I'm 24 and she'll be 22).
What do YP's consider a good place to live? Affordability would be a big plus. The cost of living here is very low. If you're going to be a starving student, you might want to take advantage of the cost of living so you can afford to do whatever it is that YPs enjoy doing.
Sorry to shock you but Pittsburgh weather is far worse than the weather in South Carolina. It sounds like you SO doesn't want to move here. Pittsburgh is probably about as affordable as Columbia maybe even less so. Columbia is the state capital and home to USC and is probably a younger town than Pittsburgh. However, Pittsburgh is a much larger city. Also, you probably should make your decison about where you want to settle when you get out of school and not about the weather and about which school gives you the best chance to land a job in that area.
Often, not always. It's incredibly dreary out today. If you consider overcast to be light fluffy clouds high in the sky on a sunny day, then it's often overcast. If you consider overast to be dreary and grey, I'd say it's overcast 30 percent of the time. The remaining 60 percent can be divided into downright sunny days to slightly cloudy days with lots of sunshine.
This is great news. I consider overcast to be dreary as you mentioned, so a 60% split (if that) between intermittent rays of sun and clouds isn't so bad.
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Originally Posted by Hopes
Compared to what? We only have a few bad days of winter weather per year. The rest of the winter it's just cold but often hovers around 30 degrees. You adjust.
Well, we are both from VA, so it would be in comparison with that. I'm not too worried about the cold but, compared with Columbia, there's a huge contrast. I think the SO pictures tons of snow, freezing weather - more of a Chicago-esque type climate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hopes
What do YP's consider a good place to live? Affordability would be a big plus. The cost of living here is very low. If you're going to be a starving student, you might want to take advantage of the cost of living so you can afford to do whatever it is that YPs enjoy doing.
Well, personally, I'd enjoy an area near the law school. I've heard about Frick (sp?) Park? I have a 4 year old border collie, and I'm worried about finding housing with a yard. We'd be renting, so I'd imagine that would make it even harder. She also wants a dog, so a park nearby/fenced-in backyard is desireable. As far as socially, I'd enjoy a place near diverse restaurants/shopping. I understand that ShadySide/Regent Square is a good place, but from what I've researched a fenced-in yard doesn't seem realistic. I think we have much of the "partying" mentality out of us, so I don't care too much about clubs, etc. Though, I want my SO to have some outlet to make friends, as I'll have Pitt Law as my outlet, but I'm worried about what she'll have. Sorry, I know this is a lot, I'm just pressed for time and confused about what to do!
Sorry to shock you but Pittsburgh weather is far worse than the weather in South Carolina. It sounds like you SO doesn't want to move here. Pittsburgh is probably about as affordable as Columbia maybe even less so. Columbia is the state capital and home to USC and is probably a younger town than Pittsburgh. However, Pittsburgh is a much larger city. Also, you probably should make your decison about where you want to settle when you get out of school and not about the weather and about which school gives you the best chance to land a job in that area.
That's the other part about it. I want to practice in VA - I'm from Roanoke, VA. It's a smaller town (2nd to Richmond) and many attorneys I know have no affiliation/know of no Pitt grads, but plenty of SC grads. This whole process is so circular. Pitt is 73/100 and SC is 95/100 in rankings. Both are offering comparable scholarships. Both are near even in COL. And both are extremes to one another. Has anyone lived in both places?
Winterwise it's no Chicago here. We had an unusally cold winter this year -- there were a lot of days below 20, but no large snows -- just a couple of inches here and there. Generally winter days (late December through early March) have highs in the low to mid 30s and lows in 20s or upper teens. Normally, anyway, and a 4-5 inch snow storm once or twice a winter is the max with a dusting to a couple of inches being more frequent. We've had warmer and colder winters and winters with very little or quite a bit of snow, just depends. You probably need to decide whether you are more comfortable with the 2-3 months you spend primarily inside being July and August because of heat and humidity or January and February because of cold and snow.
A couple of years ago I heard the statistic that Pittsburgh had the largest number of lawyers per capita of anywhere in the US outside of D.C. Due to having two large law schools and some very large law firms headquartered here (Reed Smith and K&L Gates are, I think, the biggest). You may also want to consider where you might be able to find a summer associate's position or internship or be able to clerk.
That's the other part about it. I want to practice in VA - I'm from Roanoke, VA. It's a smaller town (2nd to Richmond) and many attorneys I know have no affiliation/know of no Pitt grads, but plenty of SC grads. This whole process is so circular. Pitt is 73/100 and SC is 95/100 in rankings. Both are offering comparable scholarships. Both are near even in COL. And both are extremes to one another. Has anyone lived in both places?
One of my siblings live in Roanoke so I'm very familiar with the area. I haven't lived in SC, but I've lived in NC and it's is compariable. I don't want to discourage you from Pittsburgh, but South Carolina is more like Roanoke than Pittsburgh. If you'd like to experience a city experience, move to Pittsburgh because Pittsburgh is a metropolitian area compared to Roanoke.
I think we should acknowledge that there will be a culture shock moving to Pittsburgh. Roanoke has a southern town atmosphere. Everything moves slower there. Pittsburghers will seem very rushed and rude even though we're not. We just don't have that small talk politeness about us like a southern area, but we're very friendly.
On the flip side, we don't have the 'good-old-boy' network here that's alive and strong in Roanoke and almost everywhere in the south. That could be a positive for Pittsburgh. If you move to South Carolinia, you could run into some brick walls because you won't be part of the good-old-boy network there. Alternately, you'd be more likely to find a job here in Pittsburgh if you can't move back to Roanoke.
That said, my mother was never happy after we moved to Pittsburgh. She was a southern girl from a small town. The churches here are huge. She felt lost in the crowd. If we had just moved here for a few years, she would have done fine. We lived in Europe and it was an adventure for her. However, relocating permanently to Pittsburgh really took a toll on my mother.
I think you need to consider these cultural points. It might be a great thing for you to come here for a few years. It might not. It all depends on if your SO is up for an adventure. Compared to Roanoke, Pittsburgh will be an adventure.
Winterwise it's no Chicago here. We had an unusally cold winter this year -- there were a lot of days below 20, but no large snows -- just a couple of inches here and there. Generally winter days (late December through early March) have highs in the low to mid 30s and lows in 20s or upper teens. Normally, anyway, and a 4-5 inch snow storm once or twice a winter is the max with a dusting to a couple of inches being more frequent. We've had warmer and colder winters and winters with very little or quite a bit of snow, just depends. You probably need to decide whether you are more comfortable with the 2-3 months you spend primarily inside being July and August because of heat and humidity or January and February because of cold and snow.
A couple of years ago I heard the statistic that Pittsburgh had the largest number of lawyers per capita of anywhere in the US outside of D.C. Due to having two large law schools and some very large law firms headquartered here (Reed Smith and K&L Gates are, I think, the biggest). You may also want to consider where you might be able to find a summer associate's position or internship or be able to clerk.
Thanks so much for the post, I really appreciate it! I was actually just checking out the climate data on Rke v. Pitt and, as it turns out, Rke has more rain that Pitt! I'd assume this to have some correlation with the cloud conditions, and it's good b/c that rules out the whole "it'll be dreary all the time" mentality the SO has.
Also, I've spoken with a few attorneys and they recommended, since I want to practice in VA, to get a summer position to find connections.
One of my siblings live in Roanoke so I'm very familiar with the area. I haven't lived in SC, but I've lived in NC and it's is compariable. I don't want to discourage you from Pittsburgh, but South Carolina is more like Roanoke than Pittsburgh. If you'd like to experience a city experience, move to Pittsburgh because Pittsburgh is a metropolitian area compared to Roanoke.
I think we should acknowledge that there will be a culture shock moving to Pittsburgh. Roanoke has a southern town atmosphere. Everything moves slower there. Pittsburghers will seem very rushed and rude even though we're not. We just don't have that small talk politeness about us like a southern area, but we're very friendly.
On the flip side, we don't have the 'good-old-boy' network here that's alive and strong in Roanoke and almost everywhere in the south. That could be a positive for Pittsburgh. If you move to South Carolinia, you could run into some brick walls because you won't be part of the good-old-boy network there. Alternately, you'd be more likely to find a job here in Pittsburgh if you can't move back to Roanoke.
That said, my mother was never happy after we moved to Pittsburgh. She was a southern girl from a small town. The churches here are huge. She felt lost in the crowd. If we had just moved here for a few years, she would have done fine. We lived in Europe and it was an adventure for her. However, relocating permanently to Pittsburgh really took a toll on my mother.
I think you need to consider these cultural points. It might be a great thing for you to come here for a few years. It might not. It all depends on if your SO is up for an adventure. Compared to Roanoke, Pittsburgh will be an adventure.
Hopes, thank you too for your very insightful contribution! I think the SO is up for an adventure, and I believe her parents (they're very influential as they'll be supporting her after she graduates this May) want her to get out and experience something different as well, so this will be a positive selling point.
My SO is very social/outgoing and can hold her own in any conversation, so I don't think she'll be intimidated by the city. I think if anything, it will excite her. With both cities (Pitt and Columbia) being pretty comparable in distance, give-or-take an hour, the issue of travel is moot. However, her family has strong Southern roots (if you want to call Rke and surrounding areas Southern) so they're not too fond of the idea of her being up North. I am a product of a Filipino father and a Caucasian, California mother so I don't really find myself that tied to the idea of the South. I know you're right, however, about the speed of life simply by looking at the Northern VA Court system in comparison with mine (Charlottesville), and I can imagine that it's even more fast-paced in PA.
Also, sorry to go back to a prior concern, but do you have any idea of how hard it will be to find a house/place with a yard? The SO has deemed my pup as an outdoor dog when we move in together, and I'm worried that with Pitt being a Metro city, that backyards will be rare/very expensive.
That's the other part about it. I want to practice in VA - I'm from Roanoke, VA. It's a smaller town (2nd to Richmond) and many attorneys I know have no affiliation/know of no Pitt grads, but plenty of SC grads. This whole process is so circular. Pitt is 73/100 and SC is 95/100 in rankings. Both are offering comparable scholarships. Both are near even in COL. And both are extremes to one another. Has anyone lived in both places?
from a personal standpoint, I'd recomend Pitt. It's different from where you'll live so it may be a richer personal experience. i can't speak to the law side of the equation.
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