<p>I received my acceptance to Pitt /business and got a letter guaranteeing grad school etc but nothing about any honors college. I called and they said that I would have heard by now and that I can write a letter asking to be reconsidered. It has been about a month since I got accepted. My stats: 2170 SATS, 3.85 uw, 4.4 weighted GPA with 17 honors classes and total of 9 AP's. I have numerous leadership positions/SGA/ART/Athletics. I submitted two letters of rec plus counselors as well as an essay and art supplement. Recommendations should have been fantastic...I did see one of them. I really loved Pitt but am actually very disappointed. My ranking is within top 10% but probably not 5%. I guess I am on the cusp at 1400 combined and the 770 for writing. I really don't feel like writing a letter. Not feeling the love and don't wanna give it back. OOS if that matters. I really loved Pitt but also applied to UDEL (maybe honors there?)</p>
<p>If you really loved Pitt, it wouldn’t matter whether or not you were accepted to the Honors College. Read the info on the website – you can still take Honors courses even if you are not officially in the honors program. </p>
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<p>This makes me think that you just need your ego stroked. If it’s important to you to brag “I am in the Honors College”…then good luck at UDEL.</p>
<p>There might be some of that but its more that the honors programs helps you out with different opportunities. My parents want me to do the the honors program and at UDEl you get to register first and therefore have a much better chance of graduating on time if not early. I would really like to be able to graduate in three years and save $$$$$$$$$$. I love Pitt; I just like UDEL and now I have to convince them why Pitt is better for me…even if it takes longer.</p>
<p>The only “perk” is the honors housing. Pitt’s honor program is different from UDEL’s – you do not get to register first. Hmmm…graduating early – it depends upon your major and what AP credits they will accept. DS had over 42 credits due to AP classes but due to his major (engineering) – he will not be graduating early. </p>
<p>UDel has a very nice campus similar to UVA’s (much smaller scale). We liked it when we visited but DS chose PITT instead. DS was also accepted into UDel’s honors program.</p>
<p>I don’t get it; you say you don’t meet the minimum criteria for an honors college invitation, and you don’t want to write a letter requesting an exception be made and that you be invited, and you are unhappy that they aren’t showing you the love? If you love the school, and want to go there, do it. You can take honors classes anyway, and with all your APs you should enter with plenty of credits and be able to graduate early, if that is what you wish, providing you did well on the AP exams, of course. Or see how much they love you elsewhere.</p>
<p>mamwich did you already get accepted to U Del honors? I thought they did not notify until mid- March. I’m just curious bec. my D may apply to U Del next year.</p>
<p>No, just hopeful. I hear they are one of the last schools to notify…very late March is what I heard. Good Luck</p>
<p>You would be a good candidate for the Temple U Honors program- did you think of applying there?</p>
<p>Maybe the only other difference is the B. Phil. degree. But if you’re guaranteed grad school at Pitt, than that matters much more than a slightly better bachelor’s degree. You’ll probably skip a year with your APs too. My S (we’re OOS too) got into Honors with a slightly better SAT score than yours so I think with your other quals, an exception is possible too.</p>
<p>mamwich - my ds’ stats are similar to yours (a tad lower actually 3.8uw.4./26w, 2140 sat), he got into engineering but no mention of honors college. Just send the admissions office an quick email requesting to be considered for the honors college given your stats (he just restated them). Seriously his email was about 2 lines, no biggie. We heard back from that email within a day or two, they said they would get back to us within 10-14 days and were true to their word. Not that we’ve seen any scholarship moneys, but alas…</p>
<p>^Honors acceptance does not automatically mean scholarship money – my d was accepted to Honors, but no scholarship.</p>
<p>No, I didn’t apply to Temple. I guess it seemed similar to UDEL and I knew people who loved it. Did look at Drexel but didn’t like it as much as Pitt or UDel. </p>
<p>Mrs Ref,
Did your daughter live in Honors housing and does she recommend it or prefer the Towers? The towers seemed closer and more convenient to live in…especially for meals. Did she see any value to the Honors college or did it really not make any difference?</p>
<p>Temple is not a lot like U Del - its a city school- and you would have a better chance at honors college at Temple than U Dell if that’s important to you.</p>
<p>Although offered a “spot” in the Honors college, my D has no plans to participate. She is a nursing major, and there are no “honors” nursing courses. She does have a few gen ed requirements in the BSN curriculum, but is not interested in taking the honors level for those courses.</p>
<p>(D was admitted to Honors in spite of herself…she is very smart, but she is not an intellectual. She didn’t like being labelled “gifted” from grade school on, and she doesn’t want to be labelled “honors” in college.)</p>
<p>D had a couple of options for housing. She could have applied for Honors housing, and she could have applied for a Living/Learning community for Nursing in Lothrop Hall. She did neither. Obviously Honors housing was out based on her desire to not be labelled. She didn’t want to live in the Nursing community because she knows that she will have almost all of her classes with those same ~150 students for all four years. D wanted to make it easier to meet other students.</p>
<p>D lives in Towers, and likes it. Its right in the middle of campus – about the same length of walk to Victoria Hall for nursing classes as it is to the Cathedral of Learning for other classes. There is the added benefit of going downstairs to breakfast in her pajamas and slippers.</p>
<p>I second the benefit of going downstairs for food especially when the weather is cold/snowing/raining etc. </p>
<p>As for the honors courses, my son only took two during freshman year and none since then.</p>
<p>I imagine honors courses are more favorable for some majors than for others. Are there any stats on the % of honors students who end up doing the project and getting the B. Phil. degree?</p>
<p>To the OP: I would agree with some of the other posts that the way honors is run at Pitt is inclusive rather than exclusive and you can ask to take a class even if it is not offered initially. My daughter took three honors courses her first year. Chemistry was pretty bad; my impression was that the professor was teaching the class for the first time and if a student hadn’t had AP chem, it was tough. She also took two semesters of honors physics, which was great for about a semester and a half, and then dear Doc Stewart got sick and passed away. </p>
<p>You might want to look and see what business pre-requisite courses are offered as honors sections. You might also take a look at how generous Pitt is with your AP courses, and if it offers lots of credits for doing well, concentrate on getting high scores on those tests in May. Your AP credits will probably have more impact on your time of graduation than will being able to register early. And if you have AP credits, you will gain sophomore status earlier and be able to register earlier. Pitt also holds spots for registration so that those students who have a later PittStart session are not stuck with what’s left.</p>