Few questions on various topics

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pittsburgh
1

Posting a few questions. Any helpful answers are appreciated.
If possible, can you please provide detailed answers.

  1. Does Pitt have early decision and early action?

  2. Is there a Honors college in Engineering for Pitt? If so, are there separate scholarships/merit aid for Honors college and regular? Or only Honors classes eligible student will be considered for scholarships? (This is for out of state student).
    Is there an additional application or essay for honors program qualification?

  3. I read this in some other thread about separate “honors dorm” for students in Honors classes. Is it more expensive to stay in honors dorm? what are pros and cons of staying or not staying in honors dorm?

  4. How to apply to Pitt? is it by “Only Pitt website” or “only Coalition app” or “only common app”?
    Do students usually apply using common app and also create account in University of Pittsburgh website? does this make the application to be submitted twice? how are acceptance letters sent? by email or by website portal or common/coalition app account?

  5. what is the difference between “Johnston Campus- School of Engg” and “university of pittsburgh swanson school of engineering” and “main campus” and other campus?
    Student applying for an engineering major (under graduate), which campus should they apply to?

  6. I read on some other thread that some students study 2 years on main campus and 2 years on some other campus. what undergraduate programs require students to study on different campus within 4 year undergraduate program? Is it advantageous to study on one campus than the other?

  7. How are internship opportunities for engineering major? what about Research opportunities?

  8. By when should the application be sent to be considered for merit aid (OOS) for engineering major? by end of August? Is early October too late to submit?

  9. How much of merit scholarship is offered generally? is it for first year only or yearly? (this is for an OOS student. so merit scholarship is a plus point to decide to enroll)
    what are the names of the scholarships that Pitt offers to OOS students?

  10. Student has a subject SAT still pending to be taken in August. So if applying early for Pitt, how and when should this pending test score be sent?
    Since student is applying for engineering, somehow feel that this science SAT is important. How important are subject SATs for Pitt ?

  11. If Pitt rejects the application to the Engineering major (as it is a competitive major), do they offer admission to 2nd choice? If student did not mention a 2nd choice, then does Pitt offer an admission to any of the other majors?

  12. are all applications to Pitt directly considered for merit aid or is there a separate application for merit aid?

  13. Do computer engineering and electrical engineering go together or are they separate engineering majors?

  14. Do students take specific engineering classes in freshmen year (electrical or mechanical etc) or is it just general engineering in freshmen year?
    Do students have to maintain a GPA to stay in engineering program?

  15. Planning a college tour. does the tour cover engineering school tour as well?

2

@learning19 A ton of these questions are answered on University of Pittsburgh’s site. In your prior thread asking about understanding the college process many posters answered regarding the Common application and great timelines on what to do when. I suggest you grab a cup of coffee and go thru Pitt’s site and take notes as you go. It helps if you get the teen involved too so maybe give this list to them and have them report back to you and then discuss

3

I suggest you look at pitt.edu and explore the website, which will answer many of your questions. Here are some links.
Pitt has rolling admission.

https://oafa.pitt.edu/apply/admissions-process/freshmen/
PItt Honors apply by 11/1 for priority consideration. It is competitive: 4.2 whoa, rigor, average ACT 33
https://oafa.pitt.edu/explore/pitthonors/
Scholarships
https://oafa.pitt.edu/financialaid/academic-scholarships/
Visit and you can see specifics about Honors and/or Engineering
https://oafa.pitt.edu/visit/dailyvisits/

4

@readthetealeaves, D(16) is researching as well.
sorry if I repeated any questions.
I am reading the prior thread (it has a lot of information posted by parents) and I am a bit slow in processing all that information.

@firstwavemom , thank you for the links.

still searching for answers for #7, #10, #11, #13, #14

here is another question. I believe my D has created a common app acct sometime in mid july.
with the common app update for Aug 1st, is that account lost?

5

7: You can read about the engineering co-op program here: https://www.engineering.pitt.edu/Student/Student-Programs/Coop/Co-Op-Home-Page/ There are also plenty of research opportunities for students in any school/major at Pitt. You can learn about research being conducted in the Swanson School and opportunities for undergraduate students here: https://www.engineering.pitt.edu/Research/

10: We do not review SAT subject tests at Pitt. No need to send it in!

11: It is possible that a student who does not get into the School of Engineering may be offered admission to the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. We try to match applicants with the school that best matches their academic interests. We also have four regional campuses, as well as the Pittsburgh campus. We encourage students to learn more about what our regional campuses offer and rank their second choice of campus. If we find we cannot admit the student to the campus that is their first choice, we may admit them to their second choice of campus. Pitt-Johnstown has a great engineering program and may be of interest to your daughter. https://oafa.pitt.edu/apply/admissions-process/regional-campuses/

13: Electrical and Computer Engineering are separate majors.

14: Students take a common engineering curriculum in their first year. You can learn more about it here: https://www.engineering.pitt.edu/First-Year/First-Year/Home/

Best,
A Pitt Admissions Staffer

6

I think the minimum gpa to maintain a scholarship is 3.0

7

Thank you @hailtopitt1787 and @missbwith2boys

8

14 All engineering students at Pitt are in First Year Engineering. Unless they use AP or Dual credits they will take:

Calc 1
Chem 1
Physics 1
Elective
Engineering Analysis

Freshman engineering seminar (2 hrs, no credit)

17 hours

In late spring each engineering major will choose their specific major.

9

@carachel2 , thank you.

Thanks to everyone for all the input and patiently answering all the questions.
my D is following this thread. questions posted here include questions from both parent and student.
D is impressed with Pitt.

here are few additional questions. Thank you all in advance.

followup question for #14: If the student wants to take up computer engineering
and has taken following AP classes: bc calculus (ap score 5), ap comp sci (5) , ap chem (5)
and if student already completed web development (post AP classes) and few other post AP classes in computer science, then how does first year of engineering schedule look like?

regarding #7:
does co-op program have to be alternated each semester with classes every other semester or can student sign up for co-op program only in summers instead of during school year?
If student signs up for co-op program, does it have to be 4 semesters long?

15: what about world language requirement?

If student already has AP world language (AP score 5), can the skip world language classes during 4 year Engineering program?

16 After how many classes of Math will the student get a Math minor certification?

lets say if student completes Multi variable class in high school, what other Math classes are pending to complete a math minor?

10

I’ll take a stab at re: #14

My daughter had a few friends who started in Calc 3 and used their AP credit and also used an AP Chem credit.

1.) Freshman seminar (2 hours, no credits)

2.) Engineering Analysis OR your student could take the Honors version which allows them to take the “Art of Making” their second semester of freshman year. Mine didn’t take it but apparently it is a really cool class where they design and make a new product and present it and everything. (3 hours)

3.) Calc 3 (4 credits)

4.) Physics 1 ( 4 credits)

5.) Elective (3)

6.) Class X—not sure about this class. The student could maybe go ahead and take Chem 2?

So…the mandatory course progression will prevent your student from automatically becoming a sophomore engineering student. But it does allow them to complete their math sequence ahead of time and perhaps declare a minor and start with those classes.

For your math minor question, this is really something an advisor needs to answer.

For your co-op schedule, this is a great document that outlines the many different options for co-op students. https://www.engineering.pitt.edu/uploadedFiles/_Content/First_Year_Freshman/First_Year/Advising/Summer%20Reading%20Packet%202017.pdf

11

14 it’s probably best to talk to an advisor. My son brought in a combo of AP credits and college credits (classes taken at a university while in high school.) When he went to Pitt Start, he has a one-on-one with an advisor to set his first term schedule.

He’d taken a half of a year of college chem already so he just needed the second term of chem for his Mech Eng degree. He took chem 2 his first term. He’d either taken AP credit or college level math classes enough to fill all but his stats math requirement so he didn’t take a math class first term. Your child might consider taking the 8 credits offered for Math 0220 and Math 0230 for that 5 in AP BC since those are both required for a CS degree: https://cs.pitt.edu/degrees/bachelors/requirements/

Here is the table for Pitt’s AP equivalent classes: https://oafa.pitt.edu/apply/ap-ib-credit/

16: Math minor info is here:

https://www.mathematics.pitt.edu/undergraduate/degree-programs/minor-mathematics Courses are listed here: https://www.mathematics.pitt.edu/undergraduate/undergraduate-courses

12

Also should’ve mentioned that my son is going for a minor in math. He took Math 1101 (optimization) this past year and really enjoyed the class. They worked on a real world project for an actual local company. He ended up getting an internship offer from the company (but turned it down since he already had an internship/ongoing job with a consulting firm and research lined up for the summer.)

13

Is there Computer Science major (not computer engineering) in Engineering department of Pittsburgh?
we could not find it in the listed majors on website.

is there computer science major in Pitt main campus in any other school in Pitt other than Swanson school of engineering?
if so, is that computer science major a Bachelor of science degree or Arts degree?

can you please provide school info if possible.

14

@learning19

The Computer Science major is in the School of Computing and Information, and there are options for dual degrees. More info: sci.pitt.edu

Best, A Pitt Admissions Staffer

15

Thank you @hailtopitt1787

are there co-op opportunities in School of Computing and Information.
I found some information from 2016 and nothing latest.
mostly co-op seems to be for engineering school.

16

Yes, there are co-op opportunities specifically for Computer Science majors! https://www.engineering.pitt.edu/Student/Student-Programs/Coop/Co-op-by-Major/Computer-Science/

Best, A Pitt Admissions Staffer

17

Hi,
I am in the process of completing my UPitt application, and had a question regarding the SRAR. I have taken multiple high school classes over the summer through other institutions, such as Brandywine Virtual Academy (not listed as a high school when looked up on SRAR) and Brigham Young University (a college institution, but providing high school classes). Should I list these as classes with my other courses under my high school?

Thank you for your help!

18

@Fabrina, How is it listed on your transcript? You should match that as closely as possible!

Best,
A Pitt Admissions Staffer

19

@hailtopitt1787, it is listed as a transfer course, under the headings “In State High School” and “Out of State High School.” It is separated from my actual high school courses.

20

I would recommend selecting “Add Another School” at the bottom of the page, fill in the information for the institution where you took the transfer course, and then add that course under that school. Hope that helps!

Best,
A Pitt Admissions Staffer