<p>D will be a freshman engineering major and is trying to decide between Honors housing in Sutherland or SPACE in Forbes - any thoughts, particularly from current/past engineering students? She's familar with the relative distances from the dorms to the engineering buildings and also about the food service differences but is trying to learn more about the difference in student experiences, such as meeting people and getting connected with the Honors and Engineering communities; if student is aiming to feel a part of both, which one should they try to live with and which should they try to connect with outside of housing? I know both Living Learning Communities will be in different locations this year but figured the basic feel might be the same.</p>
<p>She likes the idea of meeting people from a wide range of majors so is leaning towards Honors but I've been encouraging her to consider SPACE. Several people have mentioned the ease of finding study mates in SPACE since residents have so many classes in common; she's been a strong student in high school (4.0, 35 ACT, NMF) so I'm not worried that she'll need a lot of support to stay on track academically but it seems it would be convenient to have classmates handy; she figures she'll find people to study with no matter where she lives (the same way she's found people to study with in high school).</p>
<p>Does anyone know how many engineering students typically opt for Honors housing (neither the Honors College nor Freshman Engineering Office seemed to know)? Also, is it possible to apply to both so that she might have a chance at the other if she doesn't make it into her first choice?</p>
<p>Mommapalooza: My daughter also struggled with this decision. So many people told her that living in SPACE was very advantageous as far as studying for engineering tests and working on collaborative projects goes, so that’s what she signed up for as her first choice. She selected Sutherland West (Honors) as her second choice. Seems that you can’t lose with either decision.</p>
<p>Well, it’s been a couple of years, but it seemed that a LOT of kids in Forbes during D1’s freshmen year were engineering majors. Pretty much all the freshman guys she knew at Forbes were engineering, with a few science and/or premeds thrown in. There’s also a lot of overlap in science and math classes between engineering majors and science majors, especially in freshman year. (All the more so in the honors sections!)</p>
<p>I am in the honors dorm at Forbes now. Forbes was amazing for me and yes the building was great, but I truly believe it was the people that made my choice worth it. Half of our dorm was pre-med and the other half was basically engineering. I feel as though it was an advantage to have both types of people just because it is really stressful to be an engineer in general. However, it was also an advantage to have engineer help around. I’m sure the honors dorm will have about the same percentage of engineering kids next yr and from my experience it’s more to your advantage academically to have honors kids who want to be with other honors kids than just engineering kids. It is freshman year, after all, and I have met my share of engineers who are not able to handle the intellectual challenge. Keep in mind that even though someone got into the engineering program they may not actually be very smart. A struggling engineer will not help but will only waste time. </p>
<p>This is harsh, but I have seen many friends outside of forbes who have struggled with finding competent help amongst engineering peers in their dorms.</p>
<p>Mommapalooza, here is another thought. With your D’s amazing stats, does she have AP credits coming in? My son AP’d out of most of the freshman math and science classes, so being in Space would have been no help to him as far as finding study partners. He is just fininshing up his year in Forbes and it could not have worked out better for him.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the insight and experiences, very much appreciated! D now feels sure Honors is the better choice for her; so glad to hear such positive experiences with Honors housing. Ds older sister (aka D1) reminded me recently how much tougher studying can be when you find yourself out of sync with your study group, whether its due to differences in aptitude or work ethic or even temporary differences in level of focus.</p>
<p>Good points about APs and Honors sections, we didnt consider that but it does seem D might be more likely to find freshmen with similar schedules in Honors housing.</p>
<p>My D just completed her freshman year in Forbes Honors Housing, and wouldn’t have traded that experience for anything else. As stated before, most of the kids on her floor were either premed or engineering, and in fact were probably instrumental in her decision to switch her major to engineering. For a girl who was “never going to attend Pitt”, and then cried when I picked her up on April 30th because she didn’t want to leave Forbes, the experience is what made the difference between a good or a great college year</p>
<p>Honors Housing has a great sense of community and they work hard and play hard together. I’m hoping Forbes-Craig will be a similar experience in the fall.</p>