<p>There are a few engineering students (I wouldnt say many though) in the Honors Housing but I believe engineers have their own living community..... It all depends on where you want to live and if you will have too much time with the engineering students or would rather want a diverse group of majors.</p>
<p>Anoter thing to add on the honors housing is it made it a lot easier to meet new people when coming the school. We move in 4 days earlier than the rest of the university (even earlier if you opted to go on the hOnors Retreat) for our honors housing orientation. It is basically just our 4 floors that were on campus and we did different group activities during the days and I was able to make good friendships. Definitely less daunting to meet people out of a group of about 100 instead of the thousands of students that move in at once.</p>
<p>You stated in a previous post:
"so far I have enjoyed my experience in the honors college this year. I am a freshman living in the honor college housing and have had a very good time. It is nice to be around people that take school work seriously and there is no worrying about a party going on during a tuesday night when I have an exam the next day. With that said the students on these floor know how to have a good time too and the activities the honors college cooridinates are fun as well including the semiformal dance on the gateway clipper, midnight rugby, and trips around pittsburgh"</p>
<p>Is it the Honors College that coordinates the activities for you or is it the honors housing? If it is the Honors College, then can anyone not living in honors housing, but in the Honors College go to these activies or must you live in honors housing? What is the Honors reatreat and why do honors housing get to move in so much earlier than the rest of the freshman? Thanks for you help.</p>
<p>No the honors college organizes the activities, so anyone in the honors college is allowed to participate in them(i think anyone in the university could too but im not sure how strict they are with it). But from the ones I have atteneded it really seems like the majority of freshman that are going to the events are in the honors housing. On our semi-formal cruise we had in early october, I don't think i recognized many freshman that were not in the honors housing..not sure about the sophmores and upperclassman. (Personally if your planning or interested in a lot of the honors activities then I would suggest living in the honors housing....even if your not interested in the activities it is a nice community to live in) </p>
<p>The honors retreat is something the honors college holds at the University Biolog station at Lake Pymatuning(this happened the two days before the honors housing orientation...i didnt attend it but for those that did there were reading and then discussions along with recreational activities i think). There is also another honors housing orientation which occured three days before the regular school orientation occurs. This was not required but most of the people in the housing attended. We had our own groups of about 6-8 with two upperclassmen in the honors college and got to know each other a lot better during this time and it was easier to meet friends rather than being confronted with the thousands that move in at once.</p>
<p>Does everyone that really wants honors housing typically get it? I like the idea of honors housing, but if I decided to go to U Pitt and then didn't get into the honors housing, I think I'd be pretty disappointed.</p>
<p>I think much depends upon how quickly you submit your deposit. Then, you'll get the housing info. The sooner that's completed and is submitted - the better... Many honors students probably opt to be in honors housing... So, if Pitt is your first choice, get the paperwork started...</p>
<p>I can give you some first hand info on this subject. First, there is an application for honors housing and whether you get it or not has nothing to do with when you send your deposit. Second, no, there is not enough honors housing to fill the demand. There are the most honors dorms freshman year, and fewer after that. Also, the distribution of honors dorms to students is made by an individual who does not consider what your grades are or what activities you are involved in. From what I can tell, the liklihood of getting honors housing after freshman year depends mostly on how many "honors parties" you went to and how popular you are with the guy who makes these decicions. Harsh, but true.</p>
<p>However, let me say that my son has a very nice living arrangement with three other guys from the honors college. He is not in an official honors dorm, but he has a quiet suite with all "A" students and no pressure to attend the required parties and events. </p>
<p>Honors housing during freshman year was great and allows you to meet other motivated students. But motivated students are on the SPACE floors and the quiet floors and others as well. Honors housing is mostly a social arrangement. </p>
<p>Pitt is not very forthcoming with this information, but you should ask about the relative availability of honors housing to the number of students requesting it. You will be surprised.</p>
<p>Yes, there is. Here is a list of the various specialty communities at Pitt:</p>
<p>Alcohol Free
Quiet Living Communities
Civic Engagement and Community Service Living Learning Community
College of Business Administration Living Learning Community
Engineering Living Learning Community
Entrepreneurial Experience Living Learning Community
Honors College Living Learning Community
International Studies Living Learning Community
Nursing Living Learning Community
Research Living Learning Community </p>
<p>The alcohol free housing used to be located in Tower A, Tower B and Amos Hall in the quad. I'm sorry, but I don't know how easy it is to get into. I would think, though, if it is in three locations there must be a good amount of demand for it.</p>
<p>Thanks, lkf725, for all the info on housing. It's greatly appreciated! (There's some conflicting info out there - but you help to clear things up!) :)</p>
<p>I believe my daughter's floor in Tower A is both Alcohol Free and Quiet Living. She requested both of those factors.</p>
<p>I don't think it was hard to get into, but she did apply early and Pitt was always her first choice--so, she probably was among the first to make a housing request.</p>
<p>One word about getting into the honors housing. D got in last year (for this year) and she didn't send in her app and deposit until May as she was waiting to see how her other apps went and money awards/finaid. She was dealing with a few schools that were on the April 1/May1 schedule (April was agony). I recall that there was an essay component to the housing app where they ask you what you can contribute to the honors community and why you want to live in honors housing. They send you a brochure that describes their philosophy that it is a living/learning community and the living part includes more than just you've got a room there. They expect a certain amount of interaction with the other honors students and also initiative in helping to organize and put on events, start up clubs/groups, help find outlets for common interests among peers (like maybe a yoga club, a foreign film club, etc). What D was told on the retreat by the upperclassmen was that getting in freshmen honors housing depended in part on what you said you would do once accepted, and getting in as a sophomore depended on what you actually did once in. </p>
<p>That said, the website does say that the current student apps for housing are read by a committee, and the apps are done so they are anonymous and the committee doesn't know who's they're reading. Equal weight is supposed to be given to those not in freshman housing as well as those who are.</p>
<p>There is also a community service component. Consideration is said to be given to not only how active you are in the honors community, but also the surrounding Pittsburgh community. There are various Pitt service clubs that provide things like tutoring to the local public schools and to the refugee community in Pittsburgh. The website says that you are expected to do 20 hours a semester of community service if you get into upperclassmen honors housing, and I guess one way you can demonstrate that commitment is if you do a lot of service hours as a freshman.</p>
<p>For what it's worth, D does have friends who did everything she did and wound up in dorms they did not request. So yes, there is more demand than there is space and how all that is sorted out, I don't know, but I'm not sure that getting your app in early necessarily helps.</p>
<p>^ Reading that made me wonder if they end up with a LOT of girls in honors housing, or do they try to balance it? I don't know, it just sounds like a program more girls would voluntarily participate in...</p>
<p>I don't object to worthwhile activities like attending cultural events or tutoring, but I did object to pressure to attend activities like a cross-dressing party or a trip to eat out and shop at Victoria's Secret. These serve no higher purpose. FWIW, my son volunteered many, many hours to teach a YMCA class. He also plays in a performing musical ensemble, worked 16 to 24 hours per week and kept a 4.0. He was denied sophomore honors housing, however, and the reason given to him was his lack of event/party attendance. Meanwhile, there were instances where students with alcohol violations or very low GPA's got honors housing. Hmmm.... I think he is better off where he is.</p>
<p>Still, that might not be everybody's experience and there are other excellent living options available. Pitt is great in many ways, but I would not let the honors housing be a major reason to attend.</p>
<p>Yes, the freshman honors housing is 50/50 male/female, but there is more demand than there is space. They should definitely consider opening more floors for it. The only thing I can think is that the towers are so popular they want to give other kids a chance to get in, but who knows. They should probably consider adding more space for sophomore honor as well. My other daughter's school has a two building honors dorm where pretty much anyone who wants in gets in, provided the deposit is sent in early enough. That school doesn't have any requirement for honors housing other than being in the honors college. I guess Pitt just doesn't want to run it that way.</p>
<p>Cross dressing and Victoria's Secret, eh? Haven't heard about that yet! Mostly just the midnight football that apparently leaves the bathroom a mess on a weekly basis! Sorry about your son, lkf725; but it does sound like he has a nice arrangement where he is. Keeping my fingers crossed for next year.</p>