Honors College Confusion

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pittsburgh
1

<p>Hey all,</p>

<p>I got my acceptance letter today, yippie! It says "I am pleased to inform you that you have been accepted for admission to the University of Pittsburgh and that you are also eligible to participate in the University Honors College." Soon after, it says "Formal notification of your eligibility to participate in the Honors College, along with program details, will be sent separately. Your admission file will also be reviewed by the Scholarship Committee and, if you are eligible for an academic merit scholarship, you will subsequently receive written notification."</p>

<p>So, am I 100% in the honors college? Is there another selection round? Sorry, I found it weird the way they used the word "eligible." </p>

<p>Thanks in advance :)</p>

2

<p>It’s not a separate college, basically anyone with an SAT score CR+M over 1400 is eligible to take the honors courses. It’s not a separate school like at other universities, rather you can elect to take honors-level classes. If they sent you that in your acceptance, then you’re eligible to take the classes</p>

3

<p>Pitt freely admits that it can be a little hard to understand. The UHC website says

</p>

<p>Like danicaliforniax1 says, if you have a 1400 SAT or 32 ACT or better and are in the top 5% of your high school class, you’re automatically eligible to take UHC courses. If you don’t, you can still take UHC courses as a freshman with approval from your advisor or the professor. After two terms, you’re eligible to take UHC courses if you keep a 3.25 GPA.</p>

4

<p>Are there any good benefits I get from the honors college, other than BPhil and “state of mind” kind of stuff?</p>

5

<p>Honors housing is really the main benefit - and it’s a valuable one.</p>

6

<p>the 1400 is not an automatic cutoff. Last year my son was accepted to the honors program with a 1390.</p>

7

<p>My son received the same letter on 12/7. About a week later (12/15, I think), he received another letter - the "formal notification - followed by another letter today (12/17) saying he is getting tuition scholarship… Hope this helps.</p>

8

<p>You should definitely live in Honors Housing. I regard as one of the best decisions I have ever made!</p>

9

<p>Honors Housing all 3 years. Best decision(s) ever.</p>

<p>Also, the advisors/clubs/etc are a lot of fun (but you don’t have to be a UHC student to participate, it’s just non-UHC people tend to not know they happen).</p>

10

<p>My brother’s girlfriend is in the HC (Management and Math major). She liked the Honors housing, thinks she gets great mentoring, and also was able to get a cool research opportunity.</p>

11

<p>hi. can you elaborate on the honors housing. pros/cons. do you have fun or study most of the time. how many freshmen, soph, etc. are in the honors housing. anything else that will help me make decision.</p>

12

<p>Does the full tuition scholarship automatically go with acceptance into UHC, or is that just for a subset of those students?</p>

13

<p>No, the scholarship is a separate thing. At this point in the cycle, the scholarships have mostly been awarded.</p>

14

<p>There are different levels of scholarships as well. Some kids get full tuition and some get a dollar amount.</p>

15

<p>

</p>

<p>I’d say it was wonderful: It was incredibly diverse, everyone was friendly. I never had to worry about my stuff (never locked my door, left my belongings all over the place). It was nice because so many of the residents were in class with me so I always had someone to walk to class with, sit with or go grab food/study. We hung out a lot on weekends: we’d go downtown to see a show, watch a movie on a night in, or just wander the campus for any events that are going on. Plus being in UHC housing meant we were way more aware of all the UHC events that happened.</p>

<p>Cons? The only one I can think of now is that as a freshman you will live on upper campus, which is an annoying walk.</p>

<p>In terms of numbers, there are over 400 beds for freshman. I don’t know the number of freshman in UHC, but it is a good number of them. Upperclassmen housing is increasing. It used to be 103 beds for sophomores and juniors, but we’re adding Brackenridge as a second upperclass dorm next year, so it will be closer to 300-400 beds for upper classmen as well.</p>

16

<p>Question about the Honors housing - is the 32 ACT / 1400 SAT CR+M a set in stone requirement? Or are they a bit flexible with it? The reason I ask is because my ACT is a 31 and my SAT CR+M is a 1330. If it is pretty much set in stone, would sustaining a 3.25 GPA qualify me for Honors housing next year?</p>

17

<p>A friend of my DS-(both freshman living in Sutherland Honors this year) didn’t originally get a letter saying she was in the honors college. She decided to apply for honors housing when she was filling out all of her forms, and she go in. So at lease last year, it was possible. You can apply and see what happens. I think if they aren’t full, they will put you in Sutherland.</p>

18

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<p>It’s not. TitanMom is right in that they took non-automatic UHC freshman in Sutherland this year, and I think they will continue to do so for following years (assuming space). For upperclassmen housing, they are a bit more strict about the 3.25 GPA (a friend was put on the waitlist originally because of a low GPA), since many more students are eligible.</p>

19

<p>Thank you both for the input. I’ll definitely give it a shot if I enroll (which is highly likely).</p>