Honors College?

<p>The acceptance letter says that you are accepted to the Honors College, and the Honors College letter mentions that you already know that you got in… at least in my case.</p>

<p>^^Same here</p>

<p>I just received my acceptance to the honors college…2 weeks after being admitted into the University of Pittsburgh itself so you might just get it later.</p>

<p>I just received my acceptance for the honors college a couple weeks after my acceptance. I am quite shocked though because I have a 1310 SAT, 31ACT,top 7%, and I never submitted an essay. Statistically I should not be accepted .</p>

<p>Daughter accepted to Honors College today. So what does that really mean for her. Are there perks ? The letter also stated that the application is going to be reviewed by the Scholarship Commmittee and would be notifed if she was eligible for an academic merit scholarship. What are the criteria for that ???</p>

<p>D2 also received a letter today accepting her into the Honors College. Her initial letter from Oct. 7th did not mention Honors College so we just assumed this was out of the picture. Two years ago, D1 was notified of her acceptance into the Honors College in her initial acceptance letter (followed up few days later with another fat envelope with more details about the honors program).</p>

<p>"What are the criteria for that ??? "</p>

<p>Pitt’s pretty lenient when they give out scholarships. They say the cutoff is 1450 SAT 33 ACT for serious dough. But don’t be surprised if you get money with considerably lower stats. :D</p>

<p>“So what does that really mean for her. Are there perks ?”</p>

<p>Correct me if I’m wrong but the only real perks are Honors Housing. Technically non Honors students can take Honors classes and the only thing limited to Honors Students is Housing at Forbes.</p>

<p>Yup – the only perk is honors housing.</p>

<p>2nd - Yes the only perk I know about honors college acceptance is honors housing…unless you count the parent “pride” factor. <smile></smile></p>

<p>There are more perks than that…for starters there is the BPhil and also, even though non honors students can take honors courses, honors college students have priority.</p>

<p>The faculty is also MUCH more accessible for research opportunities around the University (helps especially if you want to go to a grad school at Pitt and helps you learn much more than you would in a simple class) and the advisors for the Honors College are much better than and help more than your normal academic advisor would be (as well as better than what you would get at most other schools at Pitt’s level). The Honors College will also give you the resources to do whatever it is that you want to do. An example would be if you want to meet a French philosopher that currently lives in Paris, the Honors College will help you meet him (good luck doing that by yourself) or if you want to take a class on Heidegger that isn’t found at Pitt, then they will get you to let’s say Colombia University so that you may take the class. If you want to do some chemistry-related thing (come up with something) but you are Political Science major, then the advisors will still help you get in touch with the Chemistry department.</p>

<p>Also, the advantage of Honors Housing isn’t just to have the title of ‘Honors.’ One plus of going to universities such as the University of Chicago, Harvard University, etc. is that not only are the faculty dedicated and remarkably intelligent, but so are the students. The same holds true not so much of the University of Pittsburgh itself, but the Honors College. The students in it are supposed to be intellectually curious and aren’t going to college just for the parties as some unfortunate few do. You’d be hard-pressed to find a literature discussion group anywhere else on the Pittsburgh campus and you’d be equally as hard-pressed to find a large group of students that don’t merely want to have summer come or only care about what grade they have in a class, but rather want to truly learn and have intellectually stimulating discussions. True learning and discovery can only happen in a place that actively pursues it and just as the aforementioned universities pursue it, so do the students of the Honors College.</p>

<p>There are also the things such as the mock trial team, the academic quiz bowl team, the lecture series, and the four publications that are run through the Honors College.</p>

<p>As you can see, the Honors College isn’t good only for having a certain housing arrangement or giving a parent “pride” :P.</p>

<p>That sounds a little arrogant, motion12345. I applaud your enthusiasm; however, it sounds like maybe you haven’t actually been enrolled at Pitt yet. There is a bit of a disconnect from the philosophy that you hear as an applicant and the reality of the following year (imo). </p>

<p>Also, if you think that all intellectual curiosity is contained within the honors college but is lacking elsewhere, you will miss out on knowing many interesting people. Branch out. ;)</p>

<p>“You’d be hard-pressed to find a literature discussion group anywhere else on the Pittsburgh campus and you’d be equally as hard-pressed to find a large group of students that don’t merely want to have summer come or only care about what grade they have in a class,…”
HaHaHaHa LOL
Good luck!</p>

<p>I don’t really understand where you’re getting your information from, motion. Are you actually spewing something someone at Pitt said? I’m in UHC, but I didn’t even know there were Honors College advisors, I think I get the same advisor as someone not in UHC, and there aren’t “better” advisors allocated for honors students. </p>

<p>How would the Honors College help you meet a French philosopher in Paris? And how would they help you register to take a course at Columbia if NYC is like a six hour drive from Pittsburgh? You’d never be able to take a course at Columbia during the regular academic school year because of the distance, and anyone can register for a Columbia summer session class as long as they have the money, no UHC assistance needed. If you’re a political science major, you don’t need to go through the Honors College to talk to the Chemistry department, you can just show up at the Chem department’s office. They won’t discriminate against you or not give you advice because you’re not a Chemistry major. </p>

<p>Also, you seem to have the idea that Honors kids are “dedicated and remarkably intelligent”, but anyone not in Honors is not? I’ve met people here and I honestly can’t tell if they’re in honors unless they tell me they’re in it or they live in Forbes. I’ve met intellectual kids here who want to learn who aren’t in honors. </p>

<p>So I understand you’re really enthusiastic about Pitt, and that’s a great thing, but I really don’t know what you’re talking about.</p>

<p>lol I, too, am curious how motion knows all of this despite not yet attending Pitt…</p>

<p>I’ll put in a couple of points for the Honors College. Admittedly, I speak as a parent of an honors kid and not an actual participant.</p>

<p>First, and the whole reason I prodded D1 to write the additional essay for the honors housing, is the honors housing, at least for freshman year. My thinking was that at least she would be with other kids who were serious about studying. For the most part that’s true, but kids living in other dorms have times and places to study as well. I should mention that Forbes Hall is a very nice building with large rooms. D1 was disappointed that there is no fitness room in Forbes though, and the cafeteria is a couple of blocks away. Neither of which really seemed like an impediment to her. (Also, when I would speak with her on the phone, the sounds I would hear in the background did not sound like pencils scratching on paper, so things other than studying went on in Forbes!)</p>

<p>The real benefit that I see for her came from her honors courses. As others have said, you don’t have to been in the honors college to take these courses, so this is not exclusive to honors kids. D1 was able to get a paid undergraduate medical research fellowship for the summer after her freshman year. This was primarily due to the efforts of her honors biology class professor. I don’t think she would have had a chance without being in that class. Furthermore, the honors sections were much smaller in size, so she had much more opportunity to interact with her professors.</p>

<p>The honors program provides opportunities - not ones exclusive to the program, but opportunities that the honors kids are better networked into.</p>

<p>Poor motion…so misguided. :p</p>

<p>To address the honors college advisors topic: there are honors college advisors. At one of the PittStart sessions, the dean talked about Chancellor’s Scholars having honors college advisors. Some honors college students (not Chancellor’s scholars) receive letters that say they are eligible for honors advising.</p>

<p>That said, Pitt honors is run differently than most other programs I have heard about. The best thing may be that there is a place (the Honors College offices) where students can find other students who are more like them–whatever that may be.</p>

<p>So what do honors advisors do? I tried looking up some information but it seems like it’s not “official” advising… it says on the UHC website:</p>

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<p>Before you’re allowed to take an honors class, you have to make an appointment with an honors adviser to see if the class is appropriate for you and vice versa. At least that’s how it worked for my daughter last semester. I don’t know if you can also use the honors advisers for a larger role, that is, making sure you’re meeting your gen ed requirements, declaring a major, general guidance, etc.</p>

<p>My son went for four years and was never assisted by an honors advisor. I don’t believe that they take a very pro-active role in advising the students. But w/e. All advisors can be good or bad, click with a student or not. He had some great advising from the engineering school, and was guided by his official advisor as well as other advisors and faculty. I got the impression that everybody’s door was always open for any student who wanted to show up. Regardless of honors or not, I think that any advisor worth his salt would be happy to consult with any student in his case load or otherwise.</p>

<p>Just two notes on signing up for honors classes. My son did not need honors advisor approval to take honors classes, although he was officially in the honors college. Also, now that course registration will be online, it may matter even less if you see an advisor since they are no longer needed to complete the process. (not sure about that though).</p>