Honors Day- my experience

<p>Okay, so, many people have been asking for little evaluation of Honors Day, and I'm willing to give one, so here it goes.
The actual program: decent. It snowed (4 or 5 inches, I think) all of Friday, so a lot of the things I really wanted to do were weather-inappropriate or hindered by the weather. So, I strayed from the program a bit, which was probably the best thing I could have done.
The treatment I got: amazing. I came from (significantly) OOS alone and was not looking forward to being there- Pitt was definitely my last choice. Once I heard the dean of the Honors College, Dr. Stewart, start talking, I thought to myself, "This is a man who knows how to run a school for people like me." In my eyes, I am not a "typical" large-public-college student- I am definitely in to going to college to learn and study, not party and watch sports. I was sorely mistaken in my hasty evaluation of Pitt, especially students in the Honors College, as raucus party animals. Everyone I met was completely nerdy (in my fashion, of course- not pocket protector nerdy, but good, let's debate-each other and read banned books nerdy.) and I felt like I "clicked" with them. I sat in on Dr. Stewart's physics class, thereby skipping most of the morning programs, but it was a very valuable experience- good teacher, great class, and (before the 40 or so of us who just wanted to watch it showed up) a very small class size (under 20 people easily). I ate their provided food for lunch (not the best, but not barfable either) and then wandered around for a bit, went on a bus tour of Pittsburgh that was well organized but hampered by heavy snowfall, and then wound up hanging around in the 35-36th floors of the Honors College. Bunches of Honors students were hanging around there, doing homework, discussing things with eachother, and happy to answer questions parents or prospies had about life at Pitt. Dr. Stewart was also roaming around talking to people, as were various other faculty and staff. I started talking to some of the students, and was amazed at how many were like me- wouldn't have ever thought in their life that they were going to go to Pitt, got lured in by a scholarship they couldn't turn down, and were extremely happy that they'd done so. I talked to the same group of students (mainly sophomores) for a very long period of time and met several kids who had turned down other schools I was more interested in/obsessed with before (places like Washington University in St. Louis, UChicago, and Columbia, to name a few) to take Chancellor's scholarships, tuition scholarships, and even no scholarships at Pitt. Talking to them was probably the most beneficial portion of going- I had really believed that I was the only one in my situation, torn between first-class (EXPENSIVE) private schools and a scholarship at a place most people in my area have never heard of, but this was NOT the case. They adopted me for the evening, and we all went out to dinner at this dingy little pub that looked like a dive from the outside but, I swear, had amazing food, to be joined halfway in by (lo and behold!) the ever-present, ever-surprising Dr. Stewart, who apparently does things like that often. I talked to him and them trhough dinner, and wound up being invited both back to the Honors College for an impromptu interview for the Chancellor's Scholarship the next day and to that evening's Honors Housing activity in Forbes-Craig Apartments. Many people have been worried about the "social" aspect of the honors housing. It seems present, but don't think of it as keggers and sports-watching... they invited me to a spelling bee, which seems to be a very good example of the kinds of activities these particular honors students are interested in- my kind of thing. I stayed after the bee and talked for a long time and finally had to excuse myself to go to the hotel (not get kicked out, like I thought I would have been) because I was tired.
The next day I went back for my little interview with (lo and behold, again) Dr. Stewart, and we talked for about an hour and a half as he took notes. I'm not advocating just showing up without an appointment as a means to get your chancellor's scholarship done, but considering my travel situation I was extremely grateful that they were so willing to give me a chance at it while I was there instead of waiting for my official confirmation and having to fly out again. I talked to more students and was increasingly more amazed at how friendly and open they were about how they chose Pitt- mainly financial concerns in nature, but scholarships were forgotten as they discovered how much was possible there.
Anyway, that's my experience in a nutshell. It deviates from the normal format of the Honors Day, but it was an excellent experience for me. If anyone has any questions about it or anything else I might have experienced as an admittedly initially highly wary student (that has now completely changed her viewpoint), please feel free to ask.
Also, if you are the students who "adopted" me, YOU ROCK!</p>

<p>Nice report! Thank you.</p>

<p>Sounds like you were very fortunate, gracello. You were in the right place at the right time... Besides the spelling bee, what else were the Honors students up to??? Did you meet any fellow incoming freshmen?</p>

<p>They were up to studying, mainly, but it was a Friday night so it seemed like "wind-down" time from the week. In terms of activities, there was a DDR (Dance Dance revolution, not dungeons and dragons) tournament the next night for anyone interested and there is a calculus contest next week. These were sophomores and upperclass students, though, so I'm not sure what the freshmen were up to.
A lot of the studnets I spoke to were in various sorts of other extracurricular activities, mainly including things like orchestra, handbell choir, tutoring, and involvement with the undergraduate research publication.
I did meet some other incoming freshmen and a lot of kids, like me, who are definitely considering becoming incoming freshmen after the experience!</p>

<p>Yay! I'm so glad you liked Pitt! I'm so glad you bit the bullet and bought the plane ticket and went there. I would have to say my D had a very similar experience and prior to her visit was absolutely convinced she was either going to Rice or U Chicago, but after her Pitt visit, Pitt was it. Totally unexpected. (She was in that Physics class you saw, altho' I thought they had about 80 kids in it, at least they did last semester, oh well, maybe some dropouts?)</p>

<p>Not only is Pitt an unexpected delight, Pittsburgh is too (no offense anyone, this is my clumsy attempt at a compliment). D is having a wonderful time living there, and the city is super easy for an oos college kid to manage. With free public transit with your ID, you can pretty much do whatever you want, and there is plenty to do. Good luck to you, gracello.</p>

<p>mercymom, "an unexpected delight" perfectly describes how I felt when I first came to Pittsburgh.</p>

<p>gracello, i could not agree with you more. I found Pitt over the summer and really liked it, but started to have my doubts as the school year progressed. Friends told me, come on, you can do better, and it was difficult not to ignore them. Many kids from my highschool who have gone on to Pitt have been your typical partiers, and I knew I certainly never would fit in with that crowd. I was terrified that I would get stuck with no friends and no challenging classes if I went to Pitt. I looked into University of Richmond, UDel & UNC as alternatives and was feeling pretty good about U of R until I saw the price tag! Ouch! I ended up being a semi finalist for a full ride, but did not move on to finals so I decided I had to give Pitt one more chance. And I have to say, Honors Day really made all the difference. </p>

<p>After an intro full of stats & associations to big name schools (typical, i guess...need to appeal to the Ivy Leaguers), Dr. Stewart came up and said, you know, even though all of these things are great, they are not what is really important to this school. He said that he wants kids to be curious, to ask questions, debate, and be interested. He also emphasized that the school would help you integrate your interests (no matter how diverse) into a major and eventually a career; it's important that you do something that really excites you. I was totally hooked; between his candid speaking style and humor, I really felt like he had the right values in mind for an Honors College, and that Pitt was ready to provide exactly what I was looking for. </p>

<p>Students at the info sessions that followed were extremely helpful in answering my many questions about housing, advising, etc. and were truly interested in getting kids excited about a program they all seemed to really love and appreciate. </p>

<p>The bus tour was somewhat of a waste with the snow & I couldnt eat stuffed shells at lunch b/c of food allergies, but I did meet a ton of really interesting kids during both of these things. Only one was actually from PA, which shocked me! Here I thought everyone would be instate, but I met kids from NY, MI, MU, CA, FL, VA, MA and many more. It was incredible. I'm so happy I decided to give Pitt one more chance! Glad to hear you were just as impressed gracello, and if you decide to attend I guess I'll be seeing you there!</p>

<p>There seems to be a general consensus about Pitt, then. What I don't understand is why, when so many people have found happiness and success at Pitt, people still say, "come on, you can do better." Aside from the Ivies, Stanford, and MIT, I think Pitt holds its own against any school in the country, academically, professionally, and socially. And the Honors College experience is just as good as ANY school. The new US News rankings come out later this month, and while I always say I don't believe in them, I'm still interested to see where Pitt ranks. It's gone up just about every year.</p>

<p>I have to agree with you, Pat. Pitt is an overlooked school. My D got onto UVA/Echols Scholar (offered to 3% of the incoming class), and William and Mary - two schools that are tough to get into, even for in-staters. Ranked right up there on USNWR....Maybe Pitt needs to do more recruiting?? My D will be going to Pitt knowing no one...I think Pitt has a great deal to offer students, and as a parent, I feel comfortable sending my D there. I think Pitt attracts many bright and serious students. Looking at the posts over the past few months, the stats/gpa of incoming freshman have been impressive.</p>