Pitt Honors Discussion and Results 2022, Class of 2026

@mom91 I would highly recommend Sutherland as a dorm for him. It is a great community of students who support each other (and are insanely smart!). My daughter isn’t the most outgoing at first and she has been doing so many things I never imagined, going to ALL the sports events, joining clubs (like the pre-health co-ed fraternity, Global Scholars, Genetic Counseling Club, and is even an officer in one of them), and parties too of course. There are tons of opportunities and the honors kids are very motivated to take advantage of them.

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Very helpful, thanks

Does anyone know if there are weed out classes in Bio or Chem classes.
For some schools we have heard since introductory classes are too big it is tough to get good grades due to competition.

This is helpful. He is definitely leaning toward an LLC - either honors or business - because he realizes there will be some quick connections to be made with peers. He’s also interested in club sports, which should help as well.

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My S19 got a 5 on his AP Chem test but chose not to use the credits and took Honors Chem 1 and 2 anyway. He LOVED these classes and professor. He was so glad he did because he said he learned so much in these 2 classes. If your student is currently an A student I think they will perform the same at Pitt, assuming they study the same way they did in HS.

My S19 heard the Bio classes were weed out classes too but he found Bio 1 and 2 and the labs extremely easy. His lectures were large here.

One thing S19 did hear that is pretty known at Pitt is the calc classes are extremely hard. He did transfer Calc BC AP credit with a 5 into Pitt so he didn’t have to take any Pitt calc.

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Thanks , this is so helpful.
My daughter wants to do premed and we are deciding between Case and U Pitt Honors.
Both seem really good .
Case is costing 15K more than Pitt so not sure if that is worth the extra cost .

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My son will be pulling back his Pitt Honors acceptance in the next few days. Has been a wild ride. Down to two schools still not sure which one he will attend. Good luck to everyone

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They are both very good school for pre health. Good luck with deciding. Theyvare very different and yet similar too

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The bio, chem, and O chem classes are considered weedouts. However my daughter has found bio and chem to be completely manageable and has not had problems getting As in them. Alternatively, the parents Facebook page usually has lots of posts about kids struggling in these classes. One thing my daughter found helpful was to search the Pitt Reddit page and Rate my professor for info on the professors she was choosing from. Some of the chem 1 professors use a different teaching method that many students seemed to struggle with.

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Thanks! Really appreciate Pitt forums , very helpful and nice people

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@databeata I would think intro Bio and Chem are weed out courses at every college in the country. Anytime you have a prereq for med school you have major competition. My daughter got a 4 on AP Bio and is definitely working hard in those classes. Would highly recommend freshmen not take the honors version of those courses. Many honors students who did that ended up moving to the regular section of the classes.

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I would disagree that students should not try Honors Bio or Chem. There are not that many Pitt honors courses and you have to take a minimum of 18 honors credits to graduate with the dual degree. Some of my son’s hardest classes at Pitt have not been his honors courses.

@caz0743 Just sharing the experience of a number of students on my daughter’s floor. One is a Chancellor’s recipient and found Honors Chem to be too challenging.

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That’s unfortunate, but she will keep her Chancellor scholarship maintaining only a 3.0.

I would always encourage honors students to start first semester with the honors classes as many times you cannot fit them into your schedule with other required classes in your major. My S19 has 33 honors credits to date, all A or A+'s.

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Exactly same dilemma we have, same schools, same cost difference. Visiting both schools again and need to decide.

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Yes , we are visiting Case in April and already visited Pitt in Feb. Daughter loved Pitt vibe and urban campus, she feels she might be happier at Pitt based on just online research of Case .
Visit to Case will hopefully make things clearer and decision easier

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My D22 weighed all her options and has finally committed to Pitt 26. Go Panthers. She has accepted the Stamps Scholarship and Pitt Honors. We sent her deposit on Friday. She will be pre-med and major in the Philosophy and History of Science and minor in Data Science.

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Fabulous! Congratulations!

Does anyone know if it would be possible to request more merit money? Received 5k/yr and love the school, its location, and opportunities, but can’t justify going there for 20k/yr more a year over my in-state flagship.

What school/major?