So your son lived in Sutherland with the Health Sciences LLC and was not living with Honors LLC. Does he participate in Pitt Honors curriculum and events and have honors friends? Or does he participate in Health Sciences LLC things more or does he dabble in both?
Also, forgot to mention that D18 lived in Irvis 2 years ago when she was a sophomore, and their 4 person suite had 2 bedrooms for 2 people each and each room had it’s own full bath, then in the middle was a seating area with chairs and coffee table and a galley kitchen. Super, super nice. And next to Irvis is Panther which is like Irvis but bigger. Both on upper campus down the street from Sutherland.
Ok, let’s break this out so that all can figure out their options since some are starting to commit to Pitt:
Are in Pitt Honors and choose to live in Sutherland without selecting the Honors LLC.
Are in Pitt Honors and choose to live in Sutherland and select the Honors LLC.
Are not in Pitt Honors and request to live in Sutherland and select the Honors LLC.
Are in Pitt Honors and choose to live in a dorm other than Sutherland and do not want the Honors LLC.
Are in Pitt Honors and choose to live in a dorm other than Sutherland but select the Honors LLC. And if accepted to the Honors LLC, you need to live wherever the LLC is housed this year which is most likely Sutherland (not positive about this).
How’s that? Any corrections I need to make or any options to add?
No @Winky1. The Health Sciences LLC is in Irvis. It is an awesome suite dorm. My S19 has never lived in the Honors LLC, by choice.
My son has taken a ton of honors courses. He has 32 honors college credits now and only needs 18 to graduate with the joint degree. He also is on track to complete the required OCC. (this is required)
As for honors college involvement there are only scheduled honors events that ANYONE at Pitt can attend. My S19 goes to some so he can cross off of the OCC. Usually the only reason he goes. So his involvement is probabaly 2% of what he does on campus. He is more involved in his 2 research projects, one at the Pitt Med school and the other at Children’s Hospital. He is also a mentor for Pitt AMSA (American Medical Student Association) and soon to be a member of Phi Beta Kappa!!! (this is huge if you know the requirements)
He has found his people in the Health Science LLC, many take the same courses and are the same majors.
If D22 is interested in meeting a wide range of majors the Honors LLC might be the way to go but there are many LLC’s to choose from that might be of interest to her or non at all. My S19 chose a single dorm in Towers C his first year. He had the best RA ever and was very involved in campus events freshman year.
Yes she is! She has been all set to enter the PA program in Jan of next year since she got the PA Gap as an incoming freshman. However, she is exploring graduate school in public health now as well to see which option suits her more.
Congratulations to you son on Phi Beta Kappa and all of his other impressive involvements!
D18 chose to live in Nordenberg as a freshman, and she got it. I always wanted more for her in terms of Honors community (live at Sutherland and meet like minded students early on), but it was never her desire, so she really didn’t participate in honors at all during her time at Pitt, but it did help her find her research position. She thought that honors meant having to take honors classes and she didn’t care too. But she missed out on everything else that comes with the honors program if you tap into it.
D22 is a Stamps Scholar (yay!), and she will most likely audition for the PItt Band. She will have 2 groups of “her people” immediately, and I do not see a need for her to live in Sutherland because of this. The Stamps Scholarship comes with mandatory leadership development programs, meetings, service, advising – all good stuff. She will be completing the OCC curriculum too. She’s accepted to Honors, and that’s wonderful because Stamps stuff will overlap with Honors offerings. However, on her Stamps interview day, the other current scholars told her that Nordenberg is the best freshman dorm, and the location is great. So I am thinking that D22 will want Nordenberg (and her sister lived there and had a fabulous experience). So once again, I don’t think I’ll be getting my way with Sutherland. However, if D22 is in the band, the band practices on upper campus, and it would be very convenient if living in Sutherland.
We shall see how this unfolds. I want to stay ahead of options before the packet comes with all of the housing info. She committed last weekend.
My D22 was accepted to Pitt Honors, Neuroscience major. Based on your post, she can pick the Health Sciences LLC, which you said is in Irvis. Or, pick the Honors Health Sciences LLC, which is in Sutherland. Correct? I know she wants to live with other students who are majoring in the same field. I’m learning something new each day about this process! So grateful for all this info.
Hi @ELK_8,
Yup, she can live wherever she wants actually. She can apply to the LLC’s or not live in any LLC. My son is a Neuro double major and loves his time in the Health Sciences LLC in Irvis. Mind you, they do move the LLC’s locations sometimes so any LLC can be relocated. Panther Central can keep you updated.
It used to be much harder to get into Sutherland because the East wing was athletes but they moved them to a different dorm this year. I believe band members are in Sutherland, the go to the Perch as a group a lot.
Sutherland has been great for the academic community, my daughter studies with other students in the lounges a lot. The Towers only have lounges every 3 floors and this year had none because of the overcrowding. Also, from parent comments on message boards it sounds like the food in Perch is better than Eatery (not great, but better).
Since Sutherland is so close to the gym and athletic events she has been to many sporting events - soccer, volleyball, wrestling, basketball, gymnastics. Don’t think she would have done that otherwise. You can take the shuttle to the dorm or just walk and use the escalator in the Pete, it hasn’t been a big deal.
Even if you are in honors you do need to write a short essay to get in the Honors LLC at Sutherland but I would say it is just a formality, they will get in.
This is all great info, thanks! So, even if you’ve been admitted to the Honors college, you have to write an essay to get into the honors dorm?
Is there any benefit to committing to Pitt earlier rather than later when it comes to honors housing? Do students who commit earlier get the better room assignments?
No benefit for early, as long as it is by the due date. You have to write a paragraph as part of the LLC application, it wasn’t a big deal. By this time senior year it is hard to ask kids to put much effort into anything.
Some of these comments raise a question for me - I like the idea of my son living in a place where he can be with folks that help him build a study group or ask questions etc. But - he’s going to be an engineer. So better to live in the engineering LLC over the Honors LLC? I mean, I’d guess that there are other engineers who choose to live in honors housing, but I’d assume a much smaller pool of students.
(Although really, I need to look at where the Engineering LLC is - because if it’s one of the buildings that isn’t air conditioned then this isn’t even a question, he’ll go where the AC is. )
So, there are shuttles from Sutherland to the Cathedral? Do you know if they are running all the time, early morning? I ask because my D22 will most likely have rowing practices early in the am and I think she has to meet her transportation down there to get to the boathouse. That’s quite the walk each morning to her ride. Something for her to consider when picking a dorm.
My S22 is in the same boat - engineering and honors. I guess I can see advantages of both- maybe easier to find study group in engineering LLC? but if you enjoy meeting people from a diversity of majors honors LLC might be preferable? Not sure how to help S22 think about it. The location/bldg is also an important consideration, and may be the trump card as you suggested!
There are shuttles but not sure how early they run. My S19 works at Children’s very early and he walks down the hill to get the public bus on lower campus. But he’s a guy, so I get the concern. That definitely might be something to consider for a dorm location.
BTW, @MDmom2021 my S19 says the exact opposite, The Perch is smaller with less selection than The Eatery but he complains about both places frequently… sigh.
The benefit to being up near the Pete is the Pete has Chick-Fl-A, lol.
Thanks for the info. I’m going to assume there will be other rowers coming from that direction to walk together. I’ll have my D22 reach out to someone in Pitt Crew.
There is a good burrito place in the Pete too. I am just going by parent comments on Facebook re: the Eatery, constant complaints and photos to back it up. Neither are great, the meal exchange has really been a savior this year. It is the first full year of this vendor’s contract so hopefully it gets better.
I’ve also heard that with the prior vendor, there was no required meal plan for freshman , unlike now.
The school claims it is to make freshman year less stressful, but I’d rather not be forced to pay for the most expensive plan, especially with subpar food.
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