Congrats! That is a merit-based diversity scholarship, I believe, going by this page:
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Just to be clear, if students are on a waitlist for honors, the SOONEST they would get off the list is AFTER May 1st? I think my son said the letter mentioned notifications likely between May 1-June 1?
Because hc seems to be important to
Your familyā¦.
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This is super helpful and puts a lot in perspective. Itās not the first time Iāve heard similar sentiments regarding Pitt Honors. We did a virtual honors session and it didnāt seem as ātight-knitā and āpersonalā as some honors programs. I keep hearing that many students are āinā honors but arenāt really involved in the program at Pitt. They do like the perks such as priority scheduling but some donāt feel a strong connection to the honors staff and fellow students. Iām not even sure it provides my sonās main intetest in honors āmaking a larger school seem smaller.ā There are definitely honors programs that seem more connected and personalized like Buffalo State University and that impressed him. However, he mainly wants to connect with like-minded students so many times LLCās are the best way to do that. For example, UB has an honors LLC but also a social science one which was more appealing to my son. Some schools like Case Western & Rollins donāt even offer honors programs but still offer small & challenging classes. So I think he really needs to do a deep dive into his priorities and what each school offers, whether honors or not. Thanks for sharing that reflection.
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I think this is all great insight. My D is at Pitt and didnāt apply to honors, but there a so many LLCs for social and academic interest that I would encourage your son to peruse if heās looking for a smaller community.
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We are from Texas.
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Could you speak to class size? Iām sure there are huge classes Freshman year but do they get smaller as you get more into your major? Do TAās teach many classes? Are professors available for office hours? Does your daughter feel close with any professors?
Thatās what I was going to say based on our visit. Student guides said honors didnāt add much with regards to community. For now, HC seems like an enrollment strategy.
I know a kid in HC. While they liked living in Sutherland, they have found community in their major.
Anyone can take the honors classes.
A dad here says departmental honors are more important, because they show employers what you did in collegeānot high school. FYI
23 hasnāt bothered to look at the portal so itāll be a while before I know if kid got HC or not. Either way, itāll be fine.
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My D23 got into Pitt Honors, but the low annual merit aid ($5,000) and OOS crosses it out as a viable alternative when there are a few others that are much more affordable.
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It really depends on your major. Most survey classes are big but they do have small weekly recitation sessions with a TA. Classes do get smaller as you get into the upper levels but then it varies. My son is a double major communications and political science. He is a senior and most classes are closed at 35 kids. His capstone was under 20 but Iām not sure exactly how big. My daughter had a minor in Chinese and only had four people in her Chinese 4 class. I canāt say anything about sciences as neither of my kids are stem.
FWIW, my daughter was in honors back before they got priority registration (this is new in the past couple years) and she felt honors was pretty worthless. She met with an advisor a couple times and did use the study space in Cathy but other than that, she didnāt bother. She never took an honors class. In her case, it was because they seemed to be mostly available in stem subjects. She started as an English major and then switched to economics and never really had any options for honors classes. Maybe theyāve changed this.
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The best estimates for 23-24 cost, I think are from the financial aid letter than Pitt sent. My son is accepted into the School of Public Health, and I donāt know if these costs differ much from college to college. But hereās what we got.
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I should have added we are OOS (Maryland), so these are estimated OOS cost of attendance
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Same here
Got better merit at other great schools and w no additional money from HC not worth it
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How good are the TAs? Specially STEM?
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Neither of my kids were stem so I canāt say.
My daughter heard yesterday that she got admitted to University of Pittsburgh Honors College. Does the honors college have seperate pot of money versus regular college? My daughter did not hear anything about the money part if she would get any financial aid?
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It does do not. Merit awards are separate from honors acceptances.
The only exception is Chancellorās scholarships. About 50 students accepted into honors will be invited to interview for Chancellorās scholarships, and a small number will be given full tuition/room & board scholarships.
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I found out today that our son got into the HC. His good friend is a Freshman in it and has spoken very positively about the dorm and the support that he is receiving. The journey continues-still not sure. Best wishes to all of you!
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Can you tell me where you see the financial aid offer? Is it in the document center? My Dās only has her acceptance, scholarship and honors letter, nothing else.
Try looking in the Peoplesoft portal.
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