I have offers from both the colleges, like to do medicine. Which is the good college which will prepare me better? Is it hard to maintain good GPA at Schreyers?
@Harrisburg Congrats to you! I was accepted to Schreyer as well and visited PITT once before, so here are my thoughts (keep in mind I’m in the same shoes, just a different perspective). First of all, since you are geared towards Medicine, I know that PITT has an excellent medical background (even has its own medical center UPMC) while Penn State has Hershey, PITT is more reputable for their name in medicine. Second, which school would be the right fit for you? I visited both and personally, I prefer PSU’s campus over PITT. Now, if you look at the honors colleges of both, Schreyer has the upper hand due to its limited seating, name, perks and opportunities (not saying PITT Honors does not have this as well). I hope I provided some insight for you. Let me know what you think.
I’d like to add to this. The Dean of Pitt’s Honors College is committed to making opportunities, research opportunities, available to students who are self-directed enough to approach him with a solid plan. I know some of those self-directed students who have created fantastic opportunities for themselves, with the HC’s help. Pitt will tap into its deep network to help you arrange and fund your idea. The catch is that you’ve got to be that kind of go-getter, because they don’t proactively guide you along there. Schreyer’s offers more of the traditional support and guidance.
And, for medicine? Pitt, for sure.
I had this same choice last year! I ended up choosing Schreyer. PSU’s campus is beautiful, the honors housing is nice and quiet and not on a gigantic hill, and the early scheduling is very useful.
Maintaining a good GPA depends on what classes you take. The required freshman English class isn’t too hard–I got an A last semester and fully expect one this semester too. My other honors class was Calc 1, and I didn’t know before I started that it was highly theoretical. It was difficult, but I earned an A- in the end, and my professor has a policy of bumping up grades based on improvement, so I actually got a 4.0 overall. It’s doable!
Good luck with your decision. I have to admit I liked that Schreyer only admits 300 people, instead of everyone over a certain level of GPA/SAT.
What opportunities are there at Schreyers for research and shadowing in Hospitals? What is acceptance rate at medical school?
In 2012, Dean Brady answered several questions about medical school in the comments here: http://engage.shc.psu.edu/?p=1025
Maybe that will be helpful?
@bodangles - Are you perusing medical after your undergraduate? Will you able be talk to share your experience at Schreyer.
Nope, I’m in engineering. Can’t speak as to the premed experience, sorry.
I’ve had daughters in both the Pitt Honors College and the PSU Schreyer Honors College. Speaking as a parent, my first objective was that they have serious, academically-oriented roommates. Both schools provided that. D1’s (the Pitt kid) roommate is now a 3rd year medical student at Pitt and D2’s (the SHC kid) roommate is in grad school at Columbia. Both kids roomed with their freshmen roommates for all four years of undergrad. Both schools have provided an enriched environment for them to learn and succeed. Both schools provided grants for study abroad, internships and research opportunities. In other words, both honors programs will help you succeed, if you take advantage of what they provide. D1 graduated from undergrad Summa Cum Laude and Magna Cum Laude from her grad school, along with several honors. D2 is finishing off her double majors as she meets SHC requirements and already has a job in her field at at a first tier firm.
Now, other then the campuses (which, in themselves present significant differences), one huge difference between the schools relates to the medical field. If you are at all interested in medicine, in any field, Pitt has the advantage over PSU by far. At Pitt, you can walk to world-class hospitals and a top-five medical school for experiential education, research and/or employment opportunities, I was amazed at the overall opportunities that D1 had at Pitt in the medical field. PSU simply cannot compare in such opportunities for pre-med, pre-physical therapy, pre-pharm, etc. opportunities.
@QuietType: Thanks for sharing the information.