Same for me as well. I got exited hoping it was a chancellors invite smh
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I have a question that I have been trying to phrase in an inoffensive way, but I need an answer so decided just to say it: how important is the Honors Program to the culture of Pitt? How about to a high-achiever who has been admitted to every other honors program he has applied to?
Some background: my senior applied to Pitt almost on a whim. We live OOS, in the west, but they sent an application waiver and he liked what he saw in his research. When he applied, he had the option to apply to Honors at the same time but he was in a hurry and said he would complete the Honors app later. Which he forgot to do (sigh).
He was admitted and given an enormous amount of merit. Pitt is, by a good margin, his least expensive school at the moment (we don’t have the financials yet for his REA acceptance and, of course, he has a slew of RD schools but I think Pitt is still likely to be the best deal). We will be visiting at the end of the month. But he has lots of regrets about the Honors Program and FOMO is messing with his brain, affecting his view on Pitt overall and his potential place there. Maybe he wouldn’t have gotten in but we will never know now.
I guess I am hoping for tangible examples for reassurance, like, class registration won’t be a struggle, etc. I know most people who attend Pitt won’t be in honors, of course, but, for him, it could be a dealbreaker. Any thoughts?
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He can get into honors at a later date. It’s not now or never, but he won’t be eligible to live in honors housing next year. As is understand it, Sutherland is a nice dorm with a cafeteria, BUT it’s on the top of a very steep hill, somewhat removed from the middle of campus. There are pros and cons to the housing.
I don’t have a child in honors, so I can’t speak to any experiences or relationships he will miss initially. But, I can tell you that he will still be with similar caliber students outside of honors. My 2020 (not at Pitt) has several friends at Pitt. Four took nearly the same classes freshman year because all four are STEM majors. Only one of the four is in honors, and she ended up with the lowest grades. My 2020 and several high school classmates are attending in the fall. The one who applied to and is in honors has the next lowest class rank of the 5 kids.
I don’t say any of this to degrade the honors program, honors students, or the opportunities that are available, but only to assure you that he won’t be surrounded by slackers outside of it.
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If you scroll down this link, it describes upper class admission to honors. He could apply at the end of freshman year as long as he meets certain requirements:
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Ah, that is good news that they have second year enrollment!
I know there are tons of bright kids that aren’t in honors - that is exactly what I didn’t want to imply but probably did anyway. It is more the built-in subgroup sharing that experience, you know? We haven’t looked too closely at dorms but, hopefully, there are LLC or an engineering dorm that would give the same cohort experience.
Thank you so much for the helpful posts!
There is an engineering LLC:
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There is also the Honors LLC, and pretty sure you dont have to be in honors to be in it.
My D18 was in honors and acted like she wasnt. Still did research, still a high achiever. You can be a rocket scientist at Pitt and not be in honors. It’s what you make of it whether you are in honors or not. I would encourage him to put it aside and apply for 2nd year if hes still interested. Meanwhile, he can take honors classes freshman year if he wants too. And apply to be in the Honors LLC!
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Also check out Pitts Reddit and search for Honors to get additional feedback from students. My D did not apply so I have no skin in the game either way, but many say it’s not the be all/end all by any means.
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My DD isn’t on Facebook and Instagram either and will likely choose the Honors dorm if she winds up committing (which is very likely at this point … just waiting to hear back from her other schools, but super likely she’ll end up at Pitt). Maybe we can connect them. Lol
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What’s the current visitor policy on campus? We toured this summer and most of the buildings were closed (i.e. we could walk thru the first floor of the Cathedral of Learning but not see classrooms). Is it pretty much the same? We were considering another visit.
Also, not sure if people were aware but Pitt has posted its 2021 CDS. There was a big drop-off in SAT submissions but not nearly as big as some of the other schools in its tier.
@ELK_8 My daughter created a FaceBook just to find a Pitt roommate, they quickly form subgroups according to the dorm they want. My daughter was in a group of 40 girls for Sutherland and they would do Zooms to get to know each other and find roommates. I would highly recommend she connect via some form of social media, it really helps.
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This is showing stats for current freshmen, correct?
Correct
Very helpful info, thanks! He is sitting next to me - rarely happens these days but he is recovering from wisdom teeth removal - I read these comments to him and he is encouraged about his opportunities. Hopefully, seeing campus in person will help even more.
Congrats to your daughter, btw! I am 90% lurker but it seems like our kids applied to many of the same schools and you have always been so helpful in all the threads.
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Thank you, I have been reading the Reddit board and your point is very valid!
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Best of luck to him. And also, have him check out the Out of the Classroom Curriculum that the Honors kids need to do as a component of completing the honors curriculum on the most complete level. Honestly, he may not want to be bothered with it.
You are welcome for whatever comments I’ve made 
I love CC and I learn so much from the sharing. I’m amazed at those parents who break down statistics to the Nth degree and share their research with us. I feel like I have such a better handle on things realistically than most parents around where I live. A parent just told me last week that her daughter who has a 4.7 w gpa applied a month ago or maybe 2 months ago to Penn State and was shocked that she was waitlisted because they thought it was “rolling decisions” – sigh.
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My daughter was a freshman in marching band at Pitt last fall. She loved it. She was hesitant to join at first but it turned out to be a good decision. It is a huge time commitment. 3-4 practices during the week and Saturday game days basically take up your whole day. She was amazed this spring semester how much extra time that she felt like she had without marching band. She only had 17 credits so it was doable. She’s taking 19 right now and there is no way she could have handled that many credits with marching band in the fall. Next fall she will probably go back to 16-17 again. The director is a really great guy that everyone seems to love. I appreciate that they post most performances on Facebook so parents can watch too.
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I’m pretty sure D22 will be in the band. I think she thinks it’s a given and not a big, huge decision to make. She will either be taking 12 or 15 credits in the fall, not 17 or 19!! I like that the practices are 2 hrs. Seems like that would be easier to manage. Thanks for your input.
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If you or your daughter has any questions, we can try to answer them. Best part for the freshmen is that they come to band camp a week before everyone else. By the time all the other freshmen move in they are already quite familiar with campus.
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Thank you very much!