University of Pittsburgh Class of 2027 Official Discussion Thread

Overview of S19 being in the Honors College:

  1. He liked scheduling early.
    1.5) Had to add --He LOVES Honors classes and has taken A TON of them and you DO NOT have to be in the HC to take them!
  2. Saying you are in an honors college looks good on the outside and on future apps.
  3. He has had ZERO helpful advisement from the HC. Everything his non-major matched advisor told him is on the Honors website everyone can read.
  4. He never lived in Honors housing but chose the Healthcare LLC as an upperclassman and met his wicked smart NON-HONORS friends. (Both healthcare and engineering students)
  5. There are plenty of WICKED SMART NON-HONORS Pitt students that never even cared to apply to honors.
  6. A LOT of HC students have majors not in healthcare, sciences and engineering. Think Gender studies, classics, anthropology, etc.
  7. Do not let not getting into the HC change your decision if it’s the ONLY thing keeping you from enrolling in Pitt.

***Note about research-S19 has done research since freshman year. He got 1 credit each semester for doing it which applies to his major requirements for Neuroscience. Over the summer they did offer him pay if he did the same lab job over the summer. His job is at UPMC Children’s Hospital in the Rangos Research Center. He works with lab rats and mice. He found this research project on his own.

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@Elisette I have no idea what percentage are paid vs unpaid, but my DD has been in a paid lab position for the past year in engineering. It’s been very helpful.

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Newbie here. What is D23 or S19 etc. I assume the D is daughter and the S is son. What are the numbers?

The numbers refer to the year when they graduate from high school. So for example, current seniors graduating this year would be S23 / D23 (I have also seen people just say 23 or C23, if they don’t want to specify S or D).

Ah ok. Thank you!

Here is some information I got from my D who graduated in 22. She said that the HC changed in the last two years and she was bummed it was after her tenure. She said that it became much more structured, focused on leadership and that the HC helped students get into projects that are hard to come by. For example, projects working on real world issues in the community, etc. She definitely thought it was a change to the positive and wish she could have had that experience.

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Thanks for the reply - this is really useful information. And it is great to hear that students who don’t receive an honors acceptance are not really disadvantaged. It did seem from Pitt’s honors website that it is geared more toward the humanities.

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Does anyone know if the statistics for Honors College admissions are published somewhere?e.g., the number applicants and number of offers; those that ultimately attend?

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Yes, I agree - it seemed to me that early registration and honor’s housing are the main advantage of the honors program at Pitt. And I think it is great that research opportunities are available to all students regardless of being in HC. I was a grad student at Pitt (a long time ago) and that was my experience as well. We had a lot of undergraduates doing research with us. The undergraduate students were all around great, some of whom I know went onto graduate school and work in academia now.

Middle kid was in a suite in Sutherland West freshman year (Honors College). My current freshman is in Sutherland East, double with own bathroom - I hadn’t realized that those existed until this year.

No, not my freshman. I do recall there was (and maybe still is) a program called something like First Experiences in Research that freshman could do in the spring term. There were a lot of different types of research, and you applied to some you found interesting, and then perhaps there was a brief interview. You received one credit for the research. My middle kid did that. She also did research later on for one of her majors.

I didn’t recall the early registration with Honors, but perhaps that was the case. I do recall she could register earlier since she came in with sophomore standing due to AP credits. Things may have changed since she entered Pitt in 2016.

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DD23 got waitlisted for Honors College - Swanson school of engineering - Biomedical (1430, 4.0UW, 4.8 W).

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My older student did research at OSU and it was also not paid. I don’t think we were expecting it to be a paid gig. She was thankful for the experience and the opportunity to get to know the professor and the PhD candidates. The professor wrote her a letter of recommendation for medical school applications.

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Michigan State is the other school in my sons final two and they have a professorial assistantship that is paid work/research with a professor starting freshman year. It’s a big draw

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I have no firsthand knowledge but would assume yes. My D got the honors invite and is very lucky to have some great options and she knows that. But–for a kid who has a tough time deciding on which cereal to have, she will probably change her mind 300 times between now and May 1. The final decision won’t likely come until 11:59 pm on April 30!

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My daughter and her roommate felt blessed for sure!

I have a ‘21 daughter in the Frederick Honors College at Pitt, my ‘23 son was admitted today. He’s still waiting on other offers, but my daughter has had a fantastic experience at Pitt, which is definitely keeping it in his top choices.

I can tell you what we saw the perks for Frederick Honors. Housing with other academic students was a huge benefit to my daughter. Priority registration has really come in handy. Note though that they have changed the order and now honors kids pick schedules ahead of only their own class, used to be all Honors before any non-Honors got to schedule. Still a huge perk though. Her honors advisor has been very available and helpful. My daughter got an Honors-specific scholarship to offset her Maymester class she is taking in Europe. There are Honors only study areas 
 including one on the 35 floor of the Cathedral. She has applied for a paid research job this summer, should hear within the week.

Her stats 1500 SAT, 4+ GPA, many APs (all 5s), heavy volunteer work, 3 sport athlete/senior captain of 2
Sons stats 1520 SAT, 4+ GPA many APs (mostly 5s, 1 4), heavy leadership rolls, 2 sport athlete/senior captain of both

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Last night my application status went from processing to complete. How long will it take to get my decision in the document center?

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Happened to my son last night - more waiting - good luck to you! Hoping for the best


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My daughterƛ application also went from processing to complete as well. Does anyone have any experience with this? The waiting is so hard. Good luck to all!

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