Does anyone have insights into honors decisions. My DC applied early September, admitted early October, merit notification Oct 23 - but nothing yet on honors - it seems that many others who applied on similar schedules have honors acceptance as well. OOS, TO, 4.0 weighted GPA, top rigor, good not great ECs.
This is my major and when I reached out to my admissions counselor this is what she said:
âThis is a great question and will depend on where your interests mostly lie. Some students apply to the Dietrich School because they want more flexibility to change their major later if theyâre in between interests. While the strength of the Dietrich School is flexibility, the strength of the School of Computing and Information (SCI) is specificity. Youâll be working with specialized advisors, faculty and staff that can help you as you work towards a career in computer science. So itâs your choice of which school you want to be affiliated with.â
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Oh! Thatâs so interesting and helpful â thank you so much for sharing this info.
Okay, so weâll put this on the back burner and not worry about it until after we visit in February, lol. 
My youngest is a senior at Pitt in Dietrich and will receive a degree from Dietrich and a degree from SCI in the spring (these are degrees, not just majors). I am pretty sure weâve paid the Dietrich tuition all four years. I realize this isnât quite the same thing as the interdisciplinary degree, though it appears there may be a way to pay the lower tuition.
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Is there anyone whose studentâs notification of admission took more than a month? It seems most of the acceptances are coming in within 2 weeks of applying. My daughter applied on 10/4 and has not heard back yet; Iâm surprised because I felt her stats made her competitive in a non-competitive major (4.3 W/3.9 UW for Communications).
Took 6 weeks for us!
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My decision came exactly 7 weeks after I sent in my SRARS and my common app, so no need to worry!
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Hi Everyone,
This is a little different of a question but wanted to ask here since you have students applying or currently at Pitt. We went to admitted students day this weekend and my daughter was surprised how much she liked Pitt. She said itâs the first school sheâs felt connected to the schoolâs academic program and not just a number at a large state university. She feels Pitt would really help her get where she needs to be academic/career wise. The caveat is sheâs struggling with âcityâ life. She is a Penn State kid through and through but is very torn between the two now. Any people here that may have felt the same way, chose Pitt and are happy with their decision? Do they miss the âtraditionalâ college campus? TIA
My D26 is struggling with the same thing. GAP acceptance at Pitt has increased her âanxietyâ over the potential decision as she seemed to be set on Penn State as she preferred State College (and really most traditional college towns) over Pitt. But, she does have a great friend at Pitt now who is just thriving there, and continues to recruit our daughter to join her there. The advantage of the GAP acceptance into the grad SLP program canât be overlooked.
Has your daughter reached out the specific program or college at PSU to discuss the programs? I will say, my daughter was a bit intimidated by the size of Penn State this time last year and had really enjoyed her time at the JMU open house. During the JMU open house she was able to meet with professors and students in the Communication Science and Disorders program at JMU, and that really helped personalized it for her. Fast forward to this past Spring, and when she registered for a PSU visit, the Recruiter for HHD reached out to her and asked if she would like to meet with them, and offered to bring in a couple of CSD students to meet with here one on one. That session absolutely changed the game for Penn State. She spent over an hour with 2 current CSD students, and they were able to tell her all about the class sizes, clubs that are available, how the CSD program is really tight knit and supportive, and made a huge school feel comfortable. That is all to say, it put her mind at ease, but that is very specific for her. I would assume it is very major specific, so YMMV.
I would recommend looking into College or major specific opportunities to meet with staff and students. That has been the best way for our daughter to get more comfortable at each school. That was actually part of the turn off at Pitt for her (as she was visiting there just a week after a very successful Penn State visit) the only CSD information session option was a room full of 40-50 other students and family listening to SHRS staff talk about the programs, no students, etc. We plan to setup personal meetings and request the option to meet with students when we schedule our Admitted Students day, even if that means extending our stay an extra day to make it happen.
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Thank you for this. My daughter had the interview with HHD at PSU and spoke toRHS through College of Ed. She likes RHS better for internships. Pitt sold her on all the things they offer in Public Health/Pre-PA. Itâs a small cohort and everyone sheâs talked to (friends in program as well) said itâs a family feel and they hold one another accountable. This is whatâs having her gravitate towards Pitt. I may have her email PSU and ask to talk to a few RHS students about their experience. Iâm guessing your child is choosing PSU?
I think right now, she is genuinely torn. With her focus on a career in SLP (at least for now) she understands how tough grad school admittance can be. Her cousin in Texas is applying to SLP grad schools right now so she has heard her stories.
She hasnât been admitted to Penn State yet. She is hopeful, her high school sends a ton of students there and her profile compares VERY well when looking at our schoolâs Naviance charts, but nothing is a slam dunk. Her HHD application should help vs. shooting for Business or Engineering. We are in state, she has pretty good stats (3.82 UWGPA/ 4.09 WGPA good rigor but TO), but the PSU numbers game could make it tough. I am confident her Speech related activities and essay were the tipping point at Pitt. Penn State only looks at stats and doesnât even really consider the ECâs and essay. The GAP acceptance at Pitt was frankly very unexpected, and I think that made her feel âwantedâ at PItt. And while it doesnât necessarily matter as long as you get an accredited degree in SLP you can find a job, Pittâs top 5 ranking in SLP isnât lost on her. Plus, the heavy focus on Health related programs and access to so many facilities on or near campus is great for the students.
I really enjoyed our time in Pittsburgh, it was a beautiful city and it has a ton of great access for the students outside of campus, but I think she still has the vision in her head of the traditional college campus/town experience. It will be an interesting few months as we go from the dream of applications and destinations to the reality of a decision.
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What is HHD and CSD?
My son is a freshman and loves it. Never wanted to apply to Penn State. One of the reasons he picked Pitt was that it wasnât very Greek. He has been to most of the football games but his experience at those games is definitely different than his friends at Penn State.
If she is a Penn State then kid then she wouldnât be happy at Pitt. The schools are just too different.
Sorry, those acronyms are specific to Penn State. CSD is Communication Sciences and Disorders major in the College of Health and Human Development (HHD). This is the undergrad path for students interested in pursuing a graduate degree in Speech Language Pathology.
For Pitt, the equivalent program is the Communication Science BA major, they start in Dietrich Arts and Sciences and then move to SHRS (School of Health and Rehabilitation Services) for upper level study.
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I agree that the schools are very different; being able to be happy at either though is still possible. The schools are so big, there are opportunities to find your own path in either environment.
I would hesitate to make that statement if we didnât know someone at Pitt now that is very similar to my daughter (grew up together, similar activities, interests, and desires). She also had to make tough choices on destination, but the scholarship opportunity she received at Pitt Nursing was impossible to turn down. Now, in year two she is absolutely loving all things Pitt and it a great sounding board for my daughter.
I think thatâs what sheâs struggling with. I think deep down she knows Pitt will provide her with opportunities needed for Public Health/Pre-PA, she just needs to figure out if sheâs willing to let go of what she thought her college experience would be at a more âtraditionalâ state college campus. Pitt Nursing is great, congratulations to your daughter!!
Hello parents and students, congrats to all of you. Lots of impressive folks in the group. My OOS S26 was recently admitted on Friday, 11/7, to Swanson. My apologies if this topic has already been discussed, but there was no mention of honors, and we were surprised when a prompt appeared, asking us to apply for honors by December 1. We had assumed there was no separate application process. Have any of your kids heard about honors acceptances? Do those come later?
Honors acceptance comes later. (S26 was accepted to honors a month after general acceptance and the merit letter came a week or so after the honors letter).
It is confusing, but there is no application this year for honors. As long as the student checked the box in the original application that they are interested, they will be considered for honors.
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Honors and merit are not awarded at the same time as admission. After a student is admitted, the studentâs file enters the pipeline to be considered for honors and merit. Honors and merit are separate processes and a student might receive one or the other, or both, or neither. The process is holistic, so itâs best not to assume your student will or wonât receive honors based on other studentsâ stats.
Some students have already been awarded honors this year. We donât know how frequently the honors notifications will be released. Pitt says that students might be awarded honors any time between late October and the beginning of March. It works this way for merit, too. It might take a short or long amount of time after the student is admitted, so donât lose hope if your student doesnât receive the notification within some number of weeks.
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My daughter is a freshman at Pitt, choosing pre-health studies there over PSU (HHD admit) and Syracuse, Lafayette, Charleston and Tampa among others. She loves Pitt and feels like Oakland is a âstarter cityâ as she toured Fordham in NYC and found that too overstimulating but Oakland feels like a city / light version 
She liked Penn State very much on the campus itself, but didnât like the rural surroundings and wanted access to more restaurants, museums, ballet that Pittsburgh had to offer over State College. She also wanted a mid/large school size-wise versus the volume at Penn State, but other students might not mind the size or the sprawl from one building to another on campus (when my student learned some classes required a bus or shuttle between buildings that was a big turn off for her personally). She likes how Pitt is spread out within Oakland, but the footprint still feels manageable and there is still many activities right in the heart of campus on the quad, on Bigelow and on Cathedral lawn so I donât think Pitt is lacking in the traditional college campus experience with those events and programming (which seem to be often and substantial). Sports are super fun at Pitt, tons of school spirit and if your student is anything pre-health I think it would be hard to pass up all of the opportunities within walking distance for students at Pitt with UPMC essentially making up a large portion of Oakland for volunteer opportunities, clinicals, rotations etc. I have heard that certain majors (nursing) at PSU may need to live in Hershey for a year to complete studies near hospitals there so I would look into placement and distance to clinical and hospital opportunities for a pre-health or pre-PA student as well. Overall, my daughter is loving Pitt and we couldnât be happier for the opportunities it has provided so far both academically and socially.
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