Accepted/wrong major

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pittsburgh
1

Hi, first post. I am a parent. My DS was just accepted into main, but the listed major was not his first choice. Does that mean he has to major in his second choice? Both majors are in the same college, Dietrich. He wanted to major in IR with a regional concentration. He got in to economics. Thanks for your help.

2

He will not have to stick with the major that is listed on his letter, it is very easy for him to switch his major within the Dietrich School. If he commits to Pitt, over the summer he will have an opportunity to meet with his academic advisor and they can plan out the academic path that interest him.

Best,
A Pitt Admissions Staffer

3

Thanks. We subsequently got a letter for Guaranteed Admission to grad school. Nothing on honors or merit scholarships. Is GAP for International Affairs/Public Health competitive? Does that letter indicate any suggestion that future merit funds may be offered?

4

@psycholing, The qualifications for each GAP are listed on our site: https://oafa.pitt.edu/explore/guaranteed-admissions-programs/

A GAP offer letter will not cover merit aid at all, that comes in a separate letter from the Scholarship Committee. They meet and send out letters weekly through March 1.

Best of luck!
A Pitt Admissions Staffer

5

So what possible advantage would be conferred for being given “guaranteed admission” to a masters program, assuming a strong GPA and GREs? In my experience it is not that difficult to get into social science MS programs. It is the funded doctoral programs that are more competitive. In fact, at some Universities the SS Masters programs are used as money makers for the department. (My experience was serving as a professor in a social science field at 2 Universities, and helping with departmental admissions as a graduate student/postdoc at 2 other universities.)

If there is no advantage for the student in guaranteed admission, why even have this program? It seems disingenuous to send students a congratulatory letter when they are actually not gaining anything (in fact, the University is getting an advantage by filling up full-paid slots in their grad school).