<p>So I applied to Pitt on December 4, got accepted a week or so later, and I got notification of a merit scholarship of $15,000 on the 23rd. I realize that I applied kind of late, but since Pitt is my safety school and I'm considering attending, I wanted a bigger merit scholarship. I'm in the top 1% (salutatorian, maybe valedictorian) and I have a 2270 SAT (1530 CR+M) and a 34 ACT. Can I appeal for a higher merit scholarship, and is it likely that I'd receive one?</p>
<p>You can always try but I don’t know if anyone has been able to up their scholarship $$$. On the bright side, you actually received a scholarship offer and pretty quickly. There are many applicants who are still waiting to hear about a scholarship from Pitt.</p>
<p>Definitely worth a shot. What do you have to lose?
Two years ago, my DD was offered a merit scholarship to her school as an incoming freshman. I don’t qualify for FinAid, but I wrote an email thanking them for their generous offer, explained what a huge impact it had on our entire family, and told them how great they were. Then I asked for more money and they came up with several thousand more.
Your stats are much better than my DD’s, so I say send them an email!</p>
<p>I was also wondering about this. Not sure how much financial aid I’m gonna qualify for but more merit aid would definitely help. Should I email too?
690 M, 780 CR, 750 W, 4.3 weighted GPA, received $10,000/year.</p>
<p>Just keep in mind that the merit scholarship will only go up to full tuition (without stipend) as Pitt (the university) does not give out full-rides (only the UHC/the athletic department does that).</p>
<p>Chancellor’s scholarships are full rides, but require a second, invited application process.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>And, like I said, are offered through the UHC, not through the University. You can’t appeal to get a Chancellors. You have to be invited to apply and then go through a rigorous process from which there are a few select winners.</p>
<p>If I was to appeal my academic scholarship how could I do it without sounding ungrateful for the scholarship I already received?</p>
<p>IMO , appealing a scholarship award for a school that is not your top choice seems, oh, I don’t know, greedy? If it were your top choice and more money would make it a financial possibility rather than a stretch, it makes sense to appeal. To me, there is a difference.</p>
<p>Also, Pitt does seem to make its awards early in the year, and these scholarships have higher requirements every year.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>When I wrote an appeal letter (to CMU, not Pitt), I just stated the facts. The cost of CMU was much too high compared to what my parents could afford. The FAFSA bizarrely calculated that it was OK for my parents to spend 1/3 of their total post-tax income on me (even though I had another sibling IN COLLEGE), and that the current funding that they had given me was inadequate.</p>
<p>If you can put it in terms like that (I really need X amount of dollars compared to Y amount I received for reasons A, B, and C) I think you might see a change. No promises. My own letter did not do much except change a few of my loans into grants, but maybe Pitt will react differently.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Agreed. If you applied to Pitt as a safety, then you were assuming you could get in and pay (I don’t know of people who apply assuming they will get money). The fact you got any money at all is nice.</p>
<p>Why does it matter if it was the “safety” school pick - it is a pick, and might be the choice if it was compelling financially. Did the op say it was the “financial safety”? I didn’t see that. My ds and every one of my dds picked and will be picking based on lowest cost - safety or reach. Pitt was not a financial safety but it did present the best bottom line due to the merit. You don’t know of people who apply with good stats assuming they will get merit from Pitt? The sole reason Pitt hit our radar during search was because there were people from the previous year with great merit from Pitt.</p>
<p>My point, if the comment is directed at me, amandakayak, is that it is easier to argue for more money if it is really the school you want to attend. My daughter applied to Pitt specifically because of its merit scholarships. It was not even in her top ten. However, the day she got her scholarship offer, she held the letter in the air and declared: “If Chicago doesn’t give me any money,I am going to Pitt.” And that was before she had visited. She is a year behind Awesome at Pitt now.</p>
<p>I’m disagreeing with Awesome’s post: (sorry, I’ve forgotten how to do the quote thing) " If you applied to Pitt as a safety, then you were assuming you could get in and pay (I don’t know of people who apply assuming they will get money)." MD Mom - I think both our families did just that. It wasn’t on our radar until we read about potential merit - and when we got it, well that list of top choices went out the window. I just don’t think the OP is being greedy - it might make it top choice, or decrease what loans need to be taken out. I agree that $15K is probably as good as it’s going to get but I don’t see the harm in asking.</p>
<p>Gotta agree with Amandakayak… my S2 is in the process and just like S1, he applied to “safeties” based on the amount of merit they would give. For example, he applied to Alabama knowing that with a 34 on his ACT he would receive a full tuition scholarship offer (which he did receive). Now he can relax knowing that if his reaches don’t come through, he still has a great offer from a school with a good program of study for him.</p>
<p>thanks so much for that advice, after I file my FAFSA i’ll definitely try to do that.</p>
<p>I think people apply to “safety” schools because they know they will get in and will likely get decent merit money. at least more than at their reach schools.</p>
<p>Pitt was a safety school for my son. When he visited it he liked it a lot. When he got the full tuition scholarship letter I loved the school.</p>
<p>After all his other offers came in and Pitt wa still the best by far, we went to visit agian - he spoke with the CS department head, viisted the fencing club workout, took a tour and decided that Pitt would be good for him. </p>
<p>He is now a very happy sophomore about to declare a CS major and a Physics minor and I am a happy parent not strangled with tuition bills.</p>
<p>Succesful appeals at Pitt, and AFAIK, they are few and far between come based on:
- Direct comparison of bottom line cost at a peer institution (Pitt does not care how much money school X offered, they want to see and compare your out-of-pocket costs.)
- They compare peer institution offers - think public AAU universities.
- Major to major admissions. If you were admitted to Pitt Engineering and you were admitted to Comparison U as a liberal arts major, Pitt does not consider that equivalent.
- Do your homework, saying that you need or want more money is a non-starter. Saying that you need more money since it’s more affordable to go to a peer university gets their attention.
- Needless to say, the higher your stats and other hooks (URM, geographical desirability, etc,) the better your chances of an appeal.
- Pitt wants you to enroll at Pitt. Creating the perception that you are looking at Pitt solely as a safety or a back-up school won’t help.
- Hey, you can always ask. Just don’t expect to get an increased scholarship.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I agree with every one of your points but this one. If you have a better school or equivalent school to Pitt offering you money, absolutely tell Pitt ALONG WITH point #6 (that is, "I really want to go to Pitt, but school X is offering me ABC amount more). It can make a difference. I used this scenario in the opposite way (talked to another school about what Pitt offered) and it worked (to an extent). Although I guess I also explained it as “since Pitt offered me ABC, it only costs Y to go there, instead of the Z it costs to go to your school”.</p>
<p>i’ve just sent Pitt an email appealing my scholarship, and i received an email back from OAFA saying that they’ll forward it to the scholarship committee and i’ll hear back after they review me again. you can definitely just ask them to review you again. that’s what i did and i may end up getting a little more, or i may not. it was worth it to ask.</p>