I am an OOS student from NJ and looking for schools with merit aid. Rutgers hasn’t been giving much lately so looking for decent CS safeties.
My stats are National Merit Semifinalist, 1540 SAT and 3.4UW GPA (3.7 Weighted)
I know the GPA is a bit low, so do I have a chance at any merit scholarships ?
Get that app in ASAP. Pitt money runs low and out, so early bird.
Start looking at other schools that have good merit too, not as selective as Pitt. That GPA might well be a sticking point. But you should give it a go.
How much money do you think I could get ?
If I don’t get a scholarship, I have absolutely no reason to attend Pitt.
For Pitt CS students spend the first two years in College of Arts and Sciences or College of General Studies. https://catalog.upp.pitt.edu/content.php?catoid=72&navoid=10114#program-and-course-offerings
Students have to complete certain classes all with a C or better to then gain admission to the CS ug school https://catalog.upp.pitt.edu/preview_entity.php?catoid=72&ent_oid=7344&returnto=10114 Note admission is competitive even if the minimum requirements are met. IMO Pitt CS is competitive and challenging, probably best not to consider it a safety.
With regard to merit, Pitt awards seem to have been decreasing over the last few years, and I think your GPA will be problematic to getting 5-digit merit but all you can do is apply and see…with rolling admission you will find out the admission decision and then merit sooner rather than later. Lastly, run the NPCs on Rutgers, Pitt, and any other schools on your list to see what you will be expected to pay. Some NPCs include merit, but many don’t…but at least you have a baseline number to start with.
Good luck.
If you advance to NMF, you will have lots of good options for safety schools with full ride or full tuition scholarships. Take a look at the National Merit forum here on CC:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/
Congratulations!
Anyone have knowledge as to if FAFSA is required to be considered for MERIT scholarships? Not need based aid but rather soley merit scholarship.
I don’t think you are going to get merit money at a school like Pitt with that GPA. You would have to set your sights lower.
Straight from Pitt’s website:
University Scholarship Recipient Profile ($2,000-$25,000/year)
In recent years, scholarship eligible students possessed ALL of the following:
Minimum SAT score of 1480 or ACT composite score of 33
Overall ‘A’ average
Challenging high school curriculums consisting of AP/IB/Honors courses
Top 5% class rank (if applicable)
NOTE: The above criteria are provided for the purposes of guidelines only and not meant as scholarship requirements or guarantees.
The GPA will be the buzzkill here unfortunately when it comes to merit. A few years ago there was a 36, 3.3 to 3.4 kid who was actually denied admission to Pitt engineering (I can’t remember exact GPA).
You sound like a bright kid and hopefully given the opportunity can have a chance to explain. I would apply to Pitt and cross fingers…but from historical merit reports it may not happen. Good luck though and circle around let us know how it all turned out.