<p>Hi everyone, I visited Pitt recently and fell in love with the school so I was wondering if anyone could tell me what they think my chances are and whether or not I would receive any merit scholarship. I'm a white male from NY, not sure what I want to major in but probably either Psychology, Political Science or History (I'd apply to Dietrich obviously). Unweighted GPA of 3.9, I'm about 50th in a class of ~320 but I think my school is doing away with class rankings this year. SAT composite is 2080 (660 M, 740 CR, 680 WR) - I've taken it twice and probably will again in the fall. I'm signed up to take the ACT next month as well as Math I and U.S. History Subject Tests. By the time I graduate I'll have seven APs: World History (sophomore), English Language (junior), U.S. History (junior), Psychology (senior), Stats (senior), Euro (senior), and English Lit (senior). I've been an elected member of student council through high school and have also been a part of the student newspaper, this year I became chief editor. Was a member of the Mock Trial team for two years before it disbanded. Became a Link Leader this year. I play two instruments, one of them in a by-audition school ensemble. Self-published a fantasy novel a couple years ago which I've exhibited at a local event, don't know if that counts for anything.</p>
<p>@DocOC97 I don’t think you’ll have any trouble being accepted based on your grades, test scores and rigor. Based on what this years applicants were posting, I’m afraid you may not get any merit aid, or if you do it would be minimal. I would just apply early and get all of your transcripts etc submitted as quickly as possible. Good luck! </p>
<p>Lol you’re definitely in. I have a friend with a gpa lower than a 3.5 and he got in (though his SAT score was crazy amazing). I’m not sure about the merit aid though</p>
<p>I’d accept you if I were a Pitt AO. You have a lot going for you. I don’t think it’s a question. Merit is iffy for almost anyone at Pitt. Usually Pitt offers merit in 5K bunches from 5-15K. Full tuition is probably not a possibility. It wouldn’t have been this year. Pitt will ask you to estimate your rank as a percentage. You can lie, of course, but the AOs will have some idea of where you are ranked based on past experience with your h.s. My D’s h.s. had no ranking, so she guessed based on what exactly I don’t know. It’s not like she was almost valedictorian. Apply early and you will have your first admission letter.</p>
<p>1450 seemed to be the cutoff for merit this year, and each year it seems to increase. Pitt says they have a cutoff of rank at 5%, but I have reason to believe they will consider other factors in addition to rank if your school doesn’t rank.</p>
<p>actually, last year’s cutoff was higher than 1450 cause that’s what my kid had. the lowest SAT’s for merit aid I remember seeing on CC were around 1500; maybe there was a 1480 with a 5k in-state scholarship. I agree with everyone. Getting admitted-check. merit aid, not so sure. even if you pull up scores, the class rank will hurt. even if ur school does away with it, it’s such a recent change, my guess is pitt can figure out an approximation if they wanted to. mine had a 33 ACT too but in your case, the 33 ACT is better than your SAT and that may get you in merit range and even though it’s not officially looked at, you hustled to have a better ACT than SAT, which to me, sounds like a plus. for him, the ACT and SAT were almost a tie. I think 33 was the minimum score pitt noted on their website last year although it is a guideline rather than an absolute minimum (eg a kid with an ACT of 32 might still get merit aid, in fact, i think at least one kid with a 32 got merit aid although he or she may also have been a valedictorian). Mine did not have the 5 on AP scores(or any AP classes at all; availability was an issue ) so you def have an edge on him with the AP classes, not to mention the 5’s. Great job there! He did not take subject tests so your willingness to take them is also a plus over him. his class rank percentage was quite a bit higher than yours though and that is or at least was one of factors pitt looks at. Editor, mock trial, lots of writing all look good. He can play several lower brass instruments so you guys are in same range for musical instruments. his big ec was acting with lead parts his sophomore and junior year and been acting since a kid(I think he had 15 shows under his belt when he applied and he def made pitt aware of this and how much he loved to act). He was not in student council. i hope this helps. You two look very even in a number of ways, you look more like a hustler, which is a big plus, your AP’s look good, and he’s got you on class rank. I suspect he just missed merit aid. and i think there were other kids who did not even get in the scholarship pool who had class ranks between the top ten and top 15 percent. Also, it’s been getting tougher by the year for merit aid or so the rumor goes and we don’t have the stats for the class of 2015 yet. he loved pitt too! R us his twin brother i never knew about ;)</p>
<p>You are correct, @ctl987. 1450 is Pitt’s stated cutoff. Contrary to your experience, however, my D wasn’t much above 1450 and rec’d more than the minimum. Then she petitioned based on a research addition to her resumé and rec’d more. Go figure. I recommend re-taking the SAT and studying like mad to get that number above 1450 or 1470. Of course, going into the exam with a number in mind may be counterproductive, unless the number is 1600. Know which kinds of problems you get wrong on the SAT and work to eliminate them as problems.</p>
<p>General rule of thumb: the APs don’t matter to merit or admission. As to rank, I called Pitt last fall and asked what Pitt would do about rank since D’s hs hasn’t ranked in recent history if at all. AO said they had enough apps from her hs that they have an idea where D fits in the mix of all the apps from her hs.</p>
<p>well dococ,good news from jkeil there then! Glad to hear that jkeil! i thought 1500 seemed high for the poor kids but that’s what i remembered seeing. Glad someone under that got in!!! My kid was not big on the study to pull the sat above 1450 plan!!! he felt his 1450 was just fine and let the pieces fall where they may. of course, by then, pitt was his second choice; had it been his top choice, he may have been more motivated to work harder on pulling his score up. I was a much bigger advocate of the study and retake plan! and agreed, a lot of the kids posting here are high scoring kids so they could probably teach me. but i’d say to them just work on your “weak” areas and not necc the whole test. and weak is a relative term for many of you. don’t forget a lot of kids would love to have your weaker scores and don’t underestimate your abilities in this process or judge yourself by a score. </p>
<p>dococ, i wanted to add if you retook SAT and could get it to at least 34, that can only help. there were a number of kids with 34 ACT’s who got merit aid. but even with that, you still have class rank issue… good luck! and take jkeil’s comments about AP’s over mine; i’ve seen his posts over the last year and he is more knowledgable than i am about Pitt. </p>
<p>Thanks so much for the info! I saw on Pitt’s website that the cutoff was 1450 on the SAT or 33 on the ACT - do they tend to prefer one over the other when it comes to merit aid?</p>
<p>@ctl987, as to the 1450, who would have thought that wouldn’t be enough? I was shocked repeatedly by the rejections my D rec’d. I had no idea, even after months on CC, how competitive the world of elite schools and merit aid is. I said to my D that her one weakness might have been her 690 in M and maybe I should have suggested that she re-take the SAT, and she said there was no way she was going to study for that test again. Who can blame her, or your son, for that response. It seemed ridiculous at the time those scores came out. Tell me again, please, where he went. I wish you all the best.</p>
<p>jkeil, no not totally on the 1450, it was the minimum score noted on pitt;s webisite and they were pretty clear there were no guarantees all along. My kid made a deliberate choice to not retest and increase his odds; that was his call and he is happy with that decision one year later. i do agree the stats have gotten crazy high just about everywhere though. He could not believe that score was too low for serious ivy league contention and decided the heck with that, no Ivies for me. i would have loved a 1450 back in my day!!! too funny our kids balked at this whole retest concept!!! Mine starts at Temple next month and can’t wait to head to Philly!!! </p>
<p>dococ, since your ACT is better than the SAT, Pitt will use your ACt score and not consider your SAT scores. i asked a very similar question to yours last year and that was response I got from Pitt. </p>
I saw on Pitt’s website that the cutoff was 1450 on the SAT or 33 on the ACT - do they tend to prefer one over the other when it comes to merit aid?</p>