My D received a scholarship but was not from a top public school, rather a small rural school. She was always a high achieving student and did not frontload multiple APs, take online classes or play ranking games. She took the AP classes our school offered and that interested her. She had a 99.8 % unweighted GPA and high test scores because of her hard work, nothing else.
I just received a letter today from Pitt that told me I was eligible for the Honors College, but nothing about any merit scholarships yet… does this mean that I’m not eligible to apply to them at this point? Is Pitt even still giving scholarships at this point, or do I not have a chance anymore? Not to sound conceited but I’m from a highly selective public school in NYC, probably top 5% of class, 2360 SAT, 3 SAT II tests, etc. Do I still have a chance? Thanks!!!
Did your letter also say that your admission file is also being reviewed by the Scholarship Committee, and if you are eligible, you will susequently receive written notification?
@luciagrande, Scholarship award letters are going out weekly through March 1st.
Best,
A Pitt Admissions Staffer
@hailtopitt1787, Hello are there minimum requirements for diversity scholarships such as a minimum GPA and or standardized test scores?
@jules821, See my response to this question where you posted it in the other thread. 
Best,
A Pitt Admissions Staffer
@hailtopitt1787, I have posted less than 10 times on CC and to my knowledge, I only spoke with a student who posted that she was a recipient of the diversity scholarship. I congratulated her and wanted to know if she was a student of color. Did I speak directly with you on this issue? In any event, I would appreciate a direct response from you regarding the specific requirements for a diversity scholarship, if any, since you are with Pitt admissions. I promise not to ask again!
see post #385 on the Acceptance 2016 thread
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pittsburgh/1811699-2016-acceptances.html#latest
@jules821, I shared the requirements with you as listed on our site in the 2016 Acceptances thread. Those are the base guidelines for all scholarships, including diversity scholarships.
In addition to the standard eligibility criteria, a student is eligible for a diversity scholarship if they are a member of a historically underrepresented group. Hope that helps clarify! There is further information on the web links I shared with you.
If you have further questions about our scholarships, please feel free to contact our office.
Best,
A Pitt Admissions Staffer
@hailtopitt1787 @mommdc, thank you for sending me to the answer. I am new to CC so when I send a comment and I don’t see it post right away, I assume it was not sent. Resent it on this thread without seeing the earlier response. Thank you both!
yes, it was glitchy today, you couldn’t see it post until you refreshed.
I don’t think that @mammabearx3 meant her comment as an insult. There are all sorts of things that students do to get a high class rank. Some are genuine and straightforward, like your D choosing classes she is interested in and excelling in them. But unfortunately, some gamesmanship does occur–and large public high schools have lots of opportunities to do so because of the large number and types of classes available. At my kids’ school, one of the popular ways to “protect” a top 5% rank (as a junior or senior) is to take a study hall rather than an unweighted elective.
We are in PA, so the Pitt in-state scholarships that require top 5% are a goal for a number of kids. For years, students and parents have complained that the school district’s current method of calculating GPA is actually a disincentive for students to take an elective that they really like (such as art or music) along with their 4 or 5 or 6 AP and honors classes. Fortunately, the district is changing the way they compute GPAs starting with the 2016-17 school year. I hope it will make the ranking process less inflammatory.
@jules821, Glad you were able to find the info!
Best,
A Pitt Admissions Staffer
This is exactly what I was alluding to. Thank you for clarifying my thought so precisely. @luckycharms913
$60k scholarship, 4.0 UW, 6.2 W, 33 ACTE + ACTM, accepted to school of engineering, out-of-state
Wow, congrats! Didn’t know Pitt has $60k scholarship. Is that for one year? The cost of attendance is only $44k for out of state.
I just got a merit scholarship of $15K per year and am a bit disappointed. As an OOS student, I will not be able to afford UPitt now and was actually really looking forward to attending if I got a full tuition scholarship. Is there anyway I can appeal my scholarship offer? I think somebody already answered this question, but I can’t find it.
It seems that Pitt is much more competitive this year. There are applicants with a full-tuition scholarship but without the invitation for Chancellor’s Scholarship. You probably try to convince Pitt for a full-tuition scholarship with your stellar accomplishments and potentials. If you are highly interested in medicine and health-related subjects, you may think twice before going to somewhere else. By the way, did you get the invitation for GAP? GL
There is a process for merit award recipients (write/call admissions to ask what process is) to show that you have competing merit offers from similarly ranked universities/colleges and they will review and respond pretty quickly if they are able to increase your award BUT it would not be (afaik) to the level of full tuition. You need to show offer letters and they will look at COA not $ merit - eg a larger merit award at a more expensive school doesn’t matter - what matters is final net COA of another school. We did this successfully with dd2 who is a
current jr.
Also if you are in engineering, aren’t there possible other scholarships in addition to honors college scholarships?