Denied, hoping for reconsideration

<p>I was recently denied acceptance to Main Campus, however, I was offered admission to Pitt Johnstown. I do NOT want to attend a branch campus by any means. So, I have been in contact with an admissions rep and asked if I could send in updated 1st marking period grades and updated test scores. </p>

<p>The admissions counselor said I could and that one thing that was holding me back was my test scores. I have been scoring in the 20 range for the ACT (SAT's was even worse) So, I took the ACT again and went from an 18 to a 25 in math, however, my reading and English are still in the 20-21 range. </p>

<p>My GPA this marking period is higher than my cumulative GPA at a 3.3. I have a challenging course load for my senior year. 1 AP (first AP of my high school career) and 2 Honors classes (have taken in the past).</p>

<p>I have also sent in a great resume because I am highly involved with numerous leadership experiences. With awesome letters of recommendations!!</p>

<p>Do you think this is enough to be accepted into Main Campus... I also stressed in my "reconsideration" email how badly I want to attend Pitt and it has always been my number one choice! Any suggestions to help my application to hopefully be admitted to my top university??</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>We need more information. What was your GPA, and ACT score? Pitt seems largely interested in those, while extras do help.</p>

<p>Cumulative NGA - 86%
Cumulative GPA - 3.3</p>

<p>ACT Superscore- 22
English - 21
Reading - 20
Math - 25
Science 22</p>

<p>And tons of extracurriculars!</p>

<p>Retake the ACT. Aim for a 25 composite. You should be able to bring up English by practice.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, Pitt cares more about grades and ACT scores than a resume. Those can help, especially for scholarships and special programs, but they are really looking for strong academics.</p>

<p>Retake your ACT that is definitely what is holding you back from the main campus. Also your GPA is fine but could be higher especially since your course load(1 AP and 2 Honors) is not very rigorous. I agree with hugoblack, aim for at least a 25 on the ACT and try to appeal.</p>

<p>yea, aim for at least 25 on the ACT. also, i don’t know what your SAT scores were, but honestly if your school has a program for it or you can afford it, getting a good tutor helps so much. my writing and reading SATs were fine but my math was in the 500s the first 2 times I took it and then i got a tutor and it shot up to somewhere in the high 600s. one of the best decisions i ever made.</p>

<p>d’s good friend had a 3.9 unweighted and 22 ACT not superscored and got rejected to Pitt main and offered Johnstown with very impressive extas for extra curriculars</p>

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<p>Your GPA and your ACT are actually holding you back. For the freshman class of 2011, 83% of those offered admission had a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher. Only 10% had a GPA between 3.25 and 3.49. </p>

<p>Of those same freshman offered admission, 91% of them had an ACT superscore of 24+. I know many here said to aim for a 25, but that is barely above the 24+ cutoff, and the bottom 25th percentile of applications had a 25 on their composite ACT. I’m sure this was balanced out by <em>many</em> things like a super high GPA plus recs and activities.</p>

<p>Bottom line: You need to either increase your ACT a lot and your GPA marginally, or your GPA a lot and your ACT marginally. Only increasing your ACT won’t help your chances of admission much.</p>

<p>Source: <a href=“http://www.ir.pitt.edu/cds/documents/CDS2010-11PittsburghCampus.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ir.pitt.edu/cds/documents/CDS2010-11PittsburghCampus.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;