<p>Over the last 8 months, Pittsburgh has been my number one choice. I was confident I would get accepted, and I did get offered a spot in the Swanson School of Engineering. However, two days ago, I received my financial aid package via mail. I WAS OFFERED 0 DOLLARS IN AWARDS AND AID. I know my stats are not amazing, but I figured it would help cut down the 34,000 tuition for OOS. I called to verify, and sure enough, I was confirmed I am expected to pay 34k a year.</p>
<p>Has anyone else had a rough financial break? I really thought I could pull a little money.... but now Im probably stuck going to UTK with the rest of the crowd :(</p>
<p>-Live in Tennessee, public school
-Parents make 120k combined
-31 ACT one sitting
-3.5 UW GPA
-Most rigorous schedule my school can offer
-Varsity Ice hockey, loads of community service, and started my own business profiting over $18,000 and counting. (not intended to boast, just to show its the real deal)</p>
<p>maybe they thought with your financially successful business you are financially able to swing the OOS tuition? </p>
<p>but seriously- sorry to hear that and I think things will probably work out great for you at UT.</p>
<p>What was your EFC? Based on your parent’s income, I would’ve thought you would have gotten something. Your stats are nice too.</p>
<p>rmac, you think the OP would have gotten aid based on parental income of $120,000? I’m not seeing that.</p>
<p>Way back, when I started this journey with my daughter five years ago, one of the biggest shocks to me was discovering that out-of-state public universities are probably the worst deal for most people. Far more expensive that I could have imagined, and with very little (or no) aid forthcoming, these schools see OOS students as cash cows. Sad but true. You’re living proof, unfortunately.</p>
<p>Your parents seem to make a solid income. Do they have anything set aside for you? Or are there other siblings in college or soon to go?</p>
<p>I feel your pain. Pitt was one of my top choices because they gave me the PT guarantee and I loved the campus and city but I got nothing! My parents want to take it out of the running but I still want to go. I’m from California so the OOS tuition and the traveling back and forth is going to be pricey.</p>
<p>I do not know what EFC is :/.</p>
<p>And I am not trying to sound arrogant, but I figured 120k combined income would fit in the average category for a school like PITT. (GUESS)</p>
<p>And also, my “business” is just a landscaping company that I operate, and wont be profiting after August (leaving for college).</p>
<p>I hate UTK…</p>
<p>Does anyone know if its my stats? Average male applicant? I thought id provoke some interest and bring diversity to the campus, since I was born and raised in TN, but I suppose not.</p>
<p>If you read through the scholarship threads, you will see who got what and who didn’t. You might be getting the $4,000 a year Swanson scholarship though (for engineering students). You should look into that.</p>
<p>EFC is the “expected family contribution,” and it’s a number generated by the FAFSA after you fill it out. The EFC is, roughly, the amount your family is expected to pay for your education each year. Did your family fill out FAFSA?</p>
<p>OOS kids rarely get any financial aid except loans. We found that out with our first kid - and we had a low EFC at the time. You really need to get merit money and for that, it really depends on the school and what stats they are looking for. Geographic diversity should help in admissions but not necessarily in merit, which tends to be based more on academics. I don’t know what Pitt looks for - some schools post the stats on their websites but I dont recall seeing anything for Pitt. I think many of the honors kids sitting near us received $10,000/yr scholarships (OOS kids). In state kids received less because tuition is less.</p>
<p>Leftoversman, if you don’t know what the acronym EFC means, did your parents fill out and file the FAFSA? (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) If that document was never submitted, Pitt will NOT be awarding any financial aid, regardless of your family’s income or assets. Having said that, it’s doubtful that Pitt would award any financial aid to an OOS student with a parental income of $120K, and I have to assume that your landscaping enterprise has generated some assets in your name, if it’s done as well as you state.</p>
<p>Jerzgrlmom - That’s correct, the $10K OOS merit award becomes a $2K IS merit award. I think that Pitt keeps its scholarship data somewhat close to the chest because they really don’t know from one year to the next what their applicant pool will look like. For example, the threshold for the full tuition scholarship appears to have shifted up about 80 points on the two part SAT in just three years. In 2008, pretty much anybody with a 1450 SAT score, equivalent GPA (around >3.7UW), and top 10% class rank was getting the full tuition scholarship. This year, based solely on what I’ve heard here on CC, that SAT threshold seems to be about a 1530. (URM status does have an impact on those thresholds)</p>
<p>your 31 ACT is equivalent to a high 1300s SAT CR/M score which is probably a bit under the threshhold for scholarship. As someone mentioned above, you also need to have a good class rank</p>
<p>by the way current PITT tuition for Swanson OOS is $25,932 not $34,000. That number may go up next year. </p>
<p>I think your stats were more or less a “match” for Pitt so that you did not qualify for scholarships. Had you applied to a school like WVU you would likely have gotten some nice scholarship.</p>
<p>Wish my son (who got a 1450 SAT) was born a couple of years earlier! He did get the $10K OOS award which is definitely helpful and could very well make the difference between attending Pitt and his other choices (BU, NYU). I’m guessing a $120K parental income is roughly a $20 to $25K EFC. With OSS tuition around $25K and room/board around $9-$10K, I would expect he would recieve something close to the room/board amount. But it’s all guess work even if we knew the EFC. His 31 ACT would need to be a 33 ACT (equivalent to 1450 SAT CR+M) I think to qualify for the $10K merit.</p>
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<p>I think the OP is talking about total cost of attendance, which would be around $34,000 a year (tuition + room + board).</p>
<p>Yes we did FAFSA etc, and EFC was around 19k according to it. I appreciate all the comments and now I understand my goals/expectations were too high…</p>
<p>I am waiting on Ohio State, Boston University, and UTK to send me financial papers. Then, I am going to file the revaluation form PITT mailed me, showing the amounts awarded from each school. Pretty much my last hope haha :(</p>
<p>($8,700 ACT scholarship from OSU upfront, $2,500 UTK upfront)</p>
<p>Now, this gets a little awkward seeing as there are those who’ve gotten really great aid from Pitt. I’m an out of stater myself (from the Chicagoland area). Just for a quick stat breakdown:</p>
<p>4.5 Weighted GPA, 3.9 UW
35 ACT, 12 Writing
800 Math II, 800 Physics SAT II
Parents make ~190k a year
Varsity football, cross country, and track.
Did not send in teacher recs to Pitt. Applied to Swanson</p>
<p>I applied back in November and got my acceptance within 3 weeks. More relevant to this discussion was the full OOS tuition they gave me for each year. From the financial standpoint, you are a lot more eligible for help than I am. There is a disparity in stats, but not enough to justify the huge difference in money. I know I’m not alone because I’ve seen similar stories to mine in the decisions thread.</p>
<p>I can’t say for sure, but applying earlier seemed to have helped. I also forgot to mention that when I applied, I did not have FAFSA filed (wasn’t available until the New Year anyway).</p>
<p>Definitely go the re-evaluation though. Good luck!</p>
<p>I think you’re confusing Merit Scholarships with grants. Merit Scholarships (the full tuition scholarship you received) is based on your academic stats (and maybe ECs too). Merit Scholarships have nothing to do with financial need - so FAFSA doesn’t matter… Financial need is separate and OOS students rarely get grants to meet their need (exceptions at UVA, UNC, etc). Most OOS students receive loans to meet “some” or all of their need.</p>
<p>Yeah, you’re right. Disregard what I’m saying.</p>
<p>In engineering, UTK is roughly equal to Pitt; that won’t be an issue. If your point is to get out of the house, then live on campus; still cheaper than OOS at Pitt. UTK is big enough and diverse enough that you should have no trouble meeting new people.</p>
<p>Speaking of diversity, Knoxville is very similar to Pittsurgh and Eastern Tennessee is also quite similar to Western and Central PA. Goes all the way back to the Civil War. Your stats are good, but there is a rule of thumb that 1450 SAT is needed for OOS merit scholarships. Beyond that, Pitt doesn’t give much aid.</p>
<p>32 in English
33 in Math
One sitting</p>
<p>Is that close to 1450 converted to SAT?</p>
<p>leftoverman – did you have to ask Pitt to mail you this “revaluation” form or did it come with your award letter? Mine didn’t have one in it. What is the actual name on the form if I need to call and ask them for it?</p>