<p>Excellent advice there, mercymom! My third child will start at Pitt in the fall, and I've learned what you said along the way with #1 and #2. Your child will benefit from college just as much as they care to put in to it. . . whether it's Harvard, Pitt, or your local community college. Initiative makes success, not the gpa or class rank or elite prep school of the student you sit next to in class.</p>
<p>Mercymom - I'm suprised and sorry that your daughter's friend had a bad experience at Rice - but it is highly unusual (as shown by the high graduation and retention rate...) In general, is is a very welcoming, friendly, supportive, inclusive, non-competitive and laid-back place, and the residential colleges system encourages all to participate. (DD is a rising junior there - and has had a wonderful positive experience.) Since there are so many different types of kids there, it seems unusual that noone wanted to be her friend... maybe there were other issues going on as well.. :( I hope she is doing better at her new school.
On another issue, my son is looking for a engineering / sciency program and we received info in the mail from pitt. He has low leadership and ECs, but top 2% class rank (6/450), 690v/800M/730w, Chem 800, MathllC 780, hardest courseload, Chem AP 5, USHIST 4, and we're wondering if he might be able to get a scholarship with those stats.</p>
<p>Anxiousmom, I was rather surprised by the unhappy girl at Rice, too. Perhaps something else was at work there. We have relatives with a daughter who just graduated from Rice and she loved every minute of it. D did not tell us this story until after Pittstart was over, so I don't know if it affected her decision or not. I do know that she fell in love with Pitt and the city during her visit and interview, and after she came home I could tell that her "list" had been mentally rearranged with Pitt no. 1 and it didn't vary much after that.</p>
<p>For what it's worth we also know of two other kids in Pittsburgh who love being there. One graduated from CMU in musical theater and the other is currently at Point Park majoring in dance. The dancer's mom said her D was sold the second she set foot in town, so maybe there is just something very student friendly about Pittsburgh in general.</p>
<p>Anxiousmom
For Scholarship review at the University of Pittsburgh you have to have a 1400 on the SAT (top Math and top Crit Reading) or a 32 ACT AND you also need to be in the top 5% of your graduating class. These scores and grades do not guarantee you to get scholarship it just means you will be reviewed for scholarship. </p>
<p>Your child sounds like they would be reviewed and have a really good chance of getting scholarship. They could also be in the running then for the Chancellors Scholarship (full tuition, room, & board).</p>
<p>Good Luck</p>