<p>I'm going to be a senior in high school and I'm looking into Pitt as my first choice school. I've gotten 6 emails from them so far. I'm not sure if they are legitimate or how much they really mean when it comes to my chances of being admitted.</p>
<p>Some exclusive benefits that they have offered are an admission decision in 21 days, priority scholarship consideration, priority review for admission to graduate programs, priority consideration for the honors college, and my online personalized application. They have also stated various things such as I would have a lot to gain from a Pitt education and that I not only have the intelligence but also the exemplary motivation and drive to succeed. They have also said they are interested in not only my numbers but my own benefits from their programs and that my work ethic sets me apart from peers.</p>
<p>This is a brief overview of the content of the emails that they have sent. As I previously stated, this school is my first choice so I have started the online application and I want more than anything to be admitted.</p>
<p>If this makes a difference, my weighted GPA is a 4.010 and unweighted is around 3.8. My first and only SAT score consists of (CR: 540, M: 570, W: 480). With these low SAT scores, I'm wondering why put would think I'm such a strong candidate for their school. I am retaking them later on in hopes of improvement.</p>
<p>Overall, my question is what triggered the special status and does anything within these emails indicate a good chance of me being admitted?</p>
<p>Usually colleges purchase PSAT or SAT data to send these types of marketing materials if you checked ‘yes’ that you allow mailings. Do be glad you get a priority application (not so much if you have to still pay an application fee) but don’t take any remarks personally, they don’t have your application yet and don’t know anything about you.</p>
<p>You might want to wait to apply until you retake your SAT. They list testing as ‘very important’ on their common data set. Your Scores put you around the bottom 25%. In the SAT - preparation subforum there are prep tips from silverturtle and xiggi that people find very helpful. </p>
<p>Didn’t you post something similar just a few weeks ago.
I guess you don’t like the answer.
You will just be a statistic of “rejected” by Pitt unless you get your SAT up to Pitt standards.<br>
They need to pump up their stats for rankings is why they want you to apply.
You are a perfect example of grade inflation at some HS.</p>
<p>Just to expand on Chicago - it’s one of the top Universities in the world and they inundate high school students who have no realistic chance with emailed and mailed invitations to apply and other materials. They might be casting a wide net but cynically, it appears they just want to get their admission rate down to that of peer schools.</p>
<p>Chelsea,
Look at all the threads you started, etc about the same thing.
The definition of insanity on CC is posting the same thing over and over again hoping for a different result!!!
You are getting the same answers over and over again (opposite of what you want to hear).</p>
<p>@quakerstake:
Well, for several decades, U of Chicago was doing the opposite of playing the rankings game that many colleges have engaged in (for decades) by almost deliberately keeping a high admissions rate by deterring applicants with it’s “Uncommon” application with offbeat essay questions which could not be easily repositioned for other schools and cultivating its reputation as “where fun goes to die”. For a long time, the U of C was a great value buy because it had the biggest disconnect among the elite privates between its admission rate and success of its graduates (top 5 in terms of producing PhD’s per capita among research universities–could be first of #2; can’t remember–and salaries that are as good as any other Ivy/Ivy-equivalent; compare it’s alumni salaries 10-19 years out with the same numbers for Princeton & Harvard alums, for instance; then take in to account that the U of C still has a greater proportion of alums in the Midwest than those 2 schools while those 2 schools have a greater proportion of alums on the East Coast, where salaries are at least 10-20% higher for the same job, in general).</p>
<p>I don’t know about the U of C’s current marketing practices, but if they’re playing the admissions games, they’re just doing something its private peers started doing long ago (and it’s not something that alums of the College are all that fond of, but too many people–on the Coasts, especailly–obsess over rankings, so I can see the rationale).
BTW, I didn’t go there for undergrad.</p>
<p>I don’t dispute that Chicago is one of the world’s top Universities. However, they’ve been playing “admissions games” for several years now, sending weekly emails, letters, brochures, etc. to high school students who really have no shot. It’s worked: </p>
<p>“Several universities, including Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania, had admission rates this year that were less than half of those from a decade ago. The University of Chicago’s rate plummeted to a little over 8 percent, from more than 40 percent.” </p>
<p>Yep, that looks like that is due to a switch from deliberately being anti-gaming in the past (when its peers had already started gaming in different various ways) to the current day when the U of C games as hard as anyone.</p>
<p>Other colleges also do/did stuff like include only the entrance stats for some of its undergraduate colleges (Columbia) and maintaining giant waitlists (there was a college, I can’t remember which, when I was looking on its Parchment scatterplot, that looked to have a much higher number of its most competitive applicants waitlisted than its peers). Other colleges encouraged their admits to take the SAT again to get a higher score. Other colleges also lied about their SAT average.</p>
<p>Don’t act as if the U of Chicago is the only school that tries to game the system.</p>
<p>I didn’t mean to digress from the OP’s question. To the OP: If you want to apply to Pitt and they’re offering you a “preferred” application and waiving the application fee, it seems fine to take advantage of the free application. If they are waiving required essays, you probably want to submit them anyway to bolster your application where your stats wouldn’t get you in by themselves (and anyone looking for merit scholarships would be wise to submit them). I just would not take the “preferred” application offer alone as an indication that you have any advantage getting in. </p>
<p>Thanks for the responses! We called the admissions office today just to inquire about it. She said that I got the special status because my SAT scores fit into a range that was considered a good fit for Pitt. I know this doesn’t guarantee admission, but she said that certainly not everyone gets the status either. She also said that we, having the special status could apply earlier than most, which would increase our chances because there won’t be thousands of applicants early on. Whether it means something or not, at least it’s something and I will take advantage of the offer and hope for the best.</p>
<p>Best of luck with Pitt. Pitt is a rolling admissions school so it definitely is advantageous to get the application in early. However, if they are committing to getting admissions decisions out within 21 days, that is new. In the past, they had not begun sending out admissions decisions out until October and applying in September would be early enough. Also, in past years, many applicants received notice in October that decisions on their applications would be deferred until Pitt could receive first semester grades and/or improved SAT scores. </p>
<p>I would agree with the suggestion that if you can, you should improve your SAT (or perhaps try the ACT and see if you do better) before applying. While your SAT (and probably other information they received from your College Board form) put you within range to be invited to apply, based on past years, you would need higher SATs to be accepted (absent a hook). They probably have a very broad range of scores for which invitations are sent out (to increase their applications and unfortunately lower their acceptance rate). Applying right now, a rejection would be possible and a deferral probably would be the best result. (In some cases, Pitt offers admission to a branch campus but I presume that is not what you would want.)</p>
<p>My son applied to Pitt late with those type of scores and was still admitted. He got a free app for applying while on the school tour. Than being said, it was risky applying as late as he did with those test scores and I think that you do have to apply early and with a special status to get your application fee waived. That in itself is a nice little savings. </p>
<p>Pitt has become much more selective these days and yes, applying early gives you a bit of a boost. Your test scores are low for Pitt, for admissions even, so you are highly unlikely to get into the Honors College, though you may qualify for some Honors courses that give you some such privileges. Your grades are good, and if you are taking a challenging set of courses that would give you a boost. </p>
<p>I would not, however, put much weight on that email. My son’s getting enough of these to really fuel a bonfire. And I know he’s not a viable candidate for some of those schools. It’s pure marketing.</p>
<p>If you don’t mind me asking, what year did you son apply and get into Pitt? I’m taking all AP classes my senior year and my GPA will probably increase as a result. Does Pitt typically accept applications starting in August and give people a decision in December if they don’t have special status?</p>
<p>I applied using the Pitt Prestige application last year (I got what sounds like the exact same thing you got), and regret doing so. I was an OOS applicant, but I applied in hopes of some scholarships (tbh, I was hoping for a near full ride). After learning that my friends and I (who all applied with the Pitt Prestige app) were accepted into the Honors College, we were expecting some scholarship news; I called in February-ish and they told me that they weren’t giving me a scholarship as they had nothing other than a short list of my EC’s, my transcript, and my SAT score. I offered to send in some writing supplements and a resume, sent the stuff, waited three weeks, called back, and they told me that while my work was top tier they weren’t allowed to give me a scholarship and were sorry I didn’t apply through the regular app. </p>