<p>jsmathwiz: I assume if you are matched for Questbridge it would be your first choice? One of DS’ friend is waiting to hear if she is matched. </p>
<p>Congrats and it is always nice to have many options :)</p>
<p>Mom24boys, my daughter received a similar letter from the chancellor a few weeks after she received her acceptance to UHC. She has received no notice of a merit award, although the acceptance letter stated her file would be reviewed by a Scholarship Committee.
My concern is the committee may have reviewed her file before receiving all of her supplemental materials, such as description of extracurriculars, awards, essay and letters of recommendation. Her letter of acceptance arrived several weeks after it was dated, and she had not sent in her materials until several weeks after the date of the letter.
I have no idea how the process works, for example, if materials are received later would her application be reconsidered by the committee for possible merit aid?
It seems her stats (1540 M+CR) and 4.1/4.3 (school does not calculate UW gpa or rank) might put her in the running for something. She is in-state, however, and it appears most of the awards posted thus far are for OOS applicants.
Good luck.</p>
<p>My son just received a scholarship letter today. He gets full tuition and has been invited to compete for the Chancellor scholarship. </p>
<p>He is in the top 1%, 33 ACT, and has a couple of EC’s that are unique.</p>
<p>PITT wants to promote their merit scholarships and guaranteed graduate programs to prospective high(er) caliber applicants, but not all that effectively it seems. The process is simple for the most part (just one app), except that candiadates who do not provide the optional recommendations, essay, list of leaderships/accomplishments, etc. are really undermining their chances. Also, given the minimal “formal requirements”, applications become “complete” w/o the optionals and may get sent to scholarship/graduate committees too soon.</p>
<p>I explicitly searched and found some information on merit scholarships - Name, #Available, $Amount, Requirments, etc. (click on the weblink below). Hopefully it will answer some of the questions folks have and reduce the angst somewhat.</p>
<p>[University</a> of Pittsburgh - A World of Possibilities](<a href=“http://www.pitt.edu/~oafa/world/support.html]University”>http://www.pitt.edu/~oafa/world/support.html)</p>
<p>The paper application actually names most of the scholarships explicitly, but we did not come across the same during DD’s on-line application process. See <a href=“http://www.oafa.pitt.edu/pdf/FreshmanApplication.pdf[/url]”>http://www.oafa.pitt.edu/pdf/FreshmanApplication.pdf</a></p>
<p>I seem to recall from previous years, if you send additional material, you can ask for another review of your file. If you applied during the summer, they gave a date of Oct. 15th as the due date for all additional material (LORS etc.). </p>
<p>Every year there are top stat students who do not get the full tuition scholarship. It is difficult to know what Pitt is looking for this year. The bar for awarding scholarships is not fixed but seem to move up or down depending upon the student. I hope the letter arrives sooner rather than later for all those waiting. Everyday I log-on hoping to hear good news from those who are waiting.</p>
<p>PLMEdad,
That is our concern – my daughter’s app may have been reviewed for merit award before her teachers sent in their recs (in November!), and possibly before she sent in her essays, etc. She filled out a paper application during a visit to Pitt this summer, and it seems her college counselor sent in transcripts, etc. in early October. Admissions must have rendered a decision immediately thereafter, as my daughter received her acceptance in the mail on the same day she emailed the supplemental materials.
Although my daughter’s stats are good (A avg, 2340 SAT, local and national awards, NMSF, etc), she did not assume acceptance or merit at Pitt or any other school, given the competitive admissions climate. She put together a strong application, but the pieces seemed to have arrived at Pitt in drips and drabs.</p>
<p>Thank you, MTnest. Perhaps my daughter should contact admissions and ask for a review - we’re not even sure her file has been reviewed yet for merit. She is our first child to go through this process, and, oh, how things have changed in 30 years!! </p>
<p>Again, good luck to everyone waiting!</p>
<p>OHDavid: It never hurts to ask! </p>
<p>We were totally clueless when our older child went through the college application process 5 years ago. We are so much more ready this go-around :)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Your scholarship from SSOE is an Alumni scholarship. That means that either Donald Henderson or his legacy is directly paying for your tuition. This scholarship <em>can</em> be stacked with ones from other areas of the University (i.e. with a UHC scholarship). I did that my junior/senior year to create essentially a full ride between UHC money and SSOE money.</p>
<p>OHDavid: situation here is similar in many ways. Only child - top stats, awards, internships, research, etc. Main attractions are 1) medicine guarantee and 2) possbile merit scholarship (every little bit helps in a 8 year plan). Wouldn’t dare make assumptions about either - given how competitive things are these days (unfortunately ORM too). </p>
<p>DD received notification for Pre-med / UHC last week (1-week turn-around). Difficulty is not knowing how long to wait before worrying or calling them about merit & guart’d med. Currently, DD plans to wait till mid Dec when her ED result comes out, before checking in with PITT.</p>
<p>Hope your daughter gets the good news next week. Please post an update if possible.</p>
<p>PLMEdad,
I’ll definitely post any updates. I agree any help is welcome, especially given the distinct possibility of graduate/professional school.</p>
<p>Regarding the letter from the chancellor, I received one two weeks ago and received a full tuition offer yesterday</p>
<p>Ditto with GoldenGirl. I got a letter from the chancellor the same day I got full- tuition. So there is still a chance it just hasn’t arrived yet!</p>
<p>GoldenGirl and goodautumn - were you both also invited to apply for the Chancellor Scholarship? Just wondering if everyone given full tuition received the invite.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies. Has any one gotten any merit who falls outside the top 5%? DS is only applying to one reach (and has no clear 1st choice school) and Pitt without merit is already high on his list.</p>
<p>DD got $12000 yesterday. She is in top 5% but only has 32 ACT. We thought she would need at least a 33. 3 years ago DS got full tuition and was not in the top 5%, probably top 8%, but he had a 1530 Math, CR SAT.</p>
<p>Mom24boys: I wish I had an answer to your question based on my analysis, but others may find what I cobbled together interesting. I wonder if prior years’ results threads might provide any insight on selectivity based on class rank %.</p>
<p>Straw-man Selectivity Funnel for Chancellor’s scholarships:</p>
<p>1) Total PITT Applicants = 25000 approx
2) Full Tution Offers = 1000 approx (less than 4% of total applicants) [1/25]
3) Chancellor’s Invitees = 500 approx (range of 450-500 given) [1/50]
4) Submitted Chanc Applications = 250 approx (range of 250-300 given) [1/100]
5) Chanc Nominees Invites for interview = 50 approx (range of 50-60 given) [1/500]
6) Chanc Scholarships awarded = 10 approx (official source?) [1/2500]
7) Matriculating Chanc Awardees = ??? (curiousity only)</p>
<p>I wish I could recast the odds based on UHC eligible applicants instead of the total applicants. But the number of “UHC Eligible Applicants” is not readily avaialble, but it must be quite high given that nearly 4% are offered full tution. Offcial stats indicate that approximately 660 of the enrolled students (18% of 3678 in 2012) were UHC eligible.</p>
<p>Sources:
- [University</a> of Pittsburgh: Undergraduate Admissions & Financial Aid<a href=“class%20of%202012%20stats”>/url</a>
- Post #17 of this thread (thanks, MTnest)
3,4,5) [url=<a href=“http://cscholar.honorscollege.pitt.edu/faq]Frequently”>http://cscholar.honorscollege.pitt.edu/faq]Frequently</a> Asked Questions | Chancellor’s Scholarship Application Website](<a href=“http://www.oafa.pitt.edu/stats.aspx]University”>http://www.oafa.pitt.edu/stats.aspx) - [Chancellor</a> Scholarship - University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Campus - College Scholarships and Grants](<a href=“http://college-scholarships.findthebest.com/l/2646/Chancellor-Scholarship]Chancellor”>http://college-scholarships.findthebest.com/l/2646/Chancellor-Scholarship)
- ???</p>
<p>The number of Chancellor scholarship recipients dropped to only 5 last year. Info from the Chancellor scholarship application page. </p>
<p>2008 - 10
2009 - 14
2010 - 12
2011 - 09
2012 - 05</p>
<p>@MTnest,
If this is the link you refer to? [Recent Chancellor’s Scholars | Chancellor’s Scholarship Application Website](<a href=“http://cscholar.honorscollege.pitt.edu/recipients”>http://cscholar.honorscollege.pitt.edu/recipients</a>)
Disheartening if it is really cut-down in half to just 5 officially (odds become: 1/5000 applicants, 1/10 interviewees); in which case, I wish PITT would simply raise the bar a bit more, and cut down on the the invitees (I am assuming that applicant travels at own expense). </p>
<p>Personal situation wise, assuming of course that DD actually gets through the invitation/application gates, wonder if they would allow combining trips for Chancellor’s and Guaranteed-med? I suppose it would be a welcome problem to have, though chaperoning adds another set of complications (issue is age, not ability or trust). More homework for Dec holidays, but it is best not to over drive the head-lights…</p>
<p>Yes, that is the link. I don’t know if they have “officially” cut down the numbers or they felt there wasn’t more than 5 who deserved the award (I would think the former rather than the latter since all those who got the interviews had to be terrific applicants.) And I believe you have to pay your way for the interview. Frankly, we are thrilled with just the full tuition scholarship and anything extra is just a bonus :)</p>