I know they say that everyone who is getting merit money will hear by March 1, but if someone hasn’t heard by now I guess the odds are pretty low. DD really likes Pitt but will not attend without a serious chunk of money. I guess that is looking unlikely.
Oh well, on to Alabama for just $4-5k per year, I guess.
Bama is not a bad place to go for that price tag especially. Congrats to your kid for great stats and a sizeable scholarship to Bama!
@TV4caster , same for my S2. Really thought he would have received at least 10-15k/year, but there is nothing. Honors accepted, 1430+, 3.9 GPA, top 7%. He really wants to go to Pitt, but being OOS it is just too much without any sort of scholarship. What stinks is the fact that some kids in his hs applied to Pitt as a safety with really no intention of going, and they already received great scholarships. My S would go in a heartbeat if just a bit of $ came our way.
Yes, oh well, on to the next choice.
If it is any consolation to any of you, Pitt was nowhere near my top choice when I applied to Universities. I had offers from Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, and Carnegie Mellon, but none of them (with the exception of VTech which would have been in-state for me) were giving me any money. I decided to go to Pitt because it was an affordable choice for me.
Once I got there, I learned to love my school, program, and the city of Pittsburgh in general. My point is, wherever your child may end up, even if it’s not what they had hoped for, there are bound to be things that they end up loving about their campus, city, and program. Not going to your top choice school might be a blessing in disguise. Looking back, I would have attended Pitt again in a heartbeat, and not even considered half of the other schools I had applied to.
@TV4caster If your DD likes Pitt so much, why not give their cost analysis process a try? If she has a scholarship offer from Bama and Pitt determines it to be a “comparable” school .(not an unreasonable argument) then you may get a revised financial aid offer.
Thanks, @AwesomeOpossum. That really is wonderful how you have embraced Pitt and all the opportunities there. You have given helpful advice on this forum to future applicants, and we appreciated it all. I know he will ‘bloom where planted’, and I am sure in 4 years time he will think his future college has been a great experience. Just a little hard for my 17yr old right now, we really expected Pitt to be a financially viable option. We are lucky in that he has a few other good choices.
i totally agree with possum!! my kid is not at Pitt. he got very lucky to get a sizable scholarship to his top choice(Pitt was #2) and many would say he undershot for his top choice given his stats, which were borderline for a pitt scholarship and as you all know, that means pretty darn good stats, At any rate, he loves his school, he is doing very well and the honors dept really caters to all the honors kids. the real key is to find an affordable school teh kid loves and where they will have options when they graduate. any school that fits that bill is a good choice. i also agree with an above poster to give the cost anyalyis process at pitt a try. sorry, i did not think about that earlier.
I concur with the give it another try. I know a student from our high school that bumped up their scholarship at Pitt in April last year. (We are OOS in NY). When you consider some schools that aren’t rolling admission don’t even notify their students that they are accepted until Mid March to April 1st, it’s still early in the process. Take the time you have until May 1st to exhaust all of your options! Good luck!
My S too has obviously not qualified for any scholarship with stats comparable to others listed here. He also attended Pitt’s 4 week health sciences program last summer which is supposedly competitive. We are in-state which makes it more difficult to think Pitt is out of reach for us. Ohio State offered a great merit package that puts it below Pitt by $4-$5,000 annually. Other schools offered similar awards. Pitt was number 1 for him but now leaning toward OSU. Like @awesomeoppossum indicated he will likely be happy where ever he goes! we may consider the cost analysis option if it is close enough. thanks for all the advice!
My D got a small merit award ($5k) which is not enough to make it affordable for us. She may try to appeal once all offers are in hand.
Since 3/1 has come and gone it is obvious that DD didn’t get anything from Pitt. I am not sure if she will want to try the appeal route, but I doubt that they would give her enough to make it feasible to attend, even though she got full tuition and $2500 toward R&B from her #2 choice.
The admissions rep on here said that they were working on merit past the 3/1 date due to number of apps they were processing - but a quick email to admissions might resolve whether your dd is in that pool or not.
My kid received offer of $20,000 annual and it arrived Tuesday afternoon…
@SouthernHope, That’s fantastic! Congratulations to you and your student.
The wait is finally over-received 5k per year scholarship today. Nice gesture, and glad the wait is over, but not quite enough to make Pitt doable. Good luck to everyone!
Ok so it is now March 15 and I haven’t heard back from Pitt regarding scholarships, which is kind of disconcerting considering I was nominated for the Chancellor’s Scholarship. I have excellent grades (4.47 GPA cumulative and weighted) and a 1540 SAT. I will be calling the school tomorrow but wondered if anyone else was in the same boat.
@GOrioles, Our Scholarship Committee has had to extend their meetings in order to accommodate the number of applicants requiring review. They are still meeting weekly and making decisions. If you are selected to receive any merit aid, you will be contacted shortly afterwards.
Best of luck!
-A Pitt Admissions Staffer
DS only got $5K as well, which I found very disappointing. Only school worse then that was Penn State. Too funny for an in state kid that the in state schools offered the worst aid.
After this winter, DS may really embrace the south. Roll Tide!
Have to agree @laralei. Very disappointed to receive nothing from Pitt even after attending one its "competitive’ summer programs and being admitted in first wave right after labor Day. Ohio State offered great scholarship and has emerged as a top contender. Good school but I think my S has envisioned Pitt as his first choice for the last few years. And yes, Penn State falls into same category, though while admitted to Main Campus, my S never really saw himself there.
DD = $5K. Top 2% (~10/500). 33 ACT, 2290 SAT.