<p>D submitted her application online on Oct. 7, her online admission status changed to “complete” on Oct. 21, and she received her acceptance in the mail today.</p>
<p>ETA: I also have a question: In D’s acceptance packet there is an admissions data form that she’s supposed to fill out and return to U.Pitt, along with a $300 enrollment fee. Is this (the form and the enrollment fee) something that should be sent back to Pitt right away to hold her place “in line” for housing assignment and “Pitt Start” session assignment, even if she’s not sure where she’ll be matriculating yet? Any thoughts from more experienced Pitt students and/or parents?</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] School (Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Nursing, etc.):Arts&Sciences
[</em>] SAT:CR: 800 M: 700 W: 800
[<em>] SAT IIs:- Lit: 760 USH: 710
[</em>] GPA: 3.87 uw
[<em>] Rank:16/310
[</em>] Other stats: took 10 APs, visited, submitted in early october
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: sent one…it was so-so
[</em>] Teacher Recs: didn’t bother, just wanted to send it all out early
[<em>] Counselor Rec: didn’t bother
[</em>] Hook (if any): I lead 2 clubs and have won a few writing and public speaking awards. Also 500+ hours volunteering
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: PA
[</em>] School Type:Public
[<em>] Ethnicity:White
[</em>] Gender: Female
[/ul]Other Factors: General Comments: I’m ecstatic!! I’m technically one rank from top 5%, so I was worried they’d be really strict about honors, but I guess my SAT scores made up for it. A friend of mine with SATs over 1400 but a rank of less than top 5% (close as well) made honors too. I’m soooooo happy I got into Pitt and am hoping for a scholarship. It seems like a really fun place to be and I love the city! Honors college seemed really cool too. :)</p>
<p>If you send a deposit, that IS THE SCHOOL YOU ARE GOING TO. Do not send a deposit if you are waiting on other schools. Send only ONE deposit to ONE school. Double depositing can have serious consequences. Depositing = enrolling.</p>
<p>Actually, I think the only consequence of not attending a school after sending in a deposit is that you lose the deposit money. They can’t force you to go there if you don’t want to. Unless the school specifically states that they must be the only school you send your deposit to, it’s possible to send in multiple deposits to different schools. I did it myself when I couldn’t decide between two schools by May 1, lol.</p>
<p>I don’t recommend sending in a deposit to every school you get into just so you can get the first pick of housing or something. That would be ridiculous.</p>
<p>Stats:[ list]
[<em>] SAT: 2020 (670 CR, 720 Math, 630 Writing) the one they saw
[</em>] SAT IIs: NA
[<em>] GPA: 3.86
[</em>] Rank: NA
[<em>] Other stats: NA
[/list]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Essays: Pretty Good
[<em>] Teacher Recs: NA
[</em>] Counselor Rec: NA
[<em>] Hook (if any): Legacy
[/ul][ b]Location/Person:**[ul]
[</em>] State or Country: Maryland
[<em>] School Type: Private
[</em>] Ethnicity: White
[li] Gender: Male[/li][/ul] General Comments:
I am so pumped. It is my first decision I received and Pitt is up there on my list.</p>
<p>I believe this is true. The only way you HAVE to go somewhere is for soemthing like ED where you signed a contract. All you lose out on is deposit money, unless you sign some sort of contract… so be careful</p>
<p>Re: Freshman guarantees - does anybody have experience with these?</p>
<p>If you are slightly low on test scores but substantially higher on gpa, can you still be considered for one of these? Or, are they very strict about the numbers? D is one or two SAT questions below the requisite number and I really don’t want to pay for her to take them again (unless I have to).</p>
<p>I don’t know the answer to your question, but I’m thinking, how important are the freshman guarantees? It is really likely that the student will 1) stick to the same major 2) want to go to graduate school for that field and 3) want to go to graduate school for that field at Pitt?</p>
<p>I don’t really know either, but D wants into the education program and the 5th year is required for certification. She’s sort of feeling that if she doesn’t get that guarantee of finishing at Pitt, she doesn’t want to start out there and then have to transfer elsewhere.</p>
<p>Thank you for your responses, applicannot and schrizto. </p>
<p>applicannot, the scenario that you’re describing (submitting deposits to more than one school at the same time, often into April or May just to buy more time to make a decision, which, I agree, is unethical…especially if it goes past May 1) is not what I was referring to in my question. I’m raising this question now because back, three years ago, when my older daughter received an acceptance from Penn State in November of her senior year, we were advised (by her HS guidance office, other parents-on CC and offline-of Penn State students and applicants, as well as the school, itself)to send in the enrollment/housing deposit & related form ASAP, even if she didn’t know yet whether or not she would enroll, so that, should she decide in the spring to definitely enroll in Penn State, she wouldn’t end up in “supplemental housing”(i.e., a study lounge ). As it happened, in March she received an admission offer from a school that was a better fit, so before we submitted a deposit to the other school she immediately contacted Penn State to notify them that she wouldn’t be attending, and shortly thereafter they refunded 2/3 of our housing deposit. </p>
<p>What I’m wondering is, since Pitt is also a PA state-related school, do they also assign housing based upon the order in which they receive deposits? And, over the past few years, how crunched has Pitt been for Freshman housing?</p>
<p>Daughter accepted to Honors College today. So what does that really mean for her. Are there perks ? The letter also stated that the application is going to be reviewed by the Scholarship Commmittee and would be notifed if she was eligible for an academic merit scholarship. What are the criteria for that ???</p>
<p>"Actually, I think the only consequence of not attending a school after sending in a deposit is that you lose the deposit money. They can’t force you to go there if you don’t want to. Unless the school specifically states that they must be the only school you send your deposit to, it’s possible to send in multiple deposits to different schools. I did it myself when I couldn’t decide between two schools by May 1, lol.</p>
<p>I don’t recommend sending in a deposit to every school you get into just so you can get the first pick of housing or something. That would be ridiculous."</p>
<p>Not only is it ridiculous it is unmoral. They look at the amount of people who submit deposits in order to find out how many kids should be cut from the waiting list.</p>
<p>“I’m raising this question now because back, three years ago, when my older daughter received an acceptance from Penn State in November of her senior year, we were advised (by her HS guidance office, other parents-on CC and offline-of Penn State students and applicants, as well as the school, itself)to send in the enrollment/housing deposit & related form ASAP, even if she didn’t know yet whether or not she would enroll, so that, should she decide in the spring to definitely enroll in Penn State, she wouldn’t end up in “supplemental housing”(i.e., a study lounge ). As it happened, in March she received an admission offer from a school that was a better fit, so before we submitted a deposit to the other school she immediately contacted Penn State to notify them that she wouldn’t be attending, and shortly thereafter they refunded 2/3 of our housing deposit.”</p>
<p>Talk about unmoral? Does PSU charge the same for “supplemental housing”(i.e., a study lounge) as for a room? How about the students (or their parents) that paid for rooms in a dorm that supposedly contained study lounges, does PSU charge less if they no longer have study lounges?</p>
<p>If you go on PSU’s website, they indicate (somewhere in the housing section of the website) that this year, housing is going to be allocated on a first come first served basis. They said that this was a new practice this year. In other words, if you want a better chance at your desired housing - send in the deposit ASAP.</p>
<p>I’m not real comfortable with this. I agree with the earlier posters that paying a tuition AND housing deposit just to preserve your housing choice seems somewhat shady. Most schools have’nt even begun to notify applicants and here PSU is putting on the pressure to get money. At this point, I have not heard anyone from Pitt indicating any such similar practice. It is necessary to put down your deposit by a certain date after notification of acceptance to receive the 3 year on-campus housing guarantee, but two years ago, I think the earliest date for this was April 1st.</p>
<p>By the way, Pitt just announced (in today’s Pittsburgh area newspapers) that they are beginning the process of aquiring and developing land for about 900 more bed units. This includes apartment buildings as well as dorms. Of course, this will take several years (2-3) to complete.</p>
<p>I believe the enrollment fee is non-refundable but the housing deposit is refundable at Pitt. And yes, at some schools the competition for housing is fierce so parents send the housing deposit in early to guarantee a room for their child.</p>
<p>Considering they were over-enrolled by 400 students this year, Pitt needs more dorms (especially since they guarantee housing for three years) since they had freshmen living in lounges.</p>
<p>The question is actually about whether there is a need to send in room deposits before committing to Pitt and whether you’ll receive a refund if you choose to go elsewhere. PSU was used as a nightmarish example of why it is sometimes advisable.</p>
<p>The enrollment fee is non-refundable (you have to send that in first). Housing deposit is refundable. I don’t know how they are handling the housing situation – if they give the early deposits priority but they had over 400 freshmen living in lounges due to over-enrollment this year.</p>
<p>Accepted to Honors Collegs! Decision: Accepted</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT: 2210 (790M, 710CR, 710W)
[</em>] SAT IIs: Math II 800, Chem 750, Lit 730
[<em>] GPA: 4.0
[</em>] Rank: top 5%
[<em>] Other stats:
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Essays: I really liked it, don’t know that it had much of a factor in admission though
[<em>] Teacher Recs: Both good, I think
[</em>] Counselor Rec: None
[<em>] Hook (if any):
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country: PA
[<em>] School Type: Public
[</em>] Ethnicity: White
[li] Gender: F[/li][/ul]Other Factors: General Comments: Relieved! This is my safety, but I haven’t visited yet, so if I like it, it could become a real option. And I haven’t received any scholarship info yet, so who knows? Very excited though! I couldn’t believe it only took them a week!</p>
:)</p>