It used to not be true in the past.
I believe I read on the honors college website that honors students now get priority registration (starting fall 2019 for first year students).
That’s an interesting change on priority registration. I wonder how they will administer it if it only applies to incoming freshmen. Who do they get priority over? Only other freshman? So maybe it will be upper classmen based on credits regardless of honors or not, then freshman honors students, then remainder of freshman? Or will these incoming honors students be able to jump priority over upper classmen, honors or not? It wouldn’t be fair for freshman honors students to have priority over sophomore honors students.
Also wondering how credits entering Pitt factor into registration priority? . . .
I applied in the beginning of October and received my decision in November, but I’m still really hoping to receive a merit award. I’m OOS and have a 31 ACT and 4.0 W GPA and I submitted all 3 essays which I believe were pretty strong. I know my stats are under the “requirements/suggestions” on the website, but I’m still holding out a little bit of hope. On the website it says notifications for scholarships will be sent out until March 1st, and in bold it says regardless of when applied, but I have a hard time believing I will get a decision in March when I applied in October. Do I still have hope and is this large of a gap even possible, or should I just give up on UPitt 
@remy5442 well I guess there is always hope and we love how you love Pitt but what is your backup? I’ve been watching Pitt merit for over 2 years now and there is a very rare outlier every year who reports merit with scores below the published threshold but it’s super super rare and there is almost always some sort of geographical or cultural diversity component.
What are your backup choices?
@elena13, @mathmomvt, @mommdc My DD received Pitt Honors for Fall 2019, and the letter does indicate Priority Registration starting Spring 2020, not Fall 2019. They also stated that she MUST live in Honors LLC (Sutherland Hall) for the entire freshman year to retain Pitt Honors standing. @elena13 Honestly, I would rather trade your son’s scholarship amount for the Pitt Honors as my DD received 10K less:-). That does confirm that Pitt Honors review is a separate process from the scholarship one.
What is the minimum gpa for a merit award? Would a merit award be included on the financial aid package letter? All we got were loans we qualified for. He had a 1550 SAT and weighted average 3.4 with a number of AP classes.
@worriedcat and others, Thanks for all the feedback! That is helpful information. Yes, it was strange that they gave him $25,000 but no honors. I did think his honors essays were good, but looking back, the three essays he submitted with his regular application were a bit better than the honors ones. Oh well, it’s a great amount of money and makes Pitt worth keeping in consideration.
Hi @Sullivac, there is no minimum GPA. Merit awards are typically based on outstanding academic achievement, leadership qualities, and scholarly contributions to the community. Awards are going out until March 1, so there is still time for the Scholarship Committee to send out more awards, even if you have already received your financial aid package.
Regards,
Pitt Admissions Staffer
@hailtopitt1787 what is the mode of communication for Merit aid… would it be in an email or portal update or a postal mail?
@angeltalk, it would come via postal mail. The portal would probably update shortly after though.
-Pitt Admissions Staffer
@hailtopitt1787 Hello! I’m an prospective student and applied before the January 15th Honors College deadline. I’ve gotten both my acceptance email (2/4) and my acceptance letter (2/8), plus my info for financial aid on the app, but no notifications on my honors college decision. When should I expect to get that???
@hailtopitt1787 Would merit aid updates be found under financial aid award?
Hi @cadyrene05,
The last of the honors notifications will come out by March 1. You should hear very soon!
Good luck,
-Pitt Admissions Staffer
Hi @intricuit,
You would receive a letter via regular mail first and an update on the student portal would come shortly after.
Best,
Pitt Admissions Staffer
Thanks, @hailtopitt1787 Do you know if there’s an email or phone number I can contact to see if I’m still being considered for merit aid?
@intricuit, yes, you can contact your Enrollment Services Manager and check in with him/her: https://oafa.pitt.edu/esm_directory.php
-Pitt Admissions Staffer
My OSS son was accepted to the Honors College with $10,000 in merit aid. He was invited for a Chancellor’s Scholarship interview (we’re coming next weekend and he’s so excited!). My question: If he is not accepted for the Chancellor’s Scholarship, will he be considered for something more than the $10,000 merit he’s already been granted? Thank you.
@kpmmom Congrats on Chancellors finalist! Good luck with the interview.
Things at Pitt seem to change every year so who knows? But in the last three years no this has not been the case. We saw the rumors on this from posts way back 4-7 years ago where the kind Honors Dean in a fit of kindness granted all the finalists at least full tuition. We held our breath that maybe just maybe this might happen with our daughter.
It did not happen. There was no more $ forthcoming except the extra $2,000 per year she got with the cost analysis (a procedure that has now been discontinued). My daughter was in touch with a few others who were also finalists and they were not offered any extra $$ either.
@kpmmom, Congratulations!! when did you get the notification for the Chancellors interview? Thank you