<p>I am applying at Pitt and was wondering if I could get merit aid. I have a 4.0 and a good amount of extra curriculars, but my ACT score is only a 29. The cost of Pitt is $26,000 while I can probably only afford $10,000. What are my chances?</p>
<p>I don’t think your current chances are very good. I would think that your ACT would need to be well above a 30 for a chance at good merit. </p>
<p>If you can only pay $10k, then you need a full tuition scholarship. UPitt doesn’t give full tuition scholarships for an ACT 29. </p>
<p>Entomom has a post about big scholarships at UPitt…scores need to be very high. </p>
<p>You need to test again, and also take the SAT. However, even if you bump up your scores a bit, it probably won’t be enough for full tuition.</p>
<p>Work on your scores, but ALSO apply to schools where your ACT 29 (or better) will get you a full tuition scholarship.</p>
<p>ECs do not make up for scores. ECs really come into play when a school is down-selecting from a number of high stats kids. A school’s ranking is not helped by ECs.</p>
<p>BTW…where is the $10k coming from? All from parents?</p>
<p>Yes, the $10,000 is coming from my parents. I took the ACT last week and I hopefully got a 30 at the most probably. Would a 30 be enough for a significant amount of aid? Where could i get a full ride with a 29-30 ACT score? Thanks so much!</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html</a></p>
<p>you think I could get $10,000 off Pitt tuition with a 30 on the ACT and 4.0??</p>
<p>Pitt likes high test scores. See this thread:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1359501-pittsburgh-merit-clarification.html?highlight=pitt[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1359501-pittsburgh-merit-clarification.html?highlight=pitt</a></p>
<p>And do a Search for Scholarships on the Pitt forum.</p>
<p>No, I don’t think you could get a $10k per year merit scholarship with an ACT 30 at Pitt.</p>
<p>And, it sounds like you need MORE than $10k anyway. </p>
<p>UPitt has too many students with an ACT 30+. Merit scholarships are given to a much smaller number of kids with higher stats.</p>
<p>Any schools ranked in the top 80 where I could possible get a big discount on tuition?</p>
<p>You need more than a “big discount”.</p>
<p>If your parents will only pay $10k, then that will barely cover room and board (and maybe not even that). </p>
<p>You have to estimate that room, board, books, fees, travel, misc will cost about $15k per year…so you need at LEAST a full tuition scholarship. </p>
<p>What is your major?</p>
<p>Are you signed up for the SAT as well? if not, do so…if it’s too late for the Oct SAT, then sign up for the Nov SAT.</p>
<p>Look at Bob’s link for full tuition scholarships.</p>
<p>$10,000 would be ideal. But I guess my parents could probably spend $25,000 at the very most. and I really don’t want to take the SAT</p>
<p>
I really don’t want to clean the bathrooms - how is that relevant? The only reason not to take the SAT is because you know you won’t improve your situation. Otherwise, study some and see what you can accomplish. As for Pitt, assuming you are in-state, it seems like you need really high scores in order to get much from the merit awards. Is there No chance of need-based grants? What is your EFC?</p>
<p>Well sat is more math based and on the act math is my worst subject. I scored 163 on the psat which is horrible. It converts to a 1630 on Sat. I took an act class, studied and got a 28. And no. I’m out of state… From Arkansas </p>
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<p>The COA at Pitt is a lot more than $26K for out-of-state students.</p>
<p>$10,000 would be ideal. But I guess my parents could probably spend $25,000 at the very most. and I really don’t want to take the SAT</p>
<p>There’s a huge difference between parents spending $40k for college education for their child and spending $100k.</p>
<p>YOU need to ask your parents EXACTLY how much they’ll spend. Since you started this thread with a budget of $10k per year, it now sounds like wishful thinking that they might pay $25k per year. </p>
<p>And, as mentioned above…your cost estimate for UPitt is way off if you’re OOS. The cost is about $40k per year for an OOS student. </p>
<p>There’s no way that you’re going to get any money from Pitt with an ACT 28 or even a bit higher. </p>
<p>What is your major? </p>
<p>do you know what your FAFSA EFC would be? Are you lowish income (less than 50k), middle class (50k-80k), Upper middle class (80k+), or what?</p>
<p>what is it about Pitt that you like? Have you visited?</p>
<p>Sorry I’m a little unprepared. I want to study economics. My mother said she could pay $20,000 at the most so I guess my options are very limited. I think I will apply anyways though</p>
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<p>Do you know of any schools that I could attend for around a total of $20,000 with a 4.0 and say 30 on the act? Thanks for the help </p>
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<p>Ok…IF you get a 30 on the ACT for October, then Alabama would give you a 2/3 tuition scholarship…which is about $15k per year. Your parents’ contribution would pay the other 1/3, room and board, and books. </p>
<p>The app is very fast and easy…and you do have to submit the scholarship app as well. </p>
<p>You need to apply before Dec 1st though…when are you testing? </p>
<p>UA SCHOLAR</p>
<p>An out-of-state first time freshman student who meets the December 1st scholarship priority deadline, has a 30-31 ACT or 1330-1390 SAT score [critical reading and math scores only] and at least a 3.5 cumulative GPA will be selected as a UA Scholar and will receive 2/3 tuition for four years.</p>
<p>I took the act 2 weeks ago… I get my scores monday</p>
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<p>Do you know anything about Clemson, college of Charleston, university of south Carolina, fsu scholarship wise?</p>
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<p>Clemson usually expects at LEAST an ACT 32 in order to get a scholarship for instate rates…which brings costs down to about $27k per year.</p>
<p>You can look at the scholarship pages of the other schools to see what they offer. I don’t recall FSU being generous with merit - unless maybe the ACT were higher. </p>
<p>Alabama is the highest ranked school that would give you that much money for an ACT 30. South Carolina, FSU, and Charleston are all ranked below Alabama. </p>
<p>If you’re looking for larger merit for an ACT 30, you probably need to go even further down in ranking. For better ranked schools, the test scores need to be about an ACT 32 for the best chances.</p>
<p>You need to look to see what the upper quartiles for a school is. The best scholoarships are usually given to those whose scores are well-within the upper quartile. For Clemson, the upper quartile is ACT 31+. So, students whose ACT is well within that upper quartile (ACT 32/33+) will be more likely offered merit scholarships.</p>