<p>Hello CC community, I am a senior in high school currently and received my Pitt acceptance letter along with other materials a month ago. Along with my Pitt acceptance, I was accepted into the Honors College, master in engineer guarantee, and invited to the GAP program (med school guarantee. Today, I received my scholarship letter, for $10k a year which, not to sound greedy, was not expected. I was expecting a full-tuition scholarship based on my stats compared to some classmates' stats. Can you guys look over my stats and tell me whether my disappointment in not getting full-tuition is justified or not, solely based on my stats?</p>
<p>GPA UW: 4.0
GPA W: 4.36
Class Rank: 2/563</p>
<h1>of AP by graduation: 10 (all science/math except 2)</h1>
<p>SAT: 2100
ACT: 33
EC: 150 hrs of CS over 4 years, Ultimate Frisbee for 2 yrs, Scholars Bowl + FBLA for 3 yrs, Peer Tutoring for 2 yrs, shadowing a doctor periodically, and club basketball for 2 yrs
Essay: Avg (not a great writer =/)
Letters of Rec: Great (2 teachers and doctor whom I shadowed)</p>
<p>There was an older thread with the stats for those who got the full tution awards, probably in the archives. The numbers were daunting, IMO. It’s become extremely competitive. Also it is not an award that is given by test score/grade cut offs at all, but as a recruiting tool. IMO, they probalby know that the chacnes are good that you will go there, given the other goodies you have from them, the GAP invitation, and the Masters guarantee. Merit money is often used to buy those students that may not end up going there without some sugar to sweeten the pot. You got some of that already.</p>
<p>I was speculating that, but to me a scholarship is not strictly a recruiting tool. It seems unfair to me when someone who probably will not go to Pitt with the same stats as me get a full-tuition while I do want to go to Pitt and get a lower amount of money. Just seems backwards to me.</p>
<p>if it makes you feel better, my kid has almost identical test scores(SAT is 2130, ACT is identical) and we have not heard anything yet. GPA’s are similar, slightly and I mean slightly lower class rank with a much smaller class size. are you in state or OSS? what is your SAT on 1600 scale? his is 1450, the minimum score of scholarship awardees last year. and yes, the full tuition seemed to be for 2200 and up and kids who had already performed successful heart transplant surgery while under the supervision of a cardiologist type. Pitt does get a lot of applicants so they have the luxury of picking and choosing among lots of great applicants for scholarships.</p>
<p>It was a lot easier 15 years ago to get those awards. Nearly all of those, if not all, who made the Honors college got them. No more. They have also reduced the number of these awards greatly, as Pitt is getting enough students thty want without having to pay for them. Great for Pitt, not so great for so many talented students and their families. Good luck to both of you. Fingers crossed.</p>
<p>I hear u cpt. Agreed, it’s a good place for Pitt to be. Mine has some nice scholarship offers elsewhere and is not planning to go to grad school at this point(at Pitt or anywhere else) so he can play this one out some. Tough break on op though. full tuition would be very handy with med school possibly on the horizon.</p>
<p>In-state, 1400 CR+Math, I have also gotten other scholarship offers from “better” (hate saying that word about very good colleges) universities such as Rensselaer 15k/yr and BU Half-tuition. I’m comparing myself to 2 students in my class who got full-rides but are significantly lower in the class than me. My brother had a 3.86 UW 9 AP 2150 SAT and got full-scholarship, but was also not very interested in going to Pitt (3 yrs ago).</p>
<p>wow on BU! Very impressive on both that and is RPI the acronymn on the 2nd school? so, are you telling me kids in your class got full rides to pitt with lower class ranks? it must be the SAT scores then. or maybe not given post above yours. Who knows? I can see why you’re frustrated as a 1400 is a great score. i am still shaking my head on the ACT score too. My kid is going for a liberal arts degree in a low paying field. I thought maybe that hurt his odds too. Well, to be honest, $10000 a year off at Pitt will still cost you a lot less than BU in the long run.</p>
<p>@artiesoneleg1 since you are in state, that may be why you only received $10k. If you do a comparison with Boston University test scores, Pitt is very close. You have to look at your bottom line cost and Pitt will be significantly lower! Room and board at BU is $3500 higher this year than Pitt, and if you live off campus it’s much more expensive in Boston. I love Boston…but it is pricey! Have you visited BU? It’s an interesting campus. Very urban like Pitt but on an even busier street than Forbes and Fifth.</p>
<p>BU middle 50%
SAT Test Scores *
Critical Reading: 570-670
Math: 610-720
Writing: 600-690
ACT Composite Scores *
26-30</p>
<p>Pitt middle 50%
SAT Test Scores *
Critical Reading: 570-660
Math: 600-680
Writing: 560-660
ACT Composite Scores *
26-30</p>
<p>We stayed at the Hotel Commonwealth when we visited Boston. Loved the city! And I agree with Titanmom16 – it is a very, very busy street. </p>
<p>You have to take into account all the expenses – travel to and from school, how much it will cost to live off-campus etc. It is the same with RPI – $15,000 scholarship is great but it is almost $35,000/year just for tuition while it is $20,000/year at Pitt for in-state students. Throw in your $10,000/year scholarship – Pitt will be less expensive (unless you get FA from the other schools).</p>
<p>For the scholarships, I believe the SAT/ACT scores count unless you have another hook. If you have that “hook”, then you can pretty much throw out all the requirements for the full tuition scholarship.</p>
<p>Pitt is definitely less expensive than RPI (that is Rensselaer) and BU, but since I would like to pursue a medical degree, I’m really trying to lower the cost of undergrad as much as I could. Seems like it comes down to SAT/ACT scores, I think one more point in ACT would’ve got me full-tuition. I can’t just go off class rank, but it seems odd that people below me got it and I didn’t.</p>
<p>I think there has been a steady upward trend in minimum test scores needed for the full-tuition scholarship. There also was a link posted a while back to a story about how the number of applications to Pitt was up 75% over last year, due at least in part, I am sure, to the early opening of the application window.</p>
<p>My child received a full tuition scholarship – SAT 2300+/1600, many service hours, but not the sort of profile to which ctl alludes.</p>
<p>Speaking of heart transplants, however, if you have interest in medical school I would argue Pitt is the superior choice to BU. Boston has many excellent hospitals, but you will be competing with pre-meds from Harvard (and MIT, BU, BC, Tufts, Brandeis, Wellesley, Northeastern, UMass) for jobs. Good things are happening at UPMC, very good things. Guaranteed admission to med school is not to be taken lightly, either.</p>
<p>Just gonna add to what people have said in that not only is it increasingly hard to get any sort of money at Pitt these past few years (the minimum requirements are ALWAYS increasing) but for In-State students it is even harder because Pitt recognizes the fact that OOS students will have to pay more to attend the university.</p>
<p>Plus (as many people have said) stats are not everything. Scholarships can be used to get “hook” students to attend the school (Minorities, OOS students from less popular states, students who want to study a unique major, etc.) </p>
<p>And not to sound greedy in the other direction, but as an OOS student who also only got $10k/year, I would have loved to be paying IS tuition so that the $10k I had received went farther. You have to think about it in more than one way, unfortunately.</p>
<p>I feel ya brah. Im in illinois and was hoping for full tuition as well and didn’t get it. I had higher GPA and ACT than you. Oh well… By the way, how long did it take you to get your GAP email containing the application?</p>
<p>I ended up getting a 15K scholarship, which is still amazing! But now, Ohio State is cheaper so I may not end up attending Pitt, which is probably my top choice (assuming I don’t get into Duke)</p>
<p>Warren did your scholarship info come with your acceptance? My daughter is a junior and I am just trying to figure out what to expect. Thanks and congratulations!</p>