<p>In December, I applied to the University of Pittsburgh as my top choice, applying as a pre-dental student. I was even attempting to get into Honors. However, just yesterday, when the decision came back, I found myself staring blank at the paper. Not only did I not get into honors, but the letter said that Pitt couldn't offer me admission at the main campus and that I could they could only give me admission to Bradford. </p>
<p>Could it be possible that there was a mistake? I feel so bad right now and humiliated after thinking that I had a shot at Honors, let alone main campus.</p>
<p>My stats were:
2090 SAT (740 Math, 660 CR, 690 Writing)
SAT II
Math II - 800
Chemistry - 680
I'm currently taking 4 AP courses. My average weighted GPA is 3.87 (uw: 3.65-3.7ish) with a strong incline from 10th to 12th grade.
I have repeated 10th grade, but this is not because I failed a grade or anything, but because my dad had to work in another country and I had to move away from the U.S. This new school's curriculum is very different and the principal asked me to repeat a year in order to make up for the difference in courses for the curriculum.</p>
<p>1 Rec from Teacher, 1 Rec from Guidance Counselor
I'm pretty sure both were good-pretty good
Personal Essay - Not Sure (I talked about being a comedian but more so on why it's important for me to be able to make other people smile and how I don't fit the stereotype of a class clown)</p>
<p>EC:
2 Year JV Tennis Member
2 Year Football Club Leader (2nd year President) - As my time as president, I organized various skirmishes with local high schools and colleges
1 Year Teacher's Assistant
Internship at a company called Teckwin where I attended a global fair as a member of the sales and marketing team
Other:
Attending an international school in China for 3 years</p>
<p>What do you guys think?
I'm going to call the admissions office on Monday and pray that they somehow made a mistake on my admission, but the probability of them making a mistake on my application is probably pretty slim right?</p>
<p>I would really appreciate any feedback or input!</p>
<p>Your competition may be especiallytough this year.
Science majors, premed, predental is always full of your state’s tippy top students wanting to attend the flagship campus.</p>
<p>Red flags:
Repeating 10th grade.
You may have calculated your gpa incorrectly.</p>
<p>My guess is that predental is a small class and that applying in Dec. might have put a wrench into your app - not that SATs or repeating or GPA had anything to do with it. But I am just a parent, you need to speak with admissions although I am not sure what info they will give.</p>
<p>Well, the thing is, my school’s grading system is extremely weird. It’s like 93-100 is an A (4.5), 88-92 is a A- (4.2), 83-87 is a B+ (3.9), etc and math and eng and the sciences are worth way more than the humanities. I think my unweighted GPA is extremely low because of that. My overall rank is 50/239 students.</p>
<p>So if I applied to a different major, I would have had a better chance of getting in?</p>
<p>I applied to UC San Diego and UCLA, USC, and am applying to UNC, but my self confidence level right now is like 0. I’m really shocked that I didn’t get into UPitt main campus. My sister got into UPitt honors with a similar SAT and I don’t think her grades were that much higher (although this was 5 years ago)…</p>
<p>Applying in December could have hurt because Pitt is on rolling admissions (and they may have filled up), but your credentials appear to definitely qualify you for main campus. </p>
<p>If you have a good college councellor at your school, you might want him or her to make an initial inquiry ASAP or if not, you need to. You can consider appealing the decision - put together an appeal letter, send it by overnight delivery. If you applied to a special program with limited spots, you might let them know that Pitt is your first choice and that you would be willing to enter as an undecided major in Arts ansd Sciences. (You don’t have to declare a major until the end of Sophomore year anyway and any major can be pre-dental.) Any new information like first semester grades, new honors or activities should be brought up.</p>
<p>Is an initial inquiry just calling the admissions office and asking what happened?
Okay, I was really considering putting together an appeal letter. Would applying as pre-dental be a possible factor in why I was rejected? I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to change my choice in major in my appeal letter. Thanks for addressing that part :)!</p>
<p>You have an acceptance into a satellite campus with the option of transferring to the main campus later. That is a good thing.
The economy was very different 5 years ago, many families are now using the option of their state’s flagship college to save money.
I would be worried that you didn’t have a true safety in your list of colleges since you considered UPitt as your safety.
Any schools with a late deadline you can apply to?
If you send an appeal letter, let someone read it first.
You don’t want to sound desperate, arrogant, or scattered.
You are in shock, shake it off and get to work.
Keep us posted.</p>
<p>Do you think sending my letter of appeal a week or two from now will make a big difference? I have finals next week, so I want to focus on that first.
Also, does anyone know how hard it is to transfer from Bradford to main?
Thanks guys for the replies and I’m going to try my best to get in :)</p>
<p>I agree with the others, applying relatively late may have hurt you at this rolling admissions school. It can’t hurt to call or write but don’t expect them to tell you anything. Ask your GC to call first and see what they tell them.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t wait that long. If a mistake was made, best to get the ball rolling right away. I would send an e-mail on Monday to the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid or directly to the person who handled your application. Just briefly state your credentials, and ask to be reconsidered for the main campus. It doesn’t have to be a long, involved note. If you don’t hear back in 24 hours, pick up the phone and call. Don’t delay. You can write the e-mail in less than 10 minutes. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Would sending a short email to ask the college to reconsider look a lot worse than writing a formal letter of appeal to the college?
Also, would it be better to ask my guidance counselor to call the school or to call myself?</p>
<p>Thanks again for all your replies! I didn’t think so many people would be on this early (or this late if you’re in Europe/Asia)</p>
<p>I think that sending a short note would be sufficient at first. Let’s say a simple mistake was made. It shouldn’t be that hard to rectify. (I would avoid using the word mistake in the e-mail, though, or implying that a mistake was made. Asking for reconsideration would be enough.) If you get rejected after that, then a formal letter of appeal would be appropriate. That is just my opinion. Also, if Pitt declines your request for the main campus, perhaps a reason will be given. If not, ask for one.</p>
<p>Alright, that sounds like a good thing to do to me Lurkness, do you think it would also be reasonable for me to call UPitt, or do you think I should just e-mail the college first and then if they don’t reply/reject without a reason call/send a formal letter of appeal?</p>
<p>Edit: I’m going to go to sleep right now and I’ll continue reading posts tomorrow, so if anyone has any advice, feel free to post!</p>
<p>I personally think e-mail is better so that the person has all the facts there in black and white. After reading the e-mail, the person will probably have to go pull your file and look it over. However, if you don’t get a reply within 24 hours, you should call. E-mail is easier to ignore than a phone call.</p>
<p>I applied to the main campus around the same time you did, got accepted w/ Honor college too. I had almost the same credentials as you, just slightly better, but still they both look similar. I agree with the previous posters in that it might have been because of your major. Pre-Dental is often more competitive then other Pre-(career) programs because they take much less people. It also may have been a huge red flag that you had to repeat 10th grade, but this was much beyond your control so if Pittsburgh didn’t recognize that, you should communicate that with them.</p>
<p>Definitely call/e-mail admissions, because frankly you seem like too good a student for them to turn down :)</p>
<p>I’m really sorry for all this happening to you. It’s the last thing any 2011 kid applying to college needs to deal with. Hope everything works out for the best!!</p>
<p>I think you would do better having your college counselor call the admissions office rather than directly calling or emailing. I also think that if by chance your grades were an issue, having your 1st semester grades to add to your file could be reason for them to give you another review. Also you probably should send a personal statement explaining why you repeated 10th grade.</p>
<p>I don’t think you didn’t get in because you indicated pre-dental (which isn’t even a major here) and I really think intended major has little bearing on an application and wasn’t what caused you to not get in. However, it looks like you applied rather late. It’s a good idea to pick up the phone and ask, or get your GC to.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, no. Pre-dental is within the School of Arts and Sciences, and for the School of Arts and Sciences, the major/intended field of study that you put on your application doesn’t affect admissions decisions.</p>
<p>Your stats seem like they ought to qualify you for admission. As others have indicated, Pitt does have rolling admission, and the only explanation I can think of as to why you were not admitted initially is that the university received a high volume of applications in earlier months and the class has already filled up. I still think that it’s worth contacting the admissions office, and if necessary, writing a letter of appeal. I’d recommend doing this as early as possible. An e-mail or phone call would be fine – go with whatever you’re the most comfortable with. If they indicate that a mistake was not made, write a formal letter of appeal.</p>
<p>Also, was the reasoning for your repeated grade made clear in your application? If not, it may be worth explaining it to them. You may even want to reiterate this reasoning if you did include it in your initial application.</p>
<p>Worst case scenario: if you are not granted admission to the main campus and would rather attend a different branch campus, you might see if they’d be willing to work with you on that. Based on my understanding, as long as you keep your grades up, you shouldn’t have a problem transferring in from a branch campus. Others may want to correct me or chime in on that. If you do find that a branch campus is your only option, be sure to check with the branch campus to which you were accepted to learn more about its transfer policies.</p>
Lurkness, do you think it would also be reasonable for me to call UPitt, or do you think I should just e-mail the college first and then if they don’t reply/reject without a reason call/send a formal letter of appeal?</p>