Are my chances for larger scholarships very high? I used the priority application which had a December 1 deadline and had all of the mandatory materials in by November 12 for admission. I was admitted some time in mid to late December, but what worries me slightly is that I turned in the 3 written portions for scholarships on December 30, and will only be getting in recommendations sometime after I return to school on January 5. I am/have a 33 ACT (34E/32M), 4.0/4.43 GPA, 2/50 in class, taken all honors and AP classes offered (only 4 AP due to school size), all-state musician, Mu Alpha Theta Treasurer, NHS member, important leadership positions and high awards in concert and marching band, co-founded basketball pep band, member of youth symphony in large city, National Merit Commended Scholar, and am out of state in the South (Tennessee). In the application I used, I did not to my knowledge have an opportunity to list most of the subjective extras and ECs, but attached a resume to my long essay. Currently, I am admitted for computer engineering and may want to switch to computer science. I also hope to pursue a second major or a minor in music performance (easier with computer engineering, I believe.)
Main Questions
How much will the spread out and slightly later submission process affect my scholarship chances?
Is the fact that most objective material was in fairly early ease the lateness of the subjective materials to an extent?
How much of an impact do the essays and recommendations have? Both are/will be excellent to my knowledge.
Is other subjective material important to scholarship process? Is my attached resume going to be read? Otherwise, none of my EC’s and awards will have been considered.
What is the extent of “priority scholarship consideration”? All priority application materials in before Dec. 1 deadline, but other materials sent later: how does this affect my priority?
Do my chances for scholarships differ much between computer engineering (Swanson) and computer science (CS Dept)? Does anyone recommend either path specifically? How urgently do I need to change if I plan to do so? Will Pitt work with me on scholarships if I change departments later?
If I’m not made a large enough offer, should I haggle using offers from other schools? (Ex. I’m already guaranteed $100,000+ from Alabama.) How effective has this been for anyone that has done so?
I’m aiming for 2/3 tuition if I recall correctly that that’s an offer they make. Otherwise, I just don’t think it would be a wise decision to attend given other suitable, more local options that will be free or close to free. Despite this, Pitt is my top option by far offering basically everything on my list of preferences. It all hinges on the money and any advice is much appreciated. Thank you!
1/2/3. We really don’t know. Parents say to apply early because they have more scholarship funds available, but in reality, we can’t completely confirm or deny if they get more stingy as time goes on. They don’t have a concrete formula for merit consideration, so no one can really give you the answers you want (we can’t say 30% test scores 60% LoR etc.).
4. I don’t see why they wouldn’t be read. It’s there and not very easy to ignore.
5. Again, we can’t say “after Dec 1 you’ll only get 11% of whatever” – it can’t be quantified. I applied after Dec 1 last year, I got a nice scholarship. I guess what I mean is it’s still possible to get a scholarship after Dec 1, can’t say how much harder it is though.
6. I don’t know anyone in the CS dept (IIRC it’s kind of small…?) and know quite the amount in Swanson. The big scholarships come from the Honors College and departments/schools tend to give smaller ones. The only departmental scholarships I’ve heard of are the women in engineering ones (~2k per year or semester), so maybe it’s better to apply as an engineer? If you switch from Swanson to arts and sciences, you lose the engineering scholarship.
7. I heard, secondhandly, that a guy across the hall haggled with OAFA from 15k to full tuition with a full tuition offer from some midwestern small college. Never hurts to try.
Hopefully your file won’t be reviewed for merit scholarships until your LOR are in. I would try to get them sent asap. They can be faxed or emailed to OAFA. Being from OOS might help your case.
I have no idea about CS versus computer engineering so you might want to contact each department and get more information.
There are quite a few large scholarships from departments (more specifically, alumni of departments) in engineering. I knew a lot of students on half and full tuition funds who received their money from SSOE and not the UHC. The difference is that the requirements for the SSOE scholarships are generally a bit more specific (i.e. sometimes it’s limited to the area you grew up, your gender, ethnicity, intended major, etc.) I myself had a full tuition scholarship which is only given to a person studying Materials Science Engineering in the SSOE (so that greatly narrows the field for people who were allowed to receive it).
They could be but when I got my scholarship package it had both the engineering one and the UHC one in the letter. I also got mine in late Jan/early Feb compared to people who may have heard about money earlier.
@hailtopitt1787 When will the scholarship office begin notifying chancellors nominees in regard to whether or not they have been selected for an interview?
They have already begun to do so and meet weekly to review applications. The deadline to submit your application and be considered for merit scholarships (including the Chancellor’s) is January 15th. If you are selected, you should hear soon. (March 1st is the latest anyone who is selected for a scholarship should hear.)
Our Chancellor’s invite was in the letter that informed us about the full tuition scholarship (dated Dec 1). She had to sign into the portal with a username and password provided in the letter for the Chancellor’s scholarship application and had three weeks from the date of the letter to submit application.
Oh I thought that they had started to review the Chancellor’s scholarship applications, but not notified anyone about interviews yet. But maybe I’m wrong? In any case my daughter’s status had recently changed from “awaiting letters of recommendation and transcript” to “in review”.
@mommdc and @FromMD, The initial invites to apply for the Chancellor’s Scholarship are still going out as the Committee is still reviewing student applications for scholarship eligibility. The invites for the interview will be sent out within the next few weeks, as the interviews are typically scheduled for the end February/beginning of March. Hope that clarifies everything!
@hailtopitt1787, thank you for clarifying! That’s what I thought, that the interview invites wouldn’t go out until later, after all applications eligible for merit scholarship consideration have been received and reviewed and those students given an opportunity to apply for Chancellor’s also.
Yes @mommdc, the last day to apply and be automatically be considered for scholarships was yesterday. So the last few invites should go out for the Chancellor’s soon. Then after everyone has had a chance to apply, about 60 students will be invited to interviews.
@hailtopitt1787 Will students who do not receive an interview be notified that they are no longer in competition for the Chancellor’s scholarship? Thanks!