I know the scholarships page shows what all past scholarship recipients have had, including at least a 33 ACT. Do I have a good chance at something as an in state with a 33 ACT, 100 W GPA, and a class rank of 2? Or do you need like a 35/36 to have a good chance?
Looking back through last years merit scholarship thread there were quite a few full-tuition awards given to ACT 34…but also a few 1/2 tuition and some were given zero. There looks to be quite a few in-state half tuition awards for a 33 also. It looks very hard to predict and one thing is consistent— it looks harder and more competitive every year.
I think we will all have to wait to find out but it is so hard! Pitt hands out merit scholarships starting way earlier than other schools so no complaint there!
Title says 34 but post says 33 both times… actual ACT score is a 34.
@carachel2 I’ve heard that its easier for OOS students to get merit because of geographic diversity. Not sure if I believe that, but I have also seen quite a range of nothing to full tuition for students with similar stats. Hopefully getting accepted fairly early will help my chances!
Haha…I went back and edited my post because I could’t tell if you meant 33 or 34. There were actually a few reports of people with a 33 who got some merit money as well so I wanted to throw that in there.
Good luck to everyone!
@carachel2 is certainly the resident expert here in Merit scholarships at Pitt. I will only add one comment.
In addition to stats and short answer questions, merit scholarships are also affected by the College at Pitt (i.e. business, nursing, engineering, etc.) you are applying to.
I asked a Pitt admissions counselor at an extremely well attended engineering open house this summer if your intended major could affect your merit scholarship (I asked, "Why would you give a merit scholarship to a mechanical engineering (ME) major when it was obvious that Pitt already had so many ME applications every year?)
She said that there is certainly an attempt to balance merit scholarships across the colleges, but not all the way down to an applicant’s major because students can always switch majors within their college.
As a result, each college at Pitt will end up having its own definition of what stats are considered “high.”
Good luck.
@Engineering713 …you crack me up! I wouldn’t call reading through the Class of 2020 merit decisions enough to qualify anyone as a resident expert but…
@Engineering713 So does that mean it would be harder to get a scholarship as an engineering major? Their average stats are much higher than the rest. I am applying for business, not sure if thats one of the harder or easier majors in terms of stats at Pitt.
@class0f2017 The admissions counselor didn’t mention which colleges at Pitt had the highest stats, just that a student with a certain set of stats applying to one college might get a merit scholarship while another student with the same stats applying to another college might not get a scholarship.
If we were Honors College eligible, will we be automatically reviewed by the scholarship committee? My UHC letter didn’t mention anything about it.
@Engineering713 I got a pamphlet from Pitt when they visited us with the ACT/SAT range from each school. The range for business was a 27-30 for the ACT, which was a lower 75th percentile than all of the other schools. My ACT is 4 points above that so hopefully that is a good sign. Just as a reference if anyone else was wondering, Arts and Sciences was 26-31, Nursing was 27-31, and Engineering was 29-33.
@engineur Anyone that applies and has a complete application by December 15th will be automatically reviewed for scholarships.
@engineur, Hi! @class0f2017 is correct, you will be automatically reviewed for scholarships if you apply before December 15. Another important thing to know - we require the optional short answer question responses for scholarship consideration. If you did not complete those when filling out your application, there is a link to an online form where you can submit them separately on our scholarship web page: https://oafa.pitt.edu/financialaid/academic-scholarships/
Best,
A Pitt Admissions Staffer
I apoligize if this question has already been addressed but wondering if the ACT superscore or highest composite score is considered for merit scholarship?
Beginning this year, Pitt only uses the highest composite ACT score. In prior years I think they used the highest Math and English scores but I don’t know if they would take that from different test dates. I believe I saw that they will super score the SAT though.
@Jen19701993, That is correct, we take the highest ACT composite score for both admissions and for scholarships. For those who send SAT scores, we will superscore those for admissions and scholarships.
Best of luck!
A Pitt Admissions Staffer
@hailtopitt1787 Hey,
When do merit scholarship decisions start getting sent out? I applied in September, got my acceptance and Honors College acceptance a couple weeks ago. When will I be notified if I have received a merit scholarship?
@TheDoctorPotter any time between mid-November and March 1st
^anytime between November and March I think.
The committee meets weekly starting soon I believe.
@TheDoctorPotter, Scholarship notifications are sent out weekly from mid-November to March 1.
Best,
A Pitt Admissions Staffer
@hailtopitt1787 – i’m curious in general why SAT is super scored much more often than ACT. thoughts?
@bgbg4us, I don’t want to speak for other universities, but for Pitt: we look at the ACT composite score due to changes in the College Board concordance tables. For fall 2017, we will review the ACT composite and/or SAT superscore. We will continue to look at the highest scores in reviewing applications.
Hope that helps clarify!
Best,
A Pitt Admissions Staffer