<p>Hi so I've been lurking around here a lot and I've heard everyone saying to apply early! However I was hoping that I would be able to improve my SAT scores in October before applying to Pitt but should I just apply with what I have? </p>
<p>Public School
Massachusetts
4.0 weighted gpa (school doesn't give unweighted)
Most likely top ten percent
Math: 550
CR:660
7 AP's, practically everything else honors.
ec's: model un, secretary of sadd, volunteer at top hospital, secretary of culture society, opera choir, dance, musical theater, peer leadership </p>
<p>also have an essay about overcoming illness that I dealt with my first three years of high school. </p>
<p>Thanks so much for any input!</p>
<p>I’m thinking you are likely to get in as is, but getting that math score up might lessen any suspense and would help for any merit award considerations. Since you were planning on retaking the SAT’s anyway, maybe just go ahead with your plan. With your current scores, I would guess that a one month difference in when you get your application in is not going to impact your admission compared to if you end up with some significant improvement on your SAT. Tough to say for sure.</p>
<p>I agree…try to raise the SAT scores first since it is still early in order to raise merit aid chances if that is important to you. Pitt does superscore.</p>
<p>I think you should definitely retake the SAT, your stats suggest that you should be able to do better than 1210 on the combined M+CR sections. Regarding when to apply, as far as I know Pitt will not look at your application until all of its required components have been received. So watch out for things such as the high school transcript and letters of recommendation (if you plan to send any), which typically take a while to get sent and are not under your direct control. If I were you, I would start with those components early. In fact, I would send all the application materials in and only leave the SAT scores for October. Good luck!</p>
<p>If you have SAT scores that are more than sufficient for admission (over 1400), but less than sufficient for merit aid (under 1450), should you go ahead and apply (i.e., send everything in to Pitt), but then just send in the updated scores when they come out in the next month or so? Will they reconsider you for merit aid when the new scores come in (assuming that they will be over 1450)?</p>
<p>Yes, I believe you should apply now and then send updated scores. It’s still early enough in the process. And I think I remember that someone did this last year and was successful. If you read through old posts, you might find it. My daughter applied in mid-November (three years ago though).</p>
<p>Also, with a score of 1400, a partial scholarship might be awarded. Are you in-state or OOS? The in-state partial is $2,000 a year, I believe, and the OOS is $10,000.</p>
<p>OOS, but will really need the full tuition scholarship to realistically make attending Pitt a possibility. Not eligible for financial aid.</p>
<p>I usually advocate sending the app in early, but this is different since you’re so close to the merit cutoff… It’s impossible to tell how quickly Pitt will review your application once they’ve received all the required application components. If they do it before you’ve had a chance to send the improved SAT scores in and decide not to award you merit aid, there’s no guarantee that they’ll actually reevaluate your application afterwards, or at least not automatically. So it’s a difficult balancing act to time your application “just right.” With an SAT of over 1400, I don’t think that there’s much, if any, risk of not getting accepted at all, so maybe you should delay sending <em>any</em> scores until after you’re received the new ones. If at all possible, you should probably pay the extra fee for having the new scores rushed to Pitt so that your application will be complete and ready for review by the end of October. But this is just my personal opinion, based mostly on the fact that my son’s application wasn’t complete until the end of October–not because he was waiting for new scores, but because his high school didn’t mail his transcript until mid-October–and with a 1500+ SAT he was offered full tuition. So end of October certainly wasn’t too late for him to get substantial merit aid. Best of luck either way!</p>
<p>A lot of money is riding on this, so it’s best to contact the admissions office directly and ask. It’s still early in the process, so they should have time to converse with you.</p>
<p>And I would rush the new scores to Pitt if they’re over 1450 (CR and M).</p>
<p>Can anyone clarify if the number 412-624-7488 is the direct number to contact admissions?</p>
<p>Not to re-state the obvious, but admissions information is readily available on Pitt’s website, including, yes, this phone number.</p>