Im currently looking into the University of Pittsburgh for chemical engineering. I was curious about my chances of being accepted. My ACT is a 27, and I have a weighted GPA of a 3.81. I’ve taken almost all my generals in high school through CIS classes, including chem 1 and 2. I am the captain of my rugby and cross country team, as well as the manager of the basketball team. My classes for my senior year include CIS calc 1 and 2, CIS psych, physics, and AP German.
Thanks
Two years ago when I toured Swanson, I was told by academic advisor attached to the School of Engineering that the average GPA for entering freshmen engineering students was 4.0 (weighted); I don’t remember anything about the average SAT score for entering freshman engineering students. The academic advisor added that the averages for admitted engineering students were much higher than those of the university as a whole. I don’t imagine that the average GPA has declined over the past two years.
So, unless you have some admissions “hook”, in my opinion your chances for admission are probably not that good.
Your test scores don't match the rest of your profile, is the GPA a college GPA or a high school GPA? What is your home state where your classes would guaranteed to be useful? What was your jr year math?
You should take the ACT again. I don’t think a 27 will get you in Swanson School of Engineering.
D just started SSoE. The avg ACT for the class was 30, and the average weighted GPA was 4.2+ (although this number is relatively meaningless since they didn’t explain how Pitt weighs GPAs). You’ll definitely want to try and get the ACT score up for the Pittsburgh campus. If you don’t get accepted into the Pittsburgh campus, you probably have a good shot at the Johnstown campus.
A year ago on CC there was a kid with a 35 ACT and an UW GPA of 3.2-3.5 (I can’t remember exactly but I do remember his ACT) and he was denied engineering at Swanson.
Take the ACT again. ASAP. And put some practice into your preparation. Do a section test every day. 45 minutes of work every day can really help you crank your score.
If the Swanson School of Engineering is on the Pittsburgh campus, the average GPA for the entire campus is listed on their website as 4.03. Assuming this is weighted, as there is no other way of exceeding 4.0, this does not reflect the engineering population as they represent only about 10% of the Pittsburgh population. This information is taken from the Common Data Set (CDS) report for the Pittsburgh campus for 2017. For more details see https://ir.pitt.edu/facts-publications/common-data-set/ and poke around.
“grandalf78” is on target regarding the GPA! I would not give up and rugby players don’t do that! I do suggest you consider some alternative avenues as the engineering data is likely higher than the rest of the campus. Campus wide 76% of the students had secondary school GPA’s above 3.75 and you have a 3.81.
As these reports are from a standardized CDS system, they are a relatively reliable source and are available for most competitive universities through their websites.
What other universities are you looking at?
@retiredfarmer Is there documentation from the CDS regarding the “standardized” CDS system-particularly with respect to weighing GPAs? The form itself specifies a 4.0 scale, which to me means that the highest a school should submit is 4.0 (i.e. unweighted). Most schools seem to ignore this and provide a weighted score. Lack of a common method to weigh honors, AP, IB, DE, and other courses makes comparing GPAs from different university CDS reports relatively meaningless, as does comparing a WGPA calculated from the HS to the GPAs reported by the universities.
@shortnuke
As the CDS is a nationally used reporting system, there must be some guidelines somewhere for the proper completion of the line items. This is the first time I have seen GPA data > 4.0 on the CDS report. I always assumed they were supposed to be unweighted. When I first started at CC, I called my Alma Mata and asked if the reported average GPA was weighted. They reported that is was not weighted.
Thanks for the question. I will try to find out.
This is important as we should be trying to compile, as best we can, standardized data sources for comparisons. The system will never be perfect, by it is better than a few personal opinions.
If I were you, I would call the Swanson School at Pittsburgh and ask if they can give you the average UNWEIGHTED GPA of the last entering class. They probably have it. It will be class average UNWEIGHTED GPA of 4 or less. Compared that to your unweighted GPA.