So, the day I gave up on merit aid is the day my son receives his award notice. Received a Pitt Success Grant and Panther Pride Award - $15K a year!
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I applied to biological sciences but was accepted into public health. I was surprised as I didnât recall the application asking for a second choice so I looked over my common app to confirm that I didnât select public health as an alternate. I didnât. Is this unusual or does admissions often assign a different major without asking if the one you selected is full? how difficult is it to change my major once I enroll? Thanks.
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Please do not go test optional (unless you do not have the scores). You can always retake the test to improve the scores before submitting the application.
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Thatâs an awesome merit award! Which school/major? Would you mind sharing stats?
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I thought that Pitt Success and Panther Pride were need-based. Did you apply for financial aid?
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But, to be clear, Pitt does not let you change your TO preference once you apply. Many schools do.
(It could change next cycle, but that was the policy this year.)
Is the merit from email?
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Wow, this really bums me out! Im an alum too.
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You are correct, those are grants, not the type of merit that a full-pay family would be offered.
This trend may change but my daughter was accepted TO with Merit in state to Pitt Nursing last year. I am certain her submission of her ACT score would not have yielded the same results! Admittedly it seems she may have been a bit of an anomaly, but scores would have hurt her options for Merit at many schools.
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My daughter also applied last year and is a current freshman. She applied test optional and received merit (we are full pay). SoâŠsimilar.
Merit has always been scarce and hard to predict from the outside at Pitt, even before the shift in focus to more need-based aid. My older daughter received nothing, but had a stronger application than my 2022, received the largest institutional merit from some schools more selective than Pitt, and was accepted and attends a T20ish school. Pitt thought they could sway one decision but likely not the other.
As I have said many times, âmeritâ aid isnât a reflection of a studentâs application strength. Itâs a much more complex enrollment management tool. For schools like Pitt and Penn State, both in state and OOS applicants must assume that sticker price (less financial aid) = cost of attendance. One can always hope for a surprise, but should prepare and plan from the outset that there will be no merit.
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My D23 applied TO this year, although in general her score probably would have been ok, but sheâs applying to a very competitive program (GAP in the PA program), so she didnât want her score to hurt her for that. She was admitted and received a $10K/year merit scholarship, which was a nice surprise! Still waiting on word about the PA GAP. Aaaaghhh! 
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True. They donât anymore. I heard they are reserving the most aid for need based.
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When was the SRAR submitted?
How many APs? What part of the country?
My 23 had a 4.2, demonstrated interest with a visit, and was TO (test optional) and applied in September and got in.
I donât think TO matters to Pitt.
I hope you get good news soon!
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My daughter was accepted to a branch campus and is waitlisted for main. Will it impact her if she declines the admission to the branch? The emails she is getting (and me) and mailings is a little over the top. Since there is no way sheâs going to go there will it matter if she pushes the decline button to that campus?
Does she have other acceptances that she likes? I donât know, it seems a bit risky⊠like what if they have a glitch⊠I might at least wait until May 1 (maybe April 30) before declining.
If she has another plan she likes in case she doesnât get off the waitlist, then maybe itâs okay to decline.
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I would be concerned that they are tied together. Declining the admission could be interpreted as declining the waitlist. I agree not to do anything until it gets closer to May 1.
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OK thank you both. She does have a few other top choices and has kind of accepted the fact that she may not get into Pitt.
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My daughter is down to Pitt and U of SC. Also Darla Moore. Itâs the HC that has her so intrigued! Good luck to your daughter.
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I have a sophomore at uofsc. She also got into Darla Moore. She had changed her major through spring of freshman year. She loves it there.
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