My OOS DC has not received merit. His UW gpa 3.95 and SAT 1440, accepted in SCI Comp Sci. Has anyone had any success is asking for reconsideration of any merit?
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Nope. From what I can gather from reading on this forum, merit is hard to come by and they have moved more to need based.( I think). We have corresponded several times to people in admissions and financial aid. We have also emailed. We also asked in person when we were there this week. They do not match any offers of other schools and they donât seem to work that way and reconsider. As I have said before in this thread, unfortunately, now getting closer to the March 1 deadline, itâs likely not happening . At least personally for us, we feel that way after our efforts. Itâs disappointing, as my student received merit from Virginia Tech and another private college.
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This is my understanding as well.
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Thanks for your thoughtful response. Weâre in a similar position, with merit offers from other schools along with an in-state flagship. L
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Of course! I wish I was sharing better news. Lol. We are OOS, and so far with the 2 merit offers, and he was accepted to our in state school(Rutgers), and waiting on a few more. Moving on⊠In our case, we also found out when we were at Pitt this week, it may not be the best fit in terms of his majorâŠso itâs fine. V.Tech (at this point) is better for him⊠time will tell. As they say, they all end up where they are supposed to be! Best of luck to your student 
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Thanks and same to yours! Thatâs awesome getting merit from VT. Theyâre supposed to be similar to Pitt in terms of not giving a lot of merit so thatâs anaxing for you guys.
Son was given 3 options:
- Waitlist for Main
- Apply to regional campus
- Decline all.
He is going to accept the waitlist from Main. Play the long game - place a deposit on University for Delaware but when and if he comes off waitlist go to main in the fall.
Playing the odds - After May 1st (decision day) I have to think spots open up. I think Pitt is a safety school for a lot of students - they get accepted at Pitt but dontâ decline until the last minute.
This is better than denied totally - fingers are crossed!! Good luck to the kids in the same boat - I think its still postive.
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Itâs a good plan, but I would encourage you to get your son excited about UD. Pitt, like all schools, plans for a certain yield and bakes those who historically decline into their numbers. A student declining on May 1 will not necessarily open a spot.
Depending on his major and a lot of other things, your son may well get in. I am not trying to be a Debbie Downer. But Pitt had higher than expected yield the last couple of years and overfilled the last two freshman classes. They had so much overflow this year that they had to use Carlowâs dorms for housing. I personally know multiple kids who tried to transfer in, with very high grades from high school and college, and who were denied (or offered branch campuses). I also know kids in my daughterâs class (2022) who were waitlisted then offered spring entry.
Again, not trying to be negative in any way because you are right â there is still a long game and time for waitlist movement. But for your sonâs benefit, I would focus more on getting excited about where he will be putting down a deposit.
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He also got accepted into a tier 3 state school with a merit scholarship (Bloom) - he is considering that as well but Pitt is really his only choice and I donât blame him. We are from the Philly burbs and Pittsburgh is like going out of state - has everything he wants. You mentioned waitlisted and offered spring entry - is that an option? This is all new to me - I think he would wait that long if that helps???
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I donât know how often they offer spring entry. The student I know went to Duquesne in the fall â didnât take the semester off to wait â and decided to stay rather than transfer.
We are in the same boat with my son. He will play the waiting game. He wants to be in the city of Pittsburgh, and was accepted into Duquesne Business School. 4/5 of us in my family went to Pitt. My son being the last one. pitt is all he knew. We are also from a Phila Suburb. Son is at North Penn HS in Lansdale. He has acceptances from Temple, West Chester, Robert Morris and Duquesne. We shall see what he decides.
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My son is at Perk Valley (my wife is a North Penn grad, I went to North Catholic in Philly) - for me Pitt could have been on the other side of the moon when I was in highschool - it wasnât an option - for me it was CCP, Temple, LaSalle and the really smart kids St Joes. If you couldnât get to it by Septa then forget it. So when I visited Pitt with my son - it was incredible - blown away really. He loved it but I think Delaware is a great second choice. Fingers crossed! Good luck to youâŠ
I believe last year they only used the waitlist for computer science and Health Sciences. They took a significant amount of students from the waitlist in those 2 schools. So the waitlist is a long shot for other schools. The students need to be excited about their other options.
Same situation for my daughter. Sadly I have heard many donât come off the waitlist at Pitt. And hearing so late is gonna be rough considering most look for roommates way prior to that. Udel gave her great money (as well as SJU and WCU) and itâs a gorgeous campus and every kid I know that has gone there (which is ALOT from our NJ school) seem to love it.
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I have a senior at WCU- best 4 years of her life she says. Gorgeous campus, amazing town outside of campus too. Totally different feel then Pitt.
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I think I want Pitt - only because of the city and the sports (big time division 1). Honestly I have no idea of the academics. I suppose not the reason to choose a school. I think my son is totally indifferent - his eyes lit up when visiting Delaware - itâs a big ask of a kid to move across the state - his friend got waitlisted at Pitt too - and accepted into UofD - I think they are both ok with it. Hey same colors and a US president is a graduate 
. Good luck to all!!!
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Not bad reasons at all to want a school. I have one at South Carolina and the school spirit is insane (my 2023 is also waiting to hear from them as she applied regular decision). The fact that your sons eyes light up at UDel is a really good thing. Heâs loving the school that loves him back. Even if mine gets into pitt, itâs safe to assume sheâll get no money. Iâm trying to get her excited about other schools because at this point and from what Iâve read it doesnât look like pitt is gonna happen
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@cgemaj - The snap shot I showed where 16 students came off the waitlist was from 2021 (COVID year). Stay positive. Every year is different and the science of this changes.
There is a board on this website that was started last year - âWaitlisted Pitt class of 2026â. There is something called summer melt - and apparently kids got off the waitlist as late as June - not ideal for kids who need to know things right away (my kid could care less). There is hope.
Pay the deposit at the âsecondâ choice and play the long game.
Loved âHeâs loving the school that loves him backâ - that puts everything in perspective! Its his choice not mine!
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One more tid bit about the Frederick Honors College, the name changed this fall because a Mr. Frederick donated a ton of money to Pitt for their honors college. This man was Pittâs first Rhodes Scholar (something very prestigious if I got the Rhodes part wrong). And very soon after, they began renovating 2 other floors of the Cathedral of Learning for the FHC. So now, its a gorgeous 3 floor space with study and meeting areas, snack area, etc. If you are heading to campus and got into honors or are waitlisted for it, check it out.
Pitt is obviously trying to create more of an honors community, even though anyone is welcome to take honors classes. There are regular speakers and events for honors too.
Also, Pitt provides serious help and advising for honors kids to pursue Fulbrights, Rhodes, etc, all the big time scholarships. They help with applications, interview prep, specifically for these prestigious awards. A win for the students and a win for Pitt if their students win them.
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