<p>We found out a few weeks ago that my son was accepted at the main campus. He is currently ranked first in his class and has sats of 1250 combined math and reading. I talked to a rep from Pitt and was told that he does not qualify for any scholarships. He was also accepted at Drexel and received a total of $76,000 scholarship money. Any ideas on where we can check for any other scholarships that will help at Pitt, as this is his first choice?</p>
<p>I believe that you can ask for a second review for Pitt scholarships. There may also be specific departmental scholarships. And there are always external scholarships.</p>
<p>Pitt gives scholarships out directly based on numbers nothing else. You can try asking them for another review but I wouldn’t get my hopes up with a university as large as Pitt.</p>
<p>Pitt is numbers driven. A very high SAT or ACT normally will get you a scholarship but there are always exceptions to this depending upon what they are looking for.</p>
<p>I too have a high ranking but not high SATs (ranked 6th/523 640 Math 610 Reading). I think it’s stupid that a potential scholarship that I could get is limited to a stupid test that I take on a random saturday at 7am. It really angers me that other people who may not have worked as hard as I did throughout high school will get a scholarship and not me just because they get a 1400… >:-0</p>
<p>Well, there are 3000 schools in this country. Choose another one. But never move to China.</p>
<p>I’ll have to disagree with you dynamo. 1st - class ranking would only has significance if all applicants were competing in the same school. The truth is that in some schools you might be Valedictorian and others barely make the top 20% of the class. Standardized testing provides the same evaluating tool for all applicants.</p>
<p>As far as your scholarship being determined by a stupid test that you take on a random Saturday at 7am, you are aware that you may take the test more than once?</p>
<p>I agree with the above poster that says it is sad that no help is available for somebody that basically works their butt off! My son has a 98% gpa and ranks first in his class, but at the main campus this means nothing. Can anybody recommend any outside sources where we can apply for scholarships? He is involved with band and National Honor Society. I tried to tell him to apply to Pitt, Bradford campus, as I was told he was eligible for their valedictorian scholarship, but sadly most 18 year olds have no concept of money.</p>
<p>I hope this thread won’t devolve into a discussion over whether class rank/GPA or SAT/ACT scores should be more important. There are legitimate arguments for both sides because in the end neither are great measures. For example, while a poster above made a legitimate argument that their hard work as reflected by their high class rank is undermined by his/her low SAT score, I could argue that my even harder work at a more difficult score is supported by my higher SAT score. The SAT is a invaluable if flawed tool to compare applicants from disparate backgrounds. That said, within a school, yes, GPA is probably a better indicator of the underlying truth.</p>
<p>Anyway, when I was talking about external scholarships, I had two main sources in mind: fastweb.com and local sources (such as a Rotary scholarship).</p>
<p>Sadly, there are X number of valedictorians in America that are in band and NHS. There’s also X number of kids with 3.7 GPAs and above. test scores help weed out the grade inflating high schools, as well.</p>
<p>Really? Be grateful that your son even got into Pitt with a 1250 SAT. Students from my school have gotten 1320’s on their SATs and have gotten rejected from Pitt this year. Honestly, if your son is first in his class with a 1250 SAT, then I wouldn’t expect that the competition at his school is that great. Sorry if I come across as angry, but I’m really irked that my friends got rejected/deferred.</p>
<p>
While I believe both of these statements to be accurate, Pitt is clearly more interested in using the SAT “to compare applicants from disparate backgrounds”.</p>
<p>This thread is getting feisty. How about a kid with regular EC’s 1060 SAT and 3.5 GPA got in from my school.</p>
<p>^^Got in, but sure won’t be getting money to go</p>
<p>They ended up wait listing him till June and he got no housing</p>
<p>
Was he a URM or athlete?</p>
<p>Neither char</p>
<p>fuzzy1, who told you that your son did not qualify for any scholarships? Was it an actual financial aid officer? Sometimes, I feel like there are students working in the OAFA who offer varying answers to questions. Could it hurt to write and let Pitt know what other offers your son received?</p>
<p>lkf725, I was told that based on his sats, which is basically what I have come to believe that Pitt really looks at as a deciding factor, he does not qualify. This was from the financial aid office. I did mention Drexel and the scholarship that he was offered there, and was told by somebody, can’t remember who, as I have talked to several different people, that it may or may not make a difference. Anyway, thanks for all your input everybody! Happy Thanksgiving.</p>
<p>I’m afraid that Pitt is very numbers driven when it comes to scholarships. Academic superstars with top end SAT or ACT scores will get very attractive dollars. Quite frankly, higher average scores for incoming classes raise rankings. By the way, Pitt will NOT match ANY private schools’ scholarship offers. In fact, they may or may not even match a scholarship from Penn State. (And trust me, they are in direct competition with PSU for students!) However, you certainly won’t get any consideration if you don’t ask, so it’s worth it to try - you might get a little more. Having specific offers in hand from other public universities gives you the best discussion points.</p>
<p>One more point, certain colleges in Pitt do offer departmental scholarships. For example, for at least the past three years, every incoming engineering student has received a scholarship. I think that nursing students also frequently get departmental scholarships.</p>