<p>Hey guys, I was just wondering how the University of Pittsburgh usually handles scholarships? My parents and I are pretty upset with the amount of money they gave me, I only received $2000 per year through an academic scholarship. I maintained a GPA of 4.19 throughout my 4 years of highschool, I managed to get SATs of 1510 Math/Reading /2250 Math/Reading/Writing, and my grandfather, father, and three brothers have all gone to the University of Pittsburgh. Am I the only one that this scholarship seems low to?</p>
<p>UPitt has a rep for being very odd with how it gives out scholarships.</p>
<p>Are you instate? UPitt seems to be the cheapest with instate students.</p>
<p>Scholarship-wise, it probably doesn’t make a difference that you’re a legacy. That usually help with admissions for borderline admits.</p>
<p>You can always get an acceptance and financial aid offer from another college and then try to get them to compete for you. You should have until May 1 to decide.</p>
<p>That’s harder to do if the student is instate. Not impossible, but it seems like these schools are more likely to “compete” for out of state high stats kids.</p>
<p>Also, are you pre-pharm, by any chance? The pre-pharm scholarships seem to be especially small for both in state and OOS students.</p>
<p>^^m2ck or anyone else, why do you think schools like Pitt are more generous with OOS tuition scholarships? I’m trying to understand all this. My D, a junior, is a high stat kid who is getting interested in Pitt. We live in PA. Wouldn’t it make more sense for them to dole out tuition scholarships to instate kids since instate tuition is cheaper? A full tuition scholarship to an instate kid costs the school less than one to an OOS kid, doesn’t it? Help me see the piece of the puzzle I’m missing, please? We’re so early in the process that it doesn’t matter for any one school, but I’m just trying to learn how all this works. Thanks!</p>
<p>They are trying to increase their stats plus increase their OOS students. They can claim “we have students from 50 states etc. etc.”. And yes, Pitt does tend to dole out bigger scholarships to OOS students. </p>
<p>DS would not have attended Pitt without the full tuition scholarship. Pitt costs approx. $37,000/tuition & room/board while our state flagship would have cost around $21,000/tuition & room/board. We were very grateful for the scholarships as it gave him a choice :)</p>
<p>In-state students already get tuition discounted from the state. That is why merit awards are often greater for OOS kids. All things being equal, the cost should be about the same. On the other hand, as mentioned above, geographic diversity does play into student recruitment considerations.</p>
<p>You really have to think of Pitt as a private college, which is really what it is underneath the hood (and for the vast majority of its history). It gets less than 10% of its budget from the state (below levels when it was still fully private), and seems to have to deal with the constant threat of the “state-relateds” not receiving their appropriations: like last year when it was 4-5 months late because it was being held hostage in a political impasse in Harrisburg. That resulted in Pitt covering the discount for their in-state students for that time, which cost it tens of millions of dollars, not all of which was recouped when the money was finally released. Legislators have flat out warned there may be no money for the state-related schools in the future.</p>
<p>In 2009, about 31% of freshman came from out-of-state, and they have just announced, due to the decreasing demographic projections in Pennsylvania, an intention to target more out-of-state students. The pool of high academic students in Pennsylvania is competitive to recruit in, and not infinite; the state appropriations diminishing and uncertain; and the maintenance of the high academic profile and geographic diversity of its students desirable. It’s not just Pitt though, PSU and Temple are going through the same thing, although Pitt, with its larger endowment has more merit award money to throw around so it is perhaps more noticeable.</p>
<p>This is helpful information; thank you. Are lots of state institutions similar in their interest in recruiting OOS students? I know some like UVA and UNC are tough to get into for OOS, but are they not the norm?</p>
<p>As state support drops across the country, some are turning to OOS. Cal-Berkley is one, off the top of my head, which has raised the threshold of OOS it will now admit.</p>
<p>But something to keep in mind is that Pitt, PSU and Temple are not true state institutions. They are “state-related”, and although they are classified as “public” by the Carnegie Foundation and the federal government because they have subsidized in-state tuition, their governances are private. They operate more like Cornell than UCLA.</p>
<p>UVA is required by state law to accept a certain number of in-state students (I believe it is 2/3 in-state to 1/3 OOS) thus the competition for the OOS spots are intense. I think UVA would love to accept more OOS students as they “pay” more but they are restricted due to the law. </p>
<p>UVA also does not offer “scholarships” like Pitt. UVA will provide financial aid but the full ride (Jefferson Scholars) is awarded through the Jefferson Foundation. Jefferson Scholars is extremely competitive. It is similar to the Robertson scholars for UNC & Duke.</p>
<p>UMichigan loves OOS students - they are full pay. There are some merit opportunities for OOS students, but for the most part OOS students are a great source of revenue.</p>
<p>Podvigs, don’t give up on Pitt. Have your child apply early. There are still full tuition scholarships given to in-state kids.</p>
<p>*m2ck or anyone else, why do you think schools like Pitt are more generous with OOS tuition scholarships? I’m trying to understand all this. My D, a junior, is a high stat kid who is getting interested in Pitt. We live in PA. Wouldn’t it make more sense for them to dole out tuition scholarships to instate kids since instate tuition is cheaper? A full tuition scholarship to an instate kid costs the school less than one to an OOS kid, doesn’t it? Help me see the piece of the puzzle I’m missing, please? We’re so early in the process that it doesn’t matter for any one school, but I’m just trying to learn how all this works. Thanks! *</p>
<p>There seems to be this belief that having kids from all 50 states is a good thing for diversity, so more merit is offered to them (if they have high stats). Also, these schools are “purchasing” these high-stats kids so-to-speak to help increase their mid-50 range scores. </p>
<p>*My D, a junior, is a high stat kid who is getting interested in Pitt. We live in PA. *</p>
<p>Tell your D to keep her options open if a good merit scholarship is needed. Her more affordable choices may end up being out of state.</p>
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<p>Yes, but for many, OOS students are cash cows. Pitt is unusually aggressive in offering merit aid to OOS students. Many of the public schools that offer good OOS scholarships are not those that have the cachet to attract OOS without the financial inducement. For example, you’ll find great OOS scholarship offers at schools like Utah State, Mississippi State and New Mexico, but not at Colorado, Michigan or the UCs.</p>
<p>Alright, I think I’m getting the picture. We’re still in the early stages. Lots to think about. Thanks all.</p>