I was accepted back in October. ACT: 36 Math, 33 English, along with other strong stats.
After contacting the admissions office and asking them when I would be notified if I received a scholarship, all I was told was “by March 1st.”
What should I do? I was really hoping to receive a scholarship from Pitt.
Call me crazy, but aren’t there still two weeks until March 1st?
Right but at this point I’m doubtful. Keep in mind I was accepted in October. Four months ago. Why haven’t they gotten back to me earlier? Everyone I know who received a scholarship was notified around two weeks after their acceptance letter came. But me? Still waiting.
@siameseninja for me personally, I was accepted in Sept & I didn’t get my scholarship letter until yesterday
@siameseninja,Due to the competitiveness of the scholarship process, it is not unusual for students to go through two, sometimes three, reviews before a final scholarship decision is made. While some students learn about an academic scholarship shortly after being admitted, many more students do not learn about their scholarship award until much later. Bottom line, if a student is selected to receive a scholarship, he/she will find out no later than March 1. Don’t interpret the timing as a yes or a no, the Committee will be reviewing applications for just a little while longer.
Best of luck!
-A Pitt Admissions Staffer
To piggyback off of @hailtopitt1787, apps for scholarships were accepted up until mid-January (a month ago). On top of that, the scholarship committee only meets once a week or so to review ALL of the potential recipients. Yeah you have great stats, and that’s how you get into the potential recipient pool, but keep in mind other factors play a role too (IS vs OOS, intended major, ethnicity, etc.)
And as many others have pointed out, you have another 2 weeks before the committee finishes making all their decisions.
The one thing I would mention is does your application say rank is top 5%? If is does great, if not - then that may be why your haven’t heard. If a quick email from the GC can be sent to clarify that - it might change things - it did for us in '11.
@amandakayak , I believe I am 8%. Should I email them and ask them why I haven’t gotten anything yet?
If you are 8% - that might be the issue although all your other stats are very very strong. Were you notified of UHC (honors college) eligibility?
Nope, haven’t heard anything about the honors college either. And would they really not give me anything because I’m 8%? That’s ridiculous!
It is an arbitrary process. Have you shown some interest to your admissions officer?
This is a great point. What kind of application was put forward. Did you do all of the optional essays. Did you send in more than the minimum number of LoR. Did you email a resume of activities afterwards? If all that the admissions/scholarship committee saw was a GPA and a SAT score, that’s not a lot of “hook” to give a scholarship.
not to discourage the applicant but my kid did lots of the above noted in last 2 posts(although i guess it was more me doing the contact with an admissions officer), and he was one kid outside the top 5 percent. in his case, the above did not help. also had test scores barely at scholarship level but they were in schlolarship range including some VERY high subtests on the reading side. for some kids, despite the decent stats, the scholarship committee does not budge. on the plus side, my kid is flourishing as a college freshman so a no scholarship from pitt is not the end of all collegiate options. and best of wishes to you siameseninja.
@AwesomeOpossum , yes and yes, did all the essays, and had 2 letters of rec. This is so frustrating, does it really all come down to class rank? Does it really come down to how well I do in comparison to my classmates?
My d just heard about a scholarship from Pitt. Sit tight and try your hardest to be patient. She was also admitted early in the fall.
siamese, i think it’s a matter of getting in the pool, which i suspect you are in. past that, kids with a 36 composite ACT are likely to get a scholarship with a top 5 percent class ranking. last year, most kids with at least a 34(that posted on here) got something. once you are below that magic mark, which varies some every year, you may get a scholarship, you may not. it sounds like you ended up in the maybe, rather than definite, scholarship pool, and if you are in the maybe pool, it is hard to say how it will play out. We’ve been there so i have an idea how frustrating it is. it seems like it is harder and harder every year to get a scholarship at Pitt. and hold your head up. You still have a great score, probably somewhere in the 99th percentile and that can get lost in the shuffle with the admissions and scholarship pursuits. you’ll never know if it was the top eight percent rather than top 5 percent that was the final factor, the comittee did not like a LOR(even though it was great), you did not have enough AP classes, who knows. and it’s still not march 1st yet so don’t totally give up, but i would not hold up your hope too high either. Recontacting Pitt showing enthusiasm to go there cannot hurt your chances. i would wait until you can call or email stating i really want to go and there is no hint of frustration as to why you have not heard about a scholarship yet. Easier said than done.
and siameseninja, if you have a scholarship elsewhere, you can present that to pitt. it has to be to a comparable school(however Pitt defines that) and there is i believe a specific form you use. check out some of the other pitt threads as that has come up for discussion in other threads. and you also must present proof that you have been offerred a scholarship from somewhere else. i believe some posters have been able to either get or perhaps it was increase their Pitt scholarship going this route.
@siameseninja, one thing I’ve learned about this process of admissions and scholarships is you need to be patient. It does not move fast, nor should it because you want AO’s to give each candidate a fair review. Given the time (and money investment) each candidate puts into their application, everyone deserves a fair review of their paperwork and worthiness for merit aid. When you do the high level numbers for a school of this size, it’s a daunting task for an Admissions staff to get through all of this paperwork and try to stay on deadlines.
My stats weren’t outstanding… 34 English and Math on the ACT and found out a week or two after I was accepted in early November. This leads me to believe that it has nothing to do with when you submitted the app, but rather when the committee gets around to making a final decision. And with your stats, there is no thinkable reason, in my eyes, for you to not get some scholarship money. Wait patiently :P, it’ll come!
DD keeps holding out hope and keeps saying Pitt is one of her top 2 choices despite hearing several months ago about her acceptance and yet hearing nothing about a scholarship. I feel that with a 1350 and 32 ACT that she is probably out of luck despite a top 2% class rank and great ECs (and an Eng major).
I’m guessing her only hope is to use her full ride to Alabama to try to get more money. Even then, I can’t see enough to make it feasible for her to attend.