Why was I denied???

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pittsburgh
1

<p>I come from a very esteemed small, private school and have a good upward trend in grades. It is an all girls school, and most of the girls who apply get accepted. I sent in a personal essay, 2 great teacher recommendations, and 1 really good college advisor recommendation.</p>

<p>My school doesn't report/weigh GPA, but if they were to report it, it would be a 3.5. This is considered the "higher" of the GPAs of my school, as it is very hard to achieve a 4.0 or GPAs near this range...</p>

<p>The other girls who were accepted so far that I know of had lower GPAs than me (or a little higher like a 3.6) with either 3.2 or high 2.0 ranges..</p>

<p>I have an upward trend in grades with all A's and A-'s, with only 2 B+'s per semester in high school. </p>

<p>For extracurriculars, I am on the varsity field hockey team, have an internship at the zoo in animal care, have worked 2 jobs all year, am the Vice President of the Pennsylvania Junior Classical League, member of Latin Honor Society and have won high awards (like Summa Cum Laude, etc) for my accheivements in Latin, have been a staff member and Art/Photo Editor and Features Editor for my school newspaper, and am a member of various clubs in school for the past 4 years. I traveled abroad through People to People this summer and fundraised money for my trip.</p>

<p>The greatest concerning reason is because of my absurdly low SAT scores--they do not reflect my grades, accheivements, or extracurriculars, and I know that this might be the highest reason for my being denied. However, I just don't understand why I was denied and accepted to UPitt Greensburg when someone else from my school with lower grades and GPA was accepted with an SAT score 70 points higher. I know of many other students who have been accepted with similar SAT scores.</p>

<p>SAT scores:
reading: 610
writing: 620
math: 470
COMBINED: 1700</p>

<p>Now, I'm not applying to be an engineer here or mathematician. Although, I have had A-'s throughout high school in all my math courses. I in fact am very interested in English. Although these aren't high scores in English either, my A grades in the subject over the last 4 years should prove that I am eligible. </p>

<p>Could it be because I said under my major choices that I was considering Biology and they thus judged my admission by my math score? My college adviser contacted one of the Admissions Counselors in hopes that they will explain why they have decided to deny me. I research several cases where students have been denied from Pitt, but have proved in some way to the school that they can change and make a difference by submitting extra recommendations, taking the SAT again, sending in more grades, or anything else. </p>

<p>Please be nice in your responses, I am very sensitive about my rejection :( Can anyone offer me any similar stories, or has anyone else been denied who thinks they are overall a perfectly good applicant?</p>

2

<p>Allie- I would guess that your low math SAT score was the issue, because everything else looks fine. I believe that Pitt will reconsider your application if you retake SAT and submit a higher score. I believe they look for 600 (or close to that) on the math portion of the SAT.</p>

3

<p>I would retake the SAT and try my hardest, but I’ve never done very well in standardized tests since lower school when I took ERB tests which were standardized private school tests which never reflected my true abilities. </p>

<p>I really don’t think I will get it up to 600 because I’ve already taken it so many times, but do you think If I can at least hit 500s they will reconsider? I mean, I’m not even applying for a science or engineering major! I’m interested in English Literature and the humanities!
My SAT2 for the Latin was 630, which is I think within “good” score range for that test.</p>

4

<p>Why don’t you call somebody and ask them. I got the sense that they WANT to admit you and would be happy to discuss it with you.</p>

5

<p>My college counselor knows one of the admissions counselors really well because my school is literally down the street from Pitt, and we send a lot of girls there and we have a lot that apply there. She is going to ask him the reason I was denied, and see if there is anything I can do. I will probably send in an appeal, I just hope that there are good enough REASONS for me to–like if it’s about my math score, can I really bring it up dramatically to please them?</p>

<p>I wonder if I could even take a class there and do well in it to show them that I could do well, cause I know high school students can take some classes there as some of my friends have.</p>

6

<p>It’s your math SAT. You might not like to hear it, but it is obvious. According to their common data set, your score is in the bottom 1% of enrolled freshman for fall 2010 and scores creeped up some more for 2011. It’s a huge red flag no matter what your intended major. If you can, you absolutely have to take your SATs again, maybe try the ACTs. Practice, practice, practice before you take them. Pitt superscores, so concentrate just on the Math. </p>

<p>And although you may just be interested in English, a good liberal arts education will demand that you strive to be well rounded, and I know at least a logic course will probably be required for everyone. In biology, you’ll definitely need to be able to do some math, particularly statistics, and probably have to take a calculus course. You’ve said you do well in math classes in high school, just not on standardized tests. Well that shows that you can get the concepts, it is now just about practicing the type of problems that appear on standardized in an environment as similar as you can simulate to the SAT as much as you can.</p>

7

<p>I agree to maybe try the ACT. Some people just do better on that test than the SAT. Your math score is most definitely the problem. Also, what was the highest level math class that you have on your transcript? That may be an issue too, coupled with the math score.</p>

8

<p>My math now is Calculus, so it’s not my level of math. Right now some of my friends are taking either Statistics (highest level being Trig/PreCalc) or AB Calculus. Thanks everyone! I’m planning to retake it again</p>

9

<p>What do you think is the minimum math score I can aim for?</p>

10

<p>Try the ACT. I advised one student a number of years ago who could not break beyond a certain number on the SAT. I handed him a prep book for the ACT. He studied it, took the exam, and qualified for significant merit money as a result. Admissions offices have charts where they can convert ACT/SAT scores to the other. Wishing you the best.</p>

11

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<p>That’s not really the right question. If you “aim” for a 600, you’ll end up with a 500. You really need to be able to understand and do most of the problems. The trickiness of the test itself and the time constraints will limit your score, but you need to aim for an 800.</p>

12

<p>Have you taken any SAT prep classes? It might seem too late but they can help alot with test strategy and confidence. My ds went up about 100 pts in math from a class.</p>

13

<p>Definitely take an SAT prep class. My first math score was a 460 and when I took the SAT’s again it went up to a 590. I scored higher on my ACT than SAT, but I have a very strong math and science background.</p>

14

<p>Allie- another thing you should know- is that if you don’t score 600 on math you will be required to take Pitt’s math placement test- and if you don’t score sufficiently well on that you will be placed in college algebra. You will also have to take at least one math course for which algebra is a pre-requisite to fulfilll A&S requirements for graduation.</p>

15

<p>I talked to the school and am planning an appeal–basically one of the admissions officers said that if I can get my CR and M at 1100 and up, they will have a reason to reconsider me especially because my school record is good as they said I am an otherwise good exceptional candidate for admission. They said 1100 range scores in CR and M is what they look for at least for admission. I don’t think that I am too far from that, so I have to really work at math.</p>

<p>lpjc623–I can’t afford a class, but I am planning to go over my wrong answers with my dad for the next few weeks and meet with a math teacher during school once a week to go over math, and I’m going to practice the english things on my own. My adviser told me to also take the ACT so I’m planning on doing both…</p>

16

<p>Allie- I’d suggest that you get a copy of the College Board book of real SAT tests and practice the math sections from those.</p>

17

<p>It might also be a red flag that your CR SAT is 620 and your CR is 610 if you want to be an English major…</p>

<p>Also a 630 on the Latin SATII is okay, but for SATIIs you really need to be getting over 700 to show you’ve mastered the material (I got a 720 on my Latin SATII, for example, and that was after taking Latin 1-3, and a year of AP, agh!).</p>

18

<p>Make sure that you maintain focus on the Math score. It’s been suggested that you take the ACT as well. Be careful. Preparing for SAT Math is not the same as preparing for ACT Math. They are different tests. SAT attempts to test “reasoning” and goes through Algebra II whereas ACT problems tend to be more straightforward, but many students find themselves pressed for time to do them all. ACT has some basic precal material. </p>

<p>My opinion: You should pick one or the other and focus on it. You might do a practice math section of each type and compare the results. There are resources online that can help in comparing SAT to ACT. Go with the one you do better on. Once you’ve taken that test, then prepare for the other, but give yourself time to prepare. For instance, if you end up taking the 12/3 SAT, don’t try to take the 12/10 ACT unless the results from the 2/11 ACT won’t be in time to matter. I just don’t think a week is sufficient time for the “mindset switch” that you’ll need to make going from one test to the other.</p>

<p>You can do this. We’re pulling for you. :)</p>

19

<p>I disagree. </p>

<p>Just study for the math portion of the SAT and keep taking it until you get the score you want for math. Then Pittsburgh will probably superscore your best tests and let you in. This is a school that portrays a refreshing attitude that they WANT to let you in. </p>

<p>I don’t know if they will cherry pick subscores from ACT and mix them with subscores from the SAT. Read the stuff on Xiggi SAT Prep. If I recall Grubers was the book of choice to prepare for the math portion.</p>

20

<p>ClassicRockerDad wrote:

See: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pittsburgh/1180774-settle-debate-fall-mixing-act-sat-scores.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-pittsburgh/1180774-settle-debate-fall-mixing-act-sat-scores.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;