I’ve been looking around here and on the Pitt website, and it looks like Pitt only gives merit aid to top students… MAYBE. My stats aren’t crazy impressive, but I believe I could get in. However, my family’s income is incredibly low; we live below the poverty line. Will Pitt consider this if I do get accepted? I know I should focus on finishing junior year and applying/getting accepted before I worry about this, but if I virtually have no chance of getting aid, what’s the point of applying?
Thank you for reading this!
@scarednexcited, I encourage you to apply before January, so you will be reviewed for scholarships. Make sure you also fill out the FAFSA, which is a federal application for financial aid. (http://fafsa.gov/ for more info.)
If you follow both of those steps, you will increase your chances of receiving scholarships/financial aid.
Additionally, this page on our site has advice about how to make sure you stand out when you apply to Pitt. Since you still have your whole senior year ahead of you, you have time to focus on some of these factors: https://oafa.pitt.edu/apply/admissions-process/freshmen/
A Pitt Admissions Staffer
I think something like 2% of applicants received a full tuition scholarship, so about 600. Then there are about 5 Stamps scholars and around 10 Chancellor scholars per year. And there are other smaller scholarships from the honors college and some for minority students.
Pitt also gives some need based grants I think. It depends on your family income.
If you are a low income student you might qualify for Pell grant and PHEAA grant, but you will need to have your parents do their taxes and file FAFSA asap after January 1 to get a chance at the most aid.
Run the net price calculator on Pitt website and see what it comes up with.
@hailtopitt1787, the net price calculator is still showing 2012-13 numbers? And lowest income you can choose on it is $30,000. Should that be changed maybe?
You might also be offered a federal work-study job as part of your financial aid package and you can take out a federal loan of up to $5,500 as a freshman. I would plan on working this summer and next as well to help with costs.
@mommdc, Indeed it is. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, I will pass it along to my colleagues who manage the site.
@hailtopitt1787 Thank you!
@scarednexcited Sorry I forgot to clarify that you have to be PA resident for PHEAA grant
If you can get in and your financial situation is not great you WILL get aid from someone. You just need to look at if the aid will be enough!
My daughter got in and has what I consider to be excellent stats. She got 5K from Pitt as a merit-based scholarship. She also got several outside scholarships (you HAVE to be on top of applying for scholarships…they can sneak up on you and they are offered by pretty much everyone and their brother 
) and a couple of grants. Apply for every scholarship that you think you might qualify to receive, even if it’s only $25! The worst that can happen is the committee says “no”.
Don’t give up!
Just remember that the local scholarships are usually not renewable, only one-time awards. And they need to be reported to Pitt.