I am a high school senior who has done very well academically. My SAT super score is a 2190 (720 CR/690 M/780 W), all of my grades are high 90s or 100s, and I am in the top 5% of my class. A lot of people have told me I should apply to competitive schools such as UPenn, but as of now I have not for several reasons: 1) Almost no one from my town, even top students, attends such colleges. 2) My parents think that I should stay somewhat close to home, at least for the first two years of college, to adjust to college life and avoid being overwhelmed. 3) I get stressed about school easily and want to attend law school as well, which means I have a lot of schooling ahead of me. Since I love Pitt and the city, I thought it would be a good choice; however, I am becoming worried I will regret choosing a school that accepts 1700 SATs and A- averages after all of my hard work. So, does Pitt have a lot of bright, highly motivated students on campus, and does it offer a lot of good opportunities and resources for these types of students? I am interested in hearing from current and former students and parents. Thank you!
@j17456, you will have no shortage of high-level academic talent at Pitt. My D1 (a Harvard admit as well) chose Pitt as she was one of the GAP admits. She had to tough it out with equally good caliber students during her undergrad. She loves Pitt and is at the SOM now.
What are you planning to major in? If your interests are in the Health Sciences, be prepared for some challenging yet fun times.
You are a competitive applicant and of course will be above average in the first day of Pitt (if you attend). However, you may quickly feel the pressure from many of your classmates in Pitt HC (not talk about various guaranteed programs).
By the way, the average SAT I (CR/Math) for Pitt HC was 1489 last year. Yours (720+690: 1410).
https://oafa.pitt.edu/who-fits-at-pitt/class-profile/
University Honors College eligibility:
Average SAT for admitted freshmen
1489
Pitt’s average SAT for freshman admitted to its honors college is actually a higher than the freshman classes at Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, and Penn.
And I’d add to that about 1/5 of incoming freshman at Pitt are admitted to the honors college as freshman, which is about 800 students. That is about 70% of the size of Dartmouth’s entire freshman class or 60% of Yale & Princeton’s. Essentially, you have over half of an upper tier Ivy League school’s worth of students within the general student population of Pitt. The honors college is regularly producing more Rhodes, Marshall, and Truman type of national scholar winners than many of the Ivies too. I don’t know how else you would better measure motivation. I don’t think you’ll have a hard time finding like minded students or opportunities. If you love Pitt, I don’t see any reason for you not to seriously consider it.
Do not forget to factor that Pitt is consistently ranked amongst the nations top public schools and always is in the top 100 schools nationwide on the US News and World Report. It has stellar academics.
I would like to add the experience of our student, a Class of 2019 Engineering student and early invitee to participate in Honors College Classes who applied to a wide range of colleges, as you are. She has found many very bright students at Pitt and is very happy with her choice. She is living in the Honors LLC and is finding great cultural, academic, religious, and social opportunities. She says she is in classes and living with very bright kids who are really challenging her. She is enjoying getting to know Pittsburgh and has already been to the symphony (one of the best in the country), to a Pirates game with her entire engineering class of 2019 and kayaking on the river downtown with her dorm floor. Pitt is a great school academically and really helps students take advantage of all the City has to offer. Make sure to visit and see how you feel on the campuses you consider and be open minded to evaluate more than just ranking and test scores. One thing that we have noticed about Pitt is the really welcoming culture and hospitality. Best of luck to you as you weigh your options!