<p>AdvicePlease - please don’t think I was saying your daughter didn’t have what it takes. I was merely pointing out that looking at just a 4.0 uwgpa and SAT doesn’t give a complete picture.</p>
<p>I think it truly is a case of the “early bird catches the worm” as I haven’t seen mention of a full tuition scholarship since the first batch of applicants came through. Oh and I know exactly what you mean about the tuition. Without a full tuition scholarship, I don’t see how we could make Pitt work either and I know my D really was happy to have it as a choice.</p>
<p>Anon - I don’t think anyone is saying that less deserving applicants got money they shouldn’t have.</p>
<p>usafa2011dad – Yes I think you may be right in the “early bird catches the worm” and everything will work out for my daughter because she absolutely has what it takes and has lots of opportunities already. Don’t worry I did not take offense at all at your note and I know exactly your point. She is an insanely motivated hard worker and would never take easy courses to coast to a good GPA. In our school they don’t rank anyway.</p>
<p>I don’t think there were any non-deserving students on this posting…and all who received the scholarship money should be proud as should their parents!! </p>
<p>As for us…we haven’t ruled Pitt out and will continue to be hopeful that maybe something’s coming. As we’re in-state even a partial would help Pitt stay on her list but with nothing it’s not a possibility. She has several generous awards from other schools already.</p>
<p>[ size=+1]
[ color=green][ b]Accepted[ /b] [ /color]
[ color=purple][ b]School/major:College of Arts and Sciences/Microbiology (technically I wanted Neuroscience though)[ /b][/color]
[ /size]
[ b]Stats:[ /b][ list]
[ *] SAT/ACT: 2330: M:770 R:760 W:800
[ *] SAT IIs: Math II - 780, Chem - 790, Biology M - 780
[ *] GPA (W): 4.02
[ *] Rank: No rankings…the kids in my school would kill each other if there were.
[ *] Leadership Positions: Vice President of Biology Society, Teaching Coordinator of Policy Debate/Biology Olympiad
[ *] Awards/Honors: Biology Olympiad Semifinalist, National Spanish Exam Gold Medalist (97th Percentile), VHSL Debate Semifinalist, NCFL Grand Nationals Qualifier
[ *] Extra-curricular activities: Neural Stem Cell research at the National Institutes of Health, Policy Debate, Biology Olympiad, Biology Society, Red Cross Volunteer, School Function Volunteer such as Hands-On Science Day (day when we try to get kids in elementary/middle school excited about science)</p>
<p>[ /list][ b]Location/Person:[ /b][ list]
[ *] State or Country: Virginia
[ *] School Type: Thomas Jefferson HS for Science and Technology; Magent School
[ *] Ethnicity: White
[ *] Gender: Male</p>
<p>Comments: Full-tuition Scholarship, Chancellor’s Scholarship just sent in!</p>
<p>Yeah, I think being from TJ definitely does help, although right now, I am drowning in work from all of my classes. The three essays for the Chancellor’s didn’t really help either, but it definitely was worth it to complete them; plus, first semester is almost over.</p>
<p>And as a side note, I swear I know how to spell “Magnet” correctly :-P</p>
<p>Congrats to everyone else as well! A lot of people here seem to have gotten full tuition scholarships, which is excellent.</p>
<p>My daughter recently received a full-tuition scholarship, so it seems that they are not “out of money” yet, although it is my guess that they are receiving more applications than ever. We are in-state.</p>
<p>This should be an interesting year, as I imagine that “yield rates” for many schools and programs, including the honors colleges at many state schools such as UPitt, will be determined by economic factors in the spring that cannot be easily predicted at this point. </p>
<p>Also, students seem to be applying to many more schools than was once the case, as schools that would have been considered “matches” a couple of years ago have become “reaches” and large numbers of well-regarded schools have become “reaches” for virtually every unhooked applicant.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the update. I feel a little better.</p>
<p>I think your observations are right also. When my son applied for school just 2 years ago, he only applied to 4 schools and was accepted at all of them. Given he chose the Air Force Academy, finances were no longer a deciding factor.</p>
<p>With my daughter, it is more of a numbers game. She applied to 11 schools. I am almost certain she will get in to all but maybe 1. This time finances will be a big factor and we really won’t be able to decide until we get all the final costs in. It is going to be a very long spring I think.</p>
<p>The hardest part is getting to visit them. She obviously doesn’t want to choose someplace she hasn’t visited, but some we don’t want to spend the money visiting until we know for sure she gets accepted. So much harder this time around.</p>
<p>Regarding scholarships, I emailed Pitt Admissions and this was their reply:</p>
<p>Congratulations on your acceptance to the University of Pittsburgh! All students who applied to the University of Pittsburgh before January 15 are given priority review for merit scholarships. Due to the availability of funds, consideration for renewable scholarships and grants is limited to freshmen entry students. </p>
<p>Scholarships are awarded based upon a variety of criteria: high school grades, class rank, high school curriculum, SAT/ACT scores, extracurricular activities, personal essays, and leadership characteristics. The volume of applications to the University of Pittsburgh has resulted in an extremely competitive scholarship process. This year, for example, a recipient of one of our lesser scholarships has an average SAT score of 1417 (math and critical reading only), an average grade point of 4.19, and a class rank in the top 5% in a curriculum dominated by AP/IB/Honors courses. In order to be reviewed for a scholarship a student needs to have a 1400 SAT (verbal and math only) or a 32 ACT AND be in the top 5% of their graduating class. Only eligible scholarship candidates are notified of their scholarship consideration, typically by late February. If you have any other questions please do not hesitate to contact us at any point.</p>
<p>I’m really hoping for a scholarship. I have 34-ACT 1470/2270-SAT 8APs (4 last year and 4 this year) Last year I got 5s on chem, government, and Literature and a 4 on Calc AB. SAT IIs- 730 chem, 760 lit. I’ve played clarinet for 9 years and am in wind ensemble and pep band and am very involved in Drama as well. I am also in yearbook as well as an environmental club and National Honor Society. I was a national merit commended scholar and AP scholar with honor. My GPA is 3.97 (my school does not weight anything) and my rank is 16/411. My essay was good and my 3 recommendations were very good as well. Everything in my application was recieved by Pitt by Nov 1st. Also, I live in alaska which may or may not count for something. What do you think my chances are? So far I haven’t gotten anything about scholarships but that may just be because my college mail seems to be coming at least a month late.</p>
<p>Well, regarding a scholarship, I think you have a very good shot at full-tuition, especially coming from Alaska. I think colleges love to say they have students from all 50 states, and you Alaskans are much in demand! It is getting to be late in Pitt’s cycle, however. I think the money does run out at some point. When did you receive your acceptance?</p>
<p>I am still anxiously waiting to hear something myself. When I had inquired way back on 12/9 about my application and how it might play into my chances for a scholarship, this is what I was told.</p>
<p>"Please do not worry about scholarship money. As long as a student applies by January 15th they are eligible for any merit based scholarship that we offer here at Pitt. "</p>
<p>Of course, I received my acceptance a few short days after that, have received information about the honors college just before break and now I am just waiting and waiting, and hoping a little too. I know the scholarship committee only meets on Friday, so hopefully today will be the day my file comes up for review.</p>
<p>alaskan, what was the date on the full tuition offer? Just trying to get an idea of when/if I might receive something. My honors college letter was dated 12/18, which was about 10 days after yours. So, if your full tuition offer was recently dated, then I am hopeful that I might still hear something soon. Although I am not looking forward to writing 3 more essays</p>
<p>Suzie, you don’t have to write any essays for the full-tuition scholarship. If you receive an invitation to compete for the Chancellor’s, which is full-tuition plus room and board and whatnot, then you have to write the essays!</p>
<p>Thanks lurkness. I actually knew that. I am of course assuming that if I get the full tuition, which I need if I want to go to Pitt, that i will also get an invite for the chancellor’s, which I will definately want to take advantage of if offered of course.</p>
<p>Other problem is that it seems like all the schools try and do their interviews at the same time. Almost forcing you to choose which school before you are really ready to choose. Doesn’t seem very fair. I sure would hate to pick going to one interview over another and then end up not getting the scholarship.</p>
<p>Does anybody know how many people that actually interview as compared to how many scholarships they award?</p>