@RightCoaster Pittsburgh was unrecognizable to me. Really nice city now (not like I remember). Pitt is about 3-4 miles away from downtown (super convenient for internships).
we also have strong interest in PITT but our focus is on super competitive GAP program.
I am so annoyed right now. I just checked D’s UMD portal and it is showing a completed date of 11/2 when it was complete at the beginning of October. Just had D send an email to them. Would anyone mind checking their student’s portal to see if there is a similar issue?
@educationfan No word yet on UCF merit. I head they may be announcing it earlier this year (any time over the next two weeks).
This is likely the best thread to monitor for updates on merit:
@itsgettingreal17 – are you trying to give me more things to be annoyed about with UMD???
Yes, son’s portal now says app complete Nov 2nd, but I happened to have taken a screen shot when it said it was complete on Oct 29th. Not sure why they have changed the date. Maybe they decided they had too many priority apps and wanted to cull the herd? (Kidding…)
Will look into who the rep is, but I recall trying to find one for CT and giving up b/c the rep’s name appears but not the email address, implying that they do not wish to be contacted?
@CT1417 D emailed the AO she corresponded with earlier re: seemingly missing LOR. I’ll keep you posted.
You can relax about the UMD portal date. If you look on the right side, about half-way down, they have a disclaimer that the date updates to the current day, even if your materials were completed beforehand. I remember panicking about this with DS 3 years ago. It’s stupid, but that’s what it is. Log in tomorrow and you’ll see it was completed tomorrow…
^Worst portal ever!
Thanks for calming my nerves! I almost needed a drink. :))
@CA1543 the package from UCHICAGO was indeed a tshirt …son says he won’t wear it unless accepted…(yes he applied EA and also went for on campus interview)…a nice token, but he/I both believe it means absolutely nothing as regards likelihood for admission.
Also want to chime in as regards Tulane and party schools. At least for my S14, it is definitely not the case (by choice for him). He is working his can off through a challenging BME curriculum. By way of example, this year as part of required BME curriculum he is taking an anatomy class (taught by med school faculty) where they are dissecting cadavers, having tag exams etc…this along with other intense courses in Biochemistry and Biofluid mechanics. Party schools are made by the choice of the student (albeit NOLA is a great town in which to party)…at Dartmouth, at Stanford, at Kalamazoo! Diatribe finished…hopefully FallenChemist would approve. Roll Wave!
@CT1417 UMD AO confirmed the auto update. Whew!
(Given super quick response after hours, they must be hard at work reviewing apps).
UMinn portal date updates to current date, too. You have to scan the entire page for changes.
Thank you so much @Gator88NE
@ailinsh1 thanks much - I just saw what you posted - weird system at UMD. I had gotten an email a couple of days ago that DS’s app was complete & they had the teacher rec that was emailed etc. Would be nice if they would send some affirmative messages out but at least we not that Nov. 2 Completion Date is irrelevant and will change to update every date – hmmm why even have that on the site?
I could ask her, but I’d have to put a dollar in the swear jar :D.
@vandyeyes – t-shirt - pretty good swag!! Agree about Tulane - I worked hard in law school there. I think sometimes kids from other places may find it hard to adjust bc NOLA (probably more than many cities) has an indulgent, joie de vivre atmosphere and there are many opportunities to party, stay out late listening to music/dancing and there are many festivals, concerts etc. For some students, I imagine it is quite a challenge to balance things. I did not live on campus so cannot comment on what student life there is like in terms of parties and students’ attitude towards studies. There were some pretty crazy frat parties goin’ on “back in the day”. As you say there are lots of campuses where students are partying as much or more - it is what you make of it and your educational opportunity. I miss FallenChemist 
We have no skin in the game for UMD but boy, I am sure glad we do not. It is winning worst portal ever award by a landslide (we need academy awards at the end of all of this…best swag, worst portal, worst email blast…).
LOL
@youcee for our Naviance it appears “applied” really means transcript sent. My S’s schools all moved to showing him as an applicant once the transcripts were sent. Now, they told me that they wouldn’t send transcripts until HE moved the school to applied but that isn’t what happened. It may simply be that I was on them about the EA dates but since they send the transcript via CA, all schools moved at once.
I can tell as at 4 schools he is the only applicant this year, at 2, the only applicant EVER. LOL.
@CA1543 Congratulations!!!
I have been thinking of having S17 apply to Pitt. We haven’t visited but the descriptions from this thread have been so positive and we will have the opportunity to visit in a couple of weeks when we go to CMU. @hadmeathello is Pitt still on D17’s list? I think part of what really intrigued me was the CMU AO’s presentation on everything exciting going on in Pittsburg. The number of companies and internship opportunities available was impressive.
@rightcoaster S17 loves Boston and is applying to a couple of Boston schools. His best friend’s mom told me S17 would love Pitt because the vibe of the city is just like Boston. Maybe a possibility.
@educationfan S17 received a letter from UCF last week. Regarding Merit Scholarship $, the letter said that they have reserved a full scholarship in his name and he had to submit his app by a certain date. He will not be applying to any schools in FL because he’s only interested in heading north (cooler climates) not south. Another letter arrived a couple of days ago addressed to my husband and I. I haven’t opened it but am guessing it was to tell us that they sent S17 a very generous offer and haven’t heard from him. I wish that offer would come from schools on his list. 
thanks @eandesmom – after he asked me this morning if he’d already been rejected from what he considers his dream school - having only applied 7.5 hrs before – I was wishing I could say – don’t worry you already got into a school with a good engineering program!
Regarding UMD - as clunky as it is I will say I am very glad they did not switch to the Coalition App exclusively as they were planning to for this year!! That thing needs a lot of work IMO.
Same here. Actually, it was “GC will send your letters of recommendation, transcript, and other materials AFTER you indicate you’ve applied in Naviance.”
However, for one school, DS did not update the status as submitted in Naviance, but the LORs and transcripts were submitted in CA and received by the school.
So once one CA app is submitted and the letters are uploaded via Naviance to CA, perhaps all schools afterward get them magically. I don’t know.
:-/ :-/
@paveyourpath …there are several posts on the Pitt threads about families who came to visit CMU but then wandered over to Pitt and liked Pitt better, applied and are happily attending. I would encourage the application ASAP since supposedly the merit is handed out to the earlier applicants.
My D is one who wanted desperately to go to school in Boston and it’s just out of reach for us. As it turns out, a few years ago she had started the research process and had pulled up pictures of the bioengineering/human engineering research labs. At the time, I mistakenly thought she was looking at U Penn (also out of reach) and pretty much made her close out the tabs and move on! After we found CC we realized it was Pitt, merit aid was a possibility and we arranged a visit. I did not want to like Pitt but after visiting we both were feeling the love: the engineering is collaborative and the freshman engineering conference that is put on is fantastic. D loves the city vibe, so much to do in the city and so many things to get involved in.
It’s not Boston but it IS a great urban campus and she is pumped to attend hopefully!
You really need to add it onto the visit list but go ahead and encourage the visit.