<p>hsgrad, I don’t know about Maryland’s representation at Pitt, but maybe this year they are looking at the whole student more than just scores. My son has been active in XC, track, STEM, NHS, but has not had much leadership or cured cancer 
It’s really hard to know what they are looking for.<br>
We’ll be visiting Pitt for an admitted student’s day and then see how things go with UMD which will still be cheaper than Pitt for us.</p>
<p>My D’s applied to both, and the more I see of each the more I like them. Right now, Pitt has a slight advantage, but we’ve yet to do an official visit. </p>
<p>I think Pitt gets a LOT of apps from MD, yet only 24% of their students are oos. So the credentials of the MD students on average are probably higher than the norm.</p>
<p>Oh boy, this is not a formula for sure. Congrats on that SAT score, Twillsmomnp! What is STEM? We have UMD on our list too; will be interesting to see what they offer to OOS (if anything) vs. Pitt. We didn’t send in SAT subject tests to Pitt for <em>waiting</em> - ACT only (800 on Math 2 and Chemistry). I wonder if it’s too late… Waiting has 5 APs and 4 more in Senior Yr. Honestly, if I had to do what these kids have to do to get into college/get scholarships, I probably wouldn’t have gone to college. Talk about pressure on these kids…</p>
<p>STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. STEM is the big thing right now. At Pitt people have posted that the honors dept. wants/needs more STEM kids. Plus, I think colleges get money for STEM.
3tall…those SAT II scores can only help. Why not send them?</p>
<p>Twillsmomnp: did your son apply to UMD? He should be in the running for Banneker-Key, I have heard UMD favors in-state students for that scholarship. </p>
<p>3tallblonds: did you send in the SAT scores? Pitt super scores the ACT and SAT together. They will take the highest from each and combine them.</p>
<p>3tallblonds, I’d suggest you definitely send in the SATIIs if you can afford it. Then have <em>waiting</em> contact the AO and let him or her know you’ve done that. In fact, don’t wait for the SATIIs to arrive before calling. if you can’t afford it, have her contact the AO, let him or her know the situation, and ask him or her if sending in those two 800s would help her.</p>
<p>hsgrad, there is more research money (federal, corporate, institutional) available in these fields than in the humanities, say. When faculty in these fields win grants, they bring in not only money for the research they do, their school gets a large cut of that money for overhead. Increasingly, schools are looking at STEM grants for their operating budgets. Faculty who make it rain get tenured, pay for graduate student stipends, pay for the expensive equipment that other researchers, grad students, and undergrads get to use and learn on. Good undergrads, often working for “free” to build their resumes (but in fact supported by scholarship), have a role to play in this funding of the university.</p>
<p>MTNest, yes, he applied to UMD. The competition is pretty fierce, so we will see. I will be very happy if he gets into engineering and honors at UMD and ecstatic to get any merit $.</p>
<p>Just one point, research at Pitt is fairly easy to obtain and in my limited experience (2 kids, 4 diff labs), only one undergrad research position was unpaid. The other 2 were either paid or credit granting.</p>
<p>^^school-year u/g positions that were paid? I’d expect that during the summer or maybe in senior year. Can you clarify, please?</p>
<p>Son has been a PITT neuro research assistant for two years and a TA for three (graduating senior in May). He received course credit for both positions.</p>
<p>Son also had paid research jobs during the summer (end of freshman and sophomore years) and many of his friends worked during the school year plus the summer. This was in engineering and seem to be easy to get.</p>
<p>The credit is nice, washdcmom, and good experience. I’m glad to hear of this possibility since D is neuro.</p>
<p>This is good for the prospective engineers to know, MTnest. </p>
<p>Thank you all for this topic and info.</p>
<p>Ok, thanks for the input. Sending in the SAT2s today and calling them also. <em>Waitings</em> SAT was not as good as her ACT so we didn’t bother with that one. The twin that got the full tuition had both a strong ACT and SAT so I think she might have sent them both in. Twillsmomnp, thanks for the STEM explanation. My girls would not even look at a school that had Technology in the name (lol)… they are planning to double major (minor) in Science and Acting. They love the lab as much as they love Shakespeare. But they are not interested at all in Engineering. I’m guessing they would’ve gotten more looks/$$ if they were bc we see a lot of scholarships for women in engr. still, but it’s their choice.</p>
<p>Twillsmomnp, we met with an admissions counselor at UMD. She saw my twins’ scores and was very positive about both getting in and $$. With your son’s scores, I’m hopeful. And thanks amandakayak and all others that posted re: research… it was one of the ?s we had for every college we visited - ease of getting a research assistant pos’n. We hadn’t heard that about Pitt. Will help in our dec. making process.</p>
<p>jkeill911 - to clarify, both my kids are engineering. My son sought research as a soph last yr and got two positions fairly easily, one was unpaid for a few months and then turned to a paid position ($13/hr I believe), the other was for 1 credit. Both were in labs and were not getting coffee, making copies types of things. My daughter (frosh) sent out an email to 10 researchers/profs before break this yr and had 2 groups come back to her with interest in interviewing her, she got one of the positions in the medical school - it is unpaid for now but giving her the opportunity to work in stem cell research paired with a doctoral student. My son, this semester has a 3 cr research project with one of the labs he worked with last yr.</p>
<p>I found this helpful as we compared schools and how available research would be - Pitt is #6 in terms of total NIH funding (2013) to an research institution or college - </p>
<p>[NIH</a> Awards by Location and Organization - NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools (RePORT)](<a href=“http://report.nih.gov/award/index.cfm?ot=DH,27,47,4,52,64,10000,MS,20,16,6,13,10,49,53,86,OTHDH,RI&fy=2013&state=&ic=&fm=&orgid=&distr=&rfa=&om=n&pid=]NIH”>http://report.nih.gov/award/index.cfm?ot=DH,27,47,4,52,64,10000,MS,20,16,6,13,10,49,53,86,OTHDH,RI&fy=2013&state=&ic=&fm=&orgid=&distr=&rfa=&om=n&pid=)</p>
<p>^^thank you for the clarification and the url.</p>
<p>If an applicant is only interested in merit-scholarships, I think s/he doesn’t have to submit FAFSA to Pitt FA office. Am I right ?</p>
<p>Correct. You only file the FAFSA if you need financial aid. Pitt does not require the FAFSA to receive merit scholarship money (other schools may require it). We never filed the FAFSA for DS but sent back the yearly form that lists the Pitt scholarships and outside scholarships.</p>