<p>kleelak, too interesting. My kid did not make NM, he missed by one point, but he was relieved cause he would rather go to school in pa anyway. He probably would have gone to UCF had he made it but by not making it, the costs of his target schools are now a lot closer so he can pick the school he wants to go to. if ur kid is so set on pitt and u can afford it, plus i think u said med school?, let him go for Pitt. which it sounds like u are doing. i ran into some issues with mine too, which was he did not apply to some of his former short list schools, cause they were too far away. i told him way too many times, at least apply, you could change ur mind between the fall and May 1st. i also had to keep reminding him his best shot at merit aid was as a freshman. Finally had to let it go. I seem to remember ur kid’s stats are better than mine so I expect he will get additional offers for admission and merit aid. mine got merit aid everywhere but Pitt</p>
<p>3tallblonds - As a native Pittsburgher, don’t visit in February!!! LOL!!! It’s cold and dreary. If they like an urban-feel campus, then they should like it. There really isn’t a “formal” campus, which is why my son LOVES it. He wants to go to a big school with a city campus. There’s lots to do, free public transportation for Pitt students, 10 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh and 25 minutes to airport. That’s why I want him to look somewhere other than Pitt - toooooo close to home!! Good luck to them!!</p>
<p>Kleelak - ha. We live further north than you! We drove through Pitt but didn’t do a formal tour. That’s what we need and Feb is only month we can go. Unfortunately, both girls would like to escape the cold so I’m hoping this doesn’t backfire on us. My girls applied to a TON of schools - diversification was our motto so that our options would be open. Our girls wanted to apply to schools in England but we put the nix on that one… for US not them… miss them too much.</p>
<p>Kleelak: My parents are not forcing me to go to a NM/NAF schools. What they did do was tell me I had to investigate them and apply to 2-3. One we visited already, a couple of others we will if I make finalist. They told me to apply EA so that if I got in and would know before regular decision what big merit scholarships I would have if I made finalist. All my RD school schools are totally my choices and Pitt is too. They are fine with that. My dad’s point was that the merit finalist awards are a very easy way to get a ton of money and sometimes an honor’s program safely in my hands. Then I can compare it to what I get elsewhere and maybe even use it to negotiate.
In the end, they will support me going where I am happy, but want me to be to factor in money (try to avoid loans and maybe save what they have for me for graduate school).
I have to say that I am so glad they did this even though I complained. I like Pitt and I like some really good liberal arts schools. But Pitt has not yet given me any merit money and I don’t even know if I will get in the liberal arts schools. But, I did get into a really good college that is giving me full tuition for 4 years as a semi-finalist. If I make finalist I will have one full ride and one 30k per year option also. I might or might not go to any, but have the offers. Hopefully I will get money from Pitt, but if not and if I can’t go because of it, I am so glad they made me not (as my dad said) ‘just toss away the money semifinalist and finalist can bring without a second thought’. I have friends in at schools with no merit from any. I have friends happy to head to Bama with 5 years of tuition all set. And I have friends waiting on scholarship news from PITT!!!</p>
<p>hsgrad - smart parents you have! We made our girls apply to Ohio State for their merit $$ (stated on their website). We did not make them apply to NM schools bc they were so far away, but we should have!</p>
<p>My son loved the urban feel of Pitt too. And we visited in Feb, last year so that was no deterrent. He liked it so much he said he’d go there even though it was not somewhere warm! however, looks like Temple is where he’ll end up.</p>
<p>@dadfor2014, we are out of state from Illinois.</p>
<p>@Kleelak, your son’s stats are great. I can’t really see any difference either. </p>
<p>@3tallblonds, Pitt is definitely one of the top choices. He is interested in neuroscience, and Pitt’s program seems strong.</p>
<p>3tallblonds - thanks for the info on the Presidential Scholar nominees. Was (pleasantly) surprised to see S’s name on the list. Any idea if and how the kids get formally notified? I’ll head over to the SAT forum and see if anything is posted there…</p>
<p>GraniteStateMom - I think the notifications come via mail or through school counselor.</p>
<p>a plenitude of riches, GSM, congratulations to your son!</p>
<p>Thank you @3tallblonds and @jkeil911 Here’s to hoping the information comes directly to our home. S’s GC is a really nice guy who means well, but the guidance department at S’s HS is very overworked and not terribly knowledgeable about outside programs or proactive about passing things on to students.</p>
<p>but come on, GSM, this is something the school ought to be shouting from the rooftops! If I were the principal and I didn’t know about this, the GC would be pushing a mop on the evening shift. I’d want to announce it at school, put it in the papers, brag about it to my fellow principals. At least, that’s what D’s principal did with a student’s presidential.</p>
<p>Haha well I would think you came from our school GSM bc we have a similar guidance counselor. We’ve learned to be super proactive. </p>
<p>S received $10,000 scholarship today. Proud of him, honestly thought he would qualify for 15 based on other scholarship stats posted. He had all the high scores - 35 ACT, 4.1GPA, 800 SAT Math, lots of APs, etc. Wondering if it was his class rank -top 5% instead of 3. Oh well, I think this takes Pitt off the table for us. Good luck everyone else!</p>
<p>Incadinca,are you instate? Would you consider calling Pitt and asking for more based on what you get from other schools? My one twin (OOS) got $15K with a 34 ACT, lot of APs and a top 2% class rank, but $15K is OOS so $10K in state is even better. </p>
<p>Incadinca is your S in state or OOS?</p>
<p>We are in Ohio and this is first merit he’s received other than 3k from OSU. Perhaps if his other schools come through with money we will ask Pitt to reconsider. Maybe it’s because he is a male in engineering from a neighboring state. Not really any hook there.</p>
<p>I would call and see if you can get $15,000 since you are OOS. Good luck!</p>
<p>Last yr there was a form to request reconsideration of merit aid - allowed you to show competitive offers from other (private or public) schools. Not sure if that is the same process this yr.</p>
<p>Oh that’s interesting amandakayak, thanks! </p>
<p>Incadinca, we were given $18K OOS which basically makes our TCA the same as yours. Sort of makes sense bc our kids’ stats are very similar. Our girls can’t apply for the minence Scholarship bc they require you to be there a certain weekend which happens to be our school musical date, AND… our two girls are the leads. No options there. </p>