<p>Titan and Tyler…I am in the same boat with Pitt and Northeastern. I am hoping Pitt offers me something because northeastern automatically offers Finalist in National Merit/Achievement/Hispanic Scholars 30k per year and guaranteed admission to the Honors College (and apparently honors housing there is fantastic). I have not made a full visit there yet but did visit Pitt and liked it. Still, coming from out of state Pitt is off the table if I don’t get solid merit money.
I hadn’t thought about cost of living but that is a good point, plus Boston is further from our hometown. I know from a friend that Northeastern kids love being in a college town and have the events and friends at MIT, Harvard, Boston College, Tufts, Emerson, etc. available. Do Pitt kids have any interaction at Carnegie Mellon? Pitt seems more diverse than Northeastern from what I saw (but again, did not do a big tour and session at NE).
Finally, without honors classes just how big are Pitt classes? I am hoping for LAC but if I go to a large university I am wondering how huge the classes are and if you get to know your professors at all.</p>
<p>I did get a response from Pitt too noting that since their deadline for priority scholarship review is January 15, 2014, most of the decisions are made after this time and if kid gets something, he should hear by mid to late Feb. His stats for all others who are waiting are 1450 SAT, 33 ACT, top 6 percent of class(missed top 5 percent by one spot) and a classic liberal arts major. Yes, i know test scores are on the **low side for scholarships so no need to remind me of that. Hard to believe the ACT, which is 99th percentile is borderline for a scholarship but it is what it is… just wanted to give everyone an update. and for future applicants to pitt and elsewhere, those test scores will get you scholarships at other schools so don’t despair</p>
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<p>Not really. CMU is a traditional walled campus, so they tend to rarely leave their own campus and come down into Oakland where we are located (and vice versa). Occasionally you will see them around (we have almost all the food/bars in the area) but not a lot of co-work goes on. HOWEVER, it is possible to cross-register for courses at CMU as a Pitt student (both undergrad and graduate level) but again I will say- this doesn’t happen a lot and you have to have a great justification for it. I did have a good friend in undergrad (Pitt student) who did research over at CMU with a professor there (just as a side project in undergrad) and she loved her group. So that’s totally possible too.</p>
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<p>Depends on the course. Intro classes (Psych 1, Chem 1, Bio 1, etc.) are in the 300-400 range of students. Upper level classes or small electives (theater courses, lit classes, engineering classes at the junior/senior year) can be in the range of 50 down to 20 or less.</p>
<p>In either case it is possible to know the professor. My largest class was 120-ish (UHC Chem 1) but in every class I took I made an effort to go to Office Hours and introduce myself to the professor (and get to know your TA too!). Also sit closer to the front and participate (answer/ask questions, volunteer information, etc.) All of these things help the professor remember you and help build a good relationship especially for large classes.</p>
<p>for the record, responding to earlier posts, i agree about the $2000 quickly disappearing due to the cost of living differences between Boston and Pittsburgh.</p>
<p>I talked to an admissions councilor at Pitt and she told me scholarship offers are done separate from admissions. Therefore, scholarship notifications will be sent separately. She told me if you receive a scholarship you will know by the end of February. I hope that helps everyone!</p>
<p>My dd (current Pitt frosh) also considered NEU after getting good merit there but when looking a realistic COA, Pitt was cheaper. NEUs on campus room & board was about 3K more/yr. Many jrs/srs at Pitt move off campus (my ds - current Pitt jr. being one of them) - and I have friends whose kids (jrs also) are at NEU living off campus. Housing costs in Pittsburgh are roughly half of what it costs in the Boston area - for ex. my ds is paying about $450/mo for a 1 br in a 3 br apt in Squirrel Hill. Just more to consider when you build a full-in COA of one school vs. another. The other factor is public transportation costs - public buses are free for Pitt students.</p>
<p>This is my first post. I’ve been checking this thread about 1x/week. I have twins that applied and were accepted into honors college. One received full tuition with application for Chancellor’s scholarship. The other is still <em>waiting.</em> The stats are similar but not identical. I’m still hoping for the merit $$ for the one that hasn’t received any yet. Full Tuition child stats: ACT 36, SAT 2350, #2/374, National Merit. Waiting child stats - ACT 34, class rank #4/374, National Merit - both have taken same rigor of classes, and both are heavily involved in sports, theater, community service. Waiting one has more leadership. I don’t think they look at activities ?? anyone know? Any ideas about how the <em>waiting</em> one stacks up? BTW, TITANMOM - I think we are from the same highschool.</p>
<p>I was told merit was key issue so leadership, EC’s, etc. would not matter as much if my info was correct. I think the kid still waiting has great chance at merit aid. That is my best guess. some other high stat kids, as in the range of your kid who is still waiting, are still waiting too. I was also told a lot of decisions are made between Jan 15th and the end of February.</p>
<p>3tallblonds I would think the <em>waiting</em> one should also have full tuition too based on the stats. Did the waiting one’s paperwork say they were being considered for a merit scholarship? Keeping my fingers crossed for you!</p>
<p>@3tallblonds, Good job in raising twins who achieved excellent academic achievement. One goes to Pitt and the other can go to a private college with a significant FA since colleges will consider your financial needs, not cosidering full tuition merit to one of them. Since both of them have a good stat, it may work. What a good combination although I’m not sure !!! :)</p>
<p>I can’t remember what <em>waiting’s</em> paperwork said. Boy, feeling bad calling her <em>waiting,</em>but what are you going to do? We are waiting, along with the rest 
I believe the original paperwork for both was exactly the same. They are now sending “why Pitt” propoganda to the one with full tuition, and I want to just kindly say to them “give <em>waiting</em> some merit and you just might have a deal.” :)</p>
<p>from the pitt webpage re: merit:</p>
<p>of secondary consideration: “record of excellence in various academic and nonacademic activities outside of the classroom”</p>
<p>so the ECs will be considered. I think you have every reason to hope for the doppelg</p>
<p>@3tallblonds–I sent you a PM. Are both twins looking to go to the same school? I’m wondering if you call admissions and let them know they are a package deal if it would help. I have no idea, but I’m thinking it might not hurt. They have incredible stats so I wouldn’t be surprised if the waiting twin ends up getting full tuition, but as the current threads are saying, the stats are getting higher each year. Best of luck to you!!!</p>
<p>My son got scholarship info today. $15k per year. We are OOS so this will put us close to in state tuition costs at UMD.<br>
I hope for all the other waiting folks that good news comes soon!</p>
<p>congratulations, Twillsmom. That’s great news. What state are you from?</p>
<p>Jkeil, we are from Maryland. Thanks for the congrats!</p>
<p>Congrats to you and your son. Can you tell us his stats? Also, when did he receive his acceptance to Pitt? Thanks.</p>
<p>Nacarnewyork, thanks. Here are his stats.</p>
<p>National Merit Semi-finalist (finalist pending)
UW GPA 4.0, Weighted GPA 4.71
Rank 7/336
SAT 2360, SAT2: Math 2/800, Physics 750
2APs last year, the rest GT and Honors, 4APs Sr Year, the rest GT and honors (plus piano!)</p>
<p>He received his acceptance to honors and engineering 11/21/13 and Merit Aid today.</p>
<p>^^ Your Sons Stats are Great, SAT/SAT2 are Great. I am surprise that he did not get the Full Tuition Scholarship. Congrats…</p>
<p>Okay if TWillsmomnp’s son only got 15k and not full tuition as an OOS student with those stats, especially his SAT2s, then I probably should not hold out a lot of hope for that much!</p>
<p>Is Maryland one of the states Pitt seems to be recruiting from or one that is already well represented? We’ve heard that geographic diversity is a big deal to Pitt. Maybe that will help me. Maybe.</p>