<p>About 2 weeks ago I received scholarship and was wondering how that compared to the past averages. Is Pitt usually generous or frugal when it comes to merit scholarships? </p>
<p>From what I’ve noticed (still very small sample size) from the entering 2014/graduating 2018, merit seems kind of methodological. For the most part (assuming you’re not a URM or from Pittsburgh), 34 ACT and a near-perfect GPA will yield full tuition (and maybe a chancellor’s invite-- although the full tuition may come after you complete the chancellor’s application). A 32-ish may get you 10k in-state/15k OOS. You can apparently negotiate with OAFA if you can get a better offer from a similar college. So really, generous for some, frugal for others. </p>
<p>@nhdmaniac Can you elaborate on getting full tuition after applying for the Chancellor’s? I have a 4.0, 35 ACT, and ~%5 class rank with activities to back it up. I was “only” (I am very grateful as is) offered 10k per year and was invited to apply for Chancellors. I am in-state and have completed the Chancellor’s app btw. Thanks! </p>
<p>@Localdreamer15 Not from personal experience (I just got full tuition initially and no Chancellor’s invite probably maybe because I applied a little later than most), but I know that they may send a revised merit package after the Chancellor’s stuff if you don’t get the Chancellor’s scholarship. This did happen to someone I know.
Also do consider finding a school that’ll give you full tuition and try negotiating with Pitt. </p>
<p>Temple will give you full tuition with those stats if you want to negogiate with pitt. </p>
<p>The Chancellor’s Scholarship is very competitive and only given a few…don’t get your hopes up. Pitt has a way of hanging out that carrot of more money, but rarely delivers.</p>
<p>If you have the stats, at least you have a good chance of significant merit at Pitt. Compared to Penn State they are very generous I think. Temple gives guaranteed merit for certain stats but is twice as far from us. Duquesne gave my daughter their highest scholarship of $20,000, which compares to full tuition at Pitt, but their netprice is still higher by $15,000. You also have to take into account the opportunities the school offers for your major.</p>
@Localdreamer, my son’s stats are very similar to yours. He also was offered $10,000/year and a Chancellor’s invite. He has friends with similar stats (some even lower than his) who do not have nearly the EC’s that he does and they were offered more money. Can’t figure out the rhyme or reason to it.
@ctl987 I recently applied to Temple. Will Pitt negotiate with their scholarship?
@ctl987, When we visited Pitt over the summer, an admissions rep said they would negotiate if you have a scholarship offer from a “comparable” school ( think “comparable” was the exact word used).
Comments on negotiating with Pitt:
- Pitt is looking at your bottom line - what will be your out-of-pocket cost to attend school? It’s irrelevant that Maximus Grantus University gave you a $30,000 annual scholarship if your net cost at that school is still higher than Pitt’s.
- Comparable schools is important. We were told directly, several years back, that Pitt would only evaluate merit offers from largish public schools. Penn State’s offer was what really drove Pitt to talk with us.
- Do your homework - have a spreadsheet with all your net costs and offers from other schools laid out.
- Have a copy of the other school’s scholarship letter to wave at Pitt. They’re not going to play ball unless you prove the other offers are real.
- Good luck. My understanding still is that Pitt really doesn’t like to negotiate merit offers.
not sure whether Pitt would consider Temple comparable so based on posts since my last one, i hope i did not lead you astray. pitt is ranked if i remember right around 58 in some rankings and Temple is down near 120 last time i looked. Consider arguing for more money at pitt if chance presents itself and see what they say. it sounds like from others that presenting a schlolarship from a comparable school gives you a non guaranteed chance at more money so even if it is a long shot, if you really want to go to Pitt and are prepared for either a yes or no answer, is is still worth it to try.
My daughter renegotiated (hs '13 grad) - Pitt was actually very straightforward and easy to approach - there was a form to fill out comparing offers from various colleges - looking at net COA not $ merit. In her case, both schools (one public, one private) were similarly ranked but offered a lower net COA. Admissions committed to and made a decision within about a wk as I remember.