My theory is this early honors notification pilot is to see whether that affects OOS yield.
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Confirmed that MERIT is separate.
S25 accepted. Then November MERIT received (almost full tuition).
Waiting on HC decision. Waiting on STAMPS/Nordenberg post ZOOM interview
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Thats a great merit award @dadof3boys . I believe if he continues on, heāll be notified some time in January. I cannot remember if emails are sent before January to those who have been eliminated or if they are all sent at same time.
Awesome! Iām thinking youāre right that these are separateā¦ as his merit award almost covers full tuitionā¦ if he were so humbled to receive STAMPS/Nordenbergā¦ sure it would take to no tuition billā¦ but thereās not much gap to close so to speak. Very awesome insights from Winky1!
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Congrats! Thatās amazing! An almost full tuition merit scholarship for an in state student is both phenomenal and fairly rare. He must have a desirable major for the university.
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And top scores, grades, and fabulous activities/interests/leadership. Big deal for a regular merit award.
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Any advantage in committing to Pitt sooner rather than waiting til spring?
D25 is in-state and admitted EA at Pitt (+merit), PSU- UP fall, Scranton (+merit), St. Joeās(+merit) and Charleston (+merit) so far. Sheās waiting on a handful of other schools - some a reach for her: Nova, UVA, Lafayette and others safety (UDel) and targets: UMD, Syracuse. Sheās ready to commit to Pitt even without hearing from the remaining schools. Weāre advising to let all decisions come in and possible merit, but she doesnāt want to wait for some of the schoolās timelines that she was only mildly interested in some wonāt have decisons til March (Cuse).
She has 60+ dual and college credits and my understanding is that Admissions or Advising (not sure which dept handles) may not review to apply transfer credits until she is a committed student so that it potentially the only advantage I see in committing earlier rather than later. We have heard Pitt is very generous with awarding transfer and DE credit so she has fingers crossed. We are full pay so financial aid wonāt factor in. Any downside in committing sooner versus later?
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Wow!!! Seems she will succeed as long as she remains persistent!
That written, we only have one older son who is now a junior at GT. What we did (not to say right or wrong) was to destress the whole situationā¦ let the offers come inā¦ allow our kiddo to then rack and stack and visit the top three in their mind (based on fit/expectation/merit/etc.)ā¦ visit those three now through a different lens.
What I had heard became true. Your student will just āknowā where the want to go.
Lastly, I was a bit hyper (internally)ā¦ and what I realized ā¦ for my S25 now applyingā¦ the key for them is I want them to pick a place where they will be passionate to attendā¦ and give max effortā¦ Iāve seen far too many of their classmates pick a school for one reason or anotherā¦ to then switch, take a year off, etc. ā¦ and nothing wrong with thatā¦ but weāre just kind of in the mode to let the student choose ((( obviously parents sitting there protecting from a gutter ball so to speak))))
GOOD LUCK!!! Sounds like success awaits your D25.
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Protecting from gutterballs is spot on! 
Appreciate this feedback and advice!
I think sheās also thinking in terms of solidifying roomate plans, upcoming campus visits, and of course the merch! Sometimes as stressful as the academic and financial portions of these big decisions I bet!
So in my circles, Pitt is not considered a college where there are a lot of practical advantages to committing early.
And yet, some kids do it anyway. Why? Basically just because they can then relax and simply enjoy the rest of their senior year. Which is not a small thing! It can be an awesome year with a lot of relationships deepened, memories made, and so on.
And Pitt in its own ways is really a pretty special schoolāsuch a great central location in a fun city, so many good departments, big time sports but not quite the feel of most big publics, some crazy architecture, just a quirky mix of attributes that some kids find really appealing.
Of course the financial side is something the whole family has to consider. But otherwise, my personal inclination would be to let her withdraw any applications she is no longer really interested in. And if that ends up being all of them, and she can relax and enjoy the year, and you are comfortable with that financiallyāthatās a win to me.
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My son applied business 10/27 and was accepted 12/14 (or at least that is when he checked). OOS.
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There is no point in committing this early. I highly doubt they will assign an advisor at this point, they usually finish up with current students and start incoming in May-July. But you can commit if you want, only risk losing the deposit - itās not a contract.
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These are all the reasons my daughter loved Pitt! Appreciate the feedback!
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Funny!!! I told our oldest son once we dropped him off two years backā¦ I said Iām here to help, Iāll always worry about you, but I simply cannot do anymoreā¦ itās up to him to flyā¦ I cannot study for him, and its been 30 years so I wonāt even remember a lot of this stuffā¦ so it was helpful to clearly setup boundaries where Iām more of a (d)advisorā¦ helping on the sidelines like hmm, consider this dorm or this meal planā¦ or hey heard from a friend to avoid this professor or course or whateverā¦
This was my way of no-longer (?) worrying about minutiaā¦ never wanted to be a helicopter parent as that helps nobodyā¦ but hey, Iām here for pointers if you want to call me.
I will say I pray that my other two sons are as receptive to this kind of relationship. Else, Iād probably drive myself whacko.
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Some schools with limited housing (not sure if that is Pitt)ā¦ they did rack/stack who had priority based on deposits.
As example when older son was about 80% certain where he was going we paid the depositā¦ with risk that he might change his mindā¦ but I recall we kind of did that in February to ensure had a dorm spot.
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Yup, Oct 21 with the SRAR processed on 10/27. Applied as an education major.
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D25 received acceptance today. Applied on 11/06; Physics Major; No merit scholarship - hoping to receive separately.
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Merit NEVER comes with admittance. Youāll have to wait at least a few weeks and possibly a few months. Itās given out through March.
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D25 admitted today for Economics. Applied 11/29 OOS. Waiting to hear on Honors but so excited to have this news before the holiday break. Thanks to all of you who share on these threadsā¦itās been so informative and kept this anxious mom sane.
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DS got accepted last night, so they are still sending them out! Hope your child hears soon, too. My son did write to his AO on Wednesday, just checking to make sure there wasnāt an issue or something missing on his app.
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