You can’t just scroll on by like others do if the post isn’t relevant? Maybe some posters had no idea and didn’t think they’d need a last minute safety. |
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Like Pitt, Penn State also has rolling admissions. DS got an acceptance within 10 days of submitting his application, which really helped relieve anxiety. (He will not be going there, but would have been perfectly happy attending.)
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PP. It's not weird. Pitt is particularly well-aligned with what MoCo public school parents want for their kids, values-wise. And it has been. I went to MCPS as a kid but went to high school in Western PA. I had MCPS friends at Pitt. There are also MCPS kids at PSU main campus. Pitt is a reasonably good value for OOS, particularly if scholarships bring down the cost. A lot of kids want to leave home for college so UMD-CP doesn't appeal to them. Pitt is pretty close geographically but definitely far enough to give a "went away for college" experience. The Pitt holiday buses go to Montgomery Mall. That should tell you something about where the students come from. https://www.pts.pitt.edu/mobility/shuttle-services/buses-home For Virginians, the picture is a bit different because of the strength of VT. But VT can be hard to get into and it's in a non-urban setting. I doubt Pitt interacts too much with W&M or UVA. DCUM parents are highly educated. There is nothing weird about convergent thinking on the advantages of Pitt. Because they are real. Geographic proximity is obviously a factor. If this were a Bay Area forum it would be different. |
Same with us. I convinced my daughter to apply early to Pitt although she wasn't crazy about that idea of applying. She got in; we visited and she really, really liked it. Very impressive. Loved it to the point that if she didn't get into her top school, she would've been happy to attend. I think Pitt’s biggest challenge is visibility. It doesn’t market itself as aggressively as some other schools. Take Clemson, for example—so many kids list it as their dream school before they’ve even set foot on campus. Then they visit and sometimes realize it’s not quite what they built it up to be. No knock on Clemson at all; it just has a strong social media “aura” that shapes perception early. Pitt on the other hand is opposite. It flies under the radar for a lot of students, so it’s not always on their initial list. Then they visit and they're like wow, this place is really nice. |
Why, though? |
My kid wanted an urban campus so that really reduces the pool of choices. When they say "love your safeties", he really loved Pitt. An early acceptance took the crazy senior year pressure off. And lo and behold when he compared all his acceptances and offers, he ultimately chose Pitt (over higher ranked and more expensive options). |
Read the room. In this day and age it is common for kids with GPAs over 4.0 and SATs over 1400 to wind up at schools like GMU, JMU, VCU, and UMBC. And the process is so crazy-making that some strong students worry they won’t get in anywhere. Of course kids are relieved to be in early at an affordable school in the T75. |
This seems so obvious. |
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Hey...everybody stop talking about Pitt.
Oh shit...I just talked about Pitt. |
| For some people Pitt is a reach so keep that in mind. |
| Pitt is actually a target school for my DC, not a safety. My brother went there and we think it’s a great school. So I’d like people to stop talking about Pitt so that my DC can get in! |
| It’s popular in the Bay Area with high stat kids that get shut out of UCs but don’t get enough merit or aid from their other private acceptances or don’t get into an Ivy. |
My kid goes Pitt and loves it. Not a lot of green space but there is a large city park near it. The thing that is interesting is that Pitt sort of "college town" aspect to it. South Oakland is basically student housing and has businesses that cater exclusively to students. |
| Pitt |
You’re answering a question I didn’t ask though. The statement was “that first early admit was really great though.” aka, rolling admission. Scoring an “early admit.” What is so great about having one in the bag in general? Why are so many people such a puddle of anxiety? |