I have been accepted by Pitt Katz with about a 40% scholarship.
I have an interview next with with PSU Smeal which is my top school and the only one I would consider over my offer I have already.
Do I tell them about the offer during the interview?

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Hello tylerg91


First congrats on being admitted, got scholarship and secured another interview.


Sure you can tell them, I would.


I would go like this, PSU Smeal is your top choice, you would really like to go there and you can possibly use your current situation as leverage to try to get good deal with them as well, maybe some scholarship also.

Of course I would go in that direction only if after the interview they express genuine interest in you and make you an offer.

If not, there is no need to even mention that, except if they ask...then you can go like this, that you have an offer from one school already but you are seriously interested in going to PSU Smeal etc.

If they don't ask, I would not mention it myself before the possible offer, since you don't want to give them reason to reject you based on believe you are already set for another school.

During interview show them how much you like them and how they are your personal top choice, best fit etc.


Question is, if they make you an offer after the interview but without scholarship, would you still go to Smeal rather than Katz ?

In another words how determined you are to go there and how much you actually prefer Smeal over Katz, even when some $$$ is involved ?


But I guess you would only need to answer to yourself that question if you find yourself in that position.



Good Luck with Smeal interview and keep us posted !

Smeal would have to offer some % of a scholarship close to the offer I have from Katz.
Smeal is my top like I said but it’s almost like a 1A 1B situation between the two.
Smeal wins out slightly because it is a little higher ranked, is 30 minutes from where I currently live and was where I always wanted to go growing up.

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I would refrain from doing so during the interview phase. You need to show case in that level, especially that PSU is very picky. Telling them so will show that you attend the interview to tell them I have an offer, what would you give me? In reality, you still in assessment t phase with them.

If you got an offer from PSU, the you could start to talk with them. I visited the program few years ago when I was attend workshops in the Executive program. The admission officer seemed to be a very proud of the program. It was evident in her conversation.

Btw, congrats for Katz but I value Smeal more.

What is motivation towards SMEAL? Why do you prefer over others?

I grew up always wanting to go to Penn State and live about 30 minutes from main campus.
But beyond that I like the small class size which Pitt also offers, the in state tuition, overall affordable cost, and the internship and global immersion opportunities.
I know it’s not a top 10 or even top 20 school but for the above reasons I believe it is the best fit for me.
I really like Pitt also and if I was accepted to Smeal without some sort of scholarship I would pick Katz.
That’s a big if because Smeal is very tough to get in I think they only had around 17% acceptance rate last year.

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Do not worry about 10 or 20. The great thing that you need and know the best fit. It is something to show during the interview by examples. This is how they will value you. As they have tough acceptance rate, you need to show that you know every detail.

What is your short and long term goals?