Pitt v Penn State?

[Anonymous]

Which is better and why? It feels like Pitt is on the rise and Penn State has lost a lot of its reputation since the big scandal. Maybe that is all just superficial. USNWR ranks Pitt high (62 v 77). Anyone have any insight on how to compare? I saw Penn referred to as the state flagship on another thread and I did not think this was that clear cut. Does Penn State get a lot more resources from the state?

[Anonymous]

I grew up in a suburb of Pittsburgh and did not apply nor want to go to Pitt. It was not a choice school in my opinion, at that time, and kids who went there tended select it over a penn. system school, but not over a main campus PSU admission. That has changed. I agree they it seems Pitt has been on the upward trajectory and PSU the opposite. Pittsburgh as a city is also much improved over the decades. They are both state-related schools and from what I recall and see, do not get that much state funding per undergraduate student, when compared with other states, or even the PA system schools (and as such tuition is high for in state and quite high for a non -resident). My kid did not want a large school and did not apply to either.

Penn (University of Pennsylvania) is not Penn State, nor the state flagship.

[Anonymous]

Pitt !00% over Penn State.

OOS no brainer.

People who pay for Penn State OOS are idiots. Total waste of money. Why bother it's a large state school with football omg

[Anonymous]

Here's what I see from our DC-area public school in terms of kids heading to Pitt or Penn State.

1. Recently more are heading to Pitt than Penn State. The academic profiles of the kids heading to Pitt are stronger than those heading to Penn State, but not significantly so. They are kids who generally wouldn't be competitive for U. Va., and might or might not have gotten into schools like U. Md. or Virginia Tech.

2. Pitt attracts more independent kids and/or more STEM-oriented kids.

3. Penn State attracts more kids wanting a "big university" experience complete with Big 10 sports, frats/sororities, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in a suburb of Pittsburgh and did not apply nor want to go to Pitt. It was not a choice school in my opinion, at that time, and kids who went there tended select it over a penn. system school, but not over a main campus PSU admission. That has changed. I agree they it seems Pitt has been on the upward trajectory and PSU the opposite. Pittsburgh as a city is also much improved over the decades. They are both state-related schools and from what I recall and see, do not get that much state funding per undergraduate student, when compared with other states, or even the PA system schools (and as such tuition is high for in state and quite high for a non -resident). My kid did not want a large school and did not apply to either.

Penn (University of Pennsylvania) is not Penn State, nor the state flagship.

Thanks.

Is Penn State not the correct shortish version for Pennsylvania State University/PSU? People say Penn State. I realize I forgot the word "state" in one reference. No snark, curious.

[Anonymous]

I agree with your assessment, but for different reasons. They're both good, but appeal to very different kids. Pitt has great science/pre med programs and a little more of an intellectual vibe. Penn State IS a great school with a vast alumni network ... but it's more rah rah. Pitt's got the buzz in my kids' school district, too ... lots of very smart kids go there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in a suburb of Pittsburgh and did not apply nor want to go to Pitt. It was not a choice school in my opinion, at that time, and kids who went there tended select it over a penn. system school, but not over a main campus PSU admission. That has changed. I agree they it seems Pitt has been on the upward trajectory and PSU the opposite. Pittsburgh as a city is also much improved over the decades. They are both state-related schools and from what I recall and see, do not get that much state funding per undergraduate student, when compared with other states, or even the PA system schools (and as such tuition is high for in state and quite high for a non -resident). My kid did not want a large school and did not apply to either.

Penn (University of Pennsylvania) is not Penn State, nor the state flagship.

Thanks.

Is Penn State not the correct shortish version for Pennsylvania State University/PSU? People say Penn State. I realize I forgot the word "state" in one reference. No snark, curious.

Yes, Penn State = Pennsylvania State University = PSU.

[Anonymous]

It is an interesting case. Both are good schools and don't mean to be snarky. But I really think it used to be Penn State > Pittsburgh that has now flipped to Pittsburgh > Penn State - if so a pretty rare case where the academic pecking order in a state changes.

University reputations follow the trends in student quality IMO. From our school's Naviance, the Pitt dotted lines are at 4.17/1370 for 2022 and Penn State's are at 3.98/1307. Same is already showing in US News Rankings that now have Pitt at #62 and Penn State at #77.

[Anonymous]

Totally different vibe — anyone who visits both would be able to choose which one they preferred. That’s more important, unless looking at a program the other one doesn’t have.

[Anonymous]

Penn State does still have the clearly stronger Engineering school though Pitt is respectable.

[Anonymous]

I can't say which is better, but Pittsburgh is a dynamic city and one of three top areas for robotics and artificial intelligence (along with Boston area and Silicon Valley). Yes, Carnegie Mellon is responsible for a lot of this, but Pitt is benefiting from it as well. Even if Pitt is possibly ranked a tad lower, if I was interested in a STEM path, I would far prefer to be close to the action and internships than in State College.

You also are able to take some classes at CMU, but no idea how that works (and I doubt you can take CS classes at CMU since even non-CS majors at CMU have a hard time taking those classes).

Just my $.02

[Anonymous]

DC has admits to CS for Pitt and Pre-Major Engineering/CS for Penn State. Seems to be leaning to Penn State even though Pitt is a direct admit. He liked the college town better than a big city. Pitt and Penn State seem to be equal amongst DC’s crowd and HS. I get the same sense that Pitt is rising - esp for stem - and Penn State is falling but not enough for us to step in and say no to Penn State. Ironically, DC doesn’t give a fig about football.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is an interesting case. Both are good schools and don't mean to be snarky. But I really think it used to be Penn State > Pittsburgh that has now flipped to Pittsburgh > Penn State - if so a pretty rare case where the academic pecking order in a state changes.

University reputations follow the trends in student quality IMO. From our school's Naviance, the Pitt dotted lines are at 4.17/1370 for 2022 and Penn State's are at 3.98/1307. Same is already showing in US News Rankings that now have Pitt at #62 and Penn State at #77.

And on Naviance for our MCPS school, here are the averages for the past few years: Pitt is at 4.27/1312, while Penn State is at 4.06/1252.

[Anonymous]

My kid has been accepted to both and prefers the urban location of Pitt to college town Penn State. Looking at the schools as a whole, I think there is really no difference between one ranked 62 vs 77, but there could be some program specifc differences. Our NoVa public lists 3.97/1397 for Pitt and 3.8/1330 for Penn State.

[Anonymous]

The PSU area of the state is ruby red. I think that tracks.