What about University of Pittsburgh?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I was a PA resident, I would be pissed that our state school was recruiting and sending merit money OOS. But hey— I’m not, so bring it on.

It isn't a Penn State school, it is a "state-related" University. It was a private college when it was founded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid attended Pitt.

The positives were that it’s a good school with lots of solid kids in a very student-friendly area in an interesting city that is convenient to the DC area. There are many different majors. There is a sizable contingent of students from the area and Pitt runs buses from Pitt to Montgomery Mall before and after major holidays. For the most part, the kids seem happy to be there.

The kids are less spoiled than at some of the public and private high schools in the DC region. DS started working part-time while there, because he saw his friends working part-time, even though we hadn’t pushed him to get a job. That work ethic stayed with him post-Pitt.

The negatives were that it wasn’t always easy to get the classes he wanted; some classes were taught by grad students who lacked teaching skills; the weather can be very gloomy; and some of the off-campus housing in Oakland exemplifies a “student ghetto.”

PP do you know if dorms are available for 4 yrs?

I think the answer is yes, but a few things to consider. It’s (old) city living. The dorms are 100 years old. Towers A B C are tiny pie-shaped rooms. My DS scored (by lucky lottery) an “on campus” apartment at Forbes Craig where he lived closer to CMU than Pitt (similarly, CMU has a dorm closer to Pitt). The next year he moved to an ancient house with buddies. The house was closer to campus than his Pitt apartment and directly on the Pitt bus route.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I was a PA resident, I would be pissed that our state school was recruiting and sending merit money OOS. But hey— I’m not, so bring it on.

PA resident here. My dd wants a small school as well as a school that not a lot of her classmates are attending so she isn’t even applying to Pitt. But many of her classmates have multiple relatives who are Pitt alum and grew up planning to attend. These are smart kids who have a 3.6 or a 3.7 but are getting rejected from Pitt. Of course, they could go to one of the satellite campuses but they want to be in Oakland. They aren’t TJ caliber but several years ago they would have gotten into Pitt main campus.

[Anonymous]

We visited recently as a stopover. I was impressed by the school spirit and the Cathedral of Learning building. I did not like the grittiness of the location or the condition of the dorms. DC and I both are more impressed by less urban campuses. The noise of ambulances would drive me bonkers, but DC said it is okay and will apply anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We visited recently as a stopover. I was impressed by the school spirit and the Cathedral of Learning building. I did not like the grittiness of the location or the condition of the dorms. DC and I both are more impressed by less urban campuses. The noise of ambulances would drive me bonkers, but DC said it is okay and will apply anyway.

Well, yes, it’s an urban campus. Pitt appeals to kids who prefer an urban campus.

[Anonymous]

My DD is a senior at Pitt and loves it, as do we. She’s in the honors college & received a small academic scholarship ($10K annually). Everything about it appeals to her—the size, the urban campus, the friendly student body, the accessible teachers. During a period when she struggled with mental health issues, tons of professionals stepped in to help her cope.

Highly recommend!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I was a PA resident, I would be pissed that our state school was recruiting and sending merit money OOS. But hey— I’m not, so bring it on.

It isn't a Penn State school, it is a "state-related" University. It was a private college when it was founded.

And, those OOS kids getting merit aid: they are helping Pitt maintain the national reputation it needs to recruit research dollars, top faculty, and full-fees students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I was a PA resident, I would be pissed that our state school was recruiting and sending merit money OOS. But hey— I’m not, so bring it on.

PA resident here. My dd wants a small school as well as a school that not a lot of her classmates are attending so she isn’t even applying to Pitt. But many of her classmates have multiple relatives who are Pitt alum and grew up planning to attend. These are smart kids who have a 3.6 or a 3.7 but are getting rejected from Pitt. Of course, they could go to one of the satellite campuses but they want to be in Oakland. They aren’t TJ caliber but several years ago they would have gotten into Pitt main campus.

Well, my kid can't get into Columbia, my alma mater, either. Times change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Super hot at TJ. Which tell you something about their STEM. Last year more TJ kids applied to Pitt than VT and more ended up attending. First time ever that UVA/ Vat and WM were not the top three schools by far. Mostly engineering. Quite a few guaranteed admit med. Last year 110 kids applied and 109 were admitted. And the one red X on Naviance had good stats, so it would have been an honor code issue or something.

Selective? Maybe not. But offering full tuition to TJ kids who apply and great word of mouth. The word from Alums is that TJ kids love Pittsburgh (who knew? It’s really come back) and love that they can cross register at CMU. Counselors are saying the TJ kids who have gone through love it and are doing very well in grad school admissions.

We visited with DC and checked it out. I’m impressed. DH is impressed. DS is impressed. I’m not sure it’s his best option. But it’s not a bad option.

I don’t know how much kids loved Blacksburg, per se. And VT is on a new mission to make VT “more reflective of the demographics of the state”. They are also Coalition only. So kids just stopped applying. Pitt has aggressively recruited at TJ and benefitted from kids deciding VT was headed down/ just not worth it.

My kid is a senior. Rolling admissions is wonderful. He has already been accepted. Should hear about merit aid in the next month. Honors college in December. It’s not his top choice. But getting an acceptance to a school he liked, we liked and we could afford even with no merit (OOS it’s about 5k more than WM full freight) was such a relief. It also cut down his list some. We asked, what are better options than Pitt? His other two safeties aren’t and were dropped. And he has a strong case for why it’s better than a match. So that was dropped too. No need to apply when he knows he has a better option.

I’m obviously a big believer. But Pitt was the sleeper shock of college admission for me.

+1 from another DC-area public magnet program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If I was a PA resident, I would be pissed that our state school was recruiting and sending merit money OOS. But hey— I’m not, so bring it on.

PA resident here. My dd wants a small school as well as a school that not a lot of her classmates are attending so she isn’t even applying to Pitt. But many of her classmates have multiple relatives who are Pitt alum and grew up planning to attend. These are smart kids who have a 3.6 or a 3.7 but are getting rejected from Pitt. Of course, they could go to one of the satellite campuses but they want to be in Oakland. They aren’t TJ caliber but several years ago they would have gotten into Pitt main campus.

Well, my kid can't get into Columbia, my alma mater, either. Times change.

I wouldn't want my kid to go to my T10 alma mater. Those schools are on the way down IMO.

[Anonymous]

Pittsburgh has a vibrant tech incubator/ start up scene. Google is there now and hires a lot from CMU and Pitt. It is pretty gray from a weather perspective.

[Anonymous]

We toured Pitt with DS. I didn't find the neighborhood gritty (Temple's area is what I would call gritty) and we thought the dorms were nice. He didn't end up applying but I would be happy to send a kid there if I had kids with academic interests that were a good fit. Our tour guide was a TJ graduate who planned to go to med school.

If your kid is interested in pre-med, nursing or other health professiona and you can either afford the nearly $50K price tag or have a very high stats kid, then I can see why it's an attractive rolling admissions opton. My DS was likely to get in but unlikely to get merit aid (he was pretty close to their minimum test scores for merit at 1490/34 and he didn't have the straight As they seemed to require).

[Anonymous]

It’s really outstanding for any medical science. My kid started pre-med but fell behind the cohort and decided on another field by Christmas freshman year. Still he love his time at Pitt. (And he had a job in his major at graduation).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We toured Pitt with DS. I didn't find the neighborhood gritty (Temple's area is what I would call gritty) and we thought the dorms were nice. He didn't end up applying but I would be happy to send a kid there if I had kids with academic interests that were a good fit. Our tour guide was a TJ graduate who planned to go to med school.

If your kid is interested in pre-med, nursing or other health professiona and you can either afford the nearly $50K price tag or have a very high stats kid, then I can see why it's an attractive rolling admissions opton. My DS was likely to get in but unlikely to get merit aid (he was pretty close to their minimum test scores for merit at 1490/34 and he didn't have the straight As they seemed to require).

Wow, I remember reading posts in the last 2 years for getting merit aid that were a lot less than what you’re saying (1490/34). I guess it’s gotten a lot harder to get merit aid— which jives with what people are saying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid attended Pitt.

The positives were that it’s a good school with lots of solid kids in a very student-friendly area in an interesting city that is convenient to the DC area. There are many different majors. There is a sizable contingent of students from the area and Pitt runs buses from Pitt to Montgomery Mall before and after major holidays. For the most part, the kids seem happy to be there.

The kids are less spoiled than at some of the public and private high schools in the DC region. DS started working part-time while there, because he saw his friends working part-time, even though we hadn’t pushed him to get a job. That work ethic stayed with him post-Pitt.

The negatives were that it wasn’t always easy to get the classes he wanted; some classes were taught by grad students who lacked teaching skills; the weather can be very gloomy; and some of the off-campus housing in Oakland exemplifies a “student ghetto.”

PP do you know if dorms are available for 4 yrs?

Don’t know - they were building more dorms, but DS moved off campus after freshman year. The off-campus housing in Oakland is very close.