What about University of Pittsburgh?

[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 get that but Columbia is private, not public. You have a choice whether or not to donate to your alma mater. Pitt is a public school. My alma mater is another big 10 that prioritizes full pay international students over the instate kids of taxpayers. There is a difference between private and public schools. I understand that pretty much all schools are harder to get in now than they were even 5 years ago but it doesn’t make it easier for people who want to attend an in state school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were very surprised at how much we liked it when DC visited. Good academics, nicer campus than we imagined, and a very positive vibe from the students. It reminded me of Richmond to the extent that both are working aggressively to break into more of a national ranking, except Pitt seems more generous with aid which is probably a function of size. Give it 4-5 years and Pitt will probably be much more difficult to get into.

A quick glance at both common data sets demonstrates that Pitt isn’t even close to being as generous with aid of either the need- or merit-based variety.

Well, Richmond is private, so it costs twice as much...

Incorrect. More expensive, yes. Twice, no. And the FA is far better.

[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’s not what you think. They are “state-related”. They don’t have to kow tow to residents.

https://www.pitt.edu/chancellor-search/state-related

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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 get that but Columbia is private, not public. You have a choice whether or not to donate to your alma mater. Pitt is a public school. My alma mater is another big 10 that prioritizes full pay international students over the instate kids of taxpayers. There is a difference between private and public schools. I understand that pretty much all schools are harder to get in now than they were even 5 years ago but it doesn’t make it easier for people who want to attend an in state school.

Well, tell that to the legislature, who have cut funding time and again. Silly to blame it on the highly qualified OOS students, who are pretty much funding the place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 get that but Columbia is private, not public. You have a choice whether or not to donate to your alma mater. Pitt is a public school. My alma mater is another big 10 that prioritizes full pay international students over the instate kids of taxpayers. There is a difference between private and public schools. I understand that pretty much all schools are harder to get in now than they were even 5 years ago but it doesn’t make it easier for people who want to attend an in state school.

Well, tell that to the legislature, who have cut funding time and again. Silly to blame it on the highly qualified OOS students, who are pretty much funding the place.

I thought, from the previous posts, that all of the qualified OOS students are getting full rides. I guess maybe that was a lie.

[Anonymous]

Pitt is on our daughter's radar, but all I've seen here is STEM and HEALTH. How is Pitt for a kid who hasn't a clue what they want to do, but likes Sociology and History?

[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’s not what you think. They are “state-related”. They don’t have to kow tow to residents.

https://www.pitt.edu/chancellor-search/state-related

Huh. That’s interesting. I was not aware there was a distinction. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 get that but Columbia is private, not public. You have a choice whether or not to donate to your alma mater. Pitt is a public school. My alma mater is another big 10 that prioritizes full pay international students over the instate kids of taxpayers. There is a difference between private and public schools. I understand that pretty much all schools are harder to get in now than they were even 5 years ago but it doesn’t make it easier for people who want to attend an in state school.

Well, tell that to the legislature, who have cut funding time and again. Silly to blame it on the highly qualified OOS students, who are pretty much funding the place.

I thought, from the previous posts, that all of the qualified OOS students are getting full rides. I guess maybe that was a lie.

There is a difference between qualified and highly qualified and off the charts qualified. TJ literally has the most qualified kids in the nation in STEM. And they are getting full tuition. I would imagine Blair kids are as well. Pitt seems to be targeting very highly qualified kids to get the talent to make a move in rankings. That doesn’t mean every high stats kid is. It’s based on the experiences of the kids at the top STEM school in the country who get an amazingly rigorous, highly specialized education. . Not every good student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pitt is on our daughter's radar, but all I've seen here is STEM and HEALTH. How is Pitt for a kid who hasn't a clue what they want to do, but likes Sociology and History?

I've heard good things about foreign language instruction and psychology.

[Anonymous]

Yes, good Russian program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 get that but Columbia is private, not public. You have a choice whether or not to donate to your alma mater. Pitt is a public school. My alma mater is another big 10 that prioritizes full pay international students over the instate kids of taxpayers. There is a difference between private and public schools. I understand that pretty much all schools are harder to get in now than they were even 5 years ago but it doesn’t make it easier for people who want to attend an in state school.

Well, tell that to the legislature, who have cut funding time and again. Silly to blame it on the highly qualified OOS students, who are pretty much funding the place.

I thought, from the previous posts, that all of the qualified OOS students are getting full rides. I guess maybe that was a lie.

There is a difference between qualified and highly qualified and off the charts qualified. TJ literally has the most qualified kids in the nation in STEM. And they are getting full tuition. I would imagine Blair kids are as well. Pitt seems to be targeting very highly qualified kids to get the talent to make a move in rankings. That doesn’t mean every high stats kid is. It’s based on the experiences of the kids at the top STEM school in the country who get an amazingly rigorous, highly specialized education. . Not every good student.

So then how many if any T.J. students who just graduated will attend Pitt with no tuition or room/board? I think 0.

[Anonymous]

For Pete’s sake stop worrying about zero tuition here. Normally they give merit aid that brings it in line with any Virginia state school. Even if they don’t, it’s not that much more expensive, and is a great option for anyone in STEM.

[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.

Uh, everyone knows? It's been on the upswing for years now.

[Anonymous]

I think VA instate options make more sense than Pitt.
Pitt doesn’t have the name recognition of Michigan, UNC Chapel Hill or even Wisconsin.
It is probably a good school for Health Sciences/premed but main reason it is popular in this area is rolling admissions. Penn State also has rolling admission but crappy location and worse reputation than Pitt.

[Anonymous]

Pitt came into the equation if our kids didn’t want to or couldn’t get into UVA, W&M or VT. For us, Pitt & OOS tuition are much better than the next VA options.