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[quote=Anonymous]I am a Pitt alum and parent of a college freshman at University of Michigan (my grad alma mater).  We live in Michigan so Michigan was much cheaper than Pitt with only $5K merit.  I mention this to explain that my family has recently evaluated Pitt for a kid to attend and that we are enthusiastic Pitt alums.

First, I think it's interesting that the current chancellor of Pitt came from running Minnesota.  I believe her own kid might have been studying at Pitt before she took the job.  Pitt is very picky about chsncellors, so I see this as a point suggesting the instititions are similar in scale, mission, feel.

Second, I once did a thorough recruiting tour of Minneapolis-St.Paul courtesy of General Milla.  Years ago, but it struck me as a very nice metro area that a Pittsburgher could enjoy.  It is much colder and snowier than Pittsburgh.  I don't make decisions based on weather but many do, so be aware of that. If your kid wanted to stay after graduation, they are comparable in terms of quality of (suburban) life and amenities.

Third, Pittsburgh has the advantage of being more mid-Atlantic if East Coast and DMV jobs are hoped for.  Both universities are going to have a regional concentration to their grads.  I'd expect more Pitt grads in the DMV.

Fourth, I believe top students from two state flagships would have equal chances at grad schools.  My husband and I got into good grad schools out of Pitt.  The only Minnesota grad I know personally (mid-30s) got an MBA from MIT and married a Harvard MBA.  People on DCUM have said past results don't predict future performance but I disagree.  I think grad schools want candidates from a variety of undergrad institutions as long as candidate quality is there.

Fifth, I like Pitt's size (for the liberal arts college), and the balance in appeal of its colleges to the students.  At many schools, the Engineering and Business colleges are so much more reputationally strong that there's a talent imbalance.  So the liberal arts college students are treated as less than by other students. That's even true at Michigan where kids call the liberal arts college "L, S, and Play". At Pitt, there is a lot of emphasis on liberal arts being the core of the University.  You see it in the alum mag.  Pitt people like to write. There's always a section on cool books written by Pitt alums. (I don't have a comparable vibe check for Minnesota on this point.) As a liberal arts grad, that extra respect mattered to me because I wanted to be friends with kids who cared about liberal arts classes and did not see them as inconvenient graduation requirements.  I actually left Penn State's Honors Program in part because of it being too slanted towards Engineering. So I've made big choices based on this preference.

Some additional strengths of Pitt vs. other universities I am familiar with:

-Campus cultural district and architecture (feels historic, lots of cultural attractions).

-Greek life is there if you want it, but it won't interfere with your social life at all if you don't.

-The honors program is extremely self-directed and allows students to shine IF they have a plan.  There's also coaching to win prestige fellowships.  Pitt cares a lot about those (Marshall, Truman, etc.).

-Study abroad is highly valued at Pitt and there's more focus on relevant study than just doing a trip.  Low-income students are encouraged and assisted to go.

Regarding Minnesota, since my direct knowledge is limited, I'd say to check on the appeal of the physical campuses.  I've seen complaints that Minnesota's campus isn't so great but can't verify.  Some think it feels like a commuter school but people sometimes still question that about Pitt, too.  I always found commuting students at Pitt to be humble and serious. I never felt the Pitt dorms were "suitcase school" like or empty on weekends.  As stated above, I found the city of Minneapolis quite nice when I visited as a recruit. So making a decision on "feel" in this area might be important.

If you have questions about Pitt, I will check back.

I personally would also look at MSU, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin, if looking at Minnesota.[/quote]

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