Gabel was not beloved and likely was encouraged to look for a new job.

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised there are no substantive responses on this one. Pitt and UMN are both DCUM darlings and seem similar enough that someone here must have chosen between them or at least toured both.

The former Chancellor of UMN, Joan Gabel, is now the Chancellor of Pitt.

She sent her kid to Pitt before she took a job at Pitt.

In fairness, she has Pennsylvania origins. And the Minnesota Regents didn't mesh with her.

DC got accepted to UMN, PITT, Penn State, MSU, Iowa, Marquette and UIUC for engineering. Picked UIUC.

In my opinion (which they did not ask for) it was really between UMN, PITT, Penn State and UIUC, we were open to paying for all the options. They picked UIUC due to quality of the program and knew they wanted to work in the Chicagoland area after graduating.

Anonymous wrote:I'm from the NYC area and I have never understood why UMN isn't more popular. I get going to Michigan. But I know many more kids who have gone to Ohio State, Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana. Those have some specialized programs that have understandable appeal, but to just go as an arts and sciences student, I would personally prefer Minnesota which is in a major city. Yet I know almost no one who has gone there....

Parchment suggests UMN loses head-to-heads with Wisconsin and Illinois as badly as it does with Michigan (~80/20 all), but that it's basically a toss-up with Ohio State and Indiana (and Michigan State).

I'm from the NYC area and I have never understood why UMN isn't more popular. I get going to Michigan. But I know many more kids who have gone to Ohio State, Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana. Those have some specialized programs that have understandable appeal, but to just go as an arts and sciences student, I would personally prefer Minnesota which is in a major city. Yet I know almost no one who has gone there.

I have met a few UMN alums professionally and have enjoyed working with them.

Pitt is very comparable and has the advantage of being within a reasonable drive of the east coast. It is impressive how much it has improved from when we were students and it was viewed (correctly or incorrectly) as a commuter school. And they have done this with less of the "gaming the system" gimmicks like Northeastern and others.

I think UMN is just too far for kids from the DMV. I also think that Pitt doesn't get as many DMV kids as you think. My son goes to Pitt and most, non-Pittsburgh kids come from Philly or NJ. This is just his opinion.

Pitt is expensive OOS. And if you get merit a lot of times you have another option.

My kid got into both and attends UMN, but not for the programs you mentioned. He got sizable merit at UMN but none from Pitt. Liked it was further away and friendlier than DMV. Also has better transit and closer to downtown.

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised there are no substantive responses on this one. Pitt and UMN are both DCUM darlings and seem similar enough that someone here must have chosen between them or at least toured both.

I did the UMN tour and DH did the Pitt tour. Each of us loved the school we toured, and then DC got in at a much higher-ranked school so the question became moot.

But like, of course they’re DCUM darlings. They’re R1, DI, AAU schools in decent-sized cities that reliably admit and educate high-stats kids at fair prices. A lot of us here feel that that’s how a lot more schools should work.

I'm surprised there are no substantive responses on this one. Pitt and UMN are both DCUM darlings and seem similar enough that someone here must have chosen between them or at least toured both.

Anonymous wrote:UMN for engineering.

Very good faculty, and lots of opportunities for internships and jobs.

Umm..nah

UMN for engineering.

Very good faculty, and lots of opportunities for internships and jobs.

Anonymous wrote:We live in Minnesota and have toured Pitt. Pitt all day.

Why?

We live in Minnesota and have toured Pitt. Pitt all day.

I don't know anything about their business programs, but they are both good schools for engineering.

For people who are familiar with both, how do they compare and contrast as to vibe/feel/social aspects? What about their engineering and/or business programs? Thanks in advance for any insights.