Anonymous wrote:University of Wisconsin has an excellent business and engineering school. Campus is situated between two lakes and there are tons of outdoor activities. A lot of east coast kids. Football games are a city wide event. Lots of international restaurants and a political vibe due to the state capital. Lots of international students. Very safe city.

We loved Wisconsin. Price tag is a kicker, though, and merit aid is sparse.

University of Wisconsin has an excellent business and engineering school. Campus is situated between two lakes and there are tons of outdoor activities. A lot of east coast kids. Football games are a city wide event. Lots of international restaurants and a political vibe due to the state capital. Lots of international students. Very safe city.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP good on your son. I am seeing lots of $15,000 awards for Pitt on College Confidential but not any higher than that. It does seem like the word is out. Their applicant pool is getting stronger and stronger.

Thanks to PPs about USC and safety issues. The half-off tuition for NMS is super but it's still around $50,000 all-in.

That is definitely my impression. And it seems as if no one from OOS gets into the Pitt Honors program.

I think that too many of us used Pitt as a safety school -- they offered us spots and dollars and we went elsewhere....

They caught on.

Look at the Clemson post about schools that are on the cusp vs schools that already peaked. Find the ones on the cusp, get heavy merit aid and watch that school grow while your kid is there. Pitt and Clemson already peaked.

Clemson

We visited quite a few.

Liked Pitt, Auburn, South Carolina, Georgia, Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, Clemson, Miami (Ohio)

Didn't like NC State (appearance), Ohio State (size)

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really liked Pitt but couldn't justify the cost, even with some merit aid. Pittsburgh is a great town and we really liked the vibe of the school. I kept hearing that Pitt offers great merit aid but it sounds like they really decreased it this year. Going through the college application process this year, I was really surprised at how expensive public schools are getting for out of state students.

I think it is getting extremely competitive and hence difficult to get merit aid.

My kid has a 36 ACT and a perfect GPA and got good, but not great merit aid from Pitt.

Pitt’s model worked really well (attracting top students, raising the profile of the school and overall getting more out of state student $$), but apparently it’s run its course. I have a nephew who got full tuition merit 8 years ago. DS, with very similar stats got nothing last year. In the interim, we know of lots of kids in the area who had Pitt on the short list and many utlimately chose Pitt.

The model still works well - just doesn't work any longer for good but not outstanding students who need merit aid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really liked Pitt but couldn't justify the cost, even with some merit aid. Pittsburgh is a great town and we really liked the vibe of the school. I kept hearing that Pitt offers great merit aid but it sounds like they really decreased it this year. Going through the college application process this year, I was really surprised at how expensive public schools are getting for out of state students.

I think it is getting extremely competitive and hence difficult to get merit aid.

My kid has a 36 ACT and a perfect GPA and got good, but not great merit aid from Pitt.

Pitt’s model worked really well (attracting top students, raising the profile of the school and overall getting more out of state student $$), but apparently it’s run its course. I have a nephew who got full tuition merit 8 years ago. DS, with very similar stats got nothing last year. In the interim, we know of lots of kids in the area who had Pitt on the short list and many utlimately chose Pitt.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP good on your son. I am seeing lots of $15,000 awards for Pitt on College Confidential but not any higher than that. It does seem like the word is out. Their applicant pool is getting stronger and stronger.

Thanks to PPs about USC and safety issues. The half-off tuition for NMS is super but it's still around $50,000 all-in.

That is definitely my impression. And it seems as if no one from OOS gets into the Pitt Honors program.

I think that too many of us used Pitt as a safety school -- they offered us spots and dollars and we went elsewhere....

They caught on.

Anonymous wrote:PP good on your son. I am seeing lots of $15,000 awards for Pitt on College Confidential but not any higher than that. It does seem like the word is out. Their applicant pool is getting stronger and stronger.

Thanks to PPs about USC and safety issues. The half-off tuition for NMS is super but it's still around $50,000 all-in.

That is definitely my impression. And it seems as if no one from OOS gets into the Pitt Honors program.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:University of Vermont especially for a sporty outdoorsy kid

Way too pricy

Our DC was offered substantial merit aid that made it slightly less/on par with in-state tuition at UVA/W&M. ( DC didn't go, but was tempted).


The OOS publics we visited:

UVM: Great for environmental sciences, beautiful campus, Burlington is a nice town.

We have family in Wisconsin, so we combined family trips with a bunch of midwest visits over two different summers:

UW-Madison-- Madison seemed like a vibrant but manageable town--DC was a tad turned off by the students--didn't seem that academically/culturally engaged. I think those things are often flukes and DC is in a somewhat "judgy" phase. But I could kind of see what she meant--the students mainly talked about food and got excited about food. It was a little weird. Like in a student panel people would ask about programs and it would inevitably also somehow land on students talking about ice cream and cheese. And then the tour guide talked a lot about food. And the student DC shadowed a class with. It felt we were in a skit where everyone we encountered told us where to find the best ice cream and the joys of "squeaky cheese."

Cheeseheads take their dairy seriously. It is a point of pride. And a Berry Alvarez ice cream cone is truly not to be missed.

PP good on your son. I am seeing lots of $15,000 awards for Pitt on College Confidential but not any higher than that. It does seem like the word is out. Their applicant pool is getting stronger and stronger.

Thanks to PPs about USC and safety issues. The half-off tuition for NMS is super but it's still around $50,000 all-in.

From UNIGO's website, for USC (student survey results):

Do you feel safe on campus?
(159 answers)
3% "I'm always terrified"
18% "I only go out in groups"
43% "I usually let someone know where i'm going"
36% "I feel extremely safe"

You can go there and compare it to other schools. My child goes to a small, rural CTCL where 86% reported "I feel extremely safe."

Any urban school is going to have a lower number, but sites like that allow you to compare kids' perceptions (which again, may or may not be valid). Still, it gives parents multiple opinions of people who are on the ground.

Anonymous wrote:Really liked Pitt but couldn't justify the cost, even with some merit aid. Pittsburgh is a great town and we really liked the vibe of the school. I kept hearing that Pitt offers great merit aid but it sounds like they really decreased it this year. Going through the college application process this year, I was really surprised at how expensive public schools are getting for out of state students.

I think it is getting extremely competitive and hence difficult to get merit aid.

My kid has a 36 ACT and a perfect GPA and got good, but not great merit aid from Pitt.

PP said they taught “out there”, not necessarily at USC. The PP can clarify if they wish but it wasn’t clear.

I’ve been out to USC and I thought (just my opinion) the campus felt very safe. The PP’s endorsement of UCLA, and particularly Berkeley, shows how far the rivalry of UC devotees vs USC travels (not trying to start a USC vs UC battle; healthy rivalries are hilarious). Of all the cities I’ve been to, the only one that I felt needed antennae up at all times was New Orleans.

Anonymous wrote:My DC is looking into GT - poster who said very expensive - is it not worth it?

OP - I'm not the person you asked but here are a few things to consider:

a) We can't answer that because your financial situation is uniquely yours. I personally wouldn't go into debt to go to GT over VT, but maybe you don't have to, or maybe VT isn't appealing for one of a hundred legitimate reasons.

b) Yeah, GT is great, but so are the students. Is your kid going to be able to hold her own there? Does getting in mean handling the work? Not every kid wants to rise to every challenge. Some don't want to bust their buts to barely be mediocre. If so, maybe a reach isn't the right approach for engineering when someplace else might give your kid more access to all the elite stuff. Again, we can't answer that for you.

c) if there are any degrees where the school doesn't matter, it is the engineering degrees. Kids do just about the same thereafter. They get good jobs and pay their loans back. At UW, UW-Madison, VT GT, UMCP, UMN. OSU... calc, physics, chemistry will all be huge and impersonal. It just doesn't matter. I think the bigger question would be if your kid wanted to be at a small environment or a big school. But that takes us back to point a).

d) is your second choice option a good one, or is it not?

So is it worth it? DCUM can't answer that.