Anonymous wrote:The school seems to have an excellent reputation as far as medicine/heath sciences/engineering goes. It's better yet if you get instate tuition or a scholarship.

I don't think out of state tuition is really worth it at the University of Pittsburgh. Many other state schools have better ranked programs and are less expensive. Pitt is raising tuition for out of state students by 7% this year. It's a run away train and you can find better elsewhere. I think Penn State is also doing that. Pennsylvania doesn't fund their public schools well at all.

Schools like Purdue, Maryland, Virginia Tech actually have better engineering programs and computer science programs for less money. If you are in state and have good programs in-state in these areas, I recommend saving your money.

Indiana, North Carolina, UVA, and Maryland have a much better ranked business program than Pitt. Kelley School is far above the Katz Business school, though Pittsburgh alum love to crow about it.

Liberal arts there are meh. My DC is there now and this area has been a disappointment. Teachers cancelling class multiple times, English teacher just rambling, etc. A small liberal arts school might have had better teachers, more learning for the same price, more attention given to a non-engineering or science student.

Just my two cents....

Anonymous wrote:I've got a kid here, and he loves it.

It's got good academics, but is not a place where kids seem stressed (the downside of that I suspect is that non-motivated kids could just do the bare minimum to get through). Lots of really strong majors.

It's big, and has something for everyone, whether they are frat bros, sports fans, science geeks, or artists. My child has discovered several subject areas that he has unexpectedly enjoyed, and is now in a major that he did not foresee.

Location is great - the Oakland neighborhood is safe and fun, and the city as a whole has tons more and is a perfect size for kids on their own for the first time.

And, as others have noted, it is a school that is trying hard - to provide a good experience for students, and to recruit more good students to attend.


I know this thread is 4 years old...but... I dropped off my DD at Pitt two days ago. She is in a fabulous dorm on a fabulous campus in a wonderful city. There are so so so many welcome week activities this week. Pitt is really doing everything to make them feel welcome. She went to a pep session yesterday for the 4000 freshman complete with T-shirts and a diversity session today.

We couldn't be more pleased!

I'm really glad my child ended up at Pitt.

Anonymous wrote:Is it true that merit aid has decreased over the years?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone NOT get into Pitt?

For yield reasons, they end up accepting most everyone above 1300/1600.

Pitt flips the approach to admissions on its head. They accept a very high percentage of qualified students with the full knowledge that only a minority will end up attending. But with a higher acceptance rate, they actually end up with a freshman class with higher stats than if they had a lower acceptance rate and pushed away potential applicants who had good stats. In other words, they get better students applying on average than they might otherwise.

Smart and humane. More colleges should do this. With USNews having dropped yield, there's not much to lose. So grateful to schools like this for welcoming students there.

+1

Well, except if too many say yes and you have over-enrollment and housing problems. It's a balance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone NOT get into Pitt?

For yield reasons, they end up accepting most everyone above 1300/1600.

Pitt flips the approach to admissions on its head. They accept a very high percentage of qualified students with the full knowledge that only a minority will end up attending. But with a higher acceptance rate, they actually end up with a freshman class with higher stats than if they had a lower acceptance rate and pushed away potential applicants who had good stats. In other words, they get better students applying on average than they might otherwise.

Smart and humane. More colleges should do this. With USNews having dropped yield, there's not much to lose. So grateful to schools like this for welcoming students there.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone NOT get into Pitt?

For yield reasons, they end up accepting most everyone above 1300/1600.

Pitt flips the approach to admissions on its head. They accept a very high percentage of qualified students with the full knowledge that only a minority will end up attending. But with a higher acceptance rate, they actually end up with a freshman class with higher stats than if they had a lower acceptance rate and pushed away potential applicants who had good stats. In other words, they get better students applying on average than they might otherwise.

Smart and humane. More colleges should do this. With USNews having dropped yield, there's not much to lose. So grateful to schools like this for welcoming students there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone NOT get into Pitt?

For yield reasons, they end up accepting most everyone above 1300/1600.

Pitt flips the approach to admissions on its head. They accept a very high percentage of qualified students with the full knowledge that only a minority will end up attending. But with a higher acceptance rate, they actually end up with a freshman class with higher stats than if they had a lower acceptance rate and pushed away potential applicants who had good stats. In other words, they get better students applying on average than they might otherwise.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone NOT get into Pitt?

For yield reasons, they end up accepting most everyone above 1300/1600.

Anonymous wrote:It’s a different situation in Pennsylvania. They get OOS kids with better profiles and have experience with the yields from different areas.