Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a Pitt grad. I spent a week on Indiana Bloomington's campus this past summer and I really liked it.

I think you should consider these factors:

1) Strength of the major(s) of interest
2) Feelings about each campus
3) East Coast personality or Midwest personality type
4) Where your son wants to live after graduation (imagine a radius around each as the zone of most opportunity)

Let me know if you have specific questions about Pitt.

Would an East Coast personality really fit Pittsburgh OR Indiana?

Pitt grad here. Also a Michigan grad. I think local cultural expectations are worth factoring in.

Midwest nice is real. This is one of the reasons why Indiana and Michigan's business schools are popular corporate recruiting grounds. Lots of hard working kids who come across as friendly, team players.

East Coast directness does not play out as well here. Also pessimism, cynicism, and snark. A lot of DCUM types would fall through corporate trap doors here. The indoctrination starts in elementary school as I know, because I've watched those forces at work on my own kids.

No idea what OP's kid is like...and he is still young...so probably can enthusiastically fit in anywhere. But a smartmouth might do better closer to home in the Mid-Atlantic.

I think this is a decision that should be made on finer points than the urban/rural campus divide. I posted my suggested criteria above, but I'd also like to suggest investigating the number of degree recipients for each major of interest at both schools. Because it might be important to the social experience at each. My husband was in a much smaller major than I was at Pitt and therefore got to know his classmates a lot better.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a big IU fan - but I'd think a major advantage of Pitt would be its location in a city with some economic momentum on its side.

Pittsburgh “economic momentum” is very overrated

I know iu isn’t in infianapolis but comparing Indianapolis msa gdp trend

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/RGMP26900

Vs Pittsburgh MSA

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/RGMP38300

Pittsburgh has barely any growth and western pa is consistently losing population

There is no Bloomington or Carmel in western pa

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a Pitt grad. I spent a week on Indiana Bloomington's campus this past summer and I really liked it.

I think you should consider these factors:

1) Strength of the major(s) of interest
2) Feelings about each campus
3) East Coast personality or Midwest personality type
4) Where your son wants to live after graduation (imagine a radius around each as the zone of most opportunity)

Let me know if you have specific questions about Pitt.

Would an East Coast personality really fit Pittsburgh OR Indiana?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is in at both too and trying to decide. With little to no merit at either they are virtually the same cost though, about $55k OOS.

Not really. Pitt is $63K vs $58 for Indiana. Tuition+Fees at Pitt is $5K more per year and their costs have been going up a lot each year. Most kids also get merit at IU vs none at Pitt (for the most part). While you are guaranteed 3 years on campus at Pitt, I'm not sure if most kids will want to stay on campus. If they do move off, be prepared to pay a lot more than comparable rent at IU. Boils down to whether that cost diff is palatable and is worth it for the environment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is in at both too and trying to decide. With little to no merit at either they are virtually the same cost though, about $55k OOS.

Not really. Pitt is $63K vs $58 for Indiana. Tuition+Fees at Pitt is $5K more per year and their costs have been going up a lot each year. Most kids also get merit at IU vs none at Pitt (for the most part). While you are guaranteed 3 years on campus at Pitt, I'm not sure if most kids will want to stay on campus. If they do move off, be prepared to pay a lot more than comparable rent at IU. Boils down to whether that cost diff is palatable and is worth it for the environment.

Anonymous wrote:My son is in at both too and trying to decide. With little to no merit at either they are virtually the same cost though, about $55k OOS.

Anonymous wrote:My son is in at both too and trying to decide. With little to no merit at either they are virtually the same cost though, about $55k OOS.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a big IU fan - but I'd think a major advantage of Pitt would be its location in a city with some economic momentum on its side.