Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:UMD for the win!
Save the money for your retirement or give it to them. Put the $$ difference every semester in a Fidelity stock account invested in the S&P 500,
Having over $60K growing in stocks when you graduate is worth it and UMD is wonderful.
The financial component would make the decision for me also.
Put that $60 in a boring Index fund and use it for grad school or as a down payment on a house. Not a small chunk of change (for us, anyway, I guess it is for some on DCUM).
Anonymous wrote:UMD for the win!
Save the money for your retirement or give it to them. Put the $$ difference every semester in a Fidelity stock account invested in the S&P 500,
Having over $60K growing in stocks when you graduate is worth it and UMD is wonderful.
Anonymous wrote:For a kid more interested in humanities than STEM. Prefers Pitt but UMD is about $15K per year less expensive. Honors College at Pitt and College Park Scholars at UMD. Any insight?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Congrats. Those are both good schools.
My only input is that people seem to love Pittsburgh, and I am not a fan of College Park.
If you gave your kid the option of either, I would let her pick. Unless you really can’t afford it. Otherwise, don’t bargain hunt on her future home.
She must have worked hard to get these options, let her choose her reward for that effort.
Curious what you don’t like about college park. DC is looking into it but will not be able to visit until summer when school is not in session.
The campus itself is fine, but there is no charming town in the environs. There are busy cross county roads and strip malls geared to Spanish speaking families/workers. No diss on that population, but the options did not seem geared to meeting the needs of young undergrads.
I like CPs mini downtown on the edge of campus. It was hopping on Saturday afternoon. DS said its a madhouse on weekend evenings. Looks like fun.
Are you referring to south Campus? Yea, DC said next year they want to live there because that's where all the fun is. Still, it's no Pittsburgh, and I say this as a UMD parent. The area around CMU and Pitt is great; downtown Pitt is well.. the pits. I think the city itself is pretty neat, though.
Having stated that, IMO, UMD is academically a better school.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Congrats. Those are both good schools.
My only input is that people seem to love Pittsburgh, and I am not a fan of College Park.
If you gave your kid the option of either, I would let her pick. Unless you really can’t afford it. Otherwise, don’t bargain hunt on her future home.
She must have worked hard to get these options, let her choose her reward for that effort.
Curious what you don’t like about college park. DC is looking into it but will not be able to visit until summer when school is not in session.
The campus itself is fine, but there is no charming town in the environs. There are busy cross county roads and strip malls geared to Spanish speaking families/workers. No diss on that population, but the options did not seem geared to meeting the needs of young undergrads.
I like CPs mini downtown on the edge of campus. It was hopping on Saturday afternoon. DS said its a madhouse on weekend evenings. Looks like fun.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Congrats. Those are both good schools.
My only input is that people seem to love Pittsburgh, and I am not a fan of College Park.
If you gave your kid the option of either, I would let her pick. Unless you really can’t afford it. Otherwise, don’t bargain hunt on her future home.
She must have worked hard to get these options, let her choose her reward for that effort.
Curious what you don’t like about college park. DC is looking into it but will not be able to visit until summer when school is not in session.
The campus itself is fine, but there is no charming town in the environs. There are busy cross county roads and strip malls geared to Spanish speaking families/workers. No diss on that population, but the options did not seem geared to meeting the needs of young undergrads.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Congrats. Those are both good schools.
My only input is that people seem to love Pittsburgh, and I am not a fan of College Park.
If you gave your kid the option of either, I would let her pick. Unless you really can’t afford it. Otherwise, don’t bargain hunt on her future home.
She must have worked hard to get these options, let her choose her reward for that effort.
Curious what you don’t like about college park. DC is looking into it but will not be able to visit until summer when school is not in session.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I went to Pitt (as an in-state PA Pittsburgh area student). But I lived in Rockville for 7 years and Gaithersburg for 2. Based on what I read here about all the smart MoCo kids going to UMD, I actually think either choice would be fine. I like that your child has two honors programs lined up. I'm influenced by the really great review of UMD's journalism program that was brought back by a grad from my kids' high school in flyover country. She was having a great time and had already had some name internships.
The monetary difference is meaningful but not life-altering. Meaning, in proportion to buying a new car or a house or a year of grad tuition, it's not an insane amount of difference. But definitely worth thinking about due to financial prudence.
I would have your daughter take a look at faculty bios for the humanities subjects that she is interested in at both schools. I would also have your daughter think about whether she's likely to want to return to the DMV after graduation. If you feel that UMD has a good enough reputation to get her access to jobs of interest in DC, that favors UMD. I had to move from Pittsburgh to the DMV because the job market is much smaller there. And I graduated in a cyclical downturn. I was an economics grad. I left the DMV to go to grad school.
I think the best part of Pitt's campus are the very nice, unique buildings and the local fine arts institutions. Plus the downtown Pittsburgh amenities (outside of Oakland but reachable by bus). I understand people feel College Park lacks a collegetown feel. But for me, since I was not too fond of the Oakland restaurants and shops, I would not weight comparative collegetown factors too heavily in making a decision.
Good luck with the decision!
This is a great post.
The only other thing I would add OP is have your student look at the curriculum requirements for their major at both schools. The requirements could be slightly different and might make a difference to your child.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:UMD for the win!
Save the money for your retirement or give it to them. Put the $$ difference every semester in a Fidelity stock account invested in the S&P 500,
Having over $60K growing in stocks when you graduate is worth it and UMD is wonderful.
yeah but you only are in your formative years once
but, again, the schools are so not different, and I don't get how 60k is not that much, it's really a brand grand new car
UMD has college town feel, and it is so close to DC that you can experience both easily, also the job opportunities in the DC metro area, and the kid can come home if s/he feels like or spend the whole semester in the campus
Anonymous wrote:Congrats. Those are both good schools.
My only input is that people seem to love Pittsburgh, and I am not a fan of College Park.
If you gave your kid the option of either, I would let her pick. Unless you really can’t afford it. Otherwise, don’t bargain hunt on her future home.
She must have worked hard to get these options, let her choose her reward for that effort.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:UMD for the win!
Save the money for your retirement or give it to them. Put the $$ difference every semester in a Fidelity stock account invested in the S&P 500,
Having over $60K growing in stocks when you graduate is worth it and UMD is wonderful.
yeah but you only are in your formative years once