First time on CC.Need some guidance. My D is undecided about her major and has been accepted into liberal arts at Colby, U Pitt and Penn State . She is waitlisted at Bucknell and V Tech(in-state). Completely different schools - in terms of size, geography, tuition, placements etc.Would appreciate some wisdom. Thanks.
FYI -she is slightly introverted and not sporty.
Pose a question.
Which would be a better choice in terms of liberal arts, grades, options for job placements and happiness factor?
Pros of Colby : true LAC, prestigious, small but strong alumini
Cons: location ( we are from the Washington DC suburbs), cold weather, preppy, not diverse enough. Cost.
Pros of U Pitt: Closer to home, medium size, research opportunities, diverse, affordable.Urban
Con: Ranking good but not great, not true LAC, not a great campus
Pros of Penn State: Affordable ( we don’t receive any aid anywhere ), nice campus, driving distance , some classmates going there
Cons: Too large, not true LAC, party school.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
To be clear, you are from Virginia, so Pitt and Penn State are out-of-state tuition for you?
How much does cost differ, and how much does the difference matter?
I.e. would the costs make it difficult to save for your (the parents’) retirement, or for college costs for any younger kids?
Does your daughter feel drawn to one more than the others? These schools are really pretty different. Given that she’s undecided on major, it’s hard to pick based on academics, unless she strongly prefers small LAC classes and the money isn’t an issue for you.
Just FYI, Pitt and Penn State are almost identical in rankings. This years Usnwr had Pitt at 58 and Penn State at 63 so that’s not going to help make a decision. The big difference between the two is city vs rural. Penn State is bigger and sports teams seem to be doing better lately but there is a lot of school spirit at Pitt too.
YEs -both are out of state:(
Not really. Prepared to keep working hard to pay off these tuitions.
Thats right - she is undecided on major and hence that makes it a logical choice to go to a LAC. Its just that Maine is too cold , the school is too small and very rural. But perhaps it’ll be all worth it if she gets a good education. She is shy and not very confident which is why I feel she may not avail the opportunities at a big school.
Full disclosure -both of my kids went to Pitt. One recently graduated and the other is currently a sophomore. Both were undecided. Older kid ended up majoring in economics and minoring in Chinese. She had taken neither before starting at Pitt. Son hasn’t declared his major yet but will be double majoring in political science and communications. Pitt has a fairly broad set of gen ed requirements that allow kids to try different things. Being undecided shouldn’t be an issue. I’m not familiar with how Penn State works for this.
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Thank you so much me29034 ! That is very reassuring. Did the recruiters come on-site ? I understand the recruiting is different as compared to Business and the Sciences. Was it easy for your older kid to get a good job? Is it easy to switch majors and is to hard to get the popular majors like Econ in the first place?
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S18 attends Colby. Although certainly longer and harsher than in your neck of the woods, winters aren’t terrible.
If your D wants a quintessential liberal arts experience, Colby is a great choice. S18 knew he wanted a small liberal arts school, so his choices were very different than your D. I don’t know much about her other options. Happy to address specific questions regarding Colby. Good luck!!
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My daughter did get a very good job out of school but did it on her own. Mind you she is a real go-getter type and had a great resume with two high quality internships and a very high gpa. She did not use the Pitt career office at all so I am not familiar with it. I do worry more about my son who is much more laid back and just assumes something will happen. I see him graduating without a job and without ever having visited the career office but that’s a whole other issue.
Majors are not competitive in A&S. Students can major in anything. There are some particular programs in healthcare that require a secondary application but not the normal A&S type majors.
Thank you . We plan to visit it soon and if I have any Q’s after that , I may reach out to you.
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Thank you for clarifying. Appreciate it.
Summer, I agree with your analysis as to why A small LAC is the best fit for your daughter. It’s not just that she will get a good education at Colby, but it’s the type of education she will get, which focuses on the development of a person and her potential, not just a series of courses.
It’s seminars instead of lecture hall. It’s the Jan Plan which will provide unique learning experiences. It will begin with a full week of bonding, team building, and the development of a true sense of community during freshman orientation, which will include a 3-day outdoor adventure.
The small classes and the small campus encourage opportunities for discussion and engagement which doesn’t happen in large lecture halls and big state universities. There is an opportunity to work directly with professors. Colby encourages student research in which students are mentored by their professors.
LACs are not known as places where you get job training. But at Colby a student can get teacher certification if she decides this is her calling, which is unusual at a LAC. the 3-2 engineering program leads to an Ivy League engineering degree (Columbia or Dartmouth). But if career preparation is what’s desired, Pitt or Penn Stare are probably better options.
Cold weather means a new wardrobe (fun), a stop at LL Bean while you’re in Maine, and maybe picking up a pair of snowshoes while you’re winter clothes shopping. Enjoy!
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I agree about the benefits of a LAC. My D19 attended a very small HS with a graduating class of 75. She had no desire to go an LAC and targeted mid sized universities. My D15 had a graduating class of 100 but she did want to continue with smaller classes snd more professor interaction so the LAC was her preference.
Another consideration if your D is slightly introverted and not into sports is that a larger school will provide 1. Many more types of people from which your D can find her peeps and 2. Many more clubs and activities. A smaller school definitely provides a wonderful community which is great as long as you fit into it.
She might also consider location. Small schools in rural locations may start out interesting but can become claustrophobic as you get into junior and senior year.
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Don’t dismiss any school on ranking. Plenty of kids at Pitt and Penn State are Ivy-caliber I assure you. People choose schools for all sorts of reasons.
It’s too late to ask now - but I wonder why she applied to Colby - based on your concern of cold. Perhaps a W&L - or even a school in Florida such as Rollins would have been a better fit or Emory’s Oxford campus. Or even a school in the Carolinas such as Furman. Nonetheless, I don’t agree with your assessment as they don’t know their major so a LAC will be better. All these big flagship or flagship type schools have undecided. And many of the publics, both Pitt and Penn State, have Honors to “shrink” the class sizes in some cases - if you’ve applied and/or gotten into Honors.
As for jobs, I can tell you with one in school - there is less on campus recruiting than I would have imagined - it’s mostly virtual today - and that’s pre-covid - with many companies now using Hire-Vue where kids send in a tape of themselves - and a computer algorithm often chooses who they’ll talk to.
Yes, Maine is cold but so is Pittsburgh and Penn State.
I’d always caution that money is an issue even if you can work hard to make it happen. If Colby is $25K more a year than Pitt, for example, over four years saving that $100K will save you a lot of stress.
But if you truly want that LAC experience, then it sounds like Colby is your choice. I guess if Bucknell comes through, you can worry then.
One thing a student at Michigan told me who was concerned it’s too big - you can make a big school small. Penn State dwarfs Pitt - but both could be "sectioned’ if your daughter wants.
One last thing - again - about rankings - since you mentioned and I believe they are way overplayed. A school like Pitt or Penn State have "awareness’. No matter where your daughter lives, people will recognize her school. If you go to Dallas or Denver or San Diego and mention Colby, maybe 10% will know what/where it is.
All of these are great schools - choose the right one and Colby is great. But you should not dismiss the others. They’re great programs with talented faculty and students and will produce many of society’s future leaders.
Good luck.
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I’d think about these as a start:
How does she want to learn?
Is she good at finding opportunities and winning them? Or would she be better with more direction?
What does she want to do for fun?
Personally, I love the LAC experience and would choose Colby but that’s just me. I suspect she could find her tribe there. It’s an easy and inviting place to try new things and connect with profs.
But if she likes the idea of more anonymity, a bigger school could be the choice. Pitt has a great urban environment, fun sports, and is a super school and would be my choice of her big school options.
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Reading this I’m confused and have no idea why she even applied to Colby given the weather/climate concern … has she visited the campus ? Why didn’t she apply to one of the many other LAC’s with very similar qualities, in a warmer climate ? I feel like we are missing something here.