<p>OTOH, many Pitt and PSU students will also end up taking classes over the summer (one of the expenses OP mentioned)to ease up schedules in a difficult major, change majors or add on a second major or minor, prepare to take more advanced classes in their major (or in other areas) than they could otherwise qualify to take, or take advantage of smaller summer school classes. I think that a student who can budget for extra classes, no matter where they go, is at a distinct advantage these days. Also, some students at these schools mention spending extra on food or moving off campus.</p>
<p>I don’t know about UDel but students who qualify for honors classes at either Pitt or Penn State will find that they can take small sections of many classes that are more expensive for the university to run than the regular classes. Or, they can take a regular class but ask for extra assignments for honors or graduate credit. If a student takes advantage of these opportunities, they are getting a bargain.</p>
<p>From what we could see, the honors sections of many large intro classes even offer “amenities” not always found in similar classes at private schools, from much smaller student numbers to carefully vetted professors and TA’s and lots of problem sets and frequent writing assignments that are thoughtfully hand-graded by professors or advanced graduate students.</p>
<p>Often, top students from our PA public high school will apply to several nearby state schools and compare when they find out whether they get merit money or get into an honors programs. Also, students sometimes get substantial merit money from top private schools such as Emory or Rice that will make them comparable to Penn State Schreyer.</p>