<p>My d is an oos student. She doesn't seem bothered by that.</p>
<p>My daughter, too, is oos. The only "issue" is the bigger bill. . . . All of her friends seem to be from PA, the overall atmosphere is friendly, being from oss not a problem!</p>
<p>Neelesh's comments could also describe the other state universities my other kids have attended. . . . .My oldest daughter told me that when grocery stores discard bagged salads, when the lettuce turns brown. . .they send it to the Ohio U cafeterias! An exaggeration, I hope, but you get the idea. Dorm security seems stronger than average, from my experience.</p>
<p>I do think that Pittsburgh is a good school. HOWEVER, with that said, I can't see the benefts of paying out of state tuition where there are good in state alternatives. The only time I would recommend attending a state schools as an out of state student would be:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>They gave some incredible money in scholarships. Thus, they bought the student. or</p></li>
<li><p>They are very strong in a program that our state universities don't have, or </p></li>
<li><p>Our in -state universities have the desired program, but it is much weaker than the out of state counterpart.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I can't see any other reason for attending Pittsburgh as an out of state student at least from an academic perspective.</p>
<p>Also, someone in an above-mentioned post noted that Ohio State University, being on the quarter system, makes kids move out each quarter to have their rooms cleaned. I can't speak about OSU,but my daughter attends University of Cincinnati,which is on a quarter system and is part of the state university system of Ohio. She clearly does NOT have to move out at the end of each quarter to have the room cleaned.</p>
<p>Taxguy, do you think the Univ of Miami is worth $10,000 more a year than than Pitt?</p>
<p>Looking at Ohio State (let's forget the cleaning of the rooms for a second) and Pitt oos and the Univ of Miami where would you go?</p>
<p>I just want to chime in on some of the above issues. My son has found the advising in his departments (engineering and german) to be excellent. The two departments seem to be genuinely interested in the success of their students. Also, his profs have been friendly and very available via email and office hours. </p>
<p>It is true that the math department has many foreigners who speak with a substantial accent. Son also agrees that many are not really good math teachers as far as explaining things goes. Luckily, he has been able to supplement with book learning and group study, and still get A's. Please note that there are some excellent math profs, so ask around, visit a class, and check out that professor rating website.</p>
<p>He and his roommates complain about the food too, but what college student doesn't? At least there are lots of options in Oakland. And if you eventually get out of the dorms and into an apartment (university owned or otherwise), you don't have to have a meal plan at all.</p>
<p>I think Oakland is pretty safe if you don't do stupid things. When you hear about a shooting, it is always after 2am in a bar area, where students shouldn't be hanging out anyway. I think dorm security is great, almost to the point of being annoying. The same person can visit day after day, and they still collect ID's every time. Even parents who know the security guards get the same treatment, which is fine with me.</p>
<p>In spite of this all, I would not attend Pitt as an oos student UNLESS it was for an excellent department that was lacking in my own state school. For example, I would pay for Pitt oos for anything medical. When we had the instate vs oos decision, I couldn't see paying for oos engineering somewhere else when we have two great engineering schools in Pitt and Penn State.</p>
<p>Dstark asks,"Taxguy, do you think the Univ of Miami is worth $10,000 more a year than than Pitt?"</p>
<p>Response: Frankly, I think that attending a good in-state university for the student's desired major is better than both choices! However, University of Maimi does have FABULOUS weather that Pittsburgh doesn't have. In addition, Miami has a very, very strong alumni base that provides a lot of opportunities for Miami kids. If someone wants to live and work in Florida, or wants terrific weather,yes, attending University of Miami would be better
than Pitt.</p>
<p>I also think that living and studying in Miami is better in many ways than living and studying in Pitsburgh;however, that is certainly my opinion.</p>
<p>How about compared with SUNY Buffalo for engineering? I personally would choose Pitt.</p>
<p>If anyone ever wants/needs math teacher recs for Pitt, feel free to PM me. I've had 4 math professors there and definately have a list of great and not so great profs.</p>
<p>As for the oos issue...</p>
<p>I wasn't oos, and I thought the in-state tuition was crazy compared to both other states and within the state of PA (esp. when it kept raising like mad every year). I didn't have any merit aid, but luckily had enough in a college fund to get me through 3 years. </p>
<p>I loved Pitt, but am unsure if I would have chosen Pitt if I was coming from oos unless there weren't any decent public universities in a city in my state.</p>
<p>my oos d is in the nursing program at Pitt-
the nursing school is top notch
i disagree with taxguy</p>
<p>Nurse123, if the Pitt nursing program is that top notch then it probably is better than what you have at your in-state university,which would justify going to Pitt. If you had an equally top notch program at your in-state university then I don't see the attraction of Pitt.</p>
<p>taxguy:
What do you think about Pitt OOS compared with, say SUNY Buffalo or RIT for engineering? Thanks.</p>
<p>Weenie, it depends on your major. Frankly, I think most of the above noted schools are very similar; thus, whichever results in the lowest cost might be the best. Buffalo charges about $18,500 in tuition and fees. Pittsburgh is around $22,000+ and RIT is about $23,000.</p>
<p>However, that said, it still should be about fit. For example, RIT is a very strong coop program for most students but especially engineering students. If this is important to you, which it should be, RIT might be the best.the relatively low tuition difference between RIT and Pittsburgh, having coop experience seems the better deal. However, RIT has a different culture than that of Buffalo or Pittsburgh. For example, it is REALLY cold there, not that Buffalo is warm! </p>
<p>In addition, there really isn't much to do near RIT. Pittsburgh has lots of stuff happening at and near the school, not to mention it is adjacent to CMU,which also has activities going on. Thus, I think Pittsburgh is a "better' city to for a student as far as having things to do and see. I really like Buffalo the least.</p>
<p>Bottom line: you really have to visit each school, ask about the majors that interest you, the culture, the facilities, and then make your own decision. Frankly, I like RIT because of the coop program and because it is very strong in engineering, and has very practical training, and good food. </p>
<p>You should also ask about job placement. I do know RIT has good placement. However, most of this is my opinion. What I like may not be right for you.</p>
<p>Pitt also has an excellent co-op program in engineering. About 50% of the engineering undergrads do co-op. Many of these students have job offers before they graduate. If you check one of my prior posts on this, I tell about someone who got a partial scholarship for ug from his co-op employer, a job offer post-grad, plus free engineering grad school from his employer, who let the student qualify for the company's tuition reimbursement plan. </p>
<p>There is more info on Pitt co-op on the website, plus a list of the companies who participate in the program.</p>
<p>Just read page 2 of the thread. We just got back from H's Law School reunion at U. Miami. Here is my perspective.</p>
<p>Pitt D also got in U. Miami and got the 3/4 tuition scholarship plus guaranteed admission into Miami's bioengineering masters program. She decided to be a bioe major at Pitt instead. </p>
<p>Reason? First and foremost, D loved Pitt, wanted to be up north, in a northern urban environment. So the initial question should be what does the kid want to do? A lot of people go to Miami because they want to get away from the snow (H is from Indiana and wanted to be warm all winter and go sailing all year). There are lots of east coast kids and kids from Chicago at Miami. I went to Tulane (where D also got in w/$) and it has a very similar mix of students (east coast plus Chicago, lots of money, about 30% Jewish).</p>
<p>Having just, literally, gotten back from Miami, I am very convinced that D made the right choice with Pitt. Miami is totally not the environment she wanted; you pretty much cannot live there w/o a car, and there is an overall snootyness that would make life pretty uncomfortable if you don't have money yourself. The grad school atmosphere is a little more focused, says H.</p>
<p>From what I've read, Pitt's engineering program outranks Miami's by a mile. Especially bioe. That said, knowing she wouldn't have to worry about grad school would be nice, but frankly, I think the whole set up with UPMC is seriously better than Miami.</p>
<p>Lastly, after Katrina, I wanted her as far away from hurricanes as she could get. That nixed Tulane, Miami and Rice for me.</p>
<p>mercymom notes,"Lastly, after Katrina, I wanted her as far away from hurricanes as she could get. That nixed Tulane, Miami and Rice for me"</p>
<p>Response; Pitt might have been a better chioice for your daughter, but I wouldn't have worried about Hurricanes. New Orleans is BELOW sea level, which is NOT a problem with Miami. University of Miami has easily withstood all hurricanes with little or no damage.</p>
<p>It isn't the being below sea level that's the problem, it's the being right on the coast, w/in spitting distance of the sand and point of entry that's the problem. Remember, Hurricane Andrew in 1992 destroyed Homestead (just south of Miami) and it took 10 years to rebuild it. Had the direct hit been on Miami instead it would not have been pretty.</p>
<p>Also, the Mississippi gulf coast was pretty much destroyed by Katrina and except for a couple of the casinos, most of what got wiped out has still not been rebuilt, over a year later. People in Mississippi are still living in tents, some of them. We are talking about a storm surge 25 feet high that went 7 to 10 miles inland. Some of those peoples homes were completely erased from the planet - nothing left but vacant land.</p>
<p>Sorry. I live in the area and it is all too close for comfort. I see the effects every day. Living through this once is enough.</p>
<p>I came to Pitt from NYC. I believe it was completely worth it. I loved every minute of my time there- the city, the school, the culture, everything. I thought Pittsburgh would be boring, but I loved it. It offers everything a larger city offers, only on a smaller (and cleaner) scale. I think I got a great education, lots of grad school opportunites, and I had the time of my life.</p>