<p>So, I got a letter concerning financial aid yesterday, and i opened it and it's a pretty good amount. Just enough to make it affordable for me and my family. However, I also received a letter from the University of Connecticut, which is my home state, and I got more than enough financial from them to attend the University in 2012-13 for FREE, and it's about 2 and a half times the money Pitt gave me. Since I finished applying to college, I knew that my choice would come down to these two schools: My State University, and University of Pittsburgh.</p>
<p>However, the problem is I have no idea which one to choose. I HAVE visited both colleges, and was impressed by both of them, but my number one problem with UConn is that some people from my school are going to most likely end up there. I am not only afraid that I'm not going to branch off and meet new people, but some of the people that are going there from my school are actually my friends, but I'm ready to completely move on from them, although some have told me they would like to room with me. Like I said, I'm ready to move on. The reason being I absolutely need to have a fresh start. But I digress.</p>
<p>My real question is: What should I do? I loved Pitt, actually more than I liked UConn because of the fact that it is near a major city while having a college town-like setting, but it would be idiotic if I didn't accept UConn's financial aid offer.</p>
<p>Both schools are excellent, you cannot be wrong to pick one over the other. However, if you decide to go to Pitt, and later you want to come back to your home town, I don’t think the transferred scholarship (if any) is as generous as freshman scholarship.
Congrats and good luck!</p>
<p>UConn is big enough that I think it would be easy to break away from your friends and get into other groups. I would not let that be a factor. If you like Pitt better for other reasons, that’s a different argument.</p>
<p>I would also like to point out that you mentioned UConn would only be “free” (not sure if you mean grants or loans or what) for the 2012-2013 year. That means, every year you have to apply for aid with your FAFSA and you are never guaranteed aid from year to year. If you take that away, do Pitt and UConn look more similar?</p>
<p>I also totally understand the school thing: My school would regularly send lots of kids to StateU, and even though it was big (>13000) it seems that HS kids still hung out with a LOT of the same HS kids in college…that’s why I went to Pitt instead!</p>
<p>AwesomeOpossum: I understand that I will have to apply for financial aid every year, but what I mean by UConn being free is that I received enough money in loans to cover a whole year. I will apply for financial aid every year, too.</p>
<p>Southeastmom: The problem is that my friends are my friends because we landed in the same activities throughout middle school and high school, the major one being band. I know for a fact that UCMB is twice as large as Pitt Band, but the band kids at my school, including my friends, are becoming really irritating, and that is one of the reasons why I would like to move on.</p>
<p>Money plays a huge role in the college decision-making process, but I’ve always believed that overall happiness is number one. If Pitt is affordable and you think you would be happier there, it’s worth considering. Being from Long Island, I kind of appreciate that I’m one of four people from my high school at Pitt (and for the record, I only know maybe two people from Connecticut). But I also think UConn is big enough that you could kind of branch out and do your own thing. You could elect to not live with any of your high school friends–in fact, I would recommend that.</p>
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<p>Right…but my point is that you aren’t guaranteed those student loans every year. Next year (for 2013-2014) they might only give you half…and then what? I’m just trying to point that out to you now as a factor in your decision. </p>
<p>What kind of major are you considering. Is there a school (Pitt/UConn) that is better known for that area?</p>
<p>What do you want to do after undergrad (i.e. do you think you will have to take our more loans). Remember that loans take a really long time to pay back once you start taking them out, and that you should be prepared for that when you graduate college.</p>