<p>I can't decide between Pittsburgh and Penn State. I'm going pre-med and want to major in biology and I'm oos. Pittsburgh is giving my $10,000 scholarship and honors and I got zero scholarship money at Penn State. So it seems pretty easy regarding the money, BUT I got that "feeling" when I went to PSU and not nearly as much at Pittsburgh.</p>
<p>I got into both and decided on PSU.... yea the OOS price is pretty high and i got zero fin aid (didnt even bother with fafsa)... both are great schools and you should be happy with either</p>
<p>PSU,, No Question. Much better atmosphere. Better memories. </p>
<p>100,000 plus at Joe-Pa stadium,,, you can't beat that.</p>
<p>I'm in-state but I know I'd rather take out 40,000 in loans and go to PSU then go to Pitt. Down the road I know it's gonna be worth it.</p>
<p>I dont know...I think that if fin aid is a truly deciding factor, I'd go with Pitt. Otherwise just see which atmosphere you like better as they'll be different</p>
<p>s*** on PITT!</p>
<p>Pitt is much preferred!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>Tennisguy, your name made me :) becuase my son is a tennis guy :)</p>
<p>He liked the vibe of PSU better, Pitt is so much city, not much campus</p>
<p>Pitt is better for science...the medical school is #13 in the nation.</p>
<p>So tennisguy, what did you decide?</p>
<p>Pitt's med school doesnt make its undergrad better ;)</p>
<p>Most of the kids at my son's high school prefer PSU over Pitt. Also, we live in PA and every PSU grad I meet raves about their experience there. I'm not sure that there's a big difference in terms of academics.<br>
Squid: my son (2010 Business) is a tennis guy too! Not good enough for the team but will probably check out the tennis club.</p>
<p>Hey there, everyone. I recently graduated from Pitt after spending two years at Penn State. I can say that, for me, Pitt was much more preferable. Academically, both schools were-- for all intents and purposes-- the same. I have had awesome and horrible professors at both schools. And the student organizations are quite similar. The difference truly is the environment. Do you want to be in the country or the city? I left Penn State because I could not stand to be in the middle of nowhere any longer. State College is most definately <em>NOT</em> a city. Everything there is to do is related to the school, except for the bars. Pittsburgh has much more variety. There are clubs, museums, movies, restaurants, shopping a nearby amusement park... anything you normally find in a city. In terms of alumni relations, I recently started a well-paying job in New York that I found through Pitt's alumni network. Maybe Penn State has better name recognition, but one's ability to get a job has more to do with how you take advantage of your opportunities, and I believe Pitt offers many more opportunities. And Pitt's presitge is growing by the day, while Penn State continually tops the "Biggest Party School" lists. Hope that helps. Any other questions, just let me know.</p>
<p>This is really helpful. My kid is in the same boat, trying to decide between them for a biosciences major. </p>
<p>We are planning another round of college visits, and will be going to an Eberly College visitation day in Feb. I think my kid is tentatively leaning towards Pitt (although I sent a deposit to PSU to secure housing) because of its access to so many different hospitals for volunteering, internship or research opportunities.</p>
<p>I've been @ both, have a degree from PSU, love the Lions. But that has little to do with the question. Pat's point is important. Which environment do you prefer. Oakland was problemmatic for me. Conversely, in many science related programs, sadly Pitt really was far more focused on providing strong undergraduate experiences. Definitely true in engineering and some of the hard sciences. There were numerous transfers who told similar tales. PSU was too big, too focused on research and publish or perish phenomenon.</p>
<p>There's something to be said for having potential access not only to the med school @ Pitt (however, do NOT overestimate this one ... there is little to zero concern for providing undergrad internships, shadowing, etc) and conversely there's something to be said (not necessarily positive) for having no major med center/bio research etc in Happy Valley.</p>
<p>I'd have some really indepth conversation with department students and profs were I you. In the end though, the "feel" may win out. I love Beaver Stadium, but unfortunately, too many talk about this as being a if not the reason to be @ PSU. Or the frat homes. They're neat, but in the end of little import to the process of what one might learn in biology.</p>
<p>Overall academic quality is equal. Hate to break it to you, but the quality of education at Penn State vs. Pitt is about the same. Penn State has a tad more prestige, but both schools are well regarded.</p>
<p>It comes down to what sort of experience you want. I personally prefer Pittsburgh for its residential urban environment and great pre-professional opportunities (also, I was accepted to their honors program which is excellent, and, chances are, I won't be accepted to PSU's honors program, and, without a doubt, Pittsburgh Honors is academically superior to PSU regular, although, PSU honors is much better than Pittsburgh honors).</p>
<p>Pittsburgh would probably provide a better grad school preparation for you than Penn State (unless you get into Schreyers honors, you'll find out in February), but PSU regular can still easily equip you for med school. It comes down to feel, really.</p>
<p>Is PSU worth $200k loan? That is how much I need to take out I think...</p>
<p>"Is PSU worth $200k loan? That is how much I need to take out I think..."</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>PSU isn't worth 200k by any stretch of the imagination, but Pittsburgh wouldn't be worth it either.</p>
<p>I'd suggest taking Pittsburgh because of its pre-med resources and your scholarship.</p>
<p>$200K loan? Never! Not for any undergrad program. You will really regret it! If you are in financial difficulty, I would go with an acceptable college that makes your out of pocket contribution the least.</p>
<p>Why would ANYONE pay $200K for a public school education? That's nuts. Definitely not a good value. If from NY, go to Binghamton, Buffalo, Stony Brook, Albany or wherever. Alot of cash for a 200 mile road trip into the hills of PA and a few Rolling Rock ponies @ the Skellar. Really. Do well, and get a grad assistantship in Happy Valley and come for free, and minus the burden of a quarter million $ debt.</p>