<p>Yes, I realize I am posting this on a biased board :-).</p>
<p>S is looking at schools and had CMU on his list, he then looked at Pitt as there is the ability to take classes there as a CMU student and then he decided he likes Pitt better and has taken CMU off his list. I'm wondering what thoughts you all may have.</p>
<p>His intended areas of interest are science/biomed engineering.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>It’s not as easy as people think to take classes at CMU as a Pitt student - it is only possible if an equivalent course does not exist at Pitt and if the CMU course is not full. You also have to run around and get several signatures of permission.</p>
<p>However, I would still say go to Pitt if he likes it better and if he wants Bio engineering as this is the only engineering specialty which is actually ranked higher than Carnegie Mellon (Pitt is #21 in USNW rankings, CMU is not in top 25)
Pitt is also quite a bit less expensive and CMU is very stingy with money.</p>
<p>Is your son out-of-state? Pitt has given merit grants for out-of-state kids with high stats.</p>
<p>If I am not mistaken, CMU’s BME is an adjunct major, which means it’s an add-on to a primary major (electrical engineering, for example). Strong BME usually comes with a strong bio department and perhaps a strong med school. Neither is CMU’s strength and that’s why Pitts is ranked higher.</p>
<p>Yes, S is OOS and qualifies for the full tuition scholarship due to SAT score.</p>
<p>Sam Lee - yes CMU’s BME is an “add on”.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback/information.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, however, that Carnegie Mellon is a more prestigious school than Pitt is.</p>
<p>In this economy, prestige is not worth it if you can’t afford it. Go to the best school you can afford. Graduate without a heavy loan debt or better yet, no debt at all. School loans are stuck with you until you pay it off (they can’t be discharged by filing bankruptcy). I have colleagues who are still paying their student loans and they have been out of school for over 15 - 20 years.</p>
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I would not take that scholarship to the bank quite yet. Pitt does not have automatic scholarship levels based on SAT (or ACT) scores. Yes, there are generally minimums required for the various tiered scholarship awards, but the awards are not automatically given. I don’t know your son’s test scores and it’s very possible that he may get the full-tuition scholarship, but it is not guaranteed. Pitt also considers essays, class rank, course rigor and GPA. In addition, the competition for the scholarships is based on each year’s applicant pool. One year’s threshold level can be very different from the next year’s. It is always important to apply EARLY.</p>
<p>Again, I’m not saying that your son will not get a full-tuition scholarship, just that you should not assume it’s guaranteed based just on his test scores.</p>
<p>^^^^ Agreed! What state are you from? Your son might be a stronger candidate for a scholarship if you’re from a state that’s underrepresented at Pitt, although this is just a theory of mine from what I’ve observed. Sometimes kids from Ohio seem to be shortchanged.</p>
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<p>MTnest is QUITE right. I actually applied to both CMU and Pitt for engineering, got into both, and then decided on Pitt for a few reasons:</p>
<p>1- Pitt’s campus is more lively, in ANY sense of the word. They have more clubs and activities, the students actually DO things (like, I dunno, enjoy the sunshine on a nice day), and the campus, in my opinion, is a lot nicer (and somewhat bigger, but oh well).</p>
<p>2- Pitt loves giving money (to OOS students). And CMU doesn’t. CMU thought that $7k a year was plenty for me. But when a school costs $50k+/year, that’s paltry and insulting. Pitt is much better, and even for OOS students without scholarships, most likely still cheaper than CMU.</p>
<p>3- I don’t know about CMU, but Pitt’s engineering school (Benedum) just got a TON of money ($65 mil) to do a load of renovations. As in, all of Benedum is getting this amazing face lift. Our new student area has a great 2-floor library, huge whiteboards all over the hallways, loads of tables, a delicious Einstein’s Bagels, a nice (and big) computer lab, and more. The research facilities are getting completely revamped and look amazing, shiny and new. </p>
<p>4- Honors College. It rocks.</p>
<p>Also, like people said, Pitt’s BioE/med/sciences is definitely better than CMU. The strong connection to UPMC and Pitt Med make Pitt the better choice for a BioE/premed student over CMU.</p>
<p>Irregardless of how the schools are ranked overall, biosciences and bioengineering are better at Pitt. Importantly in these research oriented fields, the undergrad research opportunities are more plentiful at Pitt as it has one of the largest biomedical research centers in the world (#5 in the US). Also being significantly cheaper, and that he’ll likely be in the Honors College and probably getting some financial help on top of that, and, not unimportantly that he likes Pitt better, your son made a great decision.</p>
<p>And CMU is not more prestigious than Pitt in any biomedical / health science fields.</p>
<p>OK - I am the one poster who is not biased - as I have one at CMU and one at Pitt. CMU is very upfront in saying that they will negiotiate your financial aid if you send other offers from comparable schools to them. We did that and got a nice scholarship added onto a fairly generous financial aid package - so the cost to send one to CMU is the same as the cost for Pitt in-state. SO I would advise, apply to both, see what offers you get and then decide. Both of my children have loved their college experience at each school. So from where I am sitting both schools are great. Good luck!</p>
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<p>You’re very lucky then. When I tried to get them to change my fin-aid they changed it from $6k/yr to $9k/yr which hardly helps when the school costs $45-$50k/year! So I’d say, sometimes they’re helpful, and sometimes they still suck.</p>
<p>But I’m glad I ended up at Pitt anyway ;)</p>
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<p>Exactly what I did! Just be warned, you’ll have to wait forever to hear from CMU, based on my year, unless you were of Hispanic origin, you didn’t hear decisions until early March.</p>