<p>Alright…I’ve been attempting to decide between the two for almost a good month by now and I’m getting nowhere. As some background: my interests lie in political science (political theory), economics, and philosophy, though I’ve recently taken a liking for Computer Science (teaching myself java and C++ and the like but I doubt that I’d major/minor in comp sci - who knows though). I’m fairly certain that I will major in philosophy and am not wholly sure of what I’ll do with the others (I was going to go for a triple major, but ehh). </p>
<p>I’m honestly at a stand still. Both offer everything that I could desire in a university (though Pitt’s Model UN club doesn’t do much besides host a pretty crappy conference (at least, it’s been crappy when I have participated in it) while BU’s Model UN club actually is somewhat active - that’s the impression I get from their respective web sites, at least. However, Pitt’s debating club is more, I guess, ‘comprehensive’ than BU’s). In terms of student organizations, from what I have derived (and that obviously is a lot more than what I’ve said here), BU slightly edges out Pitt, but not enough so that it could be a deciding factor in my decision. </p>
<p>Anyways, I could see myself at either institution, and I honestly don’t know which one to pick…if anyone can give me any suggestions on how to pick between the two, that would be lovely.</p>
<p>sounds you dont really know what you want to major in yet. which school has a bigger variety of majors so that if you decide you dont like something, you could still switch? it also sounds like they are very similar so…</p>
<p>-is the campus a factor for you? I haven’t seen pitt before but is it integrated into the city like BU or does it have more of a ‘campus’ feel?
-are you looking for a greek life? lots of clubs/organizations?
-diversity? bu has tons of international students
-weather? don’t know if this makes a difference but i’m from california haha
-sports? we have no football</p>
<p>make a list of pros and cons! if it really doesn’t make a difference, take the school that gave you more money. sounds like you’ll be happy at either</p>
<p>-the campuses are (relatively) the same. Pitt also lacks a ‘campus’ feel, but I would say that it has more of one relative to BU
-lots of clubs/organizations with members that are passionate about what they do and actually are extremely active
-diversity is not that big of a factor, but BU wins in that category, by a landslide (except in the category of socio-economic diversity)
weather is (relatively) the same in both places
-sports is, I don’t know. Pitt obviously wins in the sports category but I don’t want that to be that big of a factor.</p>
<p>I have full tuition at Pitt and 30k/year at BU, but, again, money is NOT a concern. </p>
<p>thanks for the response though :D! It’s much appreciated!</p>
<p>motion: do you want a school where the “city” is the community? or one in which the school is the community…alot of kids at BU spend weekends tooling around Boston; not as much of a campus community; people running around the city all weekend…</p>
<p>Yes, Pittsburgh is a city, but from what we have discerned, the community is the “campus” community more than the city at large…</p>
<p>There is a reason that Boston is called the “college kids’ playground”…</p>
<p>It just depends which environment you want…</p>
<p>One other consideration: have you talked to current students at Pitt: re: getting courses easily? just wondering since it’s a public (vs BU as a private)…are there PA budget implications?</p>
<p>I have a son at Pitt and a daughter at BU - both are very happy. Pittsburgh and Boston are both great cities to go to college in, assuming you’ve decided you want a city campus. I’ve spent a fair amount of time on each campus and I agree that Pitt, while certainly in an urban area, does have a bit more of a campus feel (large lawn next to the Cathdral of Learning, etc.), while BU really has VERY little green space at all, but as pointed out, seems to be a little better integrated into the “life” of the city. The one thing I will point out, though I’m sure you’re already aware of this since you say you will probably major in Philosophy, is that (believe it or not), Pitt is ranked second in the nation (last statistics I saw) for Philosophy - and yes, that includes the Ivies, etc. That could cut two ways, I suppose. On the one hand, terrific professors, etc., but on the other hand, your “competition” could be very stiff because many students who are serious about Philosophy, particularly at the graduate levl, choose Pitt over otherwise more highly ranked Universities, so the caliber of the Philosophy majors undoubtedly exceeds that of the general Pitt population. Also, since you mention an interest in computer stuff, I seem to recall from tours at Pitt and Carnegie Mellon that Pitt has some great cooperative computer stuff with CMU, which is right next-door. Bottom line is that you can’t go wrong either way! Good luck!</p>
<p>Pitt is ranked second in philosophy according to the National Research Council, right behind Princeton. The gourmet ranking is a bit lower, around 4.</p>
<p>OP: My daughter’s final decision came down to these same two schools. </p>
<p>She’s a prospective English major (possibly doubling up with either Psych. or possibly Neuroscience, but with a slight tilt toward the humanities) and was accepted to both BU and Pitt. For her purposes, the academics between the two schools were comparable. And with the scholarships that she received, the difference in cost between BU and Pitt wasn’t significant enough to impact her decision.</p>
<p>This month we revisited both universities, attended info sessions, met with professors, she sat in on classes, etc. And we left each visit VERY impressed with the school that we were visiting. As you obviously know, this is a very tough decision.</p>
<p>But after giving it much thought over the past few weeks, and especially last weekend, she chose Boston U. What apparently drove her decision was the preference to spend the next four years Boston over Pittsburgh, as well as how well she’s been able to connect with other BU students, both current students and other incoming freshmen. In other words, the fit and feel of BU is right for her. (That having been said, had circumstances not worked out as well as they did for her at Boston, she would have been happy to go to Pitt.)</p>
<p>My point isn’t to try and persuade you to choose Boston University over Pitt, or vice versa. Judging from your posts here and in the Pitt forum, by now you’re well aware of the various academic strengths, weakness and related opportunities etc. of both schools. At this point, you need to look within yourself and thoughtfully consider which school and community would you rather spend the next four years at? Which school and student community will provide you with a more interesting and inspiring academic and social environment? These are questions that no guidebook, spreadsheet or message board post, no matter how well meaning, can answer–only you can.</p>
<p>Wishing you the best at whatever school you decide–they’re both great choices.</p>
<p>momonthehill, nice post. That is the kind of analysis I wish we’d see more of. </p>
<p>I also post in the Yale forum and there have been a few threads there lately asking which is better for pre-med, Yale or Princeton. One has to assume the posters are bright enough to have been admitted but they are drawing distinctions that don’t matter because the schools are fungible academically. That’s the case with most choices: the schools a kid is admitted to are usually of similar quality, except for a backup or two and sometimes even then. We get so many posts talking about slightly higher or lower rankings when what’s important is where you want to be, where they have your program - especially in engineering where the emphasis varies from school to school - and where you can afford.</p>
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