So these are among my daughter’s safety schools (also U of Arizona), but as I look I see that FSU actually has a pretty low acceptance rate, and it is ranked quite a bit higher than Pitt although Pitt has a significantly higher average test score. I feel like where we live (Northeast), Pitt has much stronger reputation, and we were never really looking at FSU as a serious contender. Are we wrong in this? Is FSU as good or maybe even better than Pitt? It seems to have smaller class sizes, for one thing, despite a much larger student body. Is the party school rep underserved? Where would u rather see your kid go?
FYI our kid wants a city vibe. Not sure FSU really has that, despite it being the state capital.
I’m a Pitt grad currently living in Pittsburgh. S21 goes to FSU. He chose it over Pitt and others.
FSU isn’t a safety school anymore.
I would look at the individual programs. I would probably take Pitt engineering over FSU. Other programs I’d probably take FSU. Depends.
Pretty campus. Walkable. Nice weather. I like the school and the area.
You can find parties there but that can be said of most schools.
It’s not a large city but there’s stuff to do plus lots of clubs to join. A car definitely helps. He’s gone to a lot of beaches with friends. Everyone seems happy. He also goes to Atlanta to visit his brother. I think he’s been to Miami too.
Only drawback is flights. Airport is close but numbers of flights isn’t like NYC. Kids manage. Some fly out of Jacksonville.
Guess what - even Arizona is as good. Rankings sell magazines. All three schools will have serious students, partiers, Ivy level kids - you name it.
FSU is becoming hard to get into and is a harder admit than Pitt.
Not sure what “rank” you are looking at - but it’s meaningless. Each school will excel in one area perhaps vs. another but all three frankly are solid choices.
FSU, in US News is 55, while PItt 59 and Arizona is 103 - and I’d call them all comparable but some might be better in certain areas than other.
Also - all the schools have Honors Colleges for smaller classes, etc.
Pitt is a smaller school than the others but hardly small - and it would have a more city vibe. FSU and U Arizona would be similar - yes, Tucson is a big city but the school is a few miles away (via easy transport).
What is their major? If they want the city vibe, they’ll likely like Pitt. UMN is another to look at with decent merit. If you want “smaller” and city, then look at College of Charleston
My oldest son goes to a University in a major metropolitan area in South Florida. He prefers a city vibe. He spent the summer in Tallahassee for an internship and was surprised by how much he liked the city.
As to the original topic of your post, both FSU and Pitt are highly respected schools and it is hard to imagine a material difference in outcomes from attending one over the other.
FSU isn’t really a safety. Might have been years ago but not now. Very pretty campus but Tallahassee is not a big town if you want a true city vibe. All the students I know who have attended really loved it. Have to remember it is a college so there are always lots of activities geared to students.
Ok maybe those 3 seem random but there’s a method to our madness. UA and Pitt are rolling so she already has admissions. FSU is because she wants warm weather. And my wife and I lived in Pittsburgh for 4 yrs so we always push it on our kids to apply.
Not random. My daughter applied to all three and my son two. They come up often in chance me and FSU and U of SC are often mentioned in the same group as well.
AZ draws heavy OOS due to merit…tamped down for 4.0 for next year plus costs going up but the 3.9 and 3.75 are the same.
FSU cheap even without the waiver but really cheap with. Well not cheap to all but priced lower than comparable.
As noted FSU is no longer a safety even if you are top shelf. But they do have alternatives to get in like summer admit and don’t forget all public Florida schools require summer learning or an approved substitute. So make sure your kid is aware how she’ll likely be spending a summer or two.
University of South Florida is more of a safety than FSU. Not in the city but very close to Tampa. Best if you have a car. Major airport there so easier to fly.
If the student wants engineering, note that there is an arbitrage opportunity. FSU and nearby FAMU share the engineering division. So an engineering student interested in one can apply to both and see what admission and scholarship / net price offers show up. The downside is that the engineering division has its own campus about 3 miles from the main campus of either FSU or FAMU.
major likely poly sci or sociology. perhaps psychology.
Don’t need more safeties now that she has Arizona and Pitt acceptances. Arizona gave her a decent amount of $ and Pitt gave her guaranteed admission to the Grad School of Public and International Affairs. so that felt nice. but she really doesn’t like the cold. I guess FSU is good for poly sci, being in the state capital. I get that FSU is no real safety, but I like her chances.
With those in hand, and with school and soccer starting up, she might just focus on reaches from here on out. But I will encourage her to apply to Ohio State and prob Maryland just to have more choices.
Personally, I would go to the one that costs less. If it’s twice the cost of in-state for only “slightly” better, for me it wouldn’t be worth the money. There are plenty of job opportunities for Pitt graduates in wonderful sunny Pennsylvania
My son graduated from Pitt this year. They said at graduation that they received double the usual number of applications so I expect the acceptance rate will plummet and Pitt will begin to look even more selective. This isn’t gaming the system - Pitt offers a private school like atmosphere / endowment, a great city, reasonable tuition and merit aid - so it make sense more and more are applying.
I knew Pitt was strong in the sciences and there are huge number of opportunities for research, but they also have a wide variety of language programs, good engineering, and philosophy is top notch. I was surprised by the breadth
I’ve only seen love online for Pitt. Bummer we could not visit. No aid. Daughter wanted warmer. I was hopeful we’d have visited and she loved it even though she’s at Charleston for a lot less. Just seems a great school for the kid who loves the city.
What about Clemson? A lot of our local students that apply to Pitt also apply to Clemson. Similar size, rah-rah sports scene, similar scores, public with some merit.
Just remember Pitt merit aid is difficult to get. 237 of 4205 freshman got non need aid last year. And the big scholarships go to diversity via the cathedral of learning.
They don’t state it anymore but prior to TO they noted a 33 minimum ACT was likely needed to earn the merit awards.
Great school but one who earns merit there is the exception, not the rule…just to keep things in perspective. My daughter (32 ACT but they suggested we submit) got blanked. Likely would have anyway based on the overall #s.
Tsbna44 is correct - merit at Pitt goes to the top x percent. But, you can do something about it.
What we learned was that Pitt is all about scores while the reverse is true at Penn State - work on your essay. I understand they have profs reading them to help admissions staff.
So at Pitt, invest in prep courses and take the ACT until you get a 33-35 and Pitt merit is possible. My Pitt grad was always a good test taker - not everyone is - but a few hundred in prep got him a lot of merit. He worked up to a 35 ACT and was offered $10k annually. We used merit offers from other comparable schools he was considering that also offer merit for high scores (Arizona and Minnesota) plus one private school with high merit (Fordham) to argue for more with Pitt (there is a form to fill out) and we got $5k more. We told them he’d go if they have him more - they did and he went to Pitt with a $60k package that brought Pitt down to our instate Rutgers price.
My older son had very strong grades and good - - but not top - scores and got the same package from UConn. So, there are different groups of schools that each want something different for the merit aid (scores, writing, grades).
