<p>I would like to major in computer science/economics. I recieved full tuition at University of Pittsburgh, and 30k/yr at NYU, where I would also be willing to take on a 3k work study. If money was totally not even a factor, I would attend NYU. I would take on a moderately sized loan at NYU but nothing too exorbitant. Which do you feel is better worth it to attend?</p>
<p>Both schools are in the Top 100 U.S. according to U.S. News. So, I don’t feel that you are losing out on something by choosing the other. However, since you are concerned about finances I wouldn’t give up a full ride scholarship.</p>
<p>^ Top 100 is very broad (harvard vs. stony brook). I’d prob go with Pitt. Did you get honors?</p>
<p>Yeah, I was about to make the same comment. The difference between top 10 and top 20 is incredible, variation within the top 100 is immeasurable.</p>
<p>^^^ An incredible difference between top 10 and top 20? Uh… No. Maybe for people who obsess over “OMG! School X is one whole point above school Y! SEE!”. In which case, it might be an incredible difference. But for all practical purposes, top 10 and top 20 are practically indistinguishable. Students frequently choose schools in the top 20 over schools in the top 10 based on financial aid. E.g. students choosing full rides to GTown over Harvard/Yale. Let’s be realistic here.</p>
<p>I was accepted into honors but from what I understand the Honors College is a little overrated.</p>
<p>That’s true to a large extent, but realize I’m looking at it in terms of what’s probably a significantly different perspective than yours. I tend to look at things in terms of job opportunities out of school, compensation, and access to grad school, and beyond that, specifically for industries like finance, law, and maybe medicine or engineering.</p>
<p>Yeah, the variation between a hypothetical #11 and #9 might be minimal and completely irrelevant given the intangibles of a situation, but I don’t think there’s much debate that the Ivies (scattered through the top 15) are significantly different by all the criteria I mentioned above from schools like Georgetown, Tufts, Duke, NYU, CMU, or UMich, all of which fall in the top 50.</p>
<p>My S was deciding among Pitt, NYU, and BU and just decided on Pitt. NYU was much more costly and for his interests (sciences), the academic quality is very comparable. I don’t know about comp sci or econ though. Overall university rankngs have limited utility, you really need to compare within your specific major/program. The good news is that you have a couple of nice options.</p>