Pitt vs Penn State

College Search & Selection
1

I know this comparison has came up 100 times, and yes, I have used the search bar. But for me, its different.

I will be going to Pitt or Penn State, but I’ve been struggling to choose, because I like both schools for different reasons.

Reasons to go to Pitt over Penn State
-Admitted to honors college and love the honors dorms
-Prefer the city to Penn States campus
-Slightly cheaper - $2000 a year scholarship
-I got that feeling on campus, the people seem great

Reasons to go to Penn State over Pitt
-Engineering program more prestigious
-I would be rooming with one of my very good friends, which would make it tons of fun vs a random roommate at Pitt
-Athletics
-I think the social life would be better - parties and just doing stuff

If you were in my position, what would you choose and why?

2

You appear to like Pitt better. Don’t ignore that just to room with a specific person or go to parties.

3

Go with your gut feel as to where you’d prefer to spend the next 4 years.

4

Are you guaranteed your engineering major at Penn State?

5

At Penn State you apply for your major at the end of sophomore year.

6

I’d choose Pitt. It seems a better fit for what you want - you’re in at the honors college, interested cheaper, you like the city, you feel comfortable there. Whereas at Penn state basically your reasons are 'it’ll be more fun", which is a not sufficient criterion to choose a college.

7

Thank you all, this definitely helped me out.

8

Pitt has a co-op program

If that’s important to you, Pitt has three years guaranteed on campus housing

9

Employers are NOT going to view PSU’s eng’g as better than UPitt’s.

10

@bodangles --do most get their major?

11

@carachel2 I actually don’t know any statistics about that. I’m most familiar with engineering majors, most of which are “enrollment controlled,” meaning if you have a certain GPA and have completed the required classes, you are guaranteed a spot. So I had a GPA greater than 3.0 and had completed Calc 1, Calc 2, Physics 1, etc. with a C or better, so I got into ChemE. If I did not meet those requirements, I would have applied to a different major with lower requirements. So it’s less “I applied and didn’t get in” and more “I don’t qualify so I had to pick another major,” at least for the enrollment controlled majors.