Pitt vs. Rutgers (and others)

<p>I've been accepted into both Pitt's and Rutgers' undergrad business programs and will put my deposit in at one of these school. I do live in NJ and Rutgers would be cheaper and closer.</p>

<p>I have also attended pitt's admitted students day and enjoyed it and will be visiting rutgers' on saturday. </p>

<p>I've also been waitlisted at UMD, lehigh, villanova, bu, and northeastern in their business programs.</p>

<p>Can you guys give me your opinions on Pitt and the other schools and convince me that Pitt is the right choice?</p>

<p>Academically, Pitt and RU aren’t that dissimilar. I believe Pitt’s business school is ranked higher in US News, but Rutger’s is ranked higher in Business Week. In general, you’ll see Pitt ranked higher than Rutgers in most rankings (I’ll put some comparisons below). Pitt being in the city may make working and internships easier while still going to school, but Rutgers is obviously close to NYC, like an hour or so by train. I think the thing you’ll here that really different between the schools is the physical set up. Not to be negative, but personally I really dislike the way Rutgers is split between campuses in New Brunswick (e.g. Busch, College Ave, Cook). The shuttle system seems like a real pain to deal with, especially getting back and forth if you have classes different places. The general idea I get about the quality of life at the two schools is pretty different. If you look at Princeton Reviews ratings at least, Rutgers generally gets poor marks compared to Pitt that gets higher marks (happiest students, quality of life score is high). The two campuses are pretty different though, as I said Rutgers is spread out in a mid-sized city while Pitt is very urban and compact within a large city.</p>

<p>Anyway, here are some comparisons.
Size (undergrad)
Rutgers 30,038
Pitt 17,994</p>

<p>Endowment (2010)
Pitt: $2,032,798,000
Rutgers: $ 603,083,000</p>

<p>Student Faculty Ratio:
Pitt 15:1
Rutgers 15:1</p>

<p>Admissions (2010-11)</p>

<p>Applicants accepted
Pitt: 57.8%
Rutgers: 59.1%</p>

<p>SAT combined Math & Reading, 25th-75th Percentile
Pitt: 1170-1370
Rutgers:1090-1310</p>

<p>Top 10% of high school class
Pitt: 51%
Rutgers:42%</p>

<p>Average GPA
Pitt: 3.91
Rutgers: Not reported</p>

<p>Research</p>

<p>Total Research Expenditures (2007)
Pitt: $558,566,000
Rutgers: $281,186,000</p>

<p>Total Federal Research Expenditures (2007)
Pitt: $441,357,000
Rutgers: $125,364,000</p>

<p>Awards</p>

<p>National Merit & Achievement Scholars (2009-10)
(institutional sponsored means the university provided its own scholarship for the student)
Pitt: 28 total, 3 institution sponsored
Rutgers: 25 total, 20 institution sponsored</p>

<p>National Academy Members (2008)
Rutgers:35
Pitt:25</p>

<p>Major Faculty Awards (2008)
Pitt: 28
Rutgers:21</p>

<p>Domestic Rankings</p>

<p>Center for Measuring University Performance Top American Research Universities (2009)
Pitt: 25 (public 1-7)
Rutgers: 58 (public 28th)</p>

<p>Forbes America’s Best Colleges (2009)
Pitt 201
Rutgers 366</p>

<p>Princeton Review Academic/Admission Score (2010; higher is better)
Pitt 83/92
Rutgers 66/87</p>

<p>US News Rank: National Universities
Pitt 64, Rutgers 64 (2010)
Pitt 56, Rutgers 66 (2009)</p>

<p>Washington Monthly (2010)
Rutgers 58
Pitt 104</p>

<p>International Rankings</p>

<p>Academic Rankings of World Universities (2010, China)
Rutgers 54
Pitt 56</p>

<p>HEEACT Performance Ranking (2010, Taiwan)
Pitt 23
Rutgers 110</p>

<p>Quacquarelli Symonds/US News World University Rankings (2010, UK)
Pitt 119
Rutgers 216</p>

<p>RatER Global University Ranking (2009, Russia)
Pitt 42
Rutgers 425+</p>

<p>RPI High Impact Universities World University Rankings (2010, Australia)
Pitt 31
Rutgers 52</p>

<p>SCImago SIR Higher Education Institutions Ranking World Report (2010, Spain)
Pitt 27
Rutgers 89</p>

<p>Times Higher Education World University Ranking (2010, UK)
Pitt 64
Rutgers 105</p>

<p>University Ranking by Academic Performance (2010, Turkey)
Pitt 25
Rutgers 112</p>

<p>I totally agree with wgmc101 about the campus set up at Rutgers. It was a turn off to both of my kids. My oldest is attending Pitt now and enjoying being out of NJ. It seems that when you go to a NJ college you are going mostly with others from NJ. Being from NJ and fairly familiar with rutgers I think Pitt has a lot more to offer. That being said if the campus seems okay to you at Rutgers there is a $10,000 difference between the two schools and a know quite a few people who have been very happy to graduate from Rutgers. Depends if money is an issue and what else besides your major you are looking for from your college experience. Good Luck.</p>