Staying Local to Western PA

<p>I'm looking for good physics schools in western PA/easter OH.
Schools I have in mind are Case Western, Pitt, and Penn State. I've already eliminated Carnegie Mellon from my list. </p>

<p>Are there any exceptional schools around that I'm missing?
Which of these 3 would be best for physics research?</p>

<p>Columbus isn’t that much further from Pittsburgh (making an assumption there) than State College. Why not OSU?</p>

<p>Good point, I wasn’t sure because of the In-state vs. out of state cost. if OSU would be worth in as opposed to State College or Pitt.</p>

<p>OSU has some pretty good merit available to students with good test scores. It can make it close to in-state costs, particularly if you can get an ACT of 32.</p>

<p>Going just a bit further, U of Maryland isn’t that far away.</p>