<p>It's almost May 1st and I would imagine that most of you have decided on which school to attend. I'm guessing that some of you had tough decisions to make and eventually turn down other great schools. So I'm starting this thread in case anybody wants to share why they ultimately chose Pitt and what schools they turned down as a result. Maybe the deciding factor was a generous scholarship, or the reputation of a specific major/department you're interested in, or the campus vibe, or being able to stay close to home... Either way, best of luck to all of you!</p>
<p>Great thread. Last year, DD turned down Chicago, Georgetown, Michigan, and Maryland for the full tuition at Pitt. She had a full tuition offer at Maryland as well, but not a penny at the other three. She loves the language and science departments at Pitt.</p>
<p>Turned down BU, NEU, NYU, RIT, SUNY Bing for Full Tuition at Pitt. Got decent scholarships at BU, NEU and RIT but not nearly enough.</p>
<p>Pitt fit all my my son’s criteria and he liked the way it “fit” when he visited. Liked cop-op program at RIT and NEU but Comp Sci Dean said co-ops are available for CS majors if he wants to pursue it.</p>
<p>Got up to full ride offers from all others but even with $5K short Pitt (Full Tuition + 4K) was what my son liked most.</p>
<p>I turned down scholarships at Case Western Reserve University, University of Florida, University of Connecticut, and the College of Wooster (all of them were at least half of tuition). I also got into NC State, Penn State, UMD college park, and UNC at Chapel Hill. I turned these down for full tuition at Pitt. I really like UNC but the scholarship made college extremely affordable for my family and, seeing that I want to go on to grad school, Pitt offered something that I just couldn’t turn down. I also LOVED the city vibe. All of the other schools didn’t have much outside of the campus or the area was just not appealing to me. It also helped that Pitt is a really good research institution with great biomedical programs 
!</p>
<p>Turned down Hopkins, Brown, Oberlin (John Oberlin Scholar), UNC-Chapel Hill (Honors College) and Bowdoin for full ride at Pitt/ Honors Program. Sound financial aid offers (expected) from everywhere but UNC which was not horrible just very late and quite heavy loans. Son had attended TAR HILL DAY with Dad and enjoyed it but I think he thought Pitt with its many hospitals and community service opportunities was ahead. </p>
<p>Family went up together last month. Loved the city; the students and the rich offerings for pre-med track.</p>
<p>D. turned down our state flagship UIUC and Tulane (w/Distinguished Scholars award) for Pitt. We attended early November Honors Day, and full tuition award letter came about two weeks later. Her college application process was over then; she never applied to the Common App schools on her list (how nice is was to enjoy anxiety-free holidays).</p>
<p>Although she would prefer New Orleans’ weather to Pittsburgh’s, she really likes the Oakland campus, the opportunity to attend cultural events through PittArts, and the many strong programs and advising that Pitt has to offer undecided students like herself. Both of us feel that Pitt is an unusually well balanced school in many regards and are thrilled that a school that she would really like to attend is also an exceptional value thanks to the great merit aid.</p>
<p>P.S. I’ve been lurking around Pitt and other CC sites for months and would like to say on my first post “Hi” and “Thank you” to all of the regular posters who have been so helpful to me.</p>
<p>D. turned down our state flagship UIUC and Tulane (w/Distinguished Scholars award) for Pitt. We attended early November Honors Day, and full tuition award letter came about two weeks later. Her college application process was over then; she never applied to the Common App schools on her list (how nice is was to enjoy anxiety-free holidays).</p>
<p>Although she would prefer New Orleans’ weather to Pittsburgh’s, she really likes the Oakland campus, the opportunity to attend cultural events through PittArts, and the many strong programs and advising that Pitt has to offer undecided students like herself. Both of us feel that Pitt is an unusually well balanced school in many regards and are thrilled that a school that she would really like to attend is also an exceptional value thanks to the great merit aid.</p>
<p>P.S. I’ve been lurking around Pitt and other CC sites for months and would like to say on my first post “Hi” and “Thank you” to all of the regular posters who have been so helpful to me.</p>
<p>I turned down Columbia, Cornell, Boston U, Northwestern, MiamiU, Univ. of MD (College Park), Syracuse, and a waitlist at Yale. I received scholarships from most, but my parents refused to pay for anything else because Pitt gave me a free ride (there was also the option Univ. of MD since I am in-state, but I really wanted to go out of state). I reluctantly chose Pitt and was ****ed to say the least. </p>
<p>Though I really didn’t want to go, I came here and I LOVE it. I don’t regret coming here at all. Their sciences are really strong, and I am especially impressed by how many bioengineering opportunities are out here. It turned out to be the best fit. Turns out name isn’t always everything!!!</p>
<p>Turned down ok aid at Chicago and Northwestern for a full ride. </p>
<p>A very good decision. I really think Pitt as a university has so much to offer if you go out and find it. The undergraduate program is admittedly variable (some dept like HPS and Neuro are very good though). The honors college is like having a really interesting second family. The difficulty is plenty if you take the right classes. I have little doubt i am getting the best education i could have.</p>
<p>Haha, I originally picked Oberlin over Pitt. Now I’m transferring. Oberlin really isn’t the college it “used to be,” so probably a good choice on your part. :)</p>
<p>I think Pitt is a very good school but picking it over Johns Hopkins and Northwestern is very questionable to say the least.</p>
<p>I know an engineering student who turned down Cornell and CMU for Pitt and is quite happy. Name brand isn’t everything.</p>
<p>Again, I think Pitt is a very good school and their merit scholarships can make it a very attractive alternative but there’s more than “name brand” differentiating Pitt from JHU,Northwestern, CMU, Cornell.</p>
<p>^^^
I agree with you Objective789. However many people are also concerned about the cost of their education and the “quality of life” experience they have during college. JHU, Northwestern, CMU, and Cornell are not generally known for their great undergraduate experiences…IMHO.</p>
<p>Good point about qualify of life, aglages. My D., a rather serious student herself, is not interested in any school that is all work and no play. As she put it “I don’t necessarily want to party, but I want the OPTION to party.” There’s something to be said for balance.</p>
<p>Pitt’s brand has also been growing relatively quickly.</p>
<p>I turned down Northwestern and Johns Hopkins for Pitt.</p>
<p>I didn’t even apply to JHU - their students seemed absolutely miserable! And the Northwestern kids I know aren’t having fun at all.</p>
<p>You can get a good education anywhere. Just because I went to Pitt and not JHU doesn’t mean I won’t get into a good graduate school or PhD program. So if I can still attain the same goal, why try to make myself miserable for 4 years?</p>
<p>Too each his own I guess.</p>
<p>OK, it’s official. We, too, are now in a position to say “Pitt made me an offer I couldn’t refuse” After three agonizing weeks and 11 schools to choose from, we finally decided that, everything considered, Pitt is the best fit. A little bit of background: S is interested in the health or biological sciences with an eye towards going to either grad or medical school.</p>
<p>We had to eliminate some of the schools early on because they gave us zero aid and we just couldn’t afford to pay the exorbitant EFC that we were expected to. Such was the case with Pomona, WashU, Washington & Lee, and Davidson.</p>
<p>Other schools offered some merit money but not nearly enough when considering that they either weren’t a perfect fit in the first place, or very expensive to begin with. Examples would be U of Rochester, USC, Franklin & Marshall.</p>
<p>In the end, it really was between Pitt (Honors with full tuition scholarship), Case (generous scholarship), and Rice (no scholarship). When it came to Case, after visiting the campus a couple of times S became convinced that he just wouldn’t fit in with the rest of the students. So by far the toughest decision was to choose between Rice and Pitt and that’s when we started to look really carefully into things such as availability of undergraduate research and volunteering, campus life, honors vs. regular classes, and, yes, cost. So here we are, finally having decided that we’d rather save the tens of thousands of dollars more per year that Rice would have cost for when S goes to graduate or professional school. It wasn’t easy to choose–there are obvious advantages and disadvantages when it comes to either school-- but now that we did, we feel that a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders. Phew!</p>