Hello everyone. I plan on being pre-med, majoring in neuroscience and maybe minoring in chemistry(very science heavy). I was accepted into Upitt’s honors colllege, but not at Umn. Upitt is a 6 hour drive from my house, and UMn is a 3 hour flight. Initially, I had my heart set on UPitt, but after receiving scholarship money, I am unsure. It would cost(total cost of attendance) $38,000 for me to attend Pitt, but only $22,000 for Minnesota. I want to hear people’s opinions on both schools and their thoughts regarding money.
P.S. I have toured both schools and loved the feel of both. Minnesota gets very cold, but I believe I can adjust.
I think the schools are comparable. Certainly Minnesota has the edge in old-school research and grad school/PhD prestige, and they still do, but that likely won’t affect you to a huge degree aside from bumping elbows with some grad students in upper-level courses. Maybe you could get some research opportunities, but you might at Pitt also – not sure if there’s a clear advantage there.
You have to decide if getting into the honors program at Pitt is worth the $16k that you’d save by attending Minnesota. (or is it $16k x 4? If so, that swings things in Minnesota’s favor big-time, IMO). Med school is very expensive.
Yes it is 16K more per year. The only reason I am still considering Pitt is its location (I don’t have to fly), and it has a very strong neuroscience department. Also, my parents are helping me pay for undergrad, but are not going to help with med school. I just want to make sure I pick the right school so that I can receive the most scholarships from med schools further down the road.
Does anybody know which school would be easier to attain a high gpa? Being in the honors college at Pitt would make the classes more difficult, but the fact that I’m not in the honors college at the U of M means that I won’t be at the top of my class. If money was not an issue, which would be better for med school?
Contact umn twin cities, see if they might reconsider you for obits college. If not, look into living learning communities and any ‘residential college’ type of thing.
What’s your parents ’ budget - how much can they pay (without loans) ?
Honors college at Pitt doesn’t work the same way as at other schools. You will be allowed to take honors courses if you want, but there is no requirement to do so. Being in the honors college should have no affect on your gpa. My D goes to Pitt and I think it’s a great school, but if you also like umn and it is so much cheaper, I would say to go there.
My parents are very ambiguous about what they can afford, but my father insists that I shouldn’t worry about the money. However, I do know that our fafsa expected contribution is around 40k a year. Obviously they don’t want to pay that much, but there is enough money to pay for Pitt. I just don’t want to waste money.
And the cons to U of M are that it will be a pain to get all of my stuff there and take the plane there and back. Also, I’d have to purchase warmer clothes for the negative weather.
Honors is very selective at Minnesota so certainly don’t think less of yourself. With very strong U of Minnesota hospital, opporfor some experience should be good. The schools sciences are strong too. I would think you should save the $ and choose MN
I ended up asking for more money at Pitt, so now it will only cost 27,000 annually. This is only 5k more per year than Minnesota. But I would have to buy plane tickets to and from UMn, along with heavy duty winter clothes. Also, I would probably rent a storage space in between semesters. With the prices so close, which school seems to be the better deal?
With costs being so close, I’d say both are about equal - chose the one you like best. You might be more comfortable in Pittsburgh and it is a pretty great city.
We considered both schools (but for different areas of study) and both have very strong attributes and are comparable in quality. One major difference would be size. Student population is over 50K and Pitt population is under 20K. My S1 did select UMinn but thinking UPitt may be better fit for S2 (largely due to size and that he is not sure what he wants to study).