So, these two schools are my narrowed down top two because of financial concerns. I received full tuition at both universities and I was offered honors program placement.
I’m really just…stuck on both of these. Neither are where I thought I’d end up but it’s come down to these two. I have visited both in the past month. I will be attending either one of these schools to go on the pre-med track (bio major)
Rankings (Overall, Science Departments, etc): This is a big reason why my family is pushing me towards Pitt.
Honors Program: Temple honestly left a much better impression on me. Their presentation was really lively and engaging. The honors community felt more close-knit and I could honestly see myself there. I don’t think I’ve warmed up to Pitt that much yet.
Location: I like Pittsburgh better than Philly in terms of the actual city and it’s safety BUT Philly is in a better location for me if that makes sense? It’s close to a lot of my relatives (though still 4 to 5 hours away from my house), close to NYC, close to Newark, etc which I feel may be more beneficial.
Research & Opportunities: UPitt is heavily funded espcially in the health sciences and it also has four hospitals just within a 20 minute radius of it (UPMC, VA, women’s hospital, children’s hospital). This, I feel, will be better for me in terms of volunteer and clinical experience.
Social Life: Any opinions on this? (Don’t really care about sports.)
Diversity: ? - Same as above. I’ve heard conflicting accounts about diversity/open-mindedness at UPitt and in Pittsburgh in general.
Housing: Preferred 1300 in Temple over Sutherland in UPitt but off-campus housing seems better at UPitt.
All advice and opinions would be appreciated. I just really need help.
Congratulations! Both are great schools and you won’t go wrong with either.
Why is it important to be near New York or Newark?
Being able to get home on breaks is something to consider…can you take a direct flight from Pitt? Would your family be able to afford that?
For pre-med, accessibility to hospitals for volunteering is definitely something I would prioritize. Temple has Temple University Hospital and others very close by so probably both are equal.
I would also look at the honors program and see what benefits there are…special housing? priority registration?
Special programs…and are you the type to take advantage of them?
Have you attended admitted students day? Which students seem more your type?
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Here is some general advice:
I would make a spreadsheet and include info like:
Net Cost
Number of Undergraduates
Faculty Student Ratio
%of students that live on campus
How big is the department for your major? If you are majoring in something that only has a couple of professors, that does not bode well.
Housing- do they offer all 4 years? freshman only?
Urban/rural/suburban
Is this a commuter school? (do students go home on weekends)
Surrounding area - what is the nearby town/amenities like?
Transportation - how would you get home
AP Credits - can you get credit for AP tests you have taken
Male/Female ratio
Greek life - what % of students are in greek life
Parking
Diversity
Safety
Sports
Jobs - what happens to seniors after they graduate
Internships - depending on your major, is it easy to get internships?
…and whatever makes sense for you
You might not care about, say, greek life. but if 50% of the kids are in greek life and you don’t want to be, that is something to know. Or you may want a big time sports scene or you might not want one. Grade them from 1-5 as they make sense to you.
Then look at each of them and see which makes sense for you
Congratulations on your choices. I do think Pitt is unquestionably the academic front runner here, but I see your questions about diversity and distance from home, I see you are an African American female and I am guessing you are concerned about going to a school some distance from home that is 75% white. No question - Temple is more diverse (56% white).
For what it is worth, the kids I know there love Pitt and love Pittsburgh. The area is great and there is plenty to do. I have never heard any accounts (first hand or anecdotally) of bigotry or lack of open-mindedness at the school, or city. My daughter considered Pitt heavily before she narrowed her list down. The more we have learned about the school over the past few years, the more we loved it. I think it is a gem hiding in plain site. But there is no way around it, it is a long, boring drive from the NYC area to Pittsburgh.
I also know 2 kids at Temple. They are twins (boy/girl) and they love it. They both live off campus now. You definitely have to pick your blocks when exploring off-campus housing, but a little common sense goes a long way. It is an easy run for you to get home via Amtrak and a short 2 hours drive if you have a car (I do not recommend a car for a kid at Temple). Philly is a nice little city, but the area around Temple is nowhere near as nice as the area around Pitt.
Thanks for the responses thus far.
I’ve been researching a lot more and my head is starting to clear up, I guess?
@booper
Thank you! Newark (+ the southern parts of NJ) would be close to relatives and NYC because I like to attend a lot of concerts etc and if I ever just wanted to go to another major city for a day. (On the flip side Pitt is surrounded by Ohio, WV, and other parts of Penn so it felt idk? secluded to me?)
But also, the honors program does not seem to have a lot of perks at Pitt (i.e. no priority registration, no guaranteed honors housing, etc).
@Themclos
Yeah, it really is a long drive from home. i honestly wanted to stay in the 3 to 5 hours away from home range yet Pitt is around 7 hours away. I didn’t think this would be an issue if I were to take Amtrak, let’s say. But my parents and I were surprised to find out that the average Pitt to home Amtrak length is around 9 hours. 0_o
Yes my kids are 6 hrs away at Pitt so it is a haul but they do take in concerts in Pittsburgh, take megabus home or Pitt offers buses home around breaks for about $120-150 rt. Off campus at Pitt runs around $500-$700 all-in which is nice. Some neighborhoods better, some more dilapitated. Areas around Pittsburgh might seem secluded/rural/ Pennsyltuckey-esque, but really my kids have a large city to explore and don’t find themselves wandering outside to the rural burbs except once or twice for camping, skiing and one kid went horseback riding.
Whether you go to Pitt or Temple, you won’t be venturing much. Your time as a college student is not what you think. There will be no time during the week to go far from campus and I sincerely doubt if you go to Temple you will spend 2.5 hours each way at a cost of at least $75 each way to visit NY,
nor will your friends. The Acela can cost as much as $200 round-trip.
Also trains back from NY to Philadelphia don’t run all night.
I guess it would be nice to be near relatives, but it is not realistic to vist Newark, NJ during the week and I doubt you will on the weekends either.
Students usually sleep till about 10-11 am, do laundry, work in groups and get involved in ECs on the weekends.
It seems like you are picking a school with the goal of being in another place, and that’s not logical.
pittsburgh–awesome school
city of pittsburgh awesome city.
“Diversity: ? - Same as above. I’ve heard conflicting accounts about diversity/open-mindedness at UPitt and in Pittsburgh in general.”
what does that even mean and who said that? ooo never mind…pittsburgh is the come back city that has over the last 30 or so years re invented itself and has awesome neighborhoods,restaurants, booming technology and medical research centers . (and a lot of colleges and universities in the area)
let me guess the person who told you that is somebody who thinks pittsburgh is still a heavy industry town populated by guys wearing wife beater shirts coming off the 3rd shift at the steel mill and drinking until 5 in the morning at the local dive bar and stumbling home cursing members of the lgbt community on the way. (we are in 2016 not 1956)
Going from Philly to NYC is cheap and easy. There is SEPTA/NJTransit method which is about $30 R/T, then there is Bolt and Megabus which depending on how far in advance you get your tickets and your departure/return times can be less than $10 RT to $40 RT - and not sure if they exist but there were buses from Chinatown to Chinatown for $10 each way back in the day before everyone started taking Bolt. No one takes Amtrak unless your work is paying for it or you live in Philly and work in Manhattan and the Amtrak pass is worth it.
Temple students and students from all the Center City schools go to NYC all the time for concerts, events, etc Though Philly has plenty depending on your musical tastes.
Like someone mentioned Internships are probably a wash - Temple has a Hospital and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has a specific internship program with Temple (Google it)
Pittsburgh is a more sanitized city than Philly but nicer is a relative term. If you are from the burbs then you'll probably like Pittsburgh better.
The area around Temple isn't the best but many students living off campus live south right off the Broad street line near East Passyunk which is a great neighborhood growing with fantastic restaurants though very Hipster if that bothers you.
@Dolemite I guess you haven’t been on public transportation on the weekends. The time on the train alone from Temple to Penn Station is 2.5 - 3 hours in most cases with possibly as many as 25 stops. That wouldn’t count a gap at Trenton plus time from Penn Station to where you want to go. Yes it probably does cost about $35 but it would be nice if the word “easy” was removed unless you take Amtrak and possibly “easy” is really “relatively easy”. I live in NJ and only a masochist would take Septa to Trenton to NY Penn Station.
Well its all opinion and relativity. Before Bolt/Mega I made that trek more times than I can remember - mainly on weekends. I live in Center City Philadelphia and don’t own a car with my feet and PT my main forms of transportation. One of my best friends lived at 86th and Columbus and before marriage and kids I went there all the time. I preferred it over the Chinatown bus and it was basically the same price. I’ve gone numerous times a year with family in tow. I also use it to fly out of Newark too and appreciate the NJT stop now at Newark Airport and not having to transfer to the bus from Newark station like the old days. Still with Bolt/Megabus that is preferred since you get Internet and no transfer and if planned ahead cheaper.
So it’s not as convenient as a personal driver taking you from your home to your destination but for hardcore PT users it’s a breeze.
Uh, no. I’m perfectly aware of what I will be doing in college. The work I have to put in, etc. The reason that I brought up how Philly personally has a more “strategic” location was not to fret about me not being able to run back and forth between cities every weekend to play around. It was simply an aspect of Temple that I felt was superior to Pitt and may come in handy.
@zobroward
The school is at least 75% white. I would have liked more diversity on the campus and I heard accounts so I asked. And it’s not like western Pennsylvania has the best reputation when it comes to discrimation.
Penn State has similar demographics. I bet if you looked at accepted student statistics the diversity profile is quite different. I don’t understand the reason and you see this in liberal arts colleges as well.
@Chrysanthemum14 - Temple is a fine school and you will receive a great education there. You will get out of it what you put into it. If a more diverse student body is important to you, then Temple wins easily (Pitt is 74% white, Temple 56%).
Temple is also far closer to your home, for those times when you do need/want to head home, so if being a 6 - 7 car/bus ride from home is not appealing to you, then factor that into your decision. Not everybody wants to be that far from home.
I tend not to be a big rankings guy. I don’t believe one has to go to Harvard, Stanford or Pitt to succeed in life. There are very, very few occupations or academic pursuits where somebody is penalized for their choice of undergraduate school - so few, in my opinion, that it is just not worth worrying about for 99.99% of us. I do understand why your parents might feel more strongly about Pitt, though. You elaborated on Pitt’s strengths very well.
Choose the school where you believe you will have the best chance of being successful. Are you feeling Pitt or are you feeling Temple? I get a sense that you would prefer Temple for a couple of reasons.
Well I think the caliber of student that attends Pitt is higher than Temple so finding peers might be easier. Speaking from my D’s high school. Most of the top students shoot for Penn and many get in with Pitt as their safety and then the next tier are shooting for Pitt/PSU with Temple as their safety.
@Themclos
When I made this thread, I was definitely feeling that Temple was a better fit than Pitt. This was because of the great impression the science dept & honors program left on me + the strategic location of Philly. Now, after more research, I might be leaning towards Pitt. I’m just going to organize all my thoughts properly and think this over for the next couple of days.
Easy one - Pitt ! We lived in the Lehigh Valley area for 20 years, so I am very familiar with both schools. My D1 did her undergrad at Pitt and is in P1 at Pitt Med now. She loves the place so much that she did not even apply to other Med schools (she was a GAP admit).
