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</p>
<p>The Jewish kids at Brandeis are not necessarily “deeply religious.” Brandeis is not to Judaism what BYU is to Mormonism.</p>
<p>I’m Catholic, but religion is playing no factor in where I go. </p>
<p>cptofthehouse: I’m not including loans in my package (I got about the same from each school, a few thousand in Stafford loans). The 30k-32k for Brandeis and 22k for Pitt will be what I have to pay out of loans and my own money/my parents’ money. They said they’d be able to contribute about 15k a year. That would leave me with about 28k in debt for Pitt and 60k for Brandeis, probably a few thousands less as I’d be working. As great as Brandeis is, and even if I visit it and love it, I feel like being saddled with the additional debt is a huge burden. Even if my parents could pay for it all, I would feel bad.</p>
<p>I am going to email Brandeis and ask them if the scholarship is renewable. </p>
<p>The only knack I have against Pitt, besides the city being just “okay,” is that I feel the culture is a bit homogeneous. I remember hearing from someone there that a high percentage (70% maybe?) of students came from PA.</p>
<p>oh, and rebeccar, I’m a guy ;)</p>
<p>Sikorsky–you are correct. I should have said nonsectarian, not non secular. My bad.</p>
<p>While many motivated, AP laden freshmen graduate within 4 years at large publics, more than half do not. Not sure what Pitt’s stats are for 4 yr. grad rate, but I’m sure it is much lower than Brandeis’.</p>
<p>I mention this because if affects your financial forecast. Though Pitt may be $8,000 - $10,000 less per year, if you end up needing to graduate in 4.5 years because of difficulty sequencing your classes efficiently, that half-year extra effectively wipes out completely the savings at Pitt vs. Brandeis (extra half year of expenses, a half year less of career earnings).</p>
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Oops, so sorry!</p>
<p>DunninLA</p>
<p>That is a good point. Is scheduling in UPitt more difficult than Brandeis?</p>
<p>Are you eligible for the Honors College/ Honors Housing at Pitt? It is full of students who turned down very prestigeous colleges for the same reason you are considering turning down Brandeis. I think it is very possible you will find yourself very comfortable there. As for Pittsburgh not being Boston, I can only quote whoever it was who said, “Pittsburgh and Boston are very similar cities, except that Pittsburgh doesn’t think it’s the center of the universe.”. Good luck with your choice, and once you make it, don’t look back. Either school will give you a great education if you take advantage of it. And if your Humanities interests include philosophy, Pitt has a fantastic department.</p>
<p>quilll- Yes, I got into the Honors College. </p>
<p>To be honest, I think part of the reason that I don’t want to attend Pitt is that I am disappointed I didn’t receive a full tuition scholarship. I got a 2k scholarship, and I feel like if my GPA or SAT scores were just oh so slightly higher I would’ve gotten it. I have a bitter taste in my mouth, knowing I was so close to saving so much money.</p>
<p>It is nice to hear that the Honors College is filled with other students that are prestigious college worthy. </p>
<p>I am not really interested in Philosophy, but who knows where my life will lead?</p>
<p>Wow, that is a big difference! Although, is the graduation rate difference simply due to the difference in types of students at each school? Or are there other factors at play?</p>
<p>After reviewing a bit, it seems the public universities’ lower graduation rates just seem to be due to:</p>
<ol>
<li>More lower income students forced to leave</li>
<li>Less “waste” of losing 20k at a public vs 40k at a private by dropping out</li>
<li>Part-time students?</li>
</ol>
<p>I am not really worried about taking longer to graduate at Pitt. I think I can stay focused and on track (or I hope so). </p>
<p>Is either college more “undecided major” friendly?</p>
<p>I’d be curious if registration problems are really an issue at Pitt. I’ve always thought of Pitt as pretty wealthy for a public school, so the 57% 4-yr graduation rate comes as a surprise to me.</p>
<p>I think if you’re focused, graduating on time should be no problem. Because Pitt is a larger university, there may be more opportunities if a change of major is in order. Since you’re in the Pitt honors college, the average incoming frosh SAT (CR+M) is 1457 which is about 70 points higher than for the average at Brandeis so you’re hanging with top students anyway. I don’t think they publish 4/6 graduation rates for honors college incomings (and many don’t take advantage of the full honors experience and separate degree) but that would be your metric of interest if available. My S visited several Boston are aschools along with Pitt, NYU, Rochester and found he liked the city atmosphere so the schools like Brandeis just didn’t suit him while BU did. Like Soulreaver but even more so, the cost difference is significant so he’s favoring Pitt unless BU gives him a Trustees’ scholarship (I’m also playing the lottery). Visit Brandeis and if you love it, then consider it. If you’re so-so or worse with it, then your decision is essentially made. Also consider after the 4 years, will you need money for grad school or will you go straight to employment? That should factor in as well. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>If Pitt-Honors allows for priority registration for classes, then I believe the difficulties getting into specific classes in the proper sequence for graduation (that non-Honors students face at virtually all large Publics) will not be an issue at Pitt.</p>
<p>Nope, no priority registration for Honors.</p>
<p>And I just got into Boston College. Once I get my financial aid package from them, they may be in the running too.</p>
<p>Well, BC’s package is only $23k, 17k of which is scholarships/grants. </p>
<p>So, I think it is best if I go to UPitt. My parents say they will be able to pay for all of my college costs regardless if I go to Pitt or Brandeis. I just will need to contribute to my younger sisters’ tuition when they go off to college. </p>
<p>Still, I’d rather not burden them with the extra cost of Brandeis. While I am a bit dissapointed that I am not attending a higher tier college, I’m sure I’ll love Pitt. Thanks for the advice guys.</p>
<p>Damn, Brandeis moved their offer up to $25,720 in scholarships. </p>
<p>COA at Brandeis with the scholarship is: 27794</p>
<p>COA at Pittsburgh with scholarship is: around 22k</p>
<p>Should I factor in the federal work study (2500) I got from Brandeis into my decision? I feel like I can get a job anyways without it so it doesn’t really matter right?</p>
<p>Work study is different from most other jobs. I manned an information desk and spent most of my time studying. If you do that at a real job, you’d get fired. </p>
<p>Your cost difference is now so insubstantial that it would be ridiculous for it to be a factor. Your education (and the college experience which generates it) will last you a lifetime.</p>
<p>Yeah, you are right. </p>
<p>Last thing I’m worried about is if my parents’ financial situations improve and Brandeis’ scholarship offer goes down a lot in the future years.</p>
<p>Methinks you worry too much…take a deep breadth :)</p>
<p>haha, its my older sister putting these thoughts into my head!</p>