<p>I feel like Pitt would still be the better option.</p>
<p>Care to offer why avenlea?</p>
<p>Here is a nifty calculator that will let you compare your aid packages (and some other factors) side-by-side: [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Advanced Award Letter Comparison Tool](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid)</p>
<p>Don’t include the work-study income in your calculations. You may not find a job, or even if you do get one, you may not be able to work enough hours to earn all of the money that is set aside for you.</p>
<p>Sorry, I was kind of in a rush the last time I posted, and looking at your situation more in depth I can see why this is so difficult for you.</p>
<p>The thing is - if you decide to go into any of the sciences - Pitt is absolutely unparalleled and amazing (like I said in my first post). If not, then Brandeis is probably what you want. Just speaking from personal experience, I don’t like the LAC environment - but if you feel like it’s for you, then maybe it’s worth it. Smaller classes can get stifling after a while - same ideas, same people, rumors spread quickly, cliqueyness - I’m saying this because I was into it before I moved to my small town, and now I can’t wait to get out. At a larger school, you meet new people everyday and have new experiences. Also, Waltham is kind of boring. I thought Pittsburgh was boring too, but it’s definitely better than Waltham. 5K can add up over four years - 20K. </p>
<p>That’s just my two cents. Sorry if it sounds like rambling haha</p>
<p>OP- you should consider (if you haven’t) talking to Pitt about upping your scholarship. If you can show them what Brandeis is offering you (and any other schools to which you received scholarship $$), they may match or beat Brandeis.</p>
<p>Now, this strategy does not always work, but it often does. If they can’t match you in grant money, they can match you in financial aid (if you qualify). It takes some bravery to do it, but I used to work in college admissions–it happens, and nobody thinks less of you for it.</p>
<p>Some examples:
-a Brandeis-specific example: I got into Brandeis (no $$), my best friend got into Brandeis (full ride). I emailed them with another college’s merit offer and they came back with $8k/year in merit (I didn’t qualify for need-based aid…sigh). I went elsewhere, but I offer the example to illustrate a point. FWIW, my friend DID go to Brandeis for a year, then transferred to Columbia. He saved $40k, though, by going to Brandeis first (wasn’t his choice, COlumbia rejected him the first time).</p>
<ul>
<li>My friend got into Welseyan with a mediocre need-based aid (they don’t give merit money), got a full ride to UMich and got a REALLY good need-based package from GW. He wrote a letter to Wesleyan with copies of the other two fin. aid packages, and they matched the need package from GW. He got an extra $10k in grants, and a bump in the loan package.</li>
</ul>
<p>-the college admissions office in which I worked would always try and match the best offer from a comprable or better school if the student was a “high priority.” From your scores and your acceptance into Pitt’s honors program, I’d guess you’re in their high priority pile.</p>
<ul>
<li>a good friend was applying to law school. She got into a top state school program, but also got merit scholarships from private schools. She didn’t get any extra scholarship from the state…until she sent them a letter with the other two (slightly better ranked) schools’ offers. They matched the best offer. With her in-state tuition plus the match, she graduated law school with $80k of debt instead of $160 (all big numbers to me…who went to grad school for free)</li>
</ul>
<p>Hmmmm, while I feel Pitt will tell me their offer is still cheaper, I will try to email them and get them to lower their tuition to outweigh Brandeis’ better academics.</p>
<p>Avenlea-yeah, I see what you mean about small class size possibly being a negative. I’ll take it into consideration, and I’ll see how I feel when I visit Brandeis</p>
<p>Sounds counter-intuitive to me that someone would prefer large, impersonal classes taught by TA’s over small classes taught by preeminent professors who work personally with their students on original research. Certainly a small LAC like Haverford or Swarthmore might be too small. But Brandeis’ 3400 undergrads and total 5000+ student body is in my opinion a perfect size both for personal attention and diversity of experiences. You might ask Biochem Professor Greg Petsko who left MIT to come to Brandeis to do ground-breaking original research with grads and undergrads plus teach smart students in small classes. Also, see this recent Newsweek article featuring a Brandeis professor, William Flesch, as an example of a great professor who can positively change the lives of undergrads:[Four</a> Great College Professors - Newsweek](<a href=“http://www.newsweek.com/2009/08/11/in-search-of-great-professors.html]Four”>Four Great College Professors). Good luck with your decision!</p>
<p>with the current Brandeis financial offer, 100% Brandeis. Avenlea just doesn’t get it… not his/her fault, just too young, and responding as someone who is tired of a small town. Brandeis isn’t anything like a small town.</p>
<p>Okay, first of all, I know about ten people who have gone to Brandeis and give who have gone to Upitt- I have visited both schools and do know a decent amount about them. I was NOT insinuating that Brandeis was like a small town, I was just warning the OP that there are some drawbacks to smaller schools that many people do not think of until they get to the smaller school. My best friend goes to Brandeis, and she went there from a really big Chicago high school that had more than 1000 people in one class - she thought she wanted a smaller school, but the atmosphere took some adjusting too. Brandeis is a great school, just not for everyone. That’s all I’m trying to say.
Also, larger schools don’t always have impersonal classes taught by TA’s. It’s such a common misconception - schools like Pitt have discussion sections when introductory classes are too large, and only one of my friends who went to Pitt had a single class taught by a TA his freshman year. It’s just something to consider. Don’t rule out either school of what I’m saying, just consider which one sounds better to you. I know some people who would be completely repulsed by the idea of having 10-11 students per class, and some who would be really excited by the idea.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input avenlea. I guess I’ll see if I like it when I visit later this month.</p>
<p>I think I will. I’m in this special program in my school, so my english and history classes have been small classes with similar groups of people usually between 15-20 people. I enjoy this over my bigger classes.</p>
<p>Visited Brandeis today. Really torn. I like the emphasis of social justice.</p>
<p>My big problem is that I thought Waltham was really blah. Earlier posters were right, it’s much harder to get back to Boston from Brandeis than Tufts. It feels kind of isolated in a not good kind of way. The campus was a bit too office-y for my liking, although parts of it did look nice. </p>
<p>Its hard for me to decide, I don’t get a feeling of “this is the perfect school for me” from either Pitt or Brandeis, although I do feel like I will whichever I choose.</p>
<p>Pitt ! brandeis is not worth a penny more than pitt</p>
<p>If you’re really not in love with Brandeis, go for Pitt. Pitt (as you know) is definitely a pretty busy city in contrast to Brandeis, there’s something always going on. Plus, it’s cheaper.</p>