D is transferring out of Roch due to finances (tuition increase and large decrease in FA). We do not feel it is worth the tuition we are now being asked to pay. For the record, she loves URoch; it is a perfect fit for her. She applied to a handful of schools that were still accepting transfer apps (due to late FA award notification). Now it’s pretty much down to UPitt or St. Lawrence. Trying to determine which of her choices might be the better fit or “more like Roch.” She was double majoring in Environmental Studies and Health/Behavior/Society (under the public health umbrella) and minoring in English. She has similar options at both schools. She was very involved in (and an officer of) the Outing Club. Both have those, but SLU’s would probably be more similar to Roch’s (Adirondacks). Pitt is much bigger and in a city setting, neither of which she was interested in when applying as a freshman, but after visiting this past weekend she thought it could work. St. Lawrence is small and remote (and she had applied last year) but now, after Roch, she is wondering if it is too small. For those familiar with these schools, can you provide any info/insight to help her determine which might be the better fit? This has been super stressful and emotional for her, and she’s afraid of making the wrong choice since this is her second school and she does not want to have to go through this again. TIA.
Hard to imagine two more different schools! Not familiar with Pitt, but just got back from a visit to St Lawrence with DS21, who loved it (me too). Just posted a visit review here:
https://www.collegeconfidential.com/vibe/st-lawrence-university/6279694.html
It is quite a bit smaller than Rochester, but on the other hand she only has 3 years there, 2.5 if she studies abroad, so she may not get the point where she knows everybody. SLU has a great Environmental Studies/Science program (better than Rochester?) and the Outing Club has a theme house of its own if she is interested in that kind of living option.
It’s tough to transfer from a place you love - others places usually don’t measure up. I hope she finds a good landing place.
Thank you @RockySoil We’re visiting SLU next week – it will be interesting to see what she thinks. For sure the location is enticing (access to hiking in the Adirondacks). We had visited during D’s junior year, but it was on a tour of other colleges in the area so we ended up at SLU on a Sunday and really just walked into the dining hall and library. I’m kind of bummed it’s summer so we won’t get a good feel of the student body/campus vibe. We’ve heard a lot about its party reputation (which is what took it out of consideration last year.) Did that come up at all during your tour? D attends a fair share of parties but wants to be surrounded by smart and driven students.
Pittsburgh is a great city with lots of opportunity & entertainment. The University of Pittsburgh has a healthy endowment–especially for a public university.
From my perspective, this is a choice between excitement & opportunity versus intimacy, nature & the great outdoors.
The St. Lawrence party scene should be a bit tamer once past the freshman year. The Outing Club at St. Lawrence (SLU) is active & well established.
Two very different options. Lots of SLU students study abroad for a semester or for a year. Used to have, and may still offer, several joint programs in Canada as Ottawa, Canada is the closest major city.
Both schools are much less diverse than the University of Rochester, but this should be less noticable at Pitt due to the location in a major city.
Ice hockey or Division I football ? 2,400 students or 24,000 students ? Rurul or urban ?
P.S. Not easy to compare as the University of Rochester has about 6,200 undergrads while SLU has about 2,400 & Pitt has over 18,000 undergraduate students.
@publisher you’ve pretty much described her dilemma - so hard to choose when both options are so different from each other and different from URoch. She’s a very down to earth, nice person. I have a feeling she may find more of her type at Pitt, but the small classes and access to professors, etc. does make SLU appealing. She’s also on a wait list for housing at Pitt, which could be a deal breaker - does not want to find an apartment/live off campus her first year in an unfamiliar city. Tough choice.
Pittsburgh is a fairly down to earth city. The campus is urban but there are outdoorsy opportunities close by. We have 3 rivers for rowing. Schenley Park borders the campus. Ok skiing within an hour.
I hope she gets housing but if not look in North Oakland/Shadyside.
Doesn’t say if you have appealed the FA reduction. If she loves UR, its worth telling the FA office you are being forced to transfer by the aid reduction and see if they can revisit it. We have good things to say about SLU.
@taverngirl
We didn’t hear much about the SLU party atmosphere but we didn’t really ask, either. Way back in the 80’s a friend of mine went and it was definitely considered a hard partying school, but then again so was Dartmouth. Like a lot of the small LAC’s, it seems to have morphed from a school for Ivy rejects into a place with its own personality and appeal, so for a lot of students it is their first choice school. What we didn’t really get a sense of was how serious the students were - I guess that’s the downside of a summer visit. But we are definitely going back for another tour when students are there since DS21 like it so much. He’s a non drinker (so far) and not too worried about peer pressure to partake. I’m sure he’ll experiment a bit at college, but I’d be more worried about him if he didn’t!
@MariettaDad we did an appeal, and they provided an additional $10K but were very clear that it would be going away next year (when we have another child going off to college). When we made the decision to send her last year, we felt it was worth +/-$15,000 more than the other schools to which she was accepted. Now that it’s $25-30,000 more, we no longer feel it’s worth it.
Unfortunately she just found out Pitt’s comparable classes are worth 3 credits to Roch’s 4, so she’s losing 9 credits if she transfers there. She is now throwing Susquehanna into the mix (who will accept all 32). Never a dull moment…
I agree…have you talked to U of R and discussed your financial situation? If she loves it and it’s the perfect fit maybe there is a way?
My son was offered a substantial scholarship from SLU when he was going through the search process. He ultimately chose another school. SLU was very, very remote. I was surprised areas like this existed in NYS existed. However, once we got there I thought the campus was beautiful and that it was exactly what a college “should” look like. My son didn’t mind the location. He felt he would find things to do there because he likes the outdoors immensely (ice fishing and more). However, one thing that struck us during our visit was that the athletic side of the campus was much nicer than the library. In fact, the quality of the athletic side of the school was a bit over the top for us. We also learned that the school has a large percentage of kids from boarding schools and yes, most kids do a semester abroad. The freshman dorms were awful (your dd wouldn’t be a freshman) and there were some nicer dorms for upperclassmen which you have access to based on a lottery system. IMHO, I think the size of the student body will seem very small after being at U or R.
Pittsburgh is a cool city - no doubt about that. Your options couldn’t be more different. Good luck!
Susquehanna is big by us. A good friend is a very active alumni there. There English/writing is one of there best areas. They are awesome with merit. It’s high on our list for D21 to visit, but we haven’t gotten there yet. Also very different - only about 2,000 students. But I’ve never heard a bad thing.
St. Lawrence resides in a pretty neat place, in proximity to exotic natural and international features such as the Seaway, the Adirondacks, Canada. I’d be inclined to choose this option for this reason. As a potential drawback, some of SLU’s academic metrics fall significantly below those of more selective schools such as UR. To be realistic, I think your daughter might encounter some less serious, perhaps party-oriented, students there. If she accepts that, it could make a fantastic choice.
Wishing your daughter the best of luck, @taverngirl, and I’m sorry she found herself in this situation. With change may come new opportunities, however, and that may be the positive side of this.
Academically there are most likely to be more peers at Pitt. Whether the LAC style or location of SLU/Susquehanna are more important is a decision y’all will have to make. I know students who love Susquehanna FWIW. I don’t know any who have gone to SLU. I spent a lot of time there myself in my youth (riding), but that was definitely during its party school days. I’ve only learned they’ve changed on here.
“Success” can come from any school, so just flip some coins to determine priorities. (Figure out priorities by whether you find yourself hoping for heads or tails, not by what actually turns up.)
I’m sorry about the need to transfer. I’ve been hearing complaints about Rochester ‘s returning students’ financial aid which is in direct conflict with the experiences from my kids’ friends who graduated from there. Bit of them were on heft financial aid packages and never a complaint about them.
I’m particularly concerned about the comment that financial aid gave you about reduction in aid next year or so with an additional student going off to college in your family! That’s always an issue for a lot of people who either have multiple kids in college or will. How if the college in the cross hairs of consideration going to take those changes into account. I fully expect s commensurate decrease in aid when a sibling is no longer in college, but hopefully it’s by explainable formula. Also, I would want to know how a college increases financial aid when there is an increase in kids at college.
I like all of these schools under consideration. Interesting in that one of my kids is a Pitt grad whose apartment mate is a SLU grad. I remember him telling me that one couldn’t get two more different d hooks without going cross country! Both of them enjoyed their respective schools. I think your D coming from a school that is dead center in terms of description between those two extremes makes it an easier transition to go either direction. Pitt to SLU or vice versa would be a radical change.
May I ask if you are getting aid from Pitt? They don’t tend to give a lot in financial aid and it’s very pricey for a state school for in stagers. We were OOS and it was double what are in state schools would have cost but less than private options.
Good luck to your DD in her choice!
Yeah, whatever it is must be new or rather specific as it didn’t happen at all with my lad. He had an older sibling in college at the same time and then a younger one. No difference throughout the years really. If it’s something new that’s happening, I’m glad my lad went earlier. I feel for the OP.
It’s apparently been an issue for a few years; here’s an article from 2013 in the URoch newspaper: http://www.campustimes.org/2016/09/11/students-urs-financial-aid-theories-dont-always-match-reality/
@cptofthehouse we did get a little bit of FA from Pitt. We received the least from them, but they were also the least expensive option so…
She ended up choosing Susquehanna. She just didn’t feel any love for SLU. We put a deposit down on Pitt in order to get on the housing wait list, but after visiting Susquehanna, she decided to attend there. Pitt was just too big, too urban, and there wasn’t enough green space to satisfy her.
Wishing your daughter the best of luck at Susquehanna @taverngirl!
Hoping Susquehanna goes well! I know several students who have enjoyed their time there.