<p>My son got admission into UVA scholars program. Also the Upitt honors program has given full tuition for us (VA residency). His ultimate goal is to go to good medical school.
1)
cost of attendence (UVA= tuition+room/board (25,774* 4)=~103K
Vs
cost of attendence (Upitt= room/board (12000* 4)=~48K </p>
<p>diff = 55K debt
2) Since the ultimate goal is to go to reputed med school. Greatly appreciate any inputs or prior experience which campus helps him to get medical exposure, standing out in class to get good recommendations and opportunity to do research and scope to publish papers to become a strong AMACS medical college applicant.</p>
<p>Could not find any information where the pre-med students from UVA get admissions into?</p>
<p>3) Any thoughts or inputs in neuro science major at both UVA (only25 students. no guarantee to get admission in to that major) VS Upitt bio engineering or biology or neuroscience majors.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance . We are so confused and greatly appreciate any inputs to give us some clarity.</p>
<p>Go for the lowest cost. UVA has a great reputation but Pitt is equal and probably better in medical fields. I don’t know specifically about biology, but in other majors there are extra opportunities for good students. Which place is the better fit? That will have an impact on how well your son does in college. In 4 years, it will matter how well he did, not which school he chose. The campus environments are different, so if he has a strong preference that might actually come before cost.</p>
<p>If it’s necessary to get loans for UVA, go to Pitt. If you can pay for UVA without loans, go to the school your son feels is the best fit for him - they are different environments - one more urban, one in a smaller college town.</p>
<p>Pitt has great opportunities for pre-med students including undergraduate research and access to many medical facilities within walking distance of campus. There is another thread on the Pitt forum asking about Pitt and Florida (UF or Pitt? is the name of the thread) that has some links about Pitt that might be of interest to you. Pitt also has a high number of students who are headed for medical field careers: nursing, pre-dentistry, pharmacy, pre-med). You will find lots of Pitt fans on the Pitt forum. But no one will say anything bad about UVa–it’s a great school.</p>
<p>Jeepers, is it that expensive for a VA resident to attend UVA? Wow. Anyway, my daughter has taken quite a few neuroscience courses at Pitt as a psych major, and she has enjoyed them and found them very challenging. Best of luck to your son with his decision. I don’t think he can go wrong with either school.</p>
<p>LurkNess - That’s about the same cost for an in-state student at Pitt. Pitt’s cost of attendance estimate (for an A&S major) is: Tuition - $14,076; Fees - $860; room/board - $9250 for a total of $24,186. And, of course, that is before the governor’s 50% reduction in state aid. .</p>
<p>I thought Pa. had the highest in-state costs in the country, but I guess Virginia is not that far behind! </p>
<p>Doesn’t the Echols come with scholarship money or the potential to win scholarships?</p>
<p>Something else to consider: Many kids who start out as premeds end up changing their goal at some point, for a variety of reasons. So in general I think it’s a mistake to choose a school based on a strength in one particular area. So, ideally, it’s best if the school is a good fit in a number of ways. If a kid leaves premed, it’s hard to anticipate what the plan B will be.</p>
<p>Pitt is very strong in the medical fields, as several posters have mentioned. Have you visited? </p>
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<p>I think that is great advice from Web 2094.</p>
<p>OP: First, congratulations to you & your S on having two great choices. I see that you also have posed this question in the UVA & parent forums. Full disclosure: I am a Pgh native & Pitt grad, but the parent of a UVA grad & currently a VA resident. I was confused in your original post whether you are a PA or VA resident?</p>
<p>When S2 was deciding between colleges last year, we created a “decision matrix” to help him compare his two choices. We recognized that this had to be HIS decision, so we listed various factors which we weighted on a scale of 1-5 in terms of importance. (He didn’t agree with some of the weighting, so we told him to change the weighting as he saw fit.) We told S2 that he would have to justify his decision regardless of which school he chose, because it represented an $80K business decision (he wants to major in business). The decision matrix helped him to make a careful & informed decision, one that is his OWN and not a decision that he can hold against anyone else if it turned out to be a wrong one. </p>
<p>Here are the criteria (weights) which we gave S2 to consider:</p>
<p>Cost of program/indebtedness (5)
Strength of Overall Academic Program (5)
Quality of Students (5)
Strength of Business Program (5)
Ability to Pursue Multiple Majors (5)
Honors Program (5)
Class Size (5)
Course Taught by Full Professors (5)
Likely Strength of Program to Graduate Schools (5)
Ability to Enter Major as Freshman (3)
Campus Appeal (5)
Campus Activities (3)
Social Life (3)
Off-Campus Housing (3)
Sports Program (3)
Club/Intramural Sports (3)
Proximity to nearby activities (3)
Distance from home (3)
Weather (3)</p>
<p>FWIW, my own 2-cents: go to the school that offers the best financial package. Graduating with low-no debt is the best gift you can give an aspiring med student.</p>
<p>The proximity of several hospitals around UPitt provides plenty of opportunities for shadowing doctors & participating in medically related volunteering. IMO, UPitt is the better of the two for healthcare related careers. </p>
<p>The college of engineering offers an excellent tour of their facilities (contact: Ms. Lauren Byland - 412 624 9825); you might also want to speak with professor Patzer from Biomedical engg (412 624 9819) to get a sense of the rigor of the curriculum.</p>
<p>FYI - The consensus of most of the people responding to this question on the UVa board was also to pick Pitt, in this specific circumstance.</p>
<p>In answer to a question above, UVa’s Echols program does not offer any merit money. Most of UVa’s aid is need based, except for a very limited number of full “Jefferson” scholarships.</p>
<p>^^Agreed. UPMC is currently the largest employer in Pittsburgh. There are many work & research opportunities within UPMC.</p>
<p>One thing I have not seen mentioned is that Pitt offers honors students the option of cross-registering for specialty courses at Carnegie Mellon or other universities in Pittsburgh (Duquesne, Chatham, etc.). However, I think this only applies to specialty courses that are NOT offered at Pitt.</p>
<p>web2094 is right about very different environments. Pitt is urban, UVA is traditional college town. Fit is something you shouldn’t overlook.</p>
<p>The cross-registration is open to ALL students at the Oakland coalition schools - Pitt, CMU, Duquesne, Chatham and …(don’t remember), not just honors students. And yes, it is limited to courses that the attending instituition does not offer.</p>
<p>Anecdotal evidence being what it is (an anecdote, not statistically valid information), my now-pharmacy student D1’s three-year sojourn at Pitt so far has included one paid research-assistant part-time job, two paid internships, and one paid research fellowship. (with two peer-reviewed journal articles) All of these positions have been in Oakland, either directly at Pitt or at UPMC hospitals. If your interest is in the medical field, Pitt offers an iincredible wealth of local internship and/or research opportunities.</p>
<p>Congrats! He’ll love it. I was just in Oakland 2 weeks ago & fell in love again with my old hometown. Pittsburgh is a “happening” place with a lot of revitalization going on these days.</p>
<p>I wonder what Pitt’s yield will be on these scholarships and how it compares to other years. I sense families are more price conscious this year than in the past.</p>