UW-Seattle (OOS) vs UCSB (OOS) vs Pitt (in state) - Economics

College Search & Selection
,
1

Hello there, I am a senior who is currently deciding between three schools right now. I was admitted into UW Seattle, UCSB, and Pitt (all under econ major, I still don’t know if I’ll go for the BA or BS side of economics but probably BS to get a job in the banking sector.) and would love some insight.

Pros for UW
-the location. location is an important factor to me and I really enjoy how UW is located about 10 minutes from downtown Seattle which is a bustling place for job opportunities. I also enjoy their campus…hands down one of the best campuses out there.
-internship opportunities. being near Seattle there should be good internship opportunities for me to obtain while studying.
-The professors seem like they know what they are doing, or so what I have read from other posts on other sites. Like always there will be some professors that I would want to have and some that I would want to stay away from.
-The open-minded community on campus and in the city. Seattle and UW are very open-minded places and seem to have people who are very entrepreneurial-focused, which is a great thing.
-social life is also pretty good here. you have D1 athletics such as football which always makes for a good time. It’s that balance of work hard play hard, even though UW puts a little more focus on the work hard.

Cons for UW

  • from what I have read, I have to take my pre-req classes and then apply again to the major that I want to be in, which is not ideal especially since I have heard that some people with stellar grades and resumes got rejected when they applied to their major.
    -the weather. yes, the weather. I heard that it rains over there (people tend to exaggerate), and although I don’t mind the rain there are apparently depressing months when it just rains and no one goes out.
  • The area around the campus. Don’t get me wrong I love the campus, but when I visited, University Ave/the college town area is kinda sketchy. It just doesn’t seem like a great place to be out at night, but I would just have to keep my eyes open around me.
    -The econ department is ranked alright I think. I know rankings shouldn’t matter even though I’m bringing it up, but yeah it’s not ranked too high but not ranked too low. UW seems more focused on stem side of things.

Pros for UCSB
-the campus, like UW is beautiful (even though they’re two different geographical areas). you have the beach and Isla Vista next to you which is nice.
-academics. the econ department at ucsb is very well regarded and the University as a whole is well respected (a pro for all three of these universities to be honest). Very good professors who are focused on doing research as well (will get to this in a short minute).
-Social life is great, even better than UW. since you have the beach next to you, its a balance of work hard play hard, but leaning to that play harder too (which can be a bad thing too if one were to get caught up in it).
-once again networking to internships/jobs is great especially since it has the title of being a UC school.

Cons of UCSB
-seems like they focus on stem more than most majors (or maybe it’s just me that’s thinking this)
-I heard that housing is expensive, like stupid expensive (will get to this in a minute too).
-although it has a college town, it feels far from a big city. Like mentioned earlier, I would love to have a campus and college town, but would also like to have a city nearby to do things on the weekends. In other words, have a campus AND college town to hang out with friends, but also have a medium-big city nearby to do things. Santa Barbara is more of a small city, almost like a town, and is around 20 minutes to downtown Santa Barbara (State Street).
-not much school athletics. no football team, but they do have soccer which is pretty cool I guess…not as fun as a football game.

Pros for Pitt
-cost. it is in-state for me and would be the cheapest.
-it’s like UW. has that college campus and college town, while also being close, 10 minutes, to a medium (depending on how you classify Pittsburgh) city, which will allow for internships.
-a lot of food places near pitt, especially downtown.
-good social life as well. It has athletics, not only at the collegiate level but professional level as well.
-the economics program is strong here as well, and the school is well respected as well.

Cons for Pitt
-it is still in PA. I would like to move away from PA, but that in-state tuition is nice.

  • Oakland (the area in which Pitt is in) seems to also be kind of sketchy as well. once again though, I would just have to be aware and not be stupid.
  • I think pitt, like ucsb and uw is also focused on the stem side of things, so eh I guess.

Overall.
All these choices are great choices for what I would like to study and I am very glad and fortunate that I am able to select from these great universities. These pros and cons are just ones that I have found after reading other threads and doing research and visiting.

I know I mentioned that all these schools are more stem focused as a con, and I realize when I say that, that all these schools are public research institutions and that is their main goal: research.

Class sizes will not be a problem since I know that at every university the classes start out big but get smaller as you focus more on your major.

Cost/Tuition will not be too much of a factor. Obviously, I wouldn’t want to be stupid and spend $367378637897883, but my parents are in a financial situation in which we can afford these universities, be it in-state or out-of-state. I would just like a university that will give me a good return on investment. In other words, be able to secure me a good job that will allow me to have a good salary.

If there is anything else that you would like to add, please feel free. Just don’t roast me too much.

Thank you!

2

I’m a big fan of both UW and UCSB. Daughter applied to both. Accepted off the waitlist at UCSB and didn’t bother with UW’s waitlist. She attended another school (ASU).

We had heard majors are an issue at UDub. And yes, there is the weather. But I really like the campus. The area around the school didn’t seem too sketchy to me. You have the best of both worlds…campus and near a big city. I have heard weekends can be so so, as a number of people go home on weekends. But it’s a big school, so there has to be plenty happening. You have big time athletics there too.

UCSB is very cool. You can hear the surf break near some of the dorms. IV is a lot of fun, but a little seedy housing wise for my taste. Still, it’s an idyllic place to spend four years, and a very good school. And UCSB made it pretty far into March Madness. No football team, but there are other sports to cheer there.

Then there is the cost. $34K at Pitt vs $56K at UDub and $64K at UCSB. That’s a HUGE difference. $88K and $120K over 4 years difference!

Pitt seems to have a lot going for it. Campus in a mid sized city, good academics, and big time sports.

Sure, your parents could pay for any of these three, but how about striking a deal with them? If you go to Pitt, they pay for grad school with the difference, or give you a very large cash graduation present? It’s better the money goes to you than some impersonal university, right?

3

You do make some valid points. Like mentioned from both of us, that UW approach to the major that they use is the biggest con I see with the school. And you are right , Pitt does have a lot going for it. Theres a point you made and I completely forgot to add…graduate school. I plan on getting a PhD in economics or going for law school, so saving up all that money and going to Pitt really does make sense.
Ah decisions decisions decisions…

4

@paul1 hopefully you’re already aware of this, but at UCSB you weren’t accepted into the Econ major. As the UCs do with many popular majors, you were accepted as a pre-Econ major. In order to get into the actual Econ major you need to complete a few classes with a specified gpa. Given your intention to go onto a PhD this shouldn’t be an issue, if you don’t get top grades in these classes maybe your career aspirations are wrong, but the distinction of accepted for a major or not should still be something you’re aware of.

5

The area around the University of Washington attracts a number of homeless folks so while an unpleasant encounter might happen, the area should not be described as sketchy.

Weather in Seattle is usually overcast & not sunny.

Too many interesting distractions might be a concern about the University of California at Santa Barbara.

6

Thank you. I completely forgot about that I was into the Pre-econ major (It even says it on my letter). I’ll do my best to get the best grades!

7

yeah. like I said I would just have to be aware of what’s around me and not be walking around like a blind mouse.

8

Unless you’re from PIttsburgh, I agree with the person who said saving $88K is a lot. Pitt is great. If you’re, say from Central or Eastern PA, it’s like being in another state. My issue with UW is the traffic around is nuts. It is not ten minutes from downtown. It’s 10 minutes to move a half mile.

Internship wise, the companies in Seattle recruit regionally and nationally - so you’re in competition with everyone from Seattle - but they will go to other schools or seek resumes from other target schools from around the country.

I don’t think you can go wrong with any - but people overlook the stress that overspending costs…even if you can afford it, if there’s a hiccup in the stock market or whatever else, your parents may get stressed.

Also, college costs more than the colleges tell you - so take that into account as well.

Good luck. Congrats on your success.

1 Like
9

Save the money. Go to Pitt. Consider a double major with math. At least a minor in math. You’ll need it for grad school and a doctorate. They’re both in Dietrich so gen ed requirements should be the same. They might even have BS degrees specifically for an Econ/Math or Econ/Stats combo. Pitt’s Econ department is solid, at least it was many years ago when I attended. Good luck.

2 Likes