Where to apply within proximity to Pittsburgh?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>My son will be a senior in HS this year and will graduate in top 5% of his class and got a 1960 on his SAT on the first attempt (1330 CR and M)
He wants to stay with 4-5 hours of home which is about 40 minutes west of Pittsburgh,PA.
He def wants to go for science and math related but undecided on a major. I think he should try Physics.</p>

<p>We will apply to Pitt and Penn State and as a reach Bucknell and Carnegie Mellon and Case Western. WVU as a safety. </p>

<p>Our EFC is zero and we need the most financial aid possible. </p>

<p>so my question is...What other schools should we be looking at that might provide substantial aid?</p>

<p>his older brother will be going to Pitt and didnt get very much aid and I hate that he will be buried in debt but he really wanted to go there instead of WVU. ( I made the mistake of applying to too many reach schools) </p>

<p>any help is appreciated!</p>

2

<p>Obvious safeties would be Slippery Rock and CalU, where he’d get into the Honors College and get merit aid, or Miami (not sure about FA though).
What about Duquesne, Washington&Jefferson, Wooster, Allegheny?
For financial aid, Denison or Oberlin are quite generous (with EFC 0 they may be good reaches along with CM, CW, etc). Penn State is horrible for FA so it’d probably be impractical.
Check out Davis&Elkins, he would qualify for merit aid for sure and they’d likely complement his FA package as he’d be a desirable applicant.
If he’s willing to go as far as Bucknell, what about Juniata (superb for science, generous for aid) or Dickinson (also great for science and FA)?</p>

3

<p>Indiana U, Ohio State, Syracuse?</p>

4

<p>Unfortunately the stats of the OP’s son are not high enough to get aid at those schools. I would definitely look at the true PA state schools like Slippery Rock. Their costs are siginificantly below Penn State and Pitt.</p>

5

<p>Ohio University [The</a> Gateway Award Program: Ohio University Admissions](<a href=“http://www.ohio.edu/admissions/gateway/]The”>http://www.ohio.edu/admissions/gateway/)</p>

<p>Miami Ohio [University</a> Merit Scholarships | Miami Scholarships | Scholarships | High School Students | Financial Aid | Admission | Miami University](<a href=“Costs, Scholarships, and Financial Aid | Miami University”>Costs, Scholarships, and Financial Aid | Miami University)</p>

<p>U Cincinnati <a href=“Student Financial Aid - About UC | University of Cincinnati”>Student Financial Aid - About UC | University of Cincinnati;

6

<p>thanks for your replies…ED when u said “those schools” were u talking about Ind,Syr and OSU?</p>

7

<p>I think OP’s son has a definite shot at Davis&Elkins Honors, W&J, Wooster, Allegheny, and Duquesne. Slippery Rock and CalU are definite safeties (even with the honors program and scholarships). Juniata is a match, Dickinson either a match or a reach, Denison and Oberlin reaches but since they’re looking for greater socio economic diversity EFC 0 may help him there.
OP, tuition at CAL U, for example, is roughly $3,000 a semester sticker price for PA residents - and your son can get scholarships based on his stats so net price would be much less.</p>

8

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<p>cvavmv, where do you live? WVa?</p>

<p>OOS public universities often are not the best choices for high-need applicants.</p>

9

<p>40 minutes west of Pitt is either PA or OH. Very close to the line. I’m guessing PA based on the initial schools listed.</p>

<p>…and yes, out of state publics rarely come up with much need-based aid. In addition to the schools suggested I’d also look at Allegheny.</p>

10

<p>Maybe Cook Honors College at Indiana University of Pennsylvania - a low cost option.</p>

11

<p>A friend and her husband (both from the Pittsburgh area) went to Clarion University and liked it.</p>

12

<p>With a 0 efc, Penn State is unaffordable even if you get into its honors program. You get: (per year)
5550 Pell Grant
5500 Federal Loans
3990 Pennsylvania State Grant
4000 honors college aid (if you get into the program)</p>

<p>You are left with a 8000 gap. </p>

<p>Pitt’s honors college requires a 1400 on M+R.</p>

13

<p>OP, I meant the colleges in post #3. You also need to carefully look at each school. Xtremepower is right Penn State is unaffordable, but still doesn’t have the numbers right. The Penn State Grant is only offered to PA residents.<br>

[Pennsylvania</a> State Grant Program: Prepare](<a href=“http://www.pheaa.org/funding-opportunities/state-grant-program/prepare.shtml]Pennsylvania”>PA State Grant Program: Prepare)</p>

<p>The gap is near $12K or greater. You’ll need to check what scholarships are available for each school.</p>

14

<p>This mom’s Pitt son has a $10k per year gap that can’t get covered. The family needs to find schools where family contribution is nothing or close to nothing.</p>

15

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<p>No they aren’t, financially at least. But WVU is a haven for kids from the northeast who can’t cut it at their state institutions, and in some cases their OOS tuition is less than in-state at other places. In fact, if the University of Southern Pennsylvania stuck it to the OOSers tuition-wise like other schools do, their enrollment would drop by half. OP’s son, with his stats, can do way, way better. I would look at Ohio University’s Gateway Award program. S1 applied there and got $$$, but decided on Marshall University in the end - they have a specialized program in his major that OU didn’t, and the in-state FA was better.</p>

16

<p>My S’12’s stats were not quite as good as OP’s and Wooster, Wittenberg, Allegheny, Adrian and DePauw all offered packages with a lower net cost than any our own Ohio state schools offered.</p>

17

<p>You may want to look at Earlham College. We were just there this weekend. They offer a strong financial package and are supposed to be great in the sciences, and that school is 5 hours drive from Pittsburgh.</p>