Pittsburgh basically specializes these days in shocking visitors who are expecting steel mills, and instead they find all these incredible green spaces and historic architecture and such. The Cathedral of Learning is one of my favorite academic buildings anywhere, and that part of Oakland was designed in general as a “civic center” with pretty great overall success.
Anyway, I don’t know if the OP has actually visited Pittsburgh, but if not, I would definitely consider a visit to both Pitt and CMU. Again, they are adjacent but different, and both definitely have their appeal.