Help me pick? UofPitt v. American v. Hofstra

College Search & Lists
1

<p>Unfortunately, I like all of my colleges and have realized that I would be happy at all of them. I can picture myself at all 3 that I am seriously considering (U of Pittsburgh, Hofstra and American) based on attainable tuition and decent academic programs.
First:
–My major: International Relations (or PoliSci) AND Economics (I want to be a diplomat or in the foreign service)
–I want a program with:
lots of languages, lots of internship opportunities
–The cost:
my parents will pay up to $25k, and I will take out the Stafford Unsub loan of $5.5k each year (so about $30.5k is my limit/year)</p>

<p>I’ll break down my top pick just so It’s clear what I’m really looking for in a college (Barnard college, waitlisted, yearly price for me is unknown but probably too much):
–small, great looking campus, but has the access to Columbia and therefore all the resources of a large research university
–competitive admissions=more dedicated students
–NYC=city (I love cities), the resources that come along with the city (and Barnard uses them well), and the internship/work-study opportunities that come along with NYC and the proximity to the UN
–commitment to diversity
–great polisci and economics programs and access to columbia’s 5 year BA+ SIPA degree (School of International and Public Affairs)</p>

<p>And the colleges are:
U of Pittsburgh:
–Honors college (I can supplement my major with a Bac of Philos, take honors classes, honors dorm)
–PoliSci and Economics majors are great, area studies are top 10 in US
–U of Pitt is world ranked (114)
–atmosphere/campus = 9/10
–students “go-getter-ness” = 8/10
–access to international relations interships = 6/10
–study abroad opportunities=8/10 (seems a little harder to organize than other schools)
–automatic admission into their graduate program for International and Public Affairs
–cost= $21k (loan included)</p>

<p>Hofstra:
–Honors college (honors classes, the honors college will pay for basically any activity you want to do like “field trips” for the honors college ex. They paid for avatar in 3D)
–PoliSci and Economics majors are decent, they even have a class at the UN
–up and coming college, the site of the 2008 presidential debates and they’re pretty certain they have the 2012 ones too
–atmosphere/campus=10/10 (15 minutes from beaches on long island, 30 minutes by train to NYC and I REALLY love NYC)
–student “go-getter-ness”=8/10
–access to international relations internships=8/10
–study abroad opportunities=9/10
–a lot of graduates from the honors college get into top schools like Harvard, Yale, Columbia, etc.
–cost=$23k (loan included)</p>

<p>American University:
–university college (living learning communities, share the same dorm floor, have a 2 week pre-college research project at the library congress or something else cool, seminars + 2nd semester research in the topic of the seminar)
–School of International Service and Economics majors are good (small, less known college but the classes and faculty are great)
–small, unknown except for in D.C. and for it’s Public Affairs and International Relations stuff
–atmosphere/campus=9/10 (basically on embassy row, 30 minutes from everything in D.C., residential campus)
–student “go-getter-ness”=8/10
–access to international relations internships=10/10
–study abroad opportunities=9/10
–I don’t know how successful the graduates normally are
–cost=$24k (loan included)</p>

<p>I also got into:
NYU (I don’t know how much it’ll cost now, but if it’s under $25k I’ll go there without a question),
Colgate ($42k/year with loan, may be affordable when my sister goes to college next year, as far as access to international relations opportunities goes—not too great but I love the location and college),
U of Richmond ($45k/year with loan, haven’t seen the campus, won’t go there),
U of Washington ($30k/year, haven’t seen the campus, pretty far from home),
SUNY Binghamton (under $20k/year, don’t like it, won’t go there)
SUNY Stony Brook (SUNY tuition=under $20k/year + a $3k/year scholarship and honors college 1/60 spots, kinda far away from NYC and the campus is really huge)
Waiting for Brown and Yale, not really expecting to get into either</p>

2

<p>DD loves Pitt and is studying Japanese. Something to keep in mind is that Pitt is on what I would call a trimester. They only have two weeks off at Christmas, which means they will finish May 1. The advantage as I see it is that you have nearly four months off in the summer to do internships or study abroad. I am not familiar with your other choices.</p>

3

<p>U of PITT, I would just choose it because of engineering department and big name sports.</p>

4

<p>Just don’t go to Hofstra… whatever you do. It sounds like you might be OOS, and if you are, take it from a local… Hofstra is High School Part II for every single mediocre high school student on Long Island. And it is NOT in NYC… It’s in Hempstead… which is one of the most, for lack of a better term, ghetto towns on Long Island.</p>

5

<p>^Seconded. American and Pitt both sound like good choices… maybe find out more about what the graduates at American go on to do?</p>

6

<p>I agree with Nervous, don’t go to hofstra…</p>

7

<p>Pitt is by far your best alternative right now. But…</p>

<p>WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT GO TO HOFSTRA!!!</p>

8

<p>OP: Congratulations on your acceptances. </p>

<p>I don’t know too much about Hofstra, so I won’t comment on it. </p>

<p>However, D1 is currently a junior majoring in International Studies at American University, and D2 is a HS senior who’s been accepted at Pitt’s Honors college and Pitt is one of the top two schools on her list. </p>

<p>We’ve visited Pitt a few times and are very impressed with the school, itself, as well as the students that we’ve met there. The city of Pittsburgh seems like a great (and relatively affordable) place to go to school. The professors, Admissions and Honors College staff that D has dealt with have been welcoming and helpful. I agree that you would get a good education through (I assume) majoring in Intl. Relations with the B. Phil. degree in the Honors College. </p>

<p>However, if your decision rests mainly on the relative strength of the academic programs, then I think that American University comes out ahead. After all, AU has not just an International Studies major, but an entire School of International Service. A few years back, Foreign Policy Magazine rated American Univesity undergraduate School of International Service programs as number 11 in the nation (it also rated S.I.S.'s Graduate programs number 8). The Washington, DC location is also a huge plus: Many of the AU students are able to maintain a regular courseload during the fall and spring semesters while, at the same time, doing an internship for various government and non-govt. organizations. Also, while AU isn’t located in the heart of DC, there are shuttle buses running many times each day between campus and the nearest Metro stop, so it’s very easy to get around the city. </p>

<p>There are a couple of additional factors to consider: </p>

<p>1.) You mentioned that your scholarship from Pitt is for “full-tuition”, as opposed to a fixed number. So, obviously, as the Pitt tuition goes up from year to year, so will your scholarship. From what you wrote about AU, I can’t tell whether the scholarship you received is expressed as a portion of tuition (i.e., “half-tuition” ) or as a fixed number (ex. an annual scholarship for $20,000). There’s a significant difference between the two. When D1 was accepted to AU, back in '07, she was offered a $15k annual scholarship. We initially thought that was great, back when the total COA (Cost of Attendance) there was in the low-to-mid 40s. However, a couple of years (and a couple of annual tuition increases) later, the COA has gone above 50K and that $15K doesn’t go nearly as far in covering her expenses.</p>

<p>2.) What minimum GPA, if any, do you have to maintain, in order to keep your scholarship? I believe at Pitt, you have to maintain a 3.0 GPA, which seems pretty reasonable. However, at some other schools, including IIRC NYU, you need to maintain a higher GPA. I don’t know what the minimum is at AU, (I think it might be 3.25, but don’t quote me as I’m really not sure). But this is also something you will want to check on, and keep it in mind as you make your decision.</p>

<p>I hope that this helps. Best of luck to you in making your decision!:)</p>

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<p>Momonthehill makes great points and she is correct about the 3.0 requirement for Pitt’s full tuition scholarship. The guaranteed grad school GPA is 3.5, however, for Pitt.</p>

10

<p>^MD Mom - Thanks for the correction. I didn’t realize that the “guaranteed grad. school” required gpa is higher (D2 didn’t apply to any of the those particular programs), although given what the student is getting in return, it does make sense.</p>

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<p>That 3.5 is for the international studies grad program–whatever it is called. I think the guaranteed med school GPA is even higher.</p>

12

<p>thanks for the great input, but i would like to address a couple of things:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>"You mentioned that your scholarship from Pitt is for “full-tuition”
I did not state full tuition scholarship. I did receive a $10,000/year scholarship at Pitt, making the cost approximately $26,000 (though that’s using last year’s tuition), and when I take out a loan it will cost $20,500/year.
At American, I received a $18,000/year scholarship (though you are correct, the cost is about $48,000/year) and when I take out the same loan for Pitt (stafford unsub) it will be $24,500/year</p></li>
<li><p>I am aware that there are GPA minimums to retain honors standing and automatic entrance into Pitt’s SIPA program. However, I am not planning on dropping that low. I am an honors student and work very hard. I am aware that college is a lot harder, but I am also planning on putting in the extra effort and study time.</p></li>
<li><p>I have visited Hofstra a couple of times(I am in-state, but from Rochester–the complete opposite side of NY). The surrounding town is actually quite upscale (Garden City, though I know Plainview, etc. is not quite as upscale, however it still doesn’t approach anything “ghetto”). The continuation of high school is also interesting, though as far as i know high school continues forever. The honors students at Hofstra seemed very academic and reasonable–quite the same as those at Pitt or American. I probably won’t go there, just because of the resources of American but I still believe Hofstra gets a harder rap than it deserves.</p></li>
</ol>

13

<p>^Sorry about the error in misreading the Pitt scholarship amount. The point about taking likely future tuition increases into account is still worth considering, IMO. Once again, good luck with your decision.</p>

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<p>I live about fifteen minutes away from Hofstra. I know Garden City extremely well. It is gorgeous, upscale, and very wealthy; Hofstra is not in Garden City. (Perhaps you are thinking of Adelphi.) Hofstra is in Hempstead, New York, which is near to Garden City, but certainly NOT Garden City. It’s probably on the total opposite end of the spectrum. It is right on the border of Uniondale, which is only good for Nassau Coliseum… The residential areas of Uniondale are also not-so-nice. Plainview is absolutely nowhere near Hempstead, Garden City, or Uniondale. It’s on the other side of Nassau County entirely.</p>

<p>As for the continuation of high school… I’ll only say that honors students comprise a very small population of the student body at Hofstra, and the rest are your typical C students from Long Island who couldn’t find anywhere better to go. Perhaps in Rochester the attitude is different, but to the locals, Hofstra is a school where you do not want to be. You’d fare much better at Pitt or American, especially with you academic qualifications.</p>

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<p>Lol, I love how so many people jumped on this thread to pick on Hofstra (I’m one of them). :slight_smile:
Anyway, if American is going to cost your parents 24,500 and the tuition is going to increase over the next few years, won’t you stop being able to pay for it? So Pitt seems safer financially…</p>

16

<p>I would definitely choose Pitt. Don’t choose a school because it’s near New York–NYC will always be there, whereas college life is something you can only love and leave. American would be my second choice. But really, Pitt sounds the best to me.</p>