Yes, she came off the waitlist so not expecting merit. It’s $38k if she gets no merit or aid. We should get her package in the next week and she has to make a decision by 5/15. Of the options, Ursinus likely will be the cheapest.
We should have the Pitt FA package in the next week. She hasn’t considered commuter options. I should also note she got offered work study at SJU ($3k) and Ursinus ($1,500), but I’m not sure if it’s better to take that vs getting a job off campus or in the summer, which she will do anyhow.
Affordability is going to be important here. I would choose from the schools that do not require parent loans.
There are unknown costs moving forward:
Maybe she will get a paid internship but will need some help with moving and travel expenses, etc. My D had a research position in another part of the country and we made multiple trips - moving her in and out, going down to see her presentations etc.
Your D is a biology major. What if she works before heading back to school? She may need some help getting settled- first and last months rent, etc. She may need interview clothes etc.
What if your daughter decides to remain on campus for the summer because she was offered a really great opportunity…but it is not paid? If she has an on-campus job, will that extend to summers?
The list goes on….I would not overextend yourself with parent loans and put yourself in a position where any hidden/additional expense during and after college becomes a source of stress (I apologize if what I am saying is not correct).
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I think the main virtues of Pitt is it has a lot of excellent departments, including but not limited to Bio, so you can change your mind about direction and still get a great degree. And then it is also located right in the middle of a quite nice city. This makes it easy to do all sorts of things off campus, get lots of experience opportunities (including pre-med-type stuff if that remains an interest), and so on. And it has D1 sports if you like that sort of thing.
Obviously Ursinus is not too far from Philly, but it is not right in the middle of everything, which can be a plus or minus depending on what you are looking for. As a small college it will offer more smaller classes and such (particularly in the first couple years), and I am sure you know it has a well-regarded Bio department. But it does not have the depth of electives, labs, and so on a global research university like Pitt offers, and may specifically not be as competitive academically outside Bio.
In the end there is no right or wrong here, but I do sort of think Pitt is the safer choice in terms of flexibility and options. But if she loved Ursinus more, including because she preferred a small college experience, that would be fine too.
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I know you said your daughter was a bio major, was she planning for pre med? If so, is there another major you would recommend that might have better job placement if she doesn’t end up going to med school. We considered public health with a minor in bio. At Lehigh she would’ve been a population health major with a bio minor.
I will PM you.
She loved her major and it worked out for he job wise, school etc…but it is often recommended to do biostats for greater employability.
I would choose Pitt as a stem major.
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I would choose Pitt as well, as long as it is affordable without hardship.
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It depends on what she prefers: Ursinus will offer a close knit community with smaller classes where it’s easy to know the professors, to be appraised of opportunities, to receive support when needed. She could major in Health&Society (~Public Health) and minor in Biostatistics (or switch to anything as she explores)+ if relevant premed pre-reqs. There are several hundreds courses each semester and there’s no problem getting into any of them. All premeds get a special adviser as soon as they start (vs.typically only 3rd year after Orgo) who follows them all 4 years and guarantees them a Committee Letter (all students get one).
Pitt will be larger, looser. She can try and join the Health living learning community (or the Service LLC) to make it somewhat “smaller” and she can send requests to be admitted to honors sections or Honors courses (it’s no longer automatic and at the professor’s discretion). Academically there will be thousands of classes to choose from and much more depth in biology. There will also be some weedout and more competition. Pitt discontinued the use of committee letters; it’s now up to each student to ask a professor with whom they’ve taken a class and stood out and a professor for whom they conducted research.
Everyone recommends Pitt because it is so well-known for anything related to health, but large research universities aren’t for everyone. What matters is what will be the best fit, because a happy student tends to do better. Some students are energized by crowds and competition, others prefer small groups.
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Thank you for summarizing this so nicely. It is going to depend on which school is the better fit for this student, assuming affordability.
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The Lehigh major would struggle too -needs a masters.
Most science/STEM majors - short of math or engineering - will likely (but not definitely) have low paying or grad school outcomes. But if that’s what she wants to study - or she’s pre-med, it’s ok. I mean, you should study what interests you.
btw - forget Lehigh - there’s little chance they’re taking you since they meet need, you have need, and they’ll be looking for someone who doesn’t.
if she wants to study public health (which will have a lot of bio), that’s fine too. For pre-med, she’d have to take certain classes no matter the major - which could be whatever she chooses.
I appreciate all the responses here and will provide an update when we get the Pitt financial aid offer. Thanks!
Edited to add that I shared all the feedback with my daughter and she is heavily leaning Pitt.
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Update: As suspected, no merit from Pitt. She only got the $5,500 in loans ($3,500 subsidized and $2,000 unsubsidized). Now she’s completely set on Pitt and thinks it is the right fit. It will be $37k per year in state and I realize that will go up. We are going to have her take the student loans and try to pay the rest without taking any parent loans.
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Before there were three schools. Why does she feel like PItt is the right choice?
Hopefully you can swing it.
Best of luck.
Thanks! She ruled out SJU because it was only slightly less than Pitt and was concerned about their bio program. Then she weighed Ursinus vs Pitt and decided she wanted a larger research university.
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I’d be interested to hear how she likes Pitt.
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