Hi! I’m Courtney and I’m facing an incredibly tough decision. While I feel like NYU is where I will fit in the best, I feel silly turning down such a great opportunity PITT granted me with. With the money my parents have saved, if I go to PITT I could get an apartment after school, travel or even pay for my graduate degree. But, I’ve always wanted to go to NYU and I have the means to pay for my undergraduate degree there.
How crucial is a graduate degree in the Environmental Engineering field?
How do the intern/study abroad opportunities differ?
Thank you for your time and advice!
A graduate degree is relatively more important in Environmental Engineering than in Civil or MechE.
Did you get into the HOnors College?
Think (and talk with your parents about): if you attend Pitt, you can look for internships in New York City and spend all summers there, with a paid apartment and either a stipend from your college fund (if the internship’s unpaid) or plenty of money to enjoy the city.
Check out whether it’s possible to study abroad for engineering majors.
Have you visited and done an overnight at both?
Does “full scholarship” at Pitt mean “full ride” (tuition, fees, room, board) or “full tuition” (tuition, fees)?
Nevertheless, the difference between $72,000 per year at NYU and $0 to $14,000 per year at Pitt comes to $232,000 to $288,000 over four years (not including tuition and other cost increases). Unless your parents are made of money, that is a very large amount.
Agree. Unless your family is wealthy, this does not seem like an “incredibly tough decision” at all.
@ucbalumnus yes, full ride including $2,000 study abroad allowance and room and board. @sevmom I know it does not seem tough but I see myself at NYU considering my personality, I think it is a place I will thrive, however I have heard negative things about NYU’s engineering program. But thank you for your input!
@MYOS1634 thank you! This was a helpful suggestion, originally my first choice school was University of Southern California so my plan before I found out I was accepted to NYU was to go to PITT for undergrad and use the money to either settle in Cal. and get a job or go to grad school at USC. I have not seen either in person but I will be visiting both within the month!
@MYOS1634 also, no I am not in the Honors College. If I apply for it my 2,3 and 4th year do you think that will increase my chances of finding employment?
Honors college is not about finding employment. It’s about improving your college experience : smaller classes, driven and accomplished classmates, classes taught by professors who know you and then can write good recomlendations, special advising especially for national fellowships and research, better housing…
Since you got a full ride I’m guessing you have high stats (act34+?) and you should get into the honors college if your essays are good. Email the Dean of the honors college, lay out your stats, number of honors+ap classes, academic achievements, favorite books that you’d love to discuss in the first year honors class…
Keep in mind, you wouldn’t be going to NYU. You would be going to Polytechnic Institute, a separate college in Brooklyn purchased by NYU and rebranded as their own.
You must be pretty smart to have earned that Pitt scholarship. Too smart to throw away $300,000. This is really not a tough decision.
OP, congrats. You have a fantastic option which will make your future so much smoother in so many ways.
Full ride at Pitt is an amazing opportunity. A friend of mine actually got the same offer, and is also an engineering major. Her dream school I believe was Brown (she would’ve studied something different)- she got in, but declined for the full ride. Not only does she love Pitt, she also loved her study abroad experience in Sweden. I would highly recommend it, especially as you want to save for grad school.
I know the money seems like such an abstract concept right now and it’s probably easier to justify spending the extra money now, before you’re paying bills or seeing how much you’ll actually make entry-level, or how much grad school costs, or what your take-home pay will be… but NO school is worth $72k more, A YEAR. The $288,000 over 4 years is literally an entire home- not a down payment, a HOME. Alternatively, it is an obscene amount invested for your retirement, or helping you afford living in California… that is so much money. Consider it in terms of return on investment. For approx. $0 at Pitt, you get: a bachelor’s degree in engineering, a study abroad experience, likely full-time hire postgrad. For approx. $300k at NYU, you get: a bachelor’s degree in engineering, likely full-time hire postgrad (but one at the same level as any Pitt grad). Why pay SO MUCH more for the same thing?
For what it’s worth, I think “fit” is largely a bunch of bologna. It makes sense to talk about in terms of an aspiring frat star not applying to a tiny academic LAC, but when the schools are as large as Pitt and NYU-- there are so many people that the diversity in types of people, interests, extracurriculars, etc. make it almost certain you will find your niche no matter what.
“Fit” is very relevant, but the biggest aspects of “fit” are the price and academic offerings. Since both have the desired academic offerings, the $288,000 difference makes Pitt “fit” a lot better than NYU.
The amount of savings makes Pitt the obvious choice here. While NYU is a good university, it’s not tops in engineering. (Even if it was, it wouldn’t be worth $288K more unless your parents have money to throw around.)
Go to Pitt and save the money for something that will really make a difference in your life after college.
I have a son trying to make a similar decision and saw your thread. Full disclosure - I am a Carnegie Mellon engineering grad (it was a long time ago). After CMU, I spent a decade as a consulting engineer - working for one of the largest environmental engineering firms in the US. If you are pursuing environmental engineering – a grad degree is almost a necessity. Pitt is an excellent school with a strong sciences program – Pitt’s medical school is top tier. A thought regarding Pitt – CMU is next door and under a 15 minute walk from most of Pitt’s campus. I believe that you can cross-register and take classes at CMU as well (so if Pitt doesn’t have something you want …you may be able to get it at CMU). The area is a great place to go to college and Pittsburgh is a wonderful city.