Pitt vs Umich

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I’ve been accepted to both the University of Michigan and the University of Pittsburgh. The final cost of tuition at the University of Michigan is about $32k and the final cost of tuition at Pitt is $0. I will be studying statistics and intend to pursue a masters degree. I know that Michigan is a very good school with good connections and has a very good statistics program, however Pitt isn’t a bad school either. Would Michigan be worth all that extra money? Thanks

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Pitt #5

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We can’t answer that without knowing more about your family’s financial situation. For some families, this amount of spending was fully budgeted and represents no hardship. For others, it’s impossible or nearly so.

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Can your family comfortably afford UM and the Master’s degree you plan on getting (no loans/no hardship)? If the answer is yes then go to your preferred college. If attending UM means taking on loans for the difference then I’d go to Pitt.

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For context, I have a college fund that would be enough to almost cover Umich. That would also leave no money for grad school

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For context, I have a college fund that would be enough to almost cover Umich. That would also leave no money for grad school.

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I think Pitt is underrated, but given the college fund - I would attend Michigan if it were me.

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pitt is the clear choice imo, free school is free school! that would save you money for grad school and you can’t forget that pitt is also a great school and is great for statistics.

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On top of tuition, will your college fund also cover 4 years cost of living (rent, utilities, groceries, clothes, tech)? If not, would you consider getting an on- or off-campus job to cover some of those expenses – 10-15 hours/week? Either choice is possible as long as you go in with open eyes!

This is also a good time to think about how important is it to you to have the option to join extra activities like a summer/semester abroad, spring break trip, Greek dues, etc.

If you think you could get into a PhD program for grad school, that should be paid (not well), and I think some people end up leaving with a master’s after a couple years if they don’t want to finish the degree

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The fund would cover tuition room and board and cost of living yes

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Did you get into Pitt Honors?

Have you visited either school?

If you were talking Ross or CS definitely Michigan. For undergrad stats…

A Pitt stats degree plus a $125k in the bank for grad school sounds pretty good. Pair that with a double major in marketing or finance and you’re really good. Might not be able to do that at UMich. Ross is hard to get into.

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Where OP will start with stats, he’ll pick up some CS, some Data Science, some AI.
Michigan is a great school for that. Seems his folks + Mr Market did a great job with the
529 Plan (I wish more people maxed out their contributions for 18 years).

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