Help: Deciding between University of Virginia and U. of Pittsburgh

[Edamat]

I was hoping some of you guys would have insights into these two schools and which I should choose. U. of Pittsburgh is "higher ranked" but I'm a virginia resident and would be saving roughly $40,000 if I attended U.Va. Are the experiences, education, location, and student body (i.e. how happy/content students are), etc. to be gained at Pitts. worth it? Any suggestions would be helpful, seeing that I'm pretty clueless and torn between the two. (Also, classes run from 8-12p at U.Va. and I think class time is longer at Pitts - is this a good thing or bad? Any comments?) Thanks guys!

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[Droopy Snoopy]

Guess you have to ask yourself how much you're willing to pay for a couple of artificially contrived ranking points. $40,000? That's almost a Range Rover, man!

 

[-Goose-]

Guess you have to ask yourself how much you're willing to pay for a couple of artificially contrived ranking points. $40,000? That's almost a Range Rover, man!

Not quite these days, but maybe after some of that interest racks up...

OP, to me, this decision is a no-brainer. I made a similar decision last year (my state school over higher-ranked OOS schools) and never looked back.

Med school is *mostly* what you make of it. If you suck, you'll suck at Pitt just as much as you would suck at UVa.

What about the environment of these two schools? Totally different cities/distractions (or lack thereof). Where would you be happier?

 

[Dookter]

Before someone else says it, I will go ahead: Wait until you get your finaid letter. According to budget sheets, Duke would cost $20,000 more than my state school for year one alone. In the end, it is about $6,000 less. So that $40,000 figure you've got might not be right at all.

 

[Kazema]

As much as I love Pittsburgh and hear a lot of good things about their school, 8-12 classes are pretty great.

Try to figure out what's important to you (yeah I know that you don't really know yet at this point) but stuff to think about are how competitive an environment you feel most comfortable in, what kind of city you enjoy (I love Pittsburgh), whether you have friends/family nearby, etc.

 

[BaylorGuy]

Not quite these days, but maybe after some of that interest racks up...

OP, to me, this decision is a no-brainer. I made a similar decision last year (my state school over higher-ranked OOS schools) and never looked back.

Med school is *mostly* what you make of it. If you suck, you'll suck at Pitt just as much as you would suck at UVa.

What about the environment of these two schools? Totally different cities/distractions (or lack thereof). Where would you be happier?

I totally agree. I made the same decision. I actually passed up on UVa for a state school...saved me about $40000 per year because i would have gotten out of state tuition...never looked back ever since.

The fact of the matter is that if UVA is below UPitt (which i honestly believe isn't), its by a couple of very random points that has something to do with NIH research dollars or what not. Keep in mind that UVA is still a top 20 school with great board scores and great physicians. I would save myself the $40000/year and go to UVA...you wouldn't go wrong.

 

[ilovehedgehogs]

UVa!!!

 

[JDWflash44]

I agree with the poster that said wait for fin aid letters. I got into Pitt and was offered a nice scholarship, you dont know which one is going to be cheaper until the spring.

 

[daeojkim]

Higher ranking based on what? US News World Reports? I find it funny that so many take that ranking as the Gold Standard.

To OP's Q. It's no brainer. UVA. Go to your state school, unless you get into "real" big name school.

 

[Uvault05]

I'd have to agree with d-kim here, especially since UVA is one of the most elite state schools (not quite top 20, but very close), but I have nothing but great things to say about UVA/Charlottesville. Of course, I'm ridiculously biased since I'm now an MI at UVA. I also went here for u-grad, so PM me if you've got any specific Q's about the school or area

As someone else mentioned above--it's certainly worth it to wait until those financial offers come in. I'm guessing that UVA will still end up cheaper (in the tens of thousands), but I can't be sure about that.