College Help? Pitt, PSU, Ohio U, UCONN, SUNY Buffalo or OSU?

Question

My kid wants a big school, but doesn't care whether it's in the city or country. Planning on premed/biosciences as a major. Got into all of these schools, but can't make a decision even after college visits (loved UCONN, but the nonresident cost is too high). She originally was thinking about pharmacy, but when I pointed out that Ohio U and PSU don't have pharmacy she didn't want to drop them from the list. AAARRRGH. Can you give some info on these schools that would help weed down the list? If you go to any of them, would you recommend your school to her?

Answer 1

These are all very respectable schools that each have a large choice of majors. This list is a lot more sensible than most of the ones I've seen. At least the schools on this list are similar.... I don't think that any one of them has any particular advantage over any of the others, so I would send her to the cheapestone. In state, if possible. There is no real point in paying more to get the same thing.

Answer 2

If she doesn't know what she really wants to do yet, don't worry too much. She needs a good pre-med department, that's it. Pharmacy requires a masters degree anyway.

She needs to make the decision not only based on the school, but also based on which schools make her feel most at home. If it's out of state, I would HIGHLY recommend bumping that to the bottom of the list. Going into college in debt isn't going to help her out.

Personally I would go to a college located in a town. I've done the big schools in the country and city, and I've done the private school. A college in a city helps with jobs available, as well as safety.

Answer 3

I know you mentioned that you thought UConn was too expensive, but it has a great program. They building a lot there and always adding new things. They also have a 6 year pharmacy program if she changes her mind so you graduate with 2 degrees and can become a pharmacist right away. I have quite a few friends who go there for premed and they all love it and feel that they are well prepared for med school.

Answer 4

Go with the cheapest college for the program(s) she's interested in. Despite what the "experts" might say, college pedigree REALLY doesnt matter when it comes to job hunting, and big schools that offer the larges variety would be best. There's no gaurantee that she's going to stick with the med-science field once she gets going. During those first few years when you have to take all the history-government-humanities crap she might switch educational goals altoghether and a large school with variety will reduce the potential 'transfer-and-will-my-credits-count' headache.

Hope this helps!

Answer 5

Because so many kids flunk out the first year, including myself, I told my kids that their first 1-2 years would be at a local college. Then, they could continue at any institution when they were more prepared to be totally independent. They would stay at, or near home and make the transition/passage to independence more gradual. This has taken the intense pressures of the 1st year off their shoulders and saved our family thousands in wasted college funds.

Answer 6

There are many, many things to consider, but here are some hints:

1. Academic reputation: the school's reputation will reflect on her for the rest of her life. It will also partially determine graduate/professional school acceptance and future job opportunities. While ratings are very subjective and controversial, people still refer to them.

2. Cost: Private schools are almost always more expensive, but some inexpensive public schools rank nationally. Different public schools have different residency policies. When I went to graduate school, I was out-of-state, but got the resident tuition after only a year. Some states (Michigan, Pennsylvania) will *never* grant residency if the student came to the state primarily for education.

3. Location: There can be major advantages to the student to being close to home--emotional support, less homesickness, academic help, someplace to go on holidays, etc. A dramatic change in climate might make adjustment difficult. Even regional accent could make a difference if it is different from the prospective student's accent (imagine a New Yorker in, say, Georgia).

4. Quality of college town: A nice college town can mean the difference between isolated misery and a full, memorable college life. Some schools are in terrible neighborhoods, places you would otherwise never send your child. In general, the smaller the city, the safer the campus.

5. Retention: No point in sending a kid off to college if she is unlikely to graduate. Smaller, private schools tend to have the best retention.

Now, let's look at her specific choices with respect to these five categories.

1. Academic reputation.

According to US and World Report, these schools rank as follows: Penn State (47), Ohio State/Pitt (tied at 57), UConn (67), Ohio University (110), SUNY Buffalo (120).

2. Cost (total estimated cost, living on campus)

SUNY Buffalo $15,893 / $22,153
Ohio University $18,591 / $27,555
Penn State $20,924 / $31,472
Ohio State $21,378 / $33,273
Pitt $23,408 / $32,726
UConn $17,353 / $30,553

3. Location

I do not know where you live, so I will defer.

4. Quality of college town

Since crime is such an important quality-of-life issue, we can judge the campuses based on crime rates. Sperling's places rated site judges violent crime on a 1-10 scale with 10 being more crime. College cities are ranked below.

U Conn (Storrs, CT) 1
Ohio University (Athens, OH) 2
Penn State (State College, PA) 2
Pitt (Pittsburgh, PA) 2
SUNY Buffalo (Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY) 3
Ohio State (Columbus, OH) 4

AreaConnect.com gives actual crime rates. Using their data, I ranked the cities based on sum of robbery and rape rates:

U Conn (Storrs, CT) unlisted
Penn State (State College, PA) 19 (per 100K people)
Ohio University (Athens, OH) 60
Pitt (Pittsburgh, PA) 524
Ohio State (Columbus, OH) 588
SUNY Buffalo (Buffalo, NY) 653

5. Retention Rates

Graduation rates after six years (or less) as reported by the schools:

Penn State 79.9%
Ohio State 71%
Ohio University 71%
U Conn 69.5%
Pitt 64.7%
SUNY Buffalo 59%

Conclusion: Based on the crime rate alone, I'd rule out Buffalo. I think the 3 on Sperling's is skewed by the inclusion of Niagara Falls, and the rape/robbery rate in Buffalo is highest by far. On the other end, UConn, Ohio, and Penn State look good.

Academically, Penn State is ranked highest, but I think that the top four are pretty close. SUNY Buffalo and Ohio University are significantly lower.

As far as retention, Penn State has the highest graduation rate, and I think it really stands out from the crowd. The next three are about even. SUNY Buffalo again is at the bottom.

The wild cards are location and cost (which are related, of course). If the non-resident cost of UConn is too high, you might have trouble paying the non-resident costs at any of these schools (with the possible exception of SUNY Buffalo).

Recommendation: Excluding cost, I think that Penn State stands out as the best choice. If you live in Pennsylvania, it is the definite choice. If you live in Ohio and have to choose between OSU and Ohio because of cost, I'd suggest OSU based on academic strength (will help her get into medical school). However, when she moves off campus, I'd suggest you give her a car to reduce the risk of her being a crime victim. If you do not live in either of these states, I'd go with with Penn State; it's expensive for non-residents, but it's cheaper than Ohio State and U Conn. I did not look into residency policies, but that could also be a huge factor because of its influence on cost. My experience is that you'll be paying non-resident tuition in Pennsylvania for all four years if you don't live there. If your daughter has a chance for getting residency after a year or two, UConn or OSU might actually be your best choice.

I hope this helps.

Answer 7

I had a bunch of friends who went to Ohio State, and loved it. They loved their college more than most college students I know. haha. Also, they graduated from the nursing school there. I don't know if that helps.

Out of state tuition is the worst....and sometimes the pains of college tuition overshadow's the fun of college if she has to get a loan (my situation.) ....so, if she can go instate, get the education she needs....go for it.

Answer 8

being that students change their minds about their majors while in undergrad numerous times, i would say tell your daughter to attend an institution that is greared towards liberal arts. that way, if she changes her mind about her major she wont have a problem. also make you consider career placement post graduation, classroom size, whether or not the classes are taught by actual professors or teaching assistants, etc. these are just some things to consider. hope this helps.

Answer 9

Pitt http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_pittsburgh
Penn State http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_State
Ohio U http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Ohio
UConn http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UCONN
Suny Buffalo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SUNY_Buffalo
Ohio State http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_state
Michigan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Michigan
URI http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Rhode_Island

I added the two other schools because they are large school with great pharmacy programs and are big schools (well URI is more of a medium size school)

and you can check http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php

All those school are good.


Oh yeah - Class of 88 BA URI and 94 MA URI
Good Luck Dad!!!

Answer 10

Is money a factor? Do you live in the state of any of the schools, because the tuition varies DRAMATICALLY on in-state & out-of-state tuition.