Hot Listing: University of Pittsburgh

Much like wearing four-inch Christian Louboutins to the supermarket on a Tuesday morning, attending a “city” college can read as bold, glamorous, idiosyncratic. Similarly, it often comes with some stark - and potentially uncomfortable - trade-offs. 

Many times, you don’t get an enclosed campus or tight community. It’s super expensive, both to study and to live. There isn’t a palpable, unified sense of school spirit. There is a feeling of detachment from the experience of college, and sometimes: a cultural coldness. Your life can prematurely drift into that of a 25-year-old junior copy editor - one with a measly salary who routinely puts Top Ramen on her parents’ credit card. 

But the University of Pittsburgh seems - rather remarkably - to have escaped these trade-offs. 

The sheer, 1920s regalness of their campus belies a community teeming with energy and togetherness and passion - and one that is markedly diverse. I saw every conceivable type of person over the 48 hours I was decamped there - from pink-haired art students to Vuitton-clutching sorority girls. Every self was everywhere. 

And shockingly, they all appear to get along and have a good time together. Students seem to gather at the numerous centralized green spaces on campus, which give the environs cohesion, and the community a tighter, tactile vibe. Schenley Plaza was my chosen pitch, where more than one spikeball landed on my copy of Vogue, prompting kind regrets from the offending athletes. 

The niceness, and down-to-earth approachability of the people, initially caught me off guard - I forgot that Pittsburgh is Midwest adjacent. But tons of random students and faculty said “hello” to me as I rolled out for my morning coffee. Do note: I live in Boston, where most people only talk to their neighbors to threaten them about their errant leaves and lax sorting of recyclables. 

There is also Pitt gear everywhere. Like everywhere. People obviously love the place, almost obsessionally. It’s also a bonafide D1 athletics powerhouse - a true rarity among urban colleges. 

But it was my fabulous and smart private tour guide, Kira, that finally put it all together for me. “Morale is just unusually high at Pitt,” she told me as we stood in the shadow of Cathy (the hugely iconic “Cathedral of Learning"), “everyone here just really wants to be here.” She’s right. And you can feel it. 

Here are three more reasons to love Pitt: 

1.) Hail to Rolling Admission. I’m sorry, but this is every College Counselor's dream. You can apply starting on August 1, and you’ll get an admission decision within six to eight weeks, sometimes faster. But, buyer beware: that does not mean that Pitt is “easy” to get into. It certainly is not. But if you do apply early in that rolling period, and if you are lucky enough to land a spot, a colossal weight will be lifted off your shoulders during your senior fall. 

2.) Bulletproof Health Sciences. Preemptive disclaimer: all of the academics at Pitt are outstanding. But the strength of the health sciences warrants a moment of pause. Pitt has one of the best undergraduate nursing programs in America. They offer myriad “GAP” programs, where undergraduates receive guaranteed admission to the University’s health-related graduate divisions, including their dental school and physician assistant program. Pitt’s medical school and its associated teaching hospital are world renowned. And back in the day, the Salk vaccine was discovered in these halls. 

3.) Cost of Attendance. We’re at the precipice of many institutions - including some of Pitt’s peers - costing $100,000 per year. I’m sorry, what? Conversely, Pitt’s total cost of attendance for out-of-state residents this year was just a hair north of $60,000, depending on the enrolled division; and they also have some generous merit scholarship opportunities, too. It’s the steal of the century - and one that is bolstered and secured by their baller endowment, which clocks it at roughly $5.5 billion. To boot, the cost of living in Pittsburgh is considerably lower than in Boston, New York City, and Washington D.C. 

I’m going to end by being slightly nasty, but in the loving RuPaul’s Drag Race sort of way. As I loaded my duffle and tote into the Uber for my ride back to the airport, and took in the grandeur of the Soldiers and Sailors lawn one last time, I thought: “why would it make sense for someone to pay more than 50% more per year to go to one of the slightly tonier East Coast “city” schools over this?” For, in my humble opinion, Pitt is actually better in many - if not all - ways. 

See, I told you: slightly nasty. Albeit valid. Ru would be proud. 

Warren Buffet Might Tell You to Go to Purdue

I have a crush on Warren Buffet.

Disclaimer: not romantically. No offense. But rather because he’s an extraordinary human being. And because he knows money.

If, by chance, you live alone in a dark hayloft outside East Jesus, Nowhere, and don’t know who he is, Warren is a brilliant, beloved and insanely wealthy investor and philanthropist. He has, in his nearly 70 year career, made his trademark focus on “value” a widely trafficked and heralded approach to equity investing - one that prioritizes strong fundamentals and long-term thinking. It has netted him and his company - Berkshire Hathaway - billions of shekels. And rather admirably: he’s got a heart the size of Nebraska itself.

You may think it strange, but I often find myself emulating and channeling Warren in my life and work. I talk about value a lot - what’s “under the hood” of colleges, and how that connects with the goals, instincts and desires of students. Fit and value, indeed, go hand in hand.

But Warren is also a devotee of the concept and power of compound interest. I’m not going to explain it, because you have access to the internet. But you should learn about it before you decide where to go to college.

Dance break disclosure: I am not a certified financial planner or wealth manager. But we can still do a simplified and hypothetical exercise, just for fun.

You are currently a high school junior. You are an only child. Your parents have earned well, saved religiously, and invested shrewdly since before you were born. Thus, you do not qualify for need-based financial aid. Sidebar: if this is you, let’s acknowledge that you are supremely privileged and quite lucky. You should be humbled, and beyond grateful. You should mow your parents' lawn for free for the rest of their lives.

You love Cornell. You also love Purdue. Both are fabulous fits with much to offer you in every conceivable way, and you would be happy to attend either.

Ultimately, you apply to and are admitted to both. Great work.

Now, for the cold, hard truth:

Here is the projected, rough chop cost of your four years at Cornell (Arts & Sciences): approximately $387,000.

Here is the projected, rough chop cost of your four years at Purdue (Out of State): approximately $190,000.

Here is the difference: $197,000.

Enter the stylish queen with the compound interest calculator.

If you took that $197,000 and invested it in my favorite, dowager-approved mutual fund (Fidelity Puritan) today and left it untouched for the next 14 years, it could grow to around $675,000 by your 30th birthday. That future sum will have the buying power of about $456,000 today.

Pause, and say this number out loud: $456,000.

That could help you start your dream company. Or help you walk off a job that is giving you grief. Or you could stay home with your first child. Or buy a condo - in cash - in many fabulous parts of our country.

You could hire Cardi B to perform at your 30th birthday party - the bass line from Money shaking the floor as $20 notes and gold confetti rain from the ceiling.

You could - a la Warren himself - give a sizable chunk of it away to people and organizations doing good in the world.

Hell: you could do all of these things and then some.

Of course your parents could reclaim that money - and retire to Boca five years early. A well earned and just reward for supporting and loving you since birth.

The rub is that I can’t assign value in and to other people's lives - I can merely encourage them to consider it for themselves and their families. And no judgment: if Cornell is worth that much more to you, go for it. In the end, it’s deeply subjective: we like what we like, we want what we want, we need what we need. We all have different viewpoints and priorities and paths to follow. And some would posit that fundamentally: money is meant to be spent, and investing in kids is a good way to do it.

And please do note: even if you do end up falling into the expansive category of people who will rightfully qualify for some need-based financial aid, you may very well still have to make a similar decision about what it’s all worth - just with differently scaled numbers.

And when that moment comes, be sure to keep value - and a smiling, 93-year-old Midwestern mensch - at the center of that conversation. Think about it longitudinally; Warren himself proves that life is both long and fabulous. Just don’t forget to compound the interest along the way.

To close, I’ll do something I rarely do in polite company: I’ll tip my hand. I would likely tell you to go to Purdue.

And I think Warren might, too.