<p>id love to get out of the midwest and attend either umass dartmouth or umass amherst. although, i am afraid out of state is too costly--around $30,000 a year. suggestions?????????</p>
<p>You need to discuss the costs with your parents. Out of state costs are significantly higher than instate in your own state (usually). You need to find out how much your parents are willing to contribute to your education. Only they can tell you what is affordable for your family.</p>
<p>UMass Dartmouth is not a horribly expensive school for out of state students. $30,000 is not a huge cost of attendance for an out of state school. BUT you need to know it’s not likely that you will receive much aid beyond what you would qualify for via the FAFSA. You should check the UMass Dartmouth website to see if there is any merit aid (based on your academic stats) that you might qualify for as an out of state student.</p>
<p>Other threads indicate you are a resident of Wisconsin. The University of Wisconsin is a fine school and would likely be your best bet financially. You have posted your stats elsewhere too (ACT scores) and they do not look high enough to garner merit aid at out of state public universities.</p>
<p>Public universities typically offer only federally funded need based aid (which is reserved for lower income families)…and the total of the full Pell and Stafford loans is about $11000 which doesn’t come close to funding the out of state costs at a public university.</p>
<p>Thumper is right…schools like UMass are not going to help you pay for the OOS costs.</p>
<p>The OOS costs for UMass is more than $30k per year. </p>
<p>tuition/fees:…24,000</p>
<p>room/board:…9,000</p>
<p>books: … 1,000</p>
<p>Misc/transportation: 2,000</p>
<p>Right now, the costs are about $36k per year. Next year will be higher and every year after that will increase, too.</p>
<p>You need to find out how much your parents will pay each year. With that knowledge, you can then make some reasonable decisions as to where you should apply.</p>
<p>If your stats are high enough, you might be able to apply to some schools that will give you a good scholarship for your stats. But, a lot will depend on how much your parents will pay.</p>
<p>Many schools do not give merit scholarships, so if that’s what you’ll need, you’ll need to apply to the right schools.</p>
<p>Do you know how much your parents will pay? If you don’t know, ask!</p>
<p>The total cost of attendance for an out of state student at UMass Dartmouth is projected at $30303 for the year…includes tuition, fees, room, board.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>True…but you need to add books, transportation, personal expenses, etc. That would likely add another $3k - 5k per year. </p>
<p>The costs that I listed were for UMass Amherst.</p>
<p>However, this may all be for naught if the parents won’t pay most of the costs of either school.</p>
<p>If you are a top student with stats at the very top of the school’s test score ranges, there may be some merit money available for you. Many state schools do have some funds for out of stater in the form of scholarships to get more of a type of student they want than what the state population provides. UPitt has the Chancellor’s Awards, I’ve read about UAlabama and other schools that have such programs as well. But if your stats are in the midrange of the school’s, don’t expect a dime. I don’t know how many families I’ve seen lament at the how stingy UDEL or Penn State is for out of staters. I don’t think they are even very generous to their own in state kids . And, as for the UCals, well, from what I have read, that is not a good place to look for financial aid or scholarships.</p>
<p>However, most OOS schools are less expensive than the privates, if you don’t qualify for much financial aid and your stats are not way up there. For us, it edges on being affordable whereas the full freight for many private schools is just out of range for us. There are some state schools that have jacked up their OOS surcharge to a point that the cost is close to private schools. UVA, UMich are two that come to mind. </p>
<p>But I know a number of people who have had their kids go to OOS publics like UIndiana or Penn State for a neat $35K a year which they can scrape up with current income, loans, savings on the part of both kid and parent. For a private school to compete price wise, they would have to come up with $15-20K of financial aid or scholarship money. That’s what we saw with my current college son who did have two OOS public colleges on his list (and neither gave him any scholarship money despite near perfect test scores).</p>
<p>Also, check out SUNY Buffalo. It does have some scholarships and aid for OOS kids and the cost is a bit lower than many NE state schools, even though it has been increased in the past couple of years.</p>
<p>*If you are a top student with stats at the very top of the school’s test score ranges, there may be some merit money available for you. *</p>
<p>Yes, at some schools (not all). There are many students who attend an OOS school at a price that is lower than their own instate public because the OOS school gave them a big merit scholarship. </p>
<p>So, what are your stats?</p>
<p>If you really want to go to Mass and your stats are high enough, check out many of the fine private schools which give excellent financial aid even for middle-class. Examples: Dartmouth, Harvard, Williams would be reaches for anyone, but give great financial aid for those who qualify. If your a girl, Wellsley and the nearby Smith and Mount Holyoke are options.</p>
<p>From another thread…it looks like the OP’s stats aren’t high enough for schools that give good FA or for schools that give good merit scholarships.</p>
<p>*i am confident in be accepted to umass dartmouth or umass amherst, i have 24 ACT and a 3.4 GPA including ap/honors classes. i hope to major in english or psychology and posslibly minor in spanish. *</p>
<p>The ACT 24 is after first getting an ACT 21, so it’s doubtful this student will see a big enough jump in scores for the schools that give the best aid or merit.</p>
<p>However, maybe the student should take the SAT. Maybe he/she will do better on that. I read that the GC advised against the SAT, but that’s just silly advise. The GC isn’t paying the bills.</p>
<p>Also, if we knew how much the parents were willing to pay each year, then we could better advise the student since he/she seems to want to go OOS.</p>
<p>What state are you from?</p>
<p>Mom2…the OP is from Wisconsin.</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with the University of Wisconsin. If you want to leave Wisconsin and don’t want significant costs, look into University of Minnesota. </p>
<p>Most other state universities are going to be more costly for you. The merit awards others speak of for OOS students are to attract top applicants. I’m sorry to say that an ACT score of 24 will not be in the top of the applicant pool at most places.</p>
<p>“There are some state schools that have jacked up their OOS surcharge to a point that the cost is close to private schools. UVA, UMich are two that come to mind.”</p>
<p><em>cough</em> UCLA <em>cough</em></p>
<p></p>
<p>Anyways, I recommend looking into the SUNYs- I think at Binghamton, in-state tuition is 6000-7000, and if you’re out of state, then you just add another 8000 to tuition. So thats about 14-15000 which is pretty reasonable. Another 9000-10000 for room and board and textbooks and you’re at 24000-25000 total. Not too bad.</p>
<p>And many of the southern schools have affordable price tags. I know folks who had their kids go to OOS flagships or state schools in the south that were bargains. GT was on my son’s list and just made the price cut, but there were a number of state colleges down there that were priced lower. Also some nicely priced smaller schools too, the just made the price cut and/or would make it with a little bit of merit sweetener.</p>
<p>If a small school is on your list of possible, Manhattan College at about $35k and possibilities of merit money–they would love a midwesterner, could be a possibiity. 10 minutes from Manhattan in the swank neighborhood of Riverdale, plenty of new housing. Check it out.</p>
<p>I’m not certain the OP would get accepted to UW.</p>
<p>Test Scores - Middle 50% of
First-Year Students </p>
<p>SAT Critical Reading: 550 - 670<br>
SAT Math: 620 - 720<br>
SAT Writing: 570 - 670<br>
ACT Composite: 26 - 30</p>
<p>The OP’s stats are in the bottom 25%. That is often where the athletes and other special admits are.</p>
<p>There are other state schools in Wisconsin. Also doesn’t Wisconsin have a swap with Minnesota state schools? That means staying in the MW but there are some good options there.</p>
<p>OOS tuition at U of Minnesota is just about the same as instate.</p>
<p>I would apply to Pittsburgh, especially if you like an urban campus or are interested in the health sciences. They give a lot of merit aid for a public school and are very unusual in the high amount they give to OOS students.</p>
<p>UMass Amherst definitely has merit money available. A coworker’s son is going there on a 50% discount off OOS tuition and fees. In reading through UMass Amherst’s financial pages, I do believe that it is possible for an OOS student to get a free ride but the student would probably have to be in the honors programs and there are additional requirements for the honors program. It takes very good stats to get into the Honors program due to the economy in MA.</p>
<p>Also note that the MA legislature has been withdrawing support for higher education for some time so expect prices to rise fairly regularly.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Since the UMass schools charge little in tuition and a LOT in fees, does that mean that the student didn’t really get much in a scholarship? The tuition waiver cannot be used towards fees (according to their website).</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>While the student might get an OOS tuition waiver, if the fees are the REAL high cost, then the tuition scholarship may not be much.<br>
A tuition waiver (or partial tuition waiver) is an award that will lessen the amount of your tuition. These may not exceed the cost of tuition, and *you may not use them to cover fees. **
While you may receive multiple tuition waivers from a variety of sources, you will only be able to use an amount up to, but not exceeding, the cost of tuition.</p>