<p>Are there any benefits of attending an out of state college? I'm considering applying to 1 or 2 after junior year, but they're all so darn expensive. :-S
Of course this is assuming I get absolutely no scholarships</p>
<p>Benefit to the school and other in state students. Why would it give you any benefit? And why do you want to spend more money? You go out of state for a good school or program at a higher cost. You do not go out of state because of out of state.</p>
<p>Are you talking about PUBLIC OOS universities (= some offer merit; most offer nothing) or PRIVATE OOS universities (= you actually get a little bonus for applying from far away - this applies in particular if you apply to a smaller school and/or are 400 miles away, not if you apply to Stanford from the East Coast, or to MIT from California.)
Run the Net Price Calculator on each website for your in-state flagship and two other universities, including one private. Bring the results to your parents; See what they say (after they recover from the shock).</p>
<p>I don’t think private schools care about in state or oos, but they may want to have a diverse distribution of students from different area.</p>
<p>^which means they do care 
There’s a slight bonus for students who come from 400+miles away (because most students apply from within that radius so that increases their geographical diversity) and who come from less-representated states (no bonus for students from NY or CA 
) Also, this does not apply to “Top 20” universities, or to a lesser extent (a kid from Wyoming or Arkansas will have a slight advantage at Harvard but it must be “everything else being equal”)</p>
<p>That is true, but just being oos (e.g. from the neighboring state) does not help. So the criteria is not just oos. ;)</p>
<p>yes. OOS from the next state is of no value to the university selecting its class so… ! :)</p>
<p>^ Except they get more money… which they would appreciate.</p>
<p>if the university’s need aware (or need blind, no FA) and public, yes that’s an advantage if the applicant can pay full price.</p>
<p>Every school has its attributes that can be unique to the school, and that includes publics. A lot of OOSers love UMichigan, Penn State, UNC_CH, UVA, to name a few popular OOS schools in our area way over their own in state choices (especially my instate schools that have little name recognition overall). Some of the OOS schools are also excellent schools in their own right in national and world rankings. So, yes, it can be worth while to look at those schools.</p>
<p>Though it’s tough to beat ones own state public schools in price, the OOS publics can offer good deals for those who are now out of the price range of the full price privates. I know some kids here who got UMichigan accepts with a $10K or so bonus merit award, and that brings that outstanding school’s price down to a more palatable range than going to say Boston College for mid $60s. Still a lot more than the low $20s that SUNY costs, but UMich is higher on the 3 Rs scale of reputation, recognition and ratings. </p>
<p>I have a kid in an OOS public. He toured the school and loved it. It costs what we told him we could uncomfortably pay, and he can make up the rest. His choice. It has the school spirit, city scene and more diversity than our state schools which are 90 something % NYers , though he does have that inevitable issue of being with a lot of kids who know or have some degree of connection a lot closer than he does with most other students. But he hasn’t regretted his choice a minute and I have another one coming up that wants a strong sports scene, spirit, traditional campus sort fo school that points directly to OOS flagship type schools And they are just affordable for us even without merit. He is also in line for some very nice merit at some of them that could bring the price down below our state college system. </p>
<p>UMich offers some merit aids to oos. The amount of the same scholarship is larger for oos than for in state students, however, it still does not offset the difference in CoA. For instance, the engineering scholarship of honors is $8000/yr for in state while $20000/yr for oos, while the CoA for oos is $27k more. After all, those merit aid for oos students are rare. If you can get one, you are more likely to get good aid from your in state flagship. Although the amount of scholarship may look less for in state, it will get you a much better value in the total cost.</p>
<p>Absolutely, Bill, I doubt my son will be able to beat in state prices unless he gets a full tuition or close to it merit award. But there is a lot more lustre to UMich than most state schools. One student this year is going to UMich vs Notre Dame . It’s $10K less a year with NO merit to go to UMich over ND and that can add up to a savings of close to $50K over 4 years. My friend’s student is going to Georgia Tech for close to our instate prices with merit and it does beat UMich which was really her first choice by $60K+ over 4 years. If my son gets into UMich with no merit, for us it will be just barely doable ND will not be.</p>
<p>Fortunately, UMich is in state for my D. We just went through this recently comparing Northwestern and UMich (plus a few others but at lower interest). Northwestern was around $10k more for 4 years after all aids. It is not affordable if without aid ($60k/yr). She picked UMich not for lower cost but it works for me. Now with an additional grant from UMich yesterday, the actual cost difference would be $30k for 4 years (assuming she will get the same grant which is need based). So going in state does have some benefit. Not only a lower CoA to begin with, it would have a higher chance to have need met and receive in state aids.</p>
<p>My daughter is going to Wyo, which is cheap to begin with but they offer all OOS students a scholarship based on gpa/test scores between $3k-6k, plus there are department scholarships. This brings it in line with our state school tuition, which is the amount I said I would pay. It makes it cheaper than the cost for many instate students at their state schools.</p>
<p>Many of the schools in the west are this way - MT, ND, SD, NM. Utah makes it very easy to get instate tuition rates after one year, and has very generous aid for OOS freshmen.</p>
<p>State schools can offer a lot that private schools can’t, and the student may need to go OOS if looking for something that is not offered at the student’s instate school - agriculture, mining engineering, geology, meterology. Some students just want a bigger school than is available instate. Some want a certain athletic experience, either to participate in themselves (skiing, surfing) or to watch (big time football).</p>
<p>Hmm, didn’t know people actually responded to this haha. Figured that the only reply I’d get was the first one. :)>- </p>
<p>@BlooYou1 what state do you live in?</p>
<p>I thought the OP was asking from a cultural growth perspective? Though all the answers seem to be talking about finance.</p>
<p>Anyways, I think it can be a good experience to go off far away to school. I’m going to school almost 2000 miles away from home but I do think it exposes you to a different variety of people than you would have been exposed to back home. I would say it also makes you a more adventurous person. </p>
<p>@Vlklngboy11 it’s a mix of both. I was kind of aware of the financial aspects of going OOS but I still learned from some of the posters. Also wanted to learn about any other sort of personal growth as well.</p>
<p>Also @Ibad96 Texas</p>