<p>I think that there is just something attractive about going to school out of state. I’m surprised at the number of people that like schools near us that most kids here would never consider attending :D.</p>
<p>Crepes, regarding your comment: “But I’ve also been thinking of a talk I had with a HS friend–I mentioned saving for our kids’ college and he said he hadn’t saved much, said he’d always just assumed that his kids would go to their state school (U of Washington)” </p>
<p>University of Washington IS a highly regarded/ranked flagship state university. In that US News ranking of public universities, University of Washington is tied for 13th place with University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Texas - Austin and Penn State. (They have 115 schools on the public universities list, by the way).</p>
<p>I have read about something called the “Husky Promise” at University of Washington that sounds like a commitment to meet financial need of in-state students. Not sure that is correct, but it would be great to live in a state with an excellent state flagship u that also meets financial need. </p>
<p>Not from New York, I had the impression though that the state universities in New York were relatively affordable compared to some other states and there appeared to be lots of choices.</p>
<p>My S loves UMass Amherst. He is in the engineering program. His HS stats wouldn’t have gotten him into a top top program, but UMass Amherst has a very good Chem E program.</p>
<p>They are building several new buildings. I thought the labs were impressive.</p>
<p>And we would be nearly full pay at a $50k a year private college with 2 more to put through. That wasn’t an option for us unless S could have gotten significant merit aid. And the schools where he could have gotten it at had programs leagues below what they offer at Amherst.</p>
<p>So, it worked out great for our S.</p>
<p>I went to SUNY Stony Brook in the early '80s and wasn’t happy there. Partly just not a good fit, but at the time it was populated mostly by kids from the local high schools, who tended to stick together. And I was not a local. The buildings were in disrepair as well.</p>
<p>I hear you! We live in Massachusetts, and our daughter won’t even consider UMass, not even as a safety. To be fair, you can get a fine education there and students can take classes at the other colleges in the consortium–Hampshire, Smith, Mount Holyoke and Amherst–but its reputation as a party school, the fact that a friend hates it there, and its sheer size are a real turn off to her.</p>
<p>Am definitely envious of California, which has both the UC system and some excellent community colleges, which Mass also lacks.</p>
<p>It’s nice to have the Cal publics lauded on CC, but in real life, it stinks that so few kids can get in or afford the UC’s.</p>
<p>
Actually some of the players were kicked off the team for allegedly distributing cocaine…
And Binghamton doesn’t even have a football team!!!</p>
<p>I went to the University of Washington, and I loved it. It’s the only state U I’ve attended so I can’t make any direct comparisons, but I felt it offered a really high level of education. Also tons of research opportunities. The Husky Promise helped enormously, and I will not forget how they helped me when I’m in a position to donate.</p>
<p>(Mind you, it was not perfect. The tuition shot up like a rocket the last year I was there, due to state budgeting issues. Still cheaper than private schools, but it was a pretty significant hike, something like 17% in one year. Basic issue there is that the state keeps cutting state school funding, which is shortsighted IMO.)</p>
<p>Rigaudon, re. your comment " University of Washington IS a highly regarded/ranked flagship state university." That IS my point, that my friend had an excellent state flagship as his kids’ fallback or default school, so that he didn’t really need to think about savings that much.</p>
<p>As mentioned earlier, while the UC system is good, it’s out of reach for an alarmingly high proportion of applicants… unless, perhaps, you’re from out of state or overseas. And what hasn’t been mentioned on this thread is that CA has relatively few private universities to choose from, because there was never a need for them. Now we see lots of UC/Cal State hopefuls going to state schools thousands of miles away because they’ve been shut of of CA.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>There is also the CSU system, which is about twice as large as the UC system, and would probably be seen as analogous to the less selective “directional” state universities in some other states (though some are quite selective now).</p>
<p>The community colleges are suffering the worst from budget problems. Unlike UC, they do not control enrollment with a competitive admissions process, so the “overflowing classes” problem can be severe there.</p>
<p>Different perspective but I said “no” to our gigantic two flagships MSU and UofM (Michigan) as did two of my three kids. While huge schools like these have high brand awareness they aren’t for everyone. It takes a certain type of person to want to go to college with 40,000 other people. Also the underclassmen and women are at the bottom of the food chain so may not have the ability to interact easily with the very profs that attracted them in the first place. Now my oldest has been very happy at a much smaller public U in another state. Brand awareness doesn’t always equate to “better than.” Sorry if I’m repeating but I didn’t read much after the rankings “stuff”…</p>
<p>“Wishing for better ones in NY” - YES!</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong - you can get a great education at these schools and the price can’t be beat. But there is a lot lacking in the college experience (arguably, I admit). I know tons of kids who go to SUNYs - Buffalo, Albany, Binghamton, Geneseo and most of them love it. I know they get a good education. I tried with my DD, but none were the experience she wanted. And they appeared to us to be in the middle of nowhere (we didn’t make it to Buffalo because she ended up in the hospital with food poisoning and we had to cancel our trip). And too much cold and snow.We visited Albany 2x - I was really trying – and if she had to go there due to finances, I’m sure it would have been ok. But I was not impressed myself.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is where DD ended up (one of her top choices) but it is increasingly competitive from states like NY and NJ. 60-70% OOS, beautiful campus, suburban with easy access to major cities, great sports atmosphere and, of course, a great education. Particularly in specific majors.</p>
<p>For DS (now a HS senior and aspiring engineer), I was hoping that Binghamton could at least be his safety. We visited. No way. Again, I can’t say that I blamed him. We are now considering UMass (honors, hopefully) as a safety for him. I don’t know.</p>
<p>I wish we had a Michigan kind of school. Or UVA. Then again, my DD definitely had the “I have to get out of New York” mentality so maybe it wouldn’t have mattered. Jury is still out on DS, but he is looking to get out of here too. It’s part of the experience and, since I went to college in another part of the country from where I grew up, I can’t argue that one.</p>
<p>Maryland’s flagship is highly regarded in state and perhaps in the region, but only one of my children would be admitted. A student needs close to perfect grades and above average SATs to get in. </p>
<p>I would also argue that a good student will be able to get a solid education at many schools. The problem is that people get so wound up about rankings.</p>
<p>When I was looking at colleges (late 70’s), we called UMass, “ZooMass”. It has a much better reputation now and is getting much more selective. When I was looking you were pretty much guaranteed to get in if you were a Mass resident, now not so much. Glad to hear from the people whose children are enjoying it there, as my son is also looking into it for Engineering.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It was still known as “ZooMass” in the '80s when an older cousin attended as an in-stater. Even as an engineering major, the over-the-top heavy drinking/partying among most students was such that he couldn’t wait to graduate and get out of there. </p>
<p>Great academics…horrid college atmosphere/social experience for him. Took some advantage of the 5 College exchange program just to get off campus. </p>
<p>Not only that, as the eldest brother in his family, his experience was such that none of his younger sibs applied to UMass. All the rest attended OOS private schools…with some on ROTC/other scholarships/FA to reduce the burden on the family.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It ain’t that competitive. 45% acceptance rate. Only 70% of matriculants in the top decile of their HS class. 75% of students had a 3.75; or, the opposite: a quarter had less than a 3.75 gpa.<br>
25% of students below a 1200 SAT.</p>
<p>@bluebayou, those are probably the OOS kids. The only kids I’ve seen get in the last 3 or 4 years from our local area are vals. I’ve seen lots of kids throughout the state with stellar grades and test scores and they don’t get in. And there aren’t a lot of state schools to choose from in MD. I would love to have the choices that CA, NY and VA have. Most of the kids that really want to go to MD transfer from CC, it’s almost automatic to get in that way.</p>
<p>UConn is our state flagship. I graduated from there a long time ago (way before Calhoun and Auriemma). Back then it was easy to get into UConn, but hard to stay. If memory serves, the freshman class was half-again as large as the sophomore class. If you stuck, you definitely got a good education. Beyond academics, um, not so much.</p>
<p>Today’s UConn is still the best public in CT, and by a wide margin. The school name is known nationally, thanks to the success of the basketball teams. And the state recently spent $2Billion to upgrade campus buildings. It’s a good school, but it lacks the cache to be a public Ivy. That causes many CT students to look OOS. I think the flagships in NY and MA lack cache also. JMHO of course.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Actually, they’re probably the URMs. Or kids from rural areas in obscure parts of the state.</p>
<p>Has the SUNY system ever declared which schools are flagships?</p>