I’m curious if anyone knows if OOS applicants have a better chance of getting accepted to competitive state schools if they are “on the bubble” so to speak. If applicants have the same credentials, do the schools lean toward the in-state students, or do they go with the OOS tuition increase? My daughter is interested in Florida and Florida State (we Iive in TX) and according to the stats FSU looks pretty good for her, but I think for UF she’s right on the line. Just curious…
They will prefer in-state students. It is much harder to be out of state (lower acceptance rates for, and you have to be a better candidate) to get in.
Public schools exist to educate state residents who have supported the schools through tax dollars.
Some states that are cash poor e.g. California, may give preference to full pay OOS applicants.
I don’t think you’re competing with in state students. I think you’re competing with other OOS students for whatever spots the colleges have for them.
At UF and FSU, in-state vs OOS admission rates are about the same. It’s a slight plus (with holistic admissions) to be in-state, but both schools also want to increase the % of students that are OOS (not for revenue, but to increase their national profiles). You’ll notice FSU is generous with OOS tuition waivers…
Also, yield (% of accepted students that enroll) comes into play. In-state yield at UF is over 50%, OOS is much lower. UF will consider how many students may accept, when it determines how many offers it should send out. With the OOS rate being much lower, they tend to accept more OOS students to compensate. Hence, the acceptance rates are about the same(a few % points higher for in-state) for in-state vs. OOS.
Most, if not all, public colleges would have a higher admission rates for in-state applicants. For some states, it is the legislation requires certain percentage of in-state student. For the schools, in-state admitted students have a much higher yield rate than OOS admitted and that is something they like to see. There are some incentives for the schools to admit OOS students, for instance, for diversity and higher tuition income. Nevertheless, these would rarely tip the balance. For competitive public schools, there will be far more OOS applicants than in-state applicants so it would be very hard to raise the admission rate of OOS applicants higher than in-state applicants. Even UMich that has nearly half and half in-state and OOS enrolled students which is perhaps the highest OOS student ratio, the OOS admission rate is still less than half of in-state students.
Some schools have a limit on the OOS students that they can admit. Every state school is different. Examples are that UNC can admit 18% OOS and UVA can admit 33%.
Thanks so much for all your input! I have heard a lot of opinions and arguments regarding this question, but never have such educated and thorough thoughts been shared with me. As a mom of a daughter getting ready to start her senior year of high school, I wish I had found this forum a long time ago! Thanks to all of you for sharing your knowledge and insight with us novices!