Thank you
There are a lot of unusual circumstances for us and honestly couldn’t find answers online.
We pay taxes outside US , so I don’t know how that factors in our case.
As for state/federal taxes , we did pay all the taxes for our stay of 6 years in Texas.
We can not move to US with him so that option of parent moving to the state is closed for us.
It is complicated
Phew
I don’t think having lived in TX previously will count. With OOS tuition usually being a lot more than in state, it’s very hard to get if you aren’t in state.
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One of his best chances is in Missouri (how to do it is clearly spelled out, but a big thing is that he can’t spend more than 30 days a year out of state). Missouri SST is engineering heaven. Mizzou has great engineering too and plays sports in the SEC, which is a big deal for some.
Otherwise, you should base your decision on him NOT getting instate tuition.
Many employment opportunities for engineers are found on campus (through professors getting grants and hiring students to do the work) but there are usually companies that spring up around campuses too because they know they can find students to work. My daughter went to school on the Space Coast in Florida and there were tons and tons of jobs in the area for students, during school and after. But even with that, some students left to do interships or did them remotely. Covid has made working remotely very common.
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Thank you
Ya, it does appear basing a decision on residency criteria is a not a wise one.
Future prospects in terms of jobs and internships is better
he is not keen on Missouri S&T though he is admitted there . Plus they didn’t offer any merit for first year even though he has a near perfect SAT score even after asking them about it :((
Might be a bit late but merit $ and perceived prestige do not go hand in hand. Your kid could have gotten the in state waiver at TAMU and Texas Tech. Did you look into those schools? They are pretty solid schools.
@1dadinNC not easy getting in state tuition waiver at Texas A&M. OOS student must be offered minimum $4k in A&M scholarships, and academic scholarships can’t be stacked. A&M makes it very difficult to get in state waiver, unless NMF.
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The applicant’s kid has 1500+ SAT, which should qualify for NMSF through PSAT or alternate entry. I agree with your general statement. TTU would be auto merit.
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OP didn’t mention student was NMS/F, so I assumed they weren’t.
A&M deadline has passed anyway.
I’m a big fan of Tech Engineering! Not sure what their in state tuition requirements are tho?
We don’t know if OP’s S took the PSAT or is NMF….hopefully they will let us know.
It’s too late for a spring semester senior to go for alternative entry.
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If you got in these schools you would get huge merit at Alabama, Arizona, MS state and more. Hard to game for residency.
While you may say I got into these top programs, no way I’m going to a lesser school - think again.
Alabama, for example, has more national merit finalists than any school in America.
My son chose it over Purdue with merit.
You’d get $30.5k. Your cost would be mid teens a year all in. My son just had 5 offers in the 80s/90s.
There’s nothing to game. You’ve earned the merit.
People make similar decisions to alternative to ‘top’ ranked schools every day and these kids do fine. It’s the kid, not the school.
That said, of this list, Purdue is not overly expensive, even OOS full pay.
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For these public universities, it is very difficult to just get instate tuition unless the family moves there, and you said that is impossible.
Texas could be the exception…but I think UT Austin is more difficult than the other Texas publics. Someone with more knowledge of how to gain that instate Texas tuition status can comment.
For Purdue, GA Tech, and UIUC, the only way is for the parents to move to the state where the college is located.
I always wonder what’s wrong with the instate public where folks actually reside when they ask this question…but then…living abroad, you don’t have an instate option…
While @MaineLonghorn was able to get instate tuition for her kid, that happened in 2011…so a while ago.
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Only Texas and only if your child buys a house/an apartment, which is rarely financially feasible.
Can you afford any of these universities all 4 years at OOS cost?
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Thank you.
Alabama , didn’t try. Location(international airport proximity)and international student body is important for the child to thrive.
And I could not find much data on that.
Purdue is also 2 hours away from Chicago and that is the only downer for it.
Else the four year cost for us is less if I compare it to ASU with merit.
Actually, the post was to hear from people who have been in a similar situation like us or from experienced parents who might know something which isn’t clearly stated on websites.
Kid like mine is at a disadvantage for higher education in country of residence( due to foreign nationality) and in nationality country ( due to residence) He has a classmate of Canadian nationality and the child will be paying domestic fee and not international, so thought of asking about if such a scenario exists for us.
My kid did give PSAT with a selection index score of 221 , but did not proceed further .
Kids studying abroad have to match the index score of Maryland, I think. And that was 223 I believe this year.
So from this discussion as I said earlier , gaining residency in any of the schools is unlikely.
So it is wiser to decide on other factors .
Thank you everyone for your responses.
And sorry tsbna44 , I replied to your comment but answered everyone else’s queries as well .
Nothing personal , it was just easier to answer in one reply.
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Thank you.
Yes, Purdue is possible. Others with loan is a possibility.
Still waiting to hear from Cornell , he was deferred. Might get some need based aid there.
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Wasn’t trying to push you to schools. Just saying, if you need to do something extra…it’s not worth it when you can have solid affordable options otherwise.
No need to take out loans. You can access airports from any school. Purdue is an hr to Indy, a few to Chicago. Whether through connection or otherwise, you can get home. Sometimes it’s cheaper to fly via connecting cities …ie Indy to Chicago to home vs Chicago to home non stop. If you need to take out loans, it’s likely not the right school.
Most schools will have clubs of international students and it’s more likely, even schools with small Intl populations, will gravitate toward STEM. So the overall population may be smaller but the student would be less likely to notice it since it would likely be concentrated in similar majors. .
As for who has what - google the school name + common data set. Go to section b2.
Purdue is 4243/37796. Ga tech 1772/16552. UT 1728/40506. UIUC couldn’t find but a few years ago 901/7530 freshman were Intl.
UT definitely focuses on residents. UIUC is pricey and is losing top kids to OOS schools.
I’d say this with this set. It’s more than price.
UT is in a huge city and it’s a huge campus.
Purdue is an hour from a city. Nice campus. Compact. UIUC - not far from Purdue but an entirely different environment. Both are in smaller but very well equipped cities. Ga Tech - not as big or urban as UT but close in urbanness.
UIUC and Purdue aren’t. So it’s more than just about cost. Cost may make the decision but you need to be comfortable in the environment too as you are there day after day for four years. Plus which schools are direct admit vs you need to qualify once in to get your choice of major. So you may need to study a different discipline of engineering etc.
Good luck.
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Thanks for all the information. Much appreciated.
“Cost may make the decision but you need to be comfortable in the environment too as you are there day after day for four years”
Yes, it is a decision for four years and all factors are in play not just cost.
I think UT( admitted to ECE) and UIUC are direct admits , am I correct.
He is intending to major in Electrical engineering.
Also if you could tell which out of these options have a better electrical engineering program.
Neither are better. One is ranked higher by US News. Means nothing.
Better is in the eye of the beholder. Rankings are for selling magazines. Not real life.
Some kids do great in these huge college programs. Others need small like an RHIT or mid size like a WPI.
Illinois is direct admit and I believe Texas is. Purdue is not but the likelihood of getting what you want is strong.
I wish you could visit or personal tour. My kid wouldn’t consider Texas or Ga Tech. Hates the city. Hated UIUC campus. Loved loved loved Purdue but worried about a housing shortage as they were putting first year in triples or far off campus. That’s supposedly fixed now but four years ago it wasn’t. Hated UIUC.
Thought he was set for Purdue. Then friends invited him to go see Bama. Came home. Applied. Came over. New dorm. Own room. Bathroom shared with just one other. Weather matters to some kids too. They want warmer - UT. Cold - UIUC/Purdue.
So you never know. If your kid could see all four - virtual tour, YouTube tours from others. Dorm tours. Niche reviews. Whatever could help from afar.
Stop with which is best. If they are ABET, they are solid. My son’s friend interned two years at a military contractor in Georgia and he’s got a great gig lined up as an EE from a lesser known school. I look at the kids at one company my son was offered - General Dynamics. Looking at linked in. Top schools. Ones I never heard of. Kids at these four schools will intern, work with and for kids from many schools. These are all four (three you are in outstanding) but if you need loans they aren’t worthy. The kid, not the school, will make their future (hence the two ga tech kids mine lived with during intern that didn’t get invited back a second summer whereas mine did).
You are giving the ‘which is best way more than it deserves. You should be asking - which is best for my son - not which is best according to a magazine - which may be one, two, or three that you got into or none of the above.
Ps - here’s another ranking. Not the one you used. But this is my point. Rankings, for US News, where your schools are at the top, are for magazine, subscription sales. There’s lots of rankings out there. Whose to say their methodology is right? If you saw this one first, I have a feeling your application list would have been quite different.
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I don’t think this parent is looking for more colleges to apply to.
They specifically asked if there was a chance they could get instate tuition at the four schools they listed.
Short answer…No.
And this is the case for many many expatriates…folks who are US citizens living abroad. They don’t have instate status anywhere…at public universities. And that’s the way it is.
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“in state” is where the parents have lived and paid taxes for the past 12 or 24 months. TX has a possibility through property ownership but it is increasingly hard to get - public universities’ funding per student went down after the 2008 crisis and never went back up, so OOS tuition makes up part of the difference.
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