I’m looking for good state schools, similar to U of Wa and UW - Madison. Any ones to consider?
What will your parents pay? Are you looking for merit?
We have anywhere from 25 to 30 top public universities, you need to be more specific. What is it about those schools that you like? What is your home state? And of course, what can you pay and do you need merit aid?
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/top-public
Intended major?
Can your family afford OOS tuition? As an earlier poster noted, there are a lot of public flagships. But okay. I’ll play. UDub and Wisc. Both are major flagships. Both have very good (but not national championship caliber) sports teams. I do see–in an odd sort of way–how UWash and Wisc. are sort of similar perception-wise (prestigious but perhaps not as brutal admissions-wise as UCLA, UC-Berkeley, UVA, UMich, William & Mary, etc.).
Other flagships that I’d put in that category: Illinois, Penn St., Ohio St., Maryland, Rutgers, Clemson.
Really, though, it is more important for you to consider major, family finances, and fit. For instance, I would not be happy at Texas A&M because for me it would be too ginormous. If money is not an obstacle for your family, then visit a bunch of schools and find the flagship that makes you happy.
Not sure how much my family can contribute but I will be applying for finaid and plenty of scholarships!
Mostly the environment/location is what I like, as well as the academics. Somewhere slightly prestigious but still having a “big school” feel to it
Political Science is intended major, may minor in Public Health or Communications
Thanks you for all your help everyone! Will take a lot of some of the schools recommended.
Your other threads indicate that you’re a high school sophomore. You have no test scores and no idea what your parents will pay. Before you focus on schools and cities that you love, you really need to find out what your parents will pay. You won’t likely be able to find OOS tuition with outside scholarships.
This is accurate.
One OOS flagship state school is matching your in-state tuition presently and that’s U of Maine at Orono.
If you’re in Washington you may qualify for tuition discounts through WUE – https://www.wiche.edu/wue
If you’re in Wisconsin, Minnesota has a tuition reciprocity agreement.
I think that depending on your grades, you may qualify for Alabama funding.
Wyoming has cheap tuition.
South Dakota Mines and Tech is relatively inexpensive and high quality
New Mexico Tech is relatively low tuition and high quality.
Any thoughts about the Academies? Westpoint, Coast Guard or Naval?
The military service academies are for those whose career goal is officer in the associated branch of the military.
not really interested in military
It’s a good idea to build a college list. It’s a waste of your time to build one without asking your parents how much they’re willing/able to pay. Ask them if they’re able to pay for OOS schools. You likely can’t fund those with external scholarships. Many colleges reduce the financial aid package by the amount of outside scholarships.
@austinmshauri will talk to them, is it possible to partially fund an OOS with scholarships & financial aid?
The best aid comes from the schools. Outside scholarships don’t help much. Most are small and not renewable.
What state are you in? In general funding for public universities goes to state residents because they pay the taxes there, so have a financial safety or two in your state. If your stats are high enough you may qualify for a merit award at some schools, but your parents would have to pay the rest. You can take the ~$5500/year federal student loan, and if you work summers you can probably earn another $3k.
Now is a good time to start looking at colleges, even if you don’t have test scores, etc. You should start becoming familiar with what’s available, how finacial aid works, and how college admissions works at different schools.
Most major public universities (especially flagship schools) offer solid programs in political science. One’s based in the state capital, have some advantages for Poly sci majors, with easier access to internships, etc.
I recommend you read about the different schools and then go to the college/universities forum for that school to get some specifics.
Some state schools have horrible OOS finacial aid, others can be very good. When looking at these state schools, do a bit of research into how they handle need and merit based aid for out of state students. Some of the most “prestigious” public universities may offer good “need” based aid, while some schools that are not as competitive, offer good merit based aid. Some schools are rather bad at both need and merit based aid for OOS students.
For example, Florida State University (FSU) is ranked about 26th amongst public universities (look at US News rankings to get an idea of FSU’s peers). It’s not as “prestigious” as UW-Madison or University of Washington, but it’s not far off. It also offers OOS tuition waivers for students with high test scores (and GPA), which can make the school very affordable (in-state tuition is only $6.3K a year). It has a good Poly Sci program and it’s based in the state capital. All of the above can be picked up on from FSU’s forum, here on CC.
Good Luck!
This is just my opinion, but I think University of Minnesota has a similar feel to the two schools you listed, being a similarly fairly good state school in a liberal-leaning city. However, Minnesota is probably not quite as prestigious, but it could be a good backup or safety school.