<p>With all the uncertainty going on here in CA with the UCs in regard to possible tuition hikes, cutbacks, tougher admissions, etc. I have suggested that my junior D also identify a couple of OOS safety schools. </p>
<p>For us, our definition of safety would include being extremely likely she would be selected and also include one that we could afford assuming no aid or merit.</p>
<p>We have found that through participating WUE schools, many of these OOS schools will be far less costly than the UCs and about on the same level with the CA system.</p>
<p>A couple of WUE participating OOS colleges that have caught our early attention are Washington State and Western Washington. The latter certainly a little lesser known, but so far sounds intriguing and perhaps worth a visit this summer.</p>
<p>Just curious if anyone else has considered an OOS public as an additional possible safety?</p>
<p>Why limit your D's OOS choices to PUBLIC schools, when, depending on your D's stats, there may be hundreds of OOS private schools that would love to snag her? If she has the stats to be eligible for acceptance at some of the UC's, then she could possibly get big offers of merit $$ from many private colleges.</p>
<p>I was going to apply for University of Oregon as safety, but for now University of Washington is my only one. If I don't hear back from them by February, I'll probably end up applying to WWU as my backup.</p>
<p>richan, UW is not a safety for anyone OOS. According to the state law, it allocates 70% of its admission slots to WA state residents. It may not be as competitive as UCB, but still fairly competitive. If your applications pool is really light on safety schools, I recommend applying to WWU pronto.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Why limit your D's OOS choices to PUBLIC schools, when, depending on your D's stats, there may be hundreds of OOS private schools that would love to snag her?<<</p>
</blockquote>
<br>
<p>She most definitely will be applying to OOS privates too, but I would not consider any of them safeties by our own definition, which for the sake of playing it safe, assumes no merit - worst case scenario.</p>
<p>I would imagine that based upon her stats that some of the schools she has an interest in could discount the price anywhere from $10k-$20K per year. We personally will need her to get a merit offer very much on that higher end of the scale for us to seriously consider her enrolling in a school.</p>
<p>Everyone's threshold level of "staying in or folding" will be different. For us, I imagine we need to walk away from the table when the annual costs start to exceed $20k or so, especially considering she has a sister 4 years behind her.</p>
<p>I know several Ca kids at Western Washington. All extremely happy and the parents are enjoying the cost.
My son used Northern Arizona as a OOS safety. Even without the tuition exchange it was reasonable.</p>
<p>WWU's tution break for out of state students is a bit competitive. If your daughter meets the criteria then it's probably a viable financial safety.</p>
<p>From the WICHE website:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Priority will be given to students with a 3.8 un-weighted cumulative high school GPA and a 27 ACT or 1200 SAT score (Mathematics and Reading combined). Leadership, academic rigor, special talent, school and community activities may also be considered. Selection as a WUE scholar is competitive and only available to 35 to 40 incoming freshman.</p>
<p>The application deadline for freshmen is March 1st. Applying early is recommended for WUE applicants, however.
<p>DadofTwo, my son has an OOS safety (he will receive a full scholarship if he chooses to attend) that is a pubic school and another OOS safety that is private and has great merit money. So do encourage your daughter to look OOS. The merit money can be excellent.</p>
<p>Many state schools are not good safeties for OOS because they only admit a very limited number of OOS applicants, and the competition for those spaces is fierce. For example, here in the East, we tend to think that it is at least as difficult to get into the University of Virginia or the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill -- both of which are considered to be at the same level as Berkeley or UCLA -- as it is to get into one of the "lower" Ivy League schools or other competitive private schools such as Georgetown or Northwestern.</p>
<p>However, there are some state universities that do not have higher standards for OOS applicants or that are so easy to get into anyway that it doesn't matter. In my part of the country, examples include Penn State, the University of Delaware, and Virginia Tech. Students in my home state of Maryland sometimes get into one or more of these schools even if they are rejected from the University of Maryland at College Park.</p>
<p>I suspect, though, that none of the above is of any help to you because we're in different parts of the country.</p>
<p>A good way to tell if a OOS is a safety is whether they will give in state tuition at certain cut offs. University of South Carolina was a safety and financial safety for DD for that reason. It was cheaper to go to than in state after the reduction and the merit awards. She was admitted to the honors college and in addition it was rolling admissions so she had that one early. You should be able to find that information on the merit scholarship web pages.</p>
<p>"However, there are some state universities that do not have higher standards for OOS applicants or that are so easy to get into anyway that it doesn't matter. In my part of the country, examples include Penn State, the University of Delaware, and Virginia Tech."</p>
<p>Marian, those three schools are not easy to get into. For that matter, University of Maryland has also gotten a lot harder. </p>
<p>Dadoftwo, could you possibly give a ballpark of your Ds grades and scores. It would help with trying to suggest safety schools.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Marian, those three schools are not easy to get into. For that matter, University of Maryland has also gotten a lot harder.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I may have been setting my standards too high. I was thinking of my son, who had an SAT score of 1360 (CR + M) a few years ago, and who was enthusiastically courted by UDel and VT after he submitted application materials. With that SAT score, he was not a sure thing for UMCP. I also know of Maryland students who were rejected from UMCP but admitted to Penn State, but they may also have had scores in the same range as my son.</p>
<p>I agree that for a student with lesser credentials, none of the schools I mentioned is a sure thing.</p>
<p>D considered Colorado State and Oregon State has been very solicitous as well but with an acceptance into a CSU she wouldn't mind attending in hand she has decided not to apply to either. When DS is ready to start looking, I imagine that OOS publics with football will be his target.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I also know of Maryland students who were rejected from UMCP but admitted to Penn State, but they may also have had scores in the same range as my son.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I know of a few cases where the opposite was true. The common wisdom around here is that UMD favors the SATs over the GPA as relative to Penn State, which tends to favor the GPA over SATs.</p>
<p>My daughter's second choice, which also happened to be an academic safety for her but is a terrific school...was University of South Carolina-Columbia. Modest cost for OOS even without merit aid.</p>
<p>I agree it would be helpful to know the OP's daughter's stats.</p>
<p>My daughter attends the University of Pittsburgh OOS. Pitt is actively recruiting out-of-staters. If your daughter has over 1400 SAT (CR/M), she would be in line for a possible $10,000 a year scholarship, and if she has 1450 SAT (CR/M) or over, she might get a full-tuition scholarship. Because Pitt isn't cheap for out-of-staters, about $30,000 a year total COA, these scholarships really help. </p>
<p>If she's interested she should apply right away, before the money runs out.</p>
<p>The University of Minnesota's out of state tuition is not much more than in state. Minnesota's public liberal arts college, UM Morris, UMM</a> | About UMM
is an admissions safety and offers in state tuition rates to out of state students. Merit scholarships are available to cut the cost of attending even more. UMM</a> | Prospective | Cost of Education
Small class sizes are a plus.
More opportunities for ice skating and sledding than most schools, I think. ;)
All of the U of M's have nice AP credit acceptance policies, too.</p>
<p>WUE schools seem like a great way to go, and they will be rock solid safeties if she applies and gets accepted early to a public with rolling admissions.</p>
<p>Two years ago my D applied to a top public because there was a reasonable chance that she could get an early acceptance and merit aid to bring COA down to in-state level. And that's what happened.</p>