Out of State Options that Make Financial Sense?

College Search & Selection
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Hey College Confidential! I’m a rising high school senior in Alabama who is looking at college options, but I’ve got a bit of a dilemma on my hands. Here’s the situation:

I’m a high-achieving high school student with a 4.2 GPA and 33 ACT. I have taken no ACT prep, and feel confident I could snag another point or two with some practice, but I really don’t want to take the test again if I don’t have to. I also consider myself a good essay writer, and I have a solid extracurricular resume.

My family is very blessed and makes a good amount of money (~160k per year) but I am the oldest of five siblings, and saving money is the name of the game.

My stats have qualified me for automatic full-tuition (not necessarily room and board) scholarships at most in-state schools, and I am currently looking at the University of Alabama and UAB.

Nevertheless, I am more adventurous and ambitious than some of my peers, and would really love to go to school out-of-state, somewhere where I can get a fresh start and immerse myself in a new environment. UA and UAB are great schools, and I would be happy to attend either, but I guess I just want… more options.

I know a lot of higher-tier out-of-state schools offer some very selective full-tuition/full-ride scholarships, and those interest me. However, the types of kids that win those scholarships seem to be intimidatingly smart/talented/qualified. My fear is that I would spend a lot of time and effort applying for a bunch of those, but then end up being rejected and the work amounting to nothing.

On the other side of the spectrum, I know I can apply to some lower-tier OOS schools and have them throw money at me, but I don’t want to sacrifice academic rigor and educational opportunities just to go to school somewhere new.

Basically, what I’m asking is this: with the above circumstances in mind, how can I attend an out-of-state institution in a fresh environment, but still for a similar price tag and level of academics? Are there realistic options that don’t involve betting it all on a wing and a prayer with some ultra-prestigious scholarship program? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Sincerely,

Made an account just to ask this question

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As a general guide look at low population states flagships, most will be out west. Utah, Montana, New Mexico come to mind.

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@Acleverusername If you also did extremely well on the PSAT, you’re a future National Merit Semifinalist, and check the Florida schools. Benacquisto Scholarships give full rides (tuition and room & board) to out of state students.

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You might want use this resource to calculate the estimated cost to your family for a highly selective college: https://myintuition.org/. You’ll see a range of choices that would be realistic from an admission perspective based on your academic level.

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Do a Google search for “50 colleges with full ride scholarships”; go thru that article and see if any of those schools tickles your fancy.

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What is your unweighted GPA?
What academic opportunities are you looking for? What is your planned major?

All three of my kids have gone out of state for college at the same cost as room and board at our in state options. Two attended OOS private colleges and the third is headed to an OOS public with a great program in his particular major.
One wanted an LAC. She pursued schools that offered full tuition or full ride scholarships. They all were ranked in the 40-100 range in US News. She wrote a lot of essays for all the supplemental competitive scholarship apps. More than a dozen.
The other two had very specific major interests, one of which was not available in our state at the time, and applied to schools that had what they were looking for and could potentially meet our budget.

There are likely good possibilities available to you, but it’s hard to make recommendations without knowing more of what you are looking for. There are excellent opportunities available at a lot of colleges. It will be up to you to make the most of those opportunities, in Alabama or elsewhere.
Full tuition scholarships very often require early applications. The competitive scholarships may also be looking for leadership and community service in your ECs.

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If you can get to 34 (or even higher) tOSU, UMN, Pitt, UMaryland, UVermont would all be likely merit scholarships, better than UA, and in a totally different environment.
If you want smaller schools, look at UNC Asheville and UMN Morris for instance.
What’s your budget (20-25k?)

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Unweighted HS GPA?

If your unweighted HS GPA is >= 3.75, University of Arizona has a $30,000 scholarship; if 4.00, it has a $35,000 scholarship. See https://financialaid.arizona.edu/types-of-aid/scholarships/freshman-transfer (scroll halfway down for out-of-state awards). Out-of-state cost of attendance is $54,150, of which $36,600 is tuition (see https://financialaid.arizona.edu/cost/freshmen ).

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Also, Truman State (for liberal arts) or South Dakota Mines (engineering) or New Mexico Tech (engineering), if you want to see relatively low out-of-state list prices.

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First, my compliments for accurately assessing and describing your situation – not all HS students can articulate the situation as well as you did.

I agree that chasing the big full rides is a high investment (time and effort) activity that most likely won’t end up with a pot of gold at the end, despite how great a student you are.

Agree looking at auto merit opportunities based on GPA and test scores. Miami of Ohio is a great public university that might give you merit. It’d be a nice change of scenery. I have a niece and a nephew who went there and both loved it.

If you share your GPA and max amount you’re willing/able to pay, this will help hone the advice you get here.

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What do you want to study? My Illinois daughter had your ACT score and earned the highest merit scholarship awarded at University of Delaware, as well as direct admission into their biomedical engineering and highly ranked honors program. It ended up being cheaper than going to our state flagship school, University of Illinois. Plus UD has an excellent reputation for engineering. It’s a beautiful school, just 45 minutes away from Philly, about an hour from Baltimore, 90 minutes from Washington DC, and 2 hours away from NYC. Plus it’s not too far from some beautiful beaches along the coast. She was up for a scenery change from the midwest and didn’t want to pay the high tuition at the “big name” engineering schools that accepted her, but didn’t give her any merit or financial aid.

Best of luck in your search.

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These types of scholarships are very competitive, so by definition many applicants put in lots of time but don’t get the scholarships. If you are willing to play the odds and apply to several you have a good chance to get one, but no guarantees unfortunately.

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@MYOS1634 – you mentioned above

to clarify: tOSU, UMN, = the Ohio State U, and Minnesota – and UA = Alabama? And do you think tOSU and UMN would be similar in merit to UA? thanks

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You got your base covered with Your State schools. Get thosecappscesrlyvabd nail them down. Then you can play the lottery with impunity.

Rice , Chicago, and JHU have recently come up with initiatives where they are giving generous financial aid to kids from families in your category. Look up the Rice Initiative sndcresesrch the other programs. The mechanics of those programs may not yet be reflected in the NPCs for those schools. Yes, they would bevreach schools for you, but give it a go. If you get in and your family financial situation meets the parameters, you don’t need to go over another steep hurdle to get the very few generous merit money out there at selective schools. Do run NPCs to see what kind of tab schools are expecting your family to pay.

Look up full tuition scholarship on google and go at it. You can’t get such a thing from schools that don’t offer them, and the chances are very slim if only a handful are given out. So choose , giving yourself the best chances from the schools that best appeal to you.