Out of state vs in state

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I am going to be a senior next year. </p>

<p>Throughout most of my high school's life I've been thinking about staying in state for college. My friends, however, recently told me that I have the qualities of getting into a much much better school. For example, I ve been elected to be co-prez for two clubs and also have two other leadership positions for two other programs. </p>

<p>My parents, on the other hand, do not want me to go out of state because of its tuition. Even though there's financial aid, I heard that if you are a middle-class family, it won't cover a good portion of your tuition. My parents will only let me go if I can get it down to 5-7k, which seems unrealistic to me. Overall, money plays a HUGE factor in where I will be going the following year. They also don't want me to spend so much time applying to so many school next year. </p>

<p>I really want to go to medical school, possibly an Ivy League one. But, I heard that most ivy League grads were once I.L. undergrads. So is there still a good chance for me to get into an I.L. med. if I go in state?</p>

<p>If I DO go to my in state school, I will go into their honors program, where there are a lot of research/internship opportunities for undergrads. The class size is less than 20, so there's a lot of one-on-one. In addition, based on my merit, I am able to receive almost a full-ride scholarship (hopefully anyways). So it seems like the best candidate for me. if I do go there, I plan to get leadership position, internship, good MCAT, etc. </p>

<p>Overall, I want your opinion. Should I strive further and go to a prestigious school and take out a loan? Or should I go to my in state college, save my money for medical school, hoping that I can somehow get into a really really good med school? I've been so confused over the last couple of months, but I think I'm letting my friends' thoughts get into my head, so I would like to hear your opinions as well. </p>

<p>Note: I am going to retake the ACT this fall and I have not taken the SAT (nor do I plan to) or any of the Subject Tests.</p>

2

<p>I really want to go to medical school, possibly an Ivy League one</p>

<p>Oh good heavens. All US MD schools are excellent. Any premed student should thank his lucky stars to get accepted to any one of them. </p>

<p>The acceptance rate at US MD schools is very low. So getting into any of them is something to be very proud of. SOMs get thousands of apps, but can only interview about 10% of applicants. Then they can only accept about half of who they interview. </p>

<p>There’s no reason to focus on going to “an ivy med school.” So, not necessary. </p>

<p>BTW…even if a good number of ivy med school students went to an ivy undergrad, there’s a whole bunch of ivy undergrads who are attending OTHER med schools, because that’s where they were admitted. There are also ivy undergrads who were rejected from every med school they applied to.</p>

<p>US MD med school education in the US is flat. Unless you’re going for a MD/PhD program, there’s no need to go to an ivy or ivy-like med school…none at all.</p>

<p>You’re getting way ahead of yourself, admittance into an ivy undergrad is like winning the lottery…very hard to do. Then the chances of getting into an ivy SOM are also slim. </p>

<p>What’s your situation? Do you have high stats? If so, then you might get large merit scholarships elsewhere. Do you have ivy like stats?</p>

<p>*hoping that I can somehow get into a really really good med *</p>

<p>Again…ALL US MD schools are “really really good.” They’re ALL excellent. Every single one of them. </p>

<p>BTW…YOU cannot borrow much, so don’t think you can borrow your way to the school of your choice. YOU can only borrow 5500 for frosh year…not enough to pay for much.</p>

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<p>What you have heard about out of state publics is absolutely correct. Almost all of them reserve their FA for in-state students only. A small subset do offer merit aid as a lure for high performers. Med School costs so much (and you don’t get ANY FA for it) that you should limit the cost of your undergrad degree.</p>

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<p>

That’s true of out of state public colleges & universities. It’s not necessarily true of out of state (or in state) private colleges & universities, who don’t care nearly as much about where you’re from (except for “geographic diversity”).</p>

<p>As you read through these boards, you’ll read of many posters who got personally (or whose children got) enough aid, including merit aid, at private schools to make them cheaper than their in-state public.</p>

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<p>As the above posters. indicated going out of state is only financially interesting if you apply to private colleges and since they’re looking for geographical diversity the further away the better. for the best financial aid look for a college where your stats place you in the top 20percent applicants located 500miles away or more.
in addition ‘middle class’ is subjective. some families think 150.000 makes them middle class:) Other families think 40.000makes them ineligible for financial aid.:slight_smile: Run net price calculators. Apply to a variety of in state schools and private out of state: when you get offers if the cheapest is out of state and you like it better your parents may agree.
All in all though save your loans for medical school - be aware though that at many colleges something like a third of the freshmen think they’ll be going to med school and few even stay pre med.</p>

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<p>My parents will only let me go if I can get it down to 5-7k, which seems unrealistic to me</p>

<p>That’s going to be hard unless you’re lowish income and you go to a school that gives a TON of aid…a near free ride.</p>

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<p>I’m a physician and did not go to an Ivy League med school- last time I checked, the treatment for Strep throat at a non Ivy med school was some form of Penicillin. And the treatment for Strep throat at an Ivy League med school…is still some form of Penicillin.</p>

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<p>mom2collegekids - You are right. Thank you. I want to clarify though that when i said a better undergrad school, i didn’t mean ivy league, but, say, Wellesley. In my opinion, I think I have okay stats to get to a good school. </p>

<p>Erin’s Dad - Is it true that you don’t get ANY f.a.? I haven’t researched for medical school…Do med school also don’t offer merit aid?</p>

<p>PsychoDad10 - Lol, you are right. Thank you. </p>

<hr>

<p>I forgot to mention this in my first post, but the main reason that this had been bugging me for the past couple of months is that my piano tuner, who have known for a year now, kept on telling me that I should try applying for a good school out of state. He said that i might regret not applying to school out of state in the future. I certainly don’t want to regret it. yet, as I stated earlier, my parents don’t want me to spend a lot of time on college applications because they know that they will still have to pay WAYYYYY more than if I go to the in-state college that i’m thinking about going to. </p>

<p>So thoughts on that? :)</p>

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<p>If you think you can get into Wellesley (which, by the way, is like the Ivy League, but in women’s colleges - it’s among the Seven Sisters), try. Their financial aid may be better than your in-state - more grants, fewer loans. Also apply to other women’s colleges - Mount Holyoke, Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Smith… Even schools like Chatham, Simmons, Mills, or Agnes Scott.
Women’s college graduates tend to do better for pursuits such as med school.</p>

<p>No, med school doesn’t have financial aid. No merit either since anyone who wouldn’t deserve “merit aid”… doesn’t get in.
Well, <em>some</em> schools (think Ivy League and other schools that have endowments to rival small countries) offer some aid to some exceptional applicants, but expecting it is like quitting your job because you expect to win the lottery :D</p>

<p>Med schools look at your GPA and at your MCAT score, as well as grades received in your premed classes. They do NOT care where you went to school, just that you took opportunity of everything available AND showed initiative and, preferably, excelled; you will need to be involved in research, shadowing/internships, etc during college. Ask if your colleges of interest have pre-health advising and how they go about that advising (many schools have weed-out first year classes; some refuse to write recommendations for anyone who’s not above a cut-off GPA; some have special workshops…)</p>

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<p>For need-based financial aid, run the net price calculator on each school’s web site. Generalizations about the cost of in-state, out-of-state, public, and private may not hold true for all schools. You can use these results to add or delete schools from your application list.</p>

<p>But you can also check for large merit scholarships. Go to the financial aid and scholarships section and look at the sticky threads about automatic and competitive full tuition and full ride scholarships.</p>

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<p>Please don’t take advice from a piano tuner or anyone else who doesn’t really know you. You need to do what is best for you and based on your own goals and financial circumstances. Taw unsolicited advice with a grain of salt.</p>

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<p>MYOS1634 - I will check on the net price calculator then.
I didn’t know that med school don’t offer financial aid or merit aid 0.o. In that case, I feel more confident about which school to go to now. As for what you said about all of the opportunities and pre-med advising, the in-state college has all of that and 90% of its honor students get into the grad school–not just med school–of their choice. Like you said, it’s all about taking the initiative and finding all the different opportunities there are. :)</p>

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<p>One thing to be aware of is that some out of state schools that are near the borders of your home state may grant you admission as if you are in-state. It varies greatly and there are some state consortiums that also will allow students to go to any of their schools for slightly more than in-state tuition. It is important to check with the admissions departments of those schools to see what possibilities exist, so I wouldn’t rule out a school simply because it is just across the border.</p>