Is it harder for me to get into FSU since I am out of state?
They do not consider residency when making admissions decisions.
Not exactly true. Per FSU’s Common Data Set, state residency is considered from applicants. State Residency is considered “Important” (second highest level), while geographical residence is “considered” (third highest level).
As a public state university, they’re supposed to focus on in-state residents. It’s a bit harder to get accepted as an out-of-state student than an in-state applicant. How much harder? That’s really the point of debate, but it’s clear that it’s at least a little bit more difficult, because there’s a much smaller available number of spots for out-of-state than in-state.
I hear different answers to this question. It may vary from major to major.
If I apply with a major that’s not most commonly picked or not top picked majors, will that help me?
Major doesn’t really factor into the decision, for the most part. There’s some debate over whether it matters or not, but unless you’re applying for a program that requires an audition, the general consensus is that FSU doesn’t really care what major you have, mostly due to the extremely high number of students that change majors.
A little bit over 1 in 8 students that enroll at FSU as a freshman are out of state. Unfortunately, FSU doesn’t indicate how many applicants are out of state on their Common Data Set, but I’m sure that they accept similar rates (within a couple % of each other) of OOS and in-state students.
If your stats are towards the higher end of FSU’s normal range, as an out of state student you’re probably fine for admission.
My son got accepted from New York (long Island) he is attending in the fall. He had a 3.7 (92-93) average with a 27 ACT…but there were other kids in the same area academically that were deferred…some were ultimately accepted but some were unfortunately denied. GOOD LUCK!!!
Doesn’t the application have to be accepted by both the University and the individual college for the major? Or, is that just for AA transfers?
@Pasbal I’ve toured the school twice, and each time the admissions officer has said they don’t consider residency when making an admissions decision.
It really seems that FSU has become much more competitive over the last few years, and they are making a concerted effort to lure high achieving OOS students with the OOS tuition waiver. If there’s time, your son or daughter should retake the ACT. I think the OOS cutoff for the tuition waiver is 29 for the ACT.