I’m a student from Ohio. I have a 4.2 gpa, have taken nearly a year’s worth of college courses, several ECs and many volunteer hours. I got a 25 on the ACT and a 1240 on the SAT but I plan to retake both. Should I go out of state?
First off, I’m assuming and correct me if I’m wrong that you will be a senior next year. That aside, you have a lot to filter out before you decide if you want to go out of state or not. What do you want in college? Some questions you can begin to ask yourself is what do you want to study, how big you want your school to be, and where you want your school to be. Adding on to this, you should discuss with anyone who may be funding your college how much they are paying for you to go there. If you have little to no financial support behind you going to an OOS school, I’m assuming you’re talking about an OOS public school, then it may not be wise to put yourself and your guardians under such financial distress. Ohio is a state with many great colleges and universities. Among great public colleges in Ohio are Miami, Ohio, and many other directional universities that are a great bargain. I suggest you look at some of these first.
You will grow because of it if you do. Im from ohio and left lived 20 minutes form ohio state and didn’t want to go there. You should shoot to raise your ACT and/or SAT if you want to be competitive for scholarships. Also look at private schools they will offer a much better post grad network.
This. Will your family pay for you to go OOS? If you get your scores up there may be some OOS schools that will give you some merit $. But not any of the CA publics.
You have a variety of terrific in state public and private options. Out of state public universities probably will cost more without significant difference in quality, unless you are considering a very specific uncommon major.
There are some Western states public universities where you could get a good deal financially like the University of New Mexico where you qualify for the Amigo scholarship (in state tuition) with a total cost of less than $20,000 annually. However, Ohio State is ranked much more highly.
https://scholarship.unm.edu/scholarships/non-resident.html
Private colleges or universities might be affordable depending upon your family’s financial situation. I recommend that you and your parents fill out the FAFSA (available on College Board website) to determine your expected family contribution (EFC). You can then run the numbers at schools that might interest you on their net price calculators (NPCs) to determine affordability.
Depending on where you live, you might be eligible for scholarships at some private colleges. For example, at Oberlin, graduates of the Oberlin HS district can get full tuition awards there.