In NC… the nickname for Duke … is the University of New Jersey. Does that mean it’s not a great school? Absolutely not- it’s one of the best.
My friend’s niece (from NJ) is transferring from Emory to one of the NC publics. Why? She says the school has “way too many wealthy kids from NY/NJ.” She says she went to HS with those kids and is not interested in spending her college years with them as well. Is Emory still a great school? Yes! Do other students feel this way about the northeast presence? No clue… but it is becoming painfully obvious why it’s so hard for kids from the northeast to get into some schools… too many applicants.
Yes UNC is required by law not to exceed 18% OOS freshmen. Some may be put off by that, others may find it refreshing. Could it be a hard adjustment? Maybe- it depends on the kid. Are there enough OOS kids there so as not to feel like the only one? Yes.
Does Cornell have lots of kids from certain NY area high schools? Yes it does. Is that a bad thing? Maybe yes, maybe no… it depends on what you are looking for.
I decided to pay full tuition for some of my children because I thought in the long run what that school had would help them more. I truly think its a parent by parent, school by school, student by student choice. No one right answer.
There are no elite public flagship universities. If there were, why would they offer “honors college” inside the university? You don’t find these same programs at private elites (you will find honors courses but that is quite different.) Honors is an attempt by public flagships to provide an elite private like experience for some students. It’s just difficult to provide everyone an “elite” experience at a large public university.
My daughter’s experiences at her top 5 OOS public are similar to or exceed those of her friends who attend the top privates. She has no close friends at Harvard.
And… I am not trying to compare her school… or any school… to Harvard. It’s just not that important to me. Like I said… I am grateful for what she has.
Look… every family does what is best for their particular child in terms of fit and affordability, etc. My daughter attends the right school for her and she is flourishing there. I can’t ask for more. Some schools are ranked higher, some schools are ranked lower. Not important to me because she is in a good place… for her.
As for classes sizes, you can find those on common data sets. There are large privates just as there are large publics. And as for the concern that publics face budgetary constraints, these days, UVa gets as much funding from VA as Cornell does from NYS. If you are afraid of state funding cuts at UVa, why wouldn’t you be afraid of state funding cuts at Cornell?
UVa has roughly the same number of students as Cornell and a measurably bigger endowment.
If Cornell is a rich Ivy, then why shouldn’t UVa be considered richer?
Cornell’s 75-25 ACT scores are 34-30 compared to UVa’s 33-29 (pulled from the same website to be consistent).
That’s a difference but barely one.
So there are people on this thread who are willing to be full-pay at Cornell but not full-pay OOS at UVa.
The question I have then is : why?
Now, if it comes down to the specifics of the schools (Cornell CS is stronger, for instance), I’d understand that. But when it comes to money, UVa is actually richer. The student body composition isn’t much different stats-wise. UVa has a lot of VA kids, but NYS kids are heavily overrepresented at Cornell and 50% of Cornell’s student body comes from the Northeast (PA and points east and north).
So @Boomer1964, you said “If these kids are smart enough to get into Michigan, they should be able to succeed and do well at Alabama”, but the same argument applies to a kid who gets in to Cornell. So why would you choose to be full-pay at Cornell but not pay a little less for UVa.
@quadaces:
“Look, I think many publics are amazing, but I am just trying to weigh the pros and cons and possibly turning down an elite private for a flagship public isn’t sitting well with me.”
But why not?
Granted, WashU is richer than UVa, but by per capita endowment, UVa is richer than JHU and far richer than Georgetown.
Does it make sense to be full pay at JHU or Georgetown then, considering that they are poorer than UVa?
And UMich’s per capita endowment numbers won’t be so impressive as they are gigantic, but they also have a large endowment as well, which means lots of goodies and opportunities for students who look to take advantage of them. In terms of opportunities, they are a full-fledged feeder to both the Street (at least Ross is) and Silicon Valley. That’s a position that WashU is trying to attain (and made progress in, to be fair).
Son is a 4th year at UVA…(in McIntyre). We are OOS/ full pay. We have no regrets. He had great options (including Northwestern, Vandy, Michigan(Ross) and UNC). We were going to be full pay at all of those schools (and not we aren’t “rich” but have been saving forever, etc…) He fell in love with the school, the vibe, Charlottesville, the history and the opportunities. It really did come down to “fit” for him and that is where he could see himself after he re-visited. It was the right decision for him and he has taken advantages of all of the amazing opportunities that he has had there (that he would not have had at our state flagship). And he did have a job offer before his 4th year started! Our Daughter is waiting on her admission decision from UVA…if she gets in she will be there as well n the Fall. Every family does what works for them.
Thanks for all the info. My daughter fell in love with UVA on our first visit and doesn’t even want to visit Michigan. WashU is certainly in the mix but we really have to see what happens with the rest, I think at this point, the only schools she would consider over UVA would be Cornell, Northwestern and UPenn, although I think her heart is in Virginia.
@PurpleTitan
At the age of 18, I’m not sure. I can say that from a very young age she has ALWAYS said she was going to be a doctor. It wasn’t until about the age of 10 that she became aware of and interested in autoimmune diseases. Most likely stemmed from first hand experience of having a parent with an autoimmune disease and traveling back & forth to and from medical appointments with specialists. It was at that time she decided “what kind” of doctor she wanted to be. In all this time, she has never expressed an interest in any other major or field. Numerous kids go back and forth trying to decide what to major in, but she never expressed interest in anything else. She wants a smaller campus where she will have lots of research opportunities.
My dd is full pay at U South Carolina. We live in NJ. She has always wanted to go south for the weather, and also wanted a big sports school. It was a reach school, so we were happy for her that she got in, but no merit awards. She is very happy and doing well, so I don’t begrudge the money we are spending.
