<p>My son had a 32 ACT and below 3.0 GPA. He received merit at OOS uni which was increased later in the spring. He also placed out of 2 English classes based on his ACT score. This is a mid-tier school but they had his major. Sometimes the no-name school can be a real bargin when the school and the student have something to offer each other. I don’t have recommendations for your son’s interests, but I encourage you to keep looking.</p>
<p>University of Washington is using out of state (and out of country) to help fill the bills. You will NOT get any merit money OOS. They long ago quit giving NMSQ money.</p>
<p>I appreciate the input, both on and offlist.</p>
<p>I don’t think my son cares about a name at all; he honestly knows very little about colleges other than what I tell him or where we’ve visited (MIT, UC Irvine, and the local schools). He is not into prestige and he doesn’t get invested into winning and losing, so to speak. He understands the community college is his safety. He marches to the beat of his own drummer. </p>
<p>But I think the advice about applying fairly broadly and applying to schools where he might have choices about his various possible majors is a good idea. OTOH, his cello teacher keeps suggesting places like Bekelee (or however you spell it) School of Music. I ask my son if he can see himself at a music school and he says probably not, but he never says no to anything.</p>
<p>Sounds like UW isn’t worth it. I truly am looking for money that will dig into room and board, if possible.</p>
<p>We can definitely look into U South Carolina and NCSU. Still waiting to hear about Purdue.</p>
<p>I have asked my dad to help with application fees but I sure don’t want my son overwhelmed with applying to too many schools and writing apps essays in addition to scholarships essays. He’ll be working with his writing tutor online in August and hopefully, will be able to get a lot of the essays written, though I think some apps don’t open until Sept.</p>
<p>I am hoping to get the list pared down to 10-12 schools including some reach schools that have really interesting an applicable majors plus music.</p>
<p>My daughter got $10K/year out of Purdue.</p>
<p>Was it affordable with that 10K?</p>
<p>No because we still have to pay $30K, she liked U of M better than Purdue, but ended up at the local UCs because it’s much cheaper with Regents($25K). </p>
<p>OP - The automatic scholarships for OOS students at Clemson range from 7500 - 15000. However, there are other competitive scholarships, including National Scholars, which provide varying amounts up to full tuition and fees, R & B allowance and stipend, and study abroad experience.</p>
<p>Yep, that’s what I thought. The local UC would be maybe 4-5K for my son since we qualify for a Cal Grant. </p>
<p>Problem is, I don’t think it’s the right fit since it’s really a research university and being homeschooled, even with strong SAT and good grades in his community college classes, there’s no guarantee he’d get in at all since the admit rate is 30%.</p>
<p>And they have CS or Engineering, but nothing really like Industrial Design, Creative Computing, Arch, or even Engineering and the Arts. I mean, I guess he could major in music, but… There’s a sort of computing and the arts, but it’s really more about theory and research and not applied, which is what he wants.</p>
<p>He doesn’t want to apply there, but I might encourage him to reconsider just because it’s local.</p>
<p>Overtheedge, is the National Scholars for NM Finalists? Well, I’ll check into that. I’m sure it’s super competitive but worth checking out. Thanks!</p>
<p>It seems like none of the OOS schools will provide the type of scholarship money you need, if you can only pay a few thousand a year. Your best bet may be something like SFSU + some of their scholarships. </p>
<p>Actually, isn’t your son eligible for the Blue&Gold promise? How would that work? Also, your son could still get Stafford loans.</p>
<p>I think he should be in easily at UCSD with his stats. It has Visual Arts and excellent engineering. BTW, I think the GoPro CEO went to UCSD for Visual Arts. So maybe your son could check out the Visual Arts department at UCSD.
<a href=“http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/feature/for_gopro_founder_nick_woodman_uc_san_diego_was_a_catalyst_for_creativity”>http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/feature/for_gopro_founder_nick_woodman_uc_san_diego_was_a_catalyst_for_creativity</a></p>
<p>Wow, cool article! My son looked at it and said we could revisit the visual arts major. It just didn’t look appealing to him on first glance.</p>
<p>And yes, we qualify for the Blue Gold plan. I forgot about that! I just was running the NPC for UCSD and it was giving me the number based on a Cal Grant, but yes, we make under 80K, so would qualify.</p>
<p>Purple Titan, I have been looking at SJSU and CSULB for industrial design, but again, it’s unclear what kind of scholarships are available at cal state schools. I know CSULB has full something or another for NM, but obviously that’s out.</p>
<p>That’s the same quandary I have for the OOS schools-how to really know what’s available internally, departmentally or otherwise, and I suppose the answer is-you don’t, so just apply. :-)</p>
<p>You’ll get WUE at least at Utah. I’m not sure what the exact amount is, but it makes tuition 1.5x resident tuition. It may not seem like much but it’s actually a decent reduction. Beyond that I think those stats are probably competitive for some of Utah’s OOS partial and full tuition scholarships (can’t be combined with WUE; more info is on their site). There are also a few that the U offers that require special apps (also more info on their site). </p>
<p>CSULB’s biggest scholarships are described here:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/students/presidents_scholars/”>http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/students/presidents_scholars/</a></p>
<p>Right, but again, my son won’t be NM and he’s a homeschooler so no valedictorian there, so this scholarship is not available to him.</p>
<p>The kinds of scholarships I was thinking of are the ones some people have mentioned such as departmental. And sometimes schools just find money and I don’t know where it comes from. The young woman I helped get into USC (Univ. of So Cal) last year ended up paying way less than they first thought they would. She didn’t apply for scholarships, so this was need-based, but still, they had no idea why it ended up being much less than they had thought. So, sometimes, if a school wants you, they’ll kick in money you didn’t know they had, I guess.</p>
<p>I’ll look deeper into Utah. I knew that we would get WUE tuition, but was hoping someone might say, “Yep, we got XYZ scholarship from them as an OOS.”</p>
<p>Have you looked into U of Cinncinati? (I’ve tried 4 times and I can’t spell it, just can’t) Anyway, they have every kind of design there is and different Ohio publics were generous with scholarships to my D although she didn’t apply to that one. There’s a poster named @taxguy who had a child go there OOS.</p>
<p>Also, what about your academic common market? Isn’t there some western school exchange that would give you in state tuition for a program that’s not available in California?</p>
<p>You may be making the name of the major too important and thus talk yourself out of a good money school. If California doesn’t offer it at any of its UC’s or CSU’s, do you really think another school will? For cheaper? Some things just aren’t going to be perfect, but may be as close as you can get.</p>
<p>My daughter would like to go to a college where she could just take art and theater, with maybe a few history classes thrown in. She’d like to avoid math at all costs, never take a science course, and of course I’d like it all to be free. She’s picked a school that I can afford, but she’ll have to take math and science courses along with things she likes. Everyone has to give a little.</p>
<p>Most schools allow some leeway to combining courses from other majors, taking courses online, or studying at a different school for a semester or year (abroad or domestic exchange), and many allow the student to pay the home school’s tuition and use the home school’s financial aid. If your son needs a particular course on gaming, he can take it from another institution.</p>
<p>My daughter did get an OOS scholarship (it is posted right on the website, based on GPA and ACT score, and there is an amount for homeschooled students too), and she did get a department award based on an audition. She also got a grant that just appeared on the awards page for her to accept. Nice surprise, but only $2000. All these awards did not add up to enough to cover tuition, and nowhere close to R&B. I’m hoping she can get the dept scholarship (must audition again) and another grant next year, but there are no guarantees. In fact to keep her OOS scholarship she has to meet a certain GPA.</p>
<p>I think your best bet is a Cal school.</p>
<p>University of South Carolina has a number of music ensembles. Students who are not music majors are welcome to audition for them. DD actually had a lesson with the teacher on her instrument. The music department folks were very helpful in this regard. </p>
<p>Yes, one public OOS gave D. in-state tuition package and few other priviledges.
Another while IS, was an expensive private school - Case Western, where IS / OOS does not matter. D. received $27k / year for all 4 years which left only blance of $5k / year for us to pay. D. has chosen IS public where she was on full tuition Merit which was increased in her Junior / Senior years. OSU (IS for us) gave her very little Merit that we did not consider at all, but she did not like the school much anyway, it was too big for her.</p>
<p>…jut saw another post, “Have you looked into U of Cinncinati” - again this IS (for us) UG gave D. very little money, she did not consider it, since she did not care for campus anyway.
Anyway, if one is looking for Cinci, why not to consider Miami U? That is where D. went on full tuition Merit. It is IS for us, but has a good number of OOS students. It is very expensive for OOS though. It was more expensive for OOS than many privates.</p>
<p>I think the major is important for my son. He’s particular and it’s not like his interests are general like “math”, “art”, “biology”, etc. Yes, if he decides to try his hand at Engr or CS, those are at many schools, but the intersection of product design/industrial design/game design, etc. and everything else is more specific.</p>
<p>I realize he’ll probably have to give, but what’s the point in going to college if you’re not on board with where you’re going? Especially with the cost? Yeah, maybe lots of kids don’t have a choice, and my kid will do what it takes to make it through, but I think he wants more than that.</p>
<p>I think it’s worth the effort and time to try and find schools that will be better fits, if possible.</p>
<p>My oldest didn’t even look at a state or UC school-too big for him. But, he was a tippy top student and was well able to find other schools that were better fits.</p>
<p>I think we have a pretty good list of reach, match and safety schools at this point. He understands the reality of the cost of college and is willing to bend. He really wants to go away from home, but knows that it might not work out that way.</p>