@stlarenas, I had never heard of Truman State (East Coaster here) until the daughter of a cyber friend went there. She was OOS. I don’t recall what she ended up paying but I know it was pretty inexpensive for her as well. She ended up developing great relationships with her professors, had an amazing internship opportunity (in NYC at the U.N.) and then won a Fulbright Scholarship to Europe. Hearing about all the great things she was able to do and the opportunities she has had after graduating from this school I’d never heard of, it only emphasized that it’s not necessarily where you go, but what you make of it when you are there, something I keep emphasizing to my kids.
Like Cotton and DCNatFan, I’m also a MD resident. My college freshman got in to UMDCP but wouldn’t even consider it b/c it was “too close to home” and “too big.” She is now clear across the country. S19, OTOH, does not have the stats for UMDCP, but he would love to go there if he could. In state, he’s only considering Towson - the rest of our state schools are either too small or too rural/remote for him, although I might get him to reconsider looking at Salisbury. I must admit for some reason I have this funny bias against UMBC - I think of it more as a CC than a 4 yr university. My younger son goes to a private high school right up the road from UMBC so it would be a bit weird if S19 ended up there, so close to him. My niece goes there though and loves it, but she is a commuter from Mont Co.
UMBC used to be the poorer, maybe not as good sibling of UMCP, but at least at the undergrad level (UMCP’s still the higher-powered graduate research school) that hasn’t been the case for at least a couple decades now.
And that’s actually one of the problems with the social side of the whole college thing—colleges aren’t static entries. They don’t change quickly, but they do change. Sometimes people somehow become aware of that (look at how many decently-high-stats students are calling UCF their first choice nowadays, f’rex, when that wouldn’t have been even remotely so much the case even 15 years ago), but sometimes not (e.g., UMBC). I don’t rightly know what makes the difference in perceptual change happen or not, though.
So Salisbury is where everyone goes so @cotton2017 daughter can’t go there because it will be just like high school, but can’t go to Frostburg because NO ONE goes there? These kids she doesn’t want to be with have control over every school in the state? If she doesn’t like the kids going to Salisbury, why does she care what they think about Frostburg? Of course going to UMd-CP wouldn’t be at all like high school even if everyone from the high school wants to go there.
I understand this is a 16 year old and her thinking isn’t always clear to us old folks, but if Frostburg, Townson, and Salisbury are the schools you can afford, there comes a time when you have to put this back on the teen and ask which school she wants, but those 3 are the affordable choices. That choice might be easier if she only gets into one.
@twoinanddone - I have mentioned we visited Towson and she liked it and would be happy there so not sure your comment was necessary. Frostburg is very rural and I am hoping to have her check it out but it doesn’t have the best reputation. I still want to visit. She goes to a HS of 1500 in the country (we have a cow pasture by our football field) and most go to community college which I think is a real possibility for her. Those that go away to college - tend to go to Salisbury.
@4kids4us - I have a weird view of UMBC too but I have no idea why. I never really put it on our list of schools to see but really should try and make an open house.
@DCNatFan - I have heard good things about Shippensburg. May need to check that one out.
@cotton2017 Millersville has gorgeous, brand-new dorms! It was my son’s first pick for a long time, until we got to decision time! He got more merit than we expected (he was about a 2.7 GPA with 1150 SAT, all athletic EC), making it a little more than the NJ state schools. I know 1 football player going there next year and 1 basketball player, so I think they are building the teams. Beautiful gym too, and I think about 10k kids?
York College was also a top pick, until accepted student day. I had the checkbook and everything. That was the one that got the “weird kids” veto from my son! It’s small, dorms aren’t impressive, but seemed very sports-centered. I was surprised he didn’t end up there.
UMBC and Towson are both way too close to home for my son to consider. He wants out, away, somewhere else.
We took him to St. Mary’s and it was way too small and rural for him, but my husband and I kept looking at each other behind his back and saying to ourselves that we would love to have gone there. We didn’t even try with Frostburg and Salisbury.
When I was graduating high school, UMCP was the safety school and the dorms were zoos. Boy, was I shocked to read about how things had changed! I’m glad that they’ve improved, but sad that it’s now out of reach for a lot of kids in-state.
There has got to be a better way to do college admissions. Strip the mystery away. Tell us what statistics put us in range for your school so we don’t waste money applying places we’ll never get in. Tell us what the cost possibilities are up front.
@MYOS1634 She was admitted to Stockton’s Nursing program and also offered Honors College, the merit money is just not enough to keep her in state. We were also advised that she will have better job opportunities depending where her clinical rotations will be…ie closer to a big city.
I lived in Maryland when my brothers were looking at colleges. We also had cows in our neighborhood, although they (brothers, not the cows) went to high school in Towson area. Frostburg is far, but that was the appeal for some. Towson was the ‘staying at home’ (and usually living at home) school. Salisbury was the party school because it was the closest to Ocean City. A few went to Frostburg just because it wasn’t Towson or Salisbury.
At the time, UMBC was just a commuter college but part of the 5 school UM system (when there was a separate state college/UM system) so it had some extra prestige. Still, no one from our area (north of Towson) went to UMBC. I’m sure that’s very different now because UMBC is a very different school now.
@Cotton2017 I gave my daughter the following analysis of the 2017 senior class from her HS, which had about 500 graduate. I wanted to show her how many kids attended each of the MD state schools. Following numbers are Applied/Accepted/Enrolled. Only approx. 16% stayed in-state.
UMD-College Park: 284/173/56
Towson: 35/23/7
UMBC: 33/25/3
St. Mary’s College: 25/20/0
Salisbury: 20/16/3
Frostburg: 7/7/1
Montgomery College (Community College): 18/16/16
@NJWrestlingmom Thanks for the details on MIllersville. We are going to add that one to our list. Just looked at the CDS and they are a bit under 10,000 students. Last year was 7,720. They have the following posted on the website, which I don’t exactly follow. If all freshman receive the $6k, why not just reduce the tuition. Bit confusing. Assuming we get the $6, it bring the price down under $30k.
Freshmen - $6,000 per year
Awarded to all incoming freshman.
Must earn 12 or more credits per semester to keep the reduced rate.
The freshmen award reduces students’ out-of-state tuition rate by $6,000 per year and is renewable for 4 consecutive years/8 consecutive semesters. Students must maintain good academic standing as determined by the University in order to maintain the adjustment.
@DCNatFan - wow, you had a lot get into UMDCP! I saw the 2017 numbers briefly when attending a school college night and we had appropriately 169 go to community college out of a class of 380. I’d say another 110 did not attend college at all (went in military or right to work after having been in tech classes during HS). Salisbury was the number one after CC. Are you looking at WV at all? We are going to visit just to see the affordable big sport school.
@ninakatarina and @Cotton2017, when I was graduating h.s, College Park was only about 20 mins from my house and definitely was either the safety for most of my large graduating public h.s. class or the place that many kids went b/c that was what they could afford. My father wouldn’t even let me apply or should I say, he threatened that I would have to pay for it if I did. He was Jesuit educated himself, my parents had saved for me for college and really wanted me to go to a Jesuit school, which I happily did. I did not want to go to school anywhere near home though I quite willingly visited my UMCP friends when I was home on breaks, spending way too many nights at the Vous and Bentleys! While I’m glad that UMCP has a well deserved great reputation these days, unfortunately, especially given the cost of college these days, most likely neither of my sons will be able to get in. My oldest did, as mentioned, but she wanted to go farther away, and what could I say since I did the same?
A few times a few years ago I went to UMBC for a couple of swim meets. I did not notice that we were actually even on a college campus, but perhaps the pool is a bit far removed from the main part of campus. One of these days when i pick my younger son up from school, I may have to go early and do a drive through just to check it out. Maybe then I will have a more favorable impression. I haven’t been to Towson since I was in college - I think I only ever went once or twice to visit a friend so I have no impression what it was like at all. My boys both compete in the MIAA sports conference, and my younger son goes to school in Baltimore, so I am up there all the time so one of these days I will check out both Towson and UMBC.
Has anyone looked at Mt. St. Mary’s? I realize it’s Catholic, but it may be affordable with merit aid. I have lots of friends who are grads. S19 wants something bigger, but it will be a good option for my S21 - he has a learning disability, they have a good program for kids with LDs, a strong relationship with his high school, and it’s test optional I think. I’m sure he won’t be interested as he wants “big sports” but he may not have much choice unfortunately.
@Cotton2017 We had WVU on our list for awhile but it has since been dropped. Too rural. I will lay out the schools currently at the top of the list in case anyone has visited or has any thoughts.
Kansas
Kansas State
Ohio University
Shippensburg
UNC Wilmington
East Carolina
Coastal Carolina
LSU
West Chester
James Madison
SUNY-Binghamton
Then we have a long list of reach schools both academically and financially (Florida State, Vermont, Tennessee, NC State, Delaware, South Carolina). We have a very long list. As we all know 16 year old kids change their minds on a daily basis.
In most such situations (both where it’s a set dollar amount, and the ones that offer in-state tuition to everybody), the scholarship is generally only renewable if grades stay up—so it’s basically a tuition penalty in later years for bad-to-mediocre grades.
There’s a good amount of debate going on right now in academia about whether this is a good strategy or not (with a lot of it centering around Maine’s system as a case study).
@DCNatFan We have quite a few kids that go to KU (Kansas) every year. Every single kid/adult I know that went there absolutely loved it. I really have only hear great things about that school. My nephew (and S19 best friend) has just announced he is definitely going to KU as a freshman this fall. So I have a feeling we will be visiting soon and it will be on my son’s short list.
However my kid would really like to go somewhere a bit less like Missouri - but our budget is small. However you have a few schools on your list I haven’t thought of that I may need to (have him ) research some more: UNC Wilmington, East Carolina, Coastal Carolina
@stlarenas The major seems to change with her mood. Education, nursing, social work, forensic science. I’d say we are pretty much in the undecided category.
@DCNatFan Both my D17 and my S19 are still completely undecided. I don’t think it matters much yet for most kids however for Education I would recommend to get her degree in the state/city she wants to end up teaching (as it is much easier that way) and for nursing (if you want to finish in 4) you had better be ready to declare that going in freshman year. (Engineering is another one that you probably should know before you pick a college). I think for the rest there is wiggle room at just about any college.
) research some more: UNC Wilmington, East Carolina, Coastal Carolina