<p>I expect to establish residency in California and my daughter will apply to the UC system where she will qualify for in-state tuition.</p>
<p>I am looking for some thoughts on pros and cons of going to any of the public univeristies outside California - there are many great schools (Wisonsin, Michigan etc.) in the mid west where it appears to be easier to get in when compared to East and West coast schools. However, the out of state tuition is not a whole lot less than private universities. </p>
<p>Here are my thoughts:</p>
<p>Pros:
- High quality academics
- Great overall campus life in a college town
- Easier to get into than private colleges?</p>
<p>Cons:
- Out of state tuition is high, in some cases as high as private colleges
- Large class sizes, especially in the first two years.</p>
<p>I’m always baffled when someone says that “out of state tuition for public, is as high as private…” Reminds me of that 70s episode, where Donna’s dad thinks Marquette is better than Wisconsin because it’s private. </p>
<p>for comparison, are you comparing a top 10 private, top 20 private, top 30 private to a elite public?</p>
<p>State-residency is sometimes given priority. I don’t know much about this topic, but UNC comes to mind. I’m sure it’s not easy in-state, but you need extremely impressive numbers/ECs to be even considered if you’re out-of-state.</p>
<p>Some price comparisons:
USC: $37,890, $11,298 ~ about $50,00 for each
BC: $37,950; $11,610</p>
<p>UMich: $33,069; $8,590 ~ about $40,000
UNC: $20,988; $7,960 ~ about $30,000</p>
<p>The “sticker prices” are still $10K+ less per year. The difference of course could be with financial aid which is supposedly better for private colleges than public universities.</p>
<p>keefer: I am not saying that private schools are better than public schools. On the contrary, I am aware that schools like Wisconsin have very strong programs across many disciplines. The advantage of a private college would be typically smaller class sizes which is better for certain type of learners.</p>
<p>HottYankRemix: Thanks for the specific numbers. Yes, there is still a difference, but it would not be as high as in-state vs. private. Of course, merit scholarships can change the whole equation and I have heard also that private colleges tend to have better merit scholarships than state colleges</p>
<p>There are a number of very good merit scholarships aimed at out-of-state students that bring tuition down to what is paid by in-state students. Many times these same students are admitted to the Honors College at these state universities, which means that their classes are smaller than those at private universities, and they have the chance to take courses from the very top profs. They also get to sign-up for courses before most of the other students do, and are given a variety of other perks.</p>
<p>I think in most cases going to an out-of-state public is pretty silly. For nearly the same cost as a private school, you’re getting student-to-faculty ratios that are 2 to 3 times as high. And if you qualify for financial aid, the private school will be cheaper a lot of the time. </p>
<p>As for your personal situation, I don’t see why you would even consider at all sending your daughter out-of-state. If she can get into UC-Berkeley or UCLA, it’s a no-brainer. Paying in-state tuition for UCSD, UC-Davis, UC-Irvine, or UC-Santa Barbara would also be good. If she can’t get into any of those 6 schools, she probably won’t be able to get into any of the good out-of-state publics.</p>
<p>Can you mention the name of these colleges that offer merit scholarships to OOS students to bring tuition down? The only one that I know about is Clemson University. My son is attending & it is working out well. Now it is my daughter’s turn and I would like to find some similar deals at other schools.</p>
<p>Some PRIVATE colleges inside California are outstanding and might offer financial aid or scholarships and get the price tag down to something very competitive.</p>
<p>University of San Diego, Santa Clara University, Stanford, Occidental College, Loyola Marymount (LA), Pepperdine University to name just a few.</p>
<p>My2Angels, you should look at University of New Hampshire. They give great merit scholarships to out-of-state high achievers. My D attends (we are from CT) and is in the honors program, which is excellent. With the merit scholarship, FA, and an additional scholarship she received for sophomore year, our costs are minimal, probably less than what we would have paid for our in-state public.</p>
<p>University of South Carolina also offers merit scholarships (with instate tution) for oos.<br>
There was another thread recently on full tuiton scholarships at the University of Alabama for all students with qualifying scores/gpa.</p>
<p>One thing I found in college is that students who are from the area tend to go home every few weeks to do laundry and other stuff. If you are an OOS student at a public or private where lots of the kids are from the area you might find that campus is deserted Sunday afternoons. I live less than half an hour from my state school and many of my friends who go there say they go home about every other weekend. It also wouldn’t surprise me if 1/2 of the student’s families live within 30-45 minutes of campus. I would hate to be an OOS student at that school if it means campus is basically dead on weekends during the day.</p>
<p>Sorry, but that’s just not true. Public campuses are NOT dead on weekends. I’m surprised you forgot that stereotypical public school kids party every night and wouldn’t want to go home and miss that, especially during the weekend.</p>
<p>Trust me, kids do not want to go home every weekend. Most people I know would rather do their own wash for a little bit of their own money rather than spend the weekend at home and get it for free. Besides, even if this were the case, honors colleges tend to pull kids from all areas of the country (I have friends from every time zone; in fact, that’s probably not rare for any college student). </p>
<p>Anyway, I wouldn’t say you’ve “found something in college” when it seems like you’re basing something on your friends’ experiences (the ones who go home every weekend seem to know that campus is dead how?).</p>
<p>I agree, Chris07. Even if students who live close to campus go home once a month, that doesn’t make for a deserted campus. Many of my D’s friends live close by but don’t go home very often. Also, if you look at the in-state vs oos stats for the school, that tells you alot. At UNH, about 45% of the students are from oos.</p>
<p>Ohio State is committed to enrolling a diverse and talented student population. The National Buckeye Scholarship is awarded on a competitive basis to non-Ohio students required to pay the out-of-state surcharge who are admitted to the Columbus campus for autumn quarter. Those considered have ACT composite scores of 27 or higher or combined SAT Critical Reading and Math scores of 1220 or higher.</p>
<p>Notes: </p>
<p>Except where noted, the National Buckeye Scholarship can be combined with any other merit scholarships, as long as the combined total does not exceed the total cost of an Ohio State education.
Renewal criteria for students entering the university beginning summer 2008: this award is renewable for a maximum of 12 quarters of full-time undergraduate enrollment, provided the recipient maintains a 2.5 or higher GPA from the second year forward and makes satisfactory academic progress, and nonresident classification remains unchanged. </p>
<p>I know of students who combine this award with other awards that the University offers–for ACTs scores above a higher range–to bring the COA way down.</p>
I live very close to the campus. I’ve visited it many times in high school and while in college. It’s not dead Friday and Saturday nights. However, I have been there at times when during the day it seems like there is no one to be found. My high school sends about 100 kids there a year so if a large number of people that I know there tend to go home every other weekend for a Sunday or whatever, is it too much of a stretch to think that others do the same. I wouldn’t say that this is true of a big state school in the Big 10, SEC, Pac 10, etc., but it is true of some colleges out there.</p>
<p>Also, when I said that there might be situations where campus is dead on the weekends which an OOS student might find tough I said it might be true of publics and privates where a large number of students are locals. I know several people who went away for college to non commuter schools and felt that lots of their classmates were locals who went home on weekends.</p>
<p>Another problem with attending a state school as OOS pertains to acceptance into one’s desired major. For instance, at UT Austin, if you plan to be a communications/journalism major, 75% of the slots are for Texas students who meet the top 10% rule, the other 25% of the spaces are filled by competition between any remaining top 10% Texas students, all other Texas students and OOS students. Obviously, there are very few slots for OOS. I wouldn’t want to send my child off to a college with those odds against them.</p>
<p>On the point by researchmaven about the overwhelming preference for in state students in Texas, can anyone comment whether the same type of problem exists with other state schools? I am looking at U of Wisconsin, U of Washington, U of Michigan and U of Virginia.</p>
<p>On the point about why apply anywhere else when you live in California, not all UC campuses offer the biotech / genetics major at undergrad level. Once you go beyond the top 5 or 6 UC schools, the other state schools begin to look better from an academic point of view, though more expensive.</p>
<p>You might be able to make something out of this data from U Washington. Undergraduates are over 80% in-state, but that percentage has been trending downward. For graduates, in-state is closer to 50% and has also been trending downward.</p>
<p>Despite getting free tuition for FL state schools, my D chose U Michigan. They offer a unique program that fits her interests, are top-ranked in her major and have a program for undergraduate research. She also loves Ann Arbor, which is a very traditional college town. Is it worth the expense? At least for her, I think so.</p>
<p>Although it is difficult to be admitted to U Michigan from OOS, there seems to be a large percentage of OOS students. I would suggest applying early and visit if you can.</p>