Hi, I am a High School student, going into Junior year with a 3.5UW and a 4.05W GPA. I have been in at least 2 Honors/AP classes every year of high school and plan on having that continue into my Senior year. I have been the manager of the varsity lacrosse team for 2 years and will continue to do that for the next 2 years, and am in various clubs in school (Peer Leaders, Spanish Honors Society, etc.). I have not taken ACT or SAT so I understand it will be hard to give details on different scholarships, etc. but I was hoping for at least a range of results with my criteria.
I have a list of schools I would love to go ( University of Washington - Seattle, Tulane, University of Colorado - Boulder, etc. ) but these are all very expensive and with my grades, I don’t think I will get too big of a scholarship. Without going into too much detail or giving out too much personal info, I do not qualify for financial aid. I have 3 older siblings who have gone through the college application process already, so I am aware that I will not be receiving any financial aid from schools. My parents are willing to pay for my college, whether it be in part or in whole is up to where I decide to go. They have $100,000 saved up for me for all 4 years, or 25K a year. None of my top choices fit into this category, and most of them I would have to get at least a 25K scholarship to have it within that budget, which is not likely.
I can always get a student loan and have my parents help out, and go to one of my top choice schools, but obviously, I would prefer to avoid that situation.
The point of this thread is to find good schools that have cheap OOS COA that I can consider.
I prefer colder weather (Tulane is the exception because I fell in love with New Orleans the first time I went), would love to go Northwest as I am from the Northeast (NJ) and want to get as far away from NJ as possible. I know that my temperature preferences don’t really matter if I’m looking to save a good amount of money, but thought I’d add it anyway.
Any and all help is appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Check out U Minnesota-Morris, which is very small for a public school (1800 undergrads). The cost of attendance for out-of-state students is ~$23,000 per year.
Without test scores, this is really difficult. With a budget of 25-30k (30 with federal loans), most of the out of state flagship are going to difficult. Even the ones that give merit, the 3.5 gpa is going to be on the low end. If you really want to go out of state, you are going to have to move way down in the ranking and score high on the ACT/SAT. For example, if you are looking for a LAC, and you get a 28 ACT, Ripon College (Harrison Ford flunked out from there) will come in around 25k. You could also look at some of the non flagship state schools. The thing that you have to remember is that room/board is around 12-15k.
Ripon is a good school kind of between Madison and Green Bay. A couple other famous artists to attend include Spencer Tracy and Al Jarreau. They (along with Indiana Jones/Han Solo) are a fun footnote for such a small school.
For OOS flagships (and others), check out the U of New Mexico, West Virginia U, Ole Miss, U of Alabama and UAH.
But if you want to be at a smaller school, UM-Morris (a public LAC) and Ripon are nice options.
Depending on test scores, you “might” qualify for discounted tuition at Western Washington (Bellingham), U of Wyoming, U of New Mexico and Arizona State. Arizona State is hot and UNM has varied weather (with hottest temps during your summer break).
There are bargains to be had at publics in southern states - Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana - especially if you are willing to look past the flagship campuses.
For cold weather, U Minnesota Morris was a good suggestion. Also there are bargains to be had in the Dakotas. Maybe check out non-flagship options in Michigan?
Again, test scores will be important to unlock reduced tuition OOS.
While NJ residents tend to dislike in-state options, Rutgers, College of New Jersey, and Rowan are well-regarded schools and it would be wise to apply to at least one in-state option where admission is likely in case OOS universities don’t work out financially.
Lots of non-flagships will work, at least in the Midwest, and if your ACT matches up with GPA, you probably will get scholarship money too. When you get away from the top privates and flagships there are plenty of schools hurting for enrollment. Some are loosening the requirements for in State tuition (certain GPA and test scores or surrounding states). They may be schools you aren’t familiar with, but still some good schools depending on what you are looking for.
The terms “good”, “cheap”, and “out-of-state” don’t generally all go together. Pick two out of three.
You can get good and cheap if you go to Rutgers or TCNJ. But it won't be out-of-state.
You can get good and out-of-state at a well-known flagship like UW or Boulder. But it won't be cheap.
You can maybe find cheap and out-of-state at a lesser-known state school, like Minnesota-Morris or UMaine. But it may not be widely recognized as "good".
UMaine offers up to $15K off their OOS sticker price to NJ residents (depending on GPA and test scores), which would drop the annual cost of attendance to about $30K. I hear that Orono is cold. https://go.umaine.edu/apply/scholarships/flagship-match/
U of Utah is a high-quality flagship U that provides a pathway to residency after the first year, and also has stat-based merit aid and a great honors college. If you got no merit aid at all, the first year would cost $43K, but the subsequent years would drop to $24K… so overall $15K over your budget, plus price increases. Between merit and conservative loans that gap could be pretty manageable. That gets you a flagship-U education in a major city with the kind of weather you like, skiing half an hour from campus, tons of natural beauty. If getting far from New Jersey is your goal, and the rural midwest options don’t appeal, this should be on your list.
As mentioned above, there are also good deals in the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana… but if you want an urban hub of any sort, SLC is your most affordable bet. UMinn Twin Cities is more affordable than UDub or Boulder, but not by a huge margin. If you start out at UMinn Morris, you do have the option of applying internally for a transfer to Twin Cities, so you could give Morris a chance and decide later whether to do all four years there or transfer to the more expensive urban flagship.
Another possibility: U of Cincinnati is an urban co-op school with a lot of great departments and programs. New Jersey is one of the target states for their National Outreach award, so you’d get $6K/year off the top for that if you meet the not-too-stringent GPA and score requirements. https://admissions.uc.edu/tuition-aid/scholarships/outreach.html That’s a starting point of around $37K/year, and potentially more merit off of that depending on your stats. Something to check back on when you know more about your test scores and junior year grades.
Another option would be to consider a public university in a state that has relaxed rules about residency. [I did not see the post above when I initially wrote this, but it’s the same idea]
For example, you are interested in Colorado-Boulder. It is unlikely that you would be able to qualify for Colorado residency – but next door in Utah, the rules are supposed to be much looser. Apparently you have to live in Utah for 12 months, and declare financial independence from your parents (they can’t claim you as a dependent on their tax return). https://www.usu.edu/admissions/residency/
So you could attend University of Utah or Utah State for a year at non-resident rates, then declare Utah residency and attend for three years at the lower in-state rate.
The estimated COA at Utah State is $27,705 OOS and $13,624 in-state. So even if you attended for one year at the OOS rate, you would still come in well under $25K per year on average. [note that this is for Utah State U, not the better-known but more expensive U of Utah as per the previous post]
If you like CU Boulder then check out the University of Utah. You can get in state tuition after the first year so the cost of attendance would drop from $40K to $20K and a four year total of ~$100K is achievable.
Thank you to all the quick responses and I have been researching U of U a lot this morning. It seems like a good school in my price range (after the 1st year, that is) and will definitely put it on my list.
To those asking why I choose not to consider NJ schools, it’s simply a personal preference. I have many friends and family members who go to TCNJ, Rutgers, Rowan, Kean, etc, but have heard some not so great experiences from those same people. In most cases, it is a last resort.
I am hoping to get my GPA up this year and the next, as there were factors my sophomore year that caused my grades to drop semi-significantly. My GPA freshman year was 3.95UW, so there was a very big drop sophomore year that was caused by me spreading myself too thin (I added 3 Honors/AP classes to my schedule thinking I would be able to handle it without any problems) and some personal reasons too. However, going into junior year I am confident that I will be able to get at least a 3.75UW, if not higher. This will hopefully give me more options, but I will just have to wait and see I suppose.
Take a timed SAT and ACT practice test. Set two Saturdays (or whatever day works for you) aside, Find a quiet area of the house and do a complete version of each test. Grade them and see where you stand. Study, study, study and work on those areas you can easily bring the scores up on. Look at Khan academy. Plan to take one of those tests early your Jr year so you have time to retest if necessary. High GPA and test scores are what will get you merit money. Do your work.
If you become a Utah resident after year 1, your NJ parents will no longer be able to claim you as a dependent on their tax returns. This probably means that they will have to pay more in taxes, so that is an additional cost to consider as well.
Another Southern school of potential interest is the University of Alabama - Huntsville. It’s located in the Appalachian region of far northern Alabama, just below the Tennessee border. You may think of Alabama as a football state, but UAH plays ice hockey instead. Also noted for STEM and merit scholarships. They currently provide an automatic 100% tuition waiver for non-residents with 3.5+ GPA and 1390+ SAT (or 30+ ACT). That would bring the annual cost down to <$20K. https://www.uah.edu/admissions/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships/merit-tuition-scholarships
I disagree with you can’t get good oos and inexpensive. Pick two comment. Any accredited state university like u Maine and unm and countless others are better than good. They are not the most elite. But that does not mean they aren’t good. thats a bit elitist.
It’s not saying “these schools aren’t good.” It’s saying “these schools aren’t widely recognized as good”.
Look, I fully agree that you can get a great education at a value-priced school like Maine, UA-Huntsville, Truman State, MN-Morris, SD Mines, etc. These schools are underrated, and deserve more consideration than they typically get at forums like this one.
But in terms of national perception and recognition, let’s face it: such schools are not comparable to the OP’s first choice picks, e.g. UW, Colorado-Boulder, Tulane, etc. So that’s the sacrifice that the OP has to be prepared to accept, if he wants schools that are both cheap and out-of-state. Yes, it may be a sacrifice of “perceived quality”, rather than “actual quality”. But that’s still a tough pill for many applicants here to swallow.
Some of the schools may not meet this students good definition but for the others who may read this thread don’t be disheartened.
The vast majority of people in the world are impressed more by you having a solid degree, more importantly that you in fact become educated, than from where.
For super selective businesses and industries. Sure big time schools make an impression.
But over time even that becomes less important than your personal performance in your chosen career.
