I always thought the state flagship school was supposed to be an applicant’s best safety (easy to get in, cost, close to home, large, diverse, etc.)
Is this not true anymore?
It depends upon the student. Some do not want a large school, so a less selective small school might be the best safety choice. Also depends on whether there are cost issues, and that the safety includes affordability. A close friend’s DD was focusing on LACs, for example, so Big State U was not a good choice as a safety for her. There are plenty of small schools that are not as selective as her first choices, and very similar.
Nope! In Georgia, UGA is getting extremely tough. Starting this year and going over the next couple of years, you have to take at least 2 to 3 AP or equivalent courses to get in. Lots of kids in my son’s grade got deferred during the EA round. Nothing is guaranteed anymore, especially in states where you get tuition paid by the state with a good GPA
Flagship in our state is somewhat of a safety, but it’s stingy with aid and not affordable for everyone unfortunately. There is a smaller public school in our state with better merit that makes it a better safety definitely for those who don’t want to attend a ginormous school.
Don’t most states have secondary schools which are both smaller and less selective, then?
Yes.It varies by state, but in general, yes, the other state public universities, would be less selective (and offer more merit) than the state flagships. However, the flagships may offer more need based aid.
Depends on the state you’re in and the competitiveness of the flagship. In NC, UNC-CH is not a safety for most people. NC State, especially for engineering, can also be a tough admit. Fortunately there are a number of other good schools in the NC university system.
In some states like PA, state schools are not that affordable. In other states even the flagship is not that strong.
Exceptions exist, but how can paying OOS tuition be more affordable for a lot of students?
Significant merit aid. For example, an engineering student may pay $20K a year in-state at UIUC, or go to Alabama with a 100% Tuition +$2,500 a year merit scholarship.
Neither of my kids would have enjoyed a large school. My kids had a couple of smaller schools on their lists where they were high in the stats pool and generous merit was available (and they got it). A safety isn’t only about costs, especially for families that have saved a fair amount for college.
May not be easy to get in to. May cost too much. May be too large.
Each state and student circumstance is different.
Probably not in Michigan, Virginia, Florida, Georgia, NC. Tough admits. The directional unis are safer.
Private schools with merit scholarships are an option for many students. There are schools that offer very good merit aid to attract students that will help raise their averages. They’re not the biggest name schools, and not schools you find on the “Chance me” threads, but there are many solid regional colleges and universities that can be an option. A school’s sticker price may be in the $40/50k range, but the actual cost of attendance with merit money can end up to be less than even in-state tuition.
^^^all reasons why the first question we always ask…what’s your home state?
So, if the average in-state tuition is $9,000 and the average OOS tuition is $23,000, wouldn’t the merit aid have to be at least $14,000/yr to tip the balance, not to mention distance, tradition, etc?
And, what percentage of students are getting merit aid to go OOS? Aren’t we back to talking about a very small portion of all the applicants?
Other than a few schools like Alabama, kids aren’t getting much if any merit aid to go to out of state public schools. The merit aid is from private schools, which may or may not be in-state.
Okay, but the average tuition at private schools is $31,000, making the gap that much bigger.
Not if you go to school in Virginia, Michigan, North Carolina, Berkeley, California, Georgia, or Wisconsin. But yes if you go to school is Kansas, Alabama, Iowa, New York, Oklahoma, and Mississippi.
That’s why you have to find the right safety schools. For example, Wingate is a school many kids in NC will use as a safety. Tuition is $25k/year. However, they award a number of 4-year renewable academic scholarships ranging from $10k - $25k. So if you’re a kid with high enough stats, you look for a couple of schools such as Wingate to be your safeties.
Looking at sticker price for private schools scares off many families, but you really need to look at the average cost of attendance - often it’s half of the sticker price because of the significant financial aid awarded.
@Calicash What are you referring to in #17?