<p>At my state flagship, the emphasis is on sports more than anything. Spending per athlete is over twice the spending per student for academics. I find this to be a case of MAJORLY misplaced priorities, but (somehow) it is still the best college in the state in many regards. I want to go out of state, but unless I get a major scholarship, it may be financially impossible. This isn't to say the university itself gives good scholarships (it doesn't for academic reasons; sport scholarships are an entirely different matter), but the state legislation has approved a fund to support top scholars from the state that stay in state. This could bring my COA down to anywhere between $0-3000 (depending on the award of outside scholarships). My question is, would it be so bad to go here, or would I get a sub-par education? I already am familiar with the campus (which itself isn't so bad- it's not great, but not many campuses are) and a few teachers/researchers, so this might help a little in the beginning, but I really don't think this should be a deciding factor. What do you guys think?</p>
<p>Things to consider–
How is your state flagship ranked academic-wise?
What are your other options?
What do you want to major in? How does the univ rank for that field?
Who would pay for OOS? The cost differential?</p>
<p>Graduating debt-free is a HUGE plus. But your goal is a job after graduation. </p>
<p>Athletic scholarships are always big for a lot of schools. Athletics are a large profit center for a college. Sadly, brain bowls don’t seem to have the same draw for the advertisers who pay for media time. Let it go. </p>
<p>For competitive schools, merit scholarships may be close to non-existent on a state level. The best and brightest in the state already want to go there.</p>
<p>In re to gouf78’s post, this school is not ranked very well (about 15th to last on every list), but is a little better ranked for my major (about 40 places higher than the overall school ranking). I’ve chosen a few other schools that <em>might</em> offer good scholarships, but uncertainty still remains in terms of the actual award. I really don’t have much saved (probably a lot more than other juniors); it will cover a little less than a year at my state uni (if I were paying the full price). I would like to graduate with the least amount if debt possible since I want to attend grad school.</p>
<p>Stop being coy and tell us the name of school.</p>
<p>15th to last of what? All colleges in the United States? I don’t believe that there’s a state flagship that’s that bad. What list are you getting the 15th to last rank from?</p>
<p>North Dakota State University. The rankings I’m speaking of are from US news (which may or may not be reliable). I just looked it up and it’s 11th to last I guess (I think I remember seeing that they ranked 201 universities).</p>
<p>“The Carnegie Commission on Higher Education has classified NDSU in the “Research University/Very High Research Activity” category, which represents 108 of the most research intensive private and public universities in the United States. NDSU is the first and only institution in North Dakota to receive this categorization.[2]
National Rankings [8]
In several National Science Foundation research subcategories for fiscal year 2011, NDSU’s research expenditures rank in the top 100 in several areas, including expenditures for agricultural sciences, social sciences, physical sciences, chemistry, psychology and computer science.
NDSU’s research expenditures ranks 127th out of 912 research universities in the U.S. The ranking is based on total research expenditures reported in fiscal year 2011 to the National Science Foundation. NDSU’s total research expenditures were $134 million for fiscal year 2011, the most recent year available in the national research survey.
Forbes.com lists Fargo, ND as No. 5 in an article called “Top College Towns for Jobs.” The article suggests that research universities are conducive to great environments for business, providing an educated labor force and centers of innovation stemming from university research.[9]”</p>
<p>Granted, you probably know more about NDSU than I do. I’ve read about it for 30 seconds on Wikipedia and I know it always wins the second division football championship. But nothing that I’ve read suggests to me that it’s as bad of a school as you say.</p>
<p>Still, if you don’t like sports there’s some definite negatives about it. What are your other options? Look into schools outside of North Dakota that offer a lot of scholarships and financial aid. Are there any schools (in South Dakota, maybe?) that offer in-state tuition to residents of other states? I know that’s a thing at some schools.</p>
<p>There is a reciprocity agreement so I can get in state tuition in Minnesota. I don’t think there’s anything for SD, though.</p>
<p>Kitten23, </p>
<p>Have you looked at schools participating in Western Exchange? North Dakota is one of the states that participates. You could qualify for reduced tuition in another state through this program. Here’s the link:</p>
<p>[Western</a> Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) | Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education](<a href=“http://www.wiche.edu/wue/students]Western”>Tips For Students | Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE))</p>
<p>What are your stats? You may qualify for scholarships out of state if they are good enough. Colleges may be interested in a student from North Dakota if they want to increase the diversity of their student body.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I have looked at the WUE, but not really that overly much. I think I might look at schools that offer guaranteed scholarships for students with certain stats. Since I haven’t taken the ACT yet, I’ll wait to see what I can get with my score. I hope I qualify for the state scholarship so that is always an option.</p>
<p>Here’s the link to automatic scholarships. </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html</a></p>
<p>You will need to look carefully as the thread was started in 2010 and scholarships sometimes change from year to year. It is a good place to find possibilities however, just make sure you check with each college to see if their requirements have changed.</p>