Suggestions for affordable OOS schools

U of South Carolina-Columbia
Ohio University
U of Alabama-Tuscaloosa
Kanas State University
U of Minnesota-Twin Cities
U of Arkansas-Fayetteville

The family needs a strategy.

First it needs to identify some schools that FOR SURE will be affordable based on ASSURED LARGE grants or LARGE MERIT . Each child should apply to 2-3 of these schools. The schools must be likable and be absolutely affordable.

Then the kids can apply where they want and see what shakes out.

The fact that people are recommending Howard without mentioning that it is a historically black school and that it’s mission is to educate students of color is bizarre. it must be some odd statement they are trying to make. If a student isn’t AA and has no commitment to working actively to eliminate inequities for African American students or to study African-American history, the choice would be bizarre. It would be like suggesting a male apply to Smith because he has the credentials. Yeah, but it is a women’s college. Again, I see no mention of such interests by the OP.

^^ I found this odd, too. For example, I often see FAMU recommended to those seeking a full ride but no mention is ever made that it’s an HBCU with 95% AA enrollment. I think it’s important to point that out when recommending the school to people.

The big difference: Smith doesn’t admit self-identified males, Howard does admit self-identified non-African-Americans.

How about University of South Carolina, and College of Charleston?

@ucbalumnus often does this. Maybe he can explain why.

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The fact that people are recommending Howard without mentioning that it is a historically black school and that it’s mission is to educate students of color is bizarre. it must be some odd statement they are trying to make. If a student isn’t AA and has no commitment to working actively to eliminate inequities for African American students or to study African-American history, the choice would be bizarre. It would be like suggesting a male apply to Smith because he has the credentials. Yeah, but it is a women’s college. Again, I see no mention of such interests by the OP.
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Thanks all! mom2collegekids, agreed, our strategy has been to find some “safety” schools, meaning “safely” offering large merit aid, particularly for our s but also looking at a few where d’s stats are above average, as well. We are working with a consultant on this. This is why we are insisting on 8 - 12 choices for each, with some being “reach” in both academics and finances, and several being “realistic” and “safe” in terms of both academics and finances. Our goal is to have these lists finalized by start of senior year so I do feel we are on top of it. I feel my real challenge at this point is for our daughter, who I know wants the big state school campus, but isn’t crazy about our in-state NJ options, with the exception of Rowan. (I thought Rowan was great, she gave it a “pretty good.” She is turned off by Rutgers because so many of her classmates go there, I get it, I felt the same way about OSU, which I grew up about 45 minutes away from.) It’s so interesting to me, LakeWashington, that people keep mentioning OU - this is my alma mater and I would be over the moon if this is a feasible option, but I really don’t see it as a good financial option thus far. I think I will definitely call their fa office though at the least - it can’t hurt anything anyway. I appreciate all suggestions but yes, some are either just not great options either because of their mission and make-up of their student body or geographical location. But we’re happy to get the input, so thank you!

HBCU actually want non-black students to apply and attend. Notre Dame is Catholic (85%) but wants anyone who wants to attend to apply. Smith does not want men to apply.

There aren’t many but significant percentage of Caucasians who to go Howard University

You might want to point out to your D that Rutgers is large enough that she might not run into any of her classmates.

I went to a school of about 1700, and there were 3 people from my HS class there. One of them I never saw. The other one I saw occasionally, mostly because we shared a major. Even then, I think we were in at most one class together.

A student in a position to need a merit-seeking application strategy should know all of the options on the table. The racial/ethnic composition of the school is not really relevant in the first pass, and many students consider something that barely matters compared to cost and academic offerings.

The assumption that a place like Howard is automatically unsuitable for students not known to be black is an odd one. It would be like assuming that a school like Alabama (81% white) is automatically unsuitable for students not known to be white. (Both schools and their automatic-for-stats merit scholarships are open to students of all racial/ethnic backgrounds. This is unlike the women’s colleges with respect to gender.)

Similarly, a need to always mention that Howard enrolls a high percentage of black students would be like a need to always mention that a school like Alabama enrolls a high percentage of white students, when suggesting such schools for high stats merit scholarship seekers looking for safeties.

Students who actually care about the racial/ethnic composition of the school can then do their own evaluation of the various schools.

True…when I called Howard U last year to ask if merit scholarship is available to international students as well the admission officer kindly answer as if it were the most normal thing to ask.
By the way, I was wrong about the percentage of white students going to Howard U…it is as small as the percentage of Asian student, which is 1.48% It may have changed, but I doubt there was a big change.