<p>i posted this on another suny forum, but thought i should repeat it here since the same issues are being addressed:</p>
<p>as a suny alum and a suny parent i have finally felt that i need to speak up after following this issue on several different suny forums.</p>
<p>first off, let me start by saying, i can understand there being a concern a to whether oos students pay enough compared to what other states charge. i don't really know how i feel about this -- i don't think a huge jump at once would be fair. nor do i think oos students already at sunys should be burdened with huge increases that threaten their ability to remain at their schools. but i can understand a concern as to whether suny charges enough to oos students (quite honestly, instate tuition is also so low, i can see that being an issue also -- though as others have noted in other threads, increasing tuition makes no sense unless the sunys actually get to keep that money!)</p>
<p>second, i can understand why suny applicants would be concerned if oos applicants were getting a significant boost in terms of getting in with far lower gpa and sat scores. but the truth is, i've seen absolutely no evidence of this -- even in the anecedotal postings of oos applicants who've already gotten in. there is always a range - if a given oos is a the low end of range, who can really say that somehow proves a trend for all oos. and every college will give a bit of a boost to applicants they want to attract. and given how few oos there are at sunys, they are an under represented group. but again, i've seen no evidence that this is any different this year than prior years, or that it is truly significant.</p>
<p>when i attended suny there were few oos. sunys also had virtually no reputation out of the state. i attended a national law school and interviewed for jobs through out the country. i always had to explain not only what a "suny" was but what remote corner of nys my suny was located in. i think things have changed a lot. many of the sunys have more national reputations. and quite honestly, having more (though still few) oos students definitely helps this. if you are worried about the value that a suny diploma will have, you simply cannot ignore national reputation -- it affects the marketability of the graduates. accepting some oos, even if they have slightly lower stats helps build that reputation and helps attract more oos applicants which eventually can cause the stats of admitted oos to rise.</p>
<p>and this is not something unique to sunys. when my child was looking at schools several years ago, we looked at several public colleges in other states. at every one of them we were made to feel that an oos applicant was welcomed and desired. special scholarships were available for oos students.</p>
<p>the economy is causing a vast change on the college scene. both privates and publics are facing financial challenges. and the sunys have become much more popular. just a few years ago, most kids at my local hs viewed the sunys as something to apply to as a safety or somewhere those without financial resources went. well these days, more and more students who used to think they were too good for sunys are now finding that mom and dad can't afford privates and the sunys are seeing a surge in applications.</p>
<p>what i find sad and the reason i felt compelled to post, is that i think this is resulting in almost a panic among some in staters. and i think oos applicants are being made into a scape goat for that concern. the truth is that if an in stater can't get into a suny that they might have gotten into last year, they should look around their hs at the huge number of others applying to that suny to understand why that is the case -- not focus on the handful of oos applicants.</p>
<p>as i said at the beginning, i understand that some of the issues raised about oos may be legitimate. unfortunately, whether people realize it or not, some of the posts regarding those issues have come across as almost hostile to oos applicants -- certainly as evidenced by the poster concerned as to whether oos students are welcome on campus. i think as a practical matter, oos applicants here on cc are probably now afraid to post their stats or admissions decisions.</p>
<p>i urge people to realize that oos applicants here are just like the in state applicants -- teens concerned about their future, looking for support and advise here. if you want to debate an issue -- please try to remember to do so in a manner that doesn't make these students feel unwelcome.</p>