<p>My husband and I are thinking about possibly moving with our son who's a freshman in high school now. Does anyone know about the relative merits of the University of Virginia, UNC and Michigan in terms of quality of school and ease of getting in as an in-state?</p>
<p>Also, how easy is it to get into other schools from those states? For example, is it kind of hard to get into college from Virginia?</p>
<p>i cannot answer your second question. I have friends who moved to NC while oldest in HS, in part because of the college scene. They perceive the state schools in NC as superior to state schools in our state.</p>
<p>Virginia resident here. UVA is very competitive, current acceptance rate (overall, don’t know the breakdown of in-state/outstate) is around 32%. But there are so many variables. Here in Northern VA, there are many qualified students who don’t get into UVA because the school strives to have some geographic diversity and accept students from all over the state as well as OOS. Even if you would live in another part of the state no one is a sure thing for admission. Other things to keep in mind: your S is 3 years away from college applications, he may not even like UVA (my D had no interest in applying), it may not be the best school for whatever he may plan to major in, etc.</p>
<p>It makes no sense to me to move to a specific state to try to get a child into a specific school.</p>
<p>We live in NC (natives). Everyone in my family attends/ed a school in the UNC system.
Our state university system is very good. The vast majority (including most top students) here go to one of the state schools. Our state taxes really support the university system keeping the tutition lower than many states. NC schools are mandated to cap out-of-staters at 18% per campus thereby giving more North Carolinians access to our public universities. </p>
<p>I don’t believe it would be harder to get into an oos school if you are from NC.</p>
<p>I do believe gaining admittance to UNC-CH is tougher for NC kids who live in the larger cities (Charlotte and Raleigh) simply due to the larger number of apps. from those areas and the need to have a geographically based class…similiar to the situation FallGirl mentioned with NoVA kids applying to UVA.</p>
<p>Fallgirl - if money were no object it would make no sense. UNC in-state is $14,000 a year. We are now paying about $45,000 to send our daughter to a private college which is probably only a little better. I don’t think our son could get into a school as good as UNC or UVA from where we live now - NJ - and I think it’s a lot better than Rutgers. It’s also cheaper to live in North Carolina.</p>
<p>Have you considered Wisconsin or Illinois?</p>
<p>Aren’t there programs in “retirement-haven” FL where local students get a merit scholarship that covers tuition (and perhaps more) at state schools based on HS GPA and SAT scores?</p>
<p>Depending on what “semi-retiring” means, it sounds like it could be a bad move. Whether your kid is going to a state school or an even more expensive private school, the one thing you are really going to need to make it all feasible is a good income. I wouldn’t opt for a loss of income unless the lowering of living expenses will more than compensate for it.</p>
<p>It’s complicated. My husband’s job is in the UK and he mostly works here from home. Good commutes to international flights would be a good selling point too. He’s kind of “mature” and if he gets laid-off who knows? It could be retirement.</p>
<p>We really want a top public school. I think UNC, Michigan and UVA are better than Wisconsin, Florida and Illinois (and the weather’s awful in Wisconsin and Illinois).</p>
<p>The only plus about Michigan is that my husband got his MBA there. Maybe in-state with a legacy could be almost a sure thing? Son is pretty smart - it’s just so competitive where we live. He’s taking 4 out of 5 honors now and getting a’s and b’s and is on the debate team.</p>
<p>Good question…</p>
<p>^Does Michigan even consider legacy status at all? Many state schools do not. I know UCs don’t</p>
<p>Packmom - I think it’s easier to get into other schools from NC. Geographical diversity. Since most kids stay in state they’re a bit of a novelty.</p>
<p>Leaving admissions behind (too far out to project for any kid), if you are looking for a place to retire and are worried about the cost of tuition (the question of in-state comes to mind here), indicating that this is a financial decision I’d be looking at the following in this order:</p>
<p>1) Tax situation: Property taxes, income taxes, etc.
2) Cost of housing.
3) Cost of tuition.</p>
<p>I am going to assume here that you are staying in this location for at least 10 years, hence the order of the cost drivers. Also look at the trends.</p>
<p>With the 3 states you mentioned, there is going to be some play. And with Michigan, the plummeting cost of housing, if you are willing to make the long term committment (probably more than 10 years), could end up being the pick of the litter, just because the hundreds of thousands in difference in housing cost may far outweigh the tax and tuition cost advantages of the others.</p>
<p>Tough call.</p>
<p>Is S an only child? Would he want to stay in state (I know impossible for a kid that age to predict) after he graduated? This is a very complicated scenario.</p>
<p>I don’t think Rutgers is that poor a school, nor are Stony Brook or Binghamton which are both relatively inexpensive and easy admits for OOS students.</p>
<p>UVA is not for every northern kid. Michigan and Chapel Hill more similar to values he’s used to.</p>
<p>By brother did very, very well with U Wisconsin, Madison.</p>
<p>I think you need to think about which area is appealing to live in and if you’re ready to retire.</p>
<p>It yes, then pick the area that calls you and keep your fingers crossed that the college think will fall into place. With a substantial drop in income you may receive very generous FA from need-blind schools and finance his education that way.</p>
<p>Definitely non a linear scenario with just one variable.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Michigan admission is primarily based on applicant’s GPA and SAT/ACT score. Being in-state is more of an advantage than legacy status. Out-of-state tuition for Ann Arbor campus is almost as much as a private college/university–found that out when my step-S was admitted. He ended up going to Kalamazoo College (private LAC in MI) which was about the same price. Plus, he got a better financial aid package at K-College.</p>
<p>Actually, I think we would only have to live there for 3+ years to get son into college. And we could rent. The difference in tuition between private college - no financial aid and UNC is over $30,000 a year. I don’t think there could be close to that much of a disparity in taxes. I’m also wondering if once our son got into UNC as an in-state if he could also get into a professional school there as an in-state and if it would be easier to get in and cheaper - like law school or med school. I remember from my era, it was much easier to get into med school from a state like Texas than from New Jersey.</p>
<p>My point is that moving to Virginia (for example) doesn’t guarantee admission to UVA. How willing are you to consider other state schools? For example: in Virginia, we have William & Mary, VA Tech, JMU, VCU, Mary Washington etc.All good schools, (although some of these are also very competitive). Or does it have to be UVA? And what does your son want?</p>
<p>If this is a 3-year move (long enough to get undergrad in-state), it does change a few things, but not as much as you think. </p>
<p>In-state tuition differences are not as big in difference as cost of housing and insurance.</p>
<p>Most importantly, you have to look at the cost of living in the area with good schools in the states in questions.</p>
<p>For example, if you look at the best schools in the VA suburbs around DC, your housing costs including property taxes will look a lot like what you are paying in NJ.</p>
<p>Can’t speak much for NC public school districts, but with Michigan’s housing in the tank, you can buy (or rent) a very nice house in a very good public school district (I don’t think they’ve destroyed what used to be a very fine school system in a few short years) for peanuts.</p>
<p>As to renting, your rent will still reflect the property taxes in the rent. The landlord still owes Uncle Sam. No getting around that.</p>
<p>Stepping back, I guess if you are bound and determined to leave NJ, I’d be looking for a place where I wouldn’t want to leave when my kid goes off to college. Moving in and of itself is expensive. Been there, done that. Do look at the bigger picture beyond the cost of the flagship U tuition, as your son may not turn out to be a good match for that institution.</p>
<p>Goaliedad - it’s not the in-state tuition differences. It’s the chance to go to an excellent school like UNC or Michigan for not a lot of money vs. Rutgers or paying $45,000 a year to go to a private college. The New York state schools are also hard to get into and not that cheap or good. Also, it’s very hard to get into a good school from New Jersey. So we might be paying that much for a second rate private college. I can’t imagine that our son would be that bad a match for UNC or Michigan. Don’t they offer almost every major? He also really likes sports. And I don’t think we’d indulge him and pay $30,000 more a year to get a better fit.</p>