<p>I'm thinking my son will be looking at the next tier down plus maybe a reach at somewhere like michigan. I had thought UC Davis and UCSB but are they really justifiable at just around $43K a year for an OSS? I'd pay more for a smaller undergrad experience at a private school and maybe I'll get over sticker shock but right now but its hard not to think about thse publics as better deals:
U ARIZONA $15,737 (in state)
ASU $17,071 (in state)
U UTAH $27,862
CAL POLY SLO $28,059
OREGON STATE $28,887
COL STATE UNIVERSITY $29,558
U OREGON $30,732
PURDUE $32,724</p>
<p>It seems that it would be hard to pass up your in-state public options for OOS at another state’s publics. At privates, depending on circumstances, OOS won’t matter and there may be more financial support available.</p>
<p>I second that^^^ The “worth” of the education your son would get at UCD or UCSB is dependent on many things including weather he knows what he wants to do w/ his life. Frankly, very few of them do. I would explore your in-state publics and OOS privates. as well as lower priced OOS publics. Remember the endowments of privates are often huge and once they accept you they try to offer what they can to get you there. I have a friend who sent two to Pomona. Their fin-aid package made it more affordable than UC.</p>
<p>I thought those sounded high, but I just looked and UT Austin is over $40,000 for most new OOS students, so it isn’t just a West Coast thing.
<a href=“http://finaid.utexas.edu/costs/070undergradcosts.html[/url]”>http://finaid.utexas.edu/costs/070undergradcosts.html</a></p>
<p>At least you have 2 good in state choices in AZ, some states aren’t as lucky.</p>
<p>it’s definitely true that in-state schools offer great deals and privates are usually the best route for an accepted student who can demonstrate fin aid. In our case we expect to write a check and use son’s 529 plan money for his entire ug cost and will not qualify for fin aid. It’s also true that he doesn’t know exactly what he wants to study which is why we are looking at schools with engineering programs and also a broad range of other degrees. There is no doubt that the u of a and ASU are the best deal, but we will be looking at the mentioned publics plus Cathoilc schools with engineering programs.</p>
<p>Even comparing in-state to out-of-state publics it’s worth checking carefully. Our son goes to an OOS public for a lot less than in-state tuition at our publics. The difference is that the OOS school liked our son’s record and offered him tuition discounts (“merit scholarship”) and the UW didn’t. The other thing that I’ve found varied wildly in cost is campus living fees. The span of room-and-board costs runs about 3:1 from most-to-least expensive. That can make a big difference in real expenses. It can even make a difference if the school is in reasonable driving distance, and – if it is a “have to fly” school – if it is near a big city airport with cheap fares, or a one airline town that costs a bundle. </p>
<p>As with buying most expensive items, doing one’s homework pays off in the end. (I can tell the OP is doing their homework. I just can’t resist a soapbox.)</p>
<p>not to hijack, but path1 is you S looking at Santa Clara? If he wants Catholic and engineering he should but I bet you already knew that :-)</p>
<p>yes Santa Clara is on our list. So far it’s LMU, SCU, U Portland and Seattle U. It’s too bad USF doesn’t have engineering as it looks like they need guys badly. I have been thinking about an oct trip to vist some schools in this region and haven’t looked anywhere else yet to see what’s available.</p>
<p>I absolutely agree with WashDad. Shop around, as strong high school academic achievement and geographical diversity can sometimes result in great financial aid packages from OOS publics. Our in-state public, the University of Connecticut, is a fine school, but no bargain. Based upon her high school academic performance and her ACT score (she scored in the top 2%), my daughter got a fabulous renewable merit aid offer from a midwest public with a top program in her area of interest. Room and board at the OOS school is also nearly $2,000 less than at UConn (and D is in a two bedroom suite with a private bath and full meal plan!). All in all, we’re paying about $10,000 less per year OOS than we would have paid in-state and D loves the school.</p>
<p>path1 our kids may end up at the same school 
My Ds are looking at Portland, Seattle, Santa Clara and St. Mary’s California. No LM for them, they are more the roll out of bed/no makeup type.</p>
<p>path1- look into Western Tuition Exchange. It doesn’t include all the publics but it is worth looking at their website. (Not sure that is the correct name)
And we had a similar experience to WashDad where my child was offered an out of state student scholarship based on grades.</p>
<p><a href=“http://wue.wiche.edu/[/url]”>http://wue.wiche.edu/</a>
here is the link</p>
<p>A private school offers better value than the UC’s OOS, IMO. Depending on your child’s stats, the in-state price of the Arizona schools could drop significantly.</p>
<p>yes I know about the western exchange. It gives students in participating institutions 1.5 x in state tuition though sometimes only certain majors are eligible for the program and only a limited number are given out per state. I don’t think any of the 40K schools in the West participate.</p>
<p>He’s a junior with a 3.5 unweighted/3.8 weighted gpa as of sophomore year. I don’t know the act #s but he usually scores well on tests and based on the psat from last year we expect a 2100 on the sat1s. He will probably get between 4K and 7K off the in-state bill.</p>
<p>Regarding UM engineering: depending on his stats, you may be VERY surprised with the merit money available for OOS applicants. PM if you would like.</p>
<p>My father graduated from U of Utah engineering ('97, MechE). PM me with any questions you may have.</p>
<p>Adding Florida publics to list:
Florida State: $26,353 (incld. health insur, books, R and B, tuition/fees)
UF:$28,850
UCF: about $27,000</p>
<p>you could do worse than having ASU as your in state option especially for a kid looking at engineering programs. Their program is top notch and very well endowed by outside resources.Many research and internship opportunities..as its the only program in town.
D graduated from there (non engineer) has many engineer grad friends who are doing very well post grad.</p>