U Washington, U Minnesota, Ohio State, and U Oregon are my top schools going into application season for the class of 2021. I know that I do not need to make a decision super soon my I am getting nervous because I will not be able to visit any of the schools except for Ohio State. I want to be a political science major so it is not a super competitive major. So the two most important factors for me are ViBeS and how much it is going to cost. I would be applying as an out-of-state student to all of these places so there is not a super significant difference between the cost for any of them. That being said does anyone have any advice about finding what is best for me and what the vibe is at each of the Universities. For a bit of background, I am from a larger city in Montana with a 3.95 UW GPA and a 4.125 W GPA. I have taken 5 AP tests and passed all of them including getting a 5 on AP World when I never took the class. I am taking 6 more AP tests this year as well. I got a 28 on the ACT but I am going for a better score to come back any day now. I am looking for a larger school in a bigger city but the overall cost is probably the most important thing.
Would it be helpful that Minnesota and Ohio State are in or near their states’ capitals?
If cost is the most important thing, what is your price limit?
Schools with the WUE discount in or near state capitals include University of Colorado Denver, University of Hawaii Manoa, Boise State University, University of Nevada Reno, Oregon State University, University of Utah, University of Wyoming.
My daughter is applying to both UW and UO and we have visited both campuses many times. I grew up in Eugene and went to school at UW and lived in Seattle so lots of experience with both campuses.
Based on your stats you are probably a match for both schools, and a shoe-in for UO as it is less competitive than UW. UW offers very little if any merit aid for in-state or out of state students while UW is somewhat generous with merit aid. You are likely to qualify for one of the out of state merit scholarships of between $10-15k per year https://financialaid.uoregon.edu/scholarships_freshmen and also the Stamps Scholarship which is a full ride if you get your application in today.
Comparing UW and UO? UW is larger and very urban with lots of commuter students and a higher percentage of local WA residents. The city is at your doorstep so the campus tends to empty out on weekends. You really need to join clubs or activities of some sort to find your community, the school won’t do it for you. By contrast, Eugene is almost the archetypical college town and everything there tends to revolve around UO. It is big enough so that you can find other things to do. But I think campus life and activities are a bigger deal at UO than UW. UO also has a higher percentage of out of state students, maybe even a majority. Most are from CA but also all over the west.
If you get into both, I’m guessing that UO will be $15-20,000 cheaper per year based on merit aid and lower cost of living (cheaper dorms and off campus housing). You’ll have to ask yourself whether UW is worth the extra cost. But they will not be equivalent in cost as you assume.
I know nothing about Ohio state or Minnesota.
Have you considered Indiana University ?
My son is also applying to Oregon and Washington. I’m very familiar with Eugene and know Seattle fairly well. Camasite gave a really good overview but I’d add one factor to consider. How often do you plan to return home and where is home? We are in San Diego and travel from Eugene is a bit more complex/costly than Seattle. It may not be a big deal depending on where you are.
Both are great schools good luck.
UW and U of MN are similar in that they are both urban schools, albeit in pretty benign, lowish density urban areas. We are not talking NYU or Penn here. Any reason why you are not considering Wisconsin?
Both are great schools to attend for different reasons. My son is at UW now and I think the biggest difference is UW has higher academic standards and offers a blend of college campus life with city life. So far I have been super impressed with the Alumnae support/resources/networking to get a job/internship for UW students. I agree, you will need to join a club or Greek life so you have a connection at UW. UO greek life is also a big deal there and gives a smaller town vibe if that’s appealing to you. With your grades you can get into Clarks Honors College if you want. Both schools have huge sport spirit.
“the overall cost is probably the most important thing”
Have you applied to WUE schools?
Thank yall for the input. I have received my admission decision to Oregon so I am just waiting on the others at this point. They are going to give me 10,000 a year so that is going to be pretty hard to beat tbh… but I think money aside my top choice right now is Ohio.