<p>Please help us decide! Here's some background: We live in California. My son's plan was to go to a 2 year college and then transfer so he initially didn't apply to any schools. The plan changed and he decided to apply to four year schools. By then it was mid-February and he had missed a lot of schools' deadlines including all the California state schools. Of the schools that have accepted him, the Univ of Arizona and Univ of Nevada at Reno seem like the best choices.</p>
<p>He's not sure what he'll study - it will not be in the sciences and could be something like business or economics. He hasn't visited either school. He finished high school early and is working now and feels too busy to go visit, but I'm encouraging him to try and fit a visit in. </p>
<p>Just based on the statistics, the two look close academically, but Univ of AZ is slightly better in most areas (e.g. SAT scores, selectivity, retention rates, graduation rates). But when I read the student reviews of the schools, the students at Nevada sound happier. I know the best thing would be for my son to visit and see which is the best fit, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. </p>
<p>If anyone has any thoughts I'd appreciate it!</p>
<p>That is the first question. It looks like tuition, room and board at Arizona would be about $36,000 and Nevada would be about $29,000. Arizona offered him a $5,000 per year award that makes them about equal. I doubt the out-of-state tution rates at either of these colleges is considered the best education value. We’re not thrilled about paying several times as much for tuition as in-state students. But that’s really the only choice we’ve got. Between what we’ve saved for him and a generous family member I think we will be able to afford it.</p>
<p>I don’t think he’s getting the WUE tution rate. The website for Nevada says you have to apply by Feb. 1 to be considered for it. The college hasn’t really come right out and said he didn’t receive it, but it wasn’t mentioned in his acceptance letter.</p>
<p>I know of one young man who attended the University of Arizona. It was a fantastic program for him because he needed some support programs. I believe he majored in Spanish. I know of another young man, a late bloomer who may have tried college at another school, who is doing very well at University of Nevada, Reno. I’m not certain what he is studying. You’re right to be careful choosing’ and your son needs to visit. If he isn’t willing to visit a school he backed into, you should consider whether you are willing to make the additional financial commitment resulting from his late change in plans. If he is more interested in working than visiting, perhaps he should take a gap year.</p>
<p>MLM and LVKris: thanks for reminding me of the WUE. My son or I will call Nevada tomorrow to see if that applies or is a possibility. That could affect the decision, at least the financial aspects. </p>
<p>SNM and DadofTwo: He is kind of having a partial Gap Year now, because he finished high school in the fall. His job is at a fast food place, which is actually great experience but I don’t know if it would make sense to spend an additional year or semester doing that. It’s possible that the true reason he doesn’t want to visit the colleges and is willing to let his parents decide where he goes might be a feeling of anxiety he gets about these big changes.</p>
<p>I feel for your son and his anxiety about college and understand your patience. Have admitted student events already passed? Those are excellent for everyone to get a good feel for a campus. I haven’t been impressed with the virtual tours colleges offer. The company that produced DVDs of campus tours we used for colleges that accepted my son later in the process no longer does them. Have you asked each college if they have a tour on DVD they could send you?</p>
<p>The University of Arizona seems to be more well known on the West Coast in my experience. I attended UNR for a summer session and enjoyed my time there.</p>
<p>Definitely try to get the WUE discount for UNR. Transferring into UNR or waiting another semester/year may be a good idea if such is required to get the WUE rate. Also encourage him to take summer classes at UNR as everyone is charged in-state tuition and there are lower course fees. Reno is a very unique city overall; it has lots of street festivals two blocks from campus and those under 21 are allowed into the casinos to eat (alone or in a group) provided that they don’t loiter on the casino floor or go near the bars.</p>
<p>What about the option of starting at a community college and then transferring as a junior to a UC or CSU? See [Welcome</a> to ASSIST](<a href=“http://www.assist.org%5DWelcome”>http://www.assist.org) to look up what courses are needed to transfer in a given major at a given UC or CSU campus.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if your son has already deposited but be aware than the University of Nevada system is extremely underfunded. If it’s financially doable, I’d highly recommend University of Arizona. It’s a much stronger school, and though it’s dealt with some serious budget issues, it’s nowhere near as bad as the situation in Nevada. My uncle teaches at a California community college bordering Nevada and remarked that the educational system in the state is remarkably poor, one of the worst in the nation. In his opinion the two state schools in Nevada, UNR and UNLV are academically equivalent to the mid tier CSUs, or even slightly below them. A high school friend attended UNLV for hospitality management and remarked at a party that outside of a few select majors, including her own, the University of Nevada system suffers from severe budget issues and classes are just slightly harder than the regular level classes at my high school (essentially it’s a very easy school).</p>
<p>I would question sending son OOS at OOS tuition prices if he is having difficulty just visiting. Coupled with letting his parents decide does not sound like a student vested in the decision. How much skin does he have in the game? Is he taking any student loans in his name? Is he using his earnings to pay part of the OOS tuition?</p>
<p>Missing deadlines for applying to the CA state public schools and then deciding to want to apply late in the app season sounds like a maturity issue? </p>
<p>Time is one of the greatest gifts you can give to your children. He might be “saying” he wants to go away to OOS school but his actions say otherwise. The above posters mentioned attending in the spring or a CC then transferring. CA publics are treasures especially the state system with very, very reasonable in-state tuitions.</p>
<p>I would seriously reconsider paying OOS tuition for UNR (especially) and even UofA with such great in-state options. Given the extra time he might even be able to better identify a major or possible career path. You can also take the time to go and visit some of his in-state options.</p>
<p>I agree with Kat. It seems to me that a lot of our children, not all, but many, are on a whole other time line in terms of growing up. To rush going out of state for no good reason, just that the student missed the deadlines for instate is a red flag to me, especially if you don’t have money to throw away on this. Not being able to afford to visit each school is a big issue when you are thinking of investing $100K into one of them. You do have superior in choice options, but you have to toe the line and meet the deadlines to get them.</p>
<p>In the past (D1 applied for a WUE scholarship when she was looking at undergrad schools), a WUE scholarship had to applied for either as part of the application process or thru a separate application. Since most colleges only offer a limited number of WUE scholarships, it’s possible to get accepted by the college but rejected for a WUE tuition reduction.</p>
<p>WUE scholarships require a student to declare a major, and if the student changes majors, often the student will lose the scholarship.</p>
<p>I would do just about anything to avoid a school in Nevada. The educational system is simply awful, and the universities do not have a good reputation as a result. I am quite familiar with both UNR and UNLV and would give UNLV the edge, but barely. UNR is just not worth the tuition and the peer group is going to be extremely weak academically.</p>