I’m helping a nephew with the college search and it’s very hit or miss regarding OOS data about number of OOS applications and number of OOS admits. Any suggestions for where else I can get this important data? I’m trying to ascertain OOS admission rate for several public universities.
Outside of this inquiry, I’ve otherwise had great luck with each institution’s office of institutional research, especially the CDS and IPED information. But these don’t seem to show me the OOS data I’m seeking.
Unfortunately we found that some schools are much more transparent than others. It gets even more complicated for schools that admit by major.
Which schools are your looking for in particular?
Here’s an example of detailed reporting for the University of Virginia:
https://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2019/03/u-va-offers-admission-to-23-8-percent-of-applicants
If the school doesn’t report it, you can certainly contact admissions and ask for it. Of course, they may or may not give it out.
Also, remember that OOS students will pay full price at many schools…check financial aid policies at each school to see if OOS students can receive merit or need-based aid.
Lastly, OOS applications and acceptance rate data typically includes international data, as does the UVA 18.8% OOS acceptance rate for class of 2023, linked above. Ideally, you want only the domestic OOS acceptance rate data.
Thanks everyone for helpful information. He’d only consider OOS if he can get merit aid (that I know is very competitive, of course).
Of the OOS public universities we’re still exploring, we’re still curious about these schools given some of their merit aid programs (that we know are likely to be updated/changed because of COVID-19):
U Arizona, Arizona State, U Georgia, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, U Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), Indiana U (Bloomington), Louisiana State U, U Oregon, U Michigan, Michigan State, U Mississippi, U Missouri (Columbia), U North Carolina Charlotte, North Carolina State, Ohio State, U Texas (Dallas), U Utah.
We’re in exploration phase right now. We read a lot of books, explored a number of websites (including reading hundreds of helpful threads on CC). The initial list was around 250 colleges/universities. Then we did more research and narrowed down to 100. We’ve participated in more than 50 hours of online information sessions and panels so far (these have been so helpful and I hope even after COVID-19, these online sessions will continue as they are much more affordable than trying to visit every campus). Now we’re down to around 44 colleges/universities (mix of private, public, and a few international). Goal is to narrow to top 15-20 by end of May/mid-June.
Not all schools on that list offer merit aid to OOS students, and if they do it’s highly competitive: UIUC, GT, U Mich, UNC Charlotte, NC State to name a few.
Some of these schools also have state mandated limits on the OOS/International proportion of the frosh class…for example the UNC schools can have a max of 18% of OOS and international students, combined.
Some schools offer auto merit based on stats, see U Alabama, Miami Ohio.
If your nephew has the stats for auto merit at OOS schools (is he NMSF?), you should also consider private schools. Many private schools will get you to the same net price as an OOS public.
Regardless the school, make sure to run the net price calculators (NPCs) on each school’s site to get an estimate of costs. Note that some schools’ NPCs may not include merit, and they may not be accurate if parents are divorced, own a business, and/or own real estate beyond a primary home.
Also some schools admit by major, and some majors are much more competitive for admission than the school’s overall acceptance rate might show. For example, UIUC has about a 65% overall acceptance rate, but the CS acceptance rate is 4%.
What is your nephew’s budget?
Admission:
https://admissions.arizona.edu/how-to-apply/freshman
https://admission.asu.edu/first-year/apply
https://admissions.olemiss.edu/apply/freshman/
Scholarships:
https://financialaid.arizona.edu/types-of-aid/scholarships/incoming-transfer
https://scholarships.asu.edu/estimator
https://finaid.olemiss.edu/scholarships/#8
As noted in post 5, you can scrap a lot of these schools from the list if you are needing merit aid. That will help cull the list tremendously.
Take a look at Alabama, Iowa, and Pittsburgh.
Thanks everyone. Yes, I should have specified the merit aid we’re looking at for these schools are their scholarship programs, which we know are highly competitive and thus, difficult to get. He’ll likely only apply to a few public schools with these programs. He won’t attend OOS public without scholarship.
I have a list of private colleges/schools we’re considering, but open to any suggestions.
Basically, he’ll attend in-state public UNLESS he gets sufficient aid anywhere else. He’d like to try to go out of state/international, but only with scholarship/sufficient merit aid. Otherwise won’t be practical financially.
@tutkia PSAT? If he did well, that opens a specific list of generous schools, including AZ and FL publics.
Thanks, onthewestfence. No, he isn’t a national merit scholar.