As a diversion from the UAlabama hate, I want to point out that Hobart and William Smith is showing no signs of slowing down in the plan to change their image of being a haven for the bottom of the prep school class.
@bigboyk_ love that others think that! One of my daughter’s BFFs will be there as a freshman this fall. Everything they tell us sounds amazing … well except that cold weather!
F&M is underrated. Wheaton college has great OOS aid. Illinois Wesleyan is trying to make a national push. Centre in KY, Kalamazoo looks good.
@rickle1 Six year graduation rates matter because graduating, if not on time, beats the crap out of not graduating. Yes, 4-year rate is important but how many of the remaining fraction are on a path to finish?
Alabama and South Carolina (and Pitt) are becoming VERY popular in my neck of northern NJ, replacing schools like Penn State, Delaware, UMD, URI, and UMass as the preferred large out-of-state schools.
Why?? Weather or cost?
They give great scholarships out of state. If you have like a 3.5+ weighted or unweighted and you have even a 25 composite, they give you 8-10k. A 4.0 + 32 ACT is almost a full ride. It’s one of my safeties.
The surrounding school communities (and maybe even states in general) are starting to become more inclusive and shake their pasts because of the rising influx of transplants. Weather’s great as well.
We just toured F&M for the second time, and I agree with the assessment that it’s underrated. Great place, I would not be sad at all if that’s where my kid ends up.
“the bottom of the prep school class” is no longer reserved for Hobart &WS–agreed. I think that honor goes to Roger Williams.
H&WS is great for many things. I give it thumbs up.
Nice thread.
Illinois Wesleyan.
Iowa State University is the diamond in the rough especially for engineering.
Knox college
Beloit college
Illinois Institute of technology… Buildings huge tech hub and I know the ones involved. This might put them on the map.
And six-year graduation rates reflect how expensive colleges have become. Some students drop to PT status for a semester or two because they have to earn the money to finish.
Grand Valley is becoming the “it” school and Wayne State is making a strong comeback.
@lastone03 when taking my daughter a few years back to schools for tours and information talks it was like all the schools were spouting off 5-6 year graduation rates. My wife raised her hand and said" what about 4 year graduation rates "… When did it become a thing to graduate a 4 year college in 5-6 years??? Way to expensive to do that… Lol.
@barrons Alabama and South Carolina have very weak public school systems (#43 and #41, respectively). In order to up their profiles and keep their universities viable and competitive, they have aggressively sought OOS students. Their OOS student populations are 59% and 43% respectively. The number of kids being pulled out of Illinois (for example) due to its rising education costs and financial problems, is sizable.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-illinois-students-brain-drain-20180405-story.html
I can only speak for Virginia, but Alabama, SC, UGA, Clemson and (more recently) Ole Miss are recruiting Virginia kids hard. We have excellent schools in Virginia and an excellent college system (public and private) but with state budget constraints, the in state publics have been seeking more full pay out of staters, which forces a lot of bright Virginia kids to go elsewhere.
Many Virginia kids also can’t get into the best in state public colleges, as well, hence the search for oos alternatives.
@lastone03 I am from Illinois. Our flagship University of Illinois champaign started like 6-7 years ago recruiting from Asia, especially China, for full pay candidates. Since our governor doesn’t know what a budget is and decrease funds to the school plus just quoted not knowing the University ranking in like engineering… Many kids that would like to go there can’t afford it. It’s a very expensive public state school for engineering. So kids like my son get accepted but get better deals from out of state Universities. Combine that with the outflux of kids going to Alabama etc (it’s a lot, it’s palpable when talking to parents) no question that University of Illinois is losing a lot of talent… And do you think these kids will come back to work in Illinois? Don’t think so…
@Knowsstuff my daughter attended a school with a 4-year promise - you follow the path outlined, you get out in 4 years, guaranteed. If the school was at fault and the student couldn’t pick up a needed class, then the school ate the cost to stay to complete the degree. Obviously, the school was allowed to offer this because it was a small liberal arts college with an A financial rating.
The 5-6 year grad rate stats have been commonplace for quite a while. Part of the reason I noted above, but other reasons, especially for those at large Universities, is that students can’t get the classes they need and are forced to go to summer school or stay an extra semester (or two). In order to try and improve grad stats, some politicians are pushing (and succeeding) at getting the public universities to accept more “3”'s on AP exams. By allowing students to use those credits (especially for electives) it gives students more opportunities to get their major requirements done and get out on time.
@Knowsstuff We used to live in Chicago and have many friends that still do. Many of their kids have left the state to go to college. It’s pretty sad. Having said that, my daughter is adding to the Illinois tax base. She and a bunch of her friends moved to (or back) to Chicago after they graduated 
@lastone03 thank you for contributing to the economy of Chicago… Lol
The getting a 3 for AP credit is what Illinois started doing last year… To bad my son’s at Michigan… He would of had tons of credit… Lol
@Knowsstuff they are mostly teachers so their contributions, in terms of tax dollars, are limited