<p>Let’s face it. About half the states have pretty mediocre public universities, or maybe one good flagship that’s a poor fit for whatever reason. Nothing wrong with seeking OOS options.</p>
<p>I honestly think it depends on the situation and the school. Some programs are significantly stronger than others. For a student applying to med school though with no scholarships, in this case, I think finding affordable options and minimizing debt is critical. There’s more colleges out there than just public institutions and many might be willing to give you a scholarship. It also depends on the public college you are referring to… Some might have good prices even for OOS students (Truman comes to mind) and others might have excellent programs that one might see as worth the cost. It all depends on the family and the situation though</p>
<p>Don’t forget that in some states, the in-state flagship is very expensive. I’m in Illinois, and UIUC costs almost $30k/year. And then you’re in Champaign, which i don’t like. Speaking for myself as a student, if I have the money, I’d much rather pay more go to Wisconsin or Michigan. I’d probably even prefer Minnesota or Ohio State, which would only be like $5k more.</p>
<p>
Sorry, I don’t believe this. I can’t believe noone has gone to med school from the two largest public Us in a state.</p>
<p>Two reasons that come to mind for me were major and athletics. For an example Marine Biology…probably not as robust a major in an inland state with very little water. And sports if you plan on continuing through college, if you are a golfer pretty tough to golf all year round in a state with a snow season that lasts 9 months, if you’re a skier pretty tough to spend 4 years in a state with no snow.</p>
<p>Schools have their own atmospheres and personalities. For those who have the luxury of these choices, these things are taken into consideration. The state Uni for a person’s home state just might not be what the student wants. Schools like UVA, UMich, are excellent schools with quite a bit of universal appeal and the 3 Rs, reputation, recognition, ratings over many state schools. I’m assuming we are only talking publics in this thread.</p>
<p>Also some state schools are pricey. To go to UI-UC, for example is a more than $30K a year situation. Parents don’t have the money, no FAFSA financial need, kid really wants the stereotypical sleep away experiences, high enough stats might result in some good awards from other state schools like Alabama. </p>
<p>I’m in NY, and though the SUNYs are good–they are made up of almost all NYers, aren’t strong on the 3 Rs. My sons prefer the idea of UVA, UMD, Penn State, OSU, Alabama the school spirit campus schools. In our case, we told them what we would pay each year, and they could go where they pleased within that limit, so they pursued other optins as well as the SUNYs. The SUNYs would have been the least expensive in all but a couple of cases for my kids, and by far.</p>
<p>Although in many cases going to an OOS school seems crazy to me, there are very legitimate reasons to do so. First, your state may not offer the major that you want or might have a mediocre offerings for that major. Another reason might be that the OOS might offer some money in order to get top students. Alabama is a notable example. They give NMS free tuition, a computer and I think they even subsidize a research trip, although I could be in error about the latter. Some OOS are VERY well known for certain programs. For example, University of Cincinnati has among the best programs in industrial design and interior design. Massachusetts has an entire college devoted to art ( Mass Art) that is usually cheaper than most private school counterparts and provides more and better offerings that that found in most state schools. </p>
<p>Bottom line: There are some good reasons to attend an out of state school. However, absent special circumstances like I mentioned, I don’t think people should go to out of state schools primarily because of the higher price of tuition </p>
<p>but if finances are an issue for the student, I cannot see student or family taking on serious debt for either recreation or many majors. A major isn’t a career, and one major isn’t the only way to get to a career. If a student wants to major in neuroscience or marine biology, the student can take major in biology and intern in neuro or marine. Any of the three majors are going to require more education, and students often fail to realize these characteristics of most majors. Finally, students change their majors readily, sometimes more than once. Choosing a college based on major is not necessary in many cases, and choosing it for recreation is a luxury most people cannot afford.</p>
<p>This is not the same thing as saying that otherwise reasonable parents don’t send their kids to Boulder so the parents can spend xmas on skis at 12,000 feet.</p>
<p>I just saw the college stats on the Class of 2014 from our high achieving public HS in the SF Bay Area. 30% chose out of state public, 25% chose a UC (12% chose a CSU, almost all Cal Poly SLO, 33% chose private). In our area, there are 4-5 top UC’s (and Cal Poly SLO) that everyone tries to get in to (if you are a high stats student). They are getting harder and harder to get in to, so if you don’t make it in to one, most pursue a out of state public or private.<br>
In-state cost for UC’s is already high, so going to oos public is often not that much higher. Many kids do not want to attend the UC’s that are considered more commuter schools - they want the “full college” experience. And for that, you have to look oos or private if you don’t make it in to the “top” UC’s. </p>
<p>Of course we consider what kids want, but what about when giving kids what they want costs the parents $100K that they can ill afford to give to just one kid? Reason prevails at most households, I think, but these kids who get whatever college they want regardless of the impact on their families are not learning good financial planning from their parents. Parents should drive the bank bus, not the kids. We’re doing our kids no favors.</p>
<p>@whoami47 Usually if you are below the top 4% in income, top schools OOS will give good financial aid if they are private.</p>
<p>I’d like to know more. What is your source for this info, @Cosmological?</p>
<p>@jkeil911 Net price calculators using my family’s stats and the admissions policies of the ivy leagues. Though, this is usually for families that have multiple children all around the same age like my family.</p>
<p>So there is no study that shows this that I could read?</p>
<p>@jkeil911 Sorry, I may have jumped the gun a bit by just showing what my own personal experience has been. Some examples from my own experience show me that Harvey Mudd would cost around 19k, with Princeton being pretty similar, while my state school would be around the same without merit aid. I don’t know how narrow a field of study cases like these would be, so I’m sorry, I don’t know of any studies other than personal experience. I do get what you mean, though.</p>
<p>yeah, I’m guilty of the same thing. I was hoping you had something in writing which talked about that figure of 4% because I’d never heard that before. I don’t even know what the 4% income is; that’s how clueless I am. Okay, so I looked it up and in 2011 median income of the 4% and above was roughly >180K. Okay, I wasn’t off by far.</p>
<p>need-based aid for people making over 180K is generally pretty slim. At the elite private schools you probably have in mind, my experience has been that they will offer somewhere between 10 and 35K in loan-free grants depending upon how far below 180K you are on the way to, say, 100K. That still leaves the 4% toting 50K/year. That is not “good (enough) financial aid” for a lot of people making 180K. And that’s where I have experience at many elites that contradicts your statement.</p>
<p>I’m of course judging on personal experience here. YMMV. Certainly someone in CC-land like @tdk has a data sheet to show us.</p>
<pre><code> Absolutely not.
</code></pre>
<p>250K, especially mostly from loans is not worth it for an undergraduate education. In addition, you are aspiring to go to med school, so undergrad college does ot really matter where you go, as long as you complete the pre-med per-requisites with excellent grades, graduate with an excellent GPA, Ace the MCAT, have great recommendations, volunteer a much as you can, do research and shadowing when possible and apply early to your top med schools.
Then the rest will depend on your interview.
Bets of luck to you.</p>
<p>UW is about $40k per year, total, out of state.</p>
<p>The University of Minnesota, which is pretty good, is just $27500 OOS. If you are interested in going to a quality public school OOS, you might consider the Gophers.</p>
<p>The only schools that will give aid for $180K income are HYPS. </p>
<p>I haven’t read this whole thread, so I don’t know if it’s mentioned, but I think one benefit of going out-of-state is that it helps you to establish increased independence at an earlier age. Being independent causes you to mature faster in a lot of areas, especially when you can’t go home on weekends and have Mom and Dad help you with problems.</p>
<p>I’m fifteen hours away from my hometown and only go home for summers and Christmas. Because of this, I learn to do everything on my own and I think that benefits my work ethic and self concept. </p>
<p>I know a lot of people who go to college close to home and their parents are helping them with car problems, even cleaning their dorms in some cases, buying their groceries, letting them come home every weekend…etc. Nothing wrong with that, but if you are literally pushed from the nest, you’re only option is to survive and become an adult. </p>