FCPS kids going out of state

[Anonymous]

Didn’t get into UVA. Didn’t even consider VT. OOS school options were better than what remained in Virginia.

[Anonymous]

We strongly believe in a SLAC education. Full stop. Not here to debate it— we value the small classes, close professor relationships, residential ed) One DC at WM, which has most of the SLAC components we value. We would have preferred Vassar, but it’s not our college experience.

Other kid at a Midwestern SLAC with merit. We are still paying 20k/ year more than we would in state, but kid hated WM and we could see it was a bad fit. And kid was way over qualified for UMW.

Kid is thriving at the SLAC, which is a great fit— academically
and socially.

We chose (very good) public schools to afford OOS college options. WM kid will have the 80k difference for grad school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We strongly believe in a SLAC education. Full stop. Not here to debate it— we value the small classes, close professor relationships, residential ed) One DC at WM, which has most of the SLAC components we value. We would have preferred Vassar, but it’s not our college experience.

Other kid at a Midwestern SLAC with merit. We are still paying 20k/ year more than we would in state, but kid hated WM and we could see it was a bad fit. And kid was way over qualified for UMW.

Kid is thriving at the SLAC, which is a great fit— academically
and socially.

We chose (very good) public schools to afford OOS college options. WM kid will have the 80k difference for grad school.

So if your kid wanted to become an engineer or study another major that's not offered at SLACs you would have refused to let them enroll, "full stop?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We strongly believe in a SLAC education. Full stop. Not here to debate it— we value the small classes, close professor relationships, residential ed) One DC at WM, which has most of the SLAC components we value. We would have preferred Vassar, but it’s not our college experience.

Other kid at a Midwestern SLAC with merit. We are still paying 20k/ year more than we would in state, but kid hated WM and we could see it was a bad fit. And kid was way over qualified for UMW.

Kid is thriving at the SLAC, which is a great fit— academically
and socially.

We chose (very good) public schools to afford OOS college options. WM kid will have the 80k difference for grad school.

So if your kid wanted to become an engineer or study another major that's not offered at SLACs you would have refused to let them enroll, "full stop?"

Of course not. A liberal arts education doesn’t work for every major. But, it did for my kids interests.

I would encourage and engineering major to look at Mudd, Cooper Union, Rose Hulman., etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid had a 4.2 gpa and a 1520 SAT, wanted to major in CS and didn’t get into UVA (expected) or VT (should have had a shot), and didn’t want GMU. So he’s at UIUC, which is a higher ranked CS program anyway.

UIUC is stronger in CS than any Virginia school.

[Anonymous]

OP, do you really not understand why someone would go out of state? That mindset is the reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We strongly believe in a SLAC education. Full stop. Not here to debate it— we value the small classes, close professor relationships, residential ed) One DC at WM, which has most of the SLAC components we value. We would have preferred Vassar, but it’s not our college experience.

Other kid at a Midwestern SLAC with merit. We are still paying 20k/ year more than we would in state, but kid hated WM and we could see it was a bad fit. And kid was way over qualified for UMW.

Kid is thriving at the SLAC, which is a great fit— academically
and socially.

We chose (very good) public schools to afford OOS college options. WM kid will have the 80k difference for grad school.

So if your kid wanted to become an engineer or study another major that's not offered at SLACs you would have refused to let them enroll, "full stop?"

DP but some SLACS have 3+2 programs and cross registering with schools like MIT.

[Anonymous]

Did not get into VT which was the top choice. Went OOS instead but is thinking of transferring to VT next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD is a junior and starting to look at schools. Stats wise probably competitive for VT, JMU, W&M, not UVA. If your FCPS kid went to a public/private out of state, what was the thinking behind it? DD wants to live “somewhere other than VA” which we get but VA has so many great schools that it is tough to think about paying twice as much to go elsewhere (we are full pay but have other kids as well).

This is easy. People in Virginia often go OOS if they didn’t get into UVA, WM, or tech. The rest of them seem like regional universities (even though they are very good) and students can get into other states’ flagships. Lots of people transfer into those first three from out of state in their second year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD is a junior and starting to look at schools. Stats wise probably competitive for VT, JMU, W&M, not UVA. If your FCPS kid went to a public/private out of state, what was the thinking behind it? DD wants to live “somewhere other than VA” which we get but VA has so many great schools that it is tough to think about paying twice as much to go elsewhere (we are full pay but have other kids as well).

My son really liked Purdue and the out of state cost was about $5k more a year at the time and was worth it for us. He also benefited when they did not raise tuition for the entire time attended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We strongly believe in a SLAC education. Full stop. Not here to debate it— we value the small classes, close professor relationships, residential ed) One DC at WM, which has most of the SLAC components we value. We would have preferred Vassar, but it’s not our college experience.

Other kid at a Midwestern SLAC with merit. We are still paying 20k/ year more than we would in state, but kid hated WM and we could see it was a bad fit. And kid was way over qualified for UMW.

Kid is thriving at the SLAC, which is a great fit— academically
and socially.

We chose (very good) public schools to afford OOS college options. WM kid will have the 80k difference for grad school.

So if your kid wanted to become an engineer or study another major that's not offered at SLACs you would have refused to let them enroll, "full stop?"

DP but some SLACS have 3+2 programs and cross registering with schools like MIT.

They do. And the have the following advantages: no weed out classes, do an excellent job teaching oral and written commUnication (DH is a software engineer and Yikes! Desperately needed for many) and guaranteed admission engineering schools like MIT, Cal Tech, Columbia, Cornell…. Plus, you have graduated from two colleges and have 2 uNdergrad alUm networks.

Downsides: it takes 5 years and that extra year is $$$$$. And, in a small, close knit residential environment, kids don’t want to pick up and miss Senior year. TheY woUld rather get an Undergrad degree in phySics or math. Or both. Few kids who intend to 3/ actually do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD is a junior and starting to look at schools. Stats wise probably competitive for VT, JMU, W&M, not UVA. If your FCPS kid went to a public/private out of state, what was the thinking behind it? DD wants to live “somewhere other than VA” which we get but VA has so many great schools that it is tough to think about paying twice as much to go elsewhere (we are full pay but have other kids as well).

My son really liked Purdue and the out of state cost was about $5k more a year at the time and was worth it for us. He also benefited when they did not raise tuition for the entire time attended.

Similarly, WM is the most expensive state school, but you keep the tUition you go in with, even if it’s raised for future classes. Very nice, when my other kids is goIng up 2-3% a Year.

[Anonymous]

My FCPS student wasn’t from VA so he wasn’t tied to schools here. All his schools were in diff states. His gpa was competitive enough that he was given direct admits to colleges and given OOS scholarships to attend when acceptance came through.

[Anonymous]

As my B student goes through the application process, I have been surprised at the generous merit scholarships that other state universities have offered my child. This has made going out of state affordable. My DC may well end up in Virginia--he has applied to several--but these merit scholarships have given my DC many more options than I expected.

[Anonymous]

Rather than fret and obsess over tons (too-many) AP classes, hoping to maybe get a chance to attend JMU or VT, apply out of state and go to a higher ranked National University. Enjoy a more balanced high school experience and expand your horizons.