Why are OOS flagships so popular these days?

[Anonymous]

I grew up in Maryland and went to UVA 30+ years ago. Didn't even apply to UMDCP. I had lots of friends who went to Michigan. A few to PSU. It's not a new trend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The main reason, at least in the case of Virginia, is that the state didn’t grow their flagship school enough. UVA is too small of a flagship for a state with over 8.5 million people in it. It’s half the size of its peers and isn’t serving the people of Virginia nearly as well as it should.

But you forgot to add in William & Mary. No State public system has something like W&M

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The main reason, at least in the case of Virginia, is that the state didn’t grow their flagship school enough. UVA is too small of a flagship for a state with over 8.5 million people in it. It’s half the size of its peers and isn’t serving the people of Virginia nearly as well as it should.

But you forgot to add in William & Mary. No State public system has something like W&M

Sure, but W&M doesn't offer the rah rah spirit kids are seeking in droves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In VA, it's often because kids don't get into UVA and VT (or JMU), but they still want the big state flagship experience. So they apply to OOS flagships. These kids don't really want to go out of state, but they also do not want to go to VCU, GMU, or ODU.

Granted, UVA is very competitive but after that a lot of kids whose parents can afford other options prefer OOS schools to VT and JMU. For some, VT is too rural and has a quasi-military feel (with the campus layout and big Corps of Cadets) and JMU is seen as high school 2.0 with so many NoVa kids. So you are fooling yourself if you think the kids are only going out of state because they aren’t getting into VT or JMU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The main reason, at least in the case of Virginia, is that the state didn’t grow their flagship school enough. UVA is too small of a flagship for a state with over 8.5 million people in it. It’s half the size of its peers and isn’t serving the people of Virginia nearly as well as it should.

But you forgot to add in William & Mary. No State public system has something like W&M

William and Mary doesn't appeal to many kids. At all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In VA, it's often because kids don't get into UVA and VT (or JMU), but they still want the big state flagship experience. So they apply to OOS flagships. These kids don't really want to go out of state, but they also do not want to go to VCU, GMU, or ODU.

Granted, UVA is very competitive but after that a lot of kids whose parents can afford other options prefer OOS schools to VT and JMU. For some, VT is too rural and has a quasi-military feel (with the campus layout and big Corps of Cadets) and JMU is seen as high school 2.0 with so many NoVa kids. So you are fooling yourself if you think the kids are only going out of state because they aren’t getting into VT or JMU.

DP. This is a very strange way to look at two of the most popular schools in Virginia. Also, the PP said "it's often because kids don't get into UVA and VT or (JMU), but they still want the big state flagship experience," which is absolutely true in many cases. She never said that's the only reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Usually the OOS publics are less expensive than privates

Definitely not the case for my DS. Case Western, Midd, Gtown were going to be less than UMich, Wisconsin, and OSU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure I would put UVA and UMD in same category. You are going to OOS public instead of in state UVA because you didn't get into UVA. Not many Michigan, UCLA and UNC admit cases. UMD, while a really good school and not that easy to get into instate -- it is not a highly ranked public, more middle of the road. So very likely the OOS is better and you may have even received some merit to make it comparable in price. Add in the allure of geographic diversity and some more interesting places to go to school than College Park and there is your answer. Still think UMD is great choice, great school but not the same declines as UVA......

or because you're not white or Asian and want a school with more diversity of black or Hispanic people.

Or because you simply didn’t want to go to UVA - something that is probably unfathomable to the PP.

There is/was nothing that appealed to our DC about UVA (or Tech). Several OOS flagships do/did and with significant merit aid, they are virtually equivalent from a financial perspective. “Fit” is far more important.

[Anonymous]

For MoCo kids, UMD is so close to home and not in an especially inspiring location. But it’s an amazing value. So compared the private schools, it’s a steal. So the compromise is a great school like Wisconsin even if you get in to UMD. Or if don’t get in, maybe UVM or UMass or Pitt. Still great schools that are way more affordable than many private schools.

[Anonymous]

It’s cope for northeast kids

No one is turning down t20, uva, umd to go oos public unless they are an athlete or getting full ride

It’s different if you are from Minnesota and you go oos to wisco

Psu for example is full of Jersey and New York kids but these aren’t kids who got into even Cornell for that matter

Oos public is popular because they are backups

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s cope for northeast kids

No one is turning down t20, uva, umd to go oos public unless they are an athlete or getting full ride

It’s different if you are from Minnesota and you go oos to wisco

Psu for example is full of Jersey and New York kids but these aren’t kids who got into even Cornell for that matter

Oos public is popular because they are backups

No, not for everyone.

[Anonymous]

It's not all OOS flagships. The NE public flagships (except UVM), SUNY, Rutgers, aren't popular, because they don't have the big rah rah spirit (yes, Rutgers is B1G, but unless you're from NJ, it's not a great deal financially and doesn't measure up on the rah rah).

The experiences provided by the 2nd tier publics in MD and VA won't compare, except possibly JMU which is really trying to rise up in football and other major D1 sports. With VT and UVA becoming less accessible to NOVA students (and W&M having the (undeserved) image of a geriatric cosplay park, and so is not attractive to everyone), JMU will have that chance to rise. MD put all of its eggs in UMCP, which is great, but the other publics don't offer what JMU and the rest of the VA publics offer.

So if you can swing the finances through merit, the tuition exchange, etc., then OOS flagships are a great option for many families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s cope for northeast kids

No one is turning down t20, uva, umd to go oos public unless they are an athlete or getting full ride

It’s different if you are from Minnesota and you go oos to wisco

Psu for example is full of Jersey and New York kids but these aren’t kids who got into even Cornell for that matter

Oos public is popular because they are backups

This is incomprehensible

[Anonymous]

My DC went to Michigan, didn't apply to UMD. Money wasn't a factor and DC chose among private and OOS publics.

[Anonymous]

For us it mostly came down to cost. My daughter is set to attend University of Tennessee. She wanted the experience of going to a different part of the country, but we did have a budget. UTK at $48k-ish (that is without any merit aid- she did get $12k/year which was an added bonus) is doable for us. University of Miami and Tulane (two of the private universities she expressed interest in)...at $80K or more per year...were not.