VA parents: why choose out of state college?

[Anonymous]

I think DC is probably not headed to an Ivy but will be in the range for UVA and W&M. If your DC is in that range but looking or attending out of state, can you tell me what he/she thinks the out of state schools offer that neither of these schools does? What makes them worth paying all of the extra tuition and traveling farther from home? Is it a different social scene, size, or wanting a more urban school? DC will not be a recruited athlete and does not have a particular major in mind, so those are not limiting factors for us. Appreciate any thoughts to help us build a list of out of state schools to visit knowing that there may be several good options close to home. I understand he will need to apply to some out of state schools since the top in state schools are so competitive. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Below the level of UVA & W&M, northern virginia students often find themselves at the top of the class at the other Va publics. Frankly they feel ~ why did I work so hard in high school to go here? When they attend another state's flagship, this is not the case. You have the best students of that state attending. Go look at VT & JMU. Get to know them, and try to imagine if your DC would be happy there. If either of those schools are a good fit, then I think it's reasonable to insist on instate only, if that is what you would like. Very few students who are in range for UVA & W&M will be happy at Mary Washington, Christopher Newport, VCU, George Mason, etc. There is a regional/cultural issue of "fit" which will be important, not to all but to some: anything south of northern virginia is going to feel more southern. Depending on personal preference that can be a plus or a minus.

[Anonymous]

I'm a nova native who happened to graduate today from the out of state school I went to. For me, the issue was primarily location. I'm a city girl at heart, but Richmond didn't feel right, and though nova is close enough to dc to have urban access, I couldn't imagine staying that close to home. The top va schools also have a reputation for being very stuffy. In fact, today as many of my high school friends who went to UVA posted a bunch of skull and bones type nonsense about graduating I was extremely glad of my choice to go to my more laid back school outside of NYC.

[Anonymous]

My DD was certain she wanted an urban campus and preferred D1 football and basketball. Va doesn't have that.

[Anonymous]

Older child went OOS for college and younger child will be doing the same. They both were accepted at UVA but knew if the OOS school cost as much as in-state -- they could go. We found if you have the stats -- many OOS will give scholarships covering the full tuition. Both received full tuition scholarships from OOS schools so they had many choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Below the level of UVA & W&M, northern virginia students often find themselves at the top of the class at the other Va publics. Frankly they feel ~ why did I work so hard in high school to go here? When they attend another state's flagship, this is not the case. You have the best students of that state attending. Go look at VT & JMU. Get to know them, and try to imagine if your DC would be happy there. If either of those schools are a good fit, then I think it's reasonable to insist on instate only, if that is what you would like. Very few students who are in range for UVA & W&M will be happy at Mary Washington, Christopher Newport, VCU, George Mason, etc. There is a regional/cultural issue of "fit" which will be important, not to all but to some: anything south of northern virginia is going to feel more southern. Depending on personal preference that can be a plus or a minus.

I agree. Also trying a different culture after Virginia could be a good fit for some. If Dc did not make UVa or W&M would consider other schools. Its a big world out there!

[Anonymous]

I think you can get a solid education at the instate VA schools. I went to one. It was ok but I never felt like I opened my horizon until I went out of state for grad school. While UVA & Wm Mary are goods schools, they are predominantly NOVA. Majority of the students are from Nova. So eventhough they are not commuter schools in that they are hours away from Nova, the culture was still very Nova. I never felt like I really got away and met different types of people until I left the state.

[Anonymous]

At the local HS, the kids refer to U VA as 13th grade. So there's that.

[Anonymous]

Because we live in MD.

I know this was directed at VA parents, but it amazes me how crappy the MD choices are.

[Anonymous]

We are in MD and DC is seriously considering UVA but the downside is the lack of geographic diversity. With 2/3rds coming from VA it seems a little insular. The private colleges we are looking at are much more balanced geographically.

[Anonymous]

Thanks so far! Had not thought about lack of geographic diversity as being a factor to consider. I am a southerner (not native of VA) who went to a Midwestern SLAC where most of the kids were from the northeast. A very different feel.

[Anonymous]

I think many posters have nailed the primary reasons. There are only so many spots at UVA and W&M, and that's assuming your kid likes either school.

VA has tons of great choices as far as state schools, but competition is fierce and they might not meet the needs of every kid.

Location, culture, academic strength in a particular field, size of school, campus life (on/off-campus living, Greek life, athletics, demographics, etc...) can all play as much of a role in a college experience as anything else. I went to a mid-tier state school in another part of the country. Academically it was a horrible fit, I was a huge fish in a small pond, but in terms of general life experience it was a better fit than the arguably top two or three schools in the state.

We looked at a range of schools for DS including in-state, out of state and private. He ended up at a small, out of state private school. We'll be looking at a range of schools for DD as well when the time comes.

[Anonymous]

Many publics ~ and I happened to run into this particularly in the South, do not have what I would consider, enough on-campus housing. I don't think they place enough emphasis on providing students with a good residential life experience ~ ie air conditioning!! At JMU & VT (not sure about UVA/WM) many Freshmen are faced with finding housing for Sophomore year just weeks after they've started at the school. Mid-western publics (UWisconsin, Michigan State, etc) have a long history of valuing residential life. UConn has on-campus housing for all undergraduates who want it. UFlorida suggests Freshmen apply for housing prior to even knowing if a student has been accepted - not enough housing for Freshmen. Some southern publics have excellent housing for some (honors college) UAlabama, USouth Carolina, but it's not equitable. Public schools vary a lot. I do not think Va, generally, does a good job in this area.

[Anonymous]

My son went to UMD because it was way highs ranked than any school in math, physics , computer science, and engineering than any school in Va and was still close.

[Anonymous]

^^^ higher .