Why do so many kids attend public schools out of state?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just looking at some instagrams of some high schools and see so many students heading to public schools out of state. While I absolutely understand why students would choose UVA, VT, W&M, UMD, etc if you are in state, why would you pick schools like Penn State or Clemson?

Because you can't get into your top state schools.

It has become really hard to get into UVA, W&M and engineering at VT.

Yes, true. But I can't think of any good reason to go to Clemson.

Maybe that’s because you didn’t do that well in school.

? I did quite well (at a university ranked much much higher than #75 on USNWR), but we're talking about where our kids should go. Can't see any reason in the world for them to go to Clemson. I'd hope they can do a bit better than that.

You are an idiot if you focus your kid solely on school rankings. I’m sure there are plenty of super smart Clemson students and lots of grads at top law firms, doctors, etc. The same could be said about many others schools ranked (gasp) even worse than Clemson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:UMD is the main option for strong students in MD and it’s too close to home for many MoCo kids. They might also prefer a more rural or urban city or a smaller school.

It frustrates me so much to see MD kids say that. My VA would love to go to UMD but $$$$ (if she could even get in).

And my MD son would have killed to get into UVA or W&M. Virginia has way more great options compared to Maryland.

Meanwhile my VA son got into UVA (we made him apply) but mainly chose UMD because it has better racial diversity for African-Americans. I'm white. He is black. He had no desire for a VA school due to racial demographics. So to answer OP, there are reasons you may not have even considered why students choose OOS publics. He's very happy there. Will graduate next year with a duo degree in electrical enginnering and physics and a minor in computer science. Has had fantastic internships since the summer of his freshman year. Not sure he would have been as successful at UVA as he wouldn't have been as happy or felt as welcomed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just looking at some instagrams of some high schools and see so many students heading to public schools out of state. While I absolutely understand why students would choose UVA, VT, W&M, UMD, etc if you are in state, why would you pick schools like Penn State or Clemson?

Because you can't get into your top state schools.

It has become really hard to get into UVA, W&M and engineering at VT.

Yes, true. But I can't think of any good reason to go to Clemson.

Maybe that’s because you didn’t do that well in school.

? I did quite well (at a university ranked much much higher than #75 on USNWR), but we're talking about where our kids should go. Can't see any reason in the world for them to go to Clemson. I'd hope they can do a bit better than that.

You are an idiot if you focus your kid solely on school rankings. I’m sure there are plenty of super smart Clemson students and lots of grads at top law firms, doctors, etc. The same could be said about many others schools ranked (gasp) even worse than Clemson.

Yeah, just the same I'm pretty sure DC can do a but better than that. No reason to go that far down the list. Even a U.of Georgia or Florida State would be a lot better

[Anonymous]

Why would you force your teens to attend an in-state college 30 min to a couple hours from home? It's high school 2.0 with largely the same cliques and all of the same baggage and social sorting from high school. If you have the money and/or they have the stats for merit aid, you ought to nudge your teen to broaden their horizons. Go West, young man.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just looking at some instagrams of some high schools and see so many students heading to public schools out of state. While I absolutely understand why students would choose UVA, VT, W&M, UMD, etc if you are in state, why would you pick schools like Penn State or Clemson?

Reason 1: Because that's where you got in. Many VA kids don't get into UVA or Virginia Tech but get into Penn State (which is a great school).

Reason 2: Because the school offers a program that levels above what is available in your state. Eg. Engineering at Berkeley, Michigan, Illinois or Georgia Tech as opposed to to UVA or Tech. Some people may think its worth paying extra to get that level of education.

And those people would be idiots. Yes, the out of state schools listed may have "better" engineering schools, but not so much better that they're worth paying extra for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some families have sold their kids on their notion that if you can't gain admission to the in-state jewels, then OOS colleges are better. For example, I know one who chose Ole Miss over CNU. Sure Ole Miss has a bigger name nationally due to its sports programs, but there is no way Ole Miss is worth an OOS premium. But for some, familiar college names matter.

I strongly disagree. If I were a high school senior I'd much rather go to Ole Miss than CNU. No doubt it's a whole lot more fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would you force your teens to attend an in-state college 30 min to a couple hours from home? It's high school 2.0 with largely the same cliques and all of the same baggage and social sorting from high school. If you have the money and/or they have the stats for merit aid, you ought to nudge your teen to broaden their horizons. Go West, young man.

I don’t want my kids to attend a school in state. I can and will pay for private school tuition. I would not want to pay out of state tuition for an average public university.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would you force your teens to attend an in-state college 30 min to a couple hours from home? It's high school 2.0 with largely the same cliques and all of the same baggage and social sorting from high school. If you have the money and/or they have the stats for merit aid, you ought to nudge your teen to broaden their horizons. Go West, young man.

I don’t want my kids to attend a school in state. I can and will pay for private school tuition. I would not want to pay out of state tuition for an average public university.

Well, sorry, but the "average" state school, especially the flagships, are generally better than the "average" private. But, hey, it's your money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would you force your teens to attend an in-state college 30 min to a couple hours from home? It's high school 2.0 with largely the same cliques and all of the same baggage and social sorting from high school. If you have the money and/or they have the stats for merit aid, you ought to nudge your teen to broaden their horizons. Go West, young man.

I don’t want my kids to attend a school in state. I can and will pay for private school tuition. I would not want to pay out of state tuition for an average public university.

Strange - so schools line UNC, UVA, W&M, UMD, Univ of Florida, are all ranked in the top 50 but you won’t let your kid consider them for some strange reason that makes no sense to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just looking at some instagrams of some high schools and see so many students heading to public schools out of state. While I absolutely understand why students would choose UVA, VT, W&M, UMD, etc if you are in state, why would you pick schools like Penn State or Clemson?

Because you can't get into your top state schools.

It has become really hard to get into UVA, W&M and engineering at VT.

Yes, true. But I can't think of any good reason to go to Clemson.

Maybe that’s because you didn’t do that well in school.

? I did quite well (at a university ranked much much higher than #75 on USNWR), but we're talking about where our kids should go. Can't see any reason in the world for them to go to Clemson. I'd hope they can do a bit better than that.

You are an idiot if you focus your kid solely on school rankings. I’m sure there are plenty of super smart Clemson students and lots of grads at top law firms, doctors, etc. The same could be said about many others schools ranked (gasp) even worse than Clemson.

Yeah, just the same I'm pretty sure DC can do a but better than that. No reason to go that far down the list. Even a U.of Georgia or Florida State would be a lot better

That far down?!? It’s ranked 75 in the nation. That’s pretty damn good. I feel sorry for your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would you force your teens to attend an in-state college 30 min to a couple hours from home? It's high school 2.0 with largely the same cliques and all of the same baggage and social sorting from high school. If you have the money and/or they have the stats for merit aid, you ought to nudge your teen to broaden their horizons. Go West, young man.

I don’t want my kids to attend a school in state. I can and will pay for private school tuition. I would not want to pay out of state tuition for an average public university.

Strange - so schools line UNC, UVA, W&M, UMD, Univ of Florida, are all ranked in the top 50 but you won’t let your kid consider them for some strange reason that makes no sense to me.

My oldest child has 4 years before he goes to college. I was just saying I was not forcing my teen to attend in state. We can afford and plan to pay private tuition. Of course we will support him wherever he wants to go.

I guess if I’m paying, I would rather pay for private tuition than OOS public tuition. Perhaps my child’s best option will be another state’s public university. Guess we will see in a few years. Perhaps Penn State will be his best option.

[Anonymous]

My son was WL at JMU, I’m guessing due to yield-protection reasons. (He didn’t apply to VT or UVA because he knew they were too competitive.) After he learned he had been WL, he visited one of the OOS schools he got into and really liked it — he was awarded some merit aid and ultimately selected the school. JMU came back later asking if he was still interested, but he declined. Honestly, I think he felt a bit jaded. To be sure, we had prepared him for some rejections by saying that some colleges rejected kids if it just wasn’t the right fit, so In think he felt that way about JMU in the end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just looking at some instagrams of some high schools and see so many students heading to public schools out of state. While I absolutely understand why students would choose UVA, VT, W&M, UMD, etc if you are in state, why would you pick schools like Penn State or Clemson?

Because you can't get into your top state schools.

It has become really hard to get into UVA, W&M and engineering at VT.

Yes, true. But I can't think of any good reason to go to Clemson.

Maybe that’s because you didn’t do that well in school.

? I did quite well (at a university ranked much much higher than #75 on USNWR), but we're talking about where our kids should go. Can't see any reason in the world for them to go to Clemson. I'd hope they can do a bit better than that.

Hi there, you know that there are people on this forum who went to or whose kids go to Clemson, right? What a horrid thing to say.

[Anonymous]

If you are in VA, most probably could not get into UVA, especially if they are in NOVA. They may or may not have gotten into WM. WM is a great school but expensive for an in state school and somewhat quirky/bookish. It might not be a fit for everyone. They were probably waitlisted at VA Tech because their scores were too HIGH!

We have two out of state and both got enough merit where it was significantly cheaper than WM. A tad more than VA Tech.

Neither applied to UVA

One got into WM, one did not (waitlist). The one who got into WM was adamant about not going there and would have gone to JMU before WM (which we would have been ok with).

Both were waitlisted at VA Tech with gpa and test scores significantly higher than the 50% mark for VA Tech. We do not know what VA Tech is doing with admissions but know of students that got into schools like UF, ND, Carnegie Mellon, GA Tech, Fordham, Villanova, BC that got waitlisted at VA Tech.

We looked at a lot of schools, including PSU and Clemson. We were really close to pulling the trigger on Clemson. The suggestion that you are slumming it to head out of state at one of those schools is ignorant. PSU main campus and Clemson will both have lower acceptance rates than VA TECH for the class of 2026. PSU is the flagship school for a bigger state with nationally recognized programs. Both have a better campus and sports than VA Tech. WM is great but not a fir for everyone.

We have two more and they will both be applying PSU and Clemson. We think they will apply to UVA but they have already said WM and VA Tech are out. WM is too small and they have no desire to play the admissions game with VA Tech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just looking at some instagrams of some high schools and see so many students heading to public schools out of state. While I absolutely understand why students would choose UVA, VT, W&M, UMD, etc if you are in state, why would you pick schools like Penn State or Clemson?

Because you can't get into your top state schools.

It has become really hard to get into UVA, W&M and engineering at VT.

Yes, true. But I can't think of any good reason to go to Clemson.

My kid is going to Clemson and we are thrilled. Didn’t even apply to an in state. We have plenty of money to pay the tuition and what is not to like about a beautiful campus, great football program, and good weather.. Yes, i know, only ranked 75 out of 1,800 schools. I guess we will take our chances!