Does it kind of suck to be an out of state student?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: I think that you may have intended the thread title to read:

"Does it kind of suck to be an out of state student at a public state school ?"

Private schools tend to be quite diverse from a geographical standpoint.

I thought that was obvious. Private schools don’t have caps on OOS students and no tuition differential. So I just inferred they meant public colleges

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. For those saying kids should want to get out of their own bubble, that’s exactly why my kid wants to go to a flagship in another state BUT we keep hearing that what ends up happening, unfortunately, is that people end up sorting by their home regions anyway.

We’ve heard Wisconsin is like this too where there are the NY and northeast dorms and mini social scenes. Some of the OOS kids probably want to mix it up with more students from Wisconsin but it’s more difficult than you’d think.

Wisconsin is definitely like this, but, as a Wisconsinite, it's not the locals making it difficult. The "coastie" kids come from NY/NJ/DC, live in their own private dorms because the public ones aren't good enough for them, and therefore self-segregate. There's also the issue that they have a lot more money than the Wisconsin kids -- so they wear better clothes, have nice cars, and just are in a completely different socioeconomic strata than your average in-state kid. They only hang out with themselves, join their own frats/sororities, go to separate bars than others, and generally look down at the "Sconnie" kids with disdain. So yes, there was, at least when I was in college there 12+ years ago, a big divide--- maybe it's changed since then.

That said, I did make friends with a few East and West Coast kids -- but they were the ones who lived in the university dorms like the rest of us. They still had loads more money than most Wisconsin kids, but personality-wise, they were very different from the other OOS kids.

This sounds kind of awful. I wonder if MI is the same way, as the difference between in-state and OOS tuition alone is like $40K.

I have heard Michigan is like this. I wonder about UNC and Purdue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve heard UConn can feel like a suitcase school since the state is so small no in-state students live far away.

I’ve heard UDel is like that too

Delaware is 64% out of state. You'll be fine there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids from other states are not very different from kids from Virginia. Maybe your kid is just socially inept.

Ah, the irony.

[Anonymous]

I am from another state and my DS went to W&M and graduated 6 years ago. He met many kids from other states, as well as Virginia, and still remains in touch with them today. Honestly, I think it made him both independent and confident. After graduation, he moved to another new state and has thrived. It taught him that the unknown can be a good thing. Try not to limit your children. Though the DC area may be a fine place to live, it is not the ONLY place.

[Anonymous]

OP, you can see what percentage of students are OOS by looking at each school's Common Data Set, or a guide like Princeton Review or Fiske. This will at least give you a feel for how local the population is likely to be. Some resources will also tell you what percentage live on campus, too, which is another great way to get an idea what the social scene will be like.

Unfortunately, at most state schools the percentage of OOS students is under 20% (in California, it's under 10!), and the % of upper classmen who live on campus is very low, too. The % for freshmen on campus is often very high, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve heard UConn can feel like a suitcase school since the state is so small no in-state students live far away.

I’ve heard UDel is like that too

Delaware is 64% out of state. You'll be fine there.

A lot of the "locals" commute or live in off campus apartments. Funny enough, I went to school multiple states away and when I visited my friends at UDel while home on breaks, people thought I was a student there because they had seen me around enough.

UDel is a pretty regional school - don't think they are drawing a lot of kids from all across the country. DE, MD, PA and NJ are the main homestates of students there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Out of Staters can work to make their lives better. Not commenting on what's better where they come from, for example. Learning a bit about their new state, the geography. Knowing that they will need to take a back-seat for awhile and learn, get acclimated. Great maturing experience.

+1. I recall several times out-of-state people complaining, mocking, making fun, and we were like…you’re paying EXTRA to be here, so either fit in or leave. The one person who had the good grace to laugh about that and change his attitude was the one that fell in with our friend group. There was always a “I’m better than this” person on group projects and no one wanted them in the group.

[Anonymous]

This was never a problem for friends of my kids at UVA and GMU. Uva, alone, has something like 900 clubs. GMZ is the most diverse institution on the Commonwealth. My DD had roommates from Utah. Alaska and two internationals. But, as with any large group of people. You have to make the effort to go out and meet people.

[Anonymous]

What can happen in the beginning is people tend to stay friends with people from their high school so during freshman year that can make OOS students feel like they’re at a disadvantage. I see this with my DD at UVA now.

[Anonymous]

At UVA I Have heard that the OOS kids feel superior to the instate because it’s harder to get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What can happen in the beginning is people tend to stay friends with people from their high school so during freshman year that can make OOS students feel like they’re at a disadvantage. I see this with my DD at UVA now.

This was not my experience at a state school at all. It was always great to run into high school friends, but they were not my core friend group. Everyone joined scholarly societies, clubs, student newspaper, dance team, living-learning dorm or what have you, and found their people there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you can see what percentage of students are OOS by looking at each school's Common Data Set, or a guide like Princeton Review or Fiske. This will at least give you a feel for how local the population is likely to be. Some resources will also tell you what percentage live on campus, too, which is another great way to get an idea what the social scene will be like.

Unfortunately, at most state schools the percentage of OOS students is under 20% (in California, it's under 10!), and the % of upper classmen who live on campus is very low, too. The % for freshmen on campus is often very high, though.

Why is this "unfortunate"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: I think that you may have intended the thread title to read:

"Does it kind of suck to be an out of state student at a public state school ?"

Private schools tend to be quite diverse from a geographical standpoint.

Thank God you're here.

[Anonymous]

I was a NY'er who went to William and Mary. The whole point was to get away from everyone that I went to high school with. My core group of friends was a mix of kids from out of state and Northern VA. There were some kids who knew each other from high school, but I don't recall there being cliques of high school friends that weren't interested in meeting new friends.