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

[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.

VCU isn’t good enough, huh?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Op here. I was curious why one would pick a public out of state vs a private out of state? Did your kids not apply to any private universities?

I am from NY and many kids went to private colleges in the Northeast. You normally wouldn’t choose public unless you couldn’t afford the better private.

[Anonymous]

Because they wanted to. Academically, UVA and WM were a good fit but the same hyper-competitive culture of a high pressure FCPS top school. It also ends up being cheaper than either UVA or WM in state tuition.

[Anonymous]

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.

This! Too close.

[Anonymous]

Op here. I just wanted to add that I know we have excellent public school options and completely understand why many would choose in state publics that are equal or better than many private universities.

[Anonymous]

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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?

Probably because they did not get into UVA, VT, W&M, UMD, etc.

But why not just go to a private school then?

There are some schools like Berkeley or UCLA that I can understand. I’m talking about pretty average schools like University of Delaware. And I do know Penn State is a great public school. I have many friends who went to Penn StAte, Rutgers, SUNY and UMass but they all went as in state.

I'm guessing your kids have not applied to college yet. You will see.

Delaware sometimes offers merit. UCLA probably does not.

[Anonymous]

Shoot, I wish all the VA state schools offered the programs we are looking for.

I’d happily sent my child to UMW, CNU or Longwood (well, that one is stupid expensive actually for what it is) but they do not have what she wants.

VCU and Mason don’t have the level/degree type she wants. She isn’t high stats enough for JMU most likely, although they do offer what she wants. Honestly, Radford and ODU are what we are left with here.

I’m happily looking at the non-flagship state schools in other states (PA, NJ, NC, MA, RI, IL). Shoot, I even added a couple lower cost Cal State campuses to the list.

We’ll see where she goes in the end. But I am looking to keep costs to what we would pay to an in state here in VA-not wanting to pay more than that!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

VCU isn’t good enough, huh?

For engineering and physics, no!

[Anonymous]

I lived close to our state flagship. I had zero desire to go to school that close to home, despite the chance I would get good scholarship money there.

I actually applied to JMU out of state and got into their honors program. I ultimately chose a private school, but JMU and Tech were popular out of state choices at my high school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

VCU isn’t good enough, huh?

Why the slight? I am a VCU grad, and whele diverse overall, the various groups stock to themselves. I worked my way through grad school in a very blue collar job and noted that Richmond tended to embody various stereotypes. UMD is a terriific school. No slight on VCU intended, but I can see why someone might want to go to uMD, especially w/ some of VA's racial baggage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

VCU isn’t good enough, huh?

For engineering and physics, no!

For what it’s worth, GMU y it s the most racially diverse institute ig higher education in Virginia and has an excellent balance engineering school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

VCU isn’t good enough, huh?

Why the slight? I am a VCU grad, and whele diverse overall, the various groups stock to themselves. I worked my way through grad school in a very blue collar job and noted that Richmond tended to embody various stereotypes. UMD is a terriific school. No slight on VCU intended, but I can see why someone might want to go to uMD, especially w/ some of VA's racial baggage.

I wasn’t trying to slight. I thought VCU was rather diverse. Your explanation makes sense, though.

That said, my husband has an engineering degree from Mason. He was already working and basically chose the hometown option to not incur debt (he had GI benefits and employer assistance)

[Anonymous]

Easier to get into an out of state public than an in-state.

My average kid didn't get into any VA schools except ODU and he ended up not liking the area.

He got into every out of state school he applied to including FSU, Florida, UGA, UMD, WVU, and Wake Forest.

Whenever I see a person posting here "where can my average kid go to school?" and their stats truly are average, I post to apply to lots of out of state schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

VCU isn’t good enough, huh?

For engineering and physics, no!

For what it’s worth, GMU y it s the most racially diverse institute ig higher education in Virginia and has an excellent balance engineering school

Yes, but GMU doesn't have the feel of a traditional college. I'm sorry, but that's a fact. It is a huge commuter school and it feels like that when you're there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Easier to get into an out of state public than an in-state.

My average kid didn't get into any VA schools except ODU and he ended up not liking the area.

He got into every out of state school he applied to including FSU, Florida, UGA, UMD, WVU, and Wake Forest.

Whenever I see a person posting here "where can my average kid go to school?" and their stats truly are average, I post to apply to lots of out of state schools.

What was the choice of major? And I wonder what all the in states actually means here-I’m assuming only the ones with the major wanted?