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

[Anonymous]

My kid got into UMD instate but wanted an urban feel and a bit smaller so she is going to UPitt and will be in the honors college. She got some merit to bring the price down and while UMD was still cheaper, we are able to make it work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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!

I'm a Cal State grad, married to another Cal State grad. Curious which ones you're considering for your student? Keep in mind, a lot of the Cal States are "commuter schools" and if your student is coming from out of state, not knowing anyone, might not be the best experience.

[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.

The VA schools are not like high school. I didn’t hang out or even see anyone from my high school in college. And two of my best college friends were OOS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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!

I'm a Cal State grad, married to another Cal State grad. Curious which ones you're considering for your student? Keep in mind, a lot of the Cal States are "commuter schools" and if your student is coming from out of state, not knowing anyone, might not be the best experience.

We looked briefly at Cal State Fullerton for its animation program (a feeder into Disney) snd we’re told in no uncertain terms that it’s almost impossible to get there as OOS snd yes it has a lot of dorms

[Anonymous]

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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?

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.

You are quite wrong. DS lived on campus all four years. Do you have any idea how large GMU has become or how many campuses it has? It’s somewhat difficult to commute to Mason Korea

[Anonymous]

OP do you also not understand why people drive certain cars, live certain houses or work certain jobs? I’m actually afraid to hear anymore of your opinions.

[Anonymous]

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?

For those of us in DC, we don't have a state school, so our kids go to a variety of wonderful public schools - The California schools, Michigan, Wisconsin, W&M, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pennsylvania OOS is still a pretty good price.

U-Penn is not a public school. No one calls Penn State "Pennsylvania"

[Anonymous]

To be fair, Cal State schools are not serious contenders for us, but I just want to have as many options as possible on our list, especially with the scotus disaster looming. I think I have Dominguez Hills and San Jose on there? I’m not done researching.

I also need to go back through the list for New York schools, which would be a much more serious contender.

Hell, I’m so desperate for a “safe” place for my daughter, I added Winnipeg to the list

[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?

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.

That is a pretty bold blanket statement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

But can you understand the difference in the size of the universities? Many kids want a big state school with 20,000 to 50,000 students. If they cannot get into VT, UVA, etc... then they would prefer Penn State, Delaware, NC State, Pitt, etc. They do not want to go to a private school with only 5,000 students.

[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 really follow this. Do any high schools really have a sizeable enough population at a state school from the same groups to even do this? I grew up in a midwestern state with 2 main state universities, so a ton of people from my decently large HS went to one or the other. But no one had the same friend groups beyond 2-3 people, and it was a rare enough event to encounter most of these people as to be special. If anything, it served as a bit of a reset on relationships and reduced the need for HS-type posturing (e.g., the former football players could talk to the former nerds without any social concerns because it was just 2 people who were chatting among a ton of other people).

And the social scene at the state schools was way less stratified and "high school 2.0" than the SLAC I went to.

[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 a chemist. U Delaware has among the best chemistry and chemical engineering programs in the country, so if that is your interest, it's better than UCLA arguably. And, better than almost any private school (except maybe Harvard, Yale, and a few others). UMass Amherst has a unique and fantastic polymers program (for the record, I went to private school for UG and PhD, I have no stake in these schools). If someone in these areas had a resume on my desk, it would shine more than UMd, UVA, Tech, etc. And the students there probably have access to a much broader swath of jobs.

My understanding is also that Rutgers has top notch physics (though UMd's is quite good too). Should I go on?

But really, you come across as closed minded - the world is not black and white, there are so many factors that go into school choice (even..money.. OOS publics are still generally cheaper than private). And private schools, honestly, aren't necessarily better (of course they can be). Public schools can be large and have a breadth of opportunities, people and communities few privates could match. And you can get a great education (at least in STEM, where I am familiar) at most state flagships. A number of HBCUs also have incredibly rigorous programs, and I love getting people from those programs too.

[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 a chemist. U Delaware has among the best chemistry and chemical engineering programs in the country, so if that is your interest, it's better than UCLA arguably. And, better than almost any private school (except maybe Harvard, Yale, and a few others). UMass Amherst has a unique and fantastic polymers program (for the record, I went to private school for UG and PhD, I have no stake in these schools). If someone in these areas had a resume on my desk, it would shine more than UMd, UVA, Tech, etc. And the students there probably have access to a much broader swath of jobs.

My understanding is also that Rutgers has top notch physics (though UMd's is quite good too). Should I go on?

But really, you come across as closed minded - the world is not black and white, there are so many factors that go into school choice (even..money.. OOS publics are still generally cheaper than private). And private schools, honestly, aren't necessarily better (of course they can be). Public schools can be large and have a breadth of opportunities, people and communities few privates could match. And you can get a great education (at least in STEM, where I am familiar) at most state flagships. A number of HBCUs also have incredibly rigorous programs, and I love getting people from those programs too.

PP poster here. CLOSE-MINDED is the description I was looking for to describe OP. I’m sure this extends way beyond college choices of other people’s kids.

[Anonymous]

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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?

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.

You are quite wrong. DS lived on campus all four years. Do you have any idea how large GMU has become or how many campuses it has? It’s somewhat difficult to commute to Mason Korea

Ditto. Huge shift since the purely commuter days, which the PP would know if they spent any time there in recent years.