Out of state flagships with scholarships vs. less known in state (VA)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have learned that there are very bright students at the flagship public college in every state.

My kid was offered a scholarship to Minnesota that would have made costs very similar to being in-state in VaTech and less than UVA/William and Mary (no money offered in state). Classmates received good very generous scholarships from Ohio State, Clemson, South Carolina, Kentucky, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, etc. A lot of these kids wanted to be a school with an avid sports culture.

Even if Minnesota (a fine school) or Tennessee, for example, offers a scholarship that would make them cheaper than UVA, your kid would still be better served going to UVA if she or he wants a job on the East Coast or in the Mid-Atlantic -- more connections and stronger reputation.

Source?

If you want to think that recruiters from Bain Consulting, Morgan Stanley, Amazon, etc. value a degree from the University of Tennessee just as much as a degree from UVA (all other things- GPA, interview presentation, etc. - being equal), you go right ahead.

Interesting anecdote. Is there data to support this claim?

I do recruiting for a consulting firm. We target top schools and the only way we are recruiting from University of Tennessee is if the individual has a personal connection to someone who is partner level who is referring them.

I am sure your consulting firm hires no JMU or Christopher Newport graduates either. The OP original post was that her kid was likely not getting into UVa/William and Mary and was looking into other colleges as an alternative to other other instate options in Virginia.

[Anonymous]

Op, apply very, very widely. DD applied to 7 out of state publics, and after all merit aid came in, the most expensive was the least expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't worry about what any future employer MIGHT think. Go with what your child KNOWS is important to them in a college. They'll have a much better experience if the things they believe are important are present, and their happiness will impact their performance and thus their future.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, apply very, very widely. DD applied to 7 out of state publics, and after all merit aid came in, the most expensive was the least expensive.

How much merit aid one might receive isn't a total crapshoot, you know. There are several resources to check out (net price calculators, etc.) that will let you know what's likely. Some OOS publics let you know exactly what scholarship you will receive for certain grades and test scores. And if what's likely is not sufficient, hoping for a surprise isn't a particularly useful strategy. We're not going to waste time, effort, and money on long shots for merit aid when we have good options where sufficient merit aid is likely. But you can cast your net as wide as you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, apply very, very widely. DD applied to 7 out of state publics, and after all merit aid came in, the most expensive was the least expensive.

How much merit aid one might receive isn't a total crapshoot, you know. There are several resources to check out (net price calculators, etc.) that will let you know what's likely. Some OOS publics let you know exactly what scholarship you will receive for certain grades and test scores. And if what's likely is not sufficient, hoping for a surprise isn't a particularly useful strategy. We're not going to waste time, effort, and money on long shots for merit aid when we have good options where sufficient merit aid is likely. But you can cast your net as wide as you want.

OP here
Just want to clarify that I did not write the above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, apply very, very widely. DD applied to 7 out of state publics, and after all merit aid came in, the most expensive was the least expensive.

How much merit aid one might receive isn't a total crapshoot, you know. There are several resources to check out (net price calculators, etc.) that will let you know what's likely. Some OOS publics let you know exactly what scholarship you will receive for certain grades and test scores. And if what's likely is not sufficient, hoping for a surprise isn't a particularly useful strategy. We're not going to waste time, effort, and money on long shots for merit aid when we have good options where sufficient merit aid is likely. But you can cast your net as wide as you want.

OP here
Just want to clarify that I did not write the above.

I wrote that and should have said there are resources that let one know what's "possible" for certain grades, classes (e.g. AP) and test scores. If anything, the net price calculators and the like may overstate what a kid might get, especially if that kid's stats are not good enough to get into W&M or VT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think ED at VA Tech would be a possibility. Scholarships would be off table.

Depends on the college/major within VA Tech. Likely NOT possible for engineering or even business. Majors within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences can be considerably less competitive.

Not so much anymore.
DP

Look for yourself -- you can pick different colleges/majors (and control for variables) in the following interactive website and see just how HUGE the difference in acceptance rates can be.

https://udc.vt.edu/irdata/data/students/admission/index#college

I have looked. The majors my kid is interested in (all humanities) do not have high acceptance rates. VT is the first choice school for our DC, so it will be a nail biter for sure.
- not the OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: One criteria that is important …is he does not want to go to a school that mandated a Covid vaccine for students. Even if they have now rolled that back.

That drastically shortens the list (of potential employers too).
Ole Miss & Liberty.

this is short and not great

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think ED at VA Tech would be a possibility. Scholarships would be off table.

Depends on the college/major within VA Tech. Likely NOT possible for engineering or even business. Majors within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences can be considerably less competitive.

Not so much anymore.
DP

Look for yourself -- you can pick different colleges/majors (and control for variables) in the following interactive website and see just how HUGE the difference in acceptance rates can be.

https://udc.vt.edu/irdata/data/students/admission/index#college

I have looked. The majors my kid is interested in (all humanities) do not have high acceptance rates. VT is the first choice school for our DC, so it will be a nail biter for sure.
- not the OP

We’ll be right there with you! So nervous.
DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think ED at VA Tech would be a possibility. Scholarships would be off table.

Depends on the college/major within VA Tech. Likely NOT possible for engineering or even business. Majors within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences can be considerably less competitive.

Not so much anymore.
DP

Look for yourself -- you can pick different colleges/majors (and control for variables) in the following interactive website and see just how HUGE the difference in acceptance rates can be.

https://udc.vt.edu/irdata/data/students/admission/index#college

I have looked. The majors my kid is interested in (all humanities) do not have high acceptance rates. VT is the first choice school for our DC, so it will be a nail biter for sure.
- not the OP

We’ll be right there with you! So nervous.
DP

JMU, GMU, VCU - - are these not options? UMW, Longwood and CNU all are more liberal artsy, too.

[Anonymous]

The Fiske guide to colleges gives high marks to KU. 4 stars for academics and quality of life. It’s a hidden gem and better than many non flagship state schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Fiske guide to colleges gives high marks to KU. 4 stars for academics and quality of life. It’s a hidden gem and better than many non flagship state schools.

of course, it is in ... Kansas

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Fiske guide to colleges gives high marks to KU. 4 stars for academics and quality of life. It’s a hidden gem and better than many non flagship state schools.

of course, it is in ... Kansas

No need to knock it, plenty going on in Lawrence and KC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think KS, OK and AL are odd choices

OP here
If you have other suggestions I'd love to know! One criteria that is important (but I didn't put in my op) is he does not want to go to a school that mandated a Covid vaccine for students. Even if they have now rolled that back.

I thought almost all colleges mandated the vaccine?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think ED at VA Tech would be a possibility. Scholarships would be off table.

Depends on the college/major within VA Tech. Likely NOT possible for engineering or even business. Majors within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences can be considerably less competitive.

Not so much anymore.
DP

Look for yourself -- you can pick different colleges/majors (and control for variables) in the following interactive website and see just how HUGE the difference in acceptance rates can be.

https://udc.vt.edu/irdata/data/students/admission/index#college

I have looked. The majors my kid is interested in (all humanities) do not have high acceptance rates. VT is the first choice school for our DC, so it will be a nail biter for sure.
- not the OP

We’ll be right there with you! So nervous.
DP

JMU, GMU, VCU - - are these not options? UMW, Longwood and CNU all are more liberal artsy, too.

Yes, those are all great options! JMU, especially. But VT is our DC’s top choice. They also have great humanities offerings.