Anonymous wrote:OP here, I forgot I even started this thread. Thanks for the replies! We are counting on the DCTAG, but can supplment if it's not available in the future.


Full pay should look attractive, but I'm wondering if I ask for financial aide, will they look over our application.

You really need to get down several levels of granularity and look at specific schools. Looking at UVA, W&M, UMich and UNC will be a lot different than Alabama or Clemson or Miami of Ohio. Some are very generous with merit aid for OOS students, especially ones with high scores and GPAs, because they are looking to attract geographic diversity, others provide little to no merit aid to OOS, but will provide need based aid.

DCTAG won't make much of a dent in the tuition for some of the schools.

OP here, I forgot I even started this thread. Thanks for the replies! We are counting on the DCTAG, but can supplment if it's not available in the future.


Full pay should look attractive, but I'm wondering if I ask for financial aide, will they look over our application.

I thought it would be easier because of full pay. Guess the quota kills that.

Anonymous wrote:Some of the decent Southern flagship schools are fairly cheap OOS, and not as hard to get into as PSU, UVA or W&M -- like FSU, UF, Bama, UGA, etc.

If you are from NoVa, it will be easier to get into FSU and Alabama than PSU, and easier to get into PSU than UF or UGA. Not sure if that also holds for DC residents/applicants. As PP mentioned, there are a lot of variations that you won't be able to discern simply by looking at the aggregate data across the entire applicant pool.

Op there are various lists out there of all the state schools, the percent of OOS and acceptance rates. Huge variation from state to state and within states. Flagships are typically going to be tougher than other schools (eg, UVA is much more competitive than say Mary Washington). Some schools have under 10% OOS either by quota or because they aren't attractive to OOS students. Others, like Vermont, are nearly 80% OOS (and have very high admit rates, like 75%).

You also need to look at price. Uva and UMich are the most expensive OOS -not that far from private colleges, while others can be relatively inexpensive.

UF is notoriously hard to get into if you are out-of-state. They take less than 10% from outside Florida.

Some of the decent Southern flagship schools are fairly cheap OOS, and not as hard to get into as PSU, UVA or W&M -- like FSU, UF, Bama, UGA, etc.

My guess is that it also depends on how many kids are applying from the same high school. My kid got wait listed at UVM and I think it was because a lot of her classmates applied there -- classmates with a higher GPA.

From personal experience, I know that the Virginia state schools limit out of state students to about 25%. This limitation makes it harder to gain acceptance. Penn State does not have this limitation and wants the full pay out of staters. The DC TAG tuition assistance is a fabulous deal for you DCers. For those of us who live in other states, it's kind of annoying. Obviously, I pay out of state at a VA school--50k annually. Ouch!

Anonymous wrote:Apples to apples, DC students tend to do better than Montgomery and Fairfax County becasue there are not as many of them and colleges want to say they have someone from every state and DC.

Anecdotally, my cousin used the DC TAG for Miami University (Miami, Ohio) and they made up the difference between in state and out of stat tuition that was not covered by DC TAG automatically. They also gave her another additional scholarship.

There are tons of state schools out there and for a qualified student your child has just as much chance (if not better) of getting in as anyone else.

Depends on the school. Some care more about having OOS students than others. Having kids from DC isn't particularly important to many schools.

Apples to apples, DC students tend to do better than Montgomery and Fairfax County becasue there are not as many of them and colleges want to say they have someone from every state and DC.

Anecdotally, my cousin used the DC TAG for Miami University (Miami, Ohio) and they made up the difference between in state and out of stat tuition that was not covered by DC TAG automatically. They also gave her another additional scholarship.

There are tons of state schools out there and for a qualified student your child has just as much chance (if not better) of getting in as anyone else.

OP - I think this depends on the school that you are applying rather than simply the fact that it is public or private. There are some public schools that are difficult to get into (i.e. UVA, Michigan, William & Mary, the UC California schools), but there are plenty of other public schools that are not as difficult to get into. If you're worried, but still want to take advantage of the DC TAG Act funds then make sure to apply to some state schools that are a bit easier. However, you never know and should definitely give the other, more difficult ones a try. Your DC may just get in….

Good luck!

After reading a few threads I am now aware that State schools have a quota to meet for in state students. Does this cause DCPS students a disadvantage into the acceptance process? I'm wondering if we should only apply to Privates? We would like to apply to State schools, but does DC have to have something speacial they are looking for that's not found in a state student?