"Please don’t say “3.7 GPA, 1200 SAT and average” in the same sentence."

Two years ago our DS was sitting in his junior year with these same stats and we were convinced, partially by this web site, not to apply to UMd.

By the fall, he had done some SAT prep, broken 1300 and improved his uw GPA to just over 3.5 and he got into everywhere he applied except Virginia Tech, waitlisted and not picked up.

He is now sitting in the 2nd semester of his freshman year at a top 60 Engineering school with a 3.2 GPA. We are paying almost $60k a year to send him.

While we are thrilled he is doing well, we kick ourselves every day that we didn't at least apply to UMd.

He may or may not have been the last student accepted, according to the stats, but someone has to occupy that slot.

Why not the OP's DD?

Universities of:

Kentucky
Alabama
Wisconsin
Arizona

Many will offer merit with those (not average) stats.

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
I don't want to post any exact stats but GPA is 3.4-3.5 (3.7 weighted) range and SAT scores are under 1250.

She did like the feel of UMD, just not the surrounding town. It appears she is leaning towards schools that are not a city style campus (Pitt for example) and wants something of a self-contained campus (nice green areas) with a nice surrounding town.

Admissible with those stats, under $30K OOS tuition, nice college town:
University of Alabama
University of Iowa
University of Kansas
Ole Miss
University of Missouri
University of Montana
Montana State
Ohio University
Oregon State
University of Utah
Western Michigan University
West Virginia University
University of Wyoming

Tuition/Room & Board Costs for Several we are considering

Florida State - $29,412 (appears to be getting more difficult to get in)
Central Florida - $30,742
UNC-Charlotte - $30,440
UNC-Wilmington - $31,554
Iowa State - $32,112
East Carolina - $33,255
Ohio University - $33,972

Minnesota was on our list but they just instituted a 15% increase to OOS tuition. Total cost is now $38,198.
We were trying to stay within $10k of UMD, which is $23,182.

Anonymous wrote:Please don’t say “3.7 GPA, 1200 SAT and average” in the same sentence.

What would you call it? (Not OP). My son scored 1150 on his first (practice/diagnostic) SAT and called me (he's at a NE boarding school) to inform me that he's " a brick".

o.0

Anonymous wrote:Please don’t say “3.7 GPA, 1200 SAT and average” in the same sentence.

Hard not to when UMD posts this about their incoming class.

For the Fall 2018 freshman class, we received nearly 34,000 applications for a class of 4,075. For students admitted for the Fall 2018 semester, the middle 50% of SAT scores ranged from 1320 to 1470, and 30-33 on the ACT. Admitted freshmen also earned an average weighted GPA of 4.29.

Please don’t say “3.7 GPA, 1200 SAT and average” in the same sentence.

OP here.
I don't want to post any exact stats but GPA is 3.4-3.5 (3.7 weighted) range and SAT scores are under 1250.

She did like the feel of UMD, just not the surrounding town. It appears she is leaning towards schools that are not a city style campus (Pitt for example) and wants something of a self-contained campus (nice green areas) with a nice surrounding town.

"University of Pittsburgh is a possibility, but might be a reach depending on stats."

I don't think it would be a reach as an undecided admit (some departments are harder than others) but without stats, that is obviously a guess.

OOS publics:

U Cincinnati
U Delaware
Miami (of Ohio)
Montclair State
Ohio University
U Rhode Island
Rowan
SUNY campuses
WVU


some nearby privates:
Juniata
Muhlenberg
Susquehanna
Ursinus

What are her stats?

If she likes the feel of UMD-CP vis-a-vis its size and offerings, consider Ohio University. Athens is a nice college town, the campus is pretty, and there are lots of different majors available.

University of Pittsburgh is a possibility, but might be a reach depending on stats.

U of Pittsburgh or U Delaware

Try this for a starting point:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinehoward/2016/03/29/americas-best-value-public-colleges-2016/#2663fde31cff


It would help if you narrow geography.

University of Connecticut
University of Georgia

Not sure exactly of her stats, so hard to say definitely.

Lower ranked than these but still good schools:

University of New Hampshire/Maine

Where does she want to go? Some decent schools out west.

DD is a junior in a MD public high school. She is unlikely to be admitted to UMD-CP based on her current test scores. She does not love any of the other options in MD (Townson, UMBC, St. Mary's, etc.).
We are starting to look for other OOS public schools options that might work for her. She wants a large school.
Looking for something somewhat reasonable in terms of cost and also offering a decent education (major undecided).
Which state schools offer the best value for OOS students? Anything in the Top 50 of USNWR is not an option.