Am I being stupid?

College Search & Lists
1

I really, REALLY do not want to go to my state’s colleges. My username should tell you enough about them. I honestly see college as my one chance to escape this hellish, cold, windswept, boring, homogeneous, empty pathetic excuse for a state. I do not want to live here.

But I keep getting told I should go to an in-state college for the financial benefits, but both of the colleges really kind of suck. Neither are a good fit for me. They are very small, the academics are not great in the fields I want to go into, neither has any big sports, and they are in some pretty small towns compared to the rest of the country.

Am I being stupid for not even considering going to my state schools? Or is it OK to want more from your time in college?

2

No problem with wanting to go out of state, as long as you’re willing to put in the work to make that dream a reality. Chase merit scholarships.

3

You certainly aren’t stupid for not wanting to consider in-state schools, especially when that state doesn’t have a strong university system.

Could you see if any neighboring states offer reciprocity? You might want to look at private schools in other states as well purely for more merit aid if you can get any.

4

Check out the Western Undergraduate Exchange, which has 150 schools at which you pay 150% of the resident tuition rate.

http://wiche.edu/wue/students#what
http://wue.wiche.edu/search_results.jsp

5

Well, of course college is not your one chance. Assuming that you are a traditional-aged college student, you’re around 18 years old now and will be around 22 when you graduate from college. You have your entire life to move elsewhere. North Dakota’s state universities are an especially good bargain; they are so inexpensive.

However, there’s nothing abnormal with wanting to move out of state, either! Lots of students want to. the University of Minnesota offers reciprocity: ND residents may MN resident rates, which is excellent because UMN is already very affordable for MN residents (resident tuition is about $12K per year).

There’s also the Midwestern Student Exchange Program, a program through which residents of 9 Midwestern states pay no more than 150% of the resident tuition rate at public universities in the other 8 states. Private colleges in the program give a 10% discount on tuition. You can see a list of schools [url=<a href=“http://msep.mhec.org/institutions?field_state_term_tid=4&field_program_type_term_tid=15&field_sector_term_tid=11&=View+Search+Results%5Dhere%5B/url”>http://msep.mhec.org/institutions?field_state_term_tid=4&field_program_type_term_tid=15&field_sector_term_tid=11&=View+Search+Results]here[/url]. Participating universities include IUPUI, Ball State, Indiana State, Wichita State, KU, UMKC, Truman State, all of the UW branch campuses except Madison, and University of Nebraska at Lincoln (among others).

@goldenbear2020 also referenced the WUE - which is a very similar program, but goes farther afield, all the way to the West Coast. Several Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii, and New Mexico campuses are included - including Western Washington University, Washington State University, University of Hawaii at Manoa, University of Alaska (Fairbanks and Anchorage), Portland State, many Cal State campuses, CU-Denver and CU-Colorado Springs, the University of Arizona, and some Arizona State campuses (excepting the main one at Tempe). (Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, and Nevada also participate in the program).

Man, I love living in the West :smiley:

Many large flagship universities are in small towns relative to the rest of the country - universities need space to sprawl, and many universities were granted their own land and town in the 1800s so they could build out. There are very few flagship universities located in big cities (although sometimes college towns have grown up around the universities - like Ann Arbor, Bellingham, or Athens). If you want a more urban feel, there are a lot of campuses on that list above that have more urban locations!

My recommendation is that if money is a concern for your family, apply to at least one of your state’s flagship campuses. It’s likely you’ll get in, since ND’s campuses are not very selective. It’s just a fallback - in case everything falls through. But select a couple of the WUE campuses that appeal to you and also look at some privates - maybe some that cover full financial need, if you have the stats for those schools, and then some where you’re in the top 25% or so of candidates, so you’re competitive for merit aid.

6

Well, how will your education get paid if you leave the state?

How much will your parents pay each year?

<<<

I’m looking at going to University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and I’m wondering how likely it is that I would get in.

Demographics:
-White Male
-Living in North Dakota (it sucks)
-Middle Class income
-Dad served for 20 or so years in the Marine corps (if that’s relevant)

GPA: 3.56 (I was a lazy slob my freshman year) (17th out of 42)

ACT: My high school does the ACT in April of Junior Year. I don’t know how accurate it is, but it certainly seemed like a good indicator for the class above me, but my predicted range on the Aspire was 27-30. Take it as you will.
<<<

Ok, it looks like you’re a junior.

Does your dad qualify for any GI education benefits that he can give you? Ask him. If you have siblings, then he may need to split the benefits amongst all kids.

If money is an issue (no GI Benefits), then a WUE school won’t likely work. WUE schools work best for families where the PARENTS will pay all costs since aid won’t be given and merit awards are RARE for WUE students. WUE schools generally will NOT give scholarships to WUE students because they’re already getting a big discount.

You need to PRACTICE for that ACT test. Get yourself an ACT practice book. You need to get the best GPA you can…finish strong this year.

Talk to your parents about how much they’ll pay each year.

What is your major or career goal?

BTW…your issue with UMinn may not be “getting in” but PAYING. You’ll be OOS, and while UMinn doesn’t have super high OOS costs, SOMEONE will have to pay the $30k per year, and it doesn’t look like your parents will. However, if you get GI benefits, then that may help.

7

My daughter did not want to go to any instate college or university. Like you, she wanted to leave the state. I told her I would pay the equivalent of the total cost for the flagship state. If she wanted to go to any other school, she had to come up with the remaining cost.

Find out how much your parents will spend for college. Then run the Net Price Calculator on several universities with your parents to find out general cost estimates for your family.

My daughter and I worked together to find schools where she would get merit aid. We also worked for three months her junior year to raise her ACT score from 27 to 31. She took practice tests every week and studied up her weak areas but she rarely devoted more than two hours a week (this includes taking a practice section test), so studying was a consistent, steady and relatively low stress process.

In the end, she met her goal and is attending an OOS college. . So work hard on the GPA and ACT to create those opportunities.

8

I think North Dakota is part of the Midwestern Student Exchange Program - you can check out their website and look into one of the OOS schools where ND residents would get reduced tuition, close to -instate or in-state at most schools. Keep in mind that many of the schools are lower-tier state schools, not the flagships, but there are some hidden gems in there…

Also - look for any schools, public or private, where you would qualify for an automatic merit scholarship.

Bring up your ACT to a 32 at least for the best chance at the most lucrative scholarships.

Keep the GPA above a 3.5 uw.

@SlackerMomMD , that’s what we told our D, as well. She was accepted to two OOS schools that end up being much less than our flagship state school.

9

I have three cousins who are from ND, and went to ND universities. Two of them then left the state with good jobs. One went to Denver, one to Minneapolis…and now they are all back raising families in Fargo.

So, the moral is: 1) Going to school in ND doesn’t eliminate your chance to move away, and 2) once you do move away, you may actually miss it!

But definitely look into the western state exchanges. You have a lot of options there.

10

It’s ironic, my D (IL resident) considered applying to ND State and/or UND. She thought Fargo looked like a cool town. And she wants to be as far north as possible, she likes cold weather and snow.

11

You could definitely take advantage of the reciprocity agreement with MN. MN does have reciprocity with SD and ND. @mom2collegekids. Here is a link:

https://www.ohe.state.mn.us/mPg.cfm?PageID=122

Work on getting your ACT score up – study prior to the April test, and be prepared to pay and study more if you need another shot at it. If you don’t get into UMN-TC, look at UM-Duluth.

12

No.
You’re not being stupid.
Look at a bigger horizon.
My son took Calc II at NDSU as a high school senior. There were the large lecture class sessions, and then the smaller discussion class periods. He ended up correcting the TA during the discussion sessions, simply from material he had reviewed for the AP Calc test. He came down with mono at the end of the semester. Zero follow-up from the prof or the TA after missing 6 classes in a row, because that’s what happens when you’re one out of 250 in a section.
He is now very happy at a MN LAC and he knows far more about the world because he is interacting daily with people from across the country and around the globe. Many of his high school classmates who are at either NDSU & UND haven’t enlarged their circle of friends beyond the kids they knew in high school. That’s not necessarily an awful thing, but it’s not for everyone.
If you think that challenge and mentoring are supposed to be part of the higher ed experience, from my perspective, look beyond ND.

13

It is fine as long as you can find affordable options that you prefer.

14

I knew WI had ‘reciprocity’ with MN, but as another poster said, I recently read where both N and S Dakota had reciprocity with MN (you have to fill out and have paperwork approved).

So see what is ‘best fit’ and financially feasible.

15

You’re not being stupid–it’s natural to want to get away, especially if you’re from a rural area/less populated state. Personally I fled from GA for college–refused to even apply to state schools (which would have been free). I went to a private school in the NE that offered me merit aid, and it has served me well (I never moved back to GA, ended up in CA).

That said, you still have to remain practical, because the irony of taking on debt to “escape” ND for college may actually become a double-edged sword–if you have enough of it and struggle to find a decent job, you may have to move home anyway. So apply to out of state options, but have your local options as your fallback. I would def apply to U of Minn since it has reciprocity, and would take you to a larger city and great uni. But if you are a competitive applicant, you may be able to get generous packages from schools in other places–apply widely but smartly.

16

What sort of academic chops do you have? You have geographic diversity working in your favor, especially at some eastern or southern colleges, if your stats are good enough and you can afford to pay the equivalent of in-state tuition.

17

Getting straight A’s is going to be essential, as is preparing for the ACT like you’re training for the marathon and intend to win. A high ACT score could be your ticket out of ND since that’s what you want.
Being from ND is a “hook” to lots of selective colleges. But you need to qualify for them.
Do you know whether your parents make a lot more than 125K, a lot less than 125k, or about that? Because this would affect where you can apply.