I have two questions:
- Why are some publics so much more popular/desirable than others for out-of-state applicants?
- When is it worth it to go to an out-of-state public flagship university (as opposed to an in-state public)?
My starting observations:
–I’ve noticed that Minnesota and Iowa seem much less popular for high stat out-of-state kids than Wisconsin or Michigan. But all four schools seem like solid R1 universities with good faculty and decent quality of life/proximate college-town-type-stuff. Similarly, Oregon, ASU, and CU Boulder have the reputation of being party/safety schools among Bay Area kiddos while UDub seems more prestigious. In the same vein, I wonder why UConn, UMass-Amherst, Rutgers, Binghamton, and Stony Brook aren’t rating higher on students’ lists (I think a fair # of kids from here apply to Vermont for some reason).
I’m curious (as a California parent) how some of these less popular/hard to access (so, not Michigan, UVA, UNC) state flagships might compare to the experience of going to, say, UC Davis or UC Santa Cruz.
Cost is obviously a factor for many/most, and I know some schools (e.g. Arizona, Alabama) throw a lot of scholarship money at good out-of-state students.
But taking financials out of it for a minute…what else might one consider?
Factors I’m thinking of: food, housing options (e.g. is there sufficient housing), ease of accessing required courses, research opportunities, diversity of student body, the degree to which schools are commuter schools or have a well-defined and vibrant campus life, intramurals and extracurricular music groups, access to recruiters and internships, study abroad opportunities, etc.
By way of background, our son is almost certainly not a candidate for the toughest-to-access UC schools but could probably get into UC Santa Cruz and maybe UC Davis. He is most likely to land at a SLAC, and so we’re visiting a bunch – but he might also enjoy a larger school. I’m trying to gauge whether it’s ridiculous to look beyond our own backyard and consider something like Iowa, Minnesota, U Mass-Amherst, a SUNY, or Rutgers – or if we’re likely to end up spending signficantly more for a similar quality of life/educational experience to what he’d get at Santa Cruz or Davis.