Private colleges:
Public colleges
Is there a college with the following criteria?
“Respected name” (i.e. prestige) and admission competition tend to be closely correlated, so these two factors work against each other. Big scholarships are also most likely found at less competitive-for-admission schools.
Hence the dilemma
Why does one need to look OOS?
OOS tuition at public universities is typically high. However, some public universities will discount the normal OOS tuition to residents of neighboring states. In effect, such discounts represent large grants to OOS residents.
For example, the WUE program allows public universities in western states to discount the normal OOS tuition for residents of other western states. In general, the best-known public universities in the west (e.g. most UCs, UW, CU) don’t participate in the WUE program – they have no incentive to discount, since they get plenty of OOS applicants who are willing to pay full price. But many other respectable state universities do (e.g. UC Merced, Nevada-Reno, Colorado State, Washington State).
http://wue.wiche.edu/search_results.jsp?searchType=all
WUE is only for residents of western states, but there are comparable programs in some other parts of the US. Since you haven’t indicated your state of residence, it’s impossible to say what options you might have in this regard.
Big merit scholarships may be easier to get at less selective schools.
However, need-based aid tends to be more generous at highly selective schools (usually, without regard to state residency).
Over 60 colleges claim to meet 100% of demonstrated need (although their definitions of “need” may vary).
Among them, the ones with overall admit rates > 20% include:
Bates
Boston College
Bryn Mawr (women only)
Colby
College of the Holy Cross
Connecticut College
Davidson
Grinnell
Kenyon
Lafayette
Macalester
Mt. Holyoke (women only)
Oberlin
Scripps (women only)
Smith (women only)
Thomas Aquinas
Trinity College
Union College
UNC-CH
U Richmond
UVa
Vassar
Wake Forest
Wesleyan U.
Run the online net price calculators for any that interest you.
In addition to the above “full need” colleges, you might want to check out some of the USNWR “regional” universities.
Example: Loyola University Maryland, which has a 66% admit rate, claims to meet 90% of demonstrated need on average, and (FWIW) ranks #4 among the USNWR “Regional Universities North” schools.
You can have any two out of those three.
I thought University of Nebraska offered good merit and reasonable OOS starting price for medium good stats. Worth looking into the George Beadle scholarship qualifications. It would have been far cheaper than our instate UIUC costs.
Look at Alabama
Also look at that list with caution. Many on the list are really really competitive to get in and highly competitive once enrolled.
Wesleyan’s latest admit rate was just over 17%. So that list may be a bit outdated.
Also, remember that need blind and meets full need are two different things. Some schools have both, but I don’t know if it’s any of the schools on that list. I know Wesleyan is need aware.
Many on the list in #5 have admit rates < 20%, so check the acceptance rate for any of the schools that appeal to you so you understand the odds. But I whole-heartedly agree that this is a potentially great strategy to consider.
I think that the specific schools that are likely to be affordable, academically appropriate, and possible to get into will depend a LOT on the specifics for each student. Things like your GPA and test scores, what state or country you are from, what you can afford, and where you want to go will vary quite widely between students.
As such, I don’t think that I would try to make any generalization or suggest schools without a lot more information.
We don’t know if OP qualifies for much need based aid.
Did you run any NPCs yet? (Net Price Calculator, on a college’s fin aid web page.)
Yes, you should offer yout stats info, so people can make appropriate suggestions.
What sort of aid do you need - need based, merit?
What’s your parents’income? Your EFC?
What state do you live in (to give you Oos advice we need to know what in-state is…)
Absent that detailed information, we can at least suggest strategies (not just for the OP, but for anyone in a similar situation). For example:
(1) identify schools that claim to meet 100% of demonstrated need (or close to it). Here’s one list:
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2017-09-21/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need
(The Kiplinger lists of “best value” colleges might lead you to a few others with very good n-b aid)
(2) identify the subset of those schools where you have a realistic shot at admission (based on admit rates, average test scores, and your own qualifications).
(3) for any school of interest in that subset, run the online NPCs (and discuss results with your family) to verify that it is affordable (or it least in the ballpark). If so, dig deeper into such schools (study their websites, visit campuses, etc.)
If this strategy fails to identify ~affordable schools where you have realistic chances, then you need a different cost-management strategy, probably one focusing on (a) merit awards or (b) low sticker prices. For automatic/competitive merit awards, check out some of these schools:
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
(Again, the Kiplinger lists of “best value” colleges might point to a few others with adequate merit aid)
However, if your stats aren’t competitive for any of the “full need” (or nearly full need) schools, then they also may not be competitive for large merit scholarships at very many other schools you consider attractive.
In that case, it may be best to focus on low sticker prices (starting with in-state public schools, possibly including schools within commuting distance).
Don’t worry too much about edge cases and exceptions in building an initial list. You want a rough-and-ready method to generate a manageable, initial list of schools for closer inspection. If none of them look right, figure out why (too expensive? too selective?), then go back and try a different approach.
Your other threads seem to indicate that finances are an important consideration for you. If you post your stats and budget, people here can help you find affordable options. Most low income students can’t afford OOS colleges, but a lot depends on stats and how much parents can pay.
Fairly easy to get into, respected name, scholarships that make them affordable to OOS:
Florida State
Iowa State
Kansas
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Kentucky
Louisiana State
Iowa (not positive about the scholarship part)