I am an NC parent, and I would have to have very strong reasons to pay more for my child to attend a public university in another state if my kid is accepted to UNC and/or NC State. It comes down to two things 1) to what extent is the OOS university a better fit? 2) How comfortably can we as a family afford the extra cost?
Of course, ‘fit’ can be defined many ways – academically, geographically, socially. I think that’s where a family conversation should really focus in order to understand why you perceive fit as better at Auburn compared to UNC.
For me, the answers would have to be at least a 7 out of 10 on BOTH these criteria for me to agree for the OOS option.
This is not hypothetical – my S21 is looking at engineering programs at OOS publics other than NC State so we may be having this exact conversation in a year! We will allow him to apply OOS – esp. since engineering acceptance at NC State is very competitive even in-state, but making the case to attend an OOS public over State would need to be compelling. We are in the financial situation where we may say ‘yes’ – but, it will be a serious conversation for sure.