My kid attended an info session of an OOS public and although he loved the place he came home very discouraged. He said the admission officers told the out of staters that they had a very small chance of admittance and they pretty much discouraged them to even apply. There were very unwelcoming. No acknowledgement at all of we are happy that you came to visit us or anything nice.
The same university is bombarding my kid with mail and last time I checked on line they do accept OOS students at least as many as our own public school accepts. Also they had sent numerous “invitations” to attend an info session.
I am not sure what was all this about.
Have you ever witnessed something similar?
May be incompetence.
What is their OOS admit rate?
even at UNC where only 18% can be OOS they were welcoming and sent OOS kids around w OOS guides.
UPenn on the other hand, was like, yeah you want us, so we don’t have to try…
30% at least but my kid now thinks this % is all kids from the other 2-3 states that have tuition reciprocity and which were “overly” welcomed during the info session.
Can you state the school? Sometimes students can latch onto a particular point and then make sweeping generalizations.
My kid was bombarded with mail from many colleges where she would not have had an ice cubes chance in hell of getting accepted. Getting mail from a college means nothing in terms of acceptances. It means they got your kid’s name because of an SAT or ACT score, most likely.
If your kid likes the school, then apply…but understand that there ARE OOS publics where acceptances for OOS kids have to be within a small quota. So make sure he applies to other schools he likes as well.
I think it’s right for admissions folks to state the acceptance rate for OOS students…but it is NOT right to discourage applicants.
“UPenn on the other hand, was like, yeah you want us, so we don’t have to try…”
Not a state school.
To answer the Op’s question, yes. I have witnessed many times about someone’s interpretation of what was said may not be everyone’s interpretation of what was said.
^well aware of that…was providing the opposite POV of a very expensive private that doesn’t even try?
Why do people presume everyone (else) is uninformed or stupid around here? Yikes, I’m a middle aged woman with 3 degrees…I might have a brain!!
It sounds to me as though the university receives vast numbers of applications from out-of-state applicants, most of whom have no chance of admission because the criteria for admission for out-of-staters are so much higher than those for in-staters.
The admissions officer might have been discouraging out-of-state applications because they create a lot of unproductive work for the admissions office.
Whether this should discourage your out-of-stater depends on the student’s qualifications. Some out-of-staters will indeed be admitted. Does your kid have a chance of being one of them?
Maybe people assumed you meant Penn State, as the thread IS about OOS publics. I had the same thought when I read your post, honestly.
We had the same experience at UC Berkeley’s info session. The presenter spent so much time talking about how many applications they get, how much extraneous info they get (please don’t send references and 12 months later they’re saying please send references), how much time it takes them to read all the applications they get. There was nothing on why a student should apply. This was after we were shooed out of the room at the info session we signed up for when we stood for a couple of seconds looking for seats. We were made to stand out in the hall in a huge line for 30 more minutes for the next 20 minute info session. We had flown from the east coast, spent big bucks on a hotel room, all to be treated poorly. D16 is not applying there. We’re not spending a quarter of a million to be treated like dirt.
^well aware of that…was providing the opposite POV of a very expensive private that doesn’t even try?
“Why do people presume everyone (else) is uninformed or stupid around here? Yikes, I’m a middle aged woman with 3 degrees…I might have a brain!!”
Maybe because 1) the thread was about OOS public universities and 2) some people think UPenn is a public school. And no one knows your personal background.
All I am saying is some very low admit OOS seem to have the same attitude, like the “whatever” you get from some tony privates, where OOSers are concerned. “We only accept x, and thousands apply, so who cares about you?”
Also important, it could have been a bad day, not the normal presenter, etc…which is unfortunate bc they really only get one chance with your kid!
On the topic of Penn State, my s toured in March as a potential OOS applicant and they could not have been nicer. Very impressive school.
Unfortunately, the bombardment of mail means nothing. It is probably just marketing and an effort to jack up selectivity numbers. Many privates are notorious for this, such as the University of Chicago. (When they first started bombarding my s with stuff he asked “who are these idiots?” When I explained the game going on he now thinks Chicago is the biggest ******** for leading kids on.)
The catch here is that the experience of applicants and the experience of students might be totally different.
Once students get to campus, they never have any contact with the admissions officers or tour guides again. What happened at the admission session might have no relationship with what would happen to an out-of-stater who enrolled in the college.
I wonder whether it might be worthwhile to get additional information on the experience of out-of-staters at this particular school – perhaps from the school’s forum here on CC – before ruling it out.
“The same university is bombarding my kid with mail and last time I checked on line they do accept OOS students at least as many as our own public school accepts. Also they had sent numerous “invitations” to attend an info session.
I am not sure what was all this about.
Have you ever witnessed something similar?”
No. They are not bombarding YOUR kid with mail. They are bombarding a mailing list with mail, that your kid happens to be on. Surely you understand that no one at this school is stamping and addressing a letter to your kid, any more than the mailings for the pizza place and drycleaners aren’t about you specifically either.
Pretty much everyone knows Berkeley is a world class university. It sorta speaks for itself. It’s difficult to gain admittance as an OOS, yet UCB doesn’t want for applicants.
Neighbors of mine came back from a college tour “disgusted” that a neighboring out of state U never said, “If you are out of state, it will be harder to get admitted, and it will cost you more”.
So the colleges can’t win. It WILL be harder to get in. It WILL cost you more.
The school has an acceptance rate of about 45%.