My son got into UT-Austin as OOS. He wanted to study biomedical engineering and was impressed with their program. He was also the fourth generation to attend. Since he had to withdraw due to his mental illness, and UT is so hard to get into now, it appears that none of the next generation (my kids or my sister’s) will be attending UT. Makes me kind of sad.
Our criteria are pretty simple . . . ABET accreditation (assuming our son will be in the CoE with his CS major), merit money,comfortable living possibilities, and lots of student groups to get involved in. No debt for UG degree - non-negotiable element of the process.
ETA: forgot one other big one - we generally want to stay in the southeast, other than for an extraordinary opportunity, i.e., Stanford or a school like it.
@MaineLonghorn sorry to hear. UT_Austin takes very few OOS. Hope your son is doing better.
The writer of that article would probably consider our son a “wealthy” (having a feeling that the criteria for “wealthy” is not what I would define as “wealthy”) kid who some grasping OOS school was giving money to.
Don’t give OOS kids merit money. That’s fine. They can stay in state, or go to community college or whatever. Let the state legislatures decide. Just stop basing value on USNWR rankings, etc., and you will slow down the college arms race for high stat kids. It is not the OOS kid’s fault because their parents can do math.
Florida universities don’t seem to have as much a problem with this, mainly because we have a pretty good system in Florida called “Bright Futures” (which though it has been diminishing in its benefit, is still a great thing to have for students in FL).
My D went OOS for several reasons: 1) acceptance into a specific, highly-rated program; 2) after merit, lower cost than our state-related schools such as Penn State or Pitt; 3) a lot of other things that appealed to her, like warmer climate, different culture, lots of sports events to attend for free, nice dorms, walkable city, etc.
My S, on the other hand, may end up at an OOS state school for a very different reason: He may not be admitted to the better in-state schools like Pitt, Penn State, and Temple. We will look at the PA state schools, but his preference is bigger schools with D1 sports. So we will at least consider schools like West Virginia and Maine, which are within his reach academically and within our budget. We are looking at privates, as well.
Full pay definitely comes into the equation.
A friend sent his son to Michigan and was a small savings over an elite private full pay.
Another friend sent his son to Florida net at a small bump from the NYS schools.
A bunch of jersey kids pass on Rutgers for Wisconsin, PSU, Ohio State etc.
It’s really interesting watching the Facebook feed to see the northeast upper middle class kids pictured with their newly accepted to college friends in their college gear. Almost all in OOS state school sweatshirts.
I don’t remember it being that way back in the 80s. Times have changed.
Not everyone is chasing the prestige of the northeast.
The thing that has surprised me in recent years is the “love” that some of the NE kids have developed for IU (Indiana University Bloomington). It has even trickled down to here in southeast FL (a suburb of the NE lol).
@ClarinetDad16 The schools on your list are very different in terms of what they offer OOS financially. Where Bama gives full-tuition+ scholarships to high achieving students, Wisconsin does not offer much in terms of merit aid to OOS students. (I know. They have one of the Russian flagships and my dd would love to attend there, but it is way out of our price range.) Wisconsin is changing strategies with merit aid. (But not enough to fit our pocketbook.) https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/12/18/university-wisconsin-ups-its-merit-aid-effort-better-compete-peers
California sees some of that. Students who cannot get into one of the more desired UCs or CPSLO may prefer an out-of-state school like Oregon, Arizona, or Arizona State over a less selective UC or CSU that (from a high school student’s standpoint) is missing some of the college experience aspects that one associates with going to college. (Of course, being able to go to an out-of-state public depends on either willing-to-pay parents or scholarships).
I forgot about Indiana IU. Definitely a popular one these days. Hey they have a really big well acclaimed music school. As does Michigan, Florida State, University of Texas, University of North Texas and University of Cincinnati (CCM).
With all the data out there it is critical to build your own rankings for your kid. I personally give more weight to output and satisfaction than incoming scores. The brag isn’t about getting in its about where it helps propel you in the journey of life. About opening doors and living out your dream.
If cost of attendance is not a concern, or a factor (thanks to generous FA/MS), OOS options could make sense because of the following:
- Better academics
- Better program in chosen field of study
- Stronger corporate recruitment opportunities
- Better fit
- Lower cost of attendance
@ucbalumnus I do think that is what can happen when some kids don’t get into their preferred state school. I was surprised when my son at Virginia Tech told me about all the out of state friends he had in engineering. But one was a Georgia resident who probably did not get into GT (not absolutely sure though but I think I recall that was the case) , another was a California kid who wanted to go to Cal Poly but did not get accepted , etc. Another was a New Jersey kid though who probably just didn’t want to go to Rutgers. 
For me, my in-state school (UIUC), while being a highly ranked school for my intended major in CS, doesn’t really excite me. The location in only mediocre and I found my tours of other OOS schools, namely UMich, to be much more impressive and unique. But in the end, I really just focus on academics more than anything whether or not the school is OOS.
Merit money, sports (if you are a recruitable athlete), weather, specific majors, reciprocal agreements, better price than Ivies (for example, Berkeley is expensive OOS but COA is still 10K+ less than HYPS).
UMass-Amherst, for OOS, is a reasonably attractive deal.
If your kid lives right down the street from State U, perhaps he or she might want a change of pace.
State Us also vary tremendously in what they offer academically, size, vibe, etc.
As for recruiting out of state, in a climate when state legislatures might be unwilling to fund state Us adequately, letting in OOS students at a higher tuition rate can bring in much needed funds.
We are in California and have some great state schools, but they have become increasingly competitive for admissions. Students often need 4.0+ GPA’s and 2000+ test scores. In addition, our UC’s are a bit pricey with little aid. California is part of a tuition exchange with neighboring states and often kids will apply to schools in nearby states that might have a higher acceptance rate, and end up being no more expensive than staying here. With tuition exchange and merit aid, the cost to attend U. of Oregon would have been the same for our son as attending a UC- he did end up at the UC anyway, but Oregon was a top choice. I am always surprised how many OOS kids apply to our UC system- at $55,00+ for OOS’s it does not seem to be a good value as far as I can see.
Our DD2 ended up at Penn State, but was fortunate to receive a great talent package. As a result, her COA was much lower than any of our state schools would have been and was in fact way below what we had budgeted. However, she was in an arts major that offered talent money.
“Why do state schools buy “scholars”? (And why from OOS?)”
I’ll take a stab at this one. For many schools it’s a cheaper way to get top notch students. You give an OOS instate rates and they feel like they’re getting a great deal and the school gets the equivalent of a nearly full pay instate student. The instate merit scholarships needed to attract the best students form a state means the school is getting less for the same level of student assuming they actually matriculate. OOS scholarships give top students a lot more choices at a given price point.
^^ Really interesting point! I never thought of it that way but I suspect you are right on the money, @lvvcsf.
Per the NY Times I think this quote says so much
When I asked Alice Kleeman, the college adviser at Menlo-Atherton High School in the Bay Area of California, about the most significant changes in the admissions landscape over the last 20 years, she mentioned the fixation on getting into the most selective school possible only after noting that “more students are unable to attend their college of first choice because of money.”
But for too many parents and their children, acceptance by an elite institution isn’t just another challenge, just another goal. A yes or no from Amherst or the University of Virginia or the University of Chicago is seen as the conclusive measure of a young person’s worth, an uncontestable harbinger of the accomplishments or disappointments to come. Winner or loser: This is when the judgment is made. This is the great, brutal culling.
The state of IL is broke. So, we look at “OOS” (and private) schools to be prudent. But, we just call them “schools”.