Another possibility is that the student’s desired majors are not available at in-state publics, or are only available at the schools that are too selective, or the majors at in-state publics are too selective. (e.g. nursing is often a highly selective major, even at schools which are otherwise not very selective)
The big-time football schools offer more than football…they usually come with high name recognition, enthusiastic alumni, good endowments (which means good facilities), lots of social activities, etc.
My high stats children didn’t choose Alabama because football. Neither of them were football fans prior to attending. their small private high school didn’t have a football team (at the time they attended).
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think this is because UT Austin is so hard to get into. TX A&M requires solid stats for non auto admits as well.
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Bama scoops a lot of Texas students from private high schools who have good stats, but their ranking is hurt by a strong student body. Bama also scoops up a LOT of Illinois high stats students whose parents can’t afford UIUC instate, which is high.
DD will be attending an OOS school, it is higher ranked for her major and has all the extras (minors, atmosphere, specific semester aboard program, research opportunities … ) and it will be less expensive than in state. DS has very different criteria and will likely stay in state
Never thought of S as a “scholar” to be “bought” LOL! But he applied to one where he now has a scholarship offer that brings the cost down to essentially in-state levels. He applied because he’s attracted to the location, likes a specific program and the wide selection of courses in his interest areas, and for an OOS the price isn’t bad – on the very high end of affordability. Actually we thought it would be the highest-price option, so I expected it to be scratched in the end for that reason, but it’s definitely on the table now. I didn’t think there was much scholarship money to be had from OOS schools, but happy to find out I was wrong 
We tossed out any of the relentless marketing stuff for older kid because he was only interested in his flagship (and a couple of top schools that did not offer merit) and we were willing to pay full pay for his state school. Once we allowed our oldest to not pursue the merit route , we figured the youngest should not have to worry about it either. I do think the search for merit has heated up . Or at least it seems so. We got lots of emails, post cards, mailings from schools our kids had expressed zero interest in .
UAlabama and UKentucky got our attention by waving the merit money at us. We are looking to pay less than our EFC. I don’t want to be in debt up to our eyeballs. Yes, UIUC is an expensive in-state option.
I have joked to my oldest that he is lucky I did not know about all the Alabama money when he was applying to college. The only college (that sent unsolicited material) that I did ask him if he had an interest in applying to that offered potential great merit money was Pitt because we had family in Pittsburgh. He said he would prefer to go to his state flagship so that was that.
Living in NY, none of the state schools seem very exciting or particularly beautiful or have great name recognition. In an ideal world the stock market won’t fully collapse and we can send ours to a small, liberal arts college, but if that’s not the case, I would be interested in a midwestern flagship over any of the SUNYs. Many of the flagships I have looked at offer great housing, dining and campuses, besides a huge amt of majors. They only negative I can see is the overwhelming size of many of them.
ETA- I have to say that of all the SUNY’s, Genesseo actually looks kind of appealing
@sevmom did you ever get to see Pitt? I haven’t been there, but I was looking at google images and it looks beautiful with many amazing buildings. It seemed very private school like for a public school.
Yes, have seen Pitt many times. I went to graduate school there and my husband went to CMU. So, very familiar with Oakland and the whole Pitt/CMU area. I highly recommend it if programs and finances would work out.
@citymama9 have you taken a look at New Paltz?
@citymama9 And the irony is the Midwestern kids are trying to get to NY.
@“Erin’s Dad” We’re still early in the process, but when the time is closer we’ll probably check out some of the SUNY’s. I have been to the town of New Paltz, but haven’t seen the campus
@sevmom Does Pitt feel like a huge school or is it one of those large schools that doesn’t feel so overwhelming?
Why? Well, NJ’s offerings, public and private, are weak. My own school is honestly better academically than all NJ schools not named Princeton (tied with TCNJ, Stevens, and Rutgers), and in a much better surrounding area than most as well. I chose UNC Wilmington because of the strength of the business school, the overall academic strength, and the chance to go to school in a totally different area from where I had lived my whole life. I desired new adventures. There are actually a lot of New Jerseyans, New Yorkers, Marylanders, Pennsylvanians etc here; most OOS students at UNCW come from the North. So it’s really easy to fit in from a Northerner’s POV.
Also, sometimes the OOS public is just the best fit. I know it was for me.
@citymama9 , I didn’t find Pitt overwhelming at all but I was there for 2 years as a graduate student, not as an undergraduate. Most of my classes were in the Cathedral of Learning. Undergraduate does have an Honors College now and Honors Housing, which could potentially make things seem smaller. It is an urban campus which I liked -lots of restaurants, museums, right near campus, if that is appealing to you.
We chose an OOS Public for several reasons: First, MERIT money (almost-free tuition); Second, a “fit” with the program/major that the in-states didn’t have; Third, the Honors program that was unlike others (tutorial based for majors, with no general ed requirements); Fourth, an incredibly friendly, welcoming environment.
Plus, it didn’t help that we got a letter from our in-state flagship “disqualifying” our son for any scholarships because of his low SAT scores. He had a 1580 (out of 1600). Upon further investigation, we found that they were using his SAT scores from sixth grade that were required for a special program.
@ClarinetDad16: your quote in Post #38 from Frank Bruni’s article is spot on. I also read his book, “Where You Go Is Not What You’ll Be.” I highly recommend it.
It’s pretty simple here at our house: just a kid who wants to branch out and live in another area of the country; have a solid education and enjoy the college experience. She has grown up in Texas and been to the two main publics here (A&M and UT) and they don’t have the draw that going out of state has.
Now I will say…she has changed her tune in a bit over the past year. The “budget talk” and the qualify of education talk has definitely taken place and she is come a long way. She is now open to Texas schools and we are making her tour at least those two since she will be auto admit (if nothing changes but now and grad time).
But we’ve told her if she can find a school and some decent merit aid to bring it down to the COA at both of the Texas schools then she is more than welcome to look. PLUS they have to have a solid program for what she wants to study.
And honestly…we would really like to get out of Texas also so maybe she is tuning in to that vibe also!