<p>I live in Arkansas. I don’t qualify for financial aid and cannot pay $60,000 for a private school because I have a single mother. I looked at Boston College and Wake Forrest, but I won’t be able to go. Do state schools such as UGA, Clemson, or even University of Arkansas offer good educations? And will it hurt me in graduate school to go to one of these universities? I think I want to study economics.</p>
<p>I meant to say graduate school admissions. I plan to hopefully get and MBA later at Boston College</p>
<p>It won’t hurt you. Graduate school admissions are mostly determined by your GPA, and if theirs an associated test such as the LSAT or MCAT, for law and medical school respectively. You’ll be fine as long as you maintain good grades.</p>
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<p>That’s not really true. GPA plays a role, but for academic graduate programs, research experience is the most important factor.</p>
<p>MBA admissions particularly value outside business experience - most strong MBA programs won’t even admit a student who doesn’t have 2+ years of work experience.</p>
<p>Public universities offer fine educations and you’ll have plenty of graduate opportunities - the vast majority of college students nationwide attend public institutions. Most importantly, if you can’t afford a school, you can’t go there anyway - it’s not even an option.</p>
<p>Clemson and UGA will be nearly as expensive for an OOS student as BC or Wake. Look at the Net Price Calculator for each school in which you are interested.</p>
<p>How much will your mom pay each year?</p>
<p>OOS publics can be very expensive, so they may not work out either. UGA and Clemson are very expensive for OOS students. UGa doesn’t give great merit for OOS students because it relies on HOPE, and Clemson is high for OOS students even with merit because its instate rate is high. </p>
<p>What are your test scores and GPA? Maybe we can make some recommendations.</p>
<p>My older son graduated from Alabama and he’s now in a PhD program at an elite university. Admission to grad school is largely based on: GPA, courses taken, GRE scores, research/ECs, and recommendations. </p>
<p>BTW…my son’s classmates are from a variety of schools ranging from elites, to top LACs, to flagships, and even a directional public. </p>
<p>Ask your mom how much she’ll pay each year. And what are your stats?</p>
<p>I have 4.0 taking the hardest work load at my school (they don’t offer AP). I have a 28 on the ACT, but I plan to get a 29 or 30 next time I take it. </p>
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<p>If you have any questions about Clemson, feel free to let me know!!</p>
<p>Again, how much will your mom pay each year.</p>
<p>A 30 ACT is not high enough for large merit from Clemson or UGA. The remaining costs will still be quite high. </p>
<p>Once you tell us how much your mom will spend we can give you some suggestions based on possible ACT outcomes. Also take the SAT.</p>
<p>She doesnt really want to spend more than 15 or $20,000 a year because I can go to the University of Arkansas for very cheap. I saw UGA has a scholarship given to 40 people that waives out of state tuition. Would this be hard to get?</p>
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<p>Yes. It’s given to 40 people out of tens of thousands of students. Do the math.</p>
<p>Check out the University of Arkansas Honors College</p>
<p>If you don’t qualify for any financial aid, your mother likely makes a good deal of money. If she doesn’t, you might not be realizing how generous some private schools can be with their scholarship/grant money. Take University of Chicago, they’re ranked #1 in the US for economics, and give 48.1% of students need-based financial aid, with the average grant/scholarship being $34,650. Harvard ranks #1 also (tied), gives financial aid (need-based) to 61.5%, at an average value of $39,849, the exact cost of tuition.</p>
<p>Seriously, don’t rule yourself out. When it comes time for graduate school, you can do teaching and research to pay for the rest of your education</p>
<p>^ Schools that are financially generous are also very competitive for entry. They require high stats and other attributes (ECs, etc).</p>
<p>AeroMike, the OP is interested in pursuing an MBA - there are virtually no assistantships or fellowships available for professional degrees such as an MBA. So no, she won’t get it paid for by teaching/research.</p>
<p>Thanks for the correction polarscribe. I’m more used to science based degrees where that happens all the time.</p>
<p>As to the competitiveness of the schools, you should still shoot for the best. Don’t fear rejection. The worst they can say is no.</p>
<p>If I end up at University of Arkansas I will.be part of the honors college. I also read that its ranked 24th in the us out of public universitys business schools so maybe it is a good choice. Any other suggestions of colleges that would be somewhat inexpensive?</p>
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<p>*I have 4.0 taking the hardest work load at my school (they don’t offer AP). I have a 28 on the ACT, but I plan to get a 29 or 30 next time I take it.
*</p>
<p>Will you be taking Econ within the B-school at UArk? Doesn’t UArk have the high ranking Walton School of Business? If so, there’s no reason to go elsewhere.</p>
<p>besides, with an ACT 28-30, the higher ranking schools aren’t likely going to accept you.</p>
<p>Since your mom is willing to pay $20k per year (cost of UArk), then it sounds like she makes a high income for a single mom.</p>
<p>Once you have higher scores (maybe 30/31 ACT), we can suggest some schools that might give you enough merit to get cost down to UArk, but their B-schools may not be ranked as high as Walton.</p>
<p>I’m surprised that you would think that Walton B-school grads wouldn’t get accepted to good MBA schools. Why would you think that?</p>
<p>Yes, I would study economics in the Walton Business school. I want to go somewhere in the Northeast for MBA (such as Boston college) and wasn’t sure if these schools would accept someone from university of arkansas. </p>
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<p>if you get great grades, score well on the GMAT (or any other req’d test), get great LORs, and have some interesting econ-related ECs, the top schools will likely accept you.</p>