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Interesting article on effects of OOS large merit scholarships on IL


8filltheheart
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I am interested to see what the effect is for University of Oklahoma since they made their National Merit scholarship much less attractive this year. I just read that Florida universities are opening their big NM scholarships to OOS students as well, which I think will be hugely popular.

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That is the cost only if kids are living in really nice apts, etc. Our ds paid $5000/12 months in rent for a private bedroom in a house with friends.. He cooked his own food. So, no his costs were no where near that. There are some high-end university apps that have swimming pools, work out rooms, lounges, etc that run that much or more per semester. Add in meal plans, etc, yes, room and board can cost that much.

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11 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

 That anyone cares enough to notice....that surprises me.

 

I'm  not surprised by the article.  Illinois has a terrible problem with its state schools due to their budget issues, and it's in the news a lot.  We live in a neighboring state and considered Illinois schools to be off the table for our kids.  So, yeah, makes sense that the Chicago Tribune would talk about the brain drain.

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That was definitely an interesting perspective.  I grew up in Alabama a die-hard Auburn fan (and am a proud Auburn alum), and back in the day, everyone knew Auburn was the most academically competitive of the two or three big state U's in Alabama.  Auburn still has higher average ACT scores, but Bama has definitely pulled off a masterful PR campaign.  And in-state rivalries aside, I am quite impressed by that, as well as the fact that they do offer a quality product.  The thought of their poaching the best-and-brightest from Illinois is kind of funny, as is the implication that Bama can still make a profit off of all these kids who are getting full tuition.

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I read most of that article. Quite interesting. IMO many of the OOS students who go to Bama or other schools in Alabama are going to stay in Alabama after they graduate and live there permanently. Especially those who graduate in Engineering or related sciences.  I worked on a temporary job assignment in Huntsville.  There are IMO a number of very good to excellent Public universities there, including Bama.  None of them are on the very short e list of 5 universities my DD has now, but if she is interested, I would encourage her, with any of those 4 Public AL universities. 

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Yep.  Not surprising.  The COA at our state flagship, University of Illinois,  is $32,000 IN STATE!  That includes room and board.  Dd applied and was accepted, but won't be going there.  She has more affordable options.  We are losing students to Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin (although they are having issues as of late), Minnesota, etc.  Dd has a better deal at 4 private schools and another out of state school due to scholarships.  

Our state is so broke that they have not been funding the state universities at appropriate levels (nor are the up to date in paying their share to local school districts either ... and don't get me started about how they robbed my husband's pension.)   U of I is very competitive to get into.  My stats and scores from 30 years ago would have made me a borderline candidate these days. They are paying the bills with full-pay out of state and international students.  

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Arizona does a good job of offering merit aid for the top performing high school students to attend the three state universities especially since tuition has risen a lot over the last 15 plus years.

Illinois should look into this before it becomes a brain drain. The Alabama grads may want to stay in that state.

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On 4/7/2018 at 10:46 AM, dirty ethel rackham said:

Yep.  Not surprising.  The COA at our state flagship, University of Illinois,  is $32,000 IN STATE!  That includes room and board.  Dd applied and was accepted, but won't be going there.  She has more affordable options.  We are losing students to Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin (although they are having issues as of late), Minnesota, etc.  Dd has a better deal at 4 private schools and another out of state school due to scholarships.  

Our state is so broke that they have not been funding the state universities at appropriate levels (nor are the up to date in paying their share to local school districts either ... and don't get me started about how they robbed my husband's pension.)   U of I is very competitive to get into.  My stats and scores from 30 years ago would have made me a borderline candidate these days. They are paying the bills with full-pay out of state and international students.  

https://www.niche.com/colleges/university-of-illinois-at-urbana-champaign/admissions/

this says 60% acceptance rate - not that competitive

 

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My daughter is at Northern Arizona University because of large merit aid and a completion time line that is reasonable.  The UC and CSU options were neither.  And they accepted all of her dual enrolled classes.  It was a winning situation for everyone.  

(The merit aid was tied to her ACT score.  The combination of merit aid and the WUE tutition break made the decision very easy.)

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On 4/7/2018 at 1:46 PM, dirty ethel rackham said:

Yep.  Not surprising.  The COA at our state flagship, University of Illinois,  is $32,000 IN STATE!  That includes room and board.  Dd applied and was accepted, but won't be going there.  She has more affordable options.  We are losing students to Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin (although they are having issues as of late), Minnesota, etc.  Dd has a better deal at 4 private schools and another out of state school due to scholarships.  

Our state is so broke that they have not been funding the state universities at appropriate levels (nor are the up to date in paying their share to local school districts either ... and don't get me started about how they robbed my husband's pension.)   U of I is very competitive to get into.  My stats and scores from 30 years ago would have made me a borderline candidate these days. They are paying the bills with full-pay out of state and international students.  

I remember a friend's telling DH and me that private schools have more scholarship money to give so if your child qualifies for scholarships, he could easily attend a private school and we'd pay less than if he went to a state school. 

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6 hours ago, MarkT said:

https://www.niche.com/colleges/university-of-illinois-at-urbana-champaign/admissions/

this says 60% acceptance rate - not that competitive

 

I wasn't talking about acceptance rate. I was talking about the stats needed to get in.  Here is the freshman class profile showing the middle 50%. Engineering and Business and certain majors within Liberal Arts and Sciences require good stats.   I would have a hard time getting accepted there with my 30 ACT score from 30 years ago into any of the programs that I was interested in.   If I wanted to go into Ag, then it would be relatively easy to get in.  

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Our state flagship lists a COA at almost $32000 and we are in a low cost of living area. Nothing wrong with the flagship but it is not highly ranked or super competitive. An instate kid with a 34-36 ACT would get an automatic scholarship of $11,500. A 30-33 ACT nets just $8,500 in scholarships. It is frustrating that our state can't do better. I am somewhat amazed by how many students still choose to attend there. I think there is family tradition and an assumption it is the cheapest option because it is instate. Our regional state Us are more accessible though still not cheap. Mine would have gone to those much cheaper than the flagship. So, there are options but the flagship is on another level. 

Alabama is always touted as a school strong students should consider. 

My kids aren't National Merit level but they are strong students and citizens that it seems the state would do well to keep here. One is at an out of state private and the second is going to an out of state public that is ranked similarly to our flagship for much less and for better perks (honors program, nicer amenities, etc). 

Our state is focused on community college and making those two years free. Good for some but not a fit for my kids who already have 30+ cr hours from de and are ready for a four year school. 

I do not expect my kids to return to the state after graduation. Maybe, but I doubt it.

I will say this is not the same as Illinois because we do not pay the taxes and have the high COL that Illinois does. That would make it much worse for sure. More just a statement of how some states really don't seem concerned about keeping their strong kids in state.

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On 4/11/2018 at 8:56 PM, dirty ethel rackham said:

I wasn't talking about acceptance rate. I was talking about the stats needed to get in.  Here is the freshman class profile showing the middle 50%. Engineering and Business and certain majors within Liberal Arts and Sciences require good stats.   I would have a hard time getting accepted there with my 30 ACT score from 30 years ago into any of the programs that I was interested in.   If I wanted to go into Ag, then it would be relatively easy to get in.  

Right. The overall acceptance rate at UIUC is deceptive, particularly since the admission standards for programs like engineering, CS, physics, and business, for example, are so much more stringent than the middle profile appears to predict. With each passing year, parents of good and great students who thought UIUC would be a "safety" are stunned when their kids receive rejections or the dreaded DGS offer.

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