Can anyone suggest colleges we should visit this spring?

[Meriwether]

Dd16 is a junior. I feel like we are a little late visiting colleges, but we only have two that Dd is seriously considering at this point. I'm not sure we need to consider more than two, but I'd kind of like her to. She isn't sure what she wants to study as an undergrad, so she doesn't know which particular programs to search for. She eventually wants to become a librarian.

Option #1 that we compare other schools to is Iowa State. It is the closest large in state school. It would cost her about $15,000 to attend if she doesn't get any scholarships in addition to the automatic scholarship she will already have. She doesn't particularly want to go there. It is a big engineering school, and that isn't her. But she wouldn't hate it. It is a safety school in that she would get in (basically open admission) and it would be affordable, but somewhat less so when her brother joined her a year later. She would work. I could work part-time. Her brother would work. And hopefully we could cover it with little to no loans.

Option #2 is Kansas State. Dh and I both attended there. With K-State's OOS student automatic scholarship, it would be about $5,000 more expensive than Option #1. She really wants to go there. It would probably be harder to get scholarships as an OOS student, but she would get in. She might have to take out a loan to attend after the first year, because we would have two in college. Maybe she could get departmental scholarships at that point?

Since she isn't excited about Iowa State and K-State might not offer additional scholarships, I feel like we should have more options on our list. She wants a larger school, not a small LAC. She doesn't want to attend a school with competitive admissions. I don't know that she has thought about it, but I want her in an honors program.

Her basic stats: No AP classes (well, she is taking AP Calc now because that is what I found online, but I am unsure if she is taking a test). No DE (but probably next year) Unweighted GPA as of now: 4.0. ACT: 32. EC: 3rd Degree black belt in TKD with 3 or 4 District Championships (multi-state districts), Mitchell Award in Civil Air Patrol but no longer participates, works 13 hours/week as a library page, 2 hours/week assisting at the dojo, and 1 hour per week teaching piano lessons. She will likely start teaching at the dojo soon. She has volunteered 3 hours/week in a K'er classroom for the past 3 years. With other volunteering she has done, she'll have something like 500 hours. She has also done other things like theater and choir, but that was just social time not a particular interest.

Any school she applies to would have to have the potential (through scholarships) of costing less than $20,000 or she would just attend one of her first two options. I feel like it will be hard to find a large school for less, but maybe there are some?

[RootAnn]

She wants a large school?

[Guest]

Is University of Iowa off the table? They have good humanities and fine arts. As I understand the Iowa system, she should qualify for automatic admissions. 

[Meriwether]

44 minutes ago, RootAnn said:

She wants a large school?

Yes, she would prefer a larger school. At least not a small school of fewer than 5,000 students.

[Meriwether]

14 minutes ago, dmmetler said:

Is University of Iowa off the table? They have good humanities and fine arts. As I understand the Iowa system, she should qualify for automatic admissions. 

Not off the table, but of the two she would probably prefer Iowa State. Mostly because we are agricultural, land grant college type people. Also, she likes that both K-State and Iowa State are big universities is small, almost rural towns. Iowa is more expensive and much farther away than Iowa State. We are on opposite corners of the state. We should probably visit it, though, since she might like it once there.

[Meriwether]

Iowa does not have reciprocity with anyone. It is frustrating that Kansas has reciprocity with Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Sorry for the weird font change. There were so many that I just cut and pasted. But not Iowa. LOL

[RootAnn]

Doesn't Iowa get instate tuition from South Dakota Advantage? South Dakota State U would likely be about that same $20,000 total with the automatic merit scholarship. I have no idea if that's too far away or what programs they would have that might interest her.

[...................]

Those are super affordable tuition rates either way, even for Kansas State.  Would she be able to kick into high gear to really work a good part time job over the summer?  If she could pull in 1200.00 would that make a difference? 

Can she articulate why she is excited about one and not the other? If her reasons are fairly logical, or even a little, I feel like a 5K loan is not unreasonable, depending on your overall financial situation.  Also depending on her possible majors.  

[Meriwether]

4 minutes ago, RootAnn said:

Doesn't Iowa get instate tuition from South Dakota Advantage? South Dakota State U would likely be about that same $20,000 total with the automatic merit scholarship. I have no idea if that's too far away or what programs they would have that might interest her.

I just googled and they do. It is definitely close enough. We may tour it, just to see.

[Meriwether]

4 minutes ago, Calming Tea said:

Those are super affordable tuition rates either way, even for Kansas State.  Would she be able to kick into high gear to really work a good part time job over the summer?  If she could pull in 1200.00 would that make a difference? 

Can she articulate why she is excited about one and not the other? If her reasons are fairly logical, or even a little, I feel like a 5K loan is not unreasonable, depending on your overall financial situation.  Also depending on her possible majors.  

She has an emotional attachment to K-State. She grew up watching K-State football, and we walked through campus with her when she was younger. It is a beautiful campus and both Dh and I really enjoyed going to school there, so she has heard lots of good things about it. Most of her cousins will probably go there and some of her siblings (ouch!) might, too. If we lived in Kansas, it would be the default choice for our kids. Honestly, if we can swing it, we'd love to send her there. She probably will not get a good summer job. She has been in a leadership development program for the summer camp she attended when younger. She will likely work there during the summer and make between 800-1000 dollars. She is willing to work a part time job at school, though. And I think she'll be able to work at the library or dojo when she is home. I think she'll be able to contribute about $3000 without it interfering with school. We think she'll be able to continue training in her martial arts there, too, by teaching or assisting in classes. I took another look at K-State's OOS tuition this evening. It has gone up since I last looked, so it will be closer to $25,000 for her to attend than $20,000. That is with the $12,000/year automatic scholarship. She is going to have to get some additional scholarships to go there. It really needs to be  about $20,000 or less, at least after the first year. If she were an only child it wouldn't be a problem, but she's not. As far as Iowa State, she has only been there on a game day, so she probably saw some student life that she wouldn't be participating in (drinking, etc.). She was always watching younger siblings when her brothers were there for robotics competitions. If she does an actual college tour, she might like it better.

The loan - she wants to be a librarian until she has kids. Then she wants to be a SAHM and homeschool. Any loans at all would not be ideal. If the older kids have to take out loans, we could potentially help pay them off in 8 years. We'll still have a kid in college then (with two more coming up LOL), but our house will be paid off. She is hoping to DE at the local LAC next year. If so, she might be able to finish her bachelor's in 3 years. That would make K-State a lot more affordable.

[Meriwether]

39 minutes ago, Calming Tea said:

Those are super affordable tuition rates either way, even for Kansas State.  

Yes, K-State is only on the table because it isn't crazy high (for OOS) With the automatic scholarships, Iowa State would be about $5000 for tuition/books/fees. K-State would be more expensive, but about $15000 for tuition/books/fees. That is cheaper than the in state tuition many people have to pay. If she lives off campus after the first year, total cost of attending could be closer to $11000 and $20000 respectively. $20000 isn't a bad price compared to many schools, but it is a lot more than $11000. And it is a lot to pay given that she has 4 younger siblings.

[Lori D.]

Colorado State University?

Looks like they have a $10K automatic scholarship for out-of-state students based on ACT score of 29+ and a GPA of 3.8+
From what I can see, even without a scholarship, out-of-state tuition & fees would run around $15-16K
Undergrad population of around 33,000.
Acceptance rate of 78%.
Located in the NE corner of Colorado (an hour north of Denver area), so not TOO horribly far away.
Offers an Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts degree, which might be a good undergrad degree for then going on and getting a Master's in Library Sciences.

Edited January 7, 2020 by Lori D.

[Meriwether]

1 hour ago, Lori D. said:

Colorado State University?

Looks like they have a $10K automatic scholarship for out-of-state students based on ACT score of 29+ and a GPA of 3.8+
From what I can see, even without a scholarship, out-of-state tuition & fees would run around $15-16K
Undergrad population of around 33,000.
Acceptance rate of 78%.
Located in the NE corner of Colorado (an hour north of Denver area), so not TOO horribly far away.
Offers an Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts degree, which might be a good undergrad degree for then going on and getting a Master's in Library Sciences.

To me it looks like the OOS tuition and fees are about $15000/semester. It would have been a good fit in other ways, though.

[Lori D.]

18 minutes ago, Meriwether said:

To me it looks like the OOS tuition and fees are about $15000/semester. It would have been a good fit in other ways, though.

oops! misread that. Sorry. What about the automatic aid? Would that bring it down enough to make it worth looking at?

[mom1720]

Nebraska?

[Meriwether]

10 hours ago, Lori D. said:

oops! misread that. Sorry. What about the automatic aid? Would that bring it down enough to make it worth looking at?

They would have to come up with a lot more scholarships than K-State. We want to talk to the financial aid office at K-State when we visit, hopefully in February. But I've heard it is hard to get scholarships at an OOS school, so I wouldn't expect much from either school. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

[Meriwether]

3 hours ago, mom1720 said:

Nebraska?

They have sent her so much literature, but they are just too expensive for OOS.

[ElizabethB]

Boise State University out of state tuition is a bit less than Kansas State.  Most of Idaho is rural; Boise is not but has many rural influences.  They have a good honors college and a lot of good programs, they have put a lot of money into the school lately.  They have some scholarship options, here is their page for out of state scholarships, they also have others that apply to anyone.

https://www.boisestate.edu/scholarships/scholarships/incoming-nonresident-student/

Could she live with cousins for a year to get Kansas residency for senior year or a gap year?

[ElizabethB]

So, I did the math with her scores, her tuition would be $10K per year at BSU.  ($25K per year minus $15K with scholarship, that's for all 4 years.) My daughter has a friend in the honors college and she likes it, we got the honors college tour and it sounded good.

There is also housing and meal costs, the honors college housing is a bit more than the other housing choices but you also get more opportunities.

 

Edited January 7, 2020 by ElizabethB

[Meriwether]

7 hours ago, ElizabethB said:

Boise State University out of state tuition is a bit less than Kansas State.  Most of Idaho is rural; Boise is not but has many rural influences.  They have a good honors college and a lot of good programs, they have put a lot of money into the school lately.  They have some scholarship options, here is their page for out of state scholarships, they also have others that apply to anyone.

https://www.boisestate.edu/scholarships/scholarships/incoming-nonresident-student/

Could she live with cousins for a year to get Kansas residency for senior year or a gap year?

My parents would adore having her live with them for a year, and she could be a real blessing to them. She'd be about 12 minutes from her cousins there. We've actually talked about her living with them for a year, but I am not sure admissions people would approve of that? Also, I don't want to lose her last year at home.

I will mention Boise State to her. My brother lives in Idaho. Not near Boise, though. I think with the mountains, he is 7 hours away.

[Lori D.]

32 minutes ago, Meriwether said:

... We've actually talked about her living with them for a year, but I am not sure admissions people would approve of that? ...

Nope, that will not grant college residency. Here are the rules for Kansas in-state residency.

[...................]

On 1/7/2020 at 5:15 PM, Meriwether said:

My parents would adore having her live with them for a year, and she could be a real blessing to them. She'd be about 12 minutes from her cousins there. We've actually talked about her living with them for a year, but I am not sure admissions people would approve of that? Also, I don't want to lose her last year at home.

I will mention Boise State to her. My brother lives in Idaho. Not near Boise, though. I think with the mountains, he is 7 hours away.

 

That's not how that works.  Residency is always, always based on the *parents* address which cannot be faked because that is based on your W2.  In fact, you can move into a state for a whole year and unless you prove that you moved there for NOT school-related reasons, they can even deny you in-state tuition. For example, if you move to Idaho, (your entire family) and you did not put down roots in some way (buying your primary home, as well as getting a job there and showing that your employer's address is Idaho) you may STILL be denied in state tuition unless you took time to appeal it.  

Colleges aren't stupid.  They;re not handing out in state tuition to a kid who lived with grandparents for a year.  

This question comes up all the time, on college confidential and other groups.  You have to move into a state, during the student's 11th grade year of high school and have all your documents showing that as your primary residence and probably also work there, to be able to claim that state as residency.  They make it really really hard to fake or to get around.  (don't know why this is in italics, tried to turn it off three times)...even if you move to another state, you actually move there, after your child is in college and it really be your home but unless you move there for "non school related reasons" you still can't claim it as your residency state.

 

Edited January 9, 2020 by Calming Tea

[Chris in VA]

Utah State? It is a land-grant uni, with 20K students. With her scores she would qualify for a hefty scholarship. Check out their website. 

[mom1720]

I don't know anything about it, but Truman State comes up all the time on College Confidential as an affordable OOS school. Too small, though?

[TarynB]

Being K-State grads, have you considered Pittsburg State? It's smaller than K-State but still a good size. Out of state tuition is quite a bit less than K-State's. Probably about 3 hours drive time from your family in KS though. When we visited I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by the campus and the town (small-town and rural/agricultural surroundings). Not sure of your DD's intended major, but we were there to check out the nursing program, which is quite well-regarded in the region, better than some neighboring larger schools' nursing programs. They have some other majors/departments that also have great reputations.

Edited January 10, 2020 by TarynB

[TarynB]

3 hours ago, mom1720 said:

I don't know anything about it, but Truman State comes up all the time on College Confidential as an affordable OOS school. Too small, though?

Yes, this one is OOS for us too, but next-door to our state, so we visited, DS has been accepted. Very nice school but might be too small for OP. Its location in Kirksville, MO, is a VERY rural setting, nothing around it for quite some distance (and I say that as someone who grew up in the middle of nowhere). The entire school gives me the feeling of a liberal arts-focused honors department that you might normally find within an honors college at a much larger university. They refer to themselves informally as the "Harvard of the Midwest", FWIW.

Edited January 10, 2020 by TarynB

[BarbecueMom]

1 hour ago, mom1720 said:

I don't know anything about it, but Truman State comes up all the time on College Confidential as an affordable OOS school. Too small, though?

I’m a Truman grad, and it might be worth a look, although it’s certainly smaller than a flagship or large state school.  The stats, rural/ag culture (my junior interdisciplinary seminar class was “Rural America”, taught by a professor who also lived on a farm), and affordability sure fit though.  I don’t know much about the librarian career field, but I would assume a liberal arts undergrad background would be a plus when/if applying to grad school for an MLIS.  One of my music major classmates ended up going that route.

And if nothing has changed in the football program in 15 years... no one will blink an eye at continuing to root for K-State, lol.  It’s DII, anyway.

[Meriwether]

18 hours ago, TarynB said:

Being K-State grads, have you considered Pittsburg State? It's smaller than K-State but still a good size. Out of state tuition is quite a bit less than K-State's. Probably about 3 hours drive time from your family in KS though. When we visited I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by the campus and the town (small-town and rural/agricultural surroundings). Not sure of your DD's intended major, but we were there to check out the nursing program, which is quite well-regarded in the region, better than some neighboring larger schools' nursing programs. They have some other majors/departments that also have great reputations.

Pittsburg State is actually closer to my family than K-State. I had several classmate attend there. We will drive through there this summer, so she can check it out. I think it will feel too small to her.

[Mom22ns]

On 1/10/2020 at 2:57 PM, BarbecueMom said:

I’m a Truman grad, and it might be worth a look, although it’s certainly smaller than a flagship or large state school.  The stats, rural/ag culture (my junior interdisciplinary seminar class was “Rural America”, taught by a professor who also lived on a farm), and affordability sure fit though.  I don’t know much about the librarian career field, but I would assume a liberal arts undergrad background would be a plus when/if applying to grad school for an MLIS.  One of my music major classmates ended up going that route.

And if nothing has changed in the football program in 15 years... no one will blink an eye at continuing to root for K-State, lol.  It’s DII, anyway.

I'm a Truman grad as well. I think the strong liberal arts focus and somewhat high academic standards (the highest of all the state schools in MO) might make it a good fit. It is a small town and the school is just over her minimum size. It has a good reputation and isn't expensive, even OOS. When I was there, about 1/4 of the students were from Iowa.