Author Topic: Moving for colleges  (Read 9237 times)

mikesinWV

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Moving for colleges
« on: July 30, 2015, 06:46:50 AM »
This may seem like a crazy idea but I'll throw it out there and see if anyone has done this or thought about it...

We've lived in WV for 15 years and while I like living here there are some drawbacks.  Besides a few counties, including the one we live in, it is a dying state.  Unemployment is going up, population is aging faster than the rest of the country, and has a negative population growth.  One of only a few states.  They've had a program in place here for at least 10 years called the Promise scholarship.  Basically, you graduate with a 3.0 from high school and the state will pay for tuition at a state school.  Great deal, encourage kids to go to college, etc.  However, a few years ago they capped it at 4,750 dollars a year.  And they haven't raised it since then.  With the way the state economy is doing I can't see how they will be able to ever raise that.  And honestly, there really are only 2 public colleges of any decent size or recognition---WVU and Marshall.  They are fine schools.  Period.

Now, here is our situation.  3 kids ranging from 13 - 6.  They've lived their entire lives here but neither my wife nor I are from here.  We can literally drive 15 mins down the road into Virginia or 15 mins the other way and be in Maryland.  Moving to Virginia opens up a ton of good public school options--UVA, William & Mary, etc.  On the other hand, there are a lot of people in Virginia vying to go to these schools too.  Obviously they could apply and enroll in a school there as an out-of-state student but it is much more expensive.  The scenario I keep playing with is this...is it better to be a 3.5 gpa student from WV than one from Virginia.  Schools do like the diversity of their student population.  And, it may be possible that they actually give more money to help get that kid from WV. 

I would appreciate anyone's thoughts on this especially if you've done something like this.  While I have time given their ages I really would like to make the move before the oldest starts high school. 

Tnx

KisKis

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #1 on: July 30, 2015, 08:24:47 AM »
Slightly different situation, but similar thoughts.  I live in the Deep South with DH and two kids, but I grew up in New England, so I have a degree of Yankee snobbishness when it comes to education.  The question comes down to (for both education and career), is it better to be a big fish in a small pond or an above average fish in a large pond?  My kids are pretty much winning the school system in Alabama, but is that good enough?  I think I am okay with it.  I definitely want to expand their horizons educationally by traveling and supplementing at home through day-to-day opportunities, but I don't have any worries about their competitiveness for college. 

I think rural states do get a bit of an advantage since admissions boards look for a well-rounded class, rather than a well-rounded student these days.  I also have some admittedly judge-y feelings towards state schools, but on the other hand, if the kids can manage full rides, then there is that much more money to give them a head start with a house or graduate school, which will give them a huge hand up in life.  A state school still has plenty of resources, and a focused student will be able to thrive and find plenty of opportunities.  I don't think it is worth it to the family's finances to move to a more competitive/better education location.  As involved and active parents, we have a high level of influence on our children, and we can help them navigate the public school systems much better than the average family.  DH grew up in Alabama, I grew up in Massachusetts, and we ended up in the same university.  Our thinking and personal philosophies are also almost identical, so I don't think geography matters as much as family.

I am interested in more of your thoughts and what your decision will be.  Good luck!

LiveLean

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2015, 09:57:22 AM »
Not a crazy idea at all, OP....Virginia native here, UVA graduate. Florida resident for 17 years, now have kids 12 and 10.

We bought a second home/beach rental property in VA Beach last year and we're keeping open the possibility of moving and making it our primary residence in a few years because few states have a deeper bench of quality public universities (UVA, William & Mary, James Madison, Virginia Tech, VCU, Christopher Newport, George Mason, etc.)

BUT what makes that unlikely for us is that Florida's Bright Futures scholarship program, along with a terrific prepaid college program, means we'll likely pay next to nothing if our kids remain in state. Because of these programs, it's tougher for a Florida kid to get into UF than a Virginia kid to get into UVA, which is saying something. (Florida, of course, also is a much bigger state). Georgia, likewise, with its Hope Scholarship, makes things very attractive for kids to stay in state.

That's too bad about the capping of the Promise Scholarship, which means it's no longer the equivalent of Bright Futures (FL) or Hope (GA). WVU is a quality school and I'd weigh the partial Promise scholarship against what likely will be $30,000-plus (already $25K plus) in a few years for even in-state college expenses in Virginia, which has nothing remotely equivalent to Hope or Bright Futures.

 
« Last Edit: July 30, 2015, 10:01:17 AM by LiveLean »

mikesinWV

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #3 on: July 30, 2015, 12:00:10 PM »
Thanks for all the comments and thoughts...keep them coming!

I too went to undergrad in a Virginia college but did grad school in NC where I was from.  My wife did all of her schooling in NC. 

 I looked at some pure tuition costs + school fees (ignoring fees that may be required by a specific department) and staying instate in WV makes some sense in this scenario.

All these numbers are for the 15/16 school year, instate students, at pretty comparable schools:

WVU- 3,816
NCSU- 4,290
VaTech- 6,242

One of my concerns is that the choices of schools are so much larger in Virginia (or NC for that matter) than in WV.  We've thought about the big fish/small pond analogy and the fact is, my kids are happy where they are.  The schools aren't large but that's OK really. 

Again thanks for everyone's input on this topic. 

Cgbg

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #4 on: July 30, 2015, 01:13:57 PM »
Just wanted to throw one more comment into the pile, although it seems like you have come to a conclusion.

If you think your children have a chance at National Merit Scholar (based on their PSAT score, a precursor to the SAT), then staying in WV makes sense. The cutoff scores are different amongst all 50 states. A recent cutoff score for Virginia was 219 and for WV was only 201. Top score possible is 240.

Several schools still offer very attractive packages to National Merit Scholars. University of Alabama is one- http://scholarships.ua.edu/nationalscholars/

Other schools offer some $ for national merit. My oldest is looking at one on the opposite coast that is a private university and their scholarship for national merit brings the cost down to our in-state public university cost.

WV will always have a lower bar for making National Merit. It could be of value to your family.

pagoconcheques

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2015, 01:46:34 PM »
Schools do like the diversity of their student population.  And, it may be possible that they actually give more money to help get that kid from WV. 
If I read this correctly, you hope that a VA school will offer your kid more money to attend because your kid is from another state out of an effort to diversify their student body. 

We live in VA and one of our kids was interested in a state school in North Carolina.  Like many states, NC state schools have a state-mandated minimum enrollment that must come from in-state (in NC it was 85%, in VA it was 70%: these figures may have changed).  The folks at NC candidly said that they used the remaining percentage to draft high-performers (athletes, etc.) and to try to meet their goal of having students from as many states and countries as possible.  They told us that being from a neighboring state like VA basically meant our chances were zero.  Neighboring states just don't count as making the school more diverse. 

If this is your angle, your kids may have a better chance at a state school that is far away rather than one that is next door. 

If you do move to VA, note that the quality of school systems varies a great deal from county to county.  The state schools are required to serve all counties in the state, so relatively low-performing students from rural counties with underfunded school systems do get into great state schools more easily that high performers from high-population counties with great schools.

Rural

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #6 on: July 30, 2015, 06:12:41 PM »
Since you're that close, check into the Virginia colleges to see if they offer in-state tuition for students who live in adjacent counties, regardless of state lines. Some do.

pbkmaine

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Moving for colleges
« Reply #7 on: July 30, 2015, 07:14:04 PM »
When I took my goddaughter to Cornell for her college visit, one of the deans remarked that so far that year they had gotten no applicants from North Dakota. I was thinking that any kid from North Dakota who applied would be a shoo-in. One of my high school friends was advised not to move from Tennessee to her home state of Pennsylvania while her son was applying to Dartmouth. She was told he would have a significantly better chance of getting in from Tennessee. She stayed and he got in. So these demographics do seem to be important. You just need to figure out which schools want kids from West Virginia. Now, as far as costs go, how much you pay depends not on the "sticker" price, but on your income and how the school calculates financial aid. If you retire before they go to college, and they do super well on the grades and the SAT/ACTs, the cheapest college for your kid could be Harvard. Or you might want to talk one of the kids into learning the bagpipes, since Carnegie-Mellon has a bagpipe scholarship that frequently goes unclaimed. (Seems Andrew Carnegie loved the bagpipes.) What I am taking a lot of time to say is that there's much research to be done here.
« Last Edit: July 30, 2015, 07:41:50 PM by pbkmaine »

mikesinWV

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #8 on: July 31, 2015, 06:59:28 AM »
Wow, some great thoughts here.

I/We haven't made our decision but moving would have to make overwhelming sense.  Since employment isn't an issue we would have to think long and hard about making that move.  If the kids were unhappy or we hated the schools it would be easier for sure.

I've bounced these ideas off other people locally but perhaps they were somewhat influenced b/c they too are in the same situation and want to think that coming from WV helps.  What is great is that I'm hearing similar situations/thoughts from people around the country with anecdotal evidence that we may be correct in our thinking.

Thanks everyone.  Would love to see other posts about your situation/experience with this type of a situation.

Pigeon

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #9 on: July 31, 2015, 07:18:10 AM »
I work at a state university.  At my institution, the only edge someone from an adjacent state would have is that we could charge them out of state tuition.  My institution gives very little merit aid to any undergrads, we simply don't have the funding to do so.  Being from a state on the other side of the country might help a little bit in terms of diversity in admissions, but being from the same general region would not.

pbkmaine

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #10 on: July 31, 2015, 07:56:27 AM »

sandandsun

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #11 on: July 31, 2015, 08:15:59 AM »
Selective schools look for much more than geographic location in diversifying the demographics of their incoming class (SES, majors, interests, many other characteristics). Without writing a dissertation on the topic, I will just say this is the bottom line: what type of aid you will be offered will depend on student's academic record or special talents (for merit money) and your financial situation (for need-based money).  Overall aid package will determine cost, no matter if it is an instate or out of state school (sticker price matters less than one would think).

Unless the kid is dead set on a specialized major that isn't offered in WV (and has actually shown some aptitude for it)  to me it doesn't make financial sense to pay for out of state school or move to secure in-state tuition at an out of state school.  There's no guarantee anyway- check the in state acceptance rates for the schools you mention.

My advice: use PROMISE for UG, work and supplement to let them graduate UG debt free... they can then get a GA position for grad school and you can help them out or, if attending professional school, they'll need all the help they can get...

LM123

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #12 on: July 31, 2015, 09:24:12 AM »
Just wanted to throw one more comment into the pile, although it seems like you have come to a conclusion.

If you think your children have a chance at National Merit Scholar (based on their PSAT score, a precursor to the SAT), then staying in WV makes sense. The cutoff scores are different amongst all 50 states. A recent cutoff score for Virginia was 219 and for WV was only 201. Top score possible is 240.

Several schools still offer very attractive packages to National Merit Scholars. University of Alabama is one- http://scholarships.ua.edu/nationalscholars/

Other schools offer some $ for national merit. My oldest is looking at one on the opposite coast that is a private university and their scholarship for national merit brings the cost down to our in-state public university cost.

WV will always have a lower bar for making National Merit. It could be of value to your family.

I want to second this idea about National Merit Scholars. I'm from North Dakota which has a similarly lower cutoff score and I managed to become a National Merit Scholar after taking the PSAT my junior year. I received several offers around the country for almost full rides. I chose to attend the University of Oklahoma and completed my degree for a pittance. The university was quite proud of their large number of NMS students and bent over backwards to help us with anything we needed. I was responsible for paying room and board but I took a job as a resident advisor to cover that cost and the University ended up cutting me a check for ~$400 every semester I was there). It was a Fantastic deal and I'm so grateful that I got a free education and excellent prep for medical school.

Not many people are aware of the outrageous benefits of becoming a National Merit Scholar. Kids have to start preparing for the PSAT earlier than most usually think seriously about colleges. Have your oldest discuss this with an academic counselor at their high school. I believe they can take a practice PSAT sophomore year and then the qualifying PSAT their junior year. If you have some good test takers that are interested in prepping for these standardized tests earlier than most they can get some big $$$. Even if they don't ace the PSAT the prep and standardized test taking skills can be a big help when taking the real SAT or ACT. Best of luck!

Better Change

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #13 on: July 31, 2015, 10:20:09 AM »
National Merit Scholar (with scholarship) and UVA grad here.

UVA is probably one of the best bargains for a college education when you're paying in-state tuition.  Yeah, it's hard to get in as a Virginia resident, but it's even harder from out-of-state (9% acceptance rate my year). 

Despite my accolades as a high school student in rural/suburban Ohio, I received no merit-based scholarship money from UVA.  Being from West Virginia, I can't imagine your kids are in a hugely different situation than the one I was in during high school.

You'll have to decide how important that high-powered education is to you and your children.  It will be far more affordable as a Virginia resident (unless you qualify for FAFSA money, I guess) to attend a Virginia state school. 

We plan to FIRE back to Virginia, mostly because we love it there, but also because I'd like my kid (hypothetical at this point) to have the chance to go to UVA like my husband did (as an in-state student!).

sandandsun

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #14 on: July 31, 2015, 10:38:08 AM »
Most important thing you can do right now: make sure your kids are able to score the 21 Math ACT for Promise... the required composite score isn't hard to reach, but Math sub-score requirement keeps a lot of WV kids from getting that money... and better math skills won't hurt them no matter what they decide to do.

goatmom

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #15 on: August 06, 2015, 09:31:50 PM »
My daughter just got full ride for NMS to a private school in the Northeast that is saving us about 200,000.  Yeah for the NMS!  I would really consider staying in WV if I thought my kid had a shot.  My daughter had several full ride offers based on the NMS.

Dee18

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #16 on: August 06, 2015, 10:21:10 PM »
Many excellent public universities give few academic or aid based scholarships/grants to out of state residents.  Univ of Wisconsin is currently one if these.  These states believe their tax dollars should help their own residents.  A few flagship state universities do recruit academically talented students with scholarships.  Univ of Alabama is currently one of these.  You can find current lists of state univ merit scholarships offered to out of state students online at "college confidential."  Many, many private colleges provide significant scholarships based purely on academics in addition to financial aid possibilities.  For these schools, if you add diversity (including geographic diversity) you will be given a higher award.  Right now, many small private colleges offer males more money than females because they have more female applicants.  However, these schools also offer more money if the applicant has a rigorous high school background. They will also offer more money if you show significant interest in the school.  You do not have to be National Merit to be offered full tuition scholarships at many fine schools. But the very highest ranked schools often do not give merit scholarships, only financial aid. When you have a child around 9th grade, you can get tons of info on the current state if things with a little online research.  Just as with planning for retirement, a little knowledge makes a gigantic difference.  I expect many if the MMM parents will invest the time to figure out how to maximize these opportunities.  It was certainly worth it for my family, as my daughter is receiving $ 132,000 in scholarships over the next 4 years. 

I did think about moving a few years ago, in part for the university in another state.  But at that time I was focused on flagship schools, and my daughter thought that's what she wanted.  By her senior year, she wanted a smaller college with small, challenging classes.  I liked how easy it was to be at the top academically at a flagship state university, but I could not convince her!

ShoulderThingThatGoesUp

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #17 on: August 07, 2015, 07:33:45 AM »
Apparently some people in Texas will move to a worse school district so their kid will definitely be in the top 10% and be guaranteed entrance to the University of Texas.

At freshman orientation at Cornell the university president bragged that my class had people from X countries "...and every state except Arkansas." So they do think about it.

GizmoTX

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #18 on: August 07, 2015, 09:12:19 AM »
Apparently some people in Texas will move to a worse school district so their kid will definitely be in the top 10% and be guaranteed entrance to the University of Texas.

It's now top 8% for automatic admit to the University of Texas at Austin, & it just about fills the entering class because so many want to attend the flagship school. However, there's an easier way than moving to get in -- since some of the 8% are mismatched & unprepared from the poorer performing districts, they have to or choose to drop out or transfer, creating availability for later transfer students to get in. UT Austin will auto admit a transfer student from one of the other UT schools with an excellent GPA, & those attending a community college with an excellent GPA will also have a very good chance of being admitted to UT Austin.

I'm a red panda

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #19 on: August 07, 2015, 09:27:32 AM »
I only have about 1/3 of a kid right now; but we have already talked about moving back to our home town (Austin, Texas) before high school starts. If we move right before high school, I don't think the kid would be too much of an outcast anyway, because the high schools are fed by so many middle schools, and the middle schools split to multiple high schools that everyone has to make new friends. 

I think so much more highly of the state schools there than I do here.  Although we moved to Iowa for school, it was a very specific graduate program; undergrad, well, I'm sure there are good programs, but I don't hear a lot about them... and I worked at UI for a few years.  There are just also a lot more public school choices in Texas compared to 3 in Iowa. My husband and I both went to different large Texas state schools, so family loyalty doesn't even dictate a certain one.

Private schools will be expensive no matter where we live; but I like the idea of opening more public school options.

Quote
Apparently some people in Texas will move to a worse school district so their kid will definitely be in the top 10% and be guaranteed entrance to the University of Texas.
When I was in school there was an issue with people transferring to a new school second semester senior year to claim valedictorian (usually a rich kid whose parents put them in a poor district, then moved to the rich district where classes were harder; and thus the kids who were there all 4 years had lower GPAs), which came with a really great scholarship to a public university (first year free). The law was rewritten to give the scholarship to the "highest ranking graduate", and many schools rewrote their policy to rank that not on GPA but also on a 4-year residence requirement.
« Last Edit: August 07, 2015, 10:17:18 AM by iowajes »

mikesinWV

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #20 on: August 07, 2015, 10:01:13 AM »
Thanks for everyone's thoughts and comments here. 

One of the things that I like about Virginia is that besides the big name schools there a number of smaller public schools as well as large universities not as well known.  So even if your kid(s) decide that UVA isn't for them (or UVA rejects them!) there are still a number of good schools instate to choose from. 

I have no idea if any of them will receive a NMS scholarship to somewhere.  What I do know is that moving gives them more instate options. 


Argyle

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #21 on: August 07, 2015, 10:16:37 AM »
Are your kids medium-level students, or are they high achievers?

If they're high achievers, when the time comes you should look into selective private colleges.  There's the top tier - Harvard, Princeton, etc. - but are also many excellent colleges that are a tiny bit less known but that offer superb educations and that give substantial financial aid, often making the price lower than attending a state university.  I'm thinking of places such as Hamilton, Wesleyan, Franklin & Marshall, Earlham, Haverford, Oberlin, etc.  They also typically do care about geographical diversity, and someone from Wyoming will have the edge over another east-coast applicant, all other things being equal. 

There are also similar colleges for medium-level students, such as Bradley University et al.  They often have less money than the selective colleges, but they're still worth a shot.

But you're leaving out an important factor - which colleges are a good fit for your children.  If the kid and the college aren't a good match, the kid is much more likely to do poorly, drop out, etc.   And that's worse than paying a little bit of extra money to make sure the kid goes to the place that provides the biggest bargain.  I work in higher education and I see this all the time.   Things like small student body vs. big student body, academic orientation vs. more laid-back party orientation, urban or suburban or rural, diversity or homogeneity, campus atmosphere and ethos, supportiveness, resources for students facing challenges, good departments in the field the student is interested in - these matter as much as whether the student gets a full ride.

GizmoTX

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #22 on: August 07, 2015, 12:37:21 PM »
Are your kids medium-level students, or are they high achievers? If they're high achievers, when the time comes you should look into selective private colleges.  There's the top tier - Harvard, Princeton, etc. - but are also many excellent colleges that are a tiny bit less known but that offer superb educations and that give substantial financial aid, often making the price lower than attending a state university.  I'm thinking of places such as Hamilton, Wesleyan, Franklin & Marshall, Earlham, Haverford, Oberlin, etc.  They also typically do care about geographical diversity, and someone from Wyoming will have the edge over another east-coast applicant, all other things being equal. 

But you're leaving out an important factor - which colleges are a good fit for your children.  If the kid and the college aren't a good match, the kid is much more likely to do poorly, drop out, etc.   And that's worse than paying a little bit of extra money to make sure the kid goes to the place that provides the biggest bargain.  I work in higher education and I see this all the time.   Things like small student body vs. big student body, academic orientation vs. more laid-back party orientation, urban or suburban or rural, diversity or homogeneity, campus atmosphere and ethos, supportiveness, resources for students facing challenges, good departments in the field the student is interested in - these matter as much as whether the student gets a full ride.

+1

DS was an automatic academic admit to Texas A & M University & Southern Methodist University offered him enough in merit scholarships to make the choice financially equal. He chose SMU for the smaller classes, access to professors, & the fact that engineering courses start the first year rather than the third. 50% of SMU students are from Texas vs. 97% for TAMU. He has been very successful & happy at SMU.

mikesinWV

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #23 on: August 19, 2015, 01:50:35 PM »
Just saw this article this morning in the local paper.  There is one kid from WV entering Harvard this fall.  That's it.  1 out of 1,665. 

http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/640948/Martinsburg-High-graduate-is-only-W-Va--member-of-Harvard-Class-of-2019.html

Interesting quote: 

"Everyone who applies has great grades and tests scores, their GPAs are separated by .1 percent and their SAT scores are all through the roof," Jenkins said. "I noticeably had a lower SAT score of 2150. People with perfect SAT score are getting rejected."

Jenkins went on to explain that he believes he was accepted because it's not always about the numbers, it's also about your experience and what you have done. "It's about the opportunities you have and how much you took advantage of it."

"There's always that stereotype of private school kids that are in these Ivy League feeder programs, who have these counselors who are paid to get those kids into Ivy League schools, and the Ivy League schools recognize that now, and they are trying to move away from that stigma and they look at what opportunities the student had versus how much they took advantage of them," he said. "So you can have students that get in that maybe didn't take an AP course because their school didn't have any, a lot of schools in West Virginia don't even offer them. But the regional counselors can identify personality traits and can see that a student has made the most of their time."

Kimchi Bleu

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #24 on: September 27, 2015, 11:36:03 AM »

Jenkins went on to explain that he believes he was accepted because it's not always about the numbers, it's also about your experience and what you have done. "It's about the opportunities you have and how much you took advantage of it."

"There's always that stereotype of private school kids that are in these Ivy League feeder programs, who have these counselors who are paid to get those kids into Ivy League schools, and the Ivy League schools recognize that now, and they are trying to move away from that stigma and they look at what opportunities the student had versus how much they took advantage of them," he said. "So you can have students that get in that maybe didn't take an AP course because their school didn't have any, a lot of schools in West Virginia don't even offer them. But the regional counselors can identify personality traits and can see that a student has made the most of their time."

+1 Full rides to colleges are more than about the grades the kids get these days.  If they don't have the extra-curricular activities they might not got the aid or even in to a college.

nht

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #25 on: October 19, 2015, 10:21:56 PM »
If it really is 15 mins to VA or MD then depending on what you are willing to do it could be okay that you wait and see what schools they get into and what is offered to them.

If nothing seems well suited you could move that 15 minutes, establish VA residency while the first attends NOVA...which has guaranteed admission agreements to several top ranked Virginia schools if you do well.  By the time they have their AA, you'll have established VA residency.

YMMV...check on residency rules, etc.

Doing well on PSATs is very useful even if you don't make NMS finalist.  I was a "commended student" and was offered entrance into the Coast Guard Academy because they were short NMS that year.  I only took it in 9th grade and it could be because fewer 9th graders take the test then that I made it since my score was a fairly middling one.

Personally, I told my wife we were moving to Georgia when our first gets close if they still have Hope.  She just gave me a dirty look. 

Then I said I was going to make them take German for their language and apply to free German universities. 

I get a lot of dirty looks.

mikesinWV

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #26 on: April 21, 2023, 01:13:01 PM »
Well, seven plus years later....

We never moved. 

Kid #1 is at WVU and we only pay room and board as she received a number of scholarships.  Took a bunch of dual-enrollment classes and AP classes.
Kid #2 is off to BC in the fall.  Yup, graduated from a WV public high school, no special test prep, etc.  Similar to #1, receives excellent grades, AP classes, Dual-Enrollment at the local university.  More "well-rounded" than #1 and worked her butt off with other activities, etc. A good amount of scholarships/grants but will still cost us significantly more than if she had stayed in state.  She'll have some debt but nothing significant. 

PSA:  Dual enrollment is a bargain here.  While you don't receive a "weighted" grade for high school purposes, the grades should transfer and you are not reliant upon a single AP exam to determine what you learned.  Plus, its a good way to try out a class and see if you like the subject. 


Chris Pascale

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #27 on: April 27, 2023, 08:42:41 AM »
I have a degree of Yankee snobbishness when it comes to education.

Having lived in NC and LA after getting this degree (without yet having a degree) myself, I can attest to this being a thing.

Chris Pascale

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #28 on: April 27, 2023, 08:43:14 AM »
Well, seven plus years later....

We never moved. 

Kid #1 is at WVU and we only pay room and board as she received a number of scholarships.  Took a bunch of dual-enrollment classes and AP classes.
Kid #2 is off to BC in the fall.  Yup, graduated from a WV public high school, no special test prep, etc.  Similar to #1, receives excellent grades, AP classes, Dual-Enrollment at the local university.  More "well-rounded" than #1 and worked her butt off with other activities, etc. A good amount of scholarships/grants but will still cost us significantly more than if she had stayed in state.  She'll have some debt but nothing significant. 

PSA:  Dual enrollment is a bargain here.  While you don't receive a "weighted" grade for high school purposes, the grades should transfer and you are not reliant upon a single AP exam to determine what you learned.  Plus, its a good way to try out a class and see if you like the subject.

Happy you are happy. This all seems like it's going well.

Laura33

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #29 on: April 27, 2023, 08:56:51 AM »
Well, seven plus years later....

We never moved. 

Kid #1 is at WVU and we only pay room and board as she received a number of scholarships.  Took a bunch of dual-enrollment classes and AP classes.
Kid #2 is off to BC in the fall.  Yup, graduated from a WV public high school, no special test prep, etc.  Similar to #1, receives excellent grades, AP classes, Dual-Enrollment at the local university.  More "well-rounded" than #1 and worked her butt off with other activities, etc. A good amount of scholarships/grants but will still cost us significantly more than if she had stayed in state.  She'll have some debt but nothing significant. 

PSA:  Dual enrollment is a bargain here.  While you don't receive a "weighted" grade for high school purposes, the grades should transfer and you are not reliant upon a single AP exam to determine what you learned.  Plus, its a good way to try out a class and see if you like the subject.

Congrats on a good outcome!  Sorry you get kinda hosed on credit for dual enrollment -- here the college courses are weighted the same as the AP classes (because, duh, the AP classes are supposed to be mimicking the college classes).  We have kids scrambling for dual enrollment just to get the GPA boost where the HS doesn't offer an AP class!

314159

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #30 on: April 27, 2023, 09:17:46 AM »
I LOVE it when I read a thread and don't realize it's from seven years ago, only to get a big update at the end, so thank you!

Sounds like your kids are doing well, congrats to them!

Yes, dual enrollment is great option. In my home state of Minnesota all tuition, fees, and even required textbooks are paid for by the state. I did half time at my local high school and half at the flagship university for my senior year of high school; my siblings started as juniors and both ended up full time in university classes by their senior year. I remain thankful that my high school did not do weighted grades for advanced classes, so there was no trouble there.

mm1970

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Re: Moving for colleges
« Reply #31 on: April 27, 2023, 01:21:12 PM »
I LOVE it when I read a thread and don't realize it's from seven years ago, only to get a big update at the end, so thank you!

Sounds like your kids are doing well, congrats to them!

Yes, dual enrollment is great option. In my home state of Minnesota all tuition, fees, and even required textbooks are paid for by the state. I did half time at my local high school and half at the flagship university for my senior year of high school; my siblings started as juniors and both ended up full time in university classes by their senior year. I remain thankful that my high school did not do weighted grades for advanced classes, so there was no trouble there.

Same!  Great update